System and method for incrementing mobile telecommunication user accounts

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to mobile telecommunications and in particular to mobile devices which are used within the context of a mobile telecommunication architecture. The invention more particularly relates to a system and method for incrementing a mobile telecommunication user account with credit enabling the user to extend the usage of their mobile device. In an exemplary arrangement the system provides a computer implemented reward architecture whereby one or more users are rewarded for their interaction with a computer-enabled data architecture.

Background

Mobile telecommunication devices are now pervasive and enable users to communicate with one another through the use of cellular networks. The devices have become particularly important in emerging markets such as those found in Africa and Asia where traditional land-line based architectures are not developed. The use of mobile telecommunications is particularly important in such geographies in that it is possible to provide services directly to the end user where heretofore the non-existing wired telecommunications and transportation infrastructure prevented delivery of these services.

As a result of the evident benefit, mobile penetration has grown

exponentially in emerging markets with subscriber net additions in such markets being greater than in developing countries. For example it is believed that mobile penetration in India and Africa will increase to 60% by 2012 and be close to 100% by the end of the decade. Typically the subscription model in these markets is a pre-pay model whereby the user pays for and receives credit for their mobile device in advance of the usage of the mobile device. This is typically called a "top-up" process which is different to a post-pay model whereby the user contracts with a telecommunication provider- a telco- to make regular payments to that telco in response to their usage of the device.

The use of a pre-pay model allows the user to maintain control of their spend on the device, something that is very important in emerging markets where disposable income is not as high as other jurisdictions. This however means that there generally is little or no information available about the owner of the phone that can be exploited by the mobile operators or others wishing to use the mobile infrastructure to provide targeted services to their clients or to consumers of their client's goods or services. This limits greatly the potential to deliver value added services to the user.

Summary

These and other problems are addressed in accordance with the present invention by provision of computer methodologies and architectures for enabling a delivery of mobile telecommunication rewards to targeted individuals. The rewards may be specifically relevant to or targeted to consumers of particular brands with a view to promoting product sales and profiling the consumer.

Such a system architecture and methodology enables the provision of appropriate talktime or top-up increments to individual users based on their purchase history and their self-generated profile Concurrently with this reward mechanism, the architecture may be configured to effect generation of profile databases that provide third parties with usage information regarding product categories and consumer segments.

Accordingly, a first embodiment of the invention provides a system as claimed in claim 1 . Advantageous embodiments are provided in the dependent claims. A system as detailed in claim 25 is also provided.

Brief Description Of The Drawings

The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic showing a system architecture in accordance with the present teaching

Figure 2 is a process flow showing generation of scratch cards for use in an exemplary embodiment of the present teaching; Figure 3 is a process flow showing steps employed in implementing an end-user interaction with the system of the present teaching;

Figure 4 is a process flow showing exemplary steps that may be employed in selection of appropriate questions for posing to the end-user.

Figure 5A is a process flow showing exemplary steps that may be employed in rewarding a customer for interaction with a system in accordance with the present teaching.

Figure 5B shows how the present teaching may be employed to provide dynamic campaign optimization.

Detailed Description Of The Drawings

The invention will now be described with reference to exemplary

embodiments which are provided to assist in an understanding of the teaching of the invention but it will be understood that the invention is not to be construed as being limited in any fashion to these exemplary embodiments.

As shown in Figure 1 a system 100 comprises a management module 101 , a datastore 102, a first interface 103 and a second interface 104. The

management module comprises hardware and/or software for implementing a reward generator which effects a calculation of an appropriate reward to provide a user of the system dependent on an analysis of data stored within the datastore 102 relating to that and other users of the system. The first interface 103 is desirably configured to enable a third party 1 10 to communicate and interface directly with the system 100. The communication channel is desirably an electronic communication channel such as provided by an internet enabled web interface. This third party 1 10 is desirably a brand manager or owner who wishes to generate and manage a marketing or brand awareness campaign to one or more end-customers 130 of products and services of that brand owner. The system 100 interfaces between the brand owner and the end-customer to extract information from the end-customer and provide a reward to that end- customer in response to provision of said information. These end-customers may be considered consumers within the context of product or service

purchases or users of a mobile device in the context of a mobile

telecommunication architecture. Within the present specification these terms will be used interchangeably.

