Anonymous interactive telephone system

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A telephone communication method for anonymously enabling a subscriber at a subscriber station to communicate with a caller at a caller station, said method allowing said caller to communicate with said subscriber without said caller knowing the identity of said subscriber prior to establishing communication with said subscriber, but knowing a particular subscriber with whom communication is desired, and allowing the identity of said particular subscriber and said caller to be kept anonymous during communication between said particular subscriber and said caller unless voluntarily revealed by either said particular subscriber or said caller, said method including the steps of:

storing data at a system controller station that is received from a plurality of subscribers at a plurality of subscriber stations, such data including the telephone number of each of said subscriber stations and a corresponding reference number for each of said subscriber stations;

publishing the telephone number of said system controller station and publishing advertisements including said reference numbers for said corresponding subscriber stations;

receiving a call from a caller station to said system controller station;

receiving a published reference number corresponding to a telephone number of said particular subscriber at a particular subscriber station from said caller at said caller station in communication with said system controller station;

matching said received published reference number with the telephone number of said particular subscriber station; and

automatically transferring said call received from said caller station at said system controller station to said particular subscriber station.

2. The method of claim 1 and further including the step of storing call transferring instructions at said system controller station as programmed by each of said subscribers at said subscriber stations.

3. The method of claim 1 and further comprising the step of recording a message from said caller station in communication with said system controller station if said particular subscriber station is unavailable to receive a call.

4. The method of claim 3 including the step of enabling said subscriber at said particular subscriber station to review recorded messages.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the published reference number can be made inactive by said subscriber at said subscriber station.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein data received from said caller station in communication with said system controller station is stored at said system controller station, said data including a telephone number of said caller station in communication with said system controller station and a corresponding caller reference number for said caller station.

7. The method of claim 1 and further comprising the step of receiving data from a caller station such as to enable the caller station to become a subscriber station.

8. A telephone communication network for anonymously interlinking a subscriber at a subscriber station and caller at a caller station for effecting communication between said subscriber and said caller, the network including:

system controller means having a published telephone number;

memory means in said system controller means, said memory means containing stored telephone numbers and corresponding published reference numbers for a plurality of subscriber stations, and means for indexing said published reference numbers to the corresponding telephone numbers;

means for communicating with said system controller means by way of said published telephone number; and

means for transferring a call from a caller station received at said system controller means to a particular subscriber station upon the provision by a caller station of a published reference number for said particular subscriber station so that the identity of said subscriber at said particular subscriber station can be unknown to said caller at said caller station prior to establishing communication between said caller and said subscriber, and the identity of said subscriber and said caller can be kept anonymous during communication between said subscriber and said caller unless voluntarily revealed by either said subscriber or said caller.

9. The network of claim 8 and further comprising means for recording a message from said caller station upon the unavailability of said particular subscriber station, said message including a call-back reference number;

means for storing a telephone number of said caller station and indexing said telephone number to said call-back reference number;

means for playing back said message to said particular subscriber station; and

means for anonymously enabling communication between said particular subscriber station and said caller station on the basis of subscriber station input of said call-back reference number of said caller station.

10. The network of claim 8 and further comprising means for recording a message from said caller station in communication with said system controller means upon the unavailability of said particular subscriber station, and means for playing back the recorded message to said particular subscriber station.

11. A method of anonymously enabling communication between a caller and a subscriber over public telephone lines, said method allowing said caller to communicate with said subscriber without said caller knowing the identity of said subscriber prior to establishing communication with said subscriber, but knowing a particular subscriber with whom communication is desired, and allowing the identity of said particular subscriber and said caller to be kept anonymous during communication between said particular subscriber and said caller unless voluntarily revealed by either said particular subscriber or said caller, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a published telephone number of a system controller;

storing in said system controller telephone numbers of a plurality of subscribers;

assigning to each subscriber a subscriber reference number corresponding to the subscriber's telephone number;

publishing an advertisement for each subscriber that contains a message and the subscriber's reference number;

receiving a call from a caller at said system controller through the means of said published telephone number of said system controller;

receiving a particular subscriber's published reference number corresponding to said particular subscriber from said caller; and

routing the call from said caller to said particular subscriber by indexing the received subscriber reference number to the corresponding stored telephone number and calling said particular subscriber's telephone number.

12. The method of claim 11 and further comprising the steps of:

recording a message upon the unavailability of said particular subscriber; and

providing the message to said particular subscriber.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein said subscriber's reference number can be made inactive by said subscriber.

