Method and apparatus for portable pay phone

• US 6,122,355 A
• Filed: 12/11/1998
• Issued: 09/19/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Strohl, Glenn E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Huyen
• Assistant Examiner(s): BARNIE, REXFORD N
• Application Number:
  US09/209,545
• Time in Patent Office: 648 Days
• Field of Search: 455/405, 455/406, 455/407, 455/455, 455/558, 379/114, 379/144, 379/355, 379/356, 379/115, 379/357, 379/112
• US Class Current: 379/114.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3433 the counter having monetary units
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/02 by keys or other credit registering devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/58 based on statistics of usage or network monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8033 location-dependent, e.g. business or home
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/854 Available credit
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 17/00 Prepayment of wireline communication systems, wireless communication systems or telephone systems using a coded card to authorise calls from a telephone set H04M1/675
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 17/02 Coin-freed or check-freed systems , e.g. mobile- or card-operated phones, public telephones or booths
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 17/026 Constructional features
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0188 Network monitoring; statistics on usage on called/calling number
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7435 Location dependent, e.g. Bussiness or home
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/8166 Available credit

Abstract

A portable pay phone system provides a portable pay phone service that deducts payment for a call from a smart card. The cost for the requested call is determined based on the locations of the portable pay phone and a destination device (called party) and whether the smart card contains enough funds to pay for the call. The portable pay phone system maintains multiple currencies so that any currency contained in the smart card may be used to pay for the call. After the call is connected, the portable pay phone system monitors the call. If the call is completed before the purchased time is expired, any funds that were not expended are redeposited into the smart card. If the purchase time has expired before the call is completed, either the call is terminated or additional funds is debited from the smart card to continue the call. This process continues until either all the funds of the smart card is exhausted or the call is completed.

Claims

1. A method of providing a portable pay phone service, comprising:

receiving a request for a call from a portable pay phone;

retrieving payment for the call from a smart card coupled to the portable pay phone, wherein the payment is in a lowest cost currency if the smart card contains funds in multiple currencies; and

connecting the call if the payment is successfully retrieved from the smart card.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving the payment in a single currency contained in the smart card.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein if the funds of the lowest cost currency contained in the smart card are insufficient to pay for the requested call, the method further comprising retrieving a portion of the payment from the lowest cost currency first and then retrieving a next portion of the payment from the next lowest cost currency and so on until the payment is retrieved in full.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring the call after the call is connected;

generating a total amount of charge for the call if the call is completed before a purchase time has expired; and

refunding a difference between the total amount of charge and the payment retrieved from the smart card.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

outputting a message to the portable pay phone if the purchased time has expired;

retrieving an additional payment from the smart card if permission is received from the portable pay phone to do so for continuing the call for another purchased amount of time; and

terminating the call if permission to retrieve additional payment for continuing the call is denied.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving the request through a point of presence device of a first network that is accessed by the portable pay phone using a local number of a second network.

7. A method for providing a portable pay phone service over a network, comprising:

providing for a card reader;

coupling a voice communication device to the card reader;

coupling the card reader to the network; and

connecting the voice communication device to a pay phone payment device in a call through the network via either a local number or a special access number, wherein payment is in a lowest cost currency if multiple currencies are present.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

acoustically coupling the card reader to a hand set of the voice communication device, wherein the card reader is coupled to the network via the acoustic coupling.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the acoustically coupling step comprises placing cup shaped covers over a microphone and a ear phone portions of the hand set of the voice communication device.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the card reader includes an adapter, the method further comprising:

connecting the voice communication device to the adapter; and

connecting the adapter to the network, wherein the voice communication device and the card reader are coupled to the network through the adapter.

11. A device that provides a portable pay phone service, comprising:

a database; and

a controller coupled to the database, the controller receiving a request for a call from a portable pay phone, retrieving payment, wherein the payment is in a lowest cost currency if the smart card contains funds in multiple currencies for the call from a smart card coupled to the portable pay phone, and connecting the call if the payment is successfully retrieved from the smart card.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the controller retrieves the payment in a single currency contained in the smart card.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein if the funds of the lowest cost currency contained in the smart card are insufficient to pay for the requested call, the controller retrieving a portion of the payment from the lowest cost currency first and then retrieving a next portion of the payment from the next lowest cost currency and so on until the payment is retrieved in full.

14. The device of claim 11, wherein the controller monitors the call after the call is connected, generates a total amount of charge for the call if the call is completed before a purchase time has expired, and refunds a difference between the total amount of charge and the payment retrieved from the smart card.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the controller outputs a message to the portable pay phone if the purchased time has expired, retrieves an additional payment from the smart card if permission is received from the portable pay phone to do so for continuing the call for another purchased amount of time, and terminates the call if permission is denied to retrieve additional payment for continuing the call.

16. The device of claim 11, wherein the controller receives the request through a point of presence device of a first network that is accessed by the portable pay phone using a local number of a second network.

17. A device that provides a portable pay phone service over a network, comprising:

a card reader; and

a voice communication device coupled to the card reader, wherein the card reader is coupled to the network and the voice communication device is connected to a pay phone payment device in a call through the network via either a local number or a special access number, wherein payment is in a lowest cost currency if multiple currencies are present.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the card reader is acoustically coupled to a hand set of the voice communication device, the card reader being coupled to the network via the acoustic coupling.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the card reader is acoustically coupled to the hand set by placing cup shaped covers over a microphone and a ear phone portions of the hand set of the voice communication device.

20. The device of claim 17, wherein the card reader includes an adapter, the voice communication device being connected to the adapter and the adapter being connected to the network, so that the voice communication device and the card reader are coupled to the network through the adapter.