WO2001039052A1

WO2001039052A1 - Method and system for managing access to telecommunication services in a programme for enlisting customers and promoting customer loyalty, and dedicated mobile communication equipment

Info

Publication number: WO2001039052A1
Application number: PCT/FR2000/003296
Authority: WO
Inventors: Férid Allani
Original assignee: Allani Ferid
Priority date: 1999-11-26
Filing date: 2000-11-24
Publication date: 2001-05-31
Also published as: AU2178301A; FR2801703A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a method for managing access to telecommunication services for enlisting customers and promoting customer loyalty which consists in providing through a merchant site to a customer access to services offered by a telecommunication operator in partnership from a mobile communication equipment. Said method consists in supplying, by said merchant site to said operator via one or several communication networks, acquisition data for opening, on behalf of said merchant site and for the benefit of the customer, a telecommunication account with said operator; and processing the consumption data concerning the customer to manage on said telecommunication account an access credit to telecommunication services. The invention is in particular useful for direct bank activities, direct insurance, mail-order selling, by telephone and on Internet and electronic commerce.

Description

"Method and system for managing access to telecommunications services in the context of a customer acquisition and loyalty program, and dedicated mobile communication equipment"

DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a method for managing access to telecommunication services in the context of a customer acquisition and loyalty program. It also relates to a system implementing this process, as well as mobile communication equipment dedicated to this process.

Acquiring and retaining customers is the major concern of any business selling goods or services. In particular, the significant competition observed in the services sector has led to the emergence of new techniques for acquiring and retaining customers. We can for example cite the many loyalty programs implementing the opening, for each member customer or member of these programs, of an account of points calculated according to the volume of consumption, and many variants of these programs currently exist. in the loyalty and incentive market. However, these programs are essentially oriented towards an objective of loyalty of an already acquired clientele, by encouraging this clientele to consume always more from the companies initiating these programs, and they present a mediocre efficiency in terms of acquiring a new clientele.

The document EP0367361 discloses a customer activation system implementing the provision of a mobile telephone service, this system comprising a regional processor programmed to accept customer identification information, obtain communication credit for the customer, assign a telephone number to the customer, and insert and activate that telephone number in a cellular switch. The document US5887253 discloses a method for activating and putting into service a cellular telephone, and describes the steps of developing identification data, recording this data in SIM modules, and communicating account data to an operator. service provider.

Furthermore, there is a need for methods of managing access to telecommunication services which have a lower operating cost than current methods which require relatively complex monitoring and account management tools.

The object of the invention is to remedy this drawback by proposing a method for managing access to telecommunications services in the context of a customer acquisition and loyalty program, which takes into account an objective of customer acquisition, while being more efficient and less costly than current processes.

The above objectives are achieved with a method for managing access to telecommunications services in the context of a customer acquisition and loyalty program including the provision by a merchant site to a customer of access to services. offered by a partner telecommunications operator using mobile communication equipment, including:

- a supply, by said merchant site to said operator via one or more communication networks, of acquisition data to open, on behalf of said merchant site and - - _>, -

for the benefit of said customer, a telecommunications account with said operator, and

a processing of consumption data relating to said customer to manage on said telecommunication account a credit for access by said client to telecommunication services.

According to the invention, the method further comprises:

a determination of an incentive credit for the benefit of the client comprising an initial acquisition credit and a variable component depending in particular on transactions carried out by said client on said merchant site, and

- control of access to telecommunications services provided by the partner operator, this access being conditional on the existence of an incentive credit associated with said merchant site or with partner merchant sites which is greater than a predetermined value .

The term merchant site is understood here to mean any entity selling goods or services, physically located at points of sale and / or virtually on the Internet through a server, as well as any mail order site.

This process may also include: collection, via one or more communication networks, of data relating to acts of consumption carried out by the customer at one or more partner merchant sites,

- processing of this data to determine an incentive telephone credit (ΔC +) in favor of said customer, and

- a transfer, to means for managing said customer's access rights to telecommunications services offered by a partner telecommunications operator, of information relating to the incentive telephone credit (ΔC +) thus determined. The method according to the invention can advantageously be implemented by any company selling or wishing to sell direct, by means of a simple telephone link, of goods or services, for example in the sectors of direct banking, insurance, direct sales and mail order.

A major advantage of the process according to the invention lies in the fact that, unlike most other processes, this process makes it possible to process the acquisition of new customers at the same time as their loyalty.

