Method and apparatus for summaries of prepaid instrument transaction activity
First Claim
1. A system for electronically providing a summary of information relating to a prepaid calling card account in response to a request received from a remote source, comprising:
- a database configured to store at least one record of information relating to each of a plurality of accounts having respective unique account identifiers; and
a computer configured to access the database based on a unique account identifier transmitted with the request, including;
a request input system configured to receive the request from the remote source;
a search system configured to retrieve at least a portion of the information in said records from the database relating to the account based on the unique account identifier received from the request input system;
a summary generator configured to generate a summary of the retrieved information from the database in accordance with a selected format, wherein the summary generator is configured to generate said summary in a format indicated in the request; and
a summary output system configured to electronically transmit the summary generated by the summary generator to a destination.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for generating and transmitting summary transaction data includes a computer database from which information is compiled and forwarded to a requesting party automatically, i.e., without the need to interface with a human operator. A party having access to a prepaid transaction account number may access the host computer from a remote location and interactively request transaction information pertaining to the account using virtually any communication modality. The computer is suitably configured to communicate with one or more of the foregoing communication modalities and to automatically compile and transmit the summary data to a requested destination, for example, to a PC. The computer may further be configured to allow the requesting party to select among various formats to configure the form of the summary data. Summary transaction data may be generated and transmitted for virtually any type of prepaid transaction card, including phone cards, travel, credit cards, stored value (e.g., smart cards) cards, and the like.
324 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A system for electronically providing a summary of information relating to a prepaid calling card account in response to a request received from a remote source, comprising:
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a database configured to store at least one record of information relating to each of a plurality of accounts having respective unique account identifiers; and a computer configured to access the database based on a unique account identifier transmitted with the request, including; a request input system configured to receive the request from the remote source; a search system configured to retrieve at least a portion of the information in said records from the database relating to the account based on the unique account identifier received from the request input system; a summary generator configured to generate a summary of the retrieved information from the database in accordance with a selected format, wherein the summary generator is configured to generate said summary in a format indicated in the request; and a summary output system configured to electronically transmit the summary generated by the summary generator to a destination.
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2. A system for electronically providing a summary of information relating to a prepaid calling card account in response to a request received from a remote, source, comprising:
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a database configured to store at least one record of information relating to each of a plurality of accounts having respective unique account identifiers wherein said database is configured to store information relating to a plurality of accounts for purchasing at least one of goods and services; and a computer configured to access the database based on a unique account identifier transmitted with the request, including; a request input system configured to receive the request from the remote source; a search system configured to retrieve at least a portion of the information in said records from the database relating to the account based on the unique account identifier received from the request input system; a summary generator configured to generate a summary of the retrieved information from the database in accordance with a selected format; and a summary output system configured to electronically transmit the summary generated by the summary generator to a destination.
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3. A system for electronically providing a summary of information relating to a prepaid calling card account in response to a request received from a remote source, comprising:
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a database configured to store at least one record of information relating to each of a plurality of accounts having respective unique account identifiers; a computer configured to access the database based on a unique account identifier transmitted with the request, including; a request input system configured to receive the request from the remote source; a search system configured to retrieve at least a portion of the information in said records from the database relating to the account based on the unique account identifier received from the request input system; a summary generator configured to generate a summary of the retrieved information from the database in accordance with a selected format; and a summary output system configured to electronically transmit the summary generated by the summary generator to a destination; and wherein said computer system is configured to automatically charge said account upon generating said summary. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5)
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6. A computer system for providing summaries of prepaid telephone calling card activity, comprising:
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a first RAM sector for compiling a queue of request messages received electronically from remote requesting parties in respect of prepaid calling card accounts maintained by the computer, each said request message including a first field relating to a unique account, a second field relating to a destination to which said account summary is to be transmitted by said computer, and a third field relating to the format of said summary data; a call record database associated with the computer for storing, for each of a plurality of said prepaid accounts maintained by said computer, a call record history including information pertaining to a plurality of telephone calls associated with a particular account; and a control circuit for discriminating between requests received from a voice incoming telephone call and requests received from a non-voice incoming call, and for processing said requests in accordance with the voice or non-voice character of the request. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification