# US 2008/0187114 A1 · Methods and Apparatuses for Offline Selection of Pay-Per-Call Advertisers

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- Number: US 2008/0187114 A1
- Document ID: US20080187114A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 12/062,425
- Filed: 2008-04-03
- Published: 2008-08-07
- Earliest claimed: 2003-10-06
- Assignees: Utbk, Inc.
- Inventors: Ebbe ALTBERG; Marc BARACH; Scott FABER; Michael FORDYCE; Chris HICKSON; Ron HIRSON; John SOMORJAI; Sean VAN DER LINDEN
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20080187114A1

## CPC

- G06Q 30/0273: Determination of fees for advertising
- G06Q 10/06398: {Performance of employee with respect to a job function}
- G06Q 30/02: Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
- G06Q 30/0259: {based on store location}
- G06Q 30/0261: {based on user location}
- G06Q 30/0267: {Wireless devices}
- G06Q 30/0275: {Auctions}
- G06Q 30/0277: {Online advertisement}
- G06Q 30/04: Billing or invoicing
- H04M 3/42008: {Systems for anonymous communication between parties, e.g. by use of disposal contact identifiers}
- H04M 3/523: with call distribution or queueing
- H04M 15/00: Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication {; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP}
- H04M 15/06: Recording class or number of calling {, i.e. A-party} or called party {, i.e. B-party}
- H04M 15/08: Metering calls to called party {, i.e. B-party charged for the communication}
- H04M 15/745: {Customizing according to wishes of subscriber, e.g. friends or family}
- H04M 15/8033: {location-dependent, e.g. business or home}
- H04M 15/805: {Bidding}
- H04M 1/2757: by data transmission, e.g. downloading
- H04M 3/42059: {Making use of the calling party identifier}
- H04M 3/5235: {Dependent on call type or called number [DNIS]}
- H04M 2203/405: Competitive bidding for work items
- H04M 2215/0108: Customization according to wishes of subscriber, e.g. customer preferences, friends and family, selecting services or billing options, Personal Communication Systems [PCS]
- H04M 2215/0192: Sponsored, subsidised calls via advertising, e.g. calling cards with ads or connecting to special ads, free calling time by purchasing goods
- H04M 2215/62: Called party billing, e.g. reverse billing, freephone, collect call, 0800 or 0900
- H04M 2215/7435: Location dependent, e.g. Bussiness or home
- H04M 2215/7457: Biding
- H04M 2242/14: with services dependent on location
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08)

## Abstract

Methods and apparatuses to connect telephone calls and track information about the telephone calls resulting from advertisements for groups of advertisers. In one embodiment, a method includes: determining a geographic area after receiving a telephone call to a first telephone number publicized in an advertisement; determining a telephone number of a first advertiser; and connecting the telephone call to the telephone number of the first advertiser, the first advertiser billed for the advertisement based on telephonic connections made to connect the first advertiser and telephone calls to the first telephone number.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method, comprising:
determining a geographic area after receiving a telephone call to a first telephone number publicized in an advertisement;
determining a telephone number of a first advertiser; and
connecting the telephone call to the telephone number of the first advertiser, the first advertiser billed for the advertisement based on telephonic connections made to connect the first advertiser and telephone calls to the first telephone number.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the first advertiser has a plurality of telephone numbers for a plurality of geographic areas, and said determining the telephone number of the first advertiser comprises:
selecting the telephone number of the first advertiser from the plurality of telephone numbers according to the geographic area.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the first telephone number is publicized in the advertisement for a group of advertisers, and said determining the telephone number of the first advertiser comprises:
selecting the first advertiser from the group of advertisers based at least partially on the geographic area.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, further comprising:
determining a telephone number of the telephone call from an Automatic Number Identification (ANI) service;
wherein the geographic area is determined based at least partially on the telephone number of the telephone call.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, further comprising:
receiving a zip code from the telephone call through an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system;
wherein the geographic area is determined based at least partially on the telephone number of the telephone call.

### Claim 6 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, further comprising:
receiving location information from a cellular communication system for the telephone call;
wherein the geographic area is determined from the location information.

### Claim 7 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, further comprising:
receiving a voice indication of a geographic area;
wherein the geographic area is determined from the voice indication, and the first advertiser is selected based at least partially on the geographic area.

### Claim 8 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein the first advertiser is selected based at least partially on bidding of the group of advertisers.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein the first telephone number is publicized for the geographic area, and the geographic area is determined from the first telephone number.

### Claim 10 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, further comprising:
billing the first advertiser based on telephonic connections made to connect the first advertiser and telephone calls to the first telephone number.