Compensating recipients of calls
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsMichael Wayne Brown, Joseph Herbert Mclntyre, Michael A. Paolini, James Mark Weaver, Scott Lee Winters
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method, system, and program for compensating recipients of calls are provided. A request to bill a caller a tariff for a call is initiated, wherein the caller originates the call. The caller is prompted to accept payment of the tariff to receive access to a destination line during the call. Responsive to negotiating for the payment of the tariff from the caller, the caller is connected with the destination line, such that the caller pays for access to the destination line. In particular, the caller may pay for access to a particular callee at the destination line.
Claims39
A method for billing for a call, said method comprising:
- initiating a request to bill a caller a tariff for a call, wherein said caller originates said call;
- prompting said caller to accept payment of said tariff to receive access to a destination line during said call;
- and
- responsive to negotiating said payment of said tariff from said caller, connecting said caller with said destination line, such that said caller pays for access to said destination line.
A system for billing for a call, said system comprising:
- a billing controller communicatively connected to a trusted telephone network;
- means for initiating a request to bill a caller a tariff for a call at said billing controller, wherein said caller originates said call;
- means for prompting said caller to accept payment of said tariff to receive access to a destination line during said call;
- and
- means responsive to negotiating said payment of said tariff from said caller, for connecting said caller with said destination line.
A computer program product for billing for a call, said computer program product comprising:
- a recording medium;
- means, recorded on said recording medium, for initiating a request to bill a caller a tariff for a call at said billing controller, wherein said caller originates said call;
- means, recorded on said recording medium, for prompting said caller to accept payment of said tariff to receive access to a destination line during said call;
- and
- means, recorded on said recording medium, for connecting said caller with said destination line responsive to negotiating said payment of said tariff from said caller.
A method for controlling a billed transaction, comprising:
- transferring a call to an origin device with a billed transaction request initiated by a callee receiving said call;
- authenticating an identity of a caller placing said call at said origin device;
- and
- executing said billed transaction according to a billing plan for said authenticated caller identity.
A method for controlling caller billing, comprising:
- receiving, at an origin device originating a call, an acceptance of said call with a billed transaction request initiated by a callee answering said call;
- and
- responsive to an acceptance of said billed transaction by a caller, transferring an authorization to charge a billing plan according to an authenticated identity of said caller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.