METHOD AND SYSTEM TO ASSIGN A LOTTERY-AWARDED GOOD

Abstract

There are described a method and relative system to assign a lottery-awarded good. A message of participation is sent to the lottery through a communication device. A central electronic processor stores information representative of the telephone number of origin of the message of participation received into a database. The processor increases a counter by an amount equal to the amount of participation. The counter indicates an amount representative of an overall current amount of participation. The processor compares the overall amount with a predetermined value made available for purchasing goods belonging to the category of prizes offered. If the overall amount of participation is less than such predetermined value, further messages of participation in the lottery are accepted. If the overall amount of participation is equal to the predetermined value, goods are awarded in that predetermined category of prizes offered.

Description

FIELD

The present description relates to the field of lotteries and of prize contests, and in particular to a method and relative system assign a prize or goods.

BACKGROUND

Methods to assign prizes or lotteries exist wherein a user takes part by purchasing a lottery ticket whereto an identification number is associated which, if drawn at the end of the lottery allows the user to win the prize offered.

Other methods to assign prizes, so-called instant, allow the user to purchase a ticket wherein, removing a removable area (mostly, silvery) it is possible to instantly know whether a prize has been won and the value of the win, if any.

Both methods to assign prizes described above exhibit the drawback of requiring the user to necessarily go to a sales point to purchase the lottery ticket (either traditional or instant). Moreover, the lottery ticket that the user wants to purchase may be out of stock at that sales point, forcing the same user to a further travel to reach another sales point.

In order to overcome these drawbacks, over the years, such traditional methods assign goods (traditional lottery and instant lottery) have been joined with similar methods to assign prizes that allow a user to purchase a ticket of a traditional lottery or of an instant lottery or to directly take part in such lottery electronically, for example over the Internet with his/her home computer or other portable device (mobile phone) provided with access to the Internet.

However in this way, the possibility of taking part in this type of online lottery is strongly reduced for that group of people, especially old people, who are not familiar with the new technologies and therefore are not capable of navigating the Internet or in general, of using a personal computer or a mobile phone to this end.

SUMMARY

According to some aspects of the present description, a method to assign goods is provided which allows obviating at least partly the drawbacks mentioned above with reference to the prior art, and in particular which allows taking part in a lottery or a prize contest directly from home or from the office or even in mobility while allowing access to such lotteries or contests also to people that are less familiar with the modern computer/electronic technologies.

According to a first aspect, there is provided a method to assign a lottery-awarded good, comprising: sending, by a user through a communication device, a message of participation in the lottery to a central electronic processor, the message of participation comprising information representative of the amount of participation in the lottery; storing to a database, by the central electronic processor, information representative of the telephone number of origin of the message of participation received; increasing a counter, by the central electronic processor, based on the information representative of the amount of participation in the lottery, by an amount equal to the amount of participation, the counter indicating an amount representative of an overall current amount of participation; comparing, by the central electronic processor, the overall current amount of participation in the lottery with a predetermined value made available for purchasing goods belonging to the category of prizes offered; if the overall amount of participation is less than said predetermined value accepting, by the central electronic processor, further messages of participation in the lottery; and if the overall amount of participation is equal to said predetermined value awarding, by the central electronic processor, goods in that predetermined category of prizes offered, wherein said awarding comprises: randomly drawing, by the central electronic processor, a telephone number from the database; sending, by the central electronic processor, a free notification message of the award of goods to the telephone number drawn, such notification message comprising a reservation code of a nominal prepaid card of the value corresponding to the predetermined value made available for purchasing goods in the category of prizes offered.

According to a second aspect, there is provided a system to assign a lottery-awarded good, comprising: a communication device, associated to a user, configured for sending a message of participation in the lottery, the message of participation comprising information representative of the amount of participation in the lottery, to a central electronic processor; a central electronic processor and a database, said central electronic processor being configured for storing into the database information representative of the telephone number of origin of the message of participation received; and a counter configured for indicating an amount representative of an overall current amount of participation in the lottery, said central electronic processor being configured for increasing such counter, based on the information representative of the amount of participation in the lottery, by an amount equal to the amount of participation, wherein said central electronic processor is further configured for comparing the overall current amount of participation in the lottery with a predetermined value, made available for purchasing goods belonging to the category of prizes offered, if the overall amount of participation is less than said predetermined value, the central electronic processor is configured for accepting further messages of participation in the lottery, if the overall amount of participation is equal to the predetermined value, the central electronic processor is configured for awarding goods in that predetermined category of prizes offered, said central electronic processor being further configured for randomly drawing a telephone number from the database, said central electronic processor being further configured for sending a free notification message of the award of goods to the telephone number drawn, such notification message comprising a reservation code of a nominal prepaid card of the value corresponding to the predetermined value made available for purchasing goods in the category prizes offered.

