Optimizing profitability in business transactions

• US 20020194096A1
• Filed: 04/29/2002
• Published: 12/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Securus Technologies Incorporated (Securus Special Investments LLC)
• Original Assignee: Securus Technologies Holdings, Inc. (Securus Special Investments LLC)
• Inventors: Kelson, Keith S., Falcone, Richard, Johnson, Lee R., Duke, Jeremy W., Sullivan, Robert E.
• Granted Patent: US 7,698,182 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

A system and method for optimizing profitability is provided disclosing an intelligent customer scoring system (iCSS) for receiving a telephone number and transaction request. When the iCSS receives an initial transaction request, it accesses local information related to the number to predict a real-time initial customer score, wherein the requested initial transaction is allowed in real-time based on a comparison of the initial customer score, an expected profitability of the transaction, and a predetermined threshold level. The iCSS accesses information related to the number and the profitability of the transactions to refine the customer score. When the iCSS receives a subsequent transaction request, it is allowed or denied by comparing the refined customer score and expected profitability with the predetermined threshold. The system further comprises an intelligent revenue opportunity module (iROM) for implementing a plurality of revenue opportunity applications (ROA) responsive to the customer score and other specific transaction requirements.

Claims

1. A method for optimizing profitability and revenue recovery for businesses using customer evaluation on a transaction-by-transaction level, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a telephone number associated with a transaction request;

retrieving customer information in real-time related to said telephone number from a local database;

projecting a profit margin in real-time for said transaction request;

calculating a customer score using at least one of;

said customer information; and

said profit margin;

wherein real-time approval of said transaction request is a function of at least said customer score;

accessing additional information related to at least one of;

said telephone number; and

said transaction request;

refining said customer score based on a function of one or more of;

said customer information;

said profit margin; and

said additional information;

wherein approval of one or more subsequent transaction requests associated with said telephone number is a function of at least said refined customer score; and

selectively identifying at least one of a plurality of revenue opportunity applications responsive to said customer score.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said additional information comprises at least one of:

an in-service date of said telephone number;

a dwelling type associated with said telephone number

billing name and address (BNA) information;

customer payment history;

additional validation data obtained directly from a customer during interaction with said customer; and

rate of consumption of said transaction.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said projecting step includes evaluation of one or more of:

contractual obligations;

commission agreements;

type of transaction requested;

governmental regulations;

costs for external validation;

billable rates for services;

billing and collection (B&

C) costs; and

arrangements with third party providers.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said customer information includes at least one of:

said customer score;

customer account limit;

current customer obligation;

customer payment history; and

customer demographic information.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said customer demographic information is stored according to an area code and prefix of said telephone number.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

storing one or more of;

said customer score;

said customer information;

said profit margin; and

said additional information;

into said local database according to said related telephone number.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein accessing one or more of said additional databases step includes the step of:

accessing at least one of;

said local database; and

an additional external database.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said approval of said transaction request comprises the steps of:

comparing said customer score with a predetermined risk threshold;

denying approval of said transaction request when said customer score is a higher risk than said predetermined risk threshold; and

approving said transaction request when said customer score is a lower risk than said predetermined risk threshold.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said selectively identifying step includes the steps of:

comparing said customer score with a predefined risk matrix, wherein said risk matrix relates to said plurality of revenue opportunity applications;

designating ones of said plurality of revenue opportunity applications corresponding to results of said comparing step; and

executing at least one of said designated ones of said plurality of revenue opportunity applications.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said selectively identifying step further includes the steps of:

presenting for selection said designated ones of said plurality of revenue opportunity applications to a customer requesting said requested transaction, wherein said executing step is responsive to said customer selection.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

selectively setting a usage limit associated with said telephone number according to said customer score.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising the steps of:

monitoring a value of transactions associated with said telephone number;

presenting options for increasing said usage limit; and

denying authorization for any of said transaction request when said value exceeds said credit limit.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of:

setting a consumption rate limit associated with said telephone number.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising the steps of:

monitoring a rate of consumption associated with said telephone number;

denying authorization of any of said transaction request when said rate of consumption exceeds said consumption rate limit.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein said real-time approval comprises the steps of:

comparing said customer score with an initial risk threshold;

denying said real-time approval when said customer score is a higher risk than said initial risk threshold; and

approving said real-time approval when said customer score is a lower risk that said initial risk threshold.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

categorizing said customer score into service level segments;

receiving a service call from a customer associated with said telephone number;

retrieving said customer score related to said telephone number; and

providing service to said customer according to one of said service level segments corresponding to said customer score.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein said at least one of said plurality of revenue opportunity applications comprises at least one of:

a post-paid billing product;

a prepaid billing product; and

a third-party-billing-authority product.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising the step of:

determining which of said at least one of said plurality of revenue opportunity applications to be billed directly by said businesses.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of:

selecting at least one of;

a variable billing cycle; and

a variable payment cycle;

of said at least one of said plurality of revenue opportunity applications responsive to said customer score.

