DESCRIPTION
TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION
The invention generally relates to ringback tones in telecommunication networks. More particularly, the invention relates to generation of like or dislike feedback data from callers for ringback tone subscribers and use that data to provide recommendations to callers and ringback tone subscribers.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Ringback tones (RBT), also known as caller tunes, are widely applied in telecommunication systems at present. Ringback tones are music or personalized recorded sounds that a subscriber chooses for callers to hear during a call while they wait for the subscriber to pick up the call. Ringback tones can be common for all callers or can be individualized for one particular caller. Ringback tones and related activities, such as advertisements, are very successful in telecommunication industry from commercial point of view.
Conventionally, there is no defined way for a calling party to convey liking or disliking of a RBT to called RBT subscriber other than directly communicating liking or disliking to the called party. In most cases, the calling party may not bother about especially communicating his/her liking or disliking to the called party, while the called party may be very interested in knowing the feedback especially when a new RBT has been recently subscribed. Accordingly, a social quotient in current RBT services/systems is either missing or insufficient, which can actually engage callers with RBT subscribers.
Further, the patent publication US 20070003046 A, titled “Ringback tone service opt-in and opt-out requests for use by calling party”, describes a mechanism for callers to control playing of RBT pre-provisioned by a called party, i.e., RBT subscriber, on the calls made to the called party. Here, standard mechanism of DTMF and voice commands is used to capture caller’s opt-in and opt-out request. However, there is no feedback given to the called party about either which caller has opted-out or why caller has opted-out. Also, caller may dislike a RBT but still doesn’t opts-out, in that case disliking of caller is never known to the RBT system or called party, i.e., RBT subscriber.
Further, the patent US 8175252 B2, titled “Ringback tone bookmark request by calling party”, describes a mechanism for callers to bookmark RBTs they hear in a call to a called party, i.e., RBT subscriber. Bookmarking results in storing of identification information about the RBT so that caller can access that information for future use. Here, standard mechanism of DTMF and voice commands is used to capture caller’s bookmark request. However, the called party has no involvement in this mechanism and does not get to know which RBT and why caller has bookmarked that RBT.
Further, the patent US 8170194 B2, titled “Method and system for replicating ring back tones”, describes a mechanism for callers only whereby callers can copy or replicate a RBT they listen during a call to a RBT subscriber. This copied or replicated RBT information is stored for that caller for future use. Here, standard mechanism of DTMF and voice commands is used to capture caller’s bookmark request. However, the called party has no involvement in this mechanism and doesn’t get to know which RBT the caller has copied.
Further, the patent US 7801293 B2, titled “Ringback tone preference information to assist selection of ringback tone”, describes a mechanism which asks users about their general like and dislike preferences in different domains, such as music, text, videos, images, or the like and store these preferences in users’ profile. Whenever a RBT subscriber tries to set an individual RBT for such a user, whose preferences are already stored in the RBT system, the RBT subscriber is shown that user’s stored preferences to select appropriate individual RBT for that user. However, this mechanism works only when the RBT subscriber trying to set an individual RBT for an individual caller who has provided preferences to the RBT system, but not for getting feedback on the already subscribed RBT for all callers.