The second interface 104 is configured to enable the system to

communicate directly with a mobile telecommunication operator - telco operator 120. The telco operator 120 includes appropriate hardware and software modules to enable the provision of voice and data traffic within a defined mobile network. Such an architecture will be well known to those of skill in the art and the details of such are omitted here. The communication with the telco operator is effected for two primary purposes:

1 ) It allows the end-customer 130 to interface with the system 100 through use of a mobile device that is associated with that end-customer.

2) It enables the system to provide a reward to that end-customer by

effecting an increment to a mobile telecommunication account of that end-customer through a top-up of their account.

The system is further configured to interface with a service provider 140 which generates unique scratch cards for distribution to individual end- customers. On receipt of these scratch cards the end-customer may contact the system 100 using their mobile device. The scratch cards or other printed media that is used for conveying a unique identifier from the service provider 140 to the end-customer is desirably provided through retail channels where the consumer will purchase a specific product or service and receive that printed token with that purchased product or service. The interface between the system 100 and the service provider 140 is such as to provide the system with a duplicate copy of all unique identifiers that have been printed and distributed by the service provider. This allows a tracking of identifiers to ensure that if an identifier is subsequently provided to the system 100 through a different communication channel that its authenticity may be verified through use of a database lookup or the like.

Figure 2 shows in schematic form a methodology which may be

implemented using system elements in accordance with the present teaching. As a first step a plurality of unique scratch cards or other form of distributable printed matter are generated (Step 200). Each of these individual scratch cards are characterised in a unique identifier, which is stored centrally within a datastore 102 of the system (Step 205). This storage enables the subsequent verification of scratch card identifiers provided by customers. The plurality of scratch cards is then distributed to end-customers (Step 210). The distribution may be in the form of a direct distribution to targeted end-customers or may be indirectly. In such a latter arrangement, individual ones of the scratch cards are provided in-product. This may be achieved for example by product placement where a decision is made a priori for insertion of scratch cards into specific product types packages which are then distributed through conventional retail outlets. Where a central manufacturer is used to generate a plurality of different scratch cards for distribution to third party locations for association with different products and the like, such scratch cards could be grouped together using visual identifiers such as different colours or other visually identifiable

differentiators between sets of related cards to ensure that they will each be routed to the appropriate end location. The use of visual identifiers in this fashion- such as for example by colouring different types of scratch cards different colours allows for easy and efficient identification of those cards further down the delivery chain. For example if a specific product is intended to be associated with a specific set of scratch cards, then that set could be coloured red to differentiate from a yellow coloured set that are to be used with a different product. This is particularly useful in environments where literacy is a problem and as such the persons who are inserting the scratch cards into appropriate packaging need to be able to identify those scratch cards quickly and efficiently. The end-customer of those products, on purchase of the product, is provided with a scratch card. On receipt of a scratch card, the end-customer initiates a communication to the system using an identifier provided as part of the scratch card (Step 215). The initiated communication is typically effected from a mobile device associated with the user, more of which will be discussed with reference to Figure 3. On receipt of a communication, the system is configured to compare a provided scratch card identifier with the previously generated list of identifiers to ensure that the scratch card identifier is legitimate (Step 220). On completion of a successful comparison, the communication between the system is continued (Step 225).

