Long distance telephone switching system with enhanced subscriber services
First Claim
1. A long distance telephone switching system adapted to provide various types of enhanced subscriber services in addition to conventional long distance calling services, said long distance switching system comprising:
- call switching means for receiving subscriber calls from any telephone with which communications with said long distance telephone switching system may be established and for generating call detail records containing information relating to said calls;
call processing means coupled to said call switching means for receiving enhanced service request codes entered from said telephone, and for generating billing detail records containing information relating to said various types of enhanced subscriber services requested from said telephone;
storage means coupled to said call processing means for storing said billing detail records; and
computational means coupled to said call processing means and said storage means for generating subscriber bills based on the information contained in said call detail records and the information contained in said billing detail records.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A long distance telephone switching system is adapted to provide various enhanced subscriber services, such as an audio news and information service, conference calling, voice messaging, message storage and forwarding, and speed dialing, in addition to conventional long distance calling. Additional improvements include the use of prerecorded opening and closing scripts to facilitate the handling of operator-assisted calls, the retrieval of stored subscriber billing data prior to each call reorigination in order to detect instances of possible abuse, and the concatenation of subscriber-input authorization codes with access number data to allow the use of shorter authorization codes by the subscribers.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A long distance telephone switching system adapted to provide various types of enhanced subscriber services in addition to conventional long distance calling services, said long distance switching system comprising:
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call switching means for receiving subscriber calls from any telephone with which communications with said long distance telephone switching system may be established and for generating call detail records containing information relating to said calls; call processing means coupled to said call switching means for receiving enhanced service request codes entered from said telephone, and for generating billing detail records containing information relating to said various types of enhanced subscriber services requested from said telephone; storage means coupled to said call processing means for storing said billing detail records; and computational means coupled to said call processing means and said storage means for generating subscriber bills based on the information contained in said call detail records and the information contained in said billing detail records. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method for providing at least one subscriber at least one authorized enhanced service to a caller through a long distance telephone switching system, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a call placed by said caller from any telephone with which communications with said long distance telephone switching system may be established; generating a call detail record containing information relating to said call; receiving an enhanced service request code from said caller relating to said one authorized enhanced service of a plurality of enhanced services available through said long distance telephone switching system; generating a billing detail record containing information relating to said authorized enhanced service requested by said caller; and generating a subscriber bill based on the information contained in said call detail record and the information contained in said billing detail record. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A telephone switching system adapted to complete reoriginated subscriber calls using stored billing information, comprising:
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call switching means for receiving original and reoriginated subscriber calls; call processing means coupled to said call switching means for receiving and validating billing information entered by subscribers placing original calls, and for generating billing records containing said billing information; and storage means coupled to said call processing means for storing said billing records; said call processing means being operative to process reoriginated subscriber calls upon validation of the billing information in said stored billing records; wherein said billing records are generated for each original and reoriginated call placed by a subscriber and contain a reorigination count field, and further wherein said call processing means is operative to prevent a subscriber from placing additional reoriginated calls after a predetermined reorigination count has been reached.
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8. A method for completing reoriginated subscriber calls using stored billing information, comprising:
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receiving an original subscriber call and subscriber-entered billing information associated with said call; validating and storing said billing information; processing said call in accordance with the results of said validation step; receiving a reoriginated call from the same subscriber; retrieving and revalidating said billing information; processing said reoriginated call in accordance with the results of said revalidation step; maintaining a count of the number of reoriginated calls placed by a subscriber; and preventing a subscriber from placing additional calls after a predetermined reorigination count has been reached. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. For use in connection with a long distance telephone network, a telephone switching system that provides conventional long distance services, at least one enhanced subscriber authorized service when requested by a caller, and call reorigination using stored billing information, comprising:
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call switching means for receiving calls from any telephone with which communications with said telephone switching system may be established, including calls for various types of enhanced services, original calls, and calls for which reorigination is requested; call processing means coupled to said call switching means for receiving enhanced service request codes entered from said telephone, for receiving and validating billing information entered by callers placing original long distance calls, and for generating billing detail records containing information relating to any requested enhanced services and to said billing information; and storage means coupled to said call processing means for storing said billing detail records; whereby said call processing means is operative to process those calls for which reorigination is requested based on validation of the billing information in said billing detail records. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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Specification