OBJECT OF INVENTION
It is in object of the invention to provide an automated and easy way for liking or disliking RBTs by callers and accordingly inform a called party, i.e., RBT subscriber about caller’s dislike and like of a RBT.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION
In accordance with the purposes of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention includes enabling liking or disliking of RBTs on real-time or offline basis. For this purpose, the proposed RBT feedback system generates an in-call announcement requesting a like or dislike feedback from a calling party about a subscribed RBT of a called party, i.e., RBT subscriber in real time. This in-call announcement informs the calling party about DTMF tone or voice commands corresponding to the like or dislike feedback. Alternatively, a message, such as SMS or USSD, in place of the in-call announcement may be sent to the called party in an offline manner, i.e., after the call. If the like or dislike feedback is received from the calling party, the called party is notified about the like or dislike feedback through SMS or USSD or notification on communication device through web or application interfaces or any combination of such channels/interfaces. Further, the like or dislike feedback is stored in one or more formats for later use. For example, the stored like or dislike feedback may be analyzed to provide various recommendations to callers who provided feedbacks and to called parties on whose RBTs feedbacks were provided. In one implementation, a list of one or more RBTs associated with RBT subscribers who are in the phone book contact list of a user may be provided to the user through user’s communication device via application or web interface over data channel in order to provide a like or dislike feedback on the RBTs. Hence, a call to the called party number, i.e., RBT subscriber from phone book, is not required to provide the like or dislike feedback in said implementation.
Accordingly, this invention could be used to further increase the popularity and downloads of RBTs as the invention provides a way to non-subscribers to interact with RBT subscribers and RBT services. The invention could be used for self-promotion of RBT service and many other applications. For example, the invention could be used for building a database of RBT liking and disliking information. This database can be mined to extract relevant information and provide various recommendations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
To further clarify advantages and features of the invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary method for providing an option of real time generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary method for caller to provide in real time a like or dislike feedback for ringback tones from a calling communication device, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary method for providing an option of offline generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary method for caller to provide offline a like or dislike feedback for ringback tones from a calling communication device, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary method for providing an option of offline generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones subscribed by contacts in user’s communication device, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
Figure 6 illustrates an exemplary method for user to provide a like or dislike feedback for ringback tones subscribed by contacts in user’s communication device, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
Figure 7 illustrates an exemplary method for a RBT subscriber to receiving a like or dislike feedback and a recommendation based on such feedback, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
Figure 8 illustrates a ringback tone feedback system in telecommunication environment in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
Figure 9 illustrates a ringback tone system with a ringback tone feedback system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
Figure 10 illustrates an end-to-end use case for providing a like or dislike feedback in real time, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
Figure 11 illustrates an end-to-end use case for providing a like or dislike feedback in offline manner, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
Figure 12 illustrates an end-to-end use case for providing a like or dislike feedback without any making any call and using web interfaces or/and software application on a communication device, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
It may be noted that to the extent possible, like reference numerals have been used to represent like elements in the drawings. Further, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have been necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the drawings may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of aspects of the invention. Furthermore, the one or more elements may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory of the invention and are not intended to be restrictive thereof. Throughout the patent specification, a convention employed is that in the appended drawings, like numerals denote like components.
Reference throughout this specification to “an embodiment”, “another embodiment” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Thus, appearances of the phrase “in an embodiment”, “in another embodiment” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.
The terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process or method that comprises a list of steps does not include only those steps but may include other steps not expressly listed or inherent to such process or method. Similarly, one or more devices or sub-systems or elements or structures proceeded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other devices or other sub-systems.
Various embodiments of the invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary method (100) for providing an option of real time generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones. The method (100) is performed by a ringback tone (RBT) system with the help of a RBT Feedback System, which is described in this specification and can be an internal component of the RBT System, such as a RBT server. The method comprises various steps (101-108), some of which are optional as can be gathered from various embodiments listed below.
In one embodiment, the method (100) for real time generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones comprises: receiving (101) a request to play a ringback tone assigned to a called communication number; generating (103) during call an announcement requesting a like or dislike feedback on the ringback tone to be played; playing (104) the ringback tone; receiving (105) the like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone; and storing (107) the like or the dislike feedback in one or more formats.
In one embodiment, the one or more formats includes one or more parameters, such as a calling communication number, a called communication number, the ringback tone, a genre or type of the ringback tone, a sub-genre or sub-type of the ringback tone, the like or dislike feedback, a date of the like or dislike feedback, a time of the like or dislike feedback, number of likes on each ringback tone, number of dislikes on each ringback tone, actions taken by the called communication number on receiving the like or dislike feedback, a date of activation of the ringback tone by RBT subscriber, a date of deactivation of the ringback tone by RBT subscriber, etc.
In one embodiment, the method (100) further comprises: providing (108) a recommendation based on the stored like or dislike feedback.This recommendation can be provided to a calling party as well as a called party.
In one embodiment, the method (100) further comprises: determining (102) whether the like or dislike feedback is already received from a caller on the ringback tone assigned to the called communication number. In this way, if the same calling party, who has earlier liked or disliked a ringback tone of a called party, calls again the same called party then the calling party is not prompted to again like or dislike the same ringback tone. However, if the called party has subscribed to a new ringback tone than the previous ringback tone, then the calling party is requested to provide a like or dislike feedback on the new ringback tone.
In one embodiment, the announcement includes information about DTMF keys to be pressed, i.e., the DTMF keys required to provide the like or dislike feedback, for example, *1 to like or *5 to dislike the ringback tone. Moreover, the DTMF keys required to provide the like or dislike feedback are configurable whereby single DTMF key or any combination of DTMF keys can be used.
In one embodiment, the like or dislike feedback is in form of DTMF tone, for example, *1 to like or *5 to dislike the ringback tone.
In one embodiment, the method (100) further comprises: notifying (106) the called communication number about the like or dislike feedback. This notification may be in form of a SMS or an USSD or an email or Interactive voice response (IVR) or web notification or notification on a software application (App).
In one embodiment, the communication number is a mobile phone number of a called party.
In one embodiment, the notifying (106) is performed during call after receiving like or dislike feedback.
In one embodiment, the notifying (106) is performed after call.
In one embodiment, the notifying (106) comprises notifying a called communication number about the like or dislike feedback.
In one embodiment, the announcement includes information about voice commands required to provide the like or dislike feedback. For example, the announcement may sound like ““if you like this caller tune, say like and if you don’t like this caller tune, say dislike”. Voice commands announcement and like and dislike command words will be configurable.
In one embodiment, a user may provide the like or dislike information as voice commands based on the announcement. Accordingly, any of known voice recognition technique may be employed to recognize the voice commands.
Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary real time method (200) for caller to provide a like or dislike feedback for ringback tones. The method (200) is performed by a calling communication device, such as a cellular phone. The method comprises various steps (201-205), some of which are optional as can be gathered from various embodiments listed below.
In one embodiment, the real time method (200) for providing a like or dislike feedback for ringback tones comprises: calling (201) a communication number, i.e., called communication number, having a ringback tone associated thereto; receiving (202) and playing during call an announcement requesting a like or dislike feedback on the ringback tone to be played; receiving and playing (203) the ringback tone; receiving (204) from the caller the like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone; and sending (205) the like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone to a RBT feedback system.
In one embodiment, the announcement includes information about voice commands required to provide the like or dislike feedback.
In one embodiment, the like or dislike feedback is in form of voice commands, such as “like” or “dislike”.
In one embodiment, the announcement includes information about DTMF keys to be pressed, i.e., the DTMF keys required to provide the like or dislike feedback, for example, *1 to like or *5 to dislike the ringback tone.
In one embodiment, a pair of * and any numeric digit, for example,*0, *1, *2…*9 may be designated for liking the ringback tone, while another pair of * and any other numeric digit than the one selected for liking may be designated for disliking the ringback tone. Moreover, the DTMF keys required to provide the like or dislike feedback are configurable whereby single DTMF key or any combination of DTMF keys can be designated.
In one embodiment, the like or dislike feedback is in form of DTMF tones, for example, *1 to like or *5 to dislike the ringback tone.
Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary method (300) for providing an option of offline generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones. The method (300) is performed by a ringback tone (RBT) system with the help of a RBT Feedback System, which is described in this specification and can be an internal component of the RBT System, such as a RBT server. The method (300) comprises various steps (301-308), some of which are optional as can be gathered from various embodiments listed below.
In one embodiment, the method (300) for providing an option of offline generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones comprises: receiving (301) a request to play a ringback tone assigned to a called communication number; playing (302) the ringback tone; sending (304) after call a message requesting a like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone ; receiving (305) the like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone; and storing (307) the like or the dislike feedback in one or more formats.
In one embodiment, the one or more formats includes one or more parameters, such as a calling party, a called party, the ringback tone, a genre or type of the ringback tone, a sub-genre or sub-type of the ringback tone, the like or dislike feedback, a date of the like or dislike feedback, a time of the like or dislike feedback, number of likes on each ringback tone, number of dislikes on each ringback tone, actions taken by the called party on receiving the like or dislike feedback, a date of activation of the ringback tone by a RBT subscriber, a date of deactivation of the ringback tone by the RBT subscriber, etc.
In one embodiment, the message is a Short Message Service (SMS) or an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD).
In one embodiment, the like or dislike feedback is provided by replying to the SMS or interaction with the USSD.
In one embodiment, the method (300) further comprises: determining (303) whether the like or dislike feedback is already received from a caller on the ringback tone assigned to the called communication number. In this way, if the same calling party, who has earlier liked or disliked a ringback tone of a called party, calls again the same called party then the calling party is not prompted to again like or dislike the same ringback tone. However, if the called party has subscribed to a new ringback tone than the previous ringback tone, then the calling party is requested to provide a like or dislike feedback on the new ringback tone.
In one embodiment, the method (300) further comprises: notifying (306) the called communication number about the like or dislike feedback. This notification may be in form a SMS or an USSD or an email or Interactive voice response (IVR) or web notification or notification on a software application (App). Further, the notification is provided after the call.
In one embodiment, the method (300) further comprises: providing (308) a recommendation based on the stored like or dislike feedback. This recommendation can be provided to a calling party as well as a called party.
Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary offline method (400) for a caller to provide a like or dislike feedback for ringback tones. The method (400) is performed by a calling communication device, such as a cellular phone. The method (400) comprises various steps (401-406), some of which are optional as can be gathered from various embodiments listed below.
In one embodiment, the offline method (400) for providing a like or dislike feedback for ringback tones comprises: calling (401) a communication number having a ringback tone associated thereto; receiving and playing (402) the ringback tone; receiving (403) after call a message requesting a like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone; presenting (404) the message to a caller on a display screen; receiving (405) from the caller the like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone in response to the message; and sending (406) the like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone to a RBT feedback system.
In one embodiment, the message is a Short Message Service (SMS) or an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD).
In one embodiment, the like or dislike feedback is provided by replying to the SMS or interaction with the USSD.
Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary method (500) for providing an option of offline generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones subscribed by one or more contacts in user’s communication device. The method (500) is performed by a ringback tone system with the help of a RBT Feedback System, which is described in this specification and can be an internal component of the RBT System, such as a RBT server. The method (500) comprises various steps (501-507), some of which are optional as can be gathered from various embodiments listed below.
In one embodiment, the method (500) for offline generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones comprises: receiving (501) a contact list from a communication device having at least one communication number; generating (502) a list having at least one or more ringback tones listed against at least one contact from the contact list; sending (503) the generated list to the communication device; receiving (504) a like or dislike feedback on the one or more ringback tones for at least one contact; and storing (506) the like or dislike feedback in one or more formats.
In one embodiment, the one or more formats includes one or more parameters, such as a calling party, a called party, the ringback tone, a genre or type of the ringback tone, a sub-genre or sub-type of the ringback tone, the like or dislike feedback, a date of the like or dislike feedback, a time of the like or dislike feedback, number of likes on each ringback tone, number of dislikes on each ringback tone, actions taken by the called party on receiving the like or dislike feedback, a date of activation of the ringback tone by a RBT subscriber, a date of deactivation of the ringback tone by the RBT subscriber, etc.
In one embodiment, the method (500) further comprises: notifying (505) the at least one contact about the like or dislike feedback. This notification may be in form of a SMS or an USSD or an email or Interactive voice response (IVR) or web notification or notification on a software application (App).
In one embodiment, the method (500) further comprises: providing (507) a recommendation based on the stored like or dislike feedback. This recommendation can be provided to a calling party as well as a called party.
Figure 6 illustrates an exemplary method (600) for a user to provide a like or dislike feedback for ringback tones subscribed by one or more contacts in the user’s communication device. The method (600) is performed by a communication device, such as a cellular phone. The method (600) comprises various steps (601-606), some of which are optional as can be gathered from various embodiments listed below.
In one embodiment, the method (600) for providing a like or dislike feedback for ringback tones from a communication device comprises: sending (601), by the communication device one or more contacts from a contact list from the communication device; receiving (602), at the communication device, a list having one or more ringback tones listed against at least one contact from the contact list; presenting (603), at the communication device, options to provide a like or dislike feedback on the one or more ringback tones, receiving (604), at the communication device, from a user the like or dislike feedback on the one or more ringback tones; and sending (605), by the communication device, the like or dislike feedback on the one or more ringback tones for the at least one contact to a RBT feedback system.
In one embodiment, the contact list is sent using a web interface or a software application on the communication device.
In one embodiment, all the contacts are sent together by the communication device.
In one embodiment, the contacts are sent one by one by the communication device.
In one embodiment, the method (600) further comprises: changing (606), based on a user input, the like or dislike feedback previously provided on the one or more ringback tones for the at least one contact.

