Credit based management of telecommunication activity

Abstract

An apparatus for allowing a telecommunication service provider to manage the risk that a subscriber will not pay their bill for use of the provider's telecommunication system comprising interface means, operating within a digital computer, for communicating information relating to a particular subscriber, said interface means includes a first portion for communicating information relating to said particular subscriber with a payment records database and a second portion for receiving a call information record for each call involving said particular subscriber, said call information record derived from information compiled by a switching center that is capable of establishing connections between a plurality of pairs of telecommunication devices and simultaneously maintaining such connections; credit means, operating within said digital computer, for using said first portion of said interface to obtain a billing and payment history for said particular subscriber, for using said billing and payment history to establish a credit limit for said particular subscriber; analysis means, operating within said digital computer, for receiving each of said call information record for said particular subscriber from said second portion of said interface means and using said call information record to compare call usage of said particular subscriber call to said credit limit for said particular subscriber; and output means, operating within said digital computer, for outputting an indication to the telecommunication service provider that said particular subscriber has exceeded said credit limit for said particular subscriber.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.