Method and system for sending messages

Abstract

The present publication discloses a method and system for sending messages in a telecommunications network. In the method, a first text-form message is sent to a user of the service, a reply to the first text-form message is received from the user of the service to an address defined in the previous message, if the reply is of the correct form and content, the desired service is sent to the user of the service. According to the invention, the user of the message service is offered a second service by a message, the information (such as the sending number is text-message traffic) defining the reply address of which differs from that of the first message, and the second offer message is sent with a sending delay, which depends of the content or type of the first service.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 sending, in a telecommunications network, to a mobile terminal, a text-form message, wherein the text-form message relates to a current session and a current stage of the current session within a predefined dialog including a plurality of stages in which the current stage of the predefined dialog determines a sender address of the text-form message, wherein the sending comprises altering the sender address of the text-form message, and wherein the altered sender address is determined based on a combination of a session number of the current session and the current stage of the current session; and   receiving, at the altered sender address or at an address contained in the sent text-form message, a reply message from the mobile terminal, wherein the predefined dialog proceeds based on contents of the reply message,   wherein the reply message is a service order message, which is associated with at least one order for a supplementary service, and which is subject to payment, and   wherein the method further comprises initiating delivery of the supplementary service over a communications channel that is not used to send or receive the text-form messages.   
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising repeating the sending and receiving for at least one subsequent current stage of the session, wherein the repeating comprises further altering the sender address of the text-form message based on the at least one subsequent current stage and sending the text-form message with the further altered sender address. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the text-form message comprises a Short Message Service message. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the text-form message comprises a Multimedia Message Service message. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the text-form message comprises an electronic mail message. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the sender addresses comprises an Internet Protocol Address. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the altering of the sender address of the text-form message comprises altering the sender address to an address operative in the mobile terminal's home network or country. 
     
     
       8. A telecommunications apparatus comprising:
 a processor coupled to a memory executing:   a transmission system for sending, in a telecommunications network to a mobile terminal, a text-form message, wherein the text-form message relates to a current session and a current stage of the current session within a predefined dialog including a plurality of stages in which the current stage of the predefined dialog determines a sender address of the text-form message, wherein the telecommunication apparatus further comprises a sender-address altering system for altering the sender address of the text-form message, wherein the altered sender address is determined based on a combination of a session number of the current session and the current stage of the current session; and   a reception system for receiving, at the altered sender address or at an address contained in the sent text-form message, a reply message from the mobile terminal, wherein the predefined dialog proceeds based on contents of the reply message,   wherein the reply message is a service order message, which is associated with at least one order for a supplementary service that is subject to payment, and   wherein the telecommunication apparatus further initiates delivery of the supplementary service over a communications channel which is not used to send or receive the text-form messages.   
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the apparatus repeating the sending and receiving for at least one subsequent current stage of the session, wherein the repeating comprises further altering the sender address of the text-form message based on at least one subsequent current stage and sending the text-form message with the further altered sender address. 
     
     
       10. The telecommunication apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the text-form message comprises a Short Message Service message. 
     
     
       11. The telecommunication apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the text-form message comprises a Multimedia Message Service message. 
     
     
       12. The telecommunication apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the text-form message comprises an electronic mail message. 
     
     
       13. The telecommunication apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the sending alters the sender address of the text-form message to an address operative in the mobile terminal's home network or country. 
     
     
       14. The telecommunication apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein each of the sender addresses comprises an Internet Protocol Address. 
     
     
       15. The telecommunication apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the telecommunication apparatus comprises an SMS bulk-delivery system. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sending comprises altering the sender address of the text-form message based on the current stage of the session for each of several mobile terminals. 
     
     
       17. The telecommunication apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the sender-address altering system alters the sender address of the text-form message based on the current stage of the session for each of several mobile terminals. 
     
     
       18. A method comprising:
 sending, in a telecommunications network, from a network server to a mobile terminal of a user, a first offer message that relates to a first service event and is a text-form message, wherein the first offer message relates to a current session and a current stage of the current session within a predefined dialog including a plurality of stages in which the current stage of the predefined dialog determines a sender address of the first offer message, wherein the sending comprises altering the sender address of the first offer message to provide a first reply address, and wherein the altered sender address is determined based on a combination of a session number of the current session and the current stage of the current session;   receiving by the network server, at the first reply address which is the altered sender address in the sent first offer message, a reply message from the user's mobile terminal,   wherein the predefined dialog proceeds based on contents of the reply message, wherein the reply message is a service order message, which is associated with at least one order for a supplementary service and subject to payment,   wherein the method further comprises initiating delivery of the order over a communications channel that is not used to send or receive the text-form messages, and   wherein, in response to the reply to the first offer message indicating acceptance of the first offer message, the network server initiating delivery of the first service event to the user, and the network server sending a second offer message to the mobile terminal of the user, wherein the second offer message indicates a second reply address, which is distinct from the first reply address.   
     
     
       19. The method of claim 18, wherein the reply to the first offer message comprises an order for a supplementary service, which is subject to payment, and the method further comprises initiating delivery of the supplementary service over a communications channel that is not used to send text-form messages. 
     
     
       20. The method of claim 18, wherein a reply to the second offer message comprises an order for a supplementary service, which is subject to payment, and the method further comprises initiating delivery of the supplementary service over a communications channel that is not used to send text-form messages. 
     
     
       21. The method of claim 18, wherein the network server sends the second offer message with a transmission delay, which is determined based on content or type of at least one of the first service event or a second service event, and
 wherein the delivery and a performance of the first service event each have a duration and the network server sets the transmission delay to exceed a sum of the durations.   
     