Figure 7 illustrates an exemplary method (700) for a RBT subscriber to receiving a like or dislike feedback and a recommendation based on such feedback.
In one embodiment, the method (700) includes requesting (701) for a like or dislike feedback from one or more callers; receiving (702) a notification about the like or dislike feedback on the subscribed RBT, the feedback being provided by a caller in during the call as per method of Figures 1 & 2, after the call as per method of Figures 3 & 4, or by a user without making any call as per method of Figures 5 & 6; receiving (703) a recommendation from the system based on the like and dislike feedback; and taking (704) an action based on the like or dislike feedback voluntarily or based on the recommendation. Examples of such actions include, but are not limited to enabling or disabling the feedback for one or more callers/users/contacts; changing a ringback tone for one or more contacts, or subscribing a specific ringback tone for a specific contact based on liking and disliking of the specific contact.
Figure 8 illustrates a ringback tone feedback system (800) in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The RBT feedback system (800) comprises an input terminal (801), control unit (802), output terminal (803), data storage (804), and a recommending unit (805).
In one implementation, the ringback tone feedback system (800) receives all input signals or requests through the input terminal (801), while provides all output signals or responses through the output terminal (802). In another implementation, single i/o terminal, for example, Ethernet terminal, may serve the purpose of the input terminal (801) as well as output terminal (803) for the RBT feedback system (800).
Further, the control unit (802) is a general processing unit that can process data, such as on input signals or requests, and also store the processed or unprocessed data in the data storage (804). In operation, all input signals or requests received through the input terminal (801) are passed to the control unit (802) for processing and generating responses, while all output signals or generated responses are sent through the output terminal (803).
On the other hand, the recommending unit (805) is a specific processing unit that can process feedback data to generate recommendations for RBT subscribers as well as non-subscribers. Only the control unit (802) interacts with the recommending unit (805) in order to offload recommendation related tasks and processing.
In operation, the input terminal (801) may receive a request for generating an announcement or message requesting the feedback. Further, the same input terminal (801) may receive feedback from the callers/users. Further, the input terminal (801) may receive a request from a RBT subscriber for enabling or disabling feedback from the callers/users. Further, the input terminal (801) may receive a list of contacts from user requesting for RBTs corresponding to contacts in the list.
Accordingly, the control unit (802) may perform the following functions: (a) checking if any feedback is already provided from a caller on a particular RBT associated with same RBT subscriber; (b) generating the announcement or message requesting the feedback; (c) enabling or disabling feedback seeking mechanism based on a RBT subscriber’s request; (d) passing on the received feedback to the RBT subscriber or a RBT system/sever after receiving the same from callers/users; (e) sending feedback data to a recommending unit (805) and receiving recommendations for users on RBT choices; and (f) creating a list of RBTs associated with a contact list received from a user.
The output terminal (803) plays the generated announcement or sends message to the callers or the RBT system/server; sends the like or dislike feedback received from callers/users to relevant RBT subscribers or the RBT system; provides response to a request from a RBT subscriber for enabling or disabling feedback from callers/users; and provides a list of RBTs associated with the contact list to the user.
In one embodiment, the ringback tone feedback system (800) for generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones comprises: an input terminal (801) to receive: (a) a request to generate an announcement or a message requesting a like or dislike feedback from one or more callers on the ringback tone assigned to a called communication number, and (b) the like or dislike feedback on the ringback tone through any suitable interface, such as voice command or DTMF tone or SMS or USSD or web interface or software application; a control unit (802) to check if the like or dislike feedback is already received, if not then command the input terminal (801) to take action with configured DTMF keys or voice commands, the control unit (802) also decides whether to take real-time or offline method to request for the like or dislike feedback, process the received like or dislike feedback and command other units to take further actions; and a data storage (804) to store the like or dislike feedback in one or more formats.
In one embodiment, the ringback tone feedback system (800) for generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones, comprises: an input terminal (801) to receive a request for generating an announcement or message requesting a like or dislike feedback on a ringback tone to be played, and to receive the like or dislike feedback once the ringback tone is played; a control unit (802) to generate said announcement or message requesting the like or dislike feedback on the ringback tone to be played, and to process the received like or dislike feedback; and a data storage (804) to store the like or dislike feedback in one or more formats.
In one embodiment, the ringback tone feedback system (800), further comprises: an output terminal (803) to play the announcement or send the message requesting the like or dislike feedback on the ringback tone to be played and to provide the like or dislike feedback to a RBT system or a RBT subscriber associated thereon.
In one embodiment, the ringback tone feedback system (800), further comprising: a recommending unit (805) to provide a recommendation based on the stored like or dislike feedback to the control unit (802), which in turn provides the recommendations to the RBT system or any other system in telecommunication network or directly to users or callers or RBT subscribers for further use.
In one embodiment, the recommendation recommending a caller to subscribe to a most liked ringback tone or a most liked genre of ringback tones or a most liked sub-genre of ringback tones.
In one embodiment, the recommendation recommending a called communication number to subscribe to a ringback tone for a caller, the ringback tone being liked by the caller for a ringback tone subscriber.
In one embodiment, the recommendation involves presenting ringback tones or its genre or its sub-genre according to a rank based on number of likes or dislikes.
