Telephone billing system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for billing a called party for a service delivered during a call between the calling party and a called party, within a communications network, comprising:
- (a) detecting a preauthorized confirmation signal indicating that the called party is to be billed for the cost of the service; and
(b) marking a telephone billing record associated with the call based on the detected confirmation signal, the telephone billing record being a basis of a phone bill and having a billing amount associated with the cost of the delivered service, at least a portion of the billing amount associated with the delivered service being unrelated to a duration of the call.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for billing a customer for a service that is assessed independent of the calling duration or the per call cost. A service is billed and delivered during a call without the called party being present to receive the call and without operator-assisted verification. A calling party can order a service that is not delivered through the call itself.
47 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for billing a called party for a service delivered during a call between the calling party and a called party, within a communications network, comprising:
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(a) detecting a preauthorized confirmation signal indicating that the called party is to be billed for the cost of the service; and (b) marking a telephone billing record associated with the call based on the detected confirmation signal, the telephone billing record being a basis of a phone bill and having a billing amount associated with the cost of the delivered service, at least a portion of the billing amount associated with the delivered service being unrelated to a duration of the call. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for billing a calling party for a service ordered during a call between a calling party and a called party, within a communications network, comprising:
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(a) receiving, from a called party, a telephone billing record based on a cost of the service ordered; and (b) updating a rating record of charges of the calling party based on the telephone billing record, the telephone billing record having a billing amount associated with the cost of the ordered service, a billing rate of the call and a duration of the call being unrelated to at least a portion of the billing amount associated with the ordered service. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for billing a calling party for a service ordered during the call between a calling party and a called party, within a communications network, comprising:
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(a) updating a telephone billing record based on a cost of the service ordered, the telephone billing record having a billing amount associated with the cost of the ordered service, a billing rate of the call and a duration of the call being unrelated to at least a portion of the billing amount associated with the ordered service; (b) forwarding the updated telephone billing record to a telephone billing processor.
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15. An apparatus for billing a calling party for a service ordered during a call between the calling party and a called party, within a communications network, comprising:
a switching system connected to the communications network, said switching system receiving, from the called party, a telephone billing record based on a cost of the service ordered, the telephone billing record having a billing amount associated with the cost of the ordered service, a billing rate of the call and a duration of the call being unrelated to at least a portion of the billing amount associated with the ordered service, said switching system updating a rating record of charges of the calling party based on the telephone billing record. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for billing a calling party for a service ordered during a call between the calling party and a called party, within a communications network, comprising:
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means for receiving, from a called party, a telephone billing record based on a cost of the service ordered, the telephone billing record having a billing amount associated with the cost of the ordered service, a billing rate of the call and a duration of the call being unrelated to at least a portion of the billing amount associated with the ordered service; means for updating a rating record of charges of the calling party based on the telephone billing record.
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Specification