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US 7,599,887 B1Granted
Method and system for prepaid roaming minutes
AssigneeAT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
InventorShannon M. Short
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and system for prepaying roaming minutes including crediting a user's account with prepaid roaming minutes at a discounted rate. The roaming minutes are subtracted from the user's account when calls are made outside the home calling area defined by the user's calling plan. Software for implementing the method may be implemented in a number of environments, including a computer system accessible remotely or a processor located on the user's telephone.
Claims16
A method for prepaying roaming minutes, comprising:
- employing a processor to execute the prepaying of roaming minutes, comprising:
- crediting a user's account with prepaid roaming minutes purchased by a user, the prepaid roaming minutes comprising units of time for telephone usage outside of a home calling area defined by a user's calling plan, wherein the user's calling plan includes a roaming charge for the prepaid roaming minutes and wherein the home calling area comprises one of a plurality of predefined geographical areas each of which is within a larger predefined geographical area comprising a national calling area;
- receiving one of a plurality of access codes before dialing a roaming call, each of the plurality of access codes corresponding to a certain number of the prepaid roaming minutes;
- notifying the user of the number of prepaid roaming minutes in the user's account via a display on a wireless telephone associated with the user;
- determining whether the prepaid roaming minutes were purchased at a time greater than a predefined time before a call is made, wherein the prepaid roaming minutes are purchased at a discounted rate, wherein the discounted rate is lower than the roaming charge included in the user's calling plan, and wherein the prepaid roaming minutes are subtracted from the user's account at the discounted rate when the prepaid roaming minutes were purchased at a time greater than the predefined time and when the call is made outside the home calling area defined by the user's calling plan;
- and
- determining whether the length of the roaming call is greater than the number of prepaid roaming minutes in the user's account, wherein the difference between the length of the roaming call and the number of prepaid roaming minutes in the user's account is charged as undiscounted roaming when the length of the roaming call is greater than the number of prepaid minutes in the user's account.
4 more elements
A telephone system for prepaying roaming minutes, comprising:
- a memory for storing executable program code;
- and
- a processor, functionally coupled to the memory, the processor being responsive to computer-executable instructions contained in the program code and operative to:
- credit a user's account with prepaid roaming minutes at a discounted rate, the prepaid roaming minutes comprising units of time for telephone usage outside of a home calling area defined by a user's calling plan, wherein the user's calling plan includes a roaming charge for the prepaid roaming minutes and wherein the home calling area comprises one of a plurality of predefined geographical areas each of which is within a larger predefined geographical area comprising a national calling area, wherein the discounted rate is lower than the roaming charge included in the user's calling plan;
- receive one of a plurality of access codes before dialing a roaming call, each of the plurality of access codes corresponding to a certain number of the prepaid roaming minutes;
- notify the user of the number of prepaid roaming minutes in the user's account via a display on a wireless telephone associated with the user;
- determine whether the prepaid roaming minutes were purchased a predefined time before a call is made, wherein the prepaid roaming minutes are purchased at a discounted rate, wherein the discounted rate is lower than the roaming charge included in the user's calling plan, and wherein the prepaid roaming minutes are subtracted from the user's account at the discounted rate when the prepaid roaming minutes were purchased at a time greater than the predefined time and when the call is made outside the home calling area defined by the user's calling plan;
- and
- determine whether the length of the roaming call is greater than the number of prepaid roaming minutes in the user's account, wherein the difference between the length of the roaming call and the number of prepaid roaming minutes in the user's account is charged as undiscounted roaming when the length of the roaming call is greater than the number of prepaid minutes in the user's account.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.