Method and system for allowing simultaneous usage of prepaid services
AssigneeAT&T Intellectual Property II, L.P.
InventorsThomas Michael Bauer, Charles David Caldwell, Walter H. Hawkins, Robert J. Sayko, Blake Lane Wattenbarger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and system allows multiple and simultaneous use of a pre-paid calling card. A call management system allows for the completion of multiple calls under one pre-paid calling card account number. Depending on the number of concurrent users, a billing system assigns a portion of the total number of available service units to individualized user accounts. The individualized accounts are debited according to the rate charges for each of the calls and are initially assigned an account balance that allows all concurrent users with the same amount of talk time.
Claims19
A method for multiple and simultaneous use of a prepaid calling card account by a plurality of calling parties, comprising:
- authenticating, by a call management system, first and second calling parties for concurrent use of an account of the prepaid calling card service;
- allocating, by the call management system, portions of a prepaid account balance of the prepaid calling card account to a first call placed by the first calling party and to a second call placed by the second calling party;
- connecting, by a call switch of the call management system, the first and second calls;
- and
- simultaneously debiting, by a billing system of the call management system, the portion of the prepaid account balance allocated to the first call and debiting the portion of the prepaid account balance allocated to the second call.
A method for using a prepaid calling card for multiple and concurrent calls by multiple users, the method being performed in a call management system and comprising:
- receiving, by a calling switch in the call management system, from a primary calling card user, an activation call;
- prompting, by an announcement processor of the call management system, the primary calling card user for an account number and pre-assigned PIN;
- receiving and verifying, by the call management system, the account number and the pre-assigned PIN;
- prompting, by the announcement processor of the call management system, the primary calling card user for an indication that the prepaid calling card is to be used by multiple users in addition to the primary user;
- receiving, by the call management system, the indication that the prepaid calling card is to be used by multiple users in addition to the primary user;
- assigning, by the call management system, additional PINs for each of the multiple users;
- using the pre-assigned PIN and at least one of the additional PINs, authorizing, by the call management system, separate multiple and concurrent calls by users of the prepaid card;
- connecting, by a calling switch in the call management system, the separate multiple and concurrent calls;
- and
- debiting, by a billing system in the call management system, an account balance of the prepaid card for each of the multiple and concurrent calls.
A non-transitory computer-usable medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor to perform a method for multiple and simultaneous use of a prepaid calling card account by a plurality of calling parties, comprising:
- authenticating first and second calling parties for concurrent use of an account of the prepaid calling card service in a call management system;
- allocating portions of a prepaid account balance of the prepaid calling card account to a first call and to a second call;
- connecting the first and second calls;
- and
- simultaneously debiting the portion of the prepaid account balance allocated to the first call and debiting the portion of the prepaid account balance allocated to the second call.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.