Billing policy management for multi-number phones
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- accessing, for a mobile phone associated with a first phone number and a second phone number, a billing policy associated with a first account associated with at least the first phone number and a second account associated with at least the second phone number, the billing policy defining a first set of actions that when performed by the mobile phone are charged to the first account and defining a second set of actions that when performed by the mobile phone are charged to the second account, at least one action in the second set of actions identifying a website such that data costs incurred by the mobile phone in association with the website are charged to the second account;
identifying, by an intermediate server communicatively coupled to the mobile phone, an action performed by the mobile phone;
in response to the identified action comprising an action defined by the billing policy to be charged to the first account, allocating, by the intermediate server, charges corresponding to the identified action to the first account;
in response to the identified action comprising an action defined by the billing policy to be charged to the second account, allocating, by the intermediate server, charges corresponding to the identified action to the second account; and
in response to the identified action comprising an action performed by the mobile phone not defined by the billing policy, allocating, by the intermediate server, charges corresponding to the identified action to the second account.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer-implemented method for managing a billing policy for mobile phone associated with a first phone number corresponding to a first account and a second phone number corresponding to a second account is described herein. The billing policy defines actions performed by the mobile phone to be charged to the first account, and defines actions performed by the mobile phone to be charged to the second account. Charges are allocated to one of the first account and second account based on the billing policy. A user can configured to phone to operate in a private mode, in response to which actions are charged to a default account of the two accounts, and information about the action is not provided to an external entity.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
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accessing, for a mobile phone associated with a first phone number and a second phone number, a billing policy associated with a first account associated with at least the first phone number and a second account associated with at least the second phone number, the billing policy defining a first set of actions that when performed by the mobile phone are charged to the first account and defining a second set of actions that when performed by the mobile phone are charged to the second account, at least one action in the second set of actions identifying a website such that data costs incurred by the mobile phone in association with the website are charged to the second account; identifying, by an intermediate server communicatively coupled to the mobile phone, an action performed by the mobile phone; in response to the identified action comprising an action defined by the billing policy to be charged to the first account, allocating, by the intermediate server, charges corresponding to the identified action to the first account; in response to the identified action comprising an action defined by the billing policy to be charged to the second account, allocating, by the intermediate server, charges corresponding to the identified action to the second account; and in response to the identified action comprising an action performed by the mobile phone not defined by the billing policy, allocating, by the intermediate server, charges corresponding to the identified action to the second account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer instructions that, when executed by a hardware processor, perform steps comprising:
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accessing, for a mobile phone associated with a first phone number and a second phone number, a billing policy associated with a first account associated with at least the first phone number and a second account associated with at least the second phone number, the billing policy defining a first set of actions that when performed by the mobile phone are charged to the first account and defining a second set of actions that when performed by the mobile phone are charged to the second account, at least one action in the second set of actions identifying a website such that data costs incurred by the mobile phone in association with the website are charged to the second account; identifying, by an intermediate server communicatively coupled to the mobile phone, an action performed by the mobile phone; in response to the identified action comprising an action defined by the billing policy to be charged to the first account, allocating, by the intermediate server, charges corresponding to the identified action to the first account; in response to the identified action comprising an action defined by the billing policy to be charged to the second account, allocating, by the intermediate server, charges corresponding to the identified action to the second account; and in response to the identified action comprising an action performed by the mobile phone not defined by the billing policy, allocating, by the intermediate server, charges corresponding to the identified action to the second account. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system, comprising:
an intermediate server communicatively coupled to a mobile phone associated with a first phone number and a second phone number, the intermediate server comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions and one or more hardware processors configured to execute the instructions to perform steps comprising; accessing, for the mobile phone, a billing policy associated with a first account associated with at least the first phone number and a second account associated with at least the second phone number, the billing policy defining a first set of actions that when performed by the mobile phone are charged to the first account and defining a second set of actions that when performed by the mobile phone are charged to the second account, at least one action in the second set of actions identifying a website such that data costs incurred by the mobile phone in association with the website are charged to the second account; identifying an action performed by the mobile phone; in response to the identified action comprising an action defined by the billing policy to be charged to the first account, allocating charges corresponding to the identified action to the first account; in response to the identified action comprising an action defined by the billing policy to be charged to the second account, allocating charges corresponding to the identified action to the second account; and in response to the identified action comprising an action performed by the mobile phone not defined by the billing policy, allocating charges corresponding to the identified action to the second account. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
Specification