Audiovisual telecommunication method and apparatus using a digital network
First Claim
1. A network of audiovisual communication terminals interconnected by a communication medium, wherein the communication medium comprises a virtual private network, and each terminal comprises:
- a) a monitor system for playing out and receiving voice and picture information, the monitor system including a display screen, the monitor system further including a microphone and video camera for video teleconferencing;
b) a card reader adapted to activate the terminal only after reading the balance in an account on a debit card, and further adapted to reduce said balance according to a call duration and a billing rate;
c) a communication interface device that conditions, for reception, audiovisual signals from others of said terminals that pass to the monitor system via the communication medium, and that conditions, for transmission, audiovisual signals to be sent to others of said terminals via the communication medium;
d) a dial-up device adapted to make contact with at least one specified other of said terminals via said virtual private network;
e) a destination database at least of other said terminals, said database including respective billing rates for calls to said other terminals;
f) an information-retrieval device adapted, upon request, to retrieve from the destination database information about others of said terminals and, responsive to the retrieved information, to display on the screen a selectable listing of other terminals to which contact may be made;
g) a user-activated selection device adapted to automatically direct the dial-up device to make contact with a terminal selected by a user from the displayed listing; and
h) a device for calculating a charge from retrieved database billing rate information and from call duration, and for communicating said charge to the card reader so that the account balance on the debit card can be reduced by said charge.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A videoconferencing network of audiovisual communication terminals is interconnected by a telephone network. Each terminal is activated only when the balance in a user account has been read and the account has been made available for debiting. The terminal includes a monitor system for playing out and receiving voice and picture information, an interface system for conditioning signals passing between the monitor system and the telephone network, and a database which contains the locations and telephone numbers of other terminals of the videoconferencing network. The terminal firer includes a display of information from the database, a pointing device by means of which a user can make a selection from the display by indicating the relevant position in the display, and a device for automatically dialing up the selected remote terminal.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A network of audiovisual communication terminals interconnected by a communication medium, wherein the communication medium comprises a virtual private network, and each terminal comprises:
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a) a monitor system for playing out and receiving voice and picture information, the monitor system including a display screen, the monitor system further including a microphone and video camera for video teleconferencing; b) a card reader adapted to activate the terminal only after reading the balance in an account on a debit card, and further adapted to reduce said balance according to a call duration and a billing rate; c) a communication interface device that conditions, for reception, audiovisual signals from others of said terminals that pass to the monitor system via the communication medium, and that conditions, for transmission, audiovisual signals to be sent to others of said terminals via the communication medium; d) a dial-up device adapted to make contact with at least one specified other of said terminals via said virtual private network; e) a destination database at least of other said terminals, said database including respective billing rates for calls to said other terminals; f) an information-retrieval device adapted, upon request, to retrieve from the destination database information about others of said terminals and, responsive to the retrieved information, to display on the screen a selectable listing of other terminals to which contact may be made; g) a user-activated selection device adapted to automatically direct the dial-up device to make contact with a terminal selected by a user from the displayed listing; and h) a device for calculating a charge from retrieved database billing rate information and from call duration, and for communicating said charge to the card reader so that the account balance on the debit card can be reduced by said charge. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for placing an audiovisual telephone call from a sending location to a receiving location at the request of a first user who possesses a debit card, the method comprising:
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a) at the sending location, reading an account balance from the card and, if there is a sufficient positive balance, enabling the call to be made; b) receiving from the first user a designation of the receiving location, and, responsive to said designation, retrieving a billing rate and a destination telephone number from a database at the sending location; c) automatically dialing the retrieved destination telephone number, thereby to establish connection between the sending and receiving locations at least partly over a software defined digital network; d) if the automatic dialing step results in a connection between the sending and receiving locations, bidirectionally transmitting digital audiovisual data between said locations for the duration of any resulting telephone call, said data constituting a video teleconference such that the first user is in uninterrupted mutual audiovisual contact with a second user at the, receiving location throughout said duration; e) at the sending location evaluating the time remaining for the call before said account balance will be exhausted at said billing rate; f) displaying, on a monitor screen, at least one message that announces time remaining for the call; and f) debiting the account recorded in said card in accordance with said billing rate and said duration. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification