Validation query based on a supervisory signal

Details Validation query based on a supervisory signal Validation query based on a supervisory signal

2000-01-18

2002-08-06

Tieu, Binh (Department: 2643)

Telephonic communications

With usage measurement

Call charge metering or monitoring

C379S121010, C379S144020, C379S154000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06430274

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telephone systems, and in particular, to a method for authorizing and validating telephone calls.
2. Description of the Related Art
In telephone communication systems, telephone calls are generally charged to the account of the originating telephone. In many situations, however, other billing methods are desired. For instance, a call originator may wish to place a collect call, where the receiving party, rather than the call originator, is billed for the call. A collect call may be desired where the call is for the primary benefit of the receiver or where the account associated with the receiving phone belongs to the originating caller himself. Alternatively, an originating caller may wish to have a call charged to a third party telephone account or to a credit card account, such as a Local Exchange Card (LEC) offered by a local telephone company. Alternative billing schemes benefit users by providing more convenient methods of billing and benefit phone companies by increasing the number of revenue sources.
Because it is difficult to verify the identity of a user and because an account, although previously valid, may no longer be valid, there is a serious potential for abuse of alternative billing schemes. Because such fraudulent use of phone services results in lost revenue for phone companies, fraud is compensated for with higher rates to paying customers. It is important, therefore, to phone companies and paying customers, to insure against fraudulent use of alternative billing schemes.
In order to reduce fraudulent use of alternative billing schemes, some method must exist for validating the authority of a user to employ one of these alternative billing schemes. In a collect call situation, for instance, a method must exist for verifying whether the receiving party or the account associated with the receiving telephone is properly authorized to accept a collect call. Such verification might include insuring that the account associated with the receiving phone is current, that its bill paying history is adequate and that the account holder has not previously declared that collects calls will not be accepted. In the case of third party billing or credit card billing, a method must exist for verifying the existence of the credit account or of the third party to be billed and, possibly, for requesting authorization from the credit card company or the third party.
Currently, many phone companies employ Line Information Data Bases (LIDBs) for validating authorizations. LIDBs are private data bases providing such services as Originating Line Number Screening, Calling Card Validation, Billing Number Screening, Calling Card Fraud and Public Telephone Checks. LIDBs typically contain all of the valid telephone and card numbers in their regions and the necessary information to perform billing verification. Upon receipt of authorization from LIDB, the telephone company will connect the call to the receiving party. Note that if the call is a collect call, the telephone company will have to receive authorization from the receiving party, in addition to the LIDB authorization. LIDBs are typically organized regionally as stand-alone systems. Efforts are under way, however, to integrate regional LIDBs into a larger entity.
In addition to LIDBs, Billing Number Screening (BNS) data bases are also employed for authorization validation. Essentially, a BNS is a telephone company internal data base for maintaining histories of user names, credit card numbers and phone numbers, especially those which have a history of failure to pay or a history of failure to receive LIDB approval. A BNS may also contain cross references between receivers who routinely decline to accept charges from particular originators. A BNS is typically employed as a pre-screen or filter which serves to terminate a requested call, based on prior history, prior to initiating an LIDB query.
In operation, upon receiving a request for an alternative billing scheme, a telephone company will attempt to validate authorization. After checking other internal databases for validation, the telephone system queries an external LIDB. If the LIDB grants authorization to make the requested alternative billing call, the phone system dials the requested number and waits for a response. If the response is a busy tone, the call is terminated. If the line is not busy but, after some predetermined number of rings, there is no answer, the phone system declares time-out and terminates the call. If, however, an off-hook condition is detected, that is, if someone picks up the dialed telephone, then the call originator and the requested party are connected. In a collect call situation, of course, the parties are not connected until the requested party accepts the charges.
While LIDBs reduce losses associated with alternative billing schemes, they come with a heavy price. For every validation query, regardless of whether authorization is granted, the phone company is charged a query fee. For some telephone companies these query fees can run into the tens of millions of dollars per month. These costs are generally passed on to consumers in the form of higher rates for service.
One area of particular concern to telephone companies, with respect to LIDB costs, is collect-call-only telephones. Collect-call-only telephones are telephones which are designed to make collect calls and no others. These phones are employed in order to avoid damage from any attempted theft of coins. These phones are most often employed in correctional facilities and high crime areas.
Briefly, collect-call-only telephones include a keypad and a telephone handset but no coin-receiving slots. These telephones are typically coupled to the phone network through an automated operator system which is designed to preclude direct voice contact between call originators and phone company employees. This is, in part, to avoid harassing comments and threats to live operators.
The details of a typical collect-call-only telephone call is shown in FIG.
1
. In order to originate a call, at step
10
, an off-hook condition is detected on the collect-call-only telephone, and the automated operator generates a message to the effect of, “please enter the requested number”. After dialing the desired number, the caller is asked to provide relevant information at step
20
. For example, the automated operator may prompt the caller to “please state your name”. After providing name and requested telephone number, the caller waits while the automated operator seeks authorization to place the call. First, at step
30
, the Negative database is checked. The Negative database contains numbers that will be blocked from dialing by the caller. These numbers are typically those of called parties who have requested that their telephone numbers be blocked by the caller calling system. At step
35
if the number is blocked, the call is terminated at step
140
. If the call is validated by the Negative database, Fraud or BNS database validation is initiated at step
40
. If the Fraud or BNS database does not authorize the call at step
50
, the call terminates at step
140
. If the Fraud or BNS database authorizes the call at step
50
, LIDB authorization is initiated at step
60
. Likewise, if the LIDB does not authorize the call at step
70
, the call terminates at step
140
.
If the LIDB authorizes the call in step
70
, the automated operator dials the requested party at step
80
. If the automated operator detects a busy signal at step
90
, the call is terminated at step
140
. At step
100
, if the requested phone rings a predetermined number of times without answering, the automated operator declares a time-out and, again, the call is terminated at step
140
. If, however, the automated operator detects an off-hook condition at step
100
, it assumes that an individual has answered the phone and initiates a collect call message at step
110
. The collect call message informs the receiver that a collect call has

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