Transaction services management system

• US 9,009,221 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2011
• Issued: 04/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Theado, Brian P., Cleary, Gregory, Nguyen, Khoa N., Palmer, Lloyd S. Jr., Nguyen, Manh
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tammy
• Application Number:
  US13/332,542
• Publication Number:
  US 20130166628A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,210 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/223, 709/232, 370/395.1, 370/325, 370/392
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists

Abstract

One or more network devices send to a user device a user interface with options for configuring a network to provide transaction services between transaction devices and host processing devices. The user interface is accessible to the user device via a private network connection. The one or more network devices receive from the user device configuration settings for a particular host processing device. The one or more network devices store the configuration settings in a database of transaction services data for multiple host processing devices, to be accessed by another device within the network for configuring the network for the particular host processing device.

Claims

1. One or more devices within a transaction services hub that maintains secure sessions with customer payment processor devices associated with a transaction network, the one or more devices comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of instructions; and

one or more processors configured to execute the instructions in the memory to;

provide, to a user device via a private network, a user interface with configuration options for the transaction network, wherein the transaction network links merchant devices to the customer payment processor devices,

receive, from the user device and via the user interface, configuration settings for transaction services associated with a particular customer,

store, in response to receiving the configuration settings, the configuration settings in a database of transaction services data for multiple customers, wherein the configuration settings are stored for retrieval by a network device in the transaction network for implementation, and

reserve bandwidth in a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network within the transaction network, based on the configuration settings, to support the transaction services over the transaction services network between the merchant devices and the host device.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive, via the user interface, a report request for non-session-specific data,

retrieve, from another network device that is separate from the database, non-session-specific data relevant to the report request,

generate, based on the request and the non-session-specific data, a report for the user interface, and

send, to the user device, the report for the user interface.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive, via the user interface, a report request for session-specific data,

retrieve, from the database, session-specific data relevant to the report request,

generate, based on the request and the session-specific data, a report for the user interface, and

send, to the user device, the report for the user interface.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein, when retrieving the session-specific data relevant to the report request, the processor is further configured to:

access the database using calls to stored procedures.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the user interface includes a template for a configuration change request to be automatically implemented by a network device at a scheduled time.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the database of transaction services data includes transaction data for transactions over a domestic toll-free voice network, an international toll-free voice network, and an Internet Protocol network.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the configuration settings include configurations for ingress connections from the merchant devices to one or more devices within the transaction network.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the configuration settings include configurations for egress connections from one or more devices within the transaction network to the customer payment processor devices.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the configuration settings include alarm thresholds for egress connections from one or more devices within the transaction network to the customer payment processor devices.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive, from the user device, other configuration settings for transaction services associated with a particular network device, and

send, in response to receiving the other configuration settings, instructions to the particular network device to invoke the other configuration settings.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the other configuration settings include requests to start, stop, or restart a particular application running on the particular network device.

12. A method, comprising:

sending, by one or more network devices and to a user device, a user interface with options for configuring a network to provide transaction services between transaction devices and host processing devices, wherein the user interface is accessible to the user device via a private network connection;

receiving, by the one or more network devices and from the user device, configuration settings for a particular host processing device;

storing, by the one or more network devices, the configuration settings in a database of transaction services data for multiple host processing devices, wherein the database is configured to be accessed by another device within the network to configure the network for the particular host processing device; and

reserving, by the one or more network devices and based on the configuration settings, bandwidth, in a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network within the transaction network, to support the transaction services over the transaction services network between the merchant devices and the host device.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving, from the user device, a report request for data from multiple customer hosts;

retrieving, from the database, data responsive to the report request; and

generating a report based on the report request and the data responsive to the report request.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the user interface includes a list of available fields and criteria that a user may select for a customized report.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving other configuration settings for transaction services associated with the other device within the network; and

sending, in response to receiving the other configuration settings, instructions to the other device within the network to invoke the other configuration settings.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the configuration settings include:

configurations for ingress connections from the transaction devices to the other device within the network; and

configurations for egress connections from the other device within the network to the particular host processing device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the ingress connections include connections from a domestic toll-free voice network, an international toll-free voice network, and an Internet Protocol network.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising computer-executable instructions, for causing one or more processors executing the computer-executable instructions to:

provide, to a user device, a user interface with options for configuring a transaction network to provide ingress connections between transaction devices to a network device within the network and egress connections between the network device and a host processing device;

receive, from the user device via the user interface, first configuration settings for ingress connections associated with a particular host processing device and second configuration settings for egress connections associated with the particular host processing device, wherein the first configuration settings and the second configuration settings include bandwidth allocations to support data transfers to and from the particular host processing device;

store the first configuration settings and the second configuration settings in a database with other configuration settings associated with other host processing devices; and

provide the first configuration settings and the second configuration settings to the network device for implementation.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, further comprising computer-executable instructions, for causing the one or more processors executing the computer-executable instructions to:

restrict access to the user interface to user devices using a private network connection.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18, further comprising computer-executable instructions, for causing the one or more processors executing the computer-executable instructions to:

receive, from the user device via the user interface, a report request for non-session-specific data;

retrieve, from a transaction services data system, non-session-specific data relevant to the report request,

generate, based on the request and the non-session-specific data, a report for the user interface, and

send the report to the user device.