14. The method of claim 11 and further comprising the step of verifying said subscriber reference number of said particular subscriber before connecting said particular subscriber to said caller.

15. The method of claim 11 and further comprising the step of receiving data from said caller such as to enable said caller to become a subscriber.

16. A method of enabling communication between a caller and a subscriber over public telephone lines, said method allowing said caller to communicate with said subscriber without knowing the identity of said subscriber prior to establishing communication with said subscriber, but knowing a particular subscriber with whom communication is desired, and allowing the identity of said particular subscriber and said caller to be kept anonymous unless voluntarily revealed by either said particular subscriber or said caller, said method comprising the steps of:

publishing a telephone number of a system controller station;

storing telephone numbers of subscribers and indexing said telephone numbers to corresponding published subscriber identifiers, said published subscriber identifiers being published in the public media;

receiving a call at said system controller station through the means of said published telephone number, and receiving a particular published subscriber identifier corresponding to said particular subscriber; and

transferring the received call to said particular subscriber by indexing the received particular published subscriber identifier to the telephone number of said particular subscriber.

17. A telephone communication method for anonymously interlinking a subscriber station and a caller station, the method including the steps of:

storing data at a system controller station that is received from a plurality of subscriber stations, such data including the telephone number of each of said subscriber stations and a corresponding reference number for each of said subscriber stations;

publishing the telephone number of said system controller station and ads including the reference numbers for respective subscriber stations;

receiving a call from a caller station to said system controller station;

receiving a published reference number corresponding to a particular subscriber station from said caller station in communication with said system controller station;

matching said received published reference number with the telephone number of said particular subscriber station;

automatically transferring said call received from said caller station at the system controller station to said particular subscriber station depending upon the availability of said particular subscriber station; and

recording a message from said caller station in communication with said system controller station if said particular subscriber station is unavailable to receive a call, such recorded message including a call-back reference number of said caller station that is indexed to a stored telephone number of said caller station.

18. The method of claim 17 including the step of enabling a subscriber at said particular subscriber station to review said recorded messages, including the call-back reference number but not the telephone number of said caller station.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein each subscriber station is provided with a telephone number to access said system controller station, and wherein each subscriber station calling said system controller station can be anonymously connected to a caller station by supplying said call-back reference number of said caller station.

20. A telephone communication network for anonymously interlinking a subscriber station and a caller station, the network including:

system controller means having a published telephone number;

memory means in said system controller means, said memory means containing stored telephone numbers and corresponding published reference numbers for a plurality of subscriber stations, and means for indexing said published reference numbers to the corresponding telephone numbers;

means for communicating with said system controller means by way of said published telephone number;

means for transferring a call from a caller station to a particular subscriber station on the basis of caller station input of a published reference number for a particular subscriber station;

means for recording a message from said caller station upon the unavailability of said particular subscriber station, said message including a call-back reference number;

means for storing a telephone number of said caller station and indexing said telephone number to said call-back reference number;

means for playing back said message to said particular subscriber station; and

means for anonymously connecting said particular subscriber station to said caller station on the basis of subscriber station input of said call-back reference number of said caller station.

21. A method of anonymously connecting a caller to a subscriber over public telephone lines, comprising the steps of:

providing a published telephone number of a system controller;

storing in said system controller telephone numbers of a plurality of subscribers;

assigning to each subscriber a subscriber reference number corresponding to the subscriber's telephone number;

publishing an ad for each subscriber that contains a message and the subscriber's reference number;

receiving a call from a caller at said system controller through the means of said published telephone number;

receiving a particular subscriber's published reference number corresponding to a particular subscriber from said caller;

routing the call from said caller to said particular subscriber depending upon the availability of said particular subscriber by indexing the received particular subscriber's published reference number to the corresponding stored telephone number and calling said particular subscriber's telephone number;

recording a message and a call-back reference number upon the unavailability of said particular subscriber;

providing the message and said call-back reference number to said particular subscriber; and

connecting said particular subscriber to said caller upon the particular subscriber providing the call-back reference number of said caller.

