FI109388B - A method for providing and communicating abnormally charged calls - Google Patents

Description

109388

A method for tracing and reporting an abnormally charged call

The invention relates to a method for providing an abnormally charged call according to the preamble of claim 1, wherein a randomly selected call is provided to the calling subscriber in respect of the calling subscriber.

There are many well-known ways to provide a caller with an abnormally priced call. In many cases, calls that deviate from common practice are charged to the calling subscriber for free or at a reduced rate. Toll-free numbers containing a particular prefix, such as 0800, tell the calling subscriber that calls made to a particular 10 prefix are free to him. Calls to freephone numbers can be routed to the receiving subscriber.

For free calls offered in Sweden under the name '' Gratis Telefon '', the caller concludes an agreement with the operator to make free calls. The calling subscriber discloses information about himself / herself for advertising purposes and this information is built! 15 special consumer profiles. When the calling subscriber then wants to make a free call from a particular subscription, he dials the operator's toll-free number. The call is connected to a voice automation device and the calling subscriber is identified. Thereafter, the calling subscriber is provided with an advertisement according to his consumer profile as an audio message. After listening to the advertisement, the calling subscriber dials the telephone number to which he .. 20 wants to connect. The call is connected to the telephone number of the calling subscriber. ' · '. upon receipt by the receiving subscriber. During a call, to both the caller and the recipient; = Ads are delivered to the subscriber as voice messages at regular intervals. Call duration is not: '·': Usually limited.

Call centers can make pricing changes. For example, a call center that dials service numbers, long - distance calls, or international calls may have a temporary setting:. a rate analysis that provides free calls at specific times or times.

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Calling cards using smart card technology and / or magnetic tape provide a simple way to offer free talk time from telephone kiosks. These • ·. the amount of talk time or drunk calling cards corresponding to a certain amount of money can be distributed to: 30 persons who wish to offer free calls from telephone kiosks. In the case of such calls made with card 2 109388, telephone subscribers may be provided with communications of the operator's choice, such as advertising, in a voice message transmitted over a telephone connection. There are also account calling cards which, after receiving the identifier and the password received from the user, allow billing of the call from the account linked to the card's 5 identifier. For such an account, you can specify the amount of money you want to offer for free calls.

The amount charged for nearly all pulse-based billing is determined in such a way that, normally, the caller does not have any valid information about the exact cost of the call, since the exact moment of transmission of the pulses is not known to the caller.

10 Known technology does not allow the caller to provide an occasional call at an abnormally charged rate so that the caller knows immediately after the call | has been abnormally priced. For the caller, "coincidence" means here in the application, that the caller does not have prior to establishing a telephone connection, and that there is no reasonable indication that the next call will be 15 abnormally charged. In this case, the caller also has no information at the time of the abnormal pricing that the abnormal pricing is being used.

A disadvantage of the prior art is that calls to toll-free numbers are always free to the caller. Therefore, the use of toll-free numbers is not appropriate in cases where it is desired to provide the calling subscriber with occasional calls 20 at abnormally charged rates.

Free calls provide the caller with an ongoing way to make free calls to whatever they want f · ,; numbers. Therefore, this method is also not applicable to caller karma for random: · ': calling or free calling.

• · · 'Central technology pricing changes can also offer the caller 25 random calls at abnormally charged rates, such as free, but not getting * ♦ *,. immediately after the call, the caller is aware that the newly dialed call was abnormally charged. However, this would be necessary if you want to offer an abnormally • 'priced call that the caller would have otherwise made and still not'; 'Reasoned knowledge of the exceptional cost of that call would affect the duration of that call ... · 30.

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109388 Virtually all pulse-based billing is defined randomly for the caller because he has no valid information about when pulses j are transmitted and thus calls of the same length to the caller result in different billing. However, in such a normal case, the price deviations 5 are so small in monetary terms that there is no information value in providing information per call. However, billing pulses can also be forwarded to a subscriber line, whereby call pricing information is provided to a real-time calling line. In this case however, the receiving subscriber is required to have a pulse-reading network terminal.

When the user monitors the billing of a call during a call, he / she discovers the regularity of the billing 10 and the resulting amount so that the cost of the call is not randomly determined by the caller.

By distributing calling cards or call time stored in a credit card account for free, or by selling call cards or calling card call time at a price different from their nominal value, calls are priced exceptionally, but here again, for the 15 users, there is no randomization.

The object of the invention is to provide a completely new type of method by which the above-mentioned prior art problems can be solved.

