WO2003043300A1

WO2003043300A1 - Telephone dialogue system comprising a profit game based on the number of incoming calls

Info

Publication number: WO2003043300A1
Application number: PCT/EP2002/001904
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jurek Biela
Original assignee: Playfact Gmbh
Priority date: 2001-11-14
Filing date: 2002-02-22
Publication date: 2003-05-22
Also published as: DE20118442U1

Abstract

The invention relates to a telephone dialogue system (10) comprising a device (14) for taking the call of a caller, a counting device (18) for counting the order number of the respective call, a decision-making device (20) which decides, when the counting device (18) has reached pre-determined counting states, that the caller should be subjected to special treatment, and a signalling device (22, 24) for informing the caller whether special treatment is to be applied or not. The special treatment can take the form of an offer to reply to a quiz question, and in the event of a correct reply, a sum which depends on the counting state is offered, e.g. EUR 50 for each thousandth call, EUR 1,000 for each ten thousandth call, etc. If a predetermined counting state is not reached, the number of calls necessary to reach the next predetermined counting state but not the counting state itself is communicated to the caller.

Description

PHONE DIALOGUE ARRANGEMENT WITH COMPETITION BASED ON THE NUMBER D _E R TO _COM M _END CALLS

The present invention relates to a telephone dialog arrangement. Telephone dialog arrangements of this type, which are frequently dialed by a caller via so-called special numbers (such as 0190 numbers in Germany), are known in various forms for the transmission of information or for entertainment purposes.

The present invention has for its object to provide a telephone dialog arrangement that provides the caller with an easy to understand and transparent, but at the same time very attractive competition.

The above-mentioned object is achieved by a telephone dialog arrangement in accordance with the characterizing features of claim 1 and by a method for operating a dialog arrangement in accordance with the features of claim 13.

I

Preferred configurations of the telephone dialog arrangement according to the invention and of the method result from the subclaims.

According to the invention, the telephone dialogue arrangement has a device for receiving the call from a caller. As a rule, the telephone dialogue arrangement is designed in such a way that several calls coming in from different callers can be processed simultaneously. Every call is registered by a counting device from a certain point in time, as will be explained in more detail below. The counter reading of this counter is decisive for whether the caller receives special treatment or not, in particular whether the caller can win a prize or not. The counter reading is compared in a decision-making device with predetermined counter readings which have been previously announced to the caller. It is decided whether the caller should be given special treatment or not. The caller is then informed of this decision by a signaling device.

Predefined counter readings are preferably selected at fixed intervals, for example a basic interval of 1,000 calls. This means that every 1,000 callers are given special treatment.

In addition to the basic interval, one or more extended intervals are preferably provided, upon reaching which different special treatments are carried out. In particular, the extended intervals can each represent arithmetic multiples or powers of ten of the basic interval, so that, for example, with every ten thousandth, hundred thousandth, millionth, ten millionth etc. call different special treatments with different profit possibilities are carried out.

In the case of special treatment, the telephone dialogue arrangement preferably has a device for transmitting a quiz question to the caller. This question can preferably represent a multiple-choice question, to which the caller can select an alternative by means of tone dialing or via a voice response. If a decision is made in a decision-making facility that the answer of the caller is correct, the caller is promised a corresponding profit, in which case the identity and address of the caller are recorded when the prize is awarded. The amount of the gain is preferably based on the size of the basic interval or the extended interval, the greater the gain, the less the interval can be reached. However, the recognition of the profit ultimately depends on the correct answer to the question. Alternatively, it is of course also conceivable in another embodiment of the invention not to make the allocation of the profit dependent on the answer to a question.

If no predetermined counter reading is reached and the caller is not to be given any special treatment, the caller is particularly preferably informed within the scope of the invention how many calls are still required until the next basic interval is reached. It is deliberately not communicated whether a basic interval or an extended interval will be reached next. The total count of the call counter is preferably kept secret in the course of the game, so that it remains a surprise for the caller which profit is promised when the next basic interval is reached. By announcing the calls remaining until the next basic interval is reached, the dialog system for the caller becomes transparent and can be influenced to a certain extent, since the caller can use multiple calls to understand how the call counter is approaching the next profit count.

In a preferred embodiment, the telephone dialogue arrangement can be reached via a special telephone number, in which the charges charged for the call are partially credited to the operator of the telephone dialogue arrangement. The prize money can be distributed from these fees. Since the charges incurred for common special numbers Depending on how long the call lasts, the caller is preferably informed of the game and the possible winnings for a certain, predetermined period of time at the beginning of the call by an announcement, independent of the call counter status, until the signaling device subsequently announces the caller, whether there is a prospect or not.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, it is also conceivable that commercial advertisements are played to the caller for a predetermined time, by means of which the profit or the technical operation of the system can be financed. Mixed financing from advertising and fee income is also possible.

Furthermore, it can be provided that in the event of a wrong answer to a question by the caller, the corresponding profit does not expire, but is booked to an accumulator device (jackpot), this jackpot, for example, increasing the possible prize amount for the ten millionth caller. It can be provided that the jackpot is only credited with winnings above a certain amount.