22. A telephone communication method for anonymously interlinking a subscriber station and a caller station, the method including the steps of:

storing data at a system controller station that is received from a plurality of subscriber stations, such data including the telephone number of each of said subscriber stations and a corresponding reference number for each of said subscriber stations;

publishing the telephone number of said system controller station and ads including the reference numbers for respective subscriber stations;

receiving a call from a caller station to said system controller station;

receiving a published reference number corresponding to a particular subscriber station from said caller station in communication with said system controller station;

matching said received published reference number with the telephone number of said particular subscriber station;

announcing to said caller station in communication with said system controller station the availability times of said particular subscriber corresponding to said published reference number received from said caller station; and

automatically transferring said call received from said caller station at the system controller station to said particular subscriber station depending upon the availability of said particular subscriber station.

23. A telephone communication method for anonymously interlinking a subscriber station and a caller station, the method including the steps of:

storing data at a system controller station that is received from a plurality of subscriber stations, such data including the telephone number of each of said subscriber stations and a corresponding reference number for each of said subscriber stations;

publishing the telephone number of said system controller station and ads including the reference numbers for respective subscriber stations;

receiving a call from a caller station to said system controller station;

receiving a published reference number corresponding to a particular subscriber station from said caller station in communication with said system controller station;

matching said received published reference number with the telephone number of said particular subscriber station;

automatically transferring said call received from said caller station at the system controller station to said particular subscriber station;

wherein data received from said caller station in communication with said system controller station is stored at said system controller station, such data including a telephone number of said caller station in communication with said system controller station and a corresponding caller reference number for said caller station.

24. A telephone communication method for anonymously interlinking a subscriber station and a caller station, the method including the steps of:

storing data at a system controller station that is received from a plurality of subscriber stations, such data including the telephone number of each of said subscriber stations and a corresponding reference number for each of said subscriber stations;

publishing the telephone number of said system controller station and ads including the reference numbers for respective subscriber stations;

receiving a call from a caller station to said system controller station;

receiving a published reference number corresponding to a telephone number of a particular subscriber station from said caller station in communication with said system controller station;

matching said received published reference number with the telephone number of said particular subscriber station; and

automatically transferring said call received from said caller station at the system controller station to said particular subscriber station if said reference number is active and valid.

25. A method of anonymously connecting a caller to a subscriber over public telephone lines comprising the steps of:

providing a published telephone number of a system controller;

storing in said system controller telephone numbers of a plurality of subscribers;

assigning to each subscriber a subscriber reference number corresponding to the subscriber's telephone number;

publishing an ad for each subscriber that contains a message and the subscriber's reference number;

receiving a call from a caller at said system controller through the means of said published telephone number;

receiving a particular subscriber's published reference number corresponding to a particular subscriber from said caller; and

routing the call from said caller to said particular subscriber if said reference number is active and valid by indexing the received reference number to the corresponding stored telephone number and calling said particular subscriber's telephone number.

26. A telephone communication method for anonymously enabling a subscriber at a subscriber station to communicate with a caller at a caller station, said method allowing said caller to communicate with said subscriber without said caller knowing the identity of said subscriber prior to establishing communication with said subscriber, but knowing a particular subscriber with whom communication is desired, and allowing the identity of said particular subscriber and said caller to be kept anonymous during communication between said particular subscriber and said caller unless voluntarily revealed by either said particular subscriber or said caller, said method including the steps of:

storing data at a system controller station that is received from a plurality of subscribers at a plurality of subscriber stations, such data including the telephone number of each of said subscriber stations and corresponding reference number for each of said subscriber stations;

publishing the telephone number of said system controller station and publishing advertisements including said reference numbers for said corresponding subscriber stations;

receiving a call from a caller station to said system controller station;

receiving a published reference number corresponding to a telephone number of said particular subscriber at a particular subscriber station from said caller at said caller station in communication with said system controller station;

matching said received published reference number with the telephone number of said particular subscriber station; and

automatically transferring said call received from said caller station at said system controller station to said particular subscriber station depending upon the status of said received published reference number.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the received published reference number from said caller station in communication with said system controller station must be an active and valid number to enable communication between said subscriber at said subscriber station and said caller at said caller station.

28. A method of anonymously enabling communication between a caller and a subscriber over public telephone lines, said method allowing said caller to communicate with said subscriber without said caller knowing the identity of said subscriber prior to establishing communication with said subscriber, but knowing a particular subscriber with whom communication is desired, and allowing the identity of said particular subscriber and said caller to be kept anonymous during communication between said particular subscriber and said caller unless voluntarily revealed by either said particular subscriber or said caller, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a published telephone number of a system controller;

storing in said system controller telephone numbers of a plurality of subscribers;

assigning to each subscriber a subscriber reference number corresponding to the subscriber's telephone number;

publishing an advertisement for each subscriber that contains a message and the subscriber's reference number;

receiving a call from a caller at said system controller through the means of said published telephone number of said system controller;

receiving a particular subscriber's published reference number corresponding to said particular subscriber from said caller; and

routing the call from said caller to said particular subscriber depending upon the status of said particular subscriber's published reference number by indexing the received subscriber reference number to the corresponding stored telephone number and calling said particular subscriber's telephone number.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein said received published reference number must be an active and valid number to enable communication between a subscriber and a caller.

