System and method for tracking call activity to a set of advertised businesses
US8189750B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 22, 2008 |
| Grant date | May 29, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 20, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04M2215/62
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method for tracking call activity of a plurality of businesses is disclosed. A global pool of phone numbers is allocated from which to draw numbers. A business-specific pool of numbers is established for business locations involved in advertisements using the Internet via Web pages. As a consumer begins viewing an advertisement for a business, a number is temporarily allocated from the business's pool of available numbers. As the business's pool of unallocated numbers is exhausted, a metric is used to determine whether or not to grow the pool of numbers, to show an untracked ‘fallback’ number for the business, or to reuse a previously allocated number. When one of the temporarily allocated numbers is called, the online consumer it was associated with is credited for making the call and the business is credited and charged for receiving the call. This method of allocating and presenting numbers with all numbers ultimately being tied to the same business ensures that even if a consumer calls a number much later after it has been re-allocated, that the number will still ring to the correct business.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.