Automated bill payment
First Claim
1. An automated bill payment apparatus comprising:
- a bill generator for generating a bill for a user;
a call generator for automatically initiating contact with the user; and
a communicator for communicating with the user via the call generator, the communicator providing option information to the user, the option information including at least a payment option wherein, when the payment option is selected, the communicator provides information regarding the bill to the user and receives authorization to pay the bill.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An automated system enables presenting bills and paying bills in a convenient, secure and timely manner. The automated system stores user information in a database, the user information including account information for each user. Based on the user account information, the system generates a bill for services rendered during a predetermined time period. Once the bill has been generated, the system automatically initiates communication with the user through a call generator. Once a communication line has been established, the system may authenticate the user and then provides option information to the user, the option information including at least one of a payment option, a detailed bill information option, and a deferred payment option.
77 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An automated bill payment apparatus comprising:
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a bill generator for generating a bill for a user; a call generator for automatically initiating contact with the user; and a communicator for communicating with the user via the call generator, the communicator providing option information to the user, the option information including at least a payment option wherein, when the payment option is selected, the communicator provides information regarding the bill to the user and receives authorization to pay the bill. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of automatically paying bills, the method comprising:
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generating a bill for a user; automatically initiating communication with the user through a call generator; providing option information relating to the bill to the user after receiving an authentication signal, the option information including at least one of a payment option, a detailed bill information option, and a deferred payment option; and receiving option selection information from the user. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer program tangibly embodied in a computer readable, the computer readable medium comprising:
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a storing code segment that causes user information to be stored in a database, the user information including at least one of account information, services rendered, a time period of the services rendered, and authentication for a user; a generating code segment for generating a bill for services rendered for the user based on the user account information; a call generating code segment for automatically generating a call to the user based on the user account information; an authentication code segment for authenticating the user during the call; a discriminator code segment for providing option information to the user after the user is authenticated, the option information including at least one of a payment option, a detailed bill information option, and a deferred payment option; and a reception code segment for receiving option selection information from the user. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification