Apparatus for vending and delivering telephone services
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for providing electronically mailable call credits and call connections to be charged thereto is purchased by a customer for a recipient through the Internet and sent via email to the recipient. The recipient requests a call by activating an icon associated with the email. An application server receives the request and sends a call request message via the Internet to a virtual switching point associated with a switched telephone network. The virtual switching point initiates actions in the switched telephone network to set up a telephone communication between the recipient and a party to be called.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. (canceled)
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19. An apparatus for providing electronically mailable call credits, comprising:
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an application server adapted to be connected to a data network;
a memory associated with the application server for storing information in a database;
programmed instructions on the application server for accepting from a customer a purchase order of a specified purchase value of call credits via the data network;
programmed instructions on the application server for issuing an electronic call certificate for the value of the call credits purchased;
programmed instructions on the application server for storing information related to the electronic call certificate in the database; and
programmed instructions for sending a copy of the electronic call certificate via email to a recipient designated by the customer, the electronic call certificate including at least the value of the call credits purchased and a unique identifier for retrieving the stored information related to the electronic call certificate. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification