Universal short code administration facility
AssigneeSybase 365, Inc.
InventorsPhillip J. Sweatman, Robert Lovell, Venkatesh (Ven) Chava, Christian Zimmern
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for assigning a short codes to provide uniformity among wireless carriers. In the systems and methods, a Universal Short Code (USC) Administrator maintains a list of short codes and their lease status so that SMS messages sent to a particular short code may be routed to the proper holder of the short code. A network facilitator is in communication with both the USC Administrator and at least one wireless carrier to route the SMS message to the proper holder of the short code. The short code may be leased for a specified period of time so that the short code can be reassigned after expiration of the lease.
Claims42
A Universal Short Code Administrator (UA) comprising:
- a centralized database configured to store a list of one or more short codes, the centralized database further including information with respect to a temporary assignment of a selected short code from the list to an Application Provider (AP) and not to any wireless carrier (WC);
- an interface configured to allow communication between the UA and a network facilitator (NF) and an AP;
- and
- a server configured to communicate with the centralized database and the interface.
A system for facilitating the use of short message service (SMS) short codes, comprising:
- a Universal Short Code (USC) Administrator (UA) including a centralized database configured to store a list of one or more short codes, the centralized database further including information with respect to a temporary assignment of a selected short code from the list to an Application Provider (AP) and not to any wireless carrier (WC);
- the UA being in communication with a network facilitator (NF) via which an SMS message addressed to the selected short code is routed to the UA irrespective of a wireless carrier (WC) from which the SMS message was initiated such that the SMS message is routed to the AP to which the short code is temporarily assigned.
A system for transmitting a message from a mobile subscriber (MS) to an application provider (AP) using a predetermined short code, the system comprising:
- a Universal Short Code (USC) Administrator (UA) including a centralized database configured to store a list of one or more short codes, wherein the predetermined short code is temporarily assigned to the AP;
- a network facilitator (NF) selectably connectable to the UA;
- a plurality of wireless carriers (WCs) selectably connectable to the NF;
- and
- a MS associated with one of the plurality of WCs, wherein said one of the plurality of WCs connects to the NF when receiving the message from the MS addressed to the predetermined short code and the NF communicates with the UA to deliver the message to the AP.
A system for transmitting a message from a mobile subscriber (MS) to an application provider (AP) using a predetermined short code, the system comprising:
- a Universal Short Code (USC) Administrator (UA) including a centralized database configured to store a list of one or more short codes, wherein the predetermined short code is temporarily assigned to the AP;
- a plurality of network facilitators (NFs) selectably connectable to the UA and logically operating as a single NF;
- a plurality of wireless carriers (WCs), each being selectably connectable to and associated with at least one of the plurality of NFs;
- and
- a MS associated with one of the plurality of WCs, wherein said one of the plurality of WCs connects to the associated NF when receiving the message from the MS addressed to the predetermined short code and the associated NF communicates with the UA to deliver the message to the AP.
A method of assigning a short code to an application provider (AP), the method comprising:
- receiving at a Universal Short Code (USC) Administrator (UA) a request for a specific short code;
- verifying the availability of the specific short code via at least a database lookup;
- temporarily assigning the specific short code to the AP;
- and
- notifying the AP of the assignment of the specific short code.
A method of using a short code to send a message to an application provider (AP), the method comprising:
- sending a Short Message Service (SMS) message from a mobile subscriber (MS) to a specific short code assigned to the AP;
- processing the SMS message by a wireless carrier (WC) and forwarding the SMS message to a network facilitator (NF) that is in communication with with the WC;
- communicating with a Universal Short Code (USC) Administrator (UA) to identify the AP assigned to the short code;
- and
- delivering the SMS message to the AP via the NF.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.