Cost allocation for derived data usage
AssigneeTangoe, Inc.
InventorsJaan Leemet, Paul Schmidt, Albert R. Subbloie, Jr., Christopher J. DeBenedictis
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method that allows for information relating to data and communication resource usage to be gathered and analyzed such that particular data transactions and usage can be classified based on purpose and/or type. Further, the system and method provide reporting based on amount of usage and/or purpose or type of usage so that associated costs and usage can be calculated applied and allocated to particular accounts, divisions, groups or individuals within and outside of a company or entity. Further, the system may restrict data usage of devices to data usage that can be allocated to particular accounts based on purpose, source, destination or other.
Claims54
A system for allocating communication costs comprising:
- a computer;
- a storage containing a plurality of data transactions, each data transaction having a value indicative of a device's data usage of a communication resource via an application;
- software executing on said computer for determining an allocated cost for at least a first and a second data transaction by comparing the cost record indicative of a cost associated with the communication resource to the first and second data transactions to determine if at least a portion of the cost associated with the communication resource is attributed to the device based on the value associated respectively with the first and second data transactions;
- and
- software executing on said computer for generating a cost report based on the allocated cost associated with each data transaction, the cost report allocating the allocated cost for the first and the second data transactions to different accounts.
A computer implemented method for allocating communication costs, the computer performing the steps of:
- accessing a plurality of data transactions associated with at least one device, each data transaction having a value indicative of the device's data usage of a communication resource, each data transaction indicative of a business data use or personal data use wherein each data transaction indicative of a business data use is further indicative of a data use internal or external to an enterprise;
- accessing a cost record indicative a cost associated with the communication resource;
- comparing the value of each data transaction to the cost record associated with a first one of the at least one device;
- and
- determining an external allocated cost based on the data use external to the enterprise to generate an external allocated cost.
A system for allocating communication costs to a device comprising:
- a computer;
- a storage containing a plurality of data transactions each having a value indicative of a data usage of a communication resource, where the data usage is associated with an application;
- software executing on said computer for generating a cost report by comparing a cost data indicative of a cost associated with the communication resource to a first and second data transaction to allocate a first cost to a first account and a second cost to a second account, the first and second costs respectively associated with the first and second data transactions.
A system for allocating data usage by a device accessing data via a network connection, the system comprising:
- a computer coupled to the network;
- a storage accessible by said computer, said storage containing first data having a value indicative of a device's data usage, and a source address or a destination address or a Universal Resource Locator or a combination thereof;
- allocation rules further contained in said storage, said allocation rules indicative of data usage that can be allocated to an account;
- software executing on said computer for comparing the allocation rules to data usage associated with the first data to determine if the first data can be allocated to the account;
- software executing on said computer for accessing the first data to determine if the first data includes an address associated with:
- the source address or destination address or Universal Resource Locator or a combination thereof;
- and
- software executing on said computer for generating a report to allocate at least a portion of the value to the account based on the allocation rules wherein the account is associated with the address.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.