CH646026A5 - Device for cashless telephony. - Google Patents

Description

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PATENT CLAIMS

1.Facility for making calls without cash, with a telephone station connected to a central office via a telephone line, which has a receiving slot for prepaid credit cards, a reading head for reading out the information stored on the credit card, a canceling head for debiting the call fee on the credit card, one to the reading head and the validation head connected control device and a number dialer, characterized in that the telephone station (13) is set up for the optional acceptance of a credit card (1) or a credit card (7), that a first generic code on the credit card (1) and on the credit card (7) a second generic code and a card number are stored and that the control device (17) is designed such that if the first generic code is present on the card inserted into the acceptance slot, the call charge is debited from the card and if the second generic code is present the K type number is read out and the call charge is written into a memory (23) together with an account number assigned to the card.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that an identification number can be entered by means of the number dialer (16) in a comparator (21) which checks the assignment of the identification number to the card number stored on the credit card (7) and the connection by a yes Signal releases.

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the telephone station (13) has a transmitter (18) for transmitting the card number via the telephone line (19) to the center (20) and that the memory (23) in the center (20) is arranged.

4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the comparator (21) is arranged in the center.

5. Device according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that for storing the date and time of the telephone connection, the memory (23) is connected to a clock (24).

6. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the memory (23) is arranged in the telephone station (13). and is formed by a cassette memory.

A device of the type mentioned in the preamble of claim 1 is known from the prospectus «phonocard, public telephone station for making cashless calls», from CH-PS 574144 and from CH-PS 572 299. Such facilities allow the call fee to be paid using a prepaid prepaid card, the value of the prepaid card e.g. is optically or magnetically recorded on the card and is reduced when using the telephone station according to the call fee to be paid. The advantage for the user is that they do not have to have coins on hand to have a conversation. The handling is extremely simple and the debit card is canceled in very small steps in accordance with the tax impulses sent by the central office, so that neither the user nor the telephone administration are harmed. The telephone management appreciates the advantage of prepayment, does not need to provide cash register emptying and is protected against cash theft and vandalism.

It is also known that telephone management provides customers with credit cards that entitle them to telephone calls on credit. The user gives the operator at the central office his account number, whereupon the desired connection is released and the call fee is charged to the account in question. With this manual credit service, it cannot be checked whether the user actually has a credit card or fraudulently provides the operator with a third-party account number, so that fraud is very easy.

Finally, facilities are known for checking the assignment of an individual identification number to a card number stored on a card (CH-PS 604 285), which are used for personal control, for access control to secure rooms and facilities, for identifying customers in the credit card business, etc. When using the card, the card number is read out in a test facility and compared with the identification number entered into a keyboard by the user.

The invention specified in claim 1 is based on the object of designing the device of the type mentioned in such a way that a telephone call can be carried out both by means of a prepaid credit card and by means of a credit card, the credit card being to be checked automatically.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing.

Show it:

1 is a credit card,

Fig. 2 a credit card and

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a device for cashless calls.

The credit card 1 shown in FIG. 1 has one or more information tracks 2. Information in the form of optical markings 3 and optical markings 4 which are subsequently erased are stored on this information track 2. The marks 3 are e.g. Holograms, which guarantee a high level of security against counterfeiting due to their difficult manufacture and e.g. can be extinguished by thermal action. Some of the remaining or deleted markings 5 at the beginning of the information track 2 represent a first generic code which identifies the card 1 as a credit card. Each of the other markings 6, if it has not yet been deleted, represents a unit of value. In the example shown, some of the markings 6 have already been deleted, i.e. The prepaid card 1 is partially canceled.

The credit card 7 according to FIG. 2 has an information track 8 with remaining optical markings 9 and optical markings 10 which are subsequently erased again. The markings 9 need not differ from the markings 3 of the credit card 1, so that they have identical optical markings in the telephone station Means can be read out. Some of the remaining or deleted markings 11 at the beginning of the information track 8 represent a second generic code which identifies the card 7 as a credit card. The remaining, partially remaining, partially deleted markings 12 represent an individual card number in binary-coded form. This card number, which can be identical to the account number of the card holder, is assigned a secret individual identification number.