Furthermore, it can be provided in a preferred embodiment of the invention that the telephone dialog arrangement has a blocking device against multiple accesses by the same user within a certain period of time. Such a blocking device preferably has a device for obtaining an identification feature of the caller (e.g. his call number, a PIN number or the like communicated to the caller and entered by the caller or the like), a storage device for storing the identification feature together with the time of the respective call and /or of the meter reading at the time of the call in a list and a blocking decision device which checks the stored list for each call based on the identification feature as to whether a caller with the same identification feature has already exceeded a specified number of calls within a specified time interval or a specified meter reading interval , In the latter case, the call is immediately rejected and not counted. For example, such a blocking device can use the subscriber number transmitted by the telephone network operator in order to prevent a caller from making more than a predetermined number (for example three) calls within 24 hours.

Although the present invention is described by way of example using a voice-controlled telephone dialog arrangement, a variety of other communication systems can also be used to implement the invention, for example fee-based internet dialog applications or dialog applications on a cellular basis, such as SMS, WAP or UMTS applications. It is decisive in each case that the number of accesses is registered via a counting device and, depending on the meter reading, the respective user is given special treatment or not. When using other services, it can also be provided that the number of calls required until the next basic interval - but not the exact meter reading - is communicated to the user in each case.

A corresponding dialog arrangement based on alphanumeric short messages (SMS, Short Message Service) can be configured, for example, such that the user sends a (fee-based) message to an SMS server and the server then depends on the sender number the status of a counter device automatically generates a reply short message. If the basic interval is not reached, this message in turn informs the remaining number of messages until the next basic interval. On the other hand, if a basic interval or an extended interval is reached, a winning question is transmitted, which has to be answered correctly by a short answer message (e.g. within a predetermined time) or by means of a call back via a voice dialog system in order to receive a winning. Within the scope of the invention it can also be provided that the same dialog arrangement can be reached with a uniform counter for telephone calls as well as for SMS messages or, for example, via internet dialog applications.

The invention is explained in more detail below using the drawings as an example. Show it:

Figure 1 is a schematic block view. an inventive telephone dialog arrangement, and

Figure 2 is a schematic flow diagram of a dialog flow of an embodiment of the present invention.

An exemplary embodiment of a telephone dialog arrangement 10 according to the invention is shown schematically in FIG. The telephone dialog arrangement 10 is connected to a public telephone network via one or more trunk lines 12 (for example via one or more ISDN multiplex connections). The exchange lines 12 can be reached via a special number (eg a 0190 number). Several calls can be answered at the same time, only one call being processed in the figures is shown; the other calls are processed in parallel, but the same counter device 18 (see below) is accessed in each case. The telephone dialog arrangement 10 preferably operates in a microprocessor-controlled manner, as is known from the prior art. The announcement texts are stored in a digital announcement memory 16. An incoming call from the exchange lines 12 is answered by an announcement and sequence controller 14. First, a uniform start announcement is played, in which the essential rules of the competition are explained. In order to make the system varied for the callers with frequent use, the start announcement can be varied via a random generator or also and contain commercial advertising announcements. It is important that the call announcement does not make it clear to the caller whether a prize can be won or not, so that the caller listens to the start announcement until the end. A call counter N is not incremented in a counting device 18 until after the start announcement has ended. The fact that the call counter N is only incremented after the waiting time has elapsed prevents callers from influencing the counter reading through short calls. A decision block 20 then determines whether a certain winning interval has been reached. For this purpose, the call counter N is linked to a modulo operation (mod) which, as is generally known, results in the remainder of an integer division. If it is determined in block 20 that no winning interval has been reached (modulo value not equal to zero), a branch is made to block 22, in which the announcement and sequence control 14 is prompted to output an announcement text (for example "your chances are good! Only more ... calls until the next earnings "), which specifies the number of calls until they reach the next earnings are necessary, but not spent, ^'what profit level is reached in the next earnings'. After this announcement The telephone connection is disconnected on the part of the telephone dialog arrangement, so that the call lasted a predefined time for the caller in the event of not being won, a predefined fee being incurred during this time.

