AU2008201265A1 - System and method for verifying communication details - Google Patents

Description

Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT

APPLICANT:

Invention Title: BONIP PTY LIMITED SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VERIFYING COMMUNICATION

DETAILS

The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 00 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VERIFYING COMMUNICATION DETAILS FIELD OF THE INVENTION 00 The present invention relates to a method and system for verifying

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Ncommunication details. More particularly, it concerns a system and method for Sverifying that a subscriber can make a phone call from a particular telephone oO N number.

00 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is often important to be able to verify that a person can make a phone call from a particular telephone number. Each time a person communicates a phone number to another entity, such as by submitting it on a web-based form, there is a possibility that they may provide an incorrect phone number.

The incorrect telephone number may be a result of a mistake made while entering that number or a deliberate action.

In some cases, the consequences of communicating an erroneous telephone number can be serious. For instance, a single digit mistake in a phone number will render that number useless for communication purposes with the intended recipient or subscriber of communications. Furthermore, where services or enquiries are directed to a phone number which is incorrect, not only does the intended subscriber of those communications not receive them, but they may be directed to another person. The inconvenience or damage caused by such misdirected communications may be deliberately exploited by malicious persons if an opportunity exists for a person to supply the phone number of another person. Where a telephone number is requested from a subscriber as a form of identifying information, it is also often critical that a legitimate phone number is provided.

00 Various approaches may be employed to ensure that a subscriber has access

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to the phone service associated with a particular phone number. For instance, a voice call could be placed to the submitted telephone number to check whether it is answered by the subscriber expected. In the case of a 00 5 device which supports text messaging, such as a mobile phone, a text message could be sent to the mobile phone containing authenticating I information which is then subsequently requested from the recipient as proof 1 of them having obtained the text message. Both these approaches require Sthe termination of either a voice call or text message on the receiving device, o 10 which will typically attract telecommunications carrier charges.

(Ni Where a large volume of verifications have to take place, the processes described above may result in substantial carrier charges. For instance, a website may require that subscribers register and provide their telephone number. If the number of subscriber registrations is substantial, any method of verifying telephone numbers which have been provided which requires a termination of a call or message will have to be repeated many times at likely substantial cost. If the cost is shifted to the end subscriber, by requiring them to place a call or send a message, the financial impost may outweigh what the subscriber is prepared to spend to access the website in question.

The present invention advantageously provides an alternative to existing verification procedures that does not rely on the termination of a call or message.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a system and method of verifying a subscriber's submitted communication details to a subscription service. The invention includes the steps of providing to the subscriber a means to submit communication details, and receiving these communication details from the subscriber. The subscriber is then requested to communicate with a verification system from a communication means 0 associated with their communication details. The verification system then

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receives details of an incoming communication, and compares them with the subscriber's submitted communication details. The subscriber's submitted communication details are verified when the received details of an incoming 00 5 communication substantially match the subscriber's submitted communication details.

C In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of verifying a subscriber's communication details. The method includes retrieving a 00 10 subscriber's communication details from a database, and requesting the subscriber communicate with a verification system from a communication means associated with the communication details. The verification system then receives details of an incoming communication and compares them with the subscriber's communication details retrieved from the database. The subscriber's communication details are verified when the received details of an incoming communication substantially match the subscriber's communication details in the database.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for verifying communication details. The system includes a database for storing communication details, and a communication verification module adapted to receive and analyse communication details. Analysing of communication details includes comparing received communication details of an incoming communication with communication details stored in the database. The communication details are verified when the received communication details substantially match the communication details stored in the database.

The incoming communication is a telephone call, and communication details include a telephone number that can be identified. Further, communication carrier charges are not applied to the incoming communication.

0O 0 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

oo 5 FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention in the context of a public switched telephone network.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the steps taken in the process of verifying Sa subscriber's submitted communication details, in accordance with an 0O 10 embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is an example of a request sent to a person who is the subject of verification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the following discussion and in the claims that follow, the term "including" and "includes" are used, and are to be read, in an open-ended fashion, and should be interpreted to mean "including, but not limited to In the preferred embodiments that follow, a method and system for verifying that a subscriber can make a phone call from a particular phone number without the need for call or message termination is described. The subscriber who is to be verified is requested to call a verification system phone number from equipment with the same originating phone number as the phone number to be verified, and to hang up the call after one or more rings.

The verification system does not answer the call, but compares any calling line identification or Caller ID phone number information associated with the call with the phone number to be verified. If there is a sufficient or substantial match between the originating phone number as indicated by the calling line identification phone number and the phone number to be verified, it is

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0 considered verified that the subscriber can make a phone call from a Nparticular phone number.

Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. The verification system 101 includes a number verification module 102, a database 103 and a telecommunications t network interface 104. The verification system is interfaced with a telecommunications network 105 via the telecommunications network interface 104. Subscribers' telecommunications equipment 106 may communicate with the verification system via the telecommunications network 105.

The database 103 of the verification system provides storage for communication details provided by the subscriber. These details may include for example, telephone numbers which may belong to subscribers who are to be verified as being able to make a phone call from a particular phone number. The communication details in the database are preferably linked to another record indicating the personal details of the subscriber to which the phone number (for example) purportedly belongs.

FIG. 2 illustrates a preferred operation of the present invention interfaced with a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 205. The connection to the PSTN 205 is provisioned with the carrier providing it with the Caller ID service enabled; the Caller ID service providing identification of the telephone number initiating a call. In this case the telecommunications network interface consists of a PSTN modem 204 which supports decoding of Caller ID information.

