Method and system for vertical messaging, billing and payment services
First Claim
1. A method of generating and processing billing and payment information for a service provided cooperatively by multiple tiers, the method comprising the steps of:
- collecting usage information of the service by a customer from one of a first tier of the multiple tiers or a third party;
integrating usage information with customer profile information of the customer provided by a second tier of the multiple tiers;
generating billing information based on the usage information, the customer profile information, and rate information for the service; and
transmitting a bill based on the billing information to the customer.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for generating and processing billing and payment information for a service provided by service providers in multiple tiers includes collecting usage information of the service by a customer from one of the tiers of the multiple tiers or a third party. The usage information is integrated with customer profile information of the customer provided by a second tier of the multiple tiers. Billing information is generated based on the usage information, the customer profile information, and rate information for the service. A bill based on the generated billing information is transmitted to the customer either using paper mail or by electronic bill presentment. Payments received are processed and allocated based on the payment information.
61 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method of generating and processing billing and payment information for a service provided cooperatively by multiple tiers, the method comprising the steps of:
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collecting usage information of the service by a customer from one of a first tier of the multiple tiers or a third party;
integrating usage information with customer profile information of the customer provided by a second tier of the multiple tiers;
generating billing information based on the usage information, the customer profile information, and rate information for the service; and
transmitting a bill based on the billing information to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of providing processing services for a service provided cooperatively by multiple tiers, the method comprising the steps of:
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collecting usage information of the service by a customer from one of a first tier of the multiple tiers or a third party;
correlating the usage information with a customer profile information for the customer provided by a second tier of the multiple tiers;
processing the usage information and the customer profile information to generate processing service information; and
delivering the processing service information to the customer including processing service information related to the first tier and the second tier.
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21. A method of providing processing services for multiple services provided, each provided cooperatively by multiple tiers, comprising the steps of:
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collecting usage information of the multiple services by a customer from one of a respective first tier of the multiple tiers or a respective third party;
correlating the respective usage information and the respective customer profile information from a respective second tier of the multiple tiers;
processing the usage information and the customer profile information to generate integrated processing services information; and
delivering the integrated processing services information to the customer.
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22. A computer readable data storage medium having program code recorded thereon for generating and processing billing and payment information for a service provided cooperatively by multiple tiers, the program code comprising:
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a first program code that collects usage information of the service by a customer from one of first tier of the multiple tiers or a third party;
a second program code that integrates usage information with customer profile information for the customer provided by a second tier of the multiple tiers;
a third program code that generates billing information based on the usage information, the customer profile information, and rate information for the service; and
a fourth program code that transmits a bill based on the billing information to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A system for generating and processing billing and payment information for service provided cooperatively by service providers at multiple tiers, the system including computing units connected to a network, the system comprising:
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a first computing unit that collects usage information of the service by a customer from one of a first tier of the multiple tiers or a third party;
a second computing unit that integrates the usage information with customer profile information for the customer provided by a second tier of the multiple tiers;
a third computing unit that generates billing information based on the usage information, the customer profile information, and rate information for the service; and
a fourth computing unit that transmits a bill based on the billing information to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification