Telephonic information distribution system and method
View Patent ↗A system and method for implementing and managing an information distribution system through a telephonic system. In one embodiment, information related to a callee merchant is dynamically transmitted to users of Internet connectivity capable communication devices.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, via a server, a transmission from a communication device that is an Internet connectivity capable communication device of a subscribing user, the transmission defining at least a portion of a telephone reference of a merchant participant in a listing directory service;
searching a listing directory database associated with the listing directory service based on the at least a portion of the telephone reference to determine an identity of the merchant participant; and
transmitting, via the server, information relating to the merchant participant to the communication device prior to receiving from the communication device an indication that the user has activated a call function of the communication device, wherein the information relating to the merchant participant is to be displayed on a dialer display of the communication device.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
the information comprising directions to the merchant participant.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
the information comprising a definition of at least one of a good and/or a service provided by the merchant participant.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
an application running on the communication device controlling the transmission from the communication device.
5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:
directing the transmission to a merchant information distribution server connected to the listing directory database.
6. The method of claim 4 further comprising:
the transmission including an instruction to a merchant information distribution server, to phone the communication device, during a communication between the user and the merchant participant, to provide to the user, additional information related to the merchant participant.
7. The method of claim 4 further comprising:
the transmission including an instruction to the merchant information distribution server to phone the user communication device after a communication between the user and the merchant participant to provide additional information related to the merchant participant to the user.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving the transmission, via Internet connection with the communication device.
9. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a set of instructions that, when executed by a computing device, causes the computing device to perform a method, the method comprising:
receiving a transmission from a communication device that is an Internet connectivity capable communication device of a subscribing user, the transmission defining at least a portion of a telephone reference of a merchant participant in a listing directory service;
searching a listing directory database associated with the listing directory service based on the at least a portion of the telephone reference to determine an identity of the merchant participant; and
transmitting information relating to the merchant participant to the communication device prior to receiving from the communication device an indication that the user has activated a call function of the communication device, wherein the information relating to the merchant participant is to be displayed on a dialer display of the communication device.
10. The machine readable medium of claim 9 , the method further comprising:
the information comprising directions to the merchant participant.
11. The machine readable medium of claim 9 , the method further comprising:
the information comprising a definition of at least one of a good and/or a service provided by the merchant participant.
12. The machine readable medium of claim 9 , the method further comprising:
an application running on the communication device controlling the transmission from the communication device.
13. The machine readable medium of claim 12 , the method further comprising:
directing the transmission to a merchant information distribution server connected to the listing directory database.
14. The machine readable medium of claim 12 , the method further comprising:
the transmission including an instruction to a merchant information distribution server, to phone the communication device, during a communication between the user and the merchant participant, to provide to the user, additional information related to the merchant participant.
15. The machine readable medium of claim 12 , the method further comprising:
the transmission including an instruction to a merchant information distribution server to phone the user communication device after a communication between the user and the merchant participant to provide additional information related to the merchant participant to the user.
16. The machine readable medium of claim 9 , the method further comprising:
receiving the transmission, via Internet connection with the communication device.
17. A system comprising:
a computing device configured to: receive a transmission from a communication device that is an Internet connectivity capable communication device of a subscribing user, the transmission defining at least a portion of a telephone reference of a merchant participant in a listing directory service;
search a listing directory database associated with the listing directory service based on the at least a portion of the telephone reference to determine an identity of the merchant participant; and
transmit information relating to the merchant participant to the communication device prior to receiving from the communication device an indication that the user has activated a call function of the communication device, wherein the information relating to the merchant participant is to be displayed on a dialer display of the communication device.
18. The system of claim 17 further comprising:
the information comprising directions to the merchant participant.
19. The system of claim 17 further comprising:
the information comprising a definition of at least one of a good and/or a service provided by the merchant participant.
20. The system of claim 17 further comprising:
an application running on the communication device controlling the transmission from the communication device.