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Automated public phone control for charge and collect billing

DC
  • US 4,935,956 A
  • Filed: 04/20/1989
  • Issued: 06/19/1990
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/02/1988
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. An electronic computing system for use in the automatic control of telephone instruments and networks over which users can communicate by means of either spoken voice or manual commands, and comprising:

  • means for electronic storage of data, for automatic execution of a computer program, and for input/output transfer of various electronic signals, said means comprising an automation computer,means for connection of said automation computer to both a conventional telephone instrument and a switched network, means for generation and detection of conventional currents, pulses, and tones associated with the manual operation and dialing of said telephone instruments,means for storage and selective regeneration of spoken voice utterances,means for analysis and detection of selected voice utterances, including means for distinguishing selected voices utterances from other signals and voice utterances,means for measuring the amplitudes and timings of the events and waveform characteristics of detected tones, pulse, and voice signals,means for communicating with the calling party and the calling telephone instrument such that the destination party cannot participate in such communication,means for communicating with the destination party and the destination telephone instrument such that the calling party cannot participate in such communication,means for communicating with various conventional automatic equipment, and with parties other than the calling and destination parties, including means for the detection of current, pulse, tone, and voice signals returned in a responsive manner to said automation computer,means to permit validly-charged calls to proceed and means to establish a conventional voice connection between the calling and destination parties, andmeans to prevent communication between the calling and destination parties and to terminate calls attempted to be charged to an invalid credit account, including means for originating telephonic calls to an alternative number stored in or created by said computer and other than those numbers supplied by the calling party,means for transmitting credit account numbers to automatic equipment and to parties responding at any such called alternative number,means for detection of tone and voice signals returned in a responsive manner to indicate the credit status and account number validity of said transmitted credit account numbers,means to terminate said telephonic call made to an alternative number and to resume other processes to be carried out by said automation computer.

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