Persons engaging in the verification process can connect to the PSTN via a PSTN telephone 206. The number verification module 202 may be interfaced with the PSTN modem 204 via a RS232 serial connection, for example. Again the database 203 stores communication details which are to be the subject of verification.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram which illustrates the steps taken in the verification process. In this embodiment, the process relates to verifying that a subscriber

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0 ("the Caller") can make a phone call from a particular telephone number ("the

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Number"). In step 301, the Number for the Caller is retrieved out of the database. In the next step 302, the Caller is requested to call the phone number associated with the telecommunications network interface of the 0O 5 verification system ("the Verification Number") using communications equipment which supports Caller ID associated with the Number. Such a request may be communicated, for example, via the Internet as a response to Cthe entry and submission of a phone number on a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) form. An example of such a request is provided in FIG. 4.

00 This request may be communicated to the subscriber to be verified by other Smeans, including by way of electronic mail, text messaging, voice call, data call or post. If the request is followed, the telecommunications network interface of the verification system, in this case a PSTN modem, will receive a call from the Caller in step 303. The telecommunications carrier network will transmit Caller ID information to the PSTN modem which includes identification of the originating phone number of the call. The originating phone number is transmitted to the number verification module by the PSTN modem in step 304. The PSTN modem is programmed to always keep the PSTN line it is connected to in an 'on hook' state. As such, the incoming call is never answered and rings until the originating subscriber's phone is placed on hook. This unanswered call will not be registered by a telecommunications carrier as a terminated call and will typically not be billed for.

In step 305 the number verification module compares the originating phone number of the call with the phone number record of the subscriber to be verified. If the originating phone number differs from the Number of the Caller, the Caller is considered to be unverified.

If the similarity between the originating phone number and the Number of the Caller passes a certain threshold (that is, substantially matches), the verification process proceeds to the next step 306. The similarity threshold is set dependant on the level of verification required.

0 Examples of substantially matched numbers that could pass a verification threshold include where the database contains a number in full international tformat such as "+612 1222 3444" and the Caller ID data may present as "02 1222 3444"; or where the database contains a direct line number such as "02 00 5 1222 3456" and the Caller is behind a PABX system such that the PABX presents one outgoing number such as "02 1222 3000".

N A time limit may be imposed on the elapsed time permissible between the Caller being requested to call (step 302) and receiving the call from the Caller (step 303). If a time limit is to be imposed, the date and time at which the Caller is requested to call the verification system is stored by the verification system in step 302 in the database 203 as a record linked to the particular phone number record which is the subject of verification.

In step 306, the elapsed time, calculated from the difference between the current date and time and the date and time stored in step 302, is compared with the time limit. If the elapsed time exceeds the allowed time limit, the Caller is considered to be unverified. If the elapsed time is less than or equal to the time limit, the Caller is verified as a person that can make a phone call from the Number and the verification process is considered complete.

Imposition of a time limit means the verification process can proceed to a certain outcome in a time less than or equal to the time limit, from the time the Caller is requested to call the verification system.

The present invention is not intended to be limited to the particular preferred embodiments which have been described above. Modifications which fall within the spirit and scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, while an embodiment of the present invention in the context of a PSTN telecommunications network has been described above, the present invention may operate in the context of any telecommunications network which supports the transmission of identifier which is unique to a telecommunications device, connection or service as part of a call or transmission. For instance, the present invention can also operate on an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and be interfaced to such a 00 network via a Basic or Primary Rate Interface. Operation is also possible on any mobile telephony network which supports transmission of originating phone numbers such as CDMA, GSM or 3G networks. The present invention may also be interfaced with a Voice over Internet Protocol (VolP) or other IP 00 5 telephony network where an originating number or other identifier is transmitted.

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Claims (12)

1. A method of verifying a subscriber's submitted communication details to a subscription service, including: 0 5 providing to the subscriber a means to submit communication details; receiving communication details from the subscriber; requesting the subscriber communicate with a verification system from N a communication means associated with the communication details; Sreceiving at the verification system details of an incoming communication; comparing the received details of an incoming communication with the subscriber's submitted communication details; wherein the subscriber's submitted communication details are verified when the received details of an incoming communication substantially match the subscriber's submitted communication details.

2. A method of verifying a subscriber's communication details, including: retrieving a subscriber's communication details from a database; requesting the subscriber communicate with a verification system from a communication means associated with the communication details; receiving at the verification system details of an incoming communication; comparing the received details of an incoming communication with the subscriber's communication details retrieved from the database; wherein the subscriber's communication details are verified when the received details of an incoming communication substantially match the subscriber's communication details in the database.

3. The method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the subscriber's submitted communication details include a telephone number.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the incoming communication is a telephone call. 00

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a 0 communication carrier charge is not applied to the incoming communication.

6. A system for verifying a subscriber's submitted communication details 00 5 to a subscription service, including: submission means provided to the subscriber to request and receive communication details; Ca verification system, including: a database for storing the subscriber's communication details 0 10 received from the submission means; and Oa communication verification module; wherein the submission means requests the subscriber communicate with the verification system from a communication means associated with the submitted communication details; wherein the communication verification module receives an incoming communication and compares the details of the incoming communication with the subscriber's submitted communication details retrieved from the database; and wherein the subscriber's submitted communication details are verified when the received details of an incoming communication substantially match the subscriber's submitted communication details.

7. A system for verifying communication details, including: a database for storing communication details; and a communication verification module adapted to receive and analyse communication details; wherein the analysing of communication details includes comparing received communication details of an incoming communication with communication details stored in the database; and wherein communication details are verified when the received communication details substantially match the communication details stored in the database. 00

8. The system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the 0 Scommunication details include a telephone number. tq

9. The system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the 0_ 5 incoming communication is a telephone call. S

10. The system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a C communication carrier charge is not applied to the incoming communication. 00 10

11. The system according to claim 7 or claim 8 wherein the received Scommunication details include identification of a telephone number.

12. A computer-readable medium including software operable to perform the method of claim 1 or claim 2.