Figure 3 shows an example of computer implemented process steps that are implemented by the system on receipt of a communication from an end- customer (Step 215). It will be appreciated that a system in accordance with the present teaching is configured to generate a database of user profiles for subsequent analysis. As part of this generation it is important that the system can accurately track any interaction between end-customers and the system. As one way to achieve this tracking, the system is configured to interrogate the communication channel used by the end-customer to extract and store an identifier associated with that channel (Step 300). For example if the user had initiated the communication using their mobile device, the system 100 is configured to extract an IMSI or MSISDN identifier for that mobile device. That identifier may then be used to uniquely identify that end-customer for the purpose of immediate interrogation or for subsequent analysis purposes. It will be understood that a system as provided in accordance with the present teaching may be used to provide interaction with a plurality of different end- customers of different geographic or language origin. The interaction is desirably effected using computer generated language talk -back and interactive voice responses. To ensure that the maximum interaction is achieved the system may be configured to determine an appropriate language for that communication (Step 305). This determination may be effected through for example interrogation of the telco operator as part of a lookup of call origination or could be based on an internal examination of previous records for that user or user type.

As part of the process adopted by the system for rewarding the end- customer the system is configured to prompt the end-customer for responses to various questions posed and then to generate datasets based on those responses. The datasets will be stored within the datastore 102. On receipt of a communication the system is configured to determine appropriate questions for posing (Step 310)- discussed in more detail in Figure 4.

On completion of the questioning, the datastore 102 is updated with the responses received (Step 315). The system is then configured to generate and distribute an appropriate award to the end-customer for their product purchase and their participation in the interaction (Step 320)-discussed in more detail in Figure 5.

As was discussed above, the system is configured on receipt of a communication initiation from an end customer to determine appropriate questions for profiling that end-customer (Figure 3- Step 315). Figure 4 shows exemplary arrangements that may be followed. In a first step (Step 400) the system is configured to determine whether the instant communication is a first interaction with the specific customer. This may be achieved in a plurality of different arrangements such as for example interrogating the datastore 102 to ascertain whether the mobile device used for this communication request has been previously used in interactions with the system. If the end-customer is identified as being a new customer, then a new profile is created and a new question tree is generated and used (Step 405). If the customer is identified as having had previous interaction with the system, then the system accesses a subsequent question tree dataset (Step 410). Each of the question tree sets are desirably provided in a branch structure with subsequent questions being determined based on previous purchase history and the answers provided to previous questions. In this way a more detailed analysis of the customer behaviour and profile may be generated. On determination of an appropriate question tree set, individual questions are then generated (Step 415). The individual questions may be all selected prior to the answering of a first question posed or may be selected based on the answers provided. This dynamic selection of questions may require a plurality of database lookups during the question posing process. These questions are posed to the end-customer which as described with reference to Figure 3, provides responses which are then updated to the database (Step 315) and used to initiate a reward mechanism (Step 320). The specific arrangement of Figure 4 will be appreciated as exemplary of the type of decision tree that may be employed to select specific questions for posing to an end-customer on initiation of a communication event between that end- customer and the system. Other examples of inputs that may be considered particularly useful in generation of a question set include the timing of the communication request, the gender of the end-customer as determined through voice-recognition software implemented within the system architecture, the geographical location of the end-customer as determined by interrogation of the telco operator 120, the nature of the product into which the scratch card was delivered as determined from an analysis of the scratch card identifier provided by the end-customer. For these reasons it will be understood that a system in accordance with the present teaching enables the provision of the much more specific and tailored generation and analysis of a user profile than heretofore possible as the questions posed may be dynamically modified for each interaction with each end-customer based on previous and current interactions with that customer and any insights gained from all such

interactions and from all such customers from an analysis of the existing database of customer profiles.

