Method and system for tracking telephone calls

Abstract

A system for tracking telephone calls made in response to advertising campaigns in electronic or other media is provided. The system permits an advertiser to associate specific and distinct telephone numbers with associated advertising campaigns. The system further modifies advertiser-provided information in response to the advertising campaign to which a potential customer responds, and includes the associated telephone number in the modified advertiser information. The system processes telephone calls made to the selected telephone numbers, and provides reports to advertisers of call data associated with the respective advertising campaigns.

1 . A system for enabling data collection for at least one advertising campaign, the system comprising:
 a server configured to provide a telephone number for insertion into an advertisement, wherein the telephone number is selected from a plurality of telephone numbers available to the server on the basis of information identifying a source of a request for the advertisement encoded in the request;   a telephone interface configured to receive calls made to the telephone number;   a call handling system connected with the telephone interface and configured to process the calls and record data relating to the calls; and   a report generator connected with the call handling system and configured to retrieve the data, generate reports, and provide access to the reports.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the server receives data associated with the request to present the advertisement to an Internet user. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the telephone number is associated with an advertising campaign associated with the source of the request. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the system further comprises:
 a database configured to store the plurality of telephone numbers and assign the telephone number to the advertising campaign.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein:
 the database is further configured to assign a second telephone number to a second advertising campaign; and   the server is configured to identify one of the telephone number and the second telephone number on the basis of information encoded in the request identifying the associated campaign.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the server is further configured to insert the telephone number into the requested advertisement and provide the requested advertisement via the Internet. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the request comprises a request to display an existing webpage; and   the server is configured to insert the telephone number by generating a new webpage, wherein the new webpage is substantially a copy of the existing webpage with the phone number included.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the server is further configured to:
 analyze the existing webpage to identify a pre-existing phone number;   wherein the new webpage is substantially a copy of the existing webpage with the phone number inserted in place of the pre-existing phone number.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the pre-existing phone number on the existing webpage and the phone number on the new webpage are displayed as text. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the pre-existing phone number on the existing webpage and the phone number on the new webpage are displayed as graphics. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the call handling system is further configured to monitoring phone traffic for the phone number before providing the phone number. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the call handling system is configured to process the calls by:
 accepting a phone call placed to the phone number; and   determining whether the phone number to which the phone call is placed is associated with an advertising campaign and identifying the advertising campaign associated with the phone number to which the call is placed.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the call handling system is configured to process the calls by:
 identifying the phone number as a blacklisted number associated with an inactive campaign;   determine whether the phone number is blacklisted after accepting a phone call; and   terminating the phone call if the phone number is blacklisted.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the call handling system is configured to process the calls by playing a ring tone on the phone call. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the call handling system is configured to process the calls by:
 determining a time at which a phone call is accepted and determine whether the time is within business hours, and   playing a first message on the phone call if the time is within business hours and playing a second message on the phone call if the time is not within business hours.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the call handling system is configured to process the calls by transferring the phone call to an advertiser. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the call handling system is configured to process the calls by terminating the phone call after the phone call data is recorded. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the call handling system is further configured to terminate the phone call after playing the first message or the second message. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the server comprises a proxy server. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the server is configured to transmit at least one cookie to facilitate future requests. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the call handling system is configured to process the calls by executing an answer application during the phone call. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the call handling system is configured to process the calls by executing a call wrap-up application after the phone call. 
     
     
         23 . A method for enabling data collection for at least one advertising campaign, the method comprising:
 receiving, with a server, data associated with a request to present an advertisement to an Internet user and providing, with the server, a telephone number for insertion into the advertisement, wherein the telephone number is selected from a plurality of telephone numbers available to the server on the basis of information identifying a source of the request encoded in the request;   receiving, with a telephone interface, calls made to the telephone number;   processing, with a call handling system connected with the telephone interface, the calls and recording, with the call handling system, data relating to the calls; and   retrieving, with a report generator connected with the call handling system, the data, generating, with the report generator, reports, and providing, with the report generator access to the reports.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising receiving, with the server, data associated with a request to present the advertisement to an Internet user. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the telephone number is associated with an advertising campaign associated with the source of the request. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising:
 storing, with a database, the plurality of telephone numbers and assigning, with the database, the telephone number to the advertising campaign.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising:
 assigning, with the database, a second telephone number to a second advertising campaign; and   identifying, with the server, one of the telephone number and the second telephone number on the basis of information encoded in the request identifying the associated campaign.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising inserting, with the server, the telephone number into the requested advertisement and providing, with the server, the requested advertisement via the Internet. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the request comprises a request to display an existing webpage; the method further comprising inserting, with the server, the telephone number by generating a new webpage, wherein the new webpage is substantially a copy of the existing webpage with the phone number included. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising:
 analyzing, with the server, the existing webpage to identify a pre-existing phone number;   wherein the new webpage is substantially a copy of the existing webpage with the phone number inserted in place of the pre-existing phone number.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the pre-existing phone number on the existing webpage and the phone number on the new webpage are displayed as text. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the pre-existing phone number on the existing webpage and the phone number on the new webpage are displayed as graphics. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising monitoring, with the call handling system, phone traffic for the phone number before providing the phone number. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein processing the calls with the call handling system comprises:
 accepting a phone call placed to the phone number; and   determining whether the phone number to which the phone call is placed is associated with an advertising campaign and identifying the advertising campaign associated with the phone number to which the call is placed.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein processing the calls with the call handling system comprises:
 identifying the phone number as a blacklisted number associated with an inactive campaign;   determine whether the phone number is blacklisted after accepting a phone call; and   terminating the phone call if the phone number is blacklisted.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein processing the calls with the call handling system comprises playing a ring tone on the phone call. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein processing the calls with the call handling system comprises:
 determining a time at which a phone call is accepted and determine whether the time is within business hours, and   playing a first message on the phone call if the time is within business hours and playing a second message on the phone call if the time is not within business hours.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein processing the calls with the call handling system comprises transferring the phone call to an advertiser. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein processing the calls with the call handling system comprises terminating the phone call after the phone call data is recorded. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein processing the calls with the call handling system further comprises terminating the phone call after playing the first message or the second message. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the server comprises a proxy server. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising transmitting, with the server, at least one cookie to facilitate future requests. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein processing the calls with the call handling system comprises executing an answer application during the phone call. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein processing the calls with the call handling system comprises executing a call wrap-up application after the phone call.