Abstract: A method of operating an automated telecommunication system, including accepting an incoming telephone call from a consumer at a location to be identified by the system who is prompted to enter a telephone number of a called party, playing at least one advertisement to the consumer, the advertisement being chosen from a set of advertisements based at least partly upon the geographical location of the consumer and/or preprogrammed logic in the system, connecting the consumer to an advertiser associated with the advertisement and then to the called party or connecting the consumer to only the called party based on a preference of the consumer; and terminating the connection between the consumer and the called party after a predetermined time.