Usage-sensitive billing arrangement for private branch exchange subscribers

• US 4,090,034 A
• Filed: 06/09/1977
• Issued: 05/16/1978
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/1977
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Moylan, Philip John
• Primary Examiner(s): Claffy, Kathleen H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Brigance, Gerald L.
• Application Number:
  US05/805,119
• Time in Patent Office: 341 Days
• Field of Search: 179/7 R, 179/7.1 R, 179/7 MM, 179/7.1 TP, 179/8 R, 179/8 A, 179/18 ES
• US Class Current: 379/115.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/34 Charging, billing or metering arrangements for private branch exchanges

Abstract

A telephone system is disclosed including hotel and motel private branch exchanges (PBXs), a local step-by-step exchange serving the PBXs, and a remote message accounting center. A call data accumulator at the local exchange monitors line finders and cooperates with automatic number identification circuits to transmit to the accounting center call information such as calling and called subscriber numbers and answer and disconnect times. The accounting center computes usage-sensitive billing data for local calls based on the distance between calling and called subscribers and call duration. The accounting center further transmits usage-sensitive hotel/motel message register pulsing information to pulsing circuitry, including a microprocessor, at the local exchange. The pulsing circuitry, in turn, operates identified hotel/motel message registers in accordance with the information received from the accounting center.

Claims

1. An arrangement for providing message register pulses for message registers at a remote site, comprising

an orginating telephone exchange,

a message accounting center,

pulsing means associated with the message registers,

means at the exchange for identifying trunks routing incoming calls from the remote site to the exchange,

means for receiving trunk identification information from the identifying means and dialed digits from an incoming trunk and for forwarding the identification information and the dialed digits to the accounting center, and

means at the accounting center for translating the identification information and the dialed digits into message register pulsing information and for forwarding the pulsing information to the pulsing means, wherein the pulsing means has means for transmitting pulses to a message register at the remote site in accordance with the pulsing information.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the accounting center is coupled to the receiving and forwarding means by a data channel assigned a channel number, and wherein the translating means comprises means addressable by the channel number.

3. The invention of claim 2 wherein the translating means comprises

first storage means addressable by the channel number to derive an entity number,

second storage means addressable by the entity number for indicating whether the exchange serves message registers at the remote site,

third storage means addressable by the entity number to derive a call charging interval and a number of message register pulses for the charging interval based on the dialed digits and to derive a message register pulsing address in the pulsing means in accordance with the trunk identifying information from the receiving and forwarding means.

4. The invention of claim 3 wherein the third storage means comprises

a first memory addressable by the entity number to obtain a plurality of storage addresses,

a second memory addressable by a first one of the storage addresses and containing a plurality of message billing index numbers individually associated with different sets of digits identifying call terminating telephone exchanges, wherein the accounting center is operative to search the different sets of digits for a match between the corresponding ones of the dialed digits to obtain the associated message billing index number,

a third memory addressable by the obtained message billing index number to obtain initial and overtime call charging intervals and the number of message register pulses for the initial and overtime charging intervals,

and a fourth memory addressable by a second one of the storage addresses aand containing a plurality of pulsing addresses in the pulsing means individually associated with a different set of identification digits of the trunks from the remote site to the exchange, wherein the accounting center is operative to search the different sets of trunk identification digits in the fourth memory for a match with trunk identification digits from the receiving and forwarding means to obtain the associated pulsing address.

5. The invention of claim 1 wherein the pulsing information from the accounting center includes a pulsing address in the pulsing means and a number of message register pulses to be transmitted to a message register associated with the pulsing address, and wherein the pulsing means comprises.

storage means divided into a plurality of storage locations individually associated with different pulsing addresses for storing the number of pulses at a storage location associated with the pulsing address, and

means for executing pulse distribute orders to the pulsing address sequentially until the number of pulses has been transmitted to the remote site.

6. The invention of claim 5 wherein the trunk from the remote site includes a pulsing lead associated with a message register at the remote site, and wherein the pulse transmitting means comprises

a pulse distribute device connected to the pulsing lead and operated in response to the distribute orders.

7. The invention of claim 6 wherein the pulsing means further comprises

means for monitoring the operation of the distribute device, and

means responsive to a failure of the distribute device for forwarding a message to the accounting center specifying the number of distribute orders remaining to be executed to the distribute device.

8. The invention of claim 6 wherein the pulsing means further comprises

means for detecting the termination of the call on the trunk from the remote site while pulsing is in progress over the pulsing lead, and

means responsive to the detection of a call termination on the trunk for transmitting a message to the accounting center specifying the number of pulses remaining to be transmitted over the trunk.