Further aspects are provided in the description, drawings and claims of the present application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages of the method and system according to the present invention will appear more clearly from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of a non-limiting example with reference to the annexed figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a system to assign a good according to an embodiment of the present description, and

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a block diagram of a method to assign a good according to an embodiment of the present description.

DESCRIPTION

With reference to the embodiment of FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 indicates a system to assign a good, hereinafter also referred to simply as system.

In the present description, a good is defined as a product offered in a lottery or a prize contest such as, for example:

a nominal prepaid card in the amount corresponding to a predetermined value (for example in Euro or dollars) made available for the purchase of goods only and exclusively in the vehicle (for example cars, motorcycles, campers, trailers, mopeds, boats) and gas station category;

nominal prepaid card in the value corresponding to the value (for example in dollars or Euro) made available for the purchase of goods only and exclusively in the supermarket category, to be used until the expiration of the validity (for example two years);

nominal prepaid card in the value corresponding to the predetermined value (for example in dollars or Euro) made available for the purchase of goods only and exclusively in the gas station category, to be used until the expiration of the validity (for example two years);

nominal prepaid card in the value corresponding to the predetermined value (for example in dollars or Euro) made available for the purchase of goods only and exclusively in the electronics/computer/household centres category, to be used until the expiration of the validity (for example two years);

nominal prepaid card in the value corresponding to the predetermined value (for example in dollars or Euro) made available for the purchase of goods only and exclusively in the clothing and shoe category, to be used until the expiration of the validity (for example two years);

nominal prepaid card in the value corresponding to the predetermined value (for example in dollars or Euro) made available for the purchase of goods only and exclusively in the furniture and accessories for home and office category, to be used until the expiration of the validity (for example two years);

nominal prepaid card in the value corresponding to the predetermined value (for example in dollars or Euro) made available for the purchase of goods only and exclusively in the travel category from travel agencies (also online), to be used until the expiration of the validity (for example two years);

nominal prepaid card in the value corresponding to the predetermined value (for example in dollars or Euro) made available for the purchase of goods only and exclusively in the real estate sector through real estate agencies; and so on.

Going back to the example of FIG. 1, system 100 comprises at least one display device 1, associated to a user U1, configured for allowing user U1 to take part in the lottery or prize contest.

In the present description, the term user is defined as a physical person that has the necessary and legal requirements to take part in the lottery, that is, he/she is adult, is resident for example in the state where the lottery is called and has a registered landline and/or mobile telephone service.

The display device 1 for example is a TV that broadcasts a television channel dedicated to lotteries. As an alternative, the display device for example is a local electronic processor 1 (personal computer or notebook) provided with an access to a computer network NTW (for example the Internet) wherethrough user U1 can follow the progress and take part in the online lottery connecting to a dedicated website.

User U1 can take part in the lottery through such display device 1 (for example the TV or the local electronic processor).

The lottery is each time dedicated to a category of prizes offered, each one whereof has been described above.

In particular, to allow the user to follow the progress and take part in the lottery, for each category of prizes offered, the display device 1 can for example display the following information:

the category of the prizes offered;

an identification code of the category of prizes offered;

a predetermined value (in dollars or Euro) made available for the purchase of the goods belonging to the category of prizes offered;

telephone number for sending a message of SMS type;

telephone number to make a voice call through a mobile telephone network or landline telephone network;

predetermined value (in dollars or Euro) corresponding to the amount of participation in the lottery (for example dollars or Euro 2.00, dollars or Euro 5.00, dollars or Euro 10.00; and so on);

counter configured for indicating the overall amount of participation in the lottery (in dollars or euro) which increases by every amount of participation in the lottery upon receipt of every message of SMS type or voice call of participation in the lottery. The counter increase procedure may for example be managed by a central electronic processor 3, described hereinafter.

