Method and system for providing billing capability for a service node in an advanced intelligent network environment.

• US 20050286693A1
• Filed: 08/30/2005
• Published: 12/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Brown, Devinne H., Rule, Antoinette, Sarju, Tejanand, Chang, Hwey, Koptiw, Michael, Khan, Romel R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,257,208 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/114.28
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/90 using Intelligent Networks [IN] or Advanced Intelligent Networks [AIN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/016 Billing using Intelligent Networks [IN] or Advanced Intelligent Networks [AIN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/1313 Metering, billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13176 Common channel signaling, CCS7
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13345 Intelligent networks, SCP
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0029 Provisions for intelligent networking

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention relate to billing for services in an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) environment. A first call is received at a service node from a service switching point located in the AIN. A second call is established through the service switching point to a called party. The first call is bridged with the second call and the bridged call is monitored for signaling information. The bridged call is processed based on the monitored signaling information. A billing module is created for the processed call at the service node. The billing module may include service values related to billing information for the processed call. The processed call may be merged back into the service switching point and the created billing module for the processed call may be sent to the service switching point for ultimate delivery to a billing system.

Claims

1. A method for billing for services in a communications network, comprising the steps of:

bridging at a service node within the network a first call made by a calling party with a second call established to a called party to create a bridged call;

processing the bridged call in accordance with signaling information associated therewith to create a processed call;

creating a billing module for the processed call that includes billing information associated therewith; and

merging the processed call into the network along with the billing module.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending the billing module to a service switching point.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling information comprises a trigger to initiate a call transfer feature, and processing the call based on the signaling information comprises:

establishing a third call with a target party responsive to the call transfer trigger;

un-bridging the first call from the second call; and

bridging the first call with the third call, wherein the billing module includes service values related to billing information for the call transfer feature.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

invoking a call merge procedure to merge the bridged first and third calls along with the billing module into the network.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the service values include a telephone number for the target party.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the service values include a time stamp that indicates the time when the first and second calls were unabridged.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the time stamp further indicates when the first and third calls were bridged.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling information comprises a trigger to initiate a call conferencing feature and processing the call based on the signaling information comprises:

establishing a second call and a third call through the service switching point; and

bridging the first, second and third calls with each other, wherein the billing module includes service values related to billing information for the call conferencing feature.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

invoking a call merge procedure to merge the bridged calls along with the billing module into the network.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the service values include telephone numbers for the second and third calls.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the service values include a time stamp that indicates when the first, second and third calls were merged.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the created billing module by a service switching point;

appending the billing module to a billing record for the first call; and

sending the billing record including the appended billing module to a billing system for generating a bill.

13. A method for billing for services offered by an advanced intelligent network (AIN), the method comprising:

receiving a trigger to initiate a call transfer feature at a service node;

creating a first billing module to identify the call transfer feature;

establishing a call to a target party of the call transfer through a service switching point;

un-bridging an existing call between a calling party and a called party;

bridging the calling party call and the established target party call;

creating a second billing module including a date and time stamp indicating when the call between the calling party and the target party is bridged at the service node;

invoking a call merge procedure by removing the bridged call between the calling party and the called party from the service node and merging the bridged calls into the service switching point; and

sending the created first and second billing modules to the service switching point during the call merge procedure.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving the created billing modules by the service switching point;

appending the billing modules to a billing record for the calling party call; and

sending the billing record including the appended billing modules to a billing system for generating a bill.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving the calling party call at the service switching point;

creating the billing record for the calling party call, the billing record containing billing information for the calling party call;

responsive to an AIN trigger from the calling party, launching a query to a service control point;

receiving an address for the service node; and

sending the calling party call to the service node identified by the address.

16. A method for billing for services offered by an advanced intelligent network (AIN), the method comprising:

receiving a trigger to initiate a call conferencing feature at a service node;

creating a first billing module to identify the call conferencing feature;

establishing a call to a target party for the conference call through the service switching point;

bridging the established target party call with an existing call between a calling party and a called party to establish the conference call;

creating a second billing module including a date and time stamp indicating when the conference call with the target party was connected;

invoking a call merge procedure by removing the bridged call between the calling party, the called party and the target party from the service node and merging the bridged conference call into the service switching point; and

sending the created first and second billing modules to the service switching point during the call merge procedure.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving the created billing modules by the service switching point;

appending the billing modules to a billing record for the calling party call; and

sending the billing record including the appended billing modules to a billing system for generating a bill.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving the calling party call at the service switching point;

creating the billing record for the calling party call, the billing record containing billing information for the calling party call;

responsive to an AIN trigger from the calling party, launching a query to a service control point;

receiving an address for the service node; and

sending the calling party call to the service node identified by the address.