In one embodiment, the control unit (802) is further configured to enable or disable feedback mechanism upon such a request from a RBT subscriber.
In one embodiment, the one or more formats includes one or more parameters, such as a calling party, a called party, the ringback tone, a genre or type of the ringback tone, a sub-genre or sub-type of the ringback tone, the like or dislike feedback, a date of the like or dislike feedback, a time of the like or dislike feedback, number of likes on each ringback tone, number of dislikes on each ringback tone, actions taken by the called party on receiving the like or dislike feedback, a date of activation of the ringback tone by a RBT subscriber, a date of deactivation of the ringback tone by the RBT subscriber, etc.
In one embodiment, the announcement is generated during call.
In one embodiment, the announcement includes information about DTMF keys to be pressed, i.e., the DTMF tones required to provide the like or dislike feedback, for example, *1 to like or *5 to dislike the ringback tone.
In one embodiment, a pair of * and any numeric digit, for example, *0, *1, *2…*9 may be designated for liking the ringback tone, while another pair of * and any other numeric digit than the one selected for liking may be designated for disliking the ringback tone. Moreover, the DTMF keys required to provide the like or dislike feedback are configurable whereby single DTMF key or any combination of DTMF keys can be designated.
In one embodiment, the like or dislike feedback is received during call in response to the announcement.
In one embodiment, the like or dislike feedback is in form of DTMF tones, for example, *1 to like or *5 to dislike the ringback tone.
In one embodiment, the announcement includes information about voice commands required to provide the like or dislike feedback. For example, the announcement may sound like ““if you like this caller tune, say like and if you don’t like this caller tune, say dislike”. Voice commands announcement and like and dislike command words can be configured as desired.
In one embodiment, the like or dislike feedback is in form of voice commands as per the announcement. Accordingly, any of known voice recognition technique may be employed to recognize the voice commands.
In one embodiment, the message is a SMS or USSD sent after call.
In one embodiment, the like or dislike feedback is received after call as a reply to the SMS or interaction with the USSD.
In one embodiment, the control unit (802) to is further configured to determine whether the like or dislike feedback is already received. In this way, if the same calling party, who has earlier liked or disliked a ringback tone of a called party, calls again the same called party then the calling party is not prompted to again like or dislike the same ringback tone. However, if the called party has subscribed to a new ringback tone than the previous ringback tone, then the calling party is requested to provide a like or dislike feedback on the new ringback tone.
In one embodiment, the ringback tone feedback system (800) for generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones comprises: an input terminal (801) to receive a contact list from a communication device; a control unit (802) to generate a list having at least one or more ringback tones listed against at least one contact from the contact list; an output terminal (803) to send the generated list of one or more ringback tones listed against at least one contact from the contact list to the communication device, wherein the input terminal (801), in response to sending the generated list, receives a like or dislike feedback on the one or more ringback tones for at least one contact.
In one embodiment, the ringback tone feedback system (800) further comprises a data storage (804) to store the like or dislike feedback in one or more formats.
In one embodiment, the output terminal (803) is configured to notify the at least one contact, from said list of contacts and other associated ringback tone subscribers, about the like or dislike feedback. This notification may be in form of a SMS or an USSD or an email or Interactive voice response (IVR) or web notification or notification on a software application (App).
In one embodiment, the ringback tone feedback system (800) further comprises: a recommendation unit (805) to provide a recommendation based on analysis of the stored like or dislike feedback. This recommendation can be provided to a calling party as well as a called party by a RBT system/server through existing interfaces or channels either in a push-mode or in a pull-mode.
Figure 9 illustrates a telecommunication environment (900) having a ringback tone (RBT) system (904) communicatively coupled with the ringback tone feedback system (800). In one alternative implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) may be integral to the RBT system (904). When a calling party from a communication device (901) calls to a called party on another communication device (902) having a communication number, say a mobile phone number, and if the called party is a RBT subscriber, then a MSC, i.e., Mobile Switching Centre (803) directs the call to the RBT system (904) so that till the called party picks up the call, the calling party listens to a general RBT or individual RBT as the case may be. In one implementation, the RBT system (904) may be integral to the MSC (803). In another implementation, the RBT system (904) may be external to the MSC (903) as shown in the figure.
In one embodiment, the RBT feedback system (800) communicatively coupled with the RBT system (904) generates an in-call announcement requesting a like or dislike feedback from a calling party about a subscribed RBT of a called party, i.e., RBT subscriber in real time. This in-call announcement informs the calling party about voice commands or DTMF tones corresponding to the like or dislike feedback. Alternatively, a message, such as SMS or USSD, in place of the in-call announcement may be sent to the calling party in an offline manner, i.e., after the call. If the like or dislike feedback is received from the calling party, the called party is notified about the like or dislike feedback. Further, the like or dislike feedback is stored in one or more formats for later use. For example, the stored like or dislike feedback may be analyzed to provide various recommendations to users.
In one embodiment, a called party can explicitly request for the like or dislike feedback from callers. Accordingly, the called party can enable or disable the like or dislike feedback seeking mechanism for his/her callers.