The specifics of the reward generated and provided to the end-customer may be tailored depending on the specifics of the interaction. The system of the present teaching is desirably implementing a reward mechanism whereby the user is rewarded for continued interaction with the system - representing ongoing product purchases and self-profiling - which a one reward type would not necessarily effect. This will be appreciated as defining a dynamic reward mechanism where specific and tailored rewards are generated and provided to the user based on their categorisation within a profile set that is defined within the system architecture. In this way, a user who is identified through their responses as belonging to a first demographic may be rewarded differently to users belong to a different demographic. Furthermore, that same user may be rewarded differently for a subsequent interaction with the system than they were initially. This dynamic reward mechanism is facilitated and enabled by the database architecture that is maintained by a system in accordance with the present teaching. Using the system of the present teaching and as shown in an exemplary arrangement of Figure 5A, it is possible to ascertain during the communication between the system and the end-customer whether the customer is for example a first time user of the system (Step 500). If they are, then a first reward type may be decided as being appropriate (Step 505). If they are a repeat user of the system then a second reward type (Step 510) may be more appropriate. In any case, on ascertaining the appropriate reward, the system 100 is configured to communicate with the telco operator 120 to effect an update or top-up of a mobile account associated with that end customer (Step 515). This may then be followed by a message in the form of a data message (SMS) or the like to the end-customer advising them of that top-up (Step 520). Again the reward type may be modified based on other

characteristics or analysis of the end-customer such as based on customer gender, age profile, geographical origin, income bracket or other statistical information that may be derived from an analysis of the information that is provided or associatable with the end-customer during the customer interaction with the system.

In addition, the rewards may be generated based on the known response of other similarly profiled consumers as deduced-predicted on an ongoing basis from the profiles of all other users. By this means, the optimum lever of reward to promote consumer purchasing and self-profiling will be determined thereby in turn optimising the cost (fewest minutes) and efficiency (fewest calls) necessary to achieve the client's targets for increased sales and numbers of customers' profiles.

Such dynamic and personalised reward architecture is particularly advantageous in situations such as Figure 5B where a brand owner can generate a targeted product offering 550, monitor the response to that offering 560 through user interaction with the system of Figure 1 and reward the user for their interaction 570. This is representative of a dynamic, possibly real-time, campaign optimization using crowd-sourced information and inputs to modify the characteristics of the campaign. Heretofore the system has been described with reference to the interface between the system and the end-customer in the generation of questions for that end-customer and the reward of that end- customer through an answering of the questions. It will be appreciated from for example Step 315 of Figure 3 that part of the benefits of a system in

accordance with the present teaching is the capacity to store and update a database 102 based on the responses received from the plurality of users that interact with this system. While the database 102 is shown schematically as a single entity it will be understood that this is purely a schematic representation as the database could be implemented in one or more individual data structures that could be independently or collectively interrogated at a later date for analysis of the data stored therein. By constructing user profiles through user interaction with the system and rewarding that user through telecommunication reward units it is possible to then mine that data for other purposes. The dynamic nature of the questions that may be posed or prompted to the user allow the development of complex data sets that provide extensive statistical information about a user population. The system is configured in accordance with the present teaching such that the data sets are automatically populated through each end-customer interaction with the system and the data stored therein is dynamically updated through continued use of the system. Based on the categories of how the data is stored and identified it is possible to

interrogate that data based on a number of different parameters including customer gender, age profile, geographical origin, income bracket or other statistical information as will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art. It will be understood that as the data sets are automatically populated through each end-customer interaction with the system, the data stored therein is dynamically updated through continued use of the system. This allows for the calculation of appropriate rewards based on the known response of other similarly profiled consumers as deduced or predicted on an ongoing basis from the profiles of all other users. By this means, the optimum level of reward to promote consumer purchasing and self-profiling will be determined thereby in turn optimising the cost (fewest minutes) and efficiency (fewest calls) necessary to achieve the defined objectives.

It will be understood that what has been described herein are exemplary methodologies and apparatus for implementing top-ups of a user's mobile telecommunication account in response to user purchase history and interaction with a database generator. By providing such a reward the user may achieve an increment in their mobile account without having to access a retail outlet or other channel of traditional update for that account. The timing of the update can then be correlated with the user responses in that the reward is a result of a user initiated communication with a system of the present teaching which may be timed commensurate with user need for a top-up. This addresses prior art problems where the user could be remotely located from third party vendors of top up credit at the time when the credit was required.

