Subscriber reward method
AssigneeAT&T Corp.
InventorsLinda Hennessy, Steve L. Safran
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A subscriber (12) of a communications carrier is rewarded upon meeting certain criterion. Upon receipt of the subscriber's call, the carrier accesses a profile for the subscriber indicative of the subscriber's relationship with the carrier. Based on the information in the profile, as well as any external criterion the carrier may impose, the carrier determines whether the subscriber is eligible for a reward, and if so, then provides an announcement of the reward during the call. The carrier then provides the reward, which may be a reward of communications of service.
Claims22
A method for uniformly providing rewards to communication carrier subscribers in accordance with at least a first criterion common for all subscribers that place calls with the communications carrier, comprising the steps of:
- storing a profile containing information about the subscriber's relationship with the carrier;
- accessing the information in the subscriber's profile upon receipt by the carrier of a call placed by the subscriber;
- uniformly determining, in part, from the information contained in the subscriber's profile, whether the subscriber, upon using said communications carrier, is eligible for a reward using said first criterion common to all subscribers such that each subscriber meeting the common criterion receives the reward with other subscribers meeting the common criterion and if so, then
- announcing to the subscriber during the call that the subscriber is being rewarded, and
- providing the subscriber with the reward.
A method for uniformly providing a rewards to communications services subscribers using a common criterion that is unrelated to account information associated with each individual subscriber that places and receives calls, comprising the steps of
- uniformly determining from at least one first criterion common to all subscribers whether a subscriber, using said communications carrier, is eligible for a reward so that each subscriber meeting the common criterion receives the reward with other subscribers meeting the common criterion;
- and if so, then
- announcing to the subscriber during the call that the subscriber is being rewarded;
- and
- providing the subscriber with the reward.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.