Cellular phone accounting system

• US 5,325,418 A
• Filed: 09/27/1991
• Issued: 06/28/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Telemac Cellular Corporation
• Original Assignee: Telemac Cellular Corporation
• Inventors: McGregor, Donald S., McGregor, Gregory M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Stephen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shankar, Vijay
• Application Number:
  US07/767,231
• Time in Patent Office: 1,005 Days
• Field of Search: 379/58, 379/59, 379/60, 379/91, 379/144, 455/33.1, 455/33.2
• US Class Current: 455/408
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/30 the meter or calculation of charges not being controlled from an exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 17/02 Coin-freed or check-freed systems , e.g. mobile- or card-operated phones, public telephones or booths
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/32 Involving wireless systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/92 Autonomous calculations of charges in terminal, i.e. meter not controlled from exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing

Abstract

A cellular telephone accounting system includes an integrated hardware system interlinking a cellular telephone unit, a telephone interlink receiver, and a central processing unit connected to the interlink receiver. The hardware system also preferably includes a receipt printer and a credit card reader. The cellular telephone unit is equipped with an internal real time clock and calendar circuit and memory store to record the time and date of calls for reporting to the central processing unit to enable tracking and detailed accounting of calls.

Claims

1. A cellular telephone accounting system comprising:

a) a central processing unit;

b) at least one cellular telephone unit for making telephone calls, the cellular telephone unit having a real-time clock chip;

c) a telephone interlink receiver employed in conjunction with the telephone unit and the central processing unit with communication means for communicating between the telephone unit and the central processing unit, the interlink receiver communication means including,

1) a microprocessor in the interlink receiver;

2) interface means in the interlink receiver for interfacing the telephone unit with said microprocessor and receiving data signals from the telephone unit;

3) communicating means for interfacing the central processing unit with the microprocessor, including a port recognizable by the central processing unit, and receiving data signals from the microprocessor, wherein data signals are received by said microprocessor from the telephone unit and data signals are received by the central processing unit from said microprocessor; and

4) translation means for establishing protocol relative to data signals received from the telephone unit to permit communication of said telephone unit data signals to said microprocessor and to the central processing unit, wherein said translation means includes a program and wherein the telephone unit has call identification and recording means for identifying telephone calls and the time, date and duration of telephone calls as clocked by the real-time clock chip made from the telephone unit with identifying call data and recording the identifying call data in the telephone unit, wherein the telephone interlink receiver communicates the identifying call data to the central processing unit for accounting.

2. The receiver of claim 1 in which said program may be erasably inserted into said translation means.

3. The receiver of claim 1 which additionally comprises means for transmitting electrical power from the central processing unit to the telephone unit.

4. The receiver of claim 3 which additionally comprises means for switching said electrical power from the central processing unit to the telephone unit.

5. The receiver of claim 1 which additionally comprises a visual indicator of any activation of said means for receiving signals from the telephone unit.

12. The cellular telephone accounting system of claim 1 wherein the identifying call data includes the telephone number of each call made with the cellular telephone unit, and the system identification number of each call made.

13. The cellular telephone accounting system of claim 12, wherein the cellular telephone unit has telephone unit identification data including data identifying the electronic serial number identifying a particular phone unit, and a home system identification number identifying a particular phone unit as associated with a particular cellular area, wherein the telephone interlink receiver receives the telephone unit identification data and communicates the telephone unit identification data to the central processing unit.

14. The cellular telephone accounting system of claim 13 wherein the identifying call data includes the telephone numbers of each call made from the cellular telephone unit, and the system identification number of the location of each call.

15. The cellular telephone accounting system of claim 14 wherein the identifying call data includes the time and date of incoming calls to the cellular telephone unit.

16. The cellular telephone accounting system of claim 1 wherein the central processing unit has program means for calculating an accounting invoice from the identifying call data communicated to the central processing unit by the telephone interlink receiver.

17. The cellular telephone accounting system of claim 13, wherein the central processing unit has program means for calculating roaming charges from the system identification number of each call made from the telephone unit and the home system identification number of the telephone unit.

18. The cellular telephone accounting system of claim 16 including a credit card reader connected to the central processing unit for reading a credit card and determining a card'"'"'s credit, wherein the program means of the central processing unit charges the calculated accounting invoice against the credit of the credit card read.

6. A cellular telephone tracking and accounting system comprising:

a) a plurality of mobile cellular phone units, each unit having an internal real-time clock and calendar circuit, a memory, and, programmed system operating means for storing data on calls and the time and date of the calls in the memory;

b) a plurality of central processor units each central processor unit associated with a local site and each having a plurality of cellular phone units associated with the local site central processor;

c) interlink means for connecting the mobile cellular phone units to its local site central processor unit, wherein the stored data on calls and the time and date of the calls is transferrable to the central processor unit; and

d) a centralized processor connectable with each central processor unit with means for polling each central processor unit to extract data for centralized record keeping and operations management;

e) means for initiating transfer of the stored data from the cellular phone units to the central processor units and from the central processor units to the centralized processor.

7. The cellular telephone tracking and accounting system of claim 6 wherein the interlink means comprises an electric terminal connection between the cellular phone unit and the central processor unit.

8. The cellular telephone tracking and accounting system of claim 7 wherein the interlink means includes programmed circuit means for translating communications between the phone unit and the central processor unit.

9. The cellular telephone tracking and accounting system of claim 6 wherein the phone unit includes programmed system operating means for storing the data on calls and data on system identification numbers in memory and transferring the system identification number data with the call data to the central processing unit.

10. The cellular telephone tracking and answer system of claim 6 comprising further, a credit card reader and means for recording credit card data in the central processing unit.

11. The cellular telephone tracking and answer system of claim 10 comprising further a printer means for printing check-out data on phone units dispensed to a user and printing check-in data of phone units returned from a user.