In one embodiment, the RBT feedback system (800) can fetch the ringback tones subscription information from the RBT system (904) to generate a list of one or more RBTs associated with each RBT subscriber in the contact list of a user and further provide the generated ringback tones list to the user in order to receive a like or dislike feedback on the RBTs. In this way, a call is not required to provide the like or dislike feedback in said implementation. This embodiment may be implemented through a web interface on which the user can upload the contact list. Alternatively, this embodiment may be implemented through a software application which can fetch contact list from the communication device (901).
Figure 10 illustrates a use case (1000) for providing a like or dislike feedback in real time in the telecommunication environment (900).
At step 1001, a calling party from a communication device (901) calls to a called party on another communication device (902) having a communication number, say a mobile phone number.
At step 1002, if the called party is a RBT subscriber, then the MSC (903) patches the call to the RBT system (904) so that till the called party picks up the call, the calling party listens to a general RBT or individual RBT as the case may be.
At step 1003, the RBT system (904) interacts with the RBT feedback system (800) which in turn determines whether a like or dislike feedback is already received from a caller on associated ringback tone. In this way, if the same calling party, who has earlier liked or disliked a ringback tone of a called party, calls again the same called party then the calling party is not prompted to again like or dislike the same ringback tone. However, if the called party has subscribed to a new ringback tone than the previous ringback tone, then the calling party is requested to provide a like or dislike feedback on the new ringback tone.
At step 1004, the RBT feedback system (800) plays an announcement to the calling party for providing the like or dislike feedback on the RBT of the called party. In one example, the announcement may be about the DTMF keys to be pressed and may sound like this “if you like this caller tune, press *1 and if you don’t like this caller tune, press *5”. However, any combination of keys on communication may be designated for liking the ringback tone, while another combination of keys than the one selected for liking may be designated for disliking the ringback tone. In another example, the announcement may be about the voice commands to be provided and may sound like this “if you like this caller tune, say like and if you don’t like this caller tune, say dislike”. However, any other voice command may be designated for liking the ringback tone, while another voice command other than the one selected for liking may be designated for disliking the ringback tone.
At step 1005, once the announcement is over, the RBT system (904) plays the RBT subscribed by the called party.
At step 1006, the calling party may press the DTMF keys to provide the like or dislike feedback as per the announcement or the calling party may provide designated voice commands to provide the like or dislike feedback.
At step 1007, the RBT feedback system (800) receives the DTMF tones corresponding to the presses DTMF keys or the voice commands pertaining to the like or dislike feedback.
At step 1008, the RBT feedback system (800) may notify the called party about the calling party liking or disliking the subscribed RBT. This notification may be in form of a SMS or an USSD or an email or Interactive voice response (IVR) or web notification or notification on a software application (App). Further, the notification may be provided during the call or after the call. In one implementation, a called party is notified about the like or dislike feedback and a calling party who has provided that like or dislike feedback.
At step 1009, the RBT feedback system (800) stores the like or dislike feedback in one or more formats. Examples of the one or more formats include, but are not limited to the following examples. In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) the information that which party liked or disliked which RBT and for which RBT subscriber. In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) records all liking and disliking of each caller with following parameters: A list of (Called party + RBT + actual feedback like or dislike + date/time). In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) stores a caller's profile with his/her likes or dislikes with following parameters: Likes-(genres/types of RBT + specific RBTs which the caller liked) and Dislikes-(genres/types of RBT + specific RBTs which the caller disliked). In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) records all liking and disliking received by each RBT subscriber with following parameters: a list of (caller party number + RBT + actual feedback like or dislike + date/time) and a list of (RBT + number of likes + number of dislikes + date of activation + date or deactivation). In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) also stores actions taken by the RBT subscriber on receiving a like or dislike feedback.
At step 1010, the RBT feedback system (800) provides one or more recommendations based on the analysis of stored information. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) can recommend most liked RBTs and genres/sub-genres to new RBT subscribers or existing RBT subscribers in order to excite them in subscribing more likeable/popular RBTs. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) can recommend special RBTs/genres/sub-genres to an RBT subscriber for his/her callers who liked or disliked his/her subscribed RBT. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) may recommend not to subscribe a most disliked RBT and most disliked genre/sub-genre in RBT service. In one implantation, if a calling party dislikes certain RBT of a called party, then the RBT feedback system (800) can recommend the called party for provisioning some specific RBTs/genres/sub-genres for the calling party that the calling party is expected to like or has liked in past for some other called party. In telecommunication, provisioning is the process of preparing and equipping a network to allow it to provide new services to its users. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) can rank various RBTs in terms of likes and dislikes based on all likes/dislikes of callers. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) can recommend to a caller a RBT of caller's liking/taste based on caller's RBT profile of likes/dislikes. If a caller is not a RBT subscriber, this will improve the probability of subscribing. If the caller is already a RBT subscriber, this will improve the probability of provisioning RBT of his/her liking and show that to his/her callers.
At step 1011, the called party takes an action based on the like or dislike feedback voluntarily or based on the recommendation. Examples of such actions include, but are not limited to enabling or disabling the feedback for one or more callers/users/contacts; changing a ringback tone for one or more contacts, or subscribing a specific ringback tone for a specific contact based on liking and disliking of the specific contact.