20. A method for optimizing profitability of business transactions comprising the steps of:

predicting a risk management score of a customer requesting a transaction, wherein said predicting is based on a telephone number associated with said customer;

analyzing a profitability of said transaction; and

authorizing said transaction responsive to favorable results of said predicting step and said analyzing step.

21. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

selectively identifying at least one of a plurality of revenue opportunity applications responsive to said risk management score.

22. The method of claim 20 further comprising the steps of:

comparing costs and benefits for a plurality of billing options;

selecting a billing product responsive to one or more of said comparing step and said risk management score; and

selecting a payment product responsive to one or more of said comparing step and said risk management score.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein said plurality of billing options include one or more of:

a direct billing product;

a third-party-billing product; and

a prepaid product.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein said direct billing product includes one or more of:

variable billing cycle products; and

variable payment cycle products.

27. The transaction authorization engine of claim 26 wherein said one or more transaction requests comprise one of:

an initial request; and

a repeat request.

28. The transaction authorization engine of claim 27 wherein said customer scoring module comprises:

one or more internal databases;

a network interface facilitating communication with one or more external databases;

a data manager for searching said one or more internal databases in real-time for initial data related to said phone number, wherein said data manager searches said internal databases and said one or more external databases for additional information associated with at least one of said phone number and said one or more transaction requests; and

a profitability manager for calculating said profitability score using said initial data, wherein said profitability score is refined using said additional information.

29. The transaction authorization engine of claim 28 wherein said customer scoring module further comprises:

a realization unit for predicting a profit margin of said one or more transaction requests, wherein said profitability manager further uses said profit margin for calculating said profitability score.

30. The transaction authorization engine of claim 28 wherein said credit scoring module further comprises:

a revenue evaluation unit for comparing said profitability score with a pre-existing threshold, wherein said revenue evaluation unit determines authorization of said one or more transaction requests according to said comparison; and

a process interface for providing access to said profitability score.

31. The transaction authorization engine of claim 28 wherein said one or more internal databases include one or more of:

customer account information;

a profitability score associated with said initial request;

a profitability score associated with said repeat request;

demographic data; and

characteristics of said one or more transaction requests.

32. The transaction authorization engine of claim 31 wherein said customer account information comprises one or more of:

said profitability score;

a customer credit limit;

a customer entitlement limit;

customer account balance;

customer payment history;

customer demographic information;

customer transaction profitability margin; and

customer service level.

33. The transaction authorization engine of claim 26 wherein said profit opportunity module includes:

an application matrix indexing said plurality of profit generation applications according to a graduated range of profit estimates;

a search engine for identifying said ones of a plurality of profit generation applications corresponding to said profitability score; and

an implementation module for executing at least one of said identified ones of said plurality of profit generation applications.

34. The transaction authorization engine of claim 33 wherein said profit opportunity module includes:

a customer interface for requesting a customer to select at least one of said identified ones of said plurality of profit generation applications for execution.

35. The transaction authorization engine of claim 26 wherein each one of said plurality of profit generation applications comprise one of:

prepaid applications;

postpaid applications; and

third-party billed applications

36. The transaction authorization engine of claim 35 wherein said profit opportunity module further includes:

a bill cycle selector for selecting a length of a billing cycle related to said profit generation applications, wherein said length is selected according to said profitability score;

a payment cycle selector for selecting a length of a payment cycle related to said profit generation applications, wherein said length is selected according to said profitability score.

37. The transaction authorization engine of claim 26 further comprising:

a customer call center for providing access to a plurality of customer service levels; and

a customer evaluation unit for determining ones of said plurality of customer service levels to provide a customer responsive to said profitability score of said customer.

38. The transaction authorization engine of claim 36 wherein said profit opportunity module further includes:

a product comparator for comparing the cost and economic benefit of each of said plurality of profit generation applications.

40. The computer program product of claim 39 wherein said transaction request comprises a preliminary transaction request, said computer program product further comprising:

code for authorizing said transaction request in real-time as a function of said customer score, wherein said customer score is calculated using at least one of;

said customer reliability information; and

said profit.

41. The computer program product of claim 40 wherein said customer reliability information comprises a data structure including at least one of:

a customer credit limit;

a customer entitlement limit;

customer account balance;

customer payment history;

customer demographic information; and

said forecasted profit related to said transaction request.

42. The computer program product of claim 41 further comprising code for determining an authorization related to said transaction request.

43. The computer program product of claim 42 wherein said code for determining includes:

code for comparing said customer score with a preset threshold;

code for setting said authorization to a denial of transaction when said preset threshold is exceeded; and

code for setting said authorization to an approval of transaction when said preset threshold is not exceeded.

44. The computer program product of claim 43 further comprising:

code for communicating to said code for selecting, one of said customer score corresponding to said transaction request when said authorization relating to said transaction request is set to said denial of transaction.