The invention is based on directing information about an incoming or outgoing call to an intelligent network center in response to a dialed call received from a calling subscriber's subscriber, including a specific number time, such as an area code, and a smart card control lottery which results in an outgoing call cost. If the call in question is set; '' Exceptional Pricing, denying access by the intelligent network control to at least one billing pulse or other billing information for a particular call to the billing system for billing the 25 calls in question.

More specifically, unlike the method according to the invention, the provision and communication of a call to be charged is characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of claim 1.

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The invention provides considerable advantages. The invention enables the caller to provide an occasional call at an abnormally charged rate so that the caller knows immediately after the call that it has been abnormally charged.

The method of the invention can provide abnormally priced calls with substantially the same length distribution as normal-rate calls to an exceptionally charged number or a single telephone number. In this case, the operator does not incur the extra cost of providing an exceptional call because the customer knows that the call is being charged at an exceptional rate and is talking for a substantially longer time.

The invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 illustrates one method according to the invention for an abnormally priced | to provide a call that generates an abnormally charged call.

In the example of the operation diagram of Figure 1, the following numbered elements 15 are used:

Calling subscriber line 10 is a subscriber to a public or private telephone network or a mobile network, or a subscriber identity, to which a caller randomly priced from the caller karma is desired.

: "'; The call end SSP exchange 11 is the SSP level closest to the calling interface in the network hierarchy;' '': 20 centers.

The Service Control Point (SCP) 12 is a call control database for controlling intelligent network services in the telephone network, capable of transmitting control signals from at least one * I * II · SSP-level exchange and capable of transmitting control signals to at least ... _ one SSP-level Center.

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V '25 The receiving subscription 13 is a subscription or subscriber identity of a public or private telephone network or a mobile communications network for which a call is desired: to be provided to the caller at randomly charged prices.

The IP communicator 14 is a network terminal in an IP network which, after receiving a predetermined ': control signal, transmits to the telephone network for at least one telephone connection to which the EP-! 5 The 109388 I communicator is connected to certain types of information such as speech or other! speech signal.

The lottery element 15 is hardware or software capable of responding randomly or randomly to the excitation it receives.

The system 16 connected to the operator maintenance network operation and management interface is a device from which transmitting signals can be configured for SCP 12 settings.

An area code is a dialing number that directs dial-up access to a long distance network, an international telephone network, another specific network of a particular operator, such as a mobile network, and / or a paid service number 10.

In the method of providing an abnormally charged call, the following steps are performed. Step 101 is performed to associate the desired exceptional pricing with a desired dialing number, such as an area code: 101) Set SCP 12 to control the draw. A control signal formed on the basis of at least one specific dialing is set to trigger the draw. Determine the probabilities for an abnormally charged call based on each specific number dial. At least one received number dial can be specified .. -; a possible response to a variety of exceptional pricing rates.

. "'. 20 These settings and configuration are made under the control of an external system that \. \ J has the privileges to update SCP 12 and has the necessary communication connection.

Such a system may be, e.g., a system 16 connected to an operator maintenance network and connected to an SCP 12 through an operator operation and maintenance network. In this case, the settings defined in step 101 and:: 25 settings can be changed at any time during operation of SCP 12. Steps 102 to: 103 are performed to connect the call to the receiving interface 13 and to inform the switching SCP 12 of this switching. Step 104 is performed to determine the cost of the call to be switched.

»» 1 · 6 109388 102) Receiving a dialing from the direction of the calling interface 10 at the caller's SSP exchange 11 to a telephone number j containing a specific set of numbers, such as an area code, through any hierarchically lower level switching centers.

103) In response to a dialing directed to a particular area code, a control signal is routed from the caller's SSP exchange 11 to the SCP 12 controlling the telephone network's intelligent network services, indicating that a dialing number directed to a particular area code or other number.

| 104) In response to the control signal, the control of the SCP 12 is determined by the SCP logic or the lottery element 15 to which the SCP is in communication to determine whether the resulting call under review is offered at an abnormally charged rate such as i | free.

15 The result of a draw may indicate that the call to be made must be made normally, or that it may be abnormally charged at a particular rate. In the case where the result of the lottery indicates that the call under review must be made at normal rates, the telephone connection is established and billing is performed,!. as usual. The following steps of the method illustrate a situation in which a call »* * ·." '. 20 is formed at an abnormally charged rate. Steps 105-106 are performed to control the billing signaling of the telephone network 1 »· at an abnormal rate.

i i i t% 105) If a lottery call is to be made in an abnormal manner as a result of the draw

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priced, the call is normally connected to the receiving interface 13, * * * but redirected by the SCP 12 to suppress the caller's SSP exchange. . 25 of the received call pulses and / or debit messages, and to record (pulses and / or debit messages on the call record of the call under review.) The call record may also store, if necessary, the received pulses and / or charge messages that were not suppressed.

