Message scheduling method and system

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DESCRIPTION

Message planning system.

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to the scheduling of the transmission of messages from a subscriber in a communication network, and is particularly, but not exclusively, suitable for the transmission of unsolicited messages in a mobile network.

Background of the invention

Transmission of messages to mobile devices is a popular and widely used service, and the main message types on the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network are Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Message Service ( MMS). Messages are typically sent and received by a user terminal such as a mobile phone or Digital Personnel Assistant (PDA). Mobile communication networks can also be used to send and receive other types of messages including email messages, voice messages, video messages, and picture messages.

Mobile commerce is widely considered by advertisers to be a significant channel for providing access to a consumer due to the fact that the mobile terminal is personal, is "always on", and, by virtue of collaborative communications, is implicitly a member. of one or more groups. These characteristics, when combined with the marketplace solution based on Internet social networks, are considered to have sufficient potential to constitute a very powerful commercial base.

Today, mobile commerce is largely based on lobbying campaigns that are aimed at introducing a consumer, or on attraction campaigns in which they acquire consumers' mobile phone numbers. The most typical example of the attraction campaign is the “text to win” campaign, in which a bottle of non-alcoholic beverage contains a short code and a number, and the mobile user sends the code by means of an email message. text to number. As a return, the consumer receives a notification if he has won; Regardless of the winner status, the consumer also receives selected commercial messages or a series of messages that are broadcast to the mobile terminal. Another popular method is direct advertisement which is typically done using text messages and pictures.

One problem with these solutions is that the user's activities are not taken into account when sending the propaganda message. As a result, a message can be sent at an inappropriate time for the user, causing the receiver to ignore and erase this and any such message subsequently received; as a result the trade effects are completely lost. US patent US6889054 describes how to provide a user with the means to explicitly specify the times when he wishes to receive propaganda messages, this being then used to compile a propaganda program for pressure advertisements intended for the user. However, a problem with this solution is that it is relatively heavy on the user, since if planning to capture appropriate times to send messages based on user activities, the schedule requires detailed user input.

The international patent application that has the publication number WO00 / 62564 describes a base station controller of a Radio Access Network that inserts announcements at the beginning and / or end of a call, and therefore as part of a communications event that has already been established. Therefore the insertion of announcements is exclusively coupled to the allocation / deallocation of radio resources. The US patent application having publication number US2005 / 186940 describes the message delivery plan based on recorded historical events, which are stored in a memory of a media server external to the communication system. Therefore, message delivery is based exclusively on previously seen events of the same type, such as those captured by the media server.

Summary of the invention

In accordance with aspects of the present invention, there is provided a method for scheduling the transmission of messages to a subscriber according to claim 1 and a scheduling system for scheduling the transmission of messages to a subscriber according to claim 17.

Thus, in embodiments of the invention, the transmission of messages is determined based on communication events associated with the subscriber; typical communication events including executing calls, sending messages, disconnecting, connecting, roaming around, cell-to-cell deliveries, responding to cells, and trends relating to them. The method may include reviewing communication events to identify credible actions and subscriber availability, as well as using this information to ensure that messages are received by a subscriber at a time that is convenient for their actions and availability.

In at least some provisions the transmission of messages is determined based on the termination of the communications events, as can be established from sources such as a Household Positioning Registry (to access network registry information), and / or a billing system to access the

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Call Detail Records, and / or database storage data indicating the use of unlicensed network resources, and / or the request to send messages directly from the subscriber.

The method may include selecting one or more scheduling rules based on the identified communication events and treating the, or each, selected rule based thereon to thereby create a scheduling for use in message transmission. The planning rules can be dependent on any one or some of the times of the regulated event of the communications; previously observed actions taken by the subscriber in response to previously transmitted messages; specified subscriber data comprising time slots for message transmission; actions performed by chosen subscribers other than the subscriber, and / or availability of network resources.

The format for the message can be selected based on the preferences of the subscriber and / or previously observed actions taken by the subscriber in response to previously transmitted messages. This aspect of the invention could be useful when the messages are messages that can be promoted, since the objective is to maximize the probability that the subscriber will pay attention and respond to the message.

With maximum convenience, the content of the message can be selected from a content storage system arranged to keep items of data contained and data identifying characteristics thereof. The selection procedure may involve subscriber-indicated correlation preferences in relation to the topic of interest in the characteristics of said stored content data items.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention, given by way of example only, which is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a data message system arranged to support embodiments of the invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram showing components of a planning system shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a regulation diagram showing interactions between components of the message system shown in Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a schematic flow diagram showing the operations performed by certain components of the planning system shown in Figure 2.

Detailed description of the invention

Embodiments of the invention are related to the monitoring of communication sessions and the use of temporal information related thereto to plan the transmission of messages. The nature of the planning and the criteria relating thereto are described in detail below, but first a description of the infrastructure necessary to support embodiments of the invention will be provided.

Figure 1 shows an example of a data message system 1 within which embodiments of the invention operate for the example of short message service (SMS) message scheduling; It will be appreciated that other types of messages, such as multimedia message service (MMS), email service, requested messages in the form of GPRS data and / or stream data, and oral and / or stream or Downloaded video and speech can be alternately scheduled according to embodiments of the invention, and so that the specific arrangement of the data message system 1 depends on the type of message being transmitted.

In the arrangement of Figure 1, a terminal 2 communicates with various network devices within the data messaging system 1 through the mobile network 6, comprising: a conventional radio and the switching network comprising base stations ; switches (not shown) arranged in a conventional manner; and a place of accommodation register (HLR) for maintaining data relating to network subscribers. The mobile network 5 also comprises a billing system 15 to maintain the Call Detail Records (CDRs) referring to network services used by subscribers of the network 6 and MMSC, SMSC 14, 16 storage and sending message servers configured for storing and sending messages according to conventional methods. Terminal 2 can be a wireless terminal such as a mobile phone or a PDA. The data messaging system 1 also comprises a WAP gateway 8, which is typically a network operator WAP gateway, and a registration services server S1, with which a terminal T1, typically connected to the Internet, communicates by means of Gate 12 of the Internet. The terminal T1 can be, for example, a desktop computer or a personal computer fixedly connected to a network, and the server S1 of the registration service can be accessed by actuating a URL corresponding to the server S1. In addition, the messaging system 1 comprises the content of the database 20, which is aggregated with content data from content providers such as information sources and / or advertisers and the like.

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In embodiments of the invention it is assumed that the user of terminal 2 is a network subscriber, and that the subscribers have entered data indicative of their demographic data, preferences and interests, this data being received and stored by the registry server S1 in the subscriber database 24. As described above, the subscriber database 24 may be associated with an HLR (Accommodation Location Register) for the mobile network 6: in a preferred arrangement, the preferred data may be logically stored in a storage area. other than the one in which the network services and subscription data are stored, thereby decoupling the storage of the preference data from the storage of the network services data.

Generally speaking, embodiments of the invention comprise two related procedures, each of which is executed by the scheduling service S2 with respect to individual subscribers. The first procedure is a regulation procedure, which works in such a way as to identify the types of communication such as registration and cancellation in the mobile network 6, making calls, sending messages, disconnecting, connecting, roaming, from cell delivery to cell, responding to calls, and trends related to them; the first procedure may also include analyzing these events in order to derive a set of message transmission rules. In one arrangement, the data source for the regulation procedure is called call detail records (CDRs) and maintained by the billing system 15. These CDRs typically include parameters that detail the type of network utilization (voice / data) used by the subscriber, along with temporary data relating to it (usage time, usage duration); these parameters are subsequently analyzed as described in detail later in the popular messaging rules.

The second procedure is a message selection and scheduling procedure, in which the transmission time for the messages is selected based on the message transmission rules. The messages that are selected for transmission are preferably selected from the database 20 that contains them, and in one layout are messages that can be promoted. Transmission time can additionally be selected based on subscriber-specified time preference data (such as "No message between 01:00 - 07:00) and / or preference data specified by content providers, as long as the content of the Promotional message is selected by examining the preferred topic specified by subscribers with the topic of the promoted messages.