30. A telephone communication method for anonymously enabling a subscriber at a subscriber station to communicate with a caller at a caller station, said method allowing said caller to communicate with said subscriber without said caller knowing the identity of said subscriber prior to establishing communication with said subscriber, but knowing a particular subscriber with whom communication is desired, and allowing the identity of said particular subscriber and said caller to be kept anonymous during communication between said particular subscriber and said caller unless voluntarily revealed by either said particular subscriber or said caller, said method including the steps of:

storing data at a system controller station that is received from a plurality of subscribers at a plurality of subscriber stations, such data including the telephone number of each of said subscriber stations and corresponding reference number for each of said subscriber stations;

publishing the telephone number of said system controller station and publishing advertisements including said reference numbers for said corresponding subscriber stations;

receiving a call from a caller station to said system controller station;

receiving a published reference number corresponding to a telephone number of said particular subscriber at a particular subscriber station from said caller at said caller station in communication with said system controller station;

matching said received published reference number with the telephone number of said particular subscriber station; and

automatically transferring said call received from said caller station at said system controller station to said particular subscriber station depending upon the availability of said particular subscriber station; and

recording a message from said caller at said caller station in communication with said system controller station if said particular subscriber station is unavailable to receive a call, such recorded message including a call-back reference number of said caller station that is indexed to a stored telephone number of said caller station.

31. The method of claim 30 including the step of enabling a subscriber at said particular subscriber station to review said recorded message, including the call-back reference number but not the telephone number of said caller station.

32. The method of claim 30 wherein each subscriber at a subscriber station is provided with a telephone number to access said system controller station, and wherein each subscriber at a subscriber station calling said system controller station can be allowed to anonymously communicate with a caller at a caller station by supplying said call-back reference number of said caller station.

33. The method of claim 30 and further comprising the step of announcing to said caller station in communication with said system controller station availability times of said particular subscriber station corresponding to said received published reference number from said caller at said caller station.

34. A method of anonymously enabling communication between a caller and a subscriber over public telephone lines, said method allowing said caller to communicate with said subscriber without said caller knowing the identity of said subscriber prior to establishing communication with said subscriber, but knowing a particular subscriber with whom communication is desired, and allowing the identity of said particular subscriber and said caller to be kept anonymous during communication between said particular subscriber and said caller unless voluntarily revealed by either said particular subscriber or said caller, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a published telephone number of a system controller;

storing in said system controller telephone numbers of a plurality of subscribers;

assigning to each subscriber a subscriber reference number corresponding to the subscriber's telephone number;

publishing an advertisement for each subscriber that contains a message and the subscriber's reference number;

receiving a call from a caller at said system controller through the means of said published telephone number of said system controller;

receiving a particular subscriber's published reference number corresponding to said particular subscriber from said caller;

routing the call from said caller to said particular subscriber depending upon the availability of said particular subscriber, by indexing the received subscriber reference number to the corresponding stored telephone number and calling said particular subscriber's telephone number;

recording a message and a call-back reference number upon the unavailability of said particular subscriber;

providing the message and said call-back reference number to said particular subscriber; and

enabling communication of said particular subscriber with said caller upon the subscriber providing the call-back reference number of said caller.

35. A method of anonymously enabling communication between a caller and a subscriber over public telephone lines, said method allowing said caller to communicate with said subscriber without said caller knowing the identity of said subscriber prior to establishing communication with said subscriber, but knowing a particular subscriber with whom communication is desired, and allowing the identity of said particular subscriber and said caller to be kept anonymous during communication between said particular subscriber and said caller unless voluntarily revealed by either said particular subscriber or said caller, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a published telephone number of a system controller;

storing in said system controller telephone numbers of a plurality of subscribers;

assigning to each subscriber a subscriber reference number corresponding to the subscriber's telephone number;

publishing an advertisement for each subscriber that contains a message and the subscriber's reference number;

receiving a call from a caller at said system controller through the means of said published telephone number of said system controller;

receiving a particular subscriber's published reference number corresponding to said particular subscriber from said caller;

indexing the received subscriber reference number to the corresponding stored telephone number and calling said particular subscriber's telephone number;

receiving identification from said particular subscriber; and

routing the call from said caller to said particular subscriber only upon said particular subscriber providing proper identification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and a system for placing and responding to published advertisements.

