Methods and apparatus for paging systems
First Claim
1. A method of returning pages by charging an electronic account comprising the steps of:
- connecting a subscriber to a call controller;
inputting an authorization associated with a prepaid electronic account stored in the call controller;
determining, in said call controller, authorization validity;
retrieving a calling party'"'"'s phone number from the call controller;
connecting, by said call controller, the subscriber to the calling party via the calling party'"'"'s phone number; and
,incrementally adjusting the electronic account.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved paging system including a transmitter and a call controller. An incoming call trunk, a memory device, an outgoing call trunk, and a central processing unit make up the call controller. A paging party connects to the call controller though the incoming call trunk and enters a phone number. The phone number is stored in the memory device, and the subscriber is notified of the page via the transmitter. To dial the phone number left by the paging party, the subscriber connects to the call controller through the incoming call trunk and enters an authorization code associated with a prepaid electronic account stored in the memory device. The central processing unit retrieves the stored phone number from the memory device and connects the subscriber directly to the phone number. During the duration of the phone call, the balance of the prepaid account is incrementally decreased by the central processing unit. Further included are a message database for storing messages left by the paging party, and a billing summary that is remotely configurable to a format preference indicated by the subscriber. Credit may also be added to the balance of the prepaid account while connected to the call controller, and any destination phone number may be dialed through the call controller, whereby the balance of the prepaid account is decreased during the duration of the call connection.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method of returning pages by charging an electronic account comprising the steps of:
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connecting a subscriber to a call controller; inputting an authorization associated with a prepaid electronic account stored in the call controller; determining, in said call controller, authorization validity; retrieving a calling party'"'"'s phone number from the call controller; connecting, by said call controller, the subscriber to the calling party via the calling party'"'"'s phone number; and
,incrementally adjusting the electronic account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A call controller for use in a paging communications system comprising:
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a memory for storing a calling party'"'"'s phone number; an account database for storing a balance associated with a subscriber'"'"'s account code; an incoming call trunk for connecting the subscriber to the call controller; an outgoing call trunk for connecting the subscriber to the phone number; a central processing unit configured to receive the subscriber'"'"'s account code, determine its validity, and increase or decrease the subscriber'"'"'s account balance; wherein the memory and the outgoing call trunk exist in a common unit. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A paging system comprising:
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means for connecting a subscriber to a call controller; means for inputting an authorization associated with a prepaid electronic account stored in the call controller; means for determining authorization validity; means for retrieving a calling party'"'"'s phone number from the call controller; means for the call controller to connect the subscriber to the calling party via the phone number; and
,means for incrementally adjusting the account balance. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An article of manufacture including a computer usable medium having computer-readable computer program code means embodied therein for connecting a subscriber to a paging party through a call controller, said computer-readable program code means in said article of manufacture comprising:
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means for storing a phone number of said paging party; means for connecting said subscriber to said call controller; means for receiving from said subscriber an authorization number, said authorization number associated with a prepaid account and a balance stored in said call controller; means for determining whether said authorization number is valid; means for dialing said phone number of said paging party; and means for connecting said subscriber to said paging party; wherein said means for storing a phone number of said paging party and said means for connecting said subscriber to said paging party are a single unit. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method for responding to a verbal message using a paging system comprising the steps of:
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connecting a calling party to a subscriber'"'"'s pager; storing a verbal message from the calling party in a call controller; paging the subscriber; connecting the subscriber to the call controller; validating an authorization entered by the subscriber corresponding to a prepaid account stored in the call controller; retrieving the verbal message from the call controller memory; the call controller entering and connecting the subscriber to a destination phone number associated with the calling party; and
,decreasing the account balance during the subscriber'"'"'s connection to the destination phone number.
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Specification