System and method for providing commercial services over a wireless communication network

Abstract

The inventive system provides real-time commercial services to users of mobile communication devices (MCDs) over a wireless communication network utilizing the short message service protocol (SMS). The inventive system establishes a dialog with a user of an MCD utilizing SMS to present the user with commercial service options and to allow the user to quickly and easily purchase the services by sending minimal SMS responses during the dialog process. Preferably, prior to utilization of the inventive system, the user subscribes with a service provider to pre-arrange payment options for purchased services, to provide information helpful in tailoring offered services and service options to the user, and optionally to receive enhanced services (such as discounted and / or last minute offers, etc.). Utilization of the inventive system occurs in three phases: trigger, purchase and claim. During the trigger phase (user or service provider initiated), the service to be purchased is selected. During the purchase phase, the user selects the grade and quantity of services to be purchased and authorizes payment which is processed by the service provider and thereafter receives a unique service code. During the claim phase, the user presents the service code at the service location, which is then verified using a local terminal, and the service is then delivered to the user. The inventive dialog process can be advantageously and readily configured for a wide variety of commercial services, including, but not limited to entertainment site admissions and travel.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present patent application claims priority from the commonly assigned U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60 / 490,752 entitled “System and Method for Providing Commercial Services over a Wireless Communication Network” filed Jul. 29, 2003.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to a mobile communication system for providing services over a wireless communication network and more particularly to a data processing and communication system for providing commercial services, over a wireless communication network, to users of mobile communication devices. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] In the past decade, mobile communication devices (hereinafter “MCDs”), such as cellular telephones and pagers have taken the world by storm. While voice communication and text messaging remains the dominant area of utilization, in recent years there has been a proliferation of additional services that are offered t...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016] The present invention is directed to a novel system that provides commercial services, over a wireless communication network, to users of mobile communication devices using through a simplified SMS dialog process. In summary, the inventive system establishes a dialog with a user of a mobile communication device (MCD) utilizing SMS to present the user with commercial service options and to allow the user to quickly and easily purchase the services by sending minimal SMS responses during the dialog process.

[0018] Essentially, utilization of the inventive system occurs in three phases: trigger, purchase and claim. During the trigger phase, which may be initiated by the user or by the service provider transmitting an offer to the user, the service to be purchased is selected. During the purchase phase, the user selects the grade and quantity of services to be purchased (for example, the number and type of event tickets) and authorizes payment which is processed by the service provider. During the purchase phase, the user also receives a unique service code which is later utilized to claim the purchased service at the service location. During the claim phase, the user presents the service code at the service location (for example at an event hall), which is then verified using a local terminal, and the service is then delivered to the user (for example, the user is admitted to the event). The flexibility and ease of use of the inventive dialog process enables its utilization for a wide variety of commercial services, including, but not limited to entertainment site admissions, and travel.

Problems solved by technology

However, while WAP is a robust standard and generally works well for utilization of an MCD to access the Internet, it still suffers from a number of drawbacks in the field of provision of interactive commercial services.

First, WAP-based applications must be developed, maintained, and operated at a significant expense to service providers.

Second, utilization of a WAP-based commercial service involves considerable involvement from a user to navigate through multiple screens of a WAP application, which is often difficult and time-consuming to do using an MCD.

Third, WAP requires significant bandwidth and a good communication connection, making utilization of WAP-based services in areas with relatively poor network coverage difficult and frustrating for users.

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