System and method for dispensing of a receipt reflecting prepaid phone services
DCFirst Claim
1. A system for purchase of prepaid telephone services, comprising:
- an initiating terminal for receiving input of a customer'"'"'s request to purchase a specified amount of prepaid telephone services, and receiving input of said customer'"'"'s designation of a financial account from which to electronically debit the price of such purchases; and
a central terminal receiving said inputs from said initiating terminal, obtaining authorization for said request, and transmitting data to said initiating terminal for said initiating terminal to print on a receipt and provide to said customer, which receipt is used instead of a telephone card to obtain telephone services up to said specified amount.
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Litigations
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for electronic purchase of prepaid telephone services is provided. An initiating terminal receives input of a customer'"'"'s request to purchase a specified amount of prepaid telephone services and receives input of the customer'"'"'s designation of a financial account from which to electronically debit the price of such purchase. A central terminal receives these inputs from the initiating terminal, obtains authorization for the request, and transmits data to the initiating terminal for the initiating terminal to, in turn, print on a receipt and provide to the customer. This receipt is then used instead of a telephone card to obtain telephone services up to the specified amount. Such receipt may also detail instructions and an authorization number, such as a personal identification number or PIN, to initiate the pre-paid telephone service. The system and method of the present invention also preferably transfers the funds from the appropriate demand or credit account to pay for the purchased telephone services. An additional, separate Regulation E-type receipt is preferably also printed reflecting the financial transaction.
96 Citations
142 Claims
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1. A system for purchase of prepaid telephone services, comprising:
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an initiating terminal for receiving input of a customer'"'"'s request to purchase a specified amount of prepaid telephone services, and receiving input of said customer'"'"'s designation of a financial account from which to electronically debit the price of such purchases; and a central terminal receiving said inputs from said initiating terminal, obtaining authorization for said request, and transmitting data to said initiating terminal for said initiating terminal to print on a receipt and provide to said customer, which receipt is used instead of a telephone card to obtain telephone services up to said specified amount. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for automated purchase of prepaid phone services, comprising the steps of:
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receiving, at an initiating terminal, input of a request to purchase a specified amount of prepaid telephone services; obtaining financial authorization for said request by a central terminal; transmitting data, by said central terminal, to said initiating terminal to be printed on a receipt; and printing, by said initiating terminal, of said receipt reflecting purchase of prepaid phone services, such receipt to be used instead of a telephone card to obtain telephone services up to said specified amount. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for purchase of prepaid telephone services, comprising:
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a central terminal operable to receive a request to purchase prepaid telephone services from an initiating terminal; wherein the central terminal is further operable to; receive an identifier of a financial account to be used to purchase the prepaid telephone services; seek authorization for the request; and transmit output data to the initiating terminal, wherein the output data is to be used instead of a telephone card to obtain telephone services. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A method for processing prepaid phone service transactions, comprising:
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receiving, at a central terminal, a request to purchase prepaid telephone services that was generated by an initiating terminal; seeking financial authorization for the request using the central terminal; and transmitting output data from the central terminal to the initiating terminal, wherein the output data is to be used instead of a telephone card to obtain telephone services. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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70. A system for purchase of prepaid telephone services, comprising:
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an initiating terminal, operable to receive a request to purchase prepaid telephone services; wherein the initiating terminal is further operable to; transmit the request to a central terminal; receive output data from the central terminal if the request was financially authorized, wherein the output data is to be used instead of a telephone card to obtain telephone services. - View Dependent Claims (71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95)
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96. A method for processing prepaid phone service transactions, comprising:
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receiving at an initiating terminal, a request to purchase prepaid telephone services; transmitting the request to a central terminal; receiving output data at the initiating terminal if the request was financially authorized, wherein the output data is to be used instead of a telephone card to obtain telephone services. - View Dependent Claims (97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121)
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122. A receipt, comprising:
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a PIN; a telephone number; and wherein the receipt was generated by receiving a request to purchase prepaid telephone services, transmitting the request to a central terminal, seeking authorization for the request, transmitting output data to the initiating terminal comprising the PIN if the request was authorized, and wherein the PIN is to be used instead of a telephone card to obtain telephone services. - View Dependent Claims (123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128)
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129. A system for purchase of prepaid telephone services, comprising:
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an initiating terminal operable to receive a request to purchase prepaid telephone services, transmit the request to a central terminal, a central terminal operable to seek authorization for the request, transmit output data to the initiating terminal if the request was authorized, wherein the output data is to be used instead of a telephone card to obtain telephone services. - View Dependent Claims (130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135)
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136. A method for processing prepaid phone service transactions, comprising:
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receiving a request from an initiating terminal to purchase prepaid telephone services, receiving the request at a central terminal, seeking financial authorization for the request, transmitting output data if the request was authorized, wherein the output data is to be used instead of a telephone card to obtain telephone services. - View Dependent Claims (137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142)
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Specification