The system architecture 100 heretofore described is exemplary of an architecture provided within the context of the present teaching which is configured to be located between and interface with multiple external third- parties including:

a) The brand owner 1 10

b) The telco operator 120

c) The provider of the scratch cards 140

d) The user 130

As part of the system a plurality of scratch cards are provided to a brand owner where they are packaged in individual packages. On purchase by a customer these scratch cards are then used by the customer to interface with the system to collect a reward. On initiation of a call from a customer, the system is configured to implement a number of processes each of which are tailored to the specific customer and the instant communication. The collection of the data results both in a reward to the customer and the updating of datasets pertinent to usage and user profiles.

The system provides a number of different advantages including :

a) The generation and distribution of the scratch cards by for example

coding the scratch cards to ensure efficiency in the production process and to reduce risk of errors (Figure 2, Step 200, 205)

b) The process through which the promotional materials may be tracked through the production process which may also assist in fraud prevention (Figure 2, Steps 205, 220)

c) The reconciliation of the customer provided scratch card identifier with the previously generated identifiers to ensure legitimate access (Figure 2 (Step 220)

d) The determination of an appropriate language with which to engage with the customer (Figure 3, Step 305)

e) Creation of a purchase history through a monitoring of provision of

unique identifiers provided to the customer through a retail channel and then relayed back to the system by the user through a

telecommunication channel

f) The determination of an appropriate set of questions to pose to that customer dependent on the product type/customer access

frequency/customer type etc (Figure 4) g) The determination of an appropriate reward to provide to the customer for their purchase and engagement with the system (Figure 5) h) The provision of that reward through interaction and communication with the third party telco operator (Figure 3 Step 320).

i) The compilation of statistical overviews based on a plurality of user

interaction. j) The use of the crowd-sourced information (obtained by mining the profile database) to determine the rewards used to incentivize purchasing and profiling and also to optimize profile completion.

By using such a system dynamic information which provides usage patterns and correlation in user behaviour of those users may be generated and subsequently analysed. This stored data may be used through one or more extrapolation processes to represent future data measurements. In this way the future behaviour patterns of end-customers may be evaluated and predicted using larger datasets than previously available. As these behaviour patterns may then be tested through a modification of the question set used to interrogate the user seeking to obtain a redeemable reward for their mobile device it is then possible to dynamically and efficiently test any hypothesis on behaviour patterns based on actual and extensive user responses. Furthermore by providing a user, who may be uniquely identified through use of their mobile device, with a unique identifier that is previously associated with a specific product or service, subsequent provision by that user of that identifier allows the user's purchase history to be ascertained. This may be stored for a plurality of interactions by the user to enable the system to develop a highly personalised analysis platform of that specific user's purchase profile. This may be used in combination with other profiles to establish highly efficient and tailored demographic analysis. Individual profiles or datasets may be statistically weighted such that a reward may be for example based on a combination of analysis of:

1 ) An individual purchase history and profile;

2) A comparison of that purchase history and purchase profile with a

larger set of similar purchase profiles and history.

By using a mobile device as a reward delivery vehicle it is possible to reward users for their interaction with a system that is remote to them. The ability to limit the reward to those that actual wish to redeem the reward offers a highly efficient and tailored architecture that reduces waste. The reward generator may be optimised to analyse data related to that user's activity and other system users' activities to determine an appropriate reward to provide that user. The determined reward may then be provided to users using a reward provider module that could be implemented within the system architecture of the system 100 or located within the traditional architecture of a telco 120.

The user satisfaction with that reward may then be determined in a dynamic fashion in a subsequent interaction by that user with the system by a question generator defining appropriate questions for eliciting feedback from that user and analysing responses to update user profiles. The storage of user profiles within a datastore allows an application of statistical and numerical analysis to analyse and predict behaviour sub-sets of stored profiles and to then use that data to predict behaviour responses of other individuals based on a generalised determined response. By using crowd-sourcing information in this way it is possible to efficiently generate large scale demographic data based on real-time updates to dynamically generated datasets.

