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US 5,333,186 AGranted
Telecommunication call billing method and apparatus
AssigneeAT&T Bell Laboratories
InventorShiv K. Gupta
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sponsored-call service feature enables callers to obtain network-provided telecommunication services toil-free or at a subsidized rate. The sponsored-call service permits a third party sponsor to convey commercial messages to and interact with a caller prior to the caller's access to the network-provided services. After the caller's interaction with the sponsor, the network gives the caller a sponsored-specified restricted access to the network-provided services.
Claims17
A method of operating a communication system comprising the steps of
- determining, in response to receiving an incoming call request from a caller over a facility of said communication system, whether the caller is to be connected to a sponsored service, and
- in response to a determination, providing the caller with an information message associated with said sponsored service in exchange for reducing calling charges charged to the caller by the system for completing the incoming call request.
A communication system comprising
- means for determining, in response to receiving an incoming call request from a caller over a facility of said communication system, whether the caller is to be connected to a sponsored service, and
- means for providing, in response to a determination to connect the caller to a sponsored service, the caller with an information message associated with said sponsored service in exchange for reducing calling charges charged to the caller by the system for completing the incoming call request.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.