For simplicity of description, the display device 1 of FIG. 1 (TV and/or local electronic processor) only shows counter C.

System 100 of FIG. 1 further comprises an electronic communication device 2, associated to user U1, configured for allowing user U1 to send a message M of participation in the lottery to a central electronic processor 3, which shall be described hereinafter. Such message M of participation comprises information representative of the amount of participation in the lottery.

In more detail, such communication device 2 for example is a mobile phone and the message M of participation for example is a message of SMS type that user U1 sends to the dedicated number indicated by the lottery through the mobile telephone network. Such message M of participation includes information representative of the amount of participation in the lottery.

In an alternative embodiment, such communication device 2 is a landline or mobile phone and the message M of participation is a voice call to a telephone number indicated by the lottery. To this end, the voice call made by user U1 is received and manacled by the central electronic processor 3, as shall be explained hereinafter.

System 100 further comprises the central electronic processor 3 comprising a data processing unit, a memory for loading and executing program codes for implementing a management procedure for the lottery it is intended for. In particular, such central electronic processor 3 comprises a database DB for storing data representative of the users that send messages of participation in the lottery.

Moreover, as already mentioned above, the central electronic processor 3 is operatively connected to the counter C. In addition, the central electronic processor 3 is operatively connected to both the site dedicated to the lottery, through the computer network NTW, and to the dedicated television channel.

In more detail, based on the program codes loaded therein, the central electronic processor 3 is configured for performing the following operations:

receiving the message M of participation in the lottery from user U1;

storing information representative of the telephone number of origin of the message B of participation received into the database DB;

increasing the counter C, based on the information representative of the amount of participation to the lottery contained in the message M of participation, by an amount equal to the single amount of participation. The amount indicated by the counter is representative of an overall current amount of participation in the lottery. According to an embodiment of the description, the counter increase is visible to user U1 in real time on the display device 1 (either the television tuned to the dedicated television channel, or the local electronic processor connected to the dedicated Internet website);

sending to the user U1 a free confirmation message of participation in the lottery.

In particular, if user U1 takes part in the lottery by sending a message M of participation of SMS type, containing the identification code of the category of prizes offered selected by user U1, the central electronic processor 3 is configured for:

receiving the message M of participation of SMS type;

entering the telephone number of user U1 who sent the message to database DB;

increasing the counter C for adding an amount equal the single amount of participation to the overall current amount of participation in the lottery;

sending to the user U1 a free confirmation message of SMS type.

In another embodiment, wherein user U1 participates in the lottery by making a voice call, the central electronic processor 3 is configured for:

receiving the voice call from user U1 and guiding the user U1 through an automated response along an alphanumerical response menu for obtaining the identification code of the category of prizes offered selected by user U1;

entering the telephone number of user U1 who made the voice call into the database DB;

increasing the counter C for adding an amount equal to the single amount of participation to the overall current amount of participation in the lottery;

automatically answering to the user U1 by an automated response for informing him/her of the confirmation of his/her participation in the lottery.

As regards the conduction of the lottery and the award of the goods offered, for each category of prizes offered, at each increase of the overall current amount of participation in the lottery, the central electronic processor 3 is further configured for comparing the overall amount of participation with the predetermined value (in dollars of Euro) made available for purchasing goods belonging to the category of prizes offered.

If the total amount of participation is lower than such predetermined value, the central electronic processor 3 is configured for accepting further messages of participation in the lottery (of SMS type or voice calls).

If the total amount of participation is equal to the predetermined value, the central electronic processor 3 is configured for blocking the lottery and awarding goods in that predetermined category of goods offered.

In more detail, the central electronic processor 3 is configured for:

blocking the receipt of further messages of participation as of SMS type or voice calls for that specific category of prizes offered;

randomly drawing one telephone number, from database DB where the telephone numbers of users that have taken part in the lottery for that specific category of prizes offered are stored;

sending a free message of notification of the award of goods to the telephone number drawn. Such notification message comprises a reservation code of a nominal prepaid card of the value corresponding to the predetermined value made available for purchasing goods in the category of prizes offered.

