System and method for setting up user self-activating network-based services

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising:

• (a) defining a user self-activating service by configuring a configurable input engine;
• (b) publishing an offer of the service to a first user, the offer including a value of a commercial term;
• (c) receiving from the first user a first acceptance of the offer;
• (d) in response to (c) the configurable input engine automatically generating a first activation;
• and
• (e) sending the first activation to a policy distribution point, the policy distribution point translating the first activation to device-specific instructions and configuring a first networking device to set up the service.

A method, comprising:

• (a) defining a service by inputting a commercial term and a configuration parameter into a configurable input engine, the service involving a networking device;
• (b) using the configurable input engine to receive a value of the commercial term and to receive a value of the configuration parameter, the configurable input engine generating an activation;
• (c) sending the activation to a policy distribution point;
• (d) the policy distribution point translating the activation into a format understood by the networking device;
• and
• (e) sending the translated activation to the networking device, the translated activation configuring the networking device to set up the service.

A method, comprising:

• (a) publishing a first user self-activating service to a first user;
• (b) the first user subscribing to the first user self-activating service and thereby causing a configuration system to use a first service driver on a policy distribution point to engage in a first communication with a billing system, the configuration system then configuring a networking device and a computing device to activate the first user self-activating service;
• (c) publishing a second user self-activating service to a second user;
• and
• (d) the second user subscribing to the second user self-activating service and thereby causing the configuration system to use the first service driver to engage in a second communication with the billing system, the configuration system then configuring the networking device and the computing device to activate the second user self-activating service.

A system for setting up user self-activating network-based services, comprising:

• (a) a billing system;
• (b) a networking device;
• (c) a computing device, the networking device and the computing device comprising means for providing a network-based service to a first user;
• (d) a core server, the core server comprising a configurable input engine, a user database and a library of service drivers, the configurable input engine comprising means for producing a service publication containing a description of an offer of a service, a value of a commercial term relating to the offer and the identity of the first user to whom the offer is made, the configurable input engine further comprising means for receiving an acceptance of the offer by the first user, the library of service drivers containing a first service driver for the billing system, a second service driver for the networking device and a third service driver for the computing device, the core server comprising means for producing a first activation, a second activation and a third activation;
• and
• (e) a policy distribution point (PDP), the PDP comprising means for receiving the activations and service drivers, using the service drivers to translate the activations into device-specific instructions and sending the device-specific instructions to the billing system, the networking device and the computing device, the device-specific instructions configuring the billing system, the networking device and the computing device to provide the network-based service to the first user.