Establishing a Call From a Calling Party to a Destination in a Telecommunications Network Using a Pre-Answer Service Without Charging

A method for establishing a call from a calling party to a destination using a pre-answer service in a telecommunication network, the telecommunication network comprising a first switching node and a second switching node, the first and second switching nodes communicatively connected, the calling party communicatively connected to the first switching node, the destination communicatively connected to the second switching node, and said method comprising the steps of:

• setting up a call between the calling party and the second switching node;
• invoking an IN service associated with the pre-answer service;
• connecting the call to the pre-answer service;
• charging an account of the calling party by the first switching node upon receiving a connection confirmation message relating to the call;
• completing the pre-answer service;
• disconnecting the call from the pre-answer service upon completion of the pre-answer service;
• connecting the call to the destination;
• sending a pre-answer instruction to the second switching node upon invoking the IN service, whereby the step of connecting the call to the pre-answer service is performed upon receipt of the pre-answer instruction;
• sending an establish pre-answer speech path instruction to the first switching node upon connection confirmation from the pre-answer service;
• and
• sending a connection confirmation message to the calling party by the first switching node upon receipt of the establish pre-answer speech path instruction, whereby the step of charging the account of the calling party is performed upon completing the step of connecting the call to the destination.

An IN service entity for providing an IN service, said IN service entity connected to a first switching node, and wherein the IN service is invoked from the first switching node upon interception of a call by the first switching node, and wherein the IN service entity is configured to:

• send a pre-answer instruction to a second switching node, said pre-answer instruction causing the second switching node to connect the call to a pre-answer service entity, and further causing the first switching node to send an establish pre-answer speech path instruction to the second switching node upon connection confirmation to the pre-answer service;
• disconnect the call from the pre-answer service upon completion of the pre-answer service by the pre-answer service entity;
• and
• connect the call to the destination.

A switching node for providing a pre-answer service, said switching node communicatively connected to an IN service entity, a further switching node, a pre-answer service entity and a destination, and wherein said switching node is configured to invoke the IN service entity and connect a call from the further switching node to the pre-answer service entity, and connect a call from the further switching node to the destination, and wherein said switching node is further configured to:

• receive a pre-answer instruction from the invoked IN service entity;
• connect the call to the pre-answer service entity upon receipt of the pre-answer instruction;
• and
• send an establish pre-answer speech path instruction to the further switching node upon receiving connection confirmation from the pre-answer service.