Universal call access with reverse billing
AssigneeAT&T Corp.
InventorsThomas Michael Bauer, Christopher P. Gilboy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for billing a telephone call to a called party for a telephone call between a calling party and the called party, comprising the steps of receiving a predetermined access number; prompting for a destination number, determining if the destination number will accept the cost of the telephone call; and completing the telephone call to the destination number. The method may find potential application in a situation where, for example, a child may need to call home from a public telephone, say at a movie theatre or a mall, without using a calling card, credit card, collect charging, an operator, or coins.
Claims36
A method for billing a telephone call to a destination number of a called party for a telephone call between a calling party and the called party, comprising the steps of:
- receiving a call dialed by the calling party to a predetermined access number;
- prompting the calling party for a destination number;
- determining if the destination number dialed by the calling party is authorized to automatically accept the cost of the telephone call dialed by the calling party, and if so;
- completing the telephone call to the destination number;
- and
- automatically billing the cost of the call to the destination number.
An apparatus for billing a telephone call to a destination number of a called party for a telephone call between a calling party and the called party, comprising:
- means for receiving a call dialed by the calling party to a predetermined access number;
- means for prompting the calling party for a destination number;
- means for determining if the destination number is authorized to automatically accept the cost of the telephone call dialed by the calling party to the destination number;
- means for completing the telephone call to the destination number when the destination number is authorized to automatically accept the cost of the telephone call dialed by the calling party and;
- means for automatically billing the call charges to the destination number.
A telephone system for billing a telephone call to a destination number of a called party for a telephone call between a calling party and a called party, comprising:
- an originating switch for receiving a call dialed by the calling party to a predetermined access number from the calling party;
- a processor for prompting the calling party for a destination number and for determining if the destination number is automatically authorized to accept the cost of the telephone call dialed by the calling party;
- and
- a terminating switch for completing the telephone call to the destination number;
- and
- automatically billing the cost of the call to the destination number.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.