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US 6,704,563 B1Granted
Systems and methods for prerating costs for a communication event
AssigneeBoston Communications Group, Inc.
InventorsPaul Senn, Thomas Erskine, John Cooper, Kenneth W. Sonberg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for prerating communication events, such as telephone calls, for prepaying customers are described. The systems and methods permit, at the beginning of a communication event, the determination of a time limit for the event based on the available balance in a prepayment account associated with the event.
Claims38
A method for determining a communications event, comprising
- identifying a request for the communications event,
- determining an account balance associated with the request,
- associating a rate plan with the request,
- computing a rate schedule that incorporates changes in the rate plan,
- comparing the rate schedule to the account balance to determine a maximum allowable length of the communications event,
- monitoring the communications event for a rate schedule altering event,
- computing an updated rate schedule upon determining the occurrence of the rate schedule altering event,
- updating the account balance before the rate schedule altering event, and
- computing an updated maximum length of the communications event by comparing the updated account balance and the updated rated schedule.
6 more elements
A system for metering a communication event, comprising
- a communications interface to receive information representative of a request to initiate a communications event,
- a first database to store information representative of rate plans for a plurality of communications service providers,
- a second database to store information associated with a plurality of accounts, and
- a processor coupled to the first database, the second database, and the communications interface, to identify an account balance associated with the request, to associate a rate plan with the communications request, to compute a rate schedule that incorporates changes in the rate plan, to compare the rate schedule to the account balance to determine a maximum allowable length of the communications event, and determine a duration of the communications event for which an accrued cost of the communications event is approximately equal to the account balance,
- means to monitor the communications event for a rate schedule altering event,
- wherein the processor includes means to update the rate schedule upon determining the occurrence of the rate schedule altering event,
- means to update the account balance before the rate schedule altering event, and
- means to compute an updated maximum length of the communications event by comparing the updated account balance and the updated rated schedule.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.