45. The computer program product of claim 43 wherein said code for determining further includes:

code for comparing said customer account balance with one of said customer credit limit and said customer entitlement limit; and

code for reviewing a status of said customer payment history;

wherein said code for determining is responsive to results from;

said code for comparing said customer account balance; and

said code for reviewing said status.

46. The computer program product of claim 41 wherein said code for selecting includes:

code for indexing said plurality of revenue opportunity applications into an application matrix according to a reliability level associated with each one of said plurality of revenue opportunity applications;

code for searching said application matrix for a subset of said plurality of revenue generation applications corresponding to said customer score;

code for executing at least one of said ones of said plurality of revenue generation applications corresponding to said one of said RAS and said RTR.

47. The computer program product of claim 46 wherein said code for selecting further comprises:

code for receiving a customer selection of at least one of said subset.

48. The computer program product of claim 39 further comprising:

code for interfacing a customer to a service center, wherein said service center comprises at least one of;

an interactive voice response unit (IVR); and

a live operator call center; and

wherein said service center provides customer support related to said transaction request.

49. The computer program product of claim 48 wherein said customer support comprises a plurality of service levels.

50. The computer program product of claim 49 further comprising:

code for segregating said customer into one or more service groups according to said customer score associated with said transaction request, wherein said one or more service groups are entitled to receive levels of said plurality of service levels corresponding to said customer score.

25. A method for optimizing transaction profitability comprising the steps of:

receiving a telephone number related to a requested transaction;

validating billing data related to said telephone number in real-time;

calculating an expected profitability for said requested transaction in real-time;

searching in a local database for a refined customer score related to said telephone number in real-time;

comparing said refined customer score and said expected profitability to a preset threshold, wherein said requested transaction is allowed when said refined customer score satisfies said preset threshold, and wherein said requested transaction is denied when said refined customer score fails to satisfy said preset threshold;

retrieving initial information in real-time from a local database related to said telephone number when said searching step fails;

determining an initial customer score based at least in part on one or more of;

said expected profitability; and

said initial information;

comparing said initial customer score to said preset threshold, wherein said requested transaction is allowed when said initial customer score satisfies said preset threshold, and wherein said requested transaction is denied when said initial customer score fails to satisfy said preset threshold;

accessing datastores for additional information related to one of said requested transaction and said telephone number;

refining said initial customer score using said additional information;

selectively identifying at least one of a plurality of profit opportunity applications for application to one or more of;

said requested transaction failing said validating step;

said requested transactions receiving unfavorable results from said calculating step;

said requested transaction denied when said refined customer score fails to satisfy said preset threshold; and

said requested transaction denied when said initial customer score fails to satisfy said preset threshold;

wherein said plurality of profit opportunity applications include one or more of;

direct billed products;

third-party billing authority billed products; and

prepaid products;

wherein said direct billed products are selectable based on one or more of;

a selectable billing cycle; and

a selectable payment cycle;

communicating with a customer to provide said at least one of said plurality of profit opportunity applications for selection;

obtaining supplemental information from said customer during said communicating step, wherein said supplemental information is used to further refine said customer score;

wherein said refined customer score is stored onto said local database.

26. A transaction authorization engine for optimizing transaction profitability, said transaction authorization engine comprising:

an authorization interface for receiving one or more transaction requests and a phone number;

a customer scoring module for assessing a profitability score associated with at least one of;

said phone number; and

said one or more transaction requests; and

a profit opportunity module for selecting ones of a plurality of profit generation applications responsive to said profitability score.

39. A computer program product having a computer readable medium with computer program logic recorded thereon for maximizing profit generation, said computer program product comprising:

code for receiving a phone number associated with a transaction request;

code for locally retrieving customer reliability information in real-time related to said transaction request from a first datastore;

code for forecasting a profit related to said transaction request in real-time;

code for searching one or more datastores for additional information related to one or more of;

said phone number; and

said transaction request;

code for calculating a customer score associated with said phone number using a function of one or more of;

said risk information;

said profit forecast; and

said additional information; and

code for selecting at least one of a plurality of revenue opportunity applications responsive at least in part to said customer score.

51. A method for increasing subscription efficiency in a telecommunication service comprising the steps of:

receiving a subscription request for a telephone call to a called number;

searching a demographics database in real-time for initial risk data;

estimating a profitability of said telephone call in real-time;

communicating with one or more additional databases for additional information associated with said called number;

calculating a collection risk metric based in part on one or more of;

said initial risk data;

said profitability; and

said additional information;

setting an authorization for said subscription request responsive to said collection risk metric; and

identifying a subset of applications from a matrix of subscription opportunity applications, wherein said subset of application corresponds to said collection risk metric.

52. The method of claim 51 wherein said subscription request comprises one of:

an initial request; and

a recurrent request.

53. The method of claim 52 wherein said search step comprises at least one of the steps of:

scanning said demographics database using an area code from said called number; and

scanning said demographics database using a prefix from said called number.