Sponsored call and cell service

A method for selecting and playing an announcement to a subscriber station in response to a call origination received from the subscriber station in a telecommunications system, comprising the steps of:

• selecting an announcement based on at least one attribute of the subscriber station in response to the triggering, the step of selecting an announcement comprising the steps of:
• retrieving profile information associated with the subscriber station using a station identification of the subscriber station;
• and
• selecting the announcement based on the retrieved profile information, the step of selecting the announcement based on the retrieved profile information comprising the steps of:
• selecting a first sponsor group of a list of sponsor groups;
• selecting a first sponsor from a list of sponsors in the first sponsor group;
• and
• selecting the announcement from a list of announcements associated with the first sponsor;
• establishing a communications link with the subscriber station;
• prompting the subscriber station for a predetermined response;
• waiting for a predetermined response from the subscriber station;
• receiving the predetermined response;
• and
• playing the selected announcement to the subscriber station after the predetermined response is received from the subscriber station.

A method for selecting and playing an announcement to a user in a telecommunications system, comprising steps of:

• receiving a call from a subscriber station, the call comprising call origination information;
• comparing the call origination information to triggering criteria and triggering if the call origination information meets the triggering criteria;
• selecting an announcement based on at least one attribute of the subscriber station in response to the triggering, the step of selecting an announcement comprising the steps of:
• retrieving profile information associated with the subscriber station using a station identification of the subscriber station;
• and
• selecting the announcement based on the retrieved profile information, the step of selecting an announcement based on the retrieved profile comprising the steps of:
• selecting a first sponsor group of a list of sponsor groups;
• selecting a first sponsor from a list of sponsors in the first sponsor group;
• and
• selecting the announcement from a list of announcements associated with the first sponsor;
• establishing a communications link with the subscriber station;
• prompting the subscriber station for a predetermined response;
• waiting for a predetermined response from the subscriber station;
• receiving the predetermined response;
• and
• playing the selected announcement to the subscriber station after the predetermined response is received from the subscriber station.