9. The invention of claim 8 wherein the distribute device comprises a pulsing relay, and the pulsing means comprises

means for timing an interval after an execution of a pulsing order to the relay to determine an appropriate time for monitoring the operation of the relay.

10. An arrangement for providing message register pulses for message registers at a branch exchange connected to a central exchange, comprising

means for monitoring operations of line finders at the central exchange to detect call sequences on a trunk from the branch exchange,

means responsive to such a call sequence for identifying the trunk on which the call sequence is received,

means in the monitoring means for storing dialed digits received as part of the call sequence and for storing trunk identification information from the identifying means,

a processor independent of the central exchange for receiving the digits and the trunk identification information stored by the monitoring means, said processor having means for translating the digits and identification information into message register pulsing information including a pulsing address in the central exchange,

a message register pulsing circuit at the central exchange for receiving the pulsing information from the processor, and

means in the pulsing circuit for applying pulse distribute orders to the specified pulsing address in accordance with the pulsing information.

11. An arrangement for providing message register pulses for message registers at a private branch exchange connected to a step-by-step central exchange, comprising

call data accumulator means coupled to connections between line finders and first selectors of the step-by-step exchange for monitoring dialing sequences and registering dialed digits from the private branch exchange,

automatic number identification equipment at the step-by-step exchange for identifying calling lines from the private branch exchange and forwarding such calling line identifications to the call data accumulator means,

a message accounting processor remote from the step-by-step exchange,

means for transmitting from said call data accumulator means to said processor said calling line identifications and said dialed digits,

a plurality of message register leads from the step-by-step exchange to the private branch exchange,

a message register pulsing circuit at the step-by-step exchange for applying metering pulses to said message register leads,

means at the remote processor for translating said calling line identifications and said digits into message register pulsing information, and

means for receiving from said processor and applying to said message register pulsing circuit identifications of individual message register leads to be pulsed and the pulsing sequence to be applied to the individual message register leads.

12. An arrangement for providing message register pulses for message registers at a private branch exchange connected to a step-by-step central exchange, comprising

call data accumulator means coupled to the connections between line finders and first selectors of the step-by-step exchange for monitoring dialing sequences and registering dialed digits from the private branch exchange,

automatic number identification equipment at the step-by-step exchange for identifying calling lines from the private branch exchange and forwarding such calling line identifications to the call data accumulator means,

means for transmitting from said call data accumulator means to a remote message accounting processor said calling line identifications and said dialed digits on receipt of answer supervision at the step-by-step central office,

a plurality of message register leads from the step-by-step exchange to the private branch exchange,

a message register pulsing circuit for applying metering pulses to individual ones of said message register leads, and

means for receiving from said message accounting processor and applying to said message register pulsing circuit identifications of a particular message register lead to be pulsed and the pulsing sequence to be applied.

13. An arrangement for providing message register pulses for message registers at a branch exchange connected by pulsing leads between the branch exchange and a central exchange, comprising

call data accumulator means at the central exchange coupled to the connections between line finders and first selectors at the central exchange for monitoring calls and registering dialed digits from the branch exchange,

automatic identification equipment at the central exchange activated by said call data accumulator means in response to receipt of a call answer signal for identifying a calling line from the branch exchange and forwarding the calling line identification to the call data accumulator means,

a first processor separate from the central exchange,

means for transmitting from the call data accumulator means to the first processor the line identification and dialed digits,

a message register pulser at the central exchange including a second processor, a pulse distributor having a plurality of distribute addresses, and a message register relay circuit having a plurality of relays individually associated with separate ones of the distribute addresses and the pulsing leads,

a first memory at the first processor containing a plurality of storage blocks each identified by digits of a called exchange, each block containing message register pulsing information in accordance with the distance between the central exchange and the called exchange,

a second memory at the first processor containing a plurality of separate data each associated with a different one of the pulsing leads and each containing a different distributor address in the message register pulser for controlling the relays associated with the pulsing leads,

wherein the first processor is responsive to receipt of the information from the call data accumulator means identifying said calling line and the dialed digits to generate from the first and second memories a message register pulsing command to the second processor, including an address in the distributor associated with the calling line and message register pulsing data, and to initiate timing of successive charging periods in accordance with information in the first and second memories whereby other commands are generated to the message register pulser upon the expiration of each charging period until the timing is terminated by receipt of a message from the call data accumulator means that the call has been terminated,

means at the central exchange for receiving the commands and transmitting them to the second processor, whereby the second processor executes pulsing orders in accordance with the commands to the distribute addresses specified in the commands.