Turning now to Figures 2 and 3, the functionality of the planning server S2 will be described in more detail: in addition to the standard CPU, memory, data bus, I / O ports, data storage and operating system programs. , the service S2 comprises various requested software components 201, 203, 205, some or all of them collaborating to determine a schedule for the transmission of messages. In one arrangement the messages are scheduled for transmission on the historical database, while in another arrangement the scheduling server S2 operates on real-time data, in other words, the server S2 consults the CDR records / Data Records Calls stored in the billing system 15 and / or the subscriber records stored in the HLR in real time in order to plan the transmission of messages.

Considering first the arrangement in which the transmission is based on the retrieval of historical data obtained from the billing system 15, the server S2 comprises retrieval software 201, which periodically queries the billing system 15 for CDRs, either with respect to individual subscribers or with respect to all subscribers. The retrieval software 201 processes the CDRs to identify the time and duration of network utilization, and stores the identified temporary data corresponding to each usage event in local DB2 storage. The use of the data for a specified period is then analyzed by a use of the software component 203, in order to propagate the values ​​of the scheduling parameters for each subscriber.

1. Night. The definition of "night" varies from one subscriber to another and from one day to the next, for example, during the weekends a subscriber can go out to the disco, party, etc., which means that he will be busy in communications until later than during the week, while another subscriber may work night shifts during certain periods of a month. The value of the "night" parameter is reported as a function of the day of the week, based on observed communication events stored in the DB2 utilization repository.

2. Tomorrow. As for "night", the value of the "morning" parameter is reported as a function of the day of the week, based on the communications events observed in the DB2 utilization store.

3. Occupied. During certain periods of the day, the subscriber is involved in work-related communications events, which should continue uninterrupted by unsolicited messages. The value of the "busy" parameter is reported as a function of the day of the week, based on the observed communication events stored in the DB2 repository usage. It must be taken into account that there may be several “busy” periods during a given day.

The values ​​of these parameters are subsequently stored in the local DB2 store for use by the scheduling software component 205 at one or more specified scheduling times. The scheduling software component 205 can run one or more times daily: the message delivery rules R1 ... R3 described above can be processed in combination with time preference parameters, to thus develop a schedule for the delivery of messages for part or all of a day; for each subscriber, the schedule can later be stored in the local storage areas DB1, DB2.

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Considering now the second arrangement, in which the transmission is based on real-time data, the retrieval software 201 periodically consults the billing system 15 for CDRs, either with respect to specific subscribers or with respect to all subscribers. . However, in this provision, in the event that there are no communications events in execution, or terminated, no action is taken; in the case where communications events are executing or have just been terminated, the software component 201 triggers the software component 205 to process the provisioning rules R1 ... R3 stored in the local repository DB1.

The message delivery rules therefore include a first set of rules for querying historical data (that is, using the DB2 data store). Examples of the rules are as follows:

<td></td><td>Real time</td><td>Historical</td>

<td>Rl: Rule of Night</td><td>If nocturnal activity is observed then wait at least one XI period before sending any message</td><td>Wait at least (Night + XI) before sending any message</td>

<td>R2; Morning Rule</td><td>If there is still no activity during the day then wait for at least a period of X2⁴-activity observed before sending any message</td><td>Wait at least (Tomorrow ”+ X2) before sending any message</td>

<td>R3; Busy Rule</td><td>If the communication session under study does not send announcements; wait X3 minutes before sending messages after starting the communication session</td><td>Wait at least (Busy + X3) before sending any message</td>

The values ​​of X1, X2 and X3 can be configured and are stored in the DB2 database that is used; the value can be modified based on preference data specified by, and subsequently updated, feedback received from the subscriber. It will be appreciated that the rules R1 ... R3 are an illustrative and non-exhaustive set of rules to be used in the transmission of scheduling messages.

These rules are processed by the scheduling software component 205, which additionally checks the output of the rules R1 ... R3 against time preference data specified by the subscriber. These time preference data can be incorporated as parameters (PP), and can include some or all of the following:

PP1 - Acceptable time of day to receive unsolicited messages.