3, the telephone station 13 has a reading head 14 for reading out the information stored on the credit card 1 or on the credit card 7, a canceling head 15 for debiting the call charge on the credit card 1, one on the reading head 14, on the canceling head 15 and connected to a number dialer 16 (number plate or keyboard) control device 17 and a transmitter 18. The control device 17 and the transmitter 18 are connected to a control center 20 via a telephone line 19

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the. The transmitter 18 is used to transmit the card number via the telephone line 19 to the control center 20 and can have an impulse contact on the output side, which is connected in parallel to the impulse contact of the number dialer 16.

A comparator 21 is preferably arranged in the control center 20 and checks the assignment of an identification number entered by means of the number dialer 16 to the card number of a credit card 7. The control center 20 also contains a taxi pulse generator 22, a memory 23 and a clock 24.

The telephone station 13 is designed to accept either a credit card 1 or a credit card 7. For this purpose, the user inserts his card into an acceptance slot (not shown) of the telephone station 13, whereupon the control device 17 puts the reading head 14 into operation and the generic code on the card is first read out. The reading can be done in a known serial or parallel mode of operation; in the case of serial operation, the card or the reading head 14 is moved mechanically, so that the reading head 14 travels along the information track 2 or 8.

If the card inserted into the acceptance slot is a credit card 1 and accordingly the presence of the first generic code is determined by means of the reading head 14 and the control device 17, it is then checked whether value units 1 are saved on the credit card to pay the call fee are. If applicable, the desired connection is released and the call charge is debited on the prepaid card 1 by actuating the canceling head 15 by each tax impulse sent by the taxi impulse generator 22 into the telephone station 13 and a marker 6 is deleted on the prepaid card 1.

If, however, the card inserted into the acceptance slot is a credit card 7 and the presence of the second type code is determined, the reading head 14 remains in operation after the second type code has been read out, the card number stored on the credit card 7 is read out by means of the transmitter 18 transmitted via the telephone line 19 to the control center 20 and stored there for a certain time in the comparator 21. If necessary, the card number is compared in comparator 21 with a blacklist. The user can then enter his identification number into the telephone station using the number dialer 16. This identification number is transmitted to the center 20 like a telephone number and checked in the comparator 21. If the correct identification number assigned to the relevant card number was selected by means of the number dialer 16, the desired telephone connection is released by a yes signal from the comparator 21, the user can dial a telephone number and the call charge is made in the control center 20 by continuous

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Counting the taxi impulses calculated and at the end of the call, together with an account number assigned to the credit card 7, written into the memory 23. This account number can be the card number, the identification number or a third assigned number. The registration fee can be registered in the memory 23 by storing the number of tax impulses or the tax calculated therefrom. The date and time of the telephone connection are advantageously recorded by means of the clock 24 and also stored in the memory 23 together with the call charge and the account number. The number can also be registered in the memory 23.

The data contained in the memory 23 can be read out periodically, transferred to a central data collection point and given to the account holder e.g. be charged at the same time with the ordinary telephone bill.

The device described allows the user of public telephone stations, depending on his preference, to pay the call fee when buying a prepaid card 1 in advance or to make telephone calls using a credit card 7 on credit and to pay the call fee only later. The involvement of a telephone operator in establishing a credit connection is not required, and the amount of the possible call fee is not restricted by having prepaid cards with the corresponding value. Fraudulent actions to the detriment of third parties are practically impossible, since both a valid credit card and the assigned identification number must be known in order to benefit from a credit connection.

It is possible to arrange the comparator 21 and the memory 23 not in the control center 20, but in each individual telephone station 13, so that the transmitter 18 is unnecessary. In this case, a cassette memory advantageously serves as the memory 23, the cassette of which can be easily exchanged for transmitting the data to a central location. The arrangement of the comparator 21 in the control center 20 is preferable if the checking of the assignment of the identification number to the card number involves complex operations, e.g. the implementation of complex algorithms.

The described storage of the information on the credit card 1 or on the credit card 7 by means of optical markings ensures a very high level of security against fraud with low production costs for the cards. But there are also others, e.g. magnetic or electronic storage methods conceivable. The debiting of the call fee on the credit card 1 can be done by gradually deleting units of value during the telephone connection or by completely deleting the credit and storing the new remaining credit after the call has ended.

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1 sheet of drawings