Patent ID: 8204057

Claim:
A method for providing an enriched messaging service in a communications network, the method comprising: (a) receiving a messaging service message addressed to a first destination address, wherein the messaging service message is a short message service (SMS) or multimedia message service (MMS) message, wherein the messaging service message comprises a reply generated by a mobile station in response to an ad for a product or service; (b) utilizing a subscriber identifier in the messaging service message to access subscriber information, the subscriber identifier identifying a subscriber that is a sender of the messaging service message generated by the mobile station, the subscriber information being contained in at least one subscriber information database; (c) placing the accessed subscriber information in the messaging service message to create an enriched message, wherein the accessed subscriber information includes subscriber retail preference information in addition to routing or delivery information for delivering the enriched message; and (d) transmitting the enriched message towards a third party not specified in the original messaging service message, wherein the third party is determined based on the accessed subscriber information.