PP2 - Acceptable day of the week to receive unsolicited messages.

PP3 - Week of the month acceptable to receive unsolicited messages.

PP4 - Month of the year acceptable to receive unsolicited messages.

PP5 - Time delay after a pre-communication event before unsolicited messages can be sent (by event type).

PP6 - Indication that unsolicited messages should be sent only on request (flagger).

PP7 - Type of communication that can include unsolicited messages.

PP8 - Communication Models that can include unsolicited messages.

PP9 - Period of unsolicited messages.

PP10 - Time delay between unsolicited messages transmitted successively.

In the absence of subscriber input regarding one or more of these time-preferred parameters, the or each parameter may be published with a set of default values ​​or ones used primarily by the nobility / community group to which it belongs. the subscriber, as indicated in the subscriber records stored in the database 24.

The scheduling of the software component 205 also selects the content for a message to be sent based on a match between the content available in the content database 20 and the preference data specified in the subscriber database 24. . The schedule may comprise a plurality of message transmission events, each corresponding to the transmission of a given message and having a link for selected content from the content database for a given message; When a message is due for transmission, an M1 message is created based on the selected content and transmitted to the subscriber.

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In the case where messages are scheduled to be delivered in real time, a plurality of schedules are generated during the day, each one for immediate or near execution, and therefore they are typically kept in memory until a timer equals the delay. X1, X2, or X3 (as appropriate) has expired.

In addition to the timing rules described above, the scheduling system server 62 has access to data indicative of actions taken by terminal 2 in response to the receipt of the M1 message, and can use this data to determine feedback regarding unsolicited M1 messages. The feedback can be captured by means of an additional regulation system (not shown), which monitors the activity of the subscribers and correlates some with the content of the message M1. The output of the additional throttle system is then made available to the scheduling software component 205 in the form of more rules stored in the local usage data store DB2; These include the following:

FR1. If a response is most likely immediately after the SMS / MMS sending and the receiving session, the M1 message is then sent as SMS / MMS;

FR2. If a response to an unsolicited message is more likely after or during certain communication events, then the M1 message is sent after / during that / those events;

FR3. If more feedback is received regarding the M1 message during or after communication between certain parties (2 and 4), then warnings are sent during / after those sessions;

FR4. The M1 message is sent just before the actual communication message between 2 and 4 (this can be achieved by interrupting the transmission of a message from 2 to 4, sending the M1 message, and then sending the message on terminal 4);

FR5. The same or a similar message to M1 is sent to both or all parties in a communication session after / during the communication session.

It will be appreciated that FR2 - FR5 are real-time rules, and therefore should be activated at the same time that rules R1 ... R3 are processed. Furthermore, FR4 applies exclusively to running communication sessions, while FR5 can be applied to messages sent between a group of subscribers.

Returning to Figure 3, an example of the operations associated with the delivery of unsolicited messages in real time and at night will now be described, in relation to the rules R1, R2, R3 and the parameters PP1 ... PP10 of preference. In step S3.1, the recovery software component 201 consults the billing system with respect to the subscribers who are currently engaged therein, or who have just terminated the communication sessions; consequently, the recovery software component 201 receives a plurality of CDRs and processes them in order to extract: a) subscriber and b) current communication session or c) just terminated communication session (step S3.3). For those subscribers determined to be of category (b) or (c), the recovery software component 201 triggers the operation of the planning software component 205 (step S3.5), which responds by dividing the received data into two groups: (b) and (c). Returning to Figure 4, for the case of a certain subscriber that is in group (b), the planning software component 205 identifies which of the rules R1 - R3 can be applied (operation 4.1) and checks that the applicable rules are compatible with the preferred parameters PP1 ... PP10 (operation 4.3); since the procedure is run at night, rule R2 is removed; Assuming the conditions specified in the parameters PP1, PP5, PP9, and PP10 are satisfied, the scheduling software component 205 can then schedule the transmission of a message when the periods X1 and X3 have expired. If, however, one or more of the preference parameters are not satisfied, the scheduling procedure either ends or the scheduled message transmission time is modified according to the time constraints associated with a given preference parameter (for example , according to the modified delay periods X1 ', X3'; operation 4.5).