In the case of participation in the lottery by the transmission of a message of SMS type, the central electronic processor 3 is configured for sending a free notification message of SMS type containing the reservation code of the prepaid card.

On the other hand, in the case of participation in the lottery by voice call, the central electronic processor 3 is configured for sending a message comprising both the telephone number to call and the reservation code of the nominal prepaid card to a call management centre (not shown in FIG. 1) that will contact the user the telephone number whereof has been drawn by telephone.

The central electronic processor 3 is further configured for sending electronically (for example through the computer network NTW), along with the transmission of the free notification message of the award of goods to the telephone number drawn, a message comprising the name of the user the telephone number whereof has been drawn and the reservation code of the prepaid card to a bank or other financial institution (not shown in the figure) whereat the user will go for the identification and the subsequent collection of the prepaid card awarded as a prize.

Following the drawing of the telephone number and the transmission of the notification message to the user drawn, the central electronic processor 3 is configured for resetting counter C corresponding to the awarded category of prizes offered. Such reset is visible at the same time on both the dedicated television channel and on the Internet website dedicated to the lottery.

Moreover, the central electronic processor 3 is configured for restarting the participation by the lottery users for the category of prizes offered and already awarded by unlocking the possibility of receiving messages of participation of SMS type or voice calls.

Going back to the collection of the prize by the user, it should be noted that once a predetermined period (for example, 180 days) from the transmission of the notification message of the goods award to the user has passed without the user having confirmed such notification or without the user having collected the goods awarded, the goods may be deemed as not awarded or not collected. The goods not awarded or not collected tray be given, for example, to charity to scientific research.

Based on the categories of goods mentioned above with reference to the goods that may be awarded and on the system to assign a good just described, the partner companies involved in the subject of the present description may be, for example: mobile telephone companies, landline telephone companies, automobile dealers, gas stations, supermarkets, electronics/computer/household centres, clothing and shoe stores, home and office furniture and accessory stores and lighting stores, travel agencies, real estate agencies, banks or financial institutions, software companies, television companies, and so on.

With reference also to FIG. 2, a method 200 is now described to assign a lottery-awarded good, hereinafter also referred to simply as method, according to an embodiment of the present description.

Method 200 comprises a symbolic step of start STR.

Method 200 further comprises a step of displaying 201, for example by the display device 1 of FIG. 1, information representative of goods offered in a lottery for a predetermined category of goods.

Moreover, such method 200 comprises the step of sending 202, for example by a user U1 through the communication device 2 of FIG. 1, a message of participation (for example message M of FIG. 1) in the lottery to a central electronic processor, for example the central electronic processor 3 of FIG. 1. Such message M of participation comprises information representative of the amount of participation in the lottery.

Method 200 further comprises a step of storing 203, by the central electronic processor 3, information representative of the telephone number of origin of the message M of participation received into a database (for example the database DB of FIG. 1).

Subsequently, method 200 comprises the step of increasing 204, for example by the central electronic processor 3 of FIG. 1, a counter C, based on the information representative of the amount of participation in the lottery, by an amount equal to the single amount of participation, the amount indicated by counter C being representative of an overall current amount of participation.

Subsequently, method 200 comprises the step of sending 205 a free confirmation message of participation in the lottery the user (for example user U1), by the central electronic processor (for example the central electronic processor 3).

Subsequently, method 200 comprises the step of comparing 206, by the central electronic processor (for example the central electronic processor 3), the overall consent amount of participation in the lottery with a predetermined value made available for purchasing goods belonging to the category of prizes offered.

If the overall amount of participation is lower (<) than such predetermined value, the method comprises the step of accepting 207, by the central electronic processor (for example the central electronic processor 3) further messages of participation in the lottery.

If the overall amount of participation is equal (=) to the predetermined value, the method comprises the step of awarding 208, by the central electronic processor, goods in that predetermined category of prizes offered.

In particular, such step of awarding 208 comprises a step of blocking 209, by the central electronic processor, the receipt of further messages of participation (of SMS type or voice calls) for that specific category of prizes offered.

Moreover, such step of awarding 203 comprises the step of randomly drawing 210, by the central electronic processor, one telephone number, from database DB where the telephone numbers of users that have taken part in the lottery for that specific category of prizes offered are stored.

