AUTOMATIC CONNECTION OF TELEPHONE CALLS WITH CONCURRENT ADVERTISEMENT DISPLAY

摘要

A system and method for subscribers of interactive services to automatically initiate least-cost telephone calls while viewing a series of interactive advertisements displayed during the telephone call. The system can be implemented in a two-way television system or a computer network such as the Internet. The subscriber selects a party to be called from a list of frequently called telephone numbers displayed on the subscriber's television set or computer monitor and this information is transmitted to an Interactive Television system or Internet Server. The Interactive Television system automatically determines the calling subscriber's telephone number and passes this number and the selected called party's number on to a call bridging gateway. The call bridging gateway dials the subscriber's telephone number and the called party's telephone number, and bridge connects the two parties together. Since the subscribers are required to be in front of their respective display screens to make a low-cost telephone call, an opportunity is created to show the subscriber interactive advertisements during the call.