Indeed, the supply of mobile communication equipment and an initial credit for a new customer not yet equipped, the reimbursement or the total or partial renewal of a subscription for a customer already equipped with a mobile phone with subscription , or even the recharging of a card for a customer equipped with telephone equipment without subscription, constitute as many incentives to adhere to a consumption program which later becomes a loyalty program. In addition, the management of loyalty data is particularly simplified compared to current point account management methods insofar as the telephone credits of member consumers are the only means of loyalty, hence a real prospect of cost reduction Management.

An essential aspect of the method according to the invention resides in the fact that it is the merchant site which directly pays the telecommunications operator the bill for the mobile telephone which the customer has access to. When a customer's telephone credit is exhausted, the telephone line granted to the customer is then cut, in order to avoid that once the welcome gift is offered by the merchant s received and exhausted, the customer does not use his mobile phone without acquiring goods or services on the merchant site.

Furthermore, with the management method according to the invention in its “loyalty” component, the merchant site has privileged access with its client and it can in particular, under the pretext of keeping it informed of the state of its credit by telephone, canvass directly and at low cost with regard to the costs incurred by current loyalty processes.

A management site is understood here to mean a site responsible for ensuring the functions of collecting purchase information, managing telephone credits and communicating with the various components of the access management system for telecommunications services according to the invention. This site can either be integrated into the merchant site, or constitute a separate entity operating on behalf of one or more merchant sites.

By means of managing access rights to communication services, here is meant any device making it possible to store and process data from communication units. These management means can be either remote and controlled by a telecommunications operator, or local and integrated into mobile communication equipment, or in any other technical form adapted to the type of mobile equipment concerned.

In an advantageous implementation of the method according to the invention, it further comprises processing, by the merchant site, of direct access request data sent by the customer from a mobile communication equipment provided by said merchant site and comprising means of direct access to said merchant site. This feature helps to strengthen the links between the acquired customer and the merchant site, by simplifying the terms of access to the services offered by it. Furthermore, the method according to the invention preferably further comprises recording, in permanent memory means (SIM) of a mobile communication equipment held by the customer, of data relating to the telecommunications account opened for the benefit of said customer. and on behalf of said merchant site. This registration may advantageously relate to call data from the merchant site and / or from one or more partner merchant sites.

When the method according to the invention is implemented for the acquisition and loyalty of a customer holding dice, associated with an initial call number, access to telecommunications services from a partner operator, it may then include, within said partner operator, selective access management by the customer either via the initial call number or via a call number assigned when opening the telecommunications account in the name of the merchant site.

When this process is implemented for the acquisition and loyalty of a customer already holding, associated with an initial call number, access to telecommunications services from an operator not a partner of the merchant site, it may then also include a redirection of any call corresponding to the initial call number to the call number assigned when opening the telecommunications account with an operator partner of the merchant site. When this process is implemented for the acquisition and loyalty of a customer holding dice, associated with an initial call number, access to telecommunications services from an operator not a partner of the merchant site, it can then understand in furthermore, in response to any call intended for the initial call number, a transmission of a message providing the incentive call number allocated when the incentive account is opened. In an advantageous version of the invention, this method further comprises providing, on the mobile communication equipment of an acquired customer, both information relating to his incentive telephone credit and commercial information. In the case where the credit determination operations are carried out in a management site associated with the merchant site, each collection of purchase data triggers, after determination of the communication credit (ΔC +), a transfer from the management site of credit information to the first telecommunications operator (OT).

The triggering of a communication credit information transfer operation can for example be carried out when the cumulative sum (ΣΔC +) of the communication credits reaches a predetermined value.

According to another aspect of the invention, a system is proposed for managing access to telecommunication services in the context of a customer acquisition and loyalty program including the supply by a merchant site to a customer of '' access to services offered by a partner telecommunications operator from mobile communication equipment, comprising: means for providing said operator, via one or more communication networks, with acquisition data for opening, on behalf of said commercial site and for the benefit of said customer, a telecommunication account with said operator, - Means for processing consumption data relating to said client to manage on said telecommunication account a credit for access by said client to telecommunication services, - Means for determining an incentive credit for the benefit of the client comprising a credit initial acquisition and a variable component depending in particular on transactions carried out by said customer on said merchant site. The system according to the invention is characterized in that it further comprises means for controlling access to the telecommunications services provided by the partner operator, this access being conditioned on the existence of an associated incentive credit. said merchant site or to partner merchant sites which is greater than a predetermined value.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a mobile communication equipment, for example a portable telephone, implemented in the system according to the invention, characterized in that it comprises means for providing its user means for direct access to the merchant site operating this system or to partner merchant sites of said system.