Many magazines and newspapers regularly publish special classified sections commonly referred to as "personals" in which parties wishing to form relationships with other parties may place ads. The typical ad describes the person placing the ad, the type of relationship desired, and the type of person he or she would like to meet. Other persons reading such ads and also wishing to form personal relationships, will contact the person who placed the ad if their interest appear to coincide. Contact is established between such persons by mail, generally sent to a blind post office box keyed to a code appearing in the ad. The post office box is usually managed by the magazine or newspaper.

Some people hesitate to use the "personals", even though they are interested in establishing relations, because of a perceived indignity in the process. Others feel uncomfortable about revealing personal information to a stranger. And there are some who will not respond to a "personals" ad because they feel that they are unable to communicate effectively in writing. Finally, for all those who use the "personals", there is no way of eliminating a delay of a few days or more between the appearance of an ad and the contact between two interested parties.

There is therefore a need to favorably alter the perception about individuals who use "personals" and thereby increase the number of people placing and responding to such ads.

There also is a need to provide a "personals" service in which confidentiality and anonymity of all parties can be preserved.

Further, there is a need for a "personals" service in which responding to an ad can be accomplished without using the mailed letter format.

Additionally, there is a need for a "personals" service which enables an immediate and direct contact between a person answering an ad and the person who placed the ad.

There is also a need for an advertising system that can be easily modified in its format, and done so by the subscriber to the system.

Finally, there is a need to expand certain of these concepts to standard classified advertisement systems.

Objects of the present invention are to satisfy each of these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a telephone system through which mutually anonymous parties may conduct telephone communication with each other, without delay, and maintain such communication anonymous for as long as they desire.

In accordance with the present invention, "personals" ads are placed and published as previously known. A person reading an ad (hereinafter referred to as the caller), and interested in establishing a personal relationship with the person who placed the ad (herein referred to as the subscriber), uses his or her telephone and calls a telephone number published in the "personals" column. The number called connects the caller to a central computer-based system, and the caller is prompted (by speech synthesis, recorded message, or the like) to enter the subscriber's reference number (SRN) furnished in the ad and unique to the subscriber. The computer then uses the subscriber reference number as an index to locate the subscriber's telephone number, and after verifying certain conditions to be explained below, automatically connects the caller to the subscriber. Only the computer is aware of the identity of the subscriber and the subscriber's telephone number (and the caller as well), and hence the parties can communicate with one another while being mutually anonymous for as long as they desire.

If the subscriber to whom a call is placed is not available or does not wish to answer the telephone, or if the subscriber's line is busy, the system offers the caller the ability to record a personal voice message for the subscriber. The caller is not, however, required to reveal his or her identity or telephone number to the subscriber in order to enable the subscriber to call back. Such feature of the system is achieved by the computer assigning to the caller a unique callback reference number (CBRN) that is indexed by the computer to the caller's phone number. The callback reference number is automatically included with any voice message that was left by the caller. The subscriber then may return the call from the caller by using the caller's callback reference number, and speak with the caller while maintaining complete privacy for both parties.

The preservation of such mutual anonymity, and the capability of rapidly exchanging personal thoughts and feelings over the telephone, involves a completely new concept for establishing relations between individuals through the "personals".

The specifics of the present invention which make possible such new concept, together with the objects and advantages noted above, will become apparent when reference is made to the accompanying drawings and the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the anonymous interactive telephone system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart diagram illustrating the caller interfacing program associated with the telephone system depicted in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are flow chart diagrams illustrating in greater detail portions of the caller interfacing program illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are flow chart diagrams illustrating in greater detail portions of the interfacing program illustrated in FIGS. 2, 2A and 2B.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart diagram illustrating the subscriber interfacing program associated with the telephone system depicted in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are flow chart diagrams illustrating in greater detail portions of the interfacing program illustrated in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings in detail, and with particular reference first to FIG. 1, the anonymous interactive telephone system of the present invention is generally referred to by reference number 10. The interactive telephone system 10 involves the interlinking through the public telephone service switching network, shown generally at 13 of a subscriber to the "personals" service and an interested party (the caller). The subscriber has a telephone at a subscriber station 14, and the caller has a telephone at a caller station 16. The parties located at the respective stations 14 and 16 are mutually anonymous, but both are aware of the telephone number of the "personals" service through which communication with complete confidentiality is assured, all of which will be explained in detail hereinafter.