Assuming that the transmission of the message has been successfully scheduled, the scheduling software component 205 selects the content, and type, of the message M1 (step 4,7) from the database 20 it contains based on the data of interest and preferably stored in warehouse 24. Regarding the format for the M1 message, the scheduling software could further process the FR1 rule in combination with subscriber-specified message delivery preference data.

Returning to Figure 3, at the scheduled delivery time, a message M1, of the selected format and comprising the content selected in step S4.7, is transmitted to the subscriber, and the database 24 is updated to indicate the instant , content and type of message transmission. This information is later used in relation to the PP5 and PP10 parameters of preference and by the feedback system.

Regarding a subscriber for whom the CDR retrieved in step S3.1 indicates the execution of a communications session, the scheduling software component 205 proceeds as described above, but executes the additional operation of adjusting the scheduled time of communication. message delivery to count the amount of time that has elapsed since the end of the communications session.

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In relation to the FR1 ... FR5 rules, the real-time implementation implicitly satisfies the "after" versions of the FR2, FR3 and FR5 rules; Since the “during” versions of the FR2, FR3, and FR5 rules conflict with the conditions of the R1 - R3 rules, the additional rules preferably apply only at times of the day when the R1 and R2 rules do not. are applied (for example, during the day). In relation to the R3 rule of "busy", this is conflicting with the versions of FR2, FR3 and FR5 of "during" and the planning software component 205 consequently uses the parameter PP8 of preference to identify which of the R3 rules, or FR2 / FR3 must be applied.

Additional details and alternatives

The above embodiments are to be understood as illustrative examples of the invention and additional devices are contemplated. For example, in addition to, or as an alternative, to planning the transmission of messages based on communication activities, the planning can be written based on regulations that can be selected by the subscriber such as "send all messages. promotional messages at time T1 "; and / or schedules can be written for groups of subscribers; and / or a subscriber can choose a subscriber and specify which scheduling mirrors the subscriber has chosen; and / or a subscriber may request that all promotional messages be transmitted with a selected application or message to a message delivery system.

In addition, although the above embodiments describe accessing the billing system 15 and retrieving CDRs that refer to communications events in progress or terminated, the retrieval software 201 could alternatively access the HLR to determine the subscriber's registration status. . In these alternative embodiments, the communications event is registered with the network, and this event can generate the triggering of a schedule according to the method described above (determining the registration time which of the rules R1 and R2 can be applied). In a still further arrangement, such as one in which the user connects to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), the data source for the scheduling procedure could be the WLAN access login information.

The mobile network 6 may comprise any of the cellular network technologies including, but not limited to, third generation GSM, WCDMA, CDMA and GPRS networks. In addition to traditional cellular networks, unlicensed networks such as Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Bluetooth^TM(BT) and other technologies such as WiMax, Broadcasting over DVB-H, ISDB-T and DMB can be used to deliver scheduled messages. The terminal 2 can use the same network or another network for the delivery of the messages: that is, a hybrid network is possible for the delivery of messages and voice communications.

Such scheduled messages can be efficiently delivered using broadcast networks for many subscribers at the same time.

Terminal 2 may be equipped with a requested application arranged to receive messages from a specified system according to a first schedule, and to present the message to the subscriber according to a second schedule. The second schedule can be stored locally on the terminal, or stored remotely in combination with the subscriber's record in the database 24 and downloaded to the terminal 2. This allows the M1 message to be sent according to the first schedule, to be redacted depending for example on the availability of network resources (capacity / hot spots / broadcast networks, etc., but viewed according to the second schedule , which can be determined from subscriber preferences and availability as described above.

It is to be understood that any feature described in relation to any embodiment can be used alone or in combination with other features described, and can also be used in combination with one or more features of any other of the embodiments, or any combination of any other. of the realizations. Furthermore, equivalences and modifications not described above may also be employed without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the accompanying claims.