Method and system of processing billing data

• US 7,769,651 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2003
• Issued: 08/03/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Fine, Jack, LeGro, Euly, Habibl, Mehran, Chan, Kin Kwok
• Primary Examiner(s): Colbert; Ella
• Assistant Examiner(s): Malhotra; Sanjeev
• Application Number:
  US10/404,000
• Publication Number:
  US 20040193516A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,682 Days
• Field of Search: 379/114.03, 379/114.04, 379/116, 455/406, 705/7, 705/34, 705/40
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/10 Tax strategies

Abstract

A billing data extraction and processing system for use in connection with a first billing system and a second billing system is disclosed. The billing data extraction and processing system includes a first input to receive rated billing data from the first billing system, a second input to receive rated billing data from the second billing system, and a data processing module, the data processing module responsive to the first input and to the second input, the data processing module processing the aggregated data extracted from at least one of the first and the second billing system. A first set of aggregated billing data at a first point in a billing period of the first billing system and a second set of aggregated billing data at a second point in the billing period of the first billing system are extracted and received at the first input. A first set of aggregated billing data at a first point in a billing period of the second system and a second set of aggregated billing data at a second point in the billing period of the second billing system are extracted and received at the second input.

Claims

1. A method of processing billing data in a billing data processing system having a data processor, a memory for storing data, and an interface coupled to a first billing system, the method comprising:

extracting a first set of rated aggregated billing data from the first billing system at a first point within the first billing system during a billing period;

storing the first set of rated aggregated billing data in the memory;

extracting a second set of rated aggregated billing data from the first billing system at a second point within the first billing system during the billing period, wherein the first point and the second point are different data extraction points in the first billing system;

processing the first set of rated aggregated billing data and the second set of rated aggregated billing data;

determining a billing warning event based on processing the first set of rated aggregated billing data and the second set of rated aggregated billing data;

providing notification of the billing warning event; and

initiating a billing audit on a subset of bills within a billing round in response to the billing warning event.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising extracting a third set of rated aggregated billing data at a third point in the first billing system during the billing period.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first point in the first billing system is an output of a service order processing module and the second point in the first billing system is an output of a usage processing module.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the third point in the first billing system is an output of a bill calculation module and wherein the output of the bill calculation module is extracted prior to generation of final bills by the first billing system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of rated aggregated billing data is derived from telephony time-based usage data produced by a telephony network.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the telephony time-based usage data is minutes of use data and wherein the first set of rated aggregated billing data is determined by application of a per minute billing rate to the minutes of use data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of processing the first set of rated aggregated billing data and the second set of rated aggregated billing data comprises comparing the first set of rated aggregated billing data and the second set of rated aggregated billing data to historical data associated with prior processing of the billing data processing system and with respect to a predetermined threshold.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of processing further comprises performing statistical analysis on the first set of rated aggregated billing data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the billing period is associated with a billing round that is associated with greater than four hundred thousand individual telephone subscriber bills.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of processing includes determining a selected subset of highest bills based on a total amount due and comparing the selected subset with historical data.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification of the billing warning event is provided by at least one of email, pager, and screen display.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising initiating a billing system command in response to the billing warning event.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the billing system command is one of a billing period stop command and a billing period adjustment command.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first billing system stops the billing period in response to receiving the billing period stop command.

15. A method of processing rated billing data within a billing data extraction and processing system during a billing period, the method comprising:

extracting a first set of rated aggregated billing data at a first point within a bill processing system for a billing round, the billing round associated with a plurality of bills;

storing the first set of rated aggregated billing data in a memory;

extracting a second set of rated aggregated billing data at a second point within the bill processing system for the billing round; and

processing the first set of rated aggregated billing data and the second set of rated aggregated billing data to determine a billing event, wherein processing the first set of rated aggregated billing data and the second set of rated aggregated billing data comprises comparing the first and second sets of data to historical data associated with prior processing of the billing round and with respect to predetermined threshold files, determining a billing warning event based on the comparing, transmitting a signal to indicate the billing warning event, and initiating a billing audit on a subset of bills within the billing round in response to the billing warning event, the billing audit occurring prior to generation and distribution of a bill to a subscriber.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the bill processing system receives data usage information from a telephony system provider.