Multilingual prepaid telephone system
First Claim
1. A telecommunications apparatus, comprising:
- means for making announcements in a predetermined one of a plurality of languages in response to entry of a predetermined one of a plurality of telephone numbers; and
means for calling a telephone number of a called party communicating in the one of a plurality of languages as a function of a speed dialing alias and the predetermined one of a plurality of telephone numbers.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A prepaid telephone system having multilingual capabilities is provided in a public switched telephone network. A telephone user buys a predetermined amount of service beforehand and receives a card imprinted with a unique account number. A plurality of toll free access telephone numbers allows the user to access the prepaid telephone system. Each of those telephone numbers causes the prepaid system to interact with the user in the language in which he or she wishes the system to operate. The user is prompted in the chosen language to enter his or her card number. The authenticity of the number and the available credit is determined. If there is a certain minimum amount of credit available, the user is prompted to enter the phone number of a desired party. The user may also dial a speed dialing alias which connects the user to special services including news, weather, travel, translation, and other services. If the user has enough available credit to pay for at least a minimal amount of calling time, the call is completed. A timer is set with an amount of calling time permitted by the available balance. The timer runs during the course of the phone call and the call is disconnected when the timer runs out. If the call is ended prior to the timer running out, a new available balance is computed in light of the time remaining on the timer. The user can make additional phone calls using the new available credit balance.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A telecommunications apparatus, comprising:
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means for making announcements in a predetermined one of a plurality of languages in response to entry of a predetermined one of a plurality of telephone numbers; and means for calling a telephone number of a called party communicating in the one of a plurality of languages as a function of a speed dialing alias and the predetermined one of a plurality of telephone numbers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A public switched telephone network, comprising:
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at least one central office switching system; and a multilingual prepaid services system associated with the central office switching system. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A multilingual prepaid telephone apparatus comprising:
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a means for receiving one of a plurality of telephone numbers from a prepaid user, each of the telephone numbers representing operation of the multilingual prepaid telephone apparatus in one of a plurality of languages; a means for storing a group of announcements in the plurality of languages; a means responsive to a received one of the plurality of telephone numbers for directing at least one of the group of announcements to the prepaid user in the language represented by the received telephone number; a means for receiving at least one signal from the prepaid user representing a user'"'"'s account number in response to an announcement sent to the user in the language represented by the received telephone number; a means for verifying the validity of the account number; a means for determining if there is a predetermined amount of available credit associated with the account number; a means for receiving a destination telephone number from the prepaid user; a means for determining if there is sufficient credit available for a telephone call to the destination number for a predetermined minimum time; a means for determining an available duration of a telephone call to the destination number in light of the available credit and nature of the destination telephone number; a means for completing a telephone call from the prepaid user to the destination number if there is sufficient available credit for a telephone call to the destination number for the predetermined minimum time; a means for setting a timer with the available duration of a telephone call to the destination number; a means for starting the timer and running it during the telephone call to the destination number; a means for disconnecting the telephone call to the destination number when the timer runs out; and a means for computing a new available credit balance if the telephone call to the destination number ends prior to the timer running out. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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26. A method of providing a multilingual prepaid telephone service comprising the steps of:
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playing announcements to a prepaid user in one of a plurality of languages requested by the user regarding instructions about how to make a prepaid telephone call; and completing a requested telephone call from the prepaid user to a destination number requested by the user in response to prompts made by the announcements. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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29. A method of providing a multilingual prepaid telephone service, comprising the steps of:
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receiving one of a plurality of telephone numbers from a prepaid user, each of the telephone numbers representing operation of a multilingual prepaid telephone apparatus in one of a plurality of languages; storing a group of announcements in the plurality of languages; directing at least one of the group of announcements to the prepaid user in the language represented by the received telephone number in response to a received one of the plurality of telephone numbers; receiving at least one signal from the prepaid user representing a user'"'"'s account number in response to an announcement sent to the user in the language represented by the received telephone number; verifying the validity of the account number; determining if there is a predetermined amount of available credit associated with the account number; receiving a destination telephone number from the prepaid user; determining if there is sufficient credit available for a telephone call to the destination number for a predetermined minimum time; determining an available duration of a telephone call to the destination number in light of the available credit and nature of the destination telephone number; completing a telephone call from the prepaid user to the destination number if there is sufficient available credit for a telephone call to the destination number for the predetermined minimum time; setting a timer with the available duration of a telephone call to the destination number; starting the timer and running it during the telephone call to the destination number; disconnecting the telephone call to the destination number when the timer runs out; and computing a new available credit balance if the telephone call to the destination number ends prior to the timer running out. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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31. Method of making a multilingual prepaid telephone call, comprising the steps of:
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calling a predetermined one of a plurality of telephone numbers, each of the plurality of telephone numbers corresponding to a different one of a plurality of languages; receiving one or more announcements in a preselected language corresponding to the predetermined telephone numbers, the one or more announcements comprising one or more instructions on how to make a prepaid telephone call; and making a prepaid telephone call in accordance with the one or more announcements. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. Method of providing multilingual prepaid telephone service, comprising the steps of:
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playing instructional announcements over a public switched telephone network to a prepaid telephone caller in one of a plurality of languages selected by the caller; and completing a prepaid call to a called party via a public switched telephone network in answer to responses of the caller to the instructional announcements. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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Specification