Patent ID: 7406429

Claim:
A computer program product comprising a recording medium, having encoded thereon a computer readable program executable by a computer, for performing the functions of a mediator that controls communications between a service provider and a client terminal device for use by a client having a client identifier address, the communications between the service provider and the client terminal device being based upon technology in which a reply to an inquiry does not automatically include an explicit reference to the inquiry, the mediator including: a) a multiplicity of different addresses associated with the service provider at which the mediator is configured to receive communications from the client terminal device regarding the service provider; and b) logic and resources configured to perform the acts of: preparing at least two inquiry messages pertaining to the service provider, associating a particular reply address to each of the at least two inquiry messages, the particular reply address being selected from the multiplicity of different addresses, sending the least two inquiry messages to the client terminal device, said each of the at least two inquiry messages including a plurality of choices that are selectable by the client, receiving from the client terminal device a reply to at least one of the at least two inquiry messages at the particular reply address associated with said received reply, the received reply including the client identifier address and a selected choice, storing information pertaining to the received reply in a three dimensional matrix, the three dimensional matrix including a first axis indexed by client identifier address, a second axis indexed by reply address, and a third axis indexed for storing ordinal position of selections, and determining which choice of the plurality of choices has been selected by the client in the received reply using the client identifier address, the particular reply address at which the received reply is received and the ordinal position of the selection made by the client, wherein the determined particular reply address at which the received reply is received identifies the specific message of the at least two inquiry messages that the client has replied to.