System and method for real-time reporting of advertising effectiveness

Abstract

A telecommunications environment includes a switch for connecting calls placed by a caller in response to an advertising campaign. The advertising campaign is identified by a particular directory number (the “campaign number”). The switch monitors calling information related to the call and forwards that calling information to a data recorder. The calling information includes the directory number of the party placing the call, the directory number called, whether the call was connected, the duration of the call, and other information. The data recorder passes the calling information for each advertising campaign to a web server where the calling information is accessible over the Internet. In this manner, a subscriber may connect to the web server over the Internet and request a report on the effectiveness of the advertising campaign.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:  
     
         1 . A system for monitoring and reporting on the effectiveness of an advertising campaign identified by a campaign number, comprising: 
 a telecommunications switch compatible with a Signaling System 7 protocol and configured to extract calling information associated with a call directed to a directory number associated with the telecommunications switch, the telecommunications switch further configured to forward the calling information to a data recorder;    the data recorder being configured to store the calling information and to parse campaign information from the calling information, the campaign information comprising calling information associated with a call to the campaign number, the data recorder being further configured to forward the campaign information to a web server;    the web server being configured to accumulate the campaign information and to forward the campaign information over a wide area network in response to a request for the campaign information associated with the campaign number.    
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the calling information includes a calling party directory number associated with the party initiating the call.  
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the calling information includes an indication that the call received a busy signal when an attempt was made to connect the call to the directory number.  
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the calling information includes an indication that the call was not answered.  
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the calling information includes a date and time of day that the call was initiated.  
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the calling information includes a duration indicating the length of time the call was connected.  
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the data recorder is further configured to forward the campaign information to the web server upon the completion of the call.  
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the data recorder is further configured to forward the campaign information to the web server at a specified time interval.  
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the specified time interval is less than monthly.  
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the specified time interval is less than daily.  
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the web server is further configured to formulate a report based on the campaign information in response to the request for the campaign information.  
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the report comprises a listing of attempted calls to the directory number that resulted in a busy signal.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the report comprises a listing of attempted calls to the directory number that were not answered by the called party.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the wide area network is the Internet.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the web server is further configured to formulate a report based on the campaign information at predetermined time intervals.  
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the web server is further configured to formulate a report based on the campaign information in response to a triggering event.  
     
     
         17 . A method of reporting the effectiveness of an advertising campaign using a telecommunications system for connecting a call from a calling party to a called party, comprising: 
 accumulating calling information associated with a selected directory number;    in response to a request for a report, formulating the report based on the accumulated calling information for the selected directory number;    formatting the report for transmission over the Internet; and    transmitting the formatted report over the Internet to an entity associated with the advertising campaign.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the accumulating occurs substantially continuously and the report includes the last calling information accumulated.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the calling information is accumulated in a campaign database stored on a web server accessible over the Internet.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein formulating the report comprises accessing the campaign database to retrieve the calling information associated with the selected directory number and tabulating the calling information in accordance with the request for the report.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein formatting the report comprises converting the report to a HyperText Markup Language readable by a web browser.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the report comprises a listing of calls attempted to the selected directory number which reached a busy signal.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the report comprises a listing of calls attempted to the selected directory number which were not answered.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the report comprises a geographical indication of the location from which the call was initiated.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the geographical indication is a zip code.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the formatted report is transmitted over the Internet as electronic mail.  
     
     
         27 . A method of reporting the effectiveness of an advertising campaign using a telecommunications system for connecting a call from a calling party to a called party, comprising: 
 monitoring calling information associated with a selected directory number;    in response to the occurrence of a triggering event, generating an alert associated with the calling information; and    transmitting the alert to an entity associated with the advertising campaign.    
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the triggering event includes an attempted call to the selected directory number that resulted in no answer.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the triggering event includes an attempted call to the selected directory number that resulted in a busy signal.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein transmitting the alert comprises issuing a paging message to the entity associated with the advertising campaign.