SMS inquiry and invitation distribution method and system

摘要

The invention is an SMS distribution method for inquiries, invitations and proposals in which inquiries are sent to mobile telephone numbers included in a distribution list and their replies are collected as text messages via the SMS service (7) provided by the telecommunications network by means of a software program (1) installed on a server (2). The problem in distributing inquiries with existing SMS services has been the limited possibility of replying to the sending telecommunications operator and separating replies to several inquiries from one another. In the method embodied by this invention, universally reachable mobile network numbers (11) are used as reply addresses for the inquiries, invitations and proposals, and replies are separated from one another by means of reply addresses consisting of public mobile communication network numbers and SMS service numbers and automatically generated reply symbols.

主权项

1. A method for managing a plurality of inquiries to one or more recipients and receiving a plurality of inquiry replies in a network, the method comprising:
defining, at a server, a plurality of reply addresses available for assignment to each of the plurality of inquiries, the reply addresses being the addresses to which replies to the inquiries are routed; assigning, at the server, one of the defined reply addresses to an inquiry of the plurality of inquiries; transmitting the inquiry with the assigned reply address to at least one recipient, wherein the inquiry includes a choice question containing one or more reply alternatives indicated by corresponding choice symbols and wherein the assigned reply address is indicated as a sender of the inquiry with the assigned reply address; and verifying authenticity of at least one inquiry reply based on the replier's mobile number and choice symbol in the inquiry reply or based on the reply address to which the inquiry reply was routed and the choice symbol in the inquiry reply.