System for billing rating and selection of accounts
AssigneeAcision IPR Nederland B.V.
InventorsMichael O'Regan, Ian Deakin, Robert Mullins
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and system adapted for use in a mobile telecommunication network is described. The invention describes a rating and routing system which is adapted to enable an efficient rating and routing of data transactions being transmitted through a network. Based on a comparison of identifiers associatable with a subscriber to the network, with a set of parameters defined for data transactions, the system of the present invention is adapted to enable an accurate assessment and allocation of the correct rating tariff value to a specific transaction and the routing of that rated value to an appropriate destination defined for the user.
Claims14
A method for routing a tariff associated with one or more data transactions in a mobile telecommunication network to an appropriate billing system, wherein the mobile telecommunication network incorporates a data switching centre, the data switching centre being adapted to receive data transactions transmitted by a subscriber to the telecommunication network and route them to an appropriate destination, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) receiving service detail records from the data switching centre associated with the mobile telecommunication network, the service detail records being associated with a specific data transaction having been previously transmitted by, or to, a subscriber within the telecommunication network, the service detail record containing a unique indicia associated with the subscriber;
- b) associating the retrieved unique indicia with one or more records previously stored in a subscriber database so as to establish a routing criteria for the specific subscriber,
- c) effecting the calculation of a tariff for the data transaction, and
- d) routing the tariff to one or more billing destinations, being selectable from a plurality of available billing destinations, in accordance with the routing criteria previously established, wherein if the tariff is routed to one or more billing destinations having a balance insufficient to pay for the transaction, at least part of the tariff is then routed to one or more further billing destinations.
A method of evaluating a data transaction so as to determine a correct transaction tariff value for the specific data transaction, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) receiving a message identifier from at least one messaging platform, the message identifier being associated with a specific data transaction from a data switching centre being routed through the messaging platform and having at least one unique identifier associated with a subscriber to the telecommunication network linkable thereto,
- b) comparing, by a billing routing system, the at least one identifier to a set of identifiers in a subscriber database previously defined so as to determine a correct transaction tariff value for the data transaction,
- c) routing the tariff value determined to one or more tariff destinations, the routing being determined based on the comparison of the at least one identifier with the set of identifiers previously defined and, wherein if the tariff is routed to one or more tariff destinations having a balance insufficient to pay for the transaction, at least part of the tariff is then routed to one or more further tariff destinations, and
- wherein the determination of the correct tariff value is effected in a multi-step process.
A billing and routing module for interfacing with a data switching centre, the module being adapted to evaluate specific data transactions and apply a suitable tariff to those transactions and also determine a suitable billing destination for those transactions, the module comprising:
- a) means for receiving at least one identifier uniquely associatable with a data transaction from the data switching centre,
- b) means for evaluating the data transaction so as to determine a correct tariff rate for that transaction,
- c) means for routing that tariff rate to a billing destination, and wherein the billing destination is selected from a plurality of configurable billing destinations, at least one of which is not co-resident with the module, and wherein if the tariff is routed to a billing destination having a balance insufficient to pay for the transaction, at least part of the tariff is then routed to one or more further billing destinations.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.