SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CREATING A BILLING RECORD WITH A CALLED PARTY'S NAME

• US 20010017915A1
• Filed: 09/04/1998
• Published: 08/30/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SBC Properties, L.P.
• Inventors: MURPHY, MELANIE LOUISE, WARDIN, WILLIAM KONRAD
• Granted Patent: US 6,459,779 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/112.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/44 Augmented, consolidated or itemized billing statement or bill presentation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0104 Augmented, consolidated or itemised billing statement, e.g. additional billing information, bill presentation, layout, format, e-mail, fax, printout, itemised bill per service or per account, cumulative billing, consolidated billing

Abstract

A method and system are provided for creating a billing record with a called party'"'"'s name. Providing the called party'"'"'s name on the billing record facilitates the calling party'"'"'s review of the billing record by reducing the amount of time and effort needed to determine the identity of the called parties. In addition to identifying fraudulent and misbilled calls, the called party'"'"'s name allows a person reviewing the billing record to quickly identify long distance calls, quickly discern business from personal calls, and audit calls made from phone lines with multiple users (e.g., employees or kids). Additionally, the billing record reviewer saves time and money by avoiding the need to call directory assistance or a billing service to identify the calls.

Claims

1. A method for creating a billing record with a called party'"'"'s name, the method comprising:

(a) extracting a terminating number from a call record after a call is complete;

(b) querying a terminating-number-to-called-party'"'"'s-name database with the terminating number;

(c) creating a modified call record, the modified call record comprising the called party'"'"'s name returned from the query of (b); and

(d) creating a billing record from the modified call record, the billing record comprising the called party'"'"'s name.

2. The method of

claim 1

further comprising (e) printing the billing record.

3. The method of

claim 1

further comprising (e) creating an electronic copy of the billing record.

4. The method of

claim 1

further comprising receiving the call record from a public switch, said receiving occurring before (a).

5. The method of

claim 1

, wherein (a)-(d) occur during a billing process.

6. The method of

claim 1

, wherein (a)-(d) occur after call processing.

7. The method of

claim 1

further comprising determining whether a customer subscribes to a called-party'"'"'s-name-on-billing-record service, and wherein (a)-(d) are performed in response to the customer subscribing to the called-party'"'"'s-name-on-billing-record service.

8. The method of

claim 1

, wherein (a) comprises extracting a plurality of a given terminating number from a call record after a call is complete and (b) comprises querying the terminating-number-to-called-party'"'"'s-name database with a single occurrence of the given terminating number.

9. The method of

claim 1

further comprising determining the eligibility of the extracted terminating number, and wherein (b) comprises querying a terminating-number-to-called-party'"'"'s-name database with the terminating number in response to the extracted terminating number being eligible.

10. The method of

claim 1

, wherein (b) is performed in response to the extracted terminating number not being associated with an information provider service.

11. The method of

claim 1

, wherein (b) comprises sending the extracted terminating number from a first terminating name module to a second terminating name module.

12. In a system for creating a billing record comprising a billing system comprising a call rating module, a call storage database, a call pricing module, and a billing record assembler, the improvement comprising:

a terminating name module included in the billing system; and

a terminating-number-to-called-party'"'"'s-name database coupled with the terminating name module.

13. The invention of

claim 12

, wherein the terminating name module is part of the billing record assembler.

14. The invention of

claim 12

, wherein the terminating name module is part of the call rating module.

15. The invention of

claim 12

, wherein the terminating name module is part of the call storage database.

16. The invention of

claim 12

, wherein the terminating name module is part of the call pricing module.

17. The invention of

claim 12

, wherein the terminating-number-to-called-party'"'"'s-name database comprises a national directory assistance database.

18. The invention of

claim 12

, wherein the terminating-number-to-called-party'"'"'s-name database comprises an international directory assistance database.

19. The invention of

claim 12

, wherein the terminating-number-to-called-party'"'"'s-name database comprises a national directory assistance database and an international directory assistance database.

20. The invention of

claim 12

further comprising a printer coupled with the billing record assembler.

21. The invention of

claim 12

further comprising a tape drive coupled with the billing record assembler.

22. The invention of

claim 12

further comprising an optical disc drive coupled with the billing record assembler.

23. The invention of

claim 12

further comprising a network interface coupled with the billing record assembler.

24. A system for creating a billing record with a called party'"'"'s name, the system comprising:

first means for extracting a terminating number from a call record after a call is complete;

second means for querying a terminating-number-to-called-party'"'"'s-name database with the terminating number;

third means for creating a modified call record, the modified call record comprising the called party'"'"'s name; and

fourth means for creating a billing record from the modified call record, the billing record comprising the called party'"'"'s name.

25. A computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for creating a billing record with a called party'"'"'s name, the computer readable program code comprising:

first computer readable program code operative to extract a terminating number from a call record after a call is complete;

second computer readable program code operative to query a terminating-number-to-called-party'"'"'s-name database with the terminating number;

third computer readable program code operative to create a modified call record, the modified call record comprising the called party'"'"'s name; and

fourth computer readable program code operative to create a billing record from the modified call record, the billing record comprising the called party'"'"'s name.