     
       22. The method of claim 18, wherein the network server sends the second offer message with a transmission delay, which is determined based on content or type of at least one of the first service event or a second service event, and
 wherein the first service event comprises digital content and the network server sets the transmission delay based on a size of the digital content.   
     
     
       23. The method of claim 18, wherein the network server varies the reply address indicated by offer messages unpredictably and positively authenticates the mobile terminal of the user or its user in response to the reply from the mobile terminal of the user being received at the unpredictably varied reply address. 
     
     
       24. The method of claim 18, wherein the delivery of at least one of the first service event and a second service event comprises sending a link to the mobile terminal of the user, wherein activation of the link at the mobile terminal of the user causes navigation of the mobile terminal of the user to a service provisioning computer from which the respective service event is retrievable. 
     
     
       25. The method of claim 24, wherein the network server receives the reply message to one of the offer messages from one mobile terminal of the user and sends the link in such a manner that the service event is retrievable at another mobile terminal of the user. 
     
     
       26. The method of claim 18, wherein the network server utilizes a bulk delivery system to send the offer messages. 
     
     
       27. The method of claim 18, wherein the network server customizes the offer messages based on a location or nature of a local-area network. 
     
     
       28. The method of claim 18, wherein the network server sends a proposal to the mobile terminal of the user that at least one service event is at least partially payable by bonus points of the user. 
     
     
       29. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of the first and second offer messages has a format selected from a group consisting of a short message service message, an e-mail message and a multimedia message. 
     
     
       30. The method of claim 29, wherein the first and second offer messages have different formats selected from the group consisting of a short message service message, an e-mail message and a multimedia message. 
     
     
       31. A telecommunications network server comprising:
 a processor coupled to a memory executing:   a transmission system for sending, in a telecommunications network, from the network server to a mobile terminal of a user, a first offer message that relates to a first service event and is a text-form message, wherein the first offer message relates to a current session and a current stage of the current session within a predefined dialog including a plurality of stages in which the current stage of the predefined dialog determines a sender address of the first offer message, wherein the sending comprises altering the sender address of the first offer message to provide a first reply address, and wherein the altered sender address is determined based on a combination of a session number of the current session and the current stage of the current session;   wherein the network server receives, at the first reply address which is the altered sender address in the sent first offer message, a reply message from the user's mobile terminal,   wherein the predefined dialog proceeds based on contents of the reply message, wherein the reply message is a service order message, which is associated with at least one order for a supplementary service and is subject to payment,   wherein the network server initiates delivery of the order over a communications channel that is not used to send or receive the text-form messages,   wherein, in response to the reply to the first offer message indicating acceptance of the first offer message, the network server initiates delivery of the first service event to the user and sends a second offer message to the mobile terminal of the user, and   wherein the second offer message relates to a second service event and indicates a second reply address, which is distinct from the first reply address,   whereby the network server serves as a mechanism for receiving text-form messages and altering the sender-address of the text-form messages.   
     
     
       32. The telecommunications network server of claim 31, wherein the reply to the first offer message comprises an order for a supplementary service, which is subject to payment, and the network server initiates delivery of the supplementary service over a communications channel that is not used to send text form messages. 
     
     
       33. The telecommunications network server of claim 31, wherein a reply to the second offer message comprises an order for a supplementary service, which is subject to payment, and the network server initiates delivery of the supplementary service over a communications channel that is not used to send text-form messages. 
     
     
       34. The telecommunications network server of claim 31, wherein the network server sends the second offer message with a transmission delay, which is determined based on content or type of at least one of the first or second service events, wherein the delivery and a performance of the first service event each have a duration and the network server sets the transmission delay to exceed a sum of the durations. 
     
     
       35. The telecommunications network server of claim 31, wherein the network server sends the second offer message with a transmission delay, which is determined based on content or type of at least one of the first or second service events, wherein the first service event comprises digital content and the network server sets the transmission delay based on a size of the digital content. 
     
     
       36. The telecommunications network server of claim 31, wherein the network server varies the reply address indicated by the offer messages unpredictably and positively authenticates the mobile terminal of the user or the user in response to the reply from the mobile terminal of the user being received at the unpredictably varied reply address. 
     
     
       37. The telecommunications network server of claim 31, wherein the delivery of at least one of the first service event and second service event comprises sending a link to the mobile terminal of the user, wherein activation of the link at the mobile terminal causes navigation of the mobile terminal of the user to a service provisioning computer from which the respective service event is retrievable. 
     
     
       38. The telecommunications network server of claim 37, wherein the network server receives the reply message to one of the offer messages from one mobile terminal of the user and sends the link in such a manner that the service event is retrievable at another mobile terminal of the user. 
     
     
       39. The telecommunications network server of claim 31, wherein the network server utilizes a bulk delivery system to send the offer messages. 
     
     
       40. The telecommunications network server of claim 31, wherein the network server customizes the offer messages based on a location or nature of a local-area network. 
     
     
       41. The telecommunications network server of claim 31, wherein the network server sends a proposal to the mobile terminal of the user that at least one service event is at least partially payable by bonus points of the user. 
     
     
       42. The telecommunications network server of claim 31, wherein the at least one of the messages first and second messages has a format selected from a group consisting of a short message service message, an e-mail message and a multimedia message. 
     
     
       43. The telecommunications network server of claim 42, wherein the first and second offer messages have different formats selected from the group consisting of a short message service message, an e-mail message and a multimedia message.