This mobile communication equipment can also advantageously include means for selecting access to communication services offered by a partner operator, either via an initial account in the name of the customer using said mobile communication equipment, or via the incentive account. opened for the benefit of said client.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear in the description below. In the appended drawings given by way of nonlimiting examples: FIG. 1 is a synthetic table grouping together a set of typical configurations for implementing the method according to the invention;

Figures 2A and 2B are block diagrams illustrating the step of acquiring a customer already benefiting from the services of a partner operator, with allocation of a new number, respectively in single and double line options; - Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating the step of acquiring a customer already benefiting from the services of a partner operator, with maintenance of his initial telephone number; Figures 4A and 4B are block diagrams illustrating the step of acquiring a customer already benefiting from the services of a non-partner operator, with allocation of a new telephone number, respectively in single and double line options ; - Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating the step of acquiring a customer already benefiting from the services of a non-partner operator, with maintenance of its initial number; Figure 6 is a block diagram of a loyalty phase in the context of the method according to the invention;

FIG. 7 represents the general structure of an access management system according to the invention; and FIGS. 8A and 8B represent examples of the temporal evolution of telephone accounts managed by the method according to the invention.

We will now describe, with reference to the table in FIG. 1 and to the diagrams of FIGS. 2 to 5, stages of the acquisition process implemented in the method according to the invention, according to different initial situations of the customer acquired and options taken by the latter.

It is considered beforehand that the merchant site instigating the acquisition and loyalty program or partner of a group of merchant sites adhering to this program has concluded agreements with several telecommunications operators designated hereafter by the reference A but n ' has not signed an agreement with other telecommunications operators designated hereafter by the reference B.

Several characteristic initial or previous situations are considered here:

It: the customer does not have a mobile phone, 12: the customer has a mobile phone and benefits from the services, with or without subscription, of an operator A,

13: the customer has a mobile phone and benefits from the services, with or without subscription, of an operator B.

In the initial situation 12, two options can be offered to the client:

121: allocation of a new telephone number by an operator A (which may be the initial operator or another partner operator),

122: maintenance of the initial telephone number with the initial operator.

In the initial situation 13, two options can be offered to the client:

131: assignment of a new telephone number by operator A, 132: maintenance of the telephone number with operator B.

From initial situation II, an account is opened with a partner operator A by the merchant site for the benefit of the acquired customer, the subscription being fully supported by the merchant site. A mobile phone is provided to the customer, this mobile phone being provided with a SIM card preferably including a telephone number to the merchant site or partner sites of this merchant site and which may be provided with one or more specific keys d 'direct access to the merchant site.

From the initial situation 12 and the option

121 (allocation of a new telephone number), it may be offered to the customer, either the termination of their previous contract and the opening of a new account in the name of the merchant site and for the benefit of the customer, or the maintenance of his previous contract and the opening of a second account in the name of the merchant site and for the benefit of the customer who then has two call lines. In both cases, the customer may be offered a new mobile phone with or without one or more specific call buttons for the merchant site or partner sites, with systematic supply of a new SIM card including or not one or several direct call numbers. In the event that the customer has terminated his previous contract, he may be offered a service for redirecting calls to his old telephone number. From the initial situation 12 and the option

122 (maintenance of the initial telephone number), the previous contract signed with operator A is terminated and an account is opened with this same operator for the benefit of the customer acquired by the merchant site. The customer can be allocated, on his request or on the proposal of the merchant site, a new mobile phone.

From initial situation 13 (services initially provided by a non-partner operator) and option 131 (allocation of a new number), he can be offered to the customer either to terminate his previous contract, or to maintain this previous contract with operator B and then have two lines. An account is opened with a partner operator A by the merchant site for the benefit of the customer who can receive, according to the incentive program, a new mobile phone. In the event that the customer has opted for termination of his previous contract, he may be offered a service for redirecting address calls to his initial call number to the new call number.

From the initial situation 13 and option 132 (maintenance of the initial number), the previous contract with operator B is terminated and an account is opened with operator A by the merchant site for the benefit of the customer, who may be equipped with a new mobile phone. Within the limit of the technical capacities of partner operator A, a service can be offered to redirect calls addressed to the initial call number to operator A. A system for managing access to telecommunications services S includes for example, with reference to FIG. 7, a management site SG managing the acquisition and loyalty operations on behalf of one or more merchant sites SM participating in the program. This management site implements a customer database BC containing “customer” files C, Ci comprising data relating to transactions T, T of purchase of goods or services carried out by each of the clients adhering to the program. The management site SG is linked to a telecommunication operator OT managing a mobile communication network RC connected to a telecommunication network RT. It can also be linked to a CA call center responsible for processing information requests and purchase orders made by telephone or any other communication medium such as the Internet.