Subsequently, such step of awarding 208 comprises a step of sending 211, by the central electronic processor, a free message of notification of the award of goods to the telephone number drawn. Such notification message may for example comprise a reservation code of a nominal prepaid card of the value corresponding to the predetermined value made available for purchasing goods in the category of prizes offered.

Going back to the step of sending 205, if user U1 takes part in the lottery by sending a message M of participation of SMS type, such step of sending 205 may comprise a step of sending 212, by the central electronic processor, a free confirmation message of SMS type to the user.

In another embodiment, wherein the user takes part in the lottery by making a voice call, the step of sending 202 comprises the step of guiding 213, by the central electronic processor, the user through an automated response along an alphanumerical response menu for obtaining the identification code of the category of prizes offered selected by the user.

Moreover, always if the user takes part in the lottery by making a voice call, the step of sending 205 comprises a step of automatically responding 214 to the user, by the central electronic processor, through an automated response for informing him/her of the confirmation of participation in the lottery.

Going back to the step of sending 211, it should be noted that in the case of participation in the lottery by sending a message of SMS type, the step of sending 211 comprises a step of sending 215, by the central electronic processor, a free notification message of SMS type containing the reservation code of the prepaid card.

On the other hand, in the case of participation in the lottery by voice call, the step of sending 211 comprises the step of sending 216, by the central electronic processor, a message comprising both the telephone number to call and the reservation code of the nominal prepaid card to a call management centre (not shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2) that will contact the user the telephone number whereof has been drawn by telephone.

Method 200 further comprises a step of electronically sending 217, by the central electronic processor (for example through the computer network NTW of FIG. 1), along with the transmission of the free notification message of the award of goods to the telephone number drawn, a message comprising the name of the user the telephone number whereof has been drawn and the reservation code of the prepaid card to a bank or other financial institution (not shown in the figures) whereat the user will go for the identification and the subsequent collection of the prepaid card awarded as a prize.

Moreover, method 200, following the drawing of the telephone number and the transmission of the notification message to the user drawn, comprises the step of resetting, by the central electronic processor, the counter (for example counter C of FIG. 1) corresponding to the awarded category of prizes offered. Such reset may be visible at the same time on both the dedicated television channel and on the Internet website dedicated to the lottery.

Moreover, method 200 comprises a step of restarting, by the central electronic processor, the participation by the lottery users for the category of prizes offered and already awarded by unlocking the possibility of receiving messages of participation in the lottery (of SMS type or voice calls).

In the example shown in FIG. 2, method 200 ends with a symbolic step of end ED.

The method for awarding goods described allows the user to not have to purchase tickets and coupons at sales points with the additional risk of not finding immediate availability of tickets or coupons.

Moreover, the provision of a display device such as for example the TV allows also those without experience with the modern technologies or with the Internet to easily and intuitively follow the lottery progress being informed of the availability of games in real time (the counter has not yet reached the predetermined value for the prize) and also having the possibility of taking part from home or from the office by sending a simple SMS message or making a voice call.

Moreover, since the notification of the winnings takes place through the transmission of a simple message of SMS type or through an automated voice call or even through a voice call by an operator of a call management centre, it reaches the recipient quickly and in a quite simple manner.

The actual award of the prize (prepaid card) takes place safely and allows the user to immediately use the prize going to an authorised sales point for purchasing goods in the awarded category.

According to some embodiments of the present description, the prepaid card may also be used for online purchases, if desired.

A man skilled in the art may make several changes, adjustments and replacements of elements with other functionally equivalent ones to the embodiments of the method for awarding goods and relative system described above in order to meet incidental needs, without departing from the scope of the following claims. Each of the features described as belonging to a possible embodiment can be obtained independently of the other embodiments described.