106) Receiving at least one billing pulse and / or charge message from the calling end SSP exchange 11 from the direction of the receiving interface 13 and stopping their progress towards the calling subscriber and storing information thereon at the calling end SSP center 11.

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Step 107 is performed to record the normal billing messages of the dial-up connection 10 established between the established dial-up connection and the receiving connection, as well as any exception billing messages for later review.

107) Detecting a pending call between the calling interface 10 and the receiving interface 13 at the caller SSP exchange 11 and signaling it to the SCP 12 and transmitting to it information on the received pulses, call length and / or 15 charging messages.

Steps 108 through 110 are performed to connect the call to the calling subscriber to inform about the exceptional cost of the recently terminated call.

108) Under the control of SCP 12, a message is sent to the caller SSP exchange 11 to establish a telephone connection to the calling interface 10. Such message 'I ·' · '' may be an Initiate Call Attempt (ICA) message and a Continue message . In this case, the telephone number of the calling subscriber line 10 is forwarded to the caller SSP exchange; 11 in the DestinationRoutingAddress field of the ICA message, and the SCP 12 directs the 25 callhead SSP center 11 to respond to the * * 'response message from the calling subscriber, e.g. R. Then •; · A message identifying the ticket formed from the call under review 1, such as an FCI message, is also sent to the caller SSP exchange 11.

1099388 109) Sending a call set up request from the calling end SSP exchange 11 to the calling interface 10.

110) Receiving a signal from the direction of the calling subscriber 10 indicating that the call is connected to an object according to the identity of the calling subscriber.

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Steps 111 through 112 are performed to connect the call to the IP communicator to produce or reproduce a voice message announcing the exceptional cost of the recently terminated call and deliver it to the calling interface 10.

i j 10 111) In response to a call received from the 10 directions of the calling subscription! a connection announcement signal is transmitted from the call end SSP exchange 11 to the SCP 12 to establish that an additional call is being considered, e.g., by an ERB (Event Report BCSM) message.

112) Sending a signal, e.g., Connect, from the SCP 12 to connect the call to the IP-15 communicator, establishing a telephone connection between the calling subscriber 10 and the IP communicator 14, and transmitting to the calling subscriber 10 that the newly terminated call was abnormally charged, such as , which, in addition to .. I · ', may be transmitted in this connection in the direction of the calling subscriber 10, such as advertisements, which the operator deems appropriate, such as advertisements.

Thus, the connection set up between the calling interface 10 and the communication device '*' described above in paragraphs 108-112 has been implemented in the manner of a wake-up call. In practice, implementation with INAP messages may;,. In the future, the invention will deviate from the solution described above, but all solutions operating on the wake-up call principle for informing about the exceptional cost of a call I · • 'are included within the scope of the invention.

<t · I · • '*: In the example described above, a connection is first made to the calling interface 10 and then to the IP communicator 14. Alternatively, the connection establishment 9 109388 can also be implemented in a second constellation, i.e. to the IP communicator 14, and thereafter to the interface 10.

In the method according to the invention, the operator has the opportunity to use different criteria for targeting the abnormally priced service. For example, the operator may change the proportion of emergency calls for all landlines to which emergency calls are offered, for a specific or certain area code, or even for individual telephone numbers, through a management interface connected to the maintenance network. This can be done by changing the SCP's 12 10 lottery routine.

Solutions other than those described above may also be contemplated within the scope of the invention.

In the method of the invention, it is not necessary to form a call label for suppressed pulses or charge messages. However, establishing a call label facilitates tracking of abnormally charged calls and facilitates tracking and tracing of financial transactions between stakeholders interested in billing over the telephone network.

! | An exception to the series is defined as the stiffness response specified in this application for each of the given numerical sequences I M <. ···. 20 excitation control settings. Instead of or alongside the lottery, you can. uses the method of the invention, whereby abnormally charged calls and calls at normal rates are routinely handled with a certain advance:; *; for calls with a fixed dialing code, as defined by the exception rule: by area code, separately for a specific or certain area code, or for 25 individual telephone numbers or parts thereof. In this case, the predefined::: Exception time should be such that the caller does not have any reason to know that this ·> next call will be priced differently.