If, on the other hand, the achievement of a winning level is determined in block 20, a quiz question is answered in block 24 and, if answered correctly, a prize is awarded, as will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a dialog according to the invention. The process begins with step 30, in which the call (in the example to the number 0190 802 802) is answered. First, a start announcement and a profit determination 32 take place, as has already been explained with reference to FIG. 1. If a profitable meter reading has not been reached, a text (text 1) is output in step 34 as described above and the connection is terminated. However, if a winning level has been reached, a predetermined congratulatory text (text 2 to text 6) is output, depending on the winning level 36 reached. The caller is then connected in step 38 to an operator who asks a quiz question, for example "who is the moderator of the program 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?' - Günther Jauch or Stefan Raab? ". If the question is answered correctly 40, the name and address of the winner are recorded 46. In the exemplary embodiment, every thousandth caller receives EUR 50.00, every ten thousandth caller receives a travel voucher worth EUR 1,000.00, every hundred thousandth caller receives a car worth EUR up to EUR 20,000 and every millionth caller an amount of EUR 500,000. In addition, another 10 winners of EUR 500,000 each winner drawn, who can win an additional EUR 500,000 if you answer another question correctly - thus a total of EUR 1,000,000. If a participant cannot answer the question 42, then - with a profit value of EUR 500,000 and more - 50% of the profit value goes into a jackpot and 50% goes to a charitable cause (step 44). The winning amounts in the jackpot are available to the ten millionth caller as additional winnings. As an alternative to an operator, the steps described above can also be carried out via an automatic dialog system, for example by answering the quiz question using a tone dialing method and recording the caller's winning data using a so-called voicebox. The winner can say his name and address on the voicebox (a kind of answering machine). At the same time, the subscriber number transmitted by the telephone company is saved in order to obtain an additional identification feature if the address spoken should be incomprehensible or the connection should be interrupted while the address is being recorded.

Claims

claims

1. Telephone dialog arrangement (10) characterized by a device (14) for accepting the call of a caller, - a counting device (18) for counting the consecutive number of the respective call, a decision device (20) which, when predetermined counter readings of the counting device (18 ) decides that the caller should be given special treatment and a signaling device (22, 24) for notifying the caller whether he should be given special treatment or not.

2. Telephone dialogue arrangement (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the predetermined counter readings are selected for special treatment in a fixed basic interval, preferably after every thousandth call.

3. Telephone dialogue arrangement (10) according to claim 2, characterized in that it is designed such that different special treatments are signaled in each case when the counter values of the basic interval are reached and when an extended interval or a plurality of different extended intervals are additionally reached.

4. telephone dialogue arrangement (10) according to claim 3, characterized in that as extended intervals each ten thousandth, hundred thousandth, one millionth and ten millionth call is dialed.

5. Telephone dialogue arrangement (10) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it further comprises: a device for transmitting a question to the caller, which is activated only in the case of special treatment, a device for receiving an answer from the Caller and a facility for deciding whether the answer of the caller is correct.

6. Telephone dialog arrangement (10) according to claim 5, characterized in that it further comprises a device for signaling a win for the individual caller if the question was answered correctly by the caller in the case of special treatment, the amount of the win thereof depends on whether the basic interval or an extended interval has been reached, the amount of the profit preferably being chosen to be greater the greater the interval reached.

7. Telephone dialog arrangement (10) according to claim 6, characterized in that every hundredth caller a profit in the value of about DM 100, - or 50 EUR, every thousandth caller a profit in the value of about DM 2,000, - - or around EUR 1,000, every hundred thousandth caller a profit of around DM 40,000, - or EUR 20,000 and every millionth caller a profit winn worth approximately DM 1,000,000 or EUR 500,000 if the question is answered correctly.

8. Telephone dialog arrangement (10) according to one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the signaling device is designed such that it signals the caller (22) in the event that the basic interval has not been reached, how many calls still to are required to reach the next basic interval, but preferably neither the current meter reading is signaled nor is it signaled how many calls are required until the next extended interval is reached.

9. Telephone dialog arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized by a locking device for preventing multiple accesses by the same user within certain time periods.

10. Telephone dialogue arrangement according to claim 9, characterized in that the blocking device comprises: a device for obtaining an identification feature of the caller, a storage device for storing the identification feature and the time of the respective call and / or the count at the time of the call in a list, and a blocking decision device, which checks the storage device when a call is made based on the identification feature to determine whether a caller with the same identification feature is has already made a predefined number of calls within a predefined time interval or a predefined counter reading interval, and in this case has caused the call to be rejected.

11. Telephone dialogue arrangement (10) according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the call is subject to charges for the caller and these charges are partially forwarded to the operator via a telephone value-added service, and that the caller has a predetermined waiting time - preferably about a minute - Must wait until the counting device counts the call and until the signaling device (22, 24) informs the caller whether special treatment is being carried out or not, with call charges of preferably approximately DM 3.60 or 1.80 being announced EUR incurred.

12. Telephone dialogue arrangement (10) according to one of claims 6 to 11, characterized in that an accumulator device is provided which accumulates the winnings not won if a question is incorrectly answered from a predetermined winnings, the accumulated winnings when a predetermined extended interval is reached , preferably with the ten millionth call, is additionally distributed to the respective caller if the question is answered correctly.

13. A method for operating a dialog arrangement, in particular for operating a telephone dialog arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized by the steps: - accepting a dialog request from a subscriber,

Incrementing a counter of a counter device for the current number of received dialog requests, - deciding whether the counter has reached predetermined counter readings for which the participant is given special treatment. and signaling to the participant whether they should receive special treatment.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized by the step of notifying the subscriber of the number of dialog requests still required until the next predetermined counter reading is reached, if a predetermined counter reading has not been reached.