Claims

1. A method to assign a lottery-awarded good, comprising: wherein said awarding comprises:

sending, by a user through a communication device, a message of participation in the lottery to a central electronic processor, the message of participation comprising information representative of the amount of participation in the lottery;

storing into a database, by the central electronic processor, information representative of the telephone number of origin of the message of participation received;

increasing a counter, by the central electronic processor, based on the information representative of the amount of participation in the lottery, by an amount equal to the amount of participation, the counter indicating an amount representative of an overall current amount of participation;

comparing, by the central electronic processor, the overall current amount of participation in the lottery with a predetermined value made available for purchasing goods belonging to the category of prizes offered;

if the overall amount of participation is less than said predetermined value accepting, by the central electronic processor, further messages of participation in the lottery; and

if the overall amount of participation is equal to said predetermined value awarding, by the central electronic processor, goods in that predetermined category of prizes offered,

randomly drawing, by the central electronic processor, a telephone number from the database;

sending, by the central electronic processor, a free notification message of the award of goods to the telephone number drawn, such notification message comprising a reservation code of a nominal prepaid card of the value corresponding to the predetermined value made available for purchasing goods in the category of prizes offered.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said awarding further comprises

blocking, by the central electronic processor, the receipt of further messages of participation for that specific category of prizes offered.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said message of participation in the lottery is a message of SMS type.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said message of participation in the lottery is a voice call.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein said sending, if the user takes part in the lottery by making a voice call, comprises

guiding, by the central electronic processor, the user through an automated response along an alphanumerical response menu for obtaining an identification code of the category of prizes offered selected by the user.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein said sending, if the user takes part, in the lottery by sending a message of participation of SMS type, comprises

sending to the user, by the central electronic processor, a free confirmation message of SMS.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising

sending to the user, by the central electronic processor, a free confirmation message for the participation in the lottery.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said sending, if the user takes part in the lottery by making a voice call, comprises

automatically answering to the user, by the central electronic processor, through an automated response for informing him/her of the confirmation of his/her participation in the lottery.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein said sending, in the case of participation in the lottery by the transmission of a message of participation of SMS type, comprises sending, by the central electronic processor, a free notification message of SMS containing the reservation code of the prepaid card.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein said sending, in the case of participation in the lottery by voice call, comprises

sending, by the central electronic processor, a message comprising the telephone number to call and the reservation code of the nominal prepaid card to a call management centre suitable for contacting the user the telephone number whereof has been drawn by telephone.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising

sending, by the central electronic processor, along with the step of sending the free notification message of the award of goods to the telephone number drawn, a message comprising the name of the user the telephone number whereof has been drawn and the reservation code of the prepaid card to a bank or other financial institution whereat the user will go for the identification and the subsequent collection of the prepaid card awarded as a prize.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising

resetting, by the central electronic processor, the counter corresponding to the awarded category of prizes offered.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising

restarting, by the central electronic processor, the participation by the lottery users for the category of prizes offered and already awarded by unlocking the possibility of receiving messages of participation in the lottery.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising

displaying, by a display device, information representative of goods offered in a lottery for a predetermined category of prizes.

15. A system for awarding goods offered in a lottery, comprising:

a communication device, associated to a user, configured for sending a message of participation in the lottery, the message of participation comprising information representative of the amount of participation in the lottery, to a central electronic processor;

a central electronic processor and a database, said central electronic processor being configured for storing information representative of the telephone number of origin of the message of participation received to the database; and

a counter configured for indicating an amount representative of an overall current amount of participation in the lottery, said central electronic processor being configured for increasing such counter, based on the information representative of the amount of participation in the lottery, by an amount equal to the amount of participation,

wherein said central electronic processor is further configured for comparing the overall current amount of participation in the lottery with a predetermined value made available for purchasing goods belonging to the category of prizes offered,

if the overall amount of participation is less than said predetermined value, the central electronic processor is configured for accepting further messages of participation in the lottery,

if the overall amount of participation is equal to the predetermined value, the central electronic processor is configured for awarding goods in that predetermined category of prizes offered, said central electronic processor being further configured for randomly drawing a telephone number from the database, said central electronic processor being further configured for sending a free notification message of the award of goods to the telephone number drawn, such notification message comprising a reservation code of a nominal prepaid card of the value corresponding to the predetermined value made available for purchasing goods in the category of prizes offered.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the communication device is a mobile phone.

17. The system according to claim 15, wherein the communication device is a landline phone.

18. The system according to claim 15, further comprising a display device configured for displaying information representative of goods offered in a lottery for a predetermined category of prizes.

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein such communication device is a TV, said information being displayed on a television channel dedicated to the lottery.

20. The system according to claim 18, wherein such communication device is a local electronic processor, said information being displayed on an Internet website dedicated to the lottery.