Enabling a user to purchase a ring back tone

1. A method comprising steps of:

generating and sending, to a mobile device, an offer message offering for purchase a Ring Back Tone (“RBT”) and including a reply-to telephone number;

in response to the offer message, receiving a reply message sent from the mobile device to the reply-to telephone number of the offer message;

extracting a code from the reply-to telephone number to which the received reply message was sent;

identifying, in a table storing a plurality of codes each associated with a corresponding RBT, a particular RBT associated with the code extracted from the telephone number; and

determining that a user of the mobile device desires to purchase the particular RBT associated with the code in the table, based on the identifying step.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

retrieving, from a calling data record (CDR), identification of the mobile device,

wherein the CDR identifies the mobile device as having originated a call and includes identification of the RBT played during the call; and

generating and storing, in the table storing the plurality of codes each associated with a corresponding RBT, a new code associated with the RBT identified in the CDR,

wherein the generating and sending of the offer message includes generating an offer message including the new code as part of the reply-to-number of the offer message, and sending the offer message to the mobile device identified in the CDR as having originated the call.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

determining whether the mobile device identified in the CDR as having originated the call has opted out of a service providing purchase offers,

wherein the steps of generating and storing, generating and sending, receiving, extracting, identifying, and determining are performed in response to determining that the mobile device has not opted out of the service.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

determining whether the mobile device identified in the CDR has previously purchased the RBT identified in the CDR,

wherein the steps of generating and storing, generating and sending, receiving, extracting, identifying, and determining are performed in response to determining that the mobile device has not previously purchased the RBT.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising steps of:

in response to determining that the user desires to purchase the particular RBT, determining whether the user has reached a threshold number of RBTs; and

sending a notification message to the mobile device of the user indicating that the threshold number of RBTs has been reached.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the threshold number of RBTs corresponds to a maximum number of RBTs that the user can purchase.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising a step of:

receiving a selection from the user to remove one or more purchased RBTs associated with an account of the user; and

removing the selected one or more purchased RBTs from the account of the user in response to receiving the selection.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of:

extracting from the received reply message a source telephone number associated with the mobile device from which the reply message was sent.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reply-to telephone number is a long code including the code stored in the table and associated with the corresponding RBT.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reply message is a mobile text message.

11. A system comprising:

a processing device;

a memory storing a table storing a plurality of codes each associated with a corresponding RBT; and

a non-transitory storage medium storing executable instructions for causing the processing device to perform functions including functions to:

generate and send, to a mobile device, an offer message offering for purchase a Ring Back Tone (“RBT”) and including a reply-to telephone number;

in response to the offer message, receive a reply message sent from the mobile device to the reply-to telephone number of the offer message;

extract a code from the reply-to telephone number to which the received reply message was sent;

identify, in the table storing a plurality of codes each associated with a corresponding RBT, a particular RBT associated with the code extracted from the telephone number; and

determine that a user of the mobile device desires to purchase the particular RBT associated with the code in the table, based on the identifying function.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the non-transitory storage medium stores further executable instructions for causing the processing device to perform functions to:

retrieve, from a calling data record (CDR), identification of the mobile device,

wherein the CDR identifies the mobile device as having originated a call and includes identification of the RBT played during the call; and

generate and store, in the table storing the plurality of codes each associated with a corresponding RBT, a new code associated with the RBT identified in the CDR,

wherein the function to generate and send the offer message includes a function to generate an offer message including the new code as part of the reply-to-number of the offer message, and send the offer message to the mobile device identified in the CDR as having originated the call.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the non-transitory storage medium stores further executable instructions for causing the processing device to perform a function to:

determine whether the mobile device identified in the CDR as having originated the call has opted out of a service providing purchase offers,

wherein the functions to generate and store, generate and send, receive, extract, identify, and determine are performed in response to determining that the mobile device has not opted out of the service.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the non-transitory storage medium stores further executable instructions for causing the processing device to perform a function to:

determine whether the mobile device identified in the CDR has previously purchased the RBT identified in the CDR,

wherein the functions to generate and store, generate and send, receive, extract, identify, and determine are performed in response to determining that the mobile device has not previously purchased the RBT.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the non-transitory storage medium stores executable instructions for causing the processing device to perform further functions to:

in response to determining that the user desires to purchase the particular RBT, determine whether the user has reached a threshold number of RBTs; and

send a notification message to the mobile device of the user indicating that the threshold number of RBTs has been reached.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the threshold number of RBTs corresponds to a maximum number of RBTs that the user can purchase.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the non-transitory storage medium stores executable instructions for causing the processing device to perform further functions to:

receive a selection from the user to remove one or more purchased RBTs associated with an account of the user; and

remove the selected one or more purchased RBTs from the account of the user in response to receiving the selection.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the non-transitory storage medium stores executable instructions for causing the processing device to perform further functions to:

extract from the received reply message a source telephone number associated with the mobile device from which the reply message was sent.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the reply-to telephone number is a long code including the code stored in the table and associated with the corresponding RBT.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the reply message is a text message.

21. A method comprising steps of:

generating and sending, to a mobile device, an offer message offering for purchase a media file and including a reply-to telephone number;

in response to the offer message, receiving a reply message sent from the mobile device to the reply-to telephone number of the offer message;

extracting a code from the reply-to telephone number to which the received reply message was sent;

identifying, in a table storing a plurality of codes each associated with a corresponding media file, a particular media file associated with the code extracted from the telephone number; and

determining that a user of the mobile device desires to purchase the particular media file associated with the code in the table, based on the identifying step.