It will be appreciated that while the system is primarily configured to react to a user initiated communication session where the end-user contacts the system to redeem a value token for their mobile telecommunication account that the system could initiate a call back arrangement where on receipt of a user- initiated call, the system will extract a telephone number for the handset or mobile device initiating the call and then call that end-user back so as to minimise their exposure to call cost. In another arrangement the system could be configured, through interaction with the telco to provide free call services or a reverse billing arrangement whereby the system operator is charged for any call to the system.

The system may also be configured to initiate calls to prior users of the system when it is determined through an automated analysis of the datastores of the system that that user has not had any interaction with the system within a prescribed time period. These initiated calls could be effected to initiate a question tree based on that user's last interaction or could be simply be provision of a supplementary value token to incentive the user to use the system again. Within this context the term "call" may be considered a both a voice or data communication (such as SMS or the like) initiated by the system to the user.

It will be understood that while exemplary features of a system and methodology in accordance with the present teaching have been described that such an arrangement is not to be construed as limiting the invention to such features. A system and method for incrementing mobile telecommunication user accounts and/or analysing data extracted through end-customer interaction with the system can be implemented in software, firmware, hardware, or a

combination thereof. In one mode, the methodology is implemented in software, as an executable program, and is executed by one or more special or general purpose digital computer(s), such as a personal computer (PC; IBM- compatible, Apple-compatible, or otherwise), personal digital assistant, workstation, minicomputer, or mainframe computer. Therefore, the system or computer 100 as described with reference to Figure 1 may be considered as representative of any computer(s) in which the methodology heretofore described may be executed and or stored in a complete or partial fashion.

Generally, in terms of hardware architecture, such a computer will include, as will be well understood by the person skilled in the art, a processor, memory, and one or more input and/or output (I/O) devices (or peripherals) that are communicatively coupled via a local interface. The local interface can be, for example, but not limited to, one or more buses or other wired or wireless connections, as is known in the art. The local interface may have additional elements, such as controllers, buffers (caches), drivers, repeaters, and receivers, to enable communications. Further, the local interface may include address, control, and/or data connections to enable appropriate

communications among the other computer components.

The system will incorporate one or more processors provided as one or more hardware devices for executing software, particularly software stored in memory. Such processors can be any custom made or commercially available processor, a central processing unit (CPU), an auxiliary processor among several processors associated with the computer, a semiconductor based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip or chip set), a macroprocessor, or generally any device for executing software instructions. Examples of suitable commercially available microprocessors are as follows: a PA-RISC series microprocessor from Hewlett-Packard Company, an 80x86 or Pentium series microprocessor from Intel Corporation, a PowerPC microprocessor from IBM, a Sparc microprocessor from Sun Microsystems, Inc., or a 68xxx series microprocessor from Motorola Corporation. The system may also be provided or implemented in a distributed processing architecture.

Memory can include any one or a combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., random access memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM,

SDRAM, etc.)) and nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, tape, CDROM, etc.). Moreover, memory may incorporate electronic, magnetic, optical, and/or other types of storage media. Memory can have a distributed architecture where various components are situated remote from one another, but are still accessed by processor.

The software in memory may include one or more separate programs. The separate programs comprise ordered listings of executable instructions for implementing logical functions. In the example of heretofore described, the software in memory includes the one or more components of the system and method for providing rewards to users based on their interaction with a set of generated questions and is executable on a suitable operating system (O/S). Operating system essentially controls the execution of other computer programs, such as that provided by the teaching of the invention, and provides scheduling, input-output control, file and data management, memory

management, and communication control and related services.

An apparatus provided in accordance with the present teaching may include components provided as a source program, executable program (object code), script, or any other entity comprising a set of instructions to be

performed. When a source program, the program needs to be translated via a compiler, assembler, interpreter, or the like, which may or may not be included within the memory , so as to operate properly in connection with the O/S. Furthermore, a methodology implemented according to the teaching of the invention may be expressed as (a) an object oriented programming language, which has classes of data and methods, or (b) a procedural programming language, which has routines, subroutines, and/or functions, for example but not limited to, C, C++, Pascal, Basic, Fortran, Cobol, Perl, Java, and Ada.

