Flexible mobile prepaid scratch card recharge
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of authorizing different quantities of telecommunications service for scratch cards with the same value, comprising the steps of:
- responsive to the activation of a scratch card, creating a recharge/replenishment amount derived from the face value of the card and increased in accordance with an identification of a reseller who has arranged to provide telecommunications services in excess of the face value of the scratch card;
storing said recharge/replenishment amount for a customer in a database of a prepayment system; and
responsive to the customer making a call, debiting said recharge/replenishment amount with standard call charges for said call independent of an identity of said reseller who sold the scratch card to the customer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for flexibly controlling prepaid telecommunications charges. A scratch card recharge arrangement is used to prepay for future telecommunications calls. A flexible arrangement is provided to translate between the face value of a scratch card and the amount of telecommunications charges authorized for that scratch card. Advantageously, different vendors of scratch cards may provide different amounts of service for a scratch card with a given face value.
7 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of authorizing different quantities of telecommunications service for scratch cards with the same value, comprising the steps of:
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responsive to the activation of a scratch card, creating a recharge/replenishment amount derived from the face value of the card and increased in accordance with an identification of a reseller who has arranged to provide telecommunications services in excess of the face value of the scratch card; storing said recharge/replenishment amount for a customer in a database of a prepayment system; and responsive to the customer making a call, debiting said recharge/replenishment amount with standard call charges for said call independent of an identity of said reseller who sold the scratch card to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9)
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5. A method of authorizing different quantities of telecommunications service for scratch cards with the same value, comprising the steps of:
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responsive to the activation of a scratch card, creating a recharge/replenishment amount derived from the face value of the card and increased in accordance with an identification of a reseller who has arranged to provide telecommunications services in excess of the face value of the scratch card; storing said recharge/replenishment amount for a customer in a database of a prepayment system; responsive to the customer making a call, debiting said recharge/replenishment amount with standard call charges for said call independent of an identity of said reseller who sold the scratch card to the customer; deriving recharge rate plans using programmed rules and input conditions; wherein said programmed rules and conditions are interpreted by a policy management system (rule engine) for interpreting conditions and logic rules to derive an output recharge/replenishment amount; and searching, viewing and editing rule sets and input conditions from a terminal of a service provider.
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6. A method of authorizing different quantities of telecommunications service for scratch cards with the same value, comprising the steps of:
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responsive to the activation of a scratch card, creating a recharge/replenishment amount derived from the face value of the card and increased in accordance with an identification of a reseller who has arranged to provide telecommunications services in excess of the face value of the scratch card; storing said recharge/replenishment amount for a customer in a database of a prepayment system; responsive to the customer making a call, debiting said recharge/replenishment amount with standard call charges for said call independent of an identity of said reseller who sold the scratch card to the customer; deriving recharge rate plans using programmed rules and input conditions; and interpreting ones of said input conditions to determine recharge life cycle data.
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10. Apparatus for providing different quantities of telecommunications service for scratch cards with the same value, comprising:
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means, responsive to the activation of a scratch card, for creating a recharge/replenishment amount derived from the face value of the card and increased in accordance with an identification of a reseller who has arranged to provide telecommunications services in excess of the face value of the scratch card; a database of a prepayment system for storing said recharge/replenishment amount for a customer; and means, responsive to the customer making a call, for debiting said recharge/replenishment amount with standard call charges for said call independent of an identity of said reseller who sold the scratch card to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18)
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14. Apparatus for providing different quantities of telecommunications service for scratch cards with the same value, comprising:
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means, responsive to the activation of a scratch card, for creating a recharge/replenishment amount derived from the face value of the card and increased in accordance with an identification of a reseller who has arranged to provide telecommunications services in excess of the face value of the scratch card; a database of a prepayment system for storing said recharge/replenishment amount for a customer; means, responsive to the customer making a call, for debiting said recharge/replenishment amount with standard call charges for said call independent of an identity of said reseller who sold the scratch card to the customer; means for deriving recharge rate plans using programmed rules and recharge conditions; and a terminal of a service provider for searching, viewing and editing said rule sets and input conditions.
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15. Apparatus for providing different quantities of telecommunications service for scratch cards with the same value, comprising:
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means, responsive to the activation of a scratch card, for creating a recharge/replenishment amount derived from the face value of the card and increased in accordance with an identification of a reseller who has arranged to provide telecommunications services in excess of the face value of the scratch card; a database of a prepayment system for storing said recharge/replenishment amount for a customer; means, responsive to the customer making a call, for debiting said recharge/replenishment amount with standard call charges for said call independent of an identity of said reseller who sold the scratch card to the customer; means for deriving recharge rate plans using programmed rules and input conditions; wherein said programmed rules and conditions are interpreted by a policy management system (rule engine) for interpreting conditions and logic rules to derive an output recharge/replenishment amount; means for interpreting ones of said input conditions to determine recharge life cycle data for said recharge/replenishment amount.
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Specification