Each client C, Ci adhering to the program has a mobile phone MOi, MO with a CS, Csi card of SIM type. It is also optionally possible to provide a telephone number NT of the call center CA to be pre-stored in the memory of the SIM card.

We will now describe, with reference to FIG. 7, the exchanges and transfers of information and data carried out within the framework of the method according to the invention. The merchant site or the management site in charge of acquisition and loyalty operations on behalf of this merchant site or for a set of merchant sites, informs its acquired customers that they can earn a unit or time credit communication or a subscription renewal, according to criteria of determination depending on the strategy of the merchant site.

After opening a CC, CCi customer account, each issue of a purchase order made by a customer from their mobile phone on a partner merchant site results in the transmission of transaction data to the CA call center which then receives and processes the requested transaction which is executed by the management site. The latter then issues a credit order for the customer's telephone account to the telecommunications operator in the form of a ΔC + increment of this account.

We can also provide that the management site accumulates, on behalf of the client, a series of increments earned by the latter following purchases of goods or services, and that this accumulation ΣΔC + is periodically transferred to the account telephone from customer or transferred when a predetermined credit level has been reached.

It is important to note that access to telecommunication services from the mobile phone made available to the customer is only possible if the communication credit held by the customer is positive, which constitutes an effective incentive to pursue his purchases on the merchant site promoting this loyalty program. To finance the costs of managing the process, it can also be provided that the communication costs incurred during the customer's communications with the call center, are borne in whole or in part by this customer in the form of a debit ΔC- of his phone account. A first example of the time evolution of the telephone account of a customer adhering to a loyalty program implementing the data management method according to the invention is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 8A. After provision by the management site of an initial credit Co, each subsequent purchase made by this customer induces a loyalty operation leading to the provision of a telephone credit ΔC +. When the purchase is made from the mobile telephone communicating with the call center, the telephone account is debited with a quantity ΔC- corresponding to a contribution to the communication costs.

In a second example illustrated by FIG. 8B, corresponding to a management of the customers' telephone accounts by accumulation of credits, a loyalty account is managed by the management site to accumulate the communication credits successively earned by each client. The accumulated credit is then transferred to the customer telephone account managed by the telecommunications operator. Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples which have just been described and numerous modifications can be made to these examples without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, provision may be made for the mobile telephone supplied to the customer to have a quick or direct access function to the call center of the merchant site. In addition, many variants in determining and processing communication credits can be envisaged. In addition, mobile phones with Internet access can be used, allowing in particular access to the websites of partner merchant sites.

Claims

1. Method for managing access to telecommunications services in the context of a customer acquisition and loyalty program including the provision by a merchant site to a customer of access to services offered by an operator of partner telecommunication from mobile communication equipment, comprising: a supply, by said merchant site to said operator via one or more communication networks, of acquisition data to open, on behalf of said merchant site and for the benefit of said client, a telecommunication account with said operator, and processing of consumption data relating to said client to manage on said telecommunication account a credit for access by said client to telecommunication services, characterized in that it further comprises: a determination of an incentive credit for the benefit of the client including an initial acquisition credit and a variable component depends ant in particular of transactions carried out by said customer on said merchant site, and a control of access to telecommunications services provided by the partner operator, this access being conditional on the existence of an incentive credit associated with said merchant site or to partner merchant sites which is greater than a predetermined value.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises collection, via one or more communication networks, of data relating to acts of consumption carried out by the customer at one or more partner merchant sites, - processing of this data to determine an incentive telephone credit (ΔC +) in favor said client, and - a transfer, to means for managing access rights of said client to telecommunications services offered by a partner telecommunications operator, of information relating to the incentive telephone credit (ΔC +) thus determined.

3. Method according to claim 2, in which the credit determination operations are carried out in a management site associated with the merchant site, characterized in that each collection of purchase data triggers, after determination of the communication credit (ΔC +) , a transfer from the credit information management site to the first telecommunications operator (OT).

4. Method according to one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the triggering of a communication credit information transfer operation is carried out when the cumulative sum (ΣΔC +) of the communication credits reaches a predetermined value.

