Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Usage measurement
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-08
2002-06-11
Urban, Edward F. (Department: 2685)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Usage measurement
C455S445000, C455S560000, C455S408000, C455S417000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06405028
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an enhanced network architecture for providing Calling-Party-Pays billing services for customers of a wireless telephone network, such as cellular or personal communication service (PCS) customers. The enhancements particularly help to reduce the number of calls to the Calling-Party-Pays customers that the carrier(s) can not properly bill to the caller.
BACKGROUND
Modern society offers people many opportunities and in fact places many demands on people to communicate with each other, often over great distances. One of the most common forms of communication involves conversational speech communicated between two or more parties through a telephone network. Modem society also is becoming increasingly mobile. Many new communications services have emerged, to allow people to communicate freely as they roam, without the need for a fixed network connection.
Wireless telephone communication systems have evolved from the Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) technology, introduced around 1983, to more sophisticated digital-based air interface protocols. Digital access technologies have been developed based on Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) schemes. These digital access technologies are more efficient relative to analog-based access technologies such as AMPS. Digital access technologies have substantial advantages over analog-based systems. Digital cellular systems, however, have not yet been deployed in as many regions as AMPS-based systems. Hence, digital cellular subscribers are offered continuous coverage via dual-mode wireless telephones capable of switching between a digital mode (e.g., CDMA) and an analog mode (e.g., AMPS) based on the availability of a certain technology.
In a normal landline telephone service, call charges are billed to the subscriber associated with the calling station. For purposes of discussion, it sometimes is assumed that the caller is the subscriber associated with the calling station. It will be understood, however, that any one of a number of other persons may be the actual party using the calling station. Long distance charges, for example, normally go to the account of the subscriber associated with the calling station unless the actual caller and/or the called party make some special arrangement, such as an agreement for collect call billing or an 800/888 type “toll-free” calling arrangement. The wireless industry, however, started with a different billing paradigm.
In the United States, the customary billing practice for wireless services has been for the party subscribing to the wireless service to pay for all air-time charges. The wireless carrier charged a monthly subscription fee plus per-minute fees for telephone communications over-the-air to and from each subscriber's telephone. A wireless subscriber paid for the air-time, both on outgoing calls and on incoming calls directed to the subscriber's cellular or PCS telephone. The costs for wireless air-time tended to be high, compared to costs for traditional telephone services.
As a result of the billing paradigm, many wireless subscribers have been reluctant to widely distribute their wireless telephone numbers. Most subscribers did not want to incur large expenses for wireless service usage, particularly on calls from relatively unknown parties, e.g. on solicitation calls. Wireless subscribers often utilized their wireless telephone for outgoing calls, as needed; but they gave their wireless telephone numbers to a limited number of friends or family from whom they were willing to pay to receive calls.
To increase usage and encourage wireless customers to utilize their wireless telephones more even to the extent of replacing landline telephone services, the wireless industry has developed a modified billing arrangement, commonly referred to as “Calling Party Pays.” The intent of the service is to generally shift the air-time charges for calls to the wireless telephones from the wireless subscribers to the callers. The calling party pays for all network charges, in a manner more like that used in the normal landline service billing. A number of techniques have been developed for processing and billing call charges on a Calling Party Pays basis.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,331 to Emery et al. discloses an intelligent network type integrated wireless and wireline system for processing calls to and from a Personal Communication Service (PCS) subscriber's wireless handset via a home base station or a public cellular network. The service logic in the integrated service control point (ISCP) facilitates of variety of service enhancements to the wireless PCS service. One of the disclosed service enhancements is calling party pays. When the intelligent network functionality detects a call to the PCS customer's number, the network accesses a call processing record for that customer. Based on that record, the network screens the call based on the caller's identity. If the caller is not a recognized party, the ISCP database causes the network to play an announcement asking the caller if he or she is willing to pay all charges for the call. If the PCS subscriber is currently registered via a public wireless network switching office, the announcement would ask if the caller is willing to pay for the air time necessary to complete the call via a wireless link. If the caller accepts the charges, the ISCP provides messages to a landline switch and/or to a mobile switch to instruct them to complete the call and to add charges for the air time to the calling party's telephone bill.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,379 to D'Amico et al. includes a disclosure of an AIN-based PCS service essentially the same as in the above discussed Emery et al. Patent. The D'Amico et al. Patent, however, adds further details to the calling party pays operations of that network. When a call directed to a mobile subscriber is detected, the call processing is stopped to determine if the calling party pays feature is in operation. At the same time, the network collects data regarding the calling party for analysis. If the called subscriber is using the calling party pays feature, the ISCP analyzes the caller data to determine if the caller is on a list of those individuals not required by the particular mobile service subscriber to pay for cellular charges. If the calling party does not fall in this category, the network provides an announcement to the calling party, asking the calling party whether or not the calling party is willing to pay for air time necessary to complete the call. In the D'Amico et al. system, if the caller inputs an answer indicating willingness to pay for the air-time, the AIN network functionality obtains correct billing information, and the network completes the call and computes the cellular charges.
In systems like those of Emery et al. and D'Amico et al., a landline carrier typically operates the intelligent network and performs the routing services, for certain aspects of the follow-me functionality of the PCS service. The carrier operating that network also performs the billing services related to the Calling Party Pays feature. Essentially, if the caller is a subscriber of the landline carrier, that carrier adds the air-time charges for the subscriber's normal telephone bill. The landline network carrier, rather than the cellular carrier, bears the responsibility of billing the calling party.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,664, Burns et al. utilize a central database to determine whether to bill a calling party or a called party for charges for completion of a call to a mobile telephone. The system illustrated in this Patent includes switches of a local exchange carrier network, switches of an interexchange carrier (IXC) network, one or more mobile switching centers and a service processor with announcement facilities, service logic and a database. If a caller at station dials a telephone number of a party who subscribes to the calling party pays service, the local
Babbio, III Lawrence T.
DePaola John J.
McHenry James F.
Nightingale, Jr. John G.
Bell Atlantic Mobile Inc.
Milord Marceau
Urban Edward F.
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