Figure 11 illustrates a use case (1100) for providing a like or dislike feedback in offline manner in the telecommunication environment (900).
At step 1101, a calling party from a communication device (901) calls to a called party on another communication device (902) having a communication number, say a mobile phone number.
At step 1102, if the called party is a RBT subscriber, then the MSC (903) patches the call to the RBT system (904) so that till the called party picks up the call, the calling party listens to a general RBT or individual RBT as the case may be.
At step 1103, the RBT system (904) plays the RBT subscribed by the called party.
At step 1104, the RBT system (904) receives the end of call notification from network, more particularly from the MSC (803).
At step 1105, the RBT system (904) interacts with the RBT feedback system (800) which in turn determines whether a like or dislike feedback is already received from caller on associated ringback tone. In this way, if the same calling party, who has earlier liked or disliked a ringback tone of a called party, calls again the same called party then the calling party is not prompted to again like or dislike the same ringback tone. However, if the called party has subscribed to a new ringback tone than the previous ringback tone, then the calling party is requested to provide a like or dislike feedback on the new ringback tone.
At step 1106, the RBT feedback system (800) sends a message, such as a SMS or an USSD, for providing the like or dislike feedback on the RBT of the called party. In one example, the SMS may read like this “if you like this caller tune, reply back “like” and if you don’t like this caller tune, reply back “dislike””. In one example, the USSD may read like this “if you like this caller tune, press *1 and if you don’t like this caller tune, press *5”. However, any combination of keys on communication device, be designated for liking the ringback tone, while another combination other than the one selected for liking may be designated for disliking the ringback tone.
At step 1107, the calling party may reply to the SMS message or interact with the USSD message to provide the like or dislike feedback as per the message.
At step 1108, the RBT feedback system (800) may notify the called party about the calling party liking or disliking the subscribed RBT. This notification may be in form of a SMS or an USSD or an email or Interactive voice response (IVR) or web notification or notification on a software application (App). In one implementation, a called party is notified about the like or dislike feedback and a calling party who has provided that like or dislike feedback.
At step 1109, the RBT feedback system (800) stores the like or dislike feedback in one or more formats. Examples of the one or more formats include, but are not limited to the following examples. In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) the information that which party liked or disliked which RBT and for which RBT subscriber. In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) records all liking and disliking of each caller with following parameters: A list of (Called party + RBT + actual feedback like or dislike + date/time). In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) stores a caller's profile with his/her likes or dislikes with following parameters: Likes-(genres/types of RBT + specific RBTs which the caller liked) and Dislikes-(genres/types of RBT + specific RBTs which the caller disliked). In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) records all liking and disliking received by each RBT subscriber with following parameters: a list of (caller party number + RBT + actual feedback like or dislike + date/time) and a list of (RBT + number of likes + number of dislikes + date of activation + date or deactivation). In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) also stores actions taken by the RBT subscriber on receiving a like or dislike feedback.
At step 1110, the RBT feedback system (800) provides one or more recommendations based on the analysis of stored information. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) can recommend most liked RBTs and genres/sub-genres to new RBT subscribers or existing RBT subscribers in order to excite them in subscribing more likeable/popular RBTs. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system can recommend special RBTs/genres/sub-genres to an RBT subscriber for his/her callers who liked or disliked his/her subscribed RBT. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) may recommend not to subscribe a most disliked RBT and most disliked genre/sub-genre in RBT service. In one implementation, if a calling party dislikes certain RBT of a called party, then the RBT feedback system (800) can recommend the called party for provisioning some specific RBTs/genres/sub-genres for the calling party that the calling party is expected to like or has liked in past for some other called party. In telecommunication, provisioning is the process of preparing and equipping a network to allow it to provide new services to its users. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) can rank various RBTs in terms of likes and dislikes based on all likes/dislikes of callers. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) can recommend to a caller a RBT of caller's liking/taste based on caller's RBT profile of likes/dislikes. If a caller is not a RBT subscriber, this will improve the probability of subscribing. If the caller is already a RBT subscriber, this will improve the probability of provisioning RBT of his/her liking and show that to his/her callers.
At step 1111, the called party takes an action based on the like or dislike feedback voluntarily or based on the recommendation. Examples of such actions include, but are not limited to enabling or disabling the feedback for one or more callers/users/contacts; changing a ringback tone for one or more contacts, or subscribing a specific ringback tone for a specific contact based on liking and disliking of the specific contact.
Figure 12 illustrates a use case (1200) for providing a like or dislike feedback without actually making any call and using web interfaces or/and software application on a communication device. Here, the RBT feedback system (800) allows non real-time or offline liking and disliking of a RBT of a RBT subscriber using a web interface or a software application, which may be a mobile application or a desktop application.
At step 1201, said web interface or the software application of the RBT feedback system (800) allows users to see subscribed RBTs of that user’s phonebook contacts. For example, a user can install a software application of the RBT feedback system (800) in his/her communication device. This software application can fetch the communication device’s phonebook contacts and find out from the RBT feedback system (800) who all phonebook contacts are using RBT service and what are their subscribed RBTs. Accordingly the user can check and provide a like or dislike feedback on any of those RBTs through the software application.
At step 1202, the user continues to see previous like and dislike feedbacks on subscribed RBTs of his/her phonebook contacts through a web interface and/or a software application.
At step 1203, the user provides a like or dislike feedback using web interface and/or software application on subscribed RBTs of that user's phonebook contacts.
At step 1204, the RBT feedback system (800) receives the like or dislike feedback from the user, through the web interface and/or the software application.
At step 1205, the RBT feedback system (800) may notify the called party about the calling party liking or disliking the subscribed RBT. This notification may be in form of a SMS or an USSD or an email or Interactive voice response (IVR) or web notification or notification on the software application (App). In one implementation, a called party is notified about the like or dislike feedback and a calling party who has provided that like or dislike feedback.
At step 1206, the RBT feedback system (800) stores the like or dislike feedback in one or more formats. Examples of the one or more formats include, but are not limited to the following examples. In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) the information that which party liked or disliked which RBT and for which RBT subscriber. In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) records all liking and disliking of each caller with following parameters: A list of (Called party + RBT + actual feedback like or dislike + date/time). In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) stores a caller's profile with his/her likes or dislikes with following parameters: Likes-(genres/types of RBT + specific RBTs which the caller liked) and Dislikes-(genres/types of RBT + specific RBTs which the caller disliked). In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) records all liking and disliking received by each RBT subscriber with following parameters: a list of (caller party number + RBT + actual feedback like or dislike + date/time) and a list of (RBT + number of likes + number of dislikes + date of activation + date or deactivation). In one example, the RBT feedback system (800) also stores actions taken by the RBT subscriber on receiving a like or dislike feedback.
At step 1207, the RBT feedback system (800) provides one or more recommendations based on the analysis of stored information. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) can recommend most liked RBTs and genres/sub-genres to new RBT subscribers or existing RBT subscribers in order to excite them in subscribing more likeable/popular RBTs. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) can recommend special RBTs/genres/sub-genres to an RBT subscriber for his/her callers who liked or disliked his/her subscribed RBT. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) may recommend not to subscribe a most disliked RBT and most disliked genre/sub-genre in RBT service. In one implantation, if a calling party dislikes certain RBT of a called party, then the RBT feedback system (800) can recommend the called party for provisioning some specific RBTs/genres/sub-genres for the calling party that the calling party is expected to like or has liked in past for some other called party. In telecommunication, provisioning is the process of preparing and equipping a network to allow it to provide new services to its users. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) can rank various RBTs in terms of likes and dislikes based on all likes/dislikes of callers. In one implementation, the RBT feedback system (800) can recommend to a caller a RBT of caller's liking/taste based on caller's RBT profile of likes/dislikes. If a caller is not a RBT subscriber, this will improve the probability of subscribing. If the caller is already a RBT subscriber, this will improve the probability of provisioning RBT of his/her liking and show that to his/her callers.
At step 1208, the called party takes an action based on the like or dislike feedback voluntarily or based on the recommendation. Examples of such actions include, but are not limited to enabling or disabling the feedback for one or more callers/users/contacts; changing a ringback tone for one or more contacts, or subscribing a specific ringback tone for a specific contact based on liking and disliking of the specific contact.
While certain present preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims.