5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises processing, by the merchant site, of direct access request data sent by the customer from mobile communication equipment supplied by said site. merchant and comprising means of direct access to said merchant site.

6. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises recording, in permanent memory means (SIM) of a mobile communication equipment held by the customer, of data relating to the account of telecommunications opened for the benefit of the said customer and on behalf of the said merchant site.

7. Method according to claim 6, characterized in that it further comprises recording, in permanent memory means (SIM) of the customer's mobile communication equipment, call data from the merchant site and / or one or more partner merchant sites.

8. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, implemented for the acquisition and loyalty of a customer already holding, associated with an initial call number, access to telecommunications services from an operator. partner, characterized in that it further comprises within said partner operator, selective management of access by the client either via the initial call number or via a call number assigned when the account of telecommunications on behalf of the merchant site.

9. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, implemented for the acquisition and loyalty of a customer already holding, associated with an initial call number, access to telecommunication services from an operator not a partner of the merchant site, characterized in that it also includes a redirection of any call corresponding to the initial call number to the call number assigned during the opening of the telecommunication account with an operator partner of the merchant site.

10. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, implemented for the acquisition and loyalty of a customer already holding, associated with an initial call number, access to telecommunication services from an operator. not a partner of the merchant site, characterized in that it further comprises, in response to any call intended for the initial call number, a transmission of a message providing the incentive call number allocated during the opening from the incentive account.

11. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises a supply, on the mobile communication equipment of an acquired customer, both of information relating to his telephone credit of incentive and business information.

12. System for managing access to telecommunications services in the context of a customer acquisition and loyalty program including the provision by a merchant site to a customer of access to services offered by an operator of Partner telecommunications from mobile communication equipment, comprising: means for providing said operator via one or more communication networks, acquisition data to open, on behalf of said merchant site and for the benefit of said customer, an account of telecommunication at said operator, - Means for processing consumption data relating to said client to manage on said telecommunication account a credit for access by said client to telecommunication services, and - means for determining an incentive credit for the benefit of the client comprising a initial acquisition credit and a variable component depending in particular on transactions carried out by said customer on said commercial site, characterized in that it further comprises means for controlling access to the telecommunications services provided by the partner operator, this access being conditional on the existence of an incentive credit associated with said merchant site or with partner merchant sites which is greater than a predetermined value.

13. System according to claim 12, characterized in that it further comprises means for processing direct access request data sent by the customer from a mobile communication equipment provided by said merchant site and comprising means for direct access to said merchant site.

14. System according to one of claims 12 or 13, characterized in that it further comprises means for recording, in permanent memory means (SIM) of a mobile communication equipment held by the customer, data relating to the telecommunications account opened for the benefit of the said customer and in the name of the said marcnand site.

15. The system of claim 14, characterized in that it further comprises means for recording, in permanent memory means (SIM) of the equipment mobile communication of the customer, call data from the merchant site and / or one or more partner merchant sites.

16. System according to one of claims 13 to 15, implemented for the acquisition and loyalty of a customer already holding, associated with an initial call number, access to telecommunications services from a partner operator, characterized in that it further comprises means for managing access by the customer to the telecommunications services offered by said operator, either via the initial call number or via a call number assigned during the opening of the telecommunications account in the name of the merchant site.

17. System according to any one of claims 12 to

16, implemented for the acquisition and loyalty of a customer already holding, associated with an initial call number, access to telecommunications services from an operator not a partner of the merchant, characterized in that that it further comprises means for redirecting any call corresponding to the initial call number to the call number allocated when opening the telecommunication account with a partner operator of the merchant site.

18. System according to any one of claims 12 a

17, implemented for the acquisition and loyalty of a customer who already owns, associates with an initial call number, access to telecommunication services from an operator not a partner of the commercial site, characterized in that it further comprises, in response to any call intended for the initial call number, means for transmitting a message providing the call number incentive allocated when opening the incentive account.

19. System according to any one of claims 12 to 18, characterized in that it further comprises means for supplying, on the mobile communication equipment of an acquired customer, both information relating to his credit. telephone incentive and business information.

20. Mobile communication equipment, implemented in the system according to any one of claims 12 to 19, comprising means for providing its user with means for direct access to the merchant site operating this system or to partner merchant sites of said system. system, characterized in that it further comprises means for selecting an access to communications services offered by a partner operator, either via an initial account in the name of the user client of said mobile communication equipment, or via the account of open incentive for the benefit of said client.