Telephonic communications – Call or terminal access alarm or control – At switching center
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-19
2001-12-11
Hong, Harry S. (Department: 2642)
Telephonic communications
Call or terminal access alarm or control
At switching center
C379S114210, C379S114240, C379S123000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06330315
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The invention provides an apparatus and method for routing blocked calls based on the entry of an override condition, such as the acceptance of additional charges and the entry of billing information.
2. Description of Related Art
As the costs of providing telecommunications services increase, service providers are responding by implementing various techniques in an effort to reduce these costs. One such technique involves the blocking of all telephone calls from particular types of calling devices.
For example, 1-800 and 1-888 service providers (collectively called 1-8YY service providers) have recently realized that calls to their toll-free telephone lines from pay telephones present additional charges that they do not wish to incur. When a caller uses a pay telephone to call the toll-free number, the caller is not required to absorb any of the cost for the call. However, the owner of the pay telephone automatically bills the 1-8YY service provider for the toll-free call. Typically, the 1-8YY service provider will be charged a surcharge of between 10 and 35 cents per call by the owner of the pay telephone. For example, if a caller uses a pay telephone to check his/her messaging service, it may only take one minute to complete the call. This will result in minimal telecommunication charges of approximately 10 cents. However, the total cost for the call will jump to between 20 and 45 cents when the pay telephone surcharges are applied. This cost must be absorbed by the messaging service provider.
Thus, the 1-8YY service provider, in addition to the charge for the time of the call, will incur an additional 10 to 35 cents per call for each pay telephone call. This cost can be quite substantial when accumulated over many such calls. Ultimately, this cost is passed on to the customers of the 1-8YY service provider through higher prices on products and services. As a result, a seemingly toll-free call from a pay telephone is in fact more costly to the calling party.
As a result of the above, more and more 1-8YY service providers have decided to block all calls originating from pay telephones. This practice causes severe inconveniences for customers who need to, but cannot, access a service from a pay telephone. For example, a customer having a 1-8YY paging service with voice mail may not be able to check his/her messages from a pay telephone since it would require that he/she call the 1-8YY telephone number from a blocked calling device.
Thus, there is a need for new technology that will allow a 1-8YY service provider to reduce costs of providing their service while at the same time allowing customers to access the 1-8YY service from restricted devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a blocked call routing apparatus and method that allows a caller to access a blocked number from a restricted device. The blocked call routing apparatus includes a controller, a database interface and a network interface. When a calling party initiates a call to a called party, the blocked call routing apparatus receives call signals from the calling party through the network interface and retrieves information from a database, through the database interface, corresponding to the source type and call destination address. Based on the information obtained from the database, the blocked call routing apparatus determines whether the call is blocked or unblocked. If the call is blocked, the blocked call routing apparatus queries the called party to determine if they wish to accept the additional charges necessary to complete the call. If they do, the call is completed. Otherwise, the blocked call routing apparatus queries the calling party to determine if they wish to accept the additional charges necessary to complete the call.
If the calling party accepts the charges, the blocked call routing apparatus then queries the calling party for billing information, verifies the billing information entered and, if the information is valid, completes the call. Otherwise, the call is terminated.
In a second embodiment, the blocked call routing apparatus determines if the owner of the source device has blocked the call based on the type of destination address entered and the source of the call. If a call is blocked, the blocked call routing apparatus queries the calling party for an override condition, such as the entry of a personal identification number, a code, billing information, and the like. When the override condition is acquired, the blocked call routing apparatus completes the call.
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Kapsales Peter
Seip Barry Shawn
AT&T Corp.
Hong Harry S.
Oliff & Berrdige, PLC
Tieu Benny Q.
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