The interface or I/O devices and components of the computer may include input devices, for example but not limited to, input modules for PLCs, a keyboard, mouse, scanner, microphone, touch screens, interfaces for various medical devices, bar code readers, stylus, laser readers, radio-frequency device readers, etc. Furthermore, the I/O devices may also include output devices, for example but not limited to, output modules for PLCs, a printer, bar code printers, displays, etc. Finally, the I/O devices may further include devices that communicate both inputs and outputs, for instance but not limited to, a modulator/demodulator (modem; for accessing another device, system, or network), a radio frequency (RF) or other transceiver, a telephonic interface, a bridge, and a router.

When the methodology of the present teaching is implemented in software, it should be noted that such software can be stored on any computer readable medium for use by or in connection with any computer related system or method. In the context of this document, a computer readable medium is an electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical device or means that can contain or store a computer program for use by or in connection with a computer related system or method. Such an arrangement can be embodied in any computer- readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor- containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In the context of this document, a "computer-readable medium" can be any means that can store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer readable medium can be for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection (electronic) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a random access memory (RAM) (electronic), a read-only memory (ROM) (electronic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM, or Flash memory) (electronic), an optical fibre (optical), and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical). Note that the computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.

Any process descriptions or blocks in Figures, such as those described in Figures 2 through 5, should be understood as representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process, and alternate implementations are included within the scope of the embodiments of the present invention in which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly, any "preferred" embodiments, are possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the invention without substantially departing from the spirit and principles of the invention. All such modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention and protected by the following claims. However while it is intended that the invention should be construed with reference to the claims that follow, other aspects may be considered within the context of one or more of the following numbered clauses. The features of these clauses provide exemplary information as to how by incrementing a mobile user account it is possible to generate user profiles of one or more population sectors of a population is described. The method enables a dynamic updating of user profiles and enables generation of crowd sourced data through a reward mechanism that provides mobile telecommunication credit to a user in response to their participation in a data mining exercise. By uniquely associating the user with their mobile device and then using the mobile device both as the means for effecting the harvesting of the data and for providing a reward to the user, the system may be deployed on a widescale level with interactions with a plurality of end users in multiple geographical locations simultaneously. Such an aspect of the present teaching may be considered with reference to the following clauses.

1 . A method of generating user profiles of one or more population sectors of a population, the method comprising:

a. Generating a plurality of individual printed media items, each of the printed media items having a unique identifier printed thereon;

b Distributing the plurality of printed media items to end-users; c Facilitating a telecommunication interaction between end-users and a computer architecture;

d Generating a question set for posing to the end-users based on user input identifiers extracted from the telecommunication interaction and the printed media items;

e Storing the answers to questions posed within a dataset

provided within the computer architecture; and

f. Analysing the dataset to generate the user profiles.

2. The method of clause 1 wherein individual ones of the printed media

items are grouped into two or more sets, the sets being distinguished from each other via a visual identifier. The method of clause 2 wherein the visual identifier is a colour identifier, different sets being distinguished from one another by their colour.

The method of any preceding clause wherein the printed media items are printed cards.

The method of clause 4 wherein the printed cards are scratch cards, the unique identifier being provided below a scratchable element of the card. The method of any preceding clause wherein the question set is dynamically created for each telecommunication interaction.

The method of any preceding clause comprising rewarding an end-user by effecting a top-up of a mobile telecommunication account associated with that end-user.

The method of clause 7 comprising analysing the user profile prior to generating the top-up of the user account; the value of the top-up being determined from the analysis of the user profile.

The method of clause 6 wherein the question set comprises a plurality of questions selected from a larger set of questions stored within the system.

. The method of clause 9 comprising generating the question set specifically in response to individual communications between the system and the end-user.

. The method of clause 9 or 10 comprising generating the question set based on an analysis of data already stored in the architecture.

