E-commerce messaging using SMS

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9331871-B2
Application number	US-52998803-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 3, 2003
Priority date	Oct 4, 2002
Publication date	May 3, 2016
Grant date	May 3, 2016

Abstract

The invention provides a method for generating an SMS business message for processing by a software application comprising the steps of: a data collection interface accepting outgoing instructions and outgoing data from said software application; a message encoding engine encoding said outgoing instructions and outgoing data from said software application using an encoding template to generate the SMS business message as a categorized SMS message formatted for processing by a data processing system; and a dispatcher runtime processor processing said SMS business message for transmission over a network to a recipient.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for generating an Short Message Service (SMS) business message for processing by a software application in a SMS commerce infrastructure system, the method comprising:
a server receiving, from a computer in communication with the server, a new SMS business message to be sent to a mobile recipient, wherein the business message is prepared via a graphic user interface (GUI) of the computer, wherein the GUI invokes a SMS message composing wizard (SMS MCW) for retrieving a SMS universal encoding template (SMS UET) including pre-defined data parameters for existing categorizations (types)of (SMS) business messages to automatically facilitate the preparation of the new SMS business message using the SMS MCW and a selected existing type of SMS business message format defined by the SMS UET, and wherein the new business message is automatically prepared from the data entered at the GUI based on pre-defined data parameters for the selected existing type of SMS business message format;
retrieving, by a data collection interface (DCI) of the server, the data entered at the GUI of the computer to prepare the new SMS business message;
autonomously validating, by the server, the data retrieved by the server DCI by comparing the data entered at the GUI which has been retrieved by the server, to ensure that there are no data parameter errors and to ensure that the new SMS business message is properly formatted for the selected type of SMS business message format;
generating, by the server, a SMS message instance (SMS MI) which is categorized based on the selected type of SMS business message format;
transmitting, by the server, the SMS MI to a wireless gateway for delivery of the SMS MI to a mobile recipient;
receiving from the mobile recipient an incoming SMS message in response to the SMS MI that includes an inbound template identification (ID) extracted from the incoming SMS message by a runtime processor of the server;
parsing, by the server runtime processor, the incoming SMS message using an inbound template retrieved by the runtime processor from an inbound template database based on the inbound template ID extracted from the incoming SMS message to determine a decoded data, wherein the retrieved inbound template is associated with the selected type of SMS business message format of the SMS MI that was sent to the mobile recipient; and
in response to determining the decoded data, routing, by the server, the decoded data to a software application disposed in the server for processing the decoded data under control of the software application.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting of the generated categorized SMS MI includes transmitting the SMS MI over a telephone network to the mobile recipient.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the SMS MI comprises:
a message text entry field for alerting the mobile recipient about a commerce event; and
an encryption string entry field.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the encryption string entry field is adapted to accept a session identification data.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the session identification data may be used to associate a response to a sent message.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the session identification data may be used to identify a software application to process a response to a sent message.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the encryption string entry field is adapted to accept security data.

8. The method of claim 3 , wherein the SMS MI further comprises:
a recipient authentication data entry field which is adapted to accept a personal identification number (PIN) from the mobile recipient.

9. The method of claim 3 , wherein the SMS MI further comprises:
a first recipient data entry field associated with a response indicator label, wherein the first recipient data entry field is adapted to allow a response to be inserted by a first mobile recipient; and
a second recipient data entry field associated with an authentication indicator label, wherein the second recipient data entry field is adapted to allow a response to be inserted by a second mobile recipient.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
wherein a new SMS business message type is prepared for a new SMS business message to be sent to the mobile recipient via invocation by the GUI within the SMS message composing wizard (SMS MCW) to define a format for the new SMS business message type, wherein the new SMS business message type is currently undefined by the SMS UET, and wherein a new inbound template is defined for a new incoming response SMS message from the mobile recipient which is to be associated with the new SMS business message type;
creating a new inbound template associated with the new SMS business message type to be used by the server runtime processor to parse and decode the new incoming SMS message, which is based on the new SMS business message type, received from a mobile recipient in response to the new SMS business message; and
updating the existing SMS UET to include new definitions associated with the new SMS business message type and updating the inbound template database to include the new inbound template associated therewith.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the SMS UET includes categorization meta data defining a categorization (type) of SMS business messages, wherein:
the categorization represents a specific businesses intended usage;
the categorization meta data provides a definition of the categorization; and
the categorization meta data is parsable by a data processing system for generating SMS business messages.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the SMS UET further comprises:
a message entry field for insertion of a message entry of full SMS message length (at least 160 characters) for access by the mobile recipient, wherein:
the template provides an additional field in the new SMS business message for categorization meta data; and
the meta data provides instructions for encoding a business intended usage of the new SMS business message.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the meta data includes instructions for dispatching the new SMS business message including instructions selected from:
a message priority; a delivery time; a number of recipients; a delivery channel; a need for confirmation; a need for authentication; a need for encryption; and an intended web application to handle a response.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the meta data includes instructions for identifying a software application intended to handle an incoming response from the mobile recipient to the new SMS business message.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a request, from a mobile recipient, for a list of available inbound templates from a website of the business user;
in response to receiving the mobile recipient's request server retrieving the SMS UET and a list of inbound templates that is associated with the existing types of SMS business message formats, wherein the list of inbound templates is based on the existing types of SMS business message formats indicated by the SMS UET; and
providing the SMS UET and the list of inbound templates to the mobile recipient;
receiving a selection, from the mobile recipient, of at least one inbound template from the list of available inbound templates.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
the server sending the selected at least one inbound template to the mobile recipient user to be used by the mobile user; and
receiving at least one SMS response message from the mobile user.

Assignees

• Kapoor Rohit V
• Lo Jimmy W
• Ng Joanna W
• IBM

Inventors

• Kapoor Rohit V
• Lo Jimmy W
• Ng Joanna W

Classifications

• G06Q30/0267 Primary

  Wireless devices · CPC title

• G06Q30/0207

  Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates · CPC title

• H04L63/0428

  wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload · CPC title

• G06Q30/0241

  Advertisements · CPC title

• G06Q30/02

  Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising · CPC title