'A predefined exception can be defined in the SSP exchange, elsewhere; ·' over a telephone network, SCP, available to SCP, or any combination thereof. Step ...: 30 103 The trigger for SCPr is not necessarily limited to certain calls. ·: In an exception, if the exception is partially defined elsewhere than in SCP.

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For example, an exception set may be set up in a telephone network by directing a certain portion I of calls between two PBXs to a specific bearer and setting i only dial numbers containing a particular or one of a number dialers from that dialer to trigger a trigger on the SCP. the exception rule applies to dialing in the desired direction. An exception set can also be generated in SSP-programmed logic, whereby specific dialing in a particular sequence stored in an exception string, triggering a trigger for SCP 12. In SCP 10 12, a lottery or lottery-like operation can be performed with programmable logic and select SCP: call billing control signal as a result of the lottery, or to select that signal in advance for SCP or elsewhere available to SCP, or a combination thereof.

By lottery is meant an operation in which a given excitation or excitation 15 produces a certain response with a certain probability such that the order of the received responses is not reasonably known in advance. By a lottery-like operation, a method bound to some specific variable information, such as clock-generated information, responds to a control signal received in the SCP. This results in a result which is sufficiently random in practical terms, even if it is not pure. In mathematical terms, it would have been entirely random.

The communication between the SSP exchange 11 and the SCP 12 illustrated in the scheme of FIG. 1 may be accomplished by any of the methods of the invention; 'Transmitting a telephone connection between the calling interface 10 and the receiving interface 13 ;,. The SSP exchange.

In the method of the invention, the calling subscriber may be informed of: In a post-call message, information to the caller of the exceptionally charged call in question: the cost of the call and / or a similar normal rate call 1 · '; cost or the difference between them.

'; · At least in cases where the caller is told about the cost of a similar normal call ...: 30 calls to a caller or the cost of a similar "normal" call and actual call to a caller, 109388 '1! Ί two calls identified with different identifiers, Includes the practice of applying an aberration charge and j another of comparing the normal charge for the call in question or the normal charge and the exceptional charge for the call in question, such as the difference between 5 call charges.

In the method according to the invention, a telephone connection may be established in addition to or instead of the IP communication device, or to another voice communication device capable of transmitting to the calling subscriber a message stating that the call just made was an exception or 10

The method of the invention may also provide a service that provides the customer with the opportunity to redirect the amount of money saved due to the exceptional cost of the call in question over a normal price or part thereof for a particular purpose. This can be accomplished by inquiring from the calling subscriber at 15 outgoing calls about the possibility of diverting the money saved for a particular purpose or purposes, making at least one voucher in the SSP exchange and assigning the ticket to the desired recipient or part of the billing system. calling subscription billing system.

.. 1: 20 The recipient of the money saved can be selected from those to whom the operator has the '- · ·' ability to allocate call labels. From a calling subscriber to a calling customer, '* · ·' may be provided with a smaller set of recipients than, for example, one entity.

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Exceptional pricing may also be applied in the method of the invention: T: for a local network charge or a local call charge. This is achieved, for example, by setting the SSP exchange to send a message to the switching center of the calling subscriber for the call in question, such as the free * ACM free information: ACM toll-free information. This is most convenient when the calling subscriber '' ': the local network billing center and the SSP center used in the method according to the invention, * ·, 30 belong to the same operator, since it does not occur. : the need for a carrier-to-operator reimbursement for occasionally missing local network charges.

One way to provide a free one-to-one call, even if the SSP exchange and the 12 109388 ii calling party local area network billing center are on different operators' networks, is to use some or all calls connected to a specific dialing number or dialing numbers such as area codes, mobile and international calls so-called. access j 5 charges for the local network charge, in which case the local network charge is not charged, but the charging of the local network component is included in the area code j | and a billing compensation is made between the local network operator and the operator responsible for area code billing, e.g. based on measured telephone traffic.

The invention may be practiced by providing the calling subscriber with a calling subscription the opportunity to participate in a lottery by calling a telephone number containing a particular set of numbers j, and providing the said lottery with an abnormally priced call. As a result of the raffle, an abnormally charged call can also be priced at a negative price, thus offering, for example, 15 free calls.

The following describes what some of the terms are used in this application and in particular in the claims.

An intelligent network center is a system connected to a telephone network that centrally performs the operations necessary to control the telephone network. ··. 20 more sophisticated, or different, data processing than that performed at PSTN or PSTN telephone exchanges.