. The method of clause 1 1 wherein the stored data is representative of all communications between end-users and the system.

. The method of any preceding clause comprising providing a plurality of questions to the end-user in a sequential order, the sequence of subsequent questions based on preceding answers.

. The method of any preceding clause comprising providing a plurality of questions to the end-user in a sequential order and dynamically varying the sequence of questions based on an analysis of data already stored in the datastore.

The method of any preceding clause comprising storing the generated user profiles.

The method of clause 15 comprising updating the user profile based on repeated interaction by the user with the computer architecture.

The method of any preceding clause comprising generating a population profile based on a plurality of interactions by different users with the architecture.

The method of any preceding clause wherein the reward generator is configured to dynamically vary the value of the value token that may be incremented to a mobile telecommunication account associated with the end-user based on an analysis the purchase history of the user.

The method of any preceding clause wherein the reward generator is configured to dynamically vary the value of the value token that may be incremented to a mobile telecommunication account associated with the end-user based on an analysis of questions posed to the user.

The method of clause 7 comprising dynamically varying the value of the value token that may be incremented to a mobile telecommunication account associated with the end-user based on an analysis of

characteristics of the end-user.

The method of clause 7 or 20 comprising dynamically varying the value of the value token that may be incremented to a mobile

telecommunication account associated with the end-user based on an analysis of characteristics of the end-user when compared with an analysis of other end-users.

The method of any preceding clause wherein the unique identifiers are associated with specific products or services provided by a third party and the question set comprises a plurality of questions selected from a larger set of questions based on an identification of the products or services provided by the third party.

23. The method of any preceding clause of any preceding clause wherein the facilitated telecommunication interaction between end-users and the computer architecture is a telecommunication interaction with a mobile device, and an IMSI or MSISDN identifier for that mobile device is extracted during that interaction.

24. The method of clause 20 comprising using the extracted identifier to uniquely identify that end-customer for the purpose of immediate interrogation or for subsequent analysis purposes.

25. The method of any preceding clause using computer generated

language talk -back and/or interactive voice responses for facilitating the telecommunication interaction.

26. The method of clause 24comprising on uniquely identifying the end-user choosing an appropriate language to interact with that end user.

27. The method of clause 26 wherein the appropriate language is effected through one of: a. a lookup of call origination;

b. examination of previous records for that user or user type.

28. The method of any preceding clause configured to monitor for repeated interactions by one or more identified end-users and to initiate a telecommunication session to one or more of the identified end-users of the system on determination that a prescribed time period has elapsed since an interaction with the system by the one or more identified end- users.

9. A computer system configured for generating user profiles of one or more population sectors of a population, the system comprising:

a. A first datastore having a plurality of unique identifiers stored therein, each of the unique identifiers being associated with an individual printed media items, each of the printed media items having the unique identifier printed thereon;

b. Interface means for facilitating a telecommunication interaction with mobile handheld telecommunication devices associated with individual end-users;

c. Data input means for receiving input data during a

telecommunication interaction with an end-user, the input data being an end-user provided unique identifier previously provided to that end-user on a printed media item

d. A question generator for generating a question set for posing to the end-user during the telecommunication interaction, the question set being based on the end-user provided unique identifier and an identifier uniquely identifying that end-user; e. Storage means for storing the answers to questions posed

within a dataset provided within the computer system; and f. Analysis means for analysing the dataset to generate the user profiles.

30. The system of clause 29 comprising a language identifier, the language identifier automatically determining an appropriate language for communication with the end-user during the telecommunication interaction.

31 .The system of clause 29 or 30 wherein the interface means effects a computer implemented voice interaction with the end-user during the telecommunication interaction.

Therefore while the present teaching has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments it will be understood that such embodiments are provided as illustrative of the teaching of the invention which is not to be limited in any fashion except as may be deemed necessary in the light of the appended claims. The words comprises/comprising when used in this specification are to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers , steps, components or groups thereof.