Advice of charging (AoC) services in IMS networks

A method of providing Advice of Charging (AoC) services in an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network, the method comprising:

• provisioning a subscriber database of the IMS network with AoC indicators that indicate particular AoC services subscribed to by IMS users, wherein an AoC indicator is associated with an identifier in the subscriber database for each of the IMS users;
• receiving a register request in the subscriber database from a serving-call session control function (S-CSCF) as an IMS user attempts to register with the IMS network;
• identifying, in the subscriber database, an AoC indicator for the IMS user responsive to receiving the register request;
• inserting the AoC indicator in a register response;
• and
• transmitting the register response from the subscriber database to the S-CSCF to provide the AoC indicator for the IMS user to the S-CSCF.

A subscriber database of an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network, the subscriber database comprising:

• a storage system operable to store service profiles for IMS users that subscribe to Advice of Charging (AoC) services;
• and
• a processing system operable to receive AoC indicators for the IMS users that indicate particular AoC services subscribed to by the IMS users, wherein the AoC indicators are each associated with an IMS user identifier (ID) of an IMS user, and to store the AoC indicators in service profiles for the IMS users along with its associated IMS user ID;
• the processing system is further operable to receive a register request from a serving-call session control function (S-CSCF) for an IMS user registering with the IMS network, to identify a service profile for the IMS user based on an IMS user ID included in the register request, to insert the service profile in a register response, and to transmit the register response to the S-CSCF.