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'Activation information is the specification that, when set to force, controls the intelligent network center; ', * To send a signal that controls the pricing of a particular call. The activation of different activation information * * · »* * may be in response to different pricing control signals, and certain activation information need not be in response to any control signals. In a preferred embodiment, in response to a control signal received in the intelligent network, a lottery or lottery-like operation or activation information retrieval is performed by an exception set of computer program functionality and selected for the telephone network; a control signal to be transmitted in response to the activation information, which is preferably a value returned by the computer program.

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Normal Pricing, or "normal", means the pricing whereby the price of the established call is known or made available on request to the payee who has connected to the established telephone connection. In this case, the payee's subscriber is aware of j 5 or can find out before the call is established that it is essentially the normal cost! I for a call to a chargeable subscription.

| j The possible inaccuracy in the cost of a regular call to a chargeable subscriber is due to the discreteness of the pulse-based billing.

Abnormal Pricing means, for the caller, an abnormal price for a call made up of a random call 10.

Billing information is a specification of the charges levied for a particular call or portion of a call, such as a fixed call label created on a telephone network for a particular call, or a pulse or charge message transmitted over a specific telephone connection or signaling connection associated with that telephone connection.

15 The billing system is a rigid system that generates customer-specific invoices and service provider accounts from billing information.

A telephone network refers to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) or a mobile communication network (PLMN).

k M! By "communication device" is meant a network terminal device which, in response to a particular kind of control signal, transmits in the direction of a telephone network to at least one telephone connection, '': certain information, such as speech or other speech signal.

* · '* A communication set may mean a communication device or similar arrangement * * *' in which a person responds to connection requests to terminals connected to a subscriber line.

f «· 25 A call label is a unique identifier identified by a unique identifier for a particular call ··, which contains billing and / or other information transmitted in connection with that call.

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Claims (12)

14 109388 A method for providing and announcing an abnormally charged call, 5. receiving from a calling subscriber (102) a dialing of a specific set of numbers in a telephone network, and transmitting (103) a first control signal in response to the received set of numbers, 10. in response to the first control signal, performing a lottery (104) or lottery-like operation under the control of the intelligent network center (12), which results in an activation information, or selecting the next transmitting (105) to the telephone network under the control of the intelligent network center (12) an abnormal pricing signal, and • - in response to the abnormal pricing control signal (106),. system to perform an exceptional charge for the call in question, M 20 and * · - indicate (107 - 112) the exceptional charge for the call in question in the direction of the calling subscriber (10). <I »> · •» Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that: • an indication of the exceptional cost of the 25 calls in question in the direction of the calling interface (10) *; - occurring (112) with a subscriber line (10) and subscriber line established after the call under consideration; 1, by a telephone connection between the notification system (14). »I 15 109388 A method according to any one of claims 2, characterized in that, when establishing a post-call telephone connection between the communicating subsystem (14) and the calling interface (10), 108) controlling the intelligent network center (12) to the other telephone network for at least one message directing the telephone network to initiate a telephone connection to the calling interface (10) and / or the communication system (14). A method according to claim 3, characterized in that the control of the intelligent network center (12) includes (108) in the ICA message DestinationRoutingAddress the sending telephone number and the Continue message, and a control signal directing the telephone network to respond to a specific type of message. 15 Method according to one of Claims 2 to 4, characterized in that, in response to a received call I! connecting a call signaling to a calling interface (10) or receiving a call from a direction of the communication system (14) to a signal indicating a communication system (14) from another location; in response to the second control signal, a message (112) is transmitted under control of the intelligent network center (12), directing the telephone network to connect a telephone connection between the communication system (*) and the subscriber interface (10). A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at least one billing information generated from the call under consideration is stored (107) in response to the abnormal charging signal, each of which billing information is uniquely identified and 5 individually or individually identifiable. the price of the call or part of the call in question that would have been charged when the call or part of the call was normally charged, and the exceptional pricing of the call or part of the call under consideration. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that in response to the deviating charging signal the controlling signal (106) prevents the forwarding of at least one billing information received in the telephone network directed to the calling connection (10) towards the billing system. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized by: generating (106) a billing information in accordance with the exception pricing determined by the activated activation information per call or portion thereof, and - controlling (107) the billing system to bill according to your billing information. 20: 9. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that *: the service control point (SCP) of the telephone network is used as the intelligent network center (12). A method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that:. 25 of the billing information created or received, or a combination thereof f I (a fixed-line voice tag, or that data is added to at least one ""; standard-sized voice tag. »I I I * 17 109388 Method according to one of Claims 1 to 10, characterized in that a communication device is used as a communication system (14). Method according to one of Claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the draw to be performed in response to the first control signal is performed only when the calling interface (10) is certain or one of certain. | · 18 109388