Fixed calling party pays charges

In a telephone communications network comprising subscriber stations connected to landline switching facilities of a public switched telephone network (PSTN), the PSTN linked to a mobile switching center (MSC), a method for processing a call placed from a subscriber station to a mobile station of a Calling Party Pays (CPP) service subscriber, said method comprising the steps of:

• in response to placement of said call, accessing a call processing record (CPR) for the calling subscriber station in a remote PSTN database;
• determining whether said CPR indicates subscription to service billing coverage for outgoing CPP calls;
• in response to a CPP billing coverage subscription determination in said determining step, transmitting a signaling message to a mobile switching center (MSC) associated with the called mobile station, said message including the calling station telephone number in a first altered form;
• and
• routing the call through the MSC for completion to the called mobile station without accounting for air time charges, wherein:
• said PSTN comprises a voice network including a plurality of switching facilities interconnected by trunks for carrying voice communication and a data signaling network for transmitting control messages in data form;
• said accessing step comprises routing the call to a switching facility and transmitting a query message therefrom to a switching control point (SCP) in the landline network;
• said signaling message is an IAM message generated and transmitted by said switching facility;
• and
• the first altered form of the telephone number is the inclusion of a first prescribed change in an originating telephone number field of the IAM message.

A method for processing a telephone call placed from a subscriber station connected to a landline public switched telephone network (PSTN) to a mobile station for a subscriber of a wireless telephone network, said PSTN comprising a plurality of switching facilities interconnected by trunks for providing voice communication between subscriber stations connected to the switching facilities and a control system data network for controlling processing and routing of telephone calls, said wireless telephone network comprising at least one mobile switching center (MSC) interfaced with said PSTN and a plurality of base stations associated with respective mobile stations, said method comprising the steps of:

• in response to initiation of said telephone call by said calling station, routing the call to a designated landline switching facility that interfaces with said MSC;
• accessing a data base associated with said land line network to obtain a call processing record for the called mobile station to determine whether the called party subscribes to calling party pays (CPP) service;
• if the called party is a CPP subscriber, as determined in said accessing step, accessing a landline database call processing record for the calling party to determine whether the calling party subscribes to service billing coverage for outgoing CPP calls;
• if the calling party subscribes to the service billing coverage for outgoing CPP calls, routing the call to said MSC with a data message containing the telephone number of the calling station in altered form;
• and
• responsive to the altered form of the telephone number of the calling station, completing the call to the called mobile station without accounting for air time charges.

A method for processing a telephone call placed from a subscriber station connected to a landline public switched telephone network (PSTN) to a mobile station for a subscriber of a wireless telephone network, said PSTN comprising a plurality of switching facilities interconnected by trunks for providing voice communication between subscriber stations connected to the switching facilities and a control system data network for controlling processing and routing of telephone calls, said wireless telephone network comprising at least one mobile switching center (MSC) interfaced with said PSTN and a plurality of base stations associated with respective mobile stations, said method comprising the steps of:

• in response to initiation of said telephone call by said calling station, routing the call to a designated landline switching facility that interfaces with said MSC;
• accessing a data base associated with said land line network to obtain a call processing record for the called mobile station to determine whether the called party subscribes to calling party pays (CPP) service;
• if the called party is a CPP subscriber, as determined in said accessing step, accessing a landline database call processing record for the calling party to determine whether the calling party subscribes to service billing coverage for outgoing CPP calls;
• if the calling party subscribes to CPP billing coverage, routing the call to said MSC with a data message containing the telephone number of the calling station in altered form;
• and
• completing the call to the called mobile station without accounting for air time charges, wherein, if the calling party does not subscribe to CPP billing coverage, the method comprises the further steps of:
• accessing the CPR of the called party to determine whether the call is exempt from CPP status;
• if the call is exempt from CCP status, transmitting a signaling message from said designated landline switching facility to said (MSC), said signaling message including the calling station telephone number in altered form different from the form of the data message generated in a call placed by a CPP service billing coverage landline subscriber;
• and
• routing the call to completion through the MSC to the called mobile station and billing the called station subscriber for air time charges.

In a telephone communications network comprising subscriber stations connected to landline switching facilities of a public switched telephone network (PSTN), the PSTN linked to a mobile switching center (MSC), a method for processing a call placed from a subscriber station to a mobile station of a Calling Party Pays (CPP) service subscriber, said method comprising the steps of:

• in response to placement of said call, accessing a call processing record (CPR) for the calling subscriber station in a remote PSTN database;
• determining whether said CPR indicates subscription to service billing coverage for outgoing CPP calls;
• in response to a CPP billing coverage subscription determination in said determining step, transmitting a signaling message to a mobile switching center (MSC) associated with the called mobile station, said message including the calling station telephone number in a first altered form;
• and
• routing the call through the MSC for completion to the called mobile station without accounting for air time charges, wherein:
• the first altered form of the telephone number comprises a first prescribed number sequence substituted for the calling station telephone number area code in the originating telephone number field, and
• a second altered form of the telephone number comprises a second prescribed number sequence substituted for the calling station telephone number area code in the originating telephone number field.