Method and apparatus for the billing of value-added communication calls
First Claim
1. A method of operating a billing system for billing a caller for charges incurred during a call made over a communication network to a sponsor-provided number, the method comprising the steps ofenabling at least one predetermined party of a group of parties associated with the call including the caller, a called party and a sponsor of said call to enter at least one call billing parameter directly to the billing system andcreating a separate billing record specifying the calling charge for each call to the sponsor number including a party-specified charge determined using said at least one billing parameter.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A call billing method and apparatus specifies, on a call-by-call basis, the calling charges incurred by a caller during a call to a sponsor-provided value-added service. The method provides the sponsor real time access to rate tables to specify call billing parameters needed to rate calls made to a sponsor number. A billing number is determined and validated and used to identify the party to receive a billing record for the call. A separate billing record is created for each call to the sponsor'"'"'s number which includes sponsor-specified charges determined using the call billing parameters. Another feature enables the caller or called party to provide call billing parameters for billing and identificaiton purposes.
-
Citations
40 Claims
-
1. A method of operating a billing system for billing a caller for charges incurred during a call made over a communication network to a sponsor-provided number, the method comprising the steps of
enabling at least one predetermined party of a group of parties associated with the call including the caller, a called party and a sponsor of said call to enter at least one call billing parameter directly to the billing system and creating a separate billing record specifying the calling charge for each call to the sponsor number including a party-specified charge determined using said at least one billing parameter.
-
2. A method of operating a data base system for billing a caller for charges incurred during a call made over a communication network to a sponsor-provided number, the method comprising the steps of
enabling at least one predetermined party of a group of parties associated with the call including the caller, a called party and a sponsor of said call to enter at least one call billing parameter directly to the data system and sending said at least one call billing parameter from said data base system to a billing system for each call made to the sponsor number.
-
3. A method of operating a switching system for billing a caller for charges incurred during a call made over a communication network to a sponsor-provided number, the method comprising the steps of
enabling at least one predetermined party of a group of parties associated with the call including the caller, a called party and a sponsor of said call to enter at least one call billing parameter directly to the switching system and sending said at least one call billing parameter from said switching system to a billing system for each call to the sponsor number.
-
36. A method of enabling a sponsor to directly enter call billing parameters into a data base of a billing system to be used to bill a subsequent caller for charges incurred for a call made over a communication network to a sponsor-provided number, the method comprising the steps of:
-
establishing a direct connection between said sponsor and said billing system and enabling said sponsor to enter at least one call billing parameter directly to the data base of said billing system over said established connection.
-
-
37. Apparatus for billing a called party for charges incurred for a call made over a communication network to a sponsor-provided number, comprising
means for enabling at least one predetermined party of a group of parties associated with the call, including the caller, a called party, and a sponsor of said call to enter at least one call billing parameter directly to the billing apparatus; - and
means for creating said separate billing record for each call to the sponsor from the caller, including a party-specified calling charge incurred during said call and determined using said at least one billing parameter.
- and
-
38. Apparatus for billing a caller for charges incurred for a call made by the caller to a sponsor-provided number, comprising
a switching network for establishing a connection between the caller and the sponsor number, means for updating call billing parameter substantially in real time using data received from a sponsor, and means for creating said separate billing record for each call to the sponsor from the caller, including a party-specified calling charge incurred during said call and determined using said at least one billing parameter.
-
39. Data base system for billing a caller for charges incurred during a call made over a communication network to a sponsor-provided number, the method comprising the steps of
means for enabling at least one predetermined party of a group of parties associated with the call including the caller, a called party and a sponsor of said call to enter at least one call billing parameter directly to the data base system, and means for sending said at least one call billing parameter from said data base system to a call billing system for each call made to the sponsor number.
-
40. Switching system for billing a caller for charges incurred during a call made over a communication network to a sponsor-provided number, the method comprising the steps of
means for enabling at least one predetermined party of a group of parties associated with the call including the caller, a called party and a sponsor of said call to enter at least one call billing parameter directly to the switching system and means for sending said at least one call billing parameter from said switching system to a billing system for each call to the sponsor number.
Specification