Trading system on user commitments to participate in questionnaires and other interactions

Abstract

A questionnaire network makes it possible to create, disseminate, conduct questionnaires or surveys on mobile handsets and to collect results for processing and storage. The questionnaire network is powered by a questionnaire creation tool and a questionnaire trading system. A questionnaire trading system for QTime makes it possible for producers of QTime, such as carriers, and consumers of QTime, such as product manufacturers and advertising companies, to buy or sell QTime in bulk and to trade in QTime as a commodity. In one embodiment, supplementary information and preambles that are part of a questionnaire are captured in audio form using the questionnaire creation tool and are stored selectively along with the questionnaire in a carrier's questionnaire repository or separately at a hosted repository.

1 . A trading system comprising:
 a server to trade on an opportunity to interact (QTime) with users of mobile device;   a plurality of remote trading computers communicatively coupled to the server;   the server receiving trading data from the plurality of remote trading computers and conducting trades in QTime.   
     
     
         2 : The trading system according to  claim 1  further comprising:
 the trading data comprising a preferred volume of QTime and at least one of a bid price, a sell price; 
 the server identifying at least one seller and at least one buyer among the plurality of remote trading computers, from the trading data; and 
 the server executing at least one trade after it successfully matches the at least one seller and the at least one buyer from the trading data. 
 
     
     
         3 : The trading system according to  claim 2  wherein the opportunity to interact (QTime) is an opportunity to send a questionnaire to the users and receive a response from them in return. 
     
     
         4 : The trading system according to  claim 2 , further comprising:
 the server tracking a first availability for sale of a QTime Supply from a first trading computer from the plurality of remote trading computers; and   the server determining a first price for the sale of the first availability of QTime and communicating it to the first trading computer.   
     
     
         5 : The trading system according to  claim 2 , further comprising:
 the server tracking a first need for QTime from a second of the plurality of remote trading computers; and   the server determining a first price for the purchase of the first need for QTime and communicating it to the second trading computer.   
     
     
         6 . The trading system according to  claim 2  wherein the server computes at least one of a buy price and a sell price for a unit of QTime based on the amount of QTime currently available for purchase from the plurality of remote trading computers. 
     
     
         7 . A system supporting access to a questionnaire, via a communication network, for a plurality of electronic devices, the system comprising:
 a customer attributes associated with a corresponding user of each of the plurality of electronic devices;   at least one database containing the questionnaire, the at least one database enabling access to the questionnaire;   at least one server communicatively coupled to the plurality of electronic devices and to the at least one database, the at least one server distributing the questionnaire to at least one of the plurality of electronic devices based on the customer attributes.   
     
     
         8 . The system according to  claim 7  wherein the questionnaire is an audio-assisted questionnaire comprising questions in audio form and multiple choices in textual form. 
     
     
         9 . The system according to  claim 7  further comprising:
 the at least one server sending the questionnaire to at least one of the plurality of electronic devices along with the correct responses; 
 the at least one of the electronic devices facilitating the browsing and answering of the questionnaire by the corresponding user; and 
 the at least one of the electronic devices collecting a user responses provided by the corresponding user for the questionnaire and comparing the user responses to the correct responses and highlighting the differences if any. 
 
     
     
         10 . The system according to  claim 9  wherein the questionnaire is a test, each question of the questionnaire comprises multiple choice selections, the correct responses is the anticipated answers to the test, and wherein the at least one of the electronic devices displays a user results of the test after comparing the correct responses to the user responses provided by the corresponding user. 
     
     
         11 . The system according to  claim 10  wherein the at least one of the electronic devices communicates the user results to the at least one server. 
     
     
         12 . The system according to  claim 9  wherein the at least one server identifies and manages different categories of users based on how they can participate in questionnaires and surveys. 
     
     
         13 . The system according to  claim 9  further comprising:
 a questionnaire creation tool communicatively coupled to the at least one server; 
 the questionnaire creation tool communicating at least one of a questionnaire and a survey to the at least one server for dissemination; and 
 the at least one server collating and reporting responses received from the at least one of the plurality of electronic devices back to the questionnaire creation tool or to a destination server. 
 
     
     
         14 . The system according to  claim 10  further comprising:
 the at least one server tracking the activities of the corresponding users of the plurality of electronic devices to determine if they make good targets for a next set of surveys and questionnaires. 
 
     
     
         15 . The system according to  claim 14  wherein the activities tracked comprising responding to questionnaires or surveys. 
     
     
         16 . The system according to  claim 13  wherein the at least one server computes and communicates a cost estimate to the questionnaire creation tool before dissemination in order to provide a questionnaire creator an opportunity to purchase a block of QTime for the questionnaire. 
     
     
         17 . The system according to  claim 13  further comprising:
 an user profiles associated with the corresponding user of each of the plurality of electronic devices; 
 a target profile associated with the questionnaire; and 
 the at least one server targeting the plurality of electronic devices to be the recipients of the questionnaire based on the block of QTime purchased by the creator, the target profile and the user profiles. 
 
     
     
         18 . A method of trading, the method comprising:
 creating an item comprising an opportunity to interact with a mobile device user;   determining the current supply and current demand for the item;   computing the current price of the item; and   trading the item employing the current price.   
     
     
         19 . The method of trading according to  claim 18 , the method further comprising:
 computing the future price of the item based on at least the current supply and demand for the item; and   trading the item employing the future price of the item.   
     
     
         20 . The method of trading according to  claim 18 , the method further comprising:
 computing the current price of the item based on at least one of its current supply, its current demand, its forecasted demand and forecasted supply; and   conducting a trade based on the current price.