REAL-TIME, INTERACTIVE BALANCE CHECK FOR WIRELESS SERVICE
First Claim
11. A method for obtaining real-time balance information from a mobile wireless device, the method comprising:
- receiving a user selection for balance information for an account associated with the mobile wireless device;
transmitting a request for balance information to a wireless service provider in response to the user selection;
receiving a page containing the requested balance information; and
rendering the page in a display of the mobile wireless device to display the balance information.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Subscribers of a wireless communication services network can check their account balances in a real-time interactive environment. A subscriber requests balance information for the subscriber'"'"'s account using a mobile wireless device. The request may be made using a single-key interface on the subscriber'"'"'s wireless device. In response to the request, a billing system queries a subscriber database and obtains the subscriber'"'"'s account balance. The balance information is then returned to the subscriber as a page of information, such as a WAP page. The billing system may implement a feature that charges subscribers for checking their balances if certain criteria are met.
-
Citations
35 Claims
-
11. A method for obtaining real-time balance information from a mobile wireless device, the method comprising:
-
receiving a user selection for balance information for an account associated with the mobile wireless device; transmitting a request for balance information to a wireless service provider in response to the user selection; receiving a page containing the requested balance information; and rendering the page in a display of the mobile wireless device to display the balance information. - View Dependent Claims (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
21-1. The method of claim 20, wherein the balance or error message provided to the wireless device comprises a WAP page provided via a WAP server.
-
24. A method for providing real-time balance information to subscribers of a wireless communication service, the method comprising:
-
receiving requests for balance information over a wireless communications network, each request identifying an account of a subscriber; responsive to the requests for balance information, querying a subscriber database for balance information of the accounts associated with the requests; and a step for servicing the requests for balance information, the servicing of each account based at least in part on (1) a number of previous requests made for the account during a predetermined time period and (2) whether a predetermined amount of value remains in the account. - View Dependent Claims (25)
-
-
26. A wireless services network allowing subscribers of the network to obtain real-time balance information for their accounts, the network comprising:
-
a wireless communications network for communicating with a plurality of wireless devices to allow usage of the wireless services network by the subscribers; a data system for providing data services to wireless devices over the wireless communications network; a subscriber database that stores account information for subscribers of the network, the account information comprising balance information for each subscriber'"'"'s account; and a billing maintenance system configured to update the subscribers'"'"' account information based on the subscribers'"'"' usage of services over the wireless communications network, the billing maintenance system further configured to receive requests from the subscribers for account balance information and to provide pages containing the requested balance information and viewable by the mobile wireless devices to the subscribers over the data system responsive to the requests. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
Specification