CLAIMS:We Claim:
1. A method for real time generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones, the method comprising:
receiving a request to play a ringback tone, the ringback tone being assigned to a called communication number;
generating during call an announcement requesting a like or dislike feedback on the ringback tone to be played;
playing the ringback tone;
receiving the like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone; and
storing the like or the dislike feedback in one or more formats.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
providing a recommendation based on the stored like or dislike feedback.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
determining whether the like or dislike feedback is already received from a caller on the ringback tone assigned to the called communication number.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the like or dislike feedback is in form of DTMF tones or voice commands.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
notifying the called communication number about the like or dislike feedback.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the notifying is performed during call after receiving like or dislike feedback.

7. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the notifying is performed after call.

8. A real time method for providing a like or dislike feedback for ringback tones, the method comprising:
calling a communication number having a ringback tone associated thereto;
receiving and playing during call an announcement requesting a like or dislike feedback on the ringback tone to be played;
receiving and playing the ringback tone;
receiving from a caller the like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone; and
sending the like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone to a RBT feedback system (800).

9. A method for offline generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones, the method comprising:
receiving a request to play a ringback tone, the ringback tone being assigned to a called communication number;
playing the ringback tone;
sending after call a message requesting a like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone;
receiving the like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone;
and
storing the like or the dislike feedback in one or more formats.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising:
determining whether the like or dislike feedback is already received from a caller on the ringback tone assigned to the called communication number.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising:
notifying the called communication number about the like or dislike feedback.

12. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising:
providing a recommendation based on the stored like or dislike feedback

13. An offline method for providing a like or dislike feedback for ringback tones, the method comprising:
calling a communication number having a ringback tone associated thereto;
receiving and playing the ringback tone;
receiving and presenting after call a message requesting a like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone ;
receiving, in response to the message, from a caller the like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone; and
sending the like or dislike feedback on the played ringback tone to a RBT feedback system (800).

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the message is a Short Message Service (SMS) or an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD).

15. A method for offline generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones, the method comprising:
receiving a contact list from a communication device (901) having at least one communication number;
generating a list having at least one or more ringback tones listed against at least one contact from the contact list;
sending the generated list to the communication device (901);
receiving a like or dislike feedback on the one or more ringback tones for at least one contact; and
storing the like or dislike feedback in one or more formats.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15, further comprising:
notifying the at least one contact about the like or dislike feedback.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15, further comprising:
providing a recommendation based on the stored like or dislike feedback

18. A method for providing a like or dislike feedback for ringback tones from a communication device (901), the method comprising:
sending, by the communication device (901), a contact list having one or more contacts from amongst communication device’s phonebook contacts;
receiving, at the communication device (901), a list having one or more ringback tones listed against at least one contact from the contact list;
presenting, at the communication device (901), options to provide a like or dislike feedback on the one or more ringback tones; and
receiving, at the communications device (901), from user the like or dislike feedback on the one or more ringback tones for the at least one contact; and
sending, by the communications device (901), the like or dislike feedback on the one or more ringback tones for the at least one contact to a RBT feedback system (800)

19. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the contact list is sent using a web interface or a software application on the communication device.

20. The method as claimed in claim 18, further comprising:
changing, based on a user input, the like or dislike feedback previously provided on the one or more ringback tones for the at least one contact.

21. A ringback tone feedback system (800) for generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones, comprising:
an input terminal (801) to receive a request for generating an announcement or message requesting a like or dislike feedback on a ringback tone to be played, and to receive the like or dislike feedback once the ringback tone is played;
a control unit (802) to generate said announcement or message requesting the like or dislike feedback on the ringback tone to be played, and to process the received like or dislike feedback; and
a data storage (804) to store the like or dislike feedback in one or more formats.

22. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 21, further comprising:
an output terminal (803) to play the announcement or send the message requesting the like or dislike feedback on the ringback tone to be played, and to provide the like or dislike feedback to a RBT system or a RBT subscriber associated thereon.

23. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 21, further comprising:
a recommending unit (805) to provide a recommendation based on the stored like or dislike feedback.

24. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 21, wherein the recommendation recommending a caller to subscribe to a most liked ringback tone or a most like genre of ringback tones or a most like sub-genre of ringback tones.

25. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 21, wherein the recommendation recommending a called communication number to subscribe to a ringback tone for a caller, the ringback tone being liked by the caller for a ringback tone subscriber.

26. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 21, wherein the recommendation involves presenting ringback tones or its genre or its sub-genre according to a rank based on number or likes or dislikes.

27. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 21, wherein the announcement is generated during call.

28. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 27, wherein the like or dislike feedback is received during call in response to the announcement.

29. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 21, wherein the message is a SMS or USSD sent after call.

30. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 29, wherein the like or dislike feedback is received after call in response to the SMS or the USSD.

31. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 21, wherein the control unit (802) to is further configured to determine whether the like or dislike feedback is already received.

32. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 21, wherein the control unit (802) is further configured to enable or disable feedback mechanism upon such a request from a RBT subscriber.

33. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 21, wherein the one or more formats includes one or more parameters from amongst: a calling party, a called party, the ringback tone, a genre or type of the ringback tone, a sub-genre or sub-type of the ringback tone, the like or dislike feedback, a date of the like or dislike feedback, a time of the like or dislike feedback, number of likes on each ringback tone, number of dislikes on each ringback tone, actions taken by the called party on receiving the like or dislike feedback, a date of activation of the ringback tone, and a date of deactivation of the ringback tone.

34. A ringback tone feedback system (800) for generation of like or dislike feedback data for ringback tones, comprising:
a control unit (802) to generate a list having at least one or more ringback tones listed against at least one contact from a contact list;
an input terminal (801) to receive a like or dislike feedback on the one or more ringback tones for at least one contact; and
a data storage (804) to store the like or dislike feedback in one or more formats.

35. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 34, further comprising:
an output terminal (803) to notify the at least one contact about the like or dislike feedback.

36. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 34, further comprising:
a recommendation unit (805) to provide recommendations based on analysis of the stored like or dislike feedbacks.

37. The ringback tone feedback system (800) as claimed in claim 34, wherein the input terminal (801) receives the contact list through a web interface or a software application.