Through public telephone line 11a and the known public telephone service switching network 13, a caller at station 16 can reach an incoming trunk line of the system 10 at caller port A, via public telephone line 12a. This is accomplished by calling a telephone number published in the "personals" column. Similarly, the subscriber at station 14, via public telephone line 11b and switching network 13, can reach an incoming trunk line of the system 10 at subscriber port B, via public telephone line 12b, identified preferably by a second telephone number known only to subscribers to the "personals" service.

In general, lines 11a and 11b, switching network 13, and lines 12a and 12b are provided by the public telephone service. In this regard, all services and equipment provided by the public telephone service are included within the box outlined by dotted line 17.

Ports A and B connect to a digital switch 18, the switching at which is controlled by a system controller 20. While not illustrated, ports A and B, as well as other components to be described hereinafter, are connected to switch 18 through many lines; similarly, switch 18 and other components to be described hereinafter, are connected to controller 20 through many lines, although only one is illustrated for clarity. Further, although not illustrated, numerous known connecting components, such as modems for example, form part of the system 10.

A port C interlinks the digital switch 18 to a speech prompting and recording system 32, while an outgoing port D, designated by the number 34, is connected to public telephone lines 12c and 12d capable of connecting together the caller station and the subscriber station, via public telephone service switching network 13 and telephone lines 11a and 11b. Next, a billing terminal 36 is connected to the system controller 20; and finally, a credit verification port E interlinks the system controller 20 with a credit verification/authorization facility 38.

The different operational steps and component connections referred to hereinbefore and further described hereinafter are under the control of the digital switch 18 which receives commands from the controller 20, or in some cases are under the control of the controller 20 directly. System controller 20 can take the form of known general purpose computers, and includes memory 20a and memory index 20b discussed hereinafter. Thus, programmed operation of the system controller 20 will provide the appropriate commands to the digital switch 18 and other system components for effecting the different operational modes in accordance with the present invention.

The mutually anonymous parties at the subscriber and caller stations 14 and 16, interact with the system 10 of the present invention by presently available touch-tone telephone equipment in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. However, the present invention contemplates the use of speech recognition and other advanced forms of user inputs through which callers and subscribers may interact with the system.

The primary service provided by the system of the present invention involves connecting together, over the telephone lines, a party at a subscriber station 14 and a caller at a caller station 16 for the purpose of their establishing a confidential and anonymous communication with one another; such communications can be initiated by either party. In operation, a subscriber places an advertisement with a magazine, newspaper, or other media offering a "personals" service and provides to the service the wording for a "personals" ad, as well as appropriate instructions relative to his or her desires about receiving calls, such as time-of-day, day-of-week availability, etc., and appropriate billing information. The subscriber also provides his or her telephone number.

The "personals" service then stores the subscriber-provided information in the memory unit 20a of system control 20, takes steps to publish the ad, and indexes the subscriber's telephone number in the memory 20a, via memory index unit 20b, of the system controller 20 to a unique subscriber reference number (SRN) to be published in the ad. The "personals" ad then is published, and it is read by potentially interested parties. Also published is a telephone number that will connect a caller to the system 10 through caller port A, and details about the use of the anonymous interactive telephone system.

A caller initiates a telephone contact with the system 10 by calling the telephone number published in the "personals" column. The telephone is answered by the speech prompting component of system 32 through a digital switch 18 under the control of system controller 20. The caller is prompted to enter credit card information and then a subscriber reference number by touch-tone input from his or her telephone. In response to entry of an SRN, the system controller 20 opens the file of the appropriate subscriber and reads the stored instructions from memory 20a. The speech prompting component of system 32 then furnishes information through the telephone connection to the caller, based on stored instructions from the subscriber. The incoming call from the caller then is transferred either to the subscriber station 14 through the outward dialing port 34, or to the speech recording component within system 32.

If the call is made at a time acceptable to the subscriber, the system controller 20 instructs switch 18 and outward dialing port 34 to call the subscriber station 14 at the stored telephone number. Once the telephone connection is established, the speech prompting component of system 32 preferably requests v