FI113727B - Method and system for the advance payment of telephone charges - Google Patents

Description

113727

Method and system for the advance payment of telephone charges

The invention relates to a method for the advance payment of telephone charges according to the preamble of claim 1.

5 Such methods and systems are used to prepay for calls. The solution of the invention is specifically intended for telephone systems capable of transmitting short message messages.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a system by which a user can pre-purchase talk time for his subscription.

10 In the past, there have been solutions in which talk time is downloaded for use either by going to the shop where the operation is performed or it has been possible to purchase coupons that include talk time. These coupons are activated by calling a specific phone number and entering the code on the coupon.

In some solutions, the talk time is then transferred to the SIM card of the mobile phone in 15 different ways. Another approach is to keep talk time either * in the PBX or billing system or on a dedicated server, where it then decreases according to consumption and when it has dropped to zero, the subscription cannot • · »*; ' '. use before it is loaded with more talk time.

* «· * ·. '. · There are also solutions where the SIM card contains a standard amount of talk time and you have to buy a new one at the end.

»·

The biggest disadvantage of the above solutions is the downloading of talk time. This does not apply to the last described solution. Call time cannot be recharged anywhere or if you need to enter it by keying in the code and then listening from the phone; - · Operation. The availability of the above solutions is rather poor.

> I

; The problem with the last solution is the high cost of the SIM cards and the fact that the A number changes every time the card is replaced.

2 113727

The object of the invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide a completely new method and system for the advance payment of telephone charges.

The invention is based on the fact that the prepaid telephone charges are downloaded by means of code tickets purchased against payment and by short messages containing the information contained therein.

5 In accordance with the invention, talk time is sold in the form of prepaid vouchers of different worth, each containing its own unique code. This code is downloaded to the system by sending it as a short message to a specific number. In this case, the subscriber who sent the SMS receives the amount of talk time included in the coupon.

The solution of the invention requires the transmission of a short message message with the sender 's A number along with which the system can identify the user. The solution typically also requires the routing of short messages from the short message center to the prepaid server and vice versa. The implementation of the invention also requires a digital telephone network, which is preferably wireless. In addition, implementation of the invention typically requires a network switching center, a billing system, 15 prepaid vouchers, and multiple users.

More specifically, the method according to the invention is characterized in what is stated in the characterizing part of claim 1.

: ·: The invention provides significant advantages.

'to the

An advantage of the invention from the user's point of view is its ease of use. To load talk time,: 20, only one short message message is needed, including the code included in the coupon. No further action is required from the user and feedback is immediately returned to the user. Another advantage is the speed of the download process, the delay between sending the message and loading the talk time is typically 10-15 seconds.

Illi, * ·>, The operator has the advantage of maintaining the system at a low cost and,,,, with a small workload.

I · »* ... · The invention makes it possible to download unequal coupons for a subscription.

3, 113727

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

Figure 1 shows one rigid assembly according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a flow chart of one method step of the invention.

Figure 3 is a flowchart showing another method step of the invention.

Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating a third method step of the invention.

Figure 1 illustrates how talk time is loaded into the ice system. User 1 writes the code on the prepaid coupon 10 as a standard short message. The code can contain both alphanumeric characters. The code will later be referred to as "code character information" 10. The short message is sent over the digital wireless telephone network 2 to the short message service center 3, which in turn directs that SMS message to the prepaid server 4. This server examines from its database how much talk time the code 10 has on coupon 10 and then adds call time 10 to the user 1. User 1 is identified by the A-number of the 15 short messages sent. Prepay Server 4 checks. also, whether the code is legal and attempts have been made to enter it into the system in the past.

«; Based on this information, the system will notify the user of the result of 1 download operation as a short message • · _ ··· _. If the download operation was successful, that is, the code was,. : correct and had not been used before, the system will delete that code »· *. ·. ·. 20 off. Prepay server 4 maintains a list that includes everything on the move. ': ·; calculated codes and their value.

. . Allows the user a limited number of download attempts over a period of time to prevent the system from being misused by trying to guess the correct code.

t>: For example, the function described above might look like from a user's perspective

25, wherein user 1 transmits to a predetermined '; service phone number (e.g., 1234567) for short message "" PRE

: 5570249 ... ", thus redirecting to the prepayment server 4. As an acknowledgment of 4,117,727 accepted payments to user 1, a short message" "SPEECH DOWNLOADED 100 MK" is sent.

As shown in Figure 3, the user can determine how much time he has available by sending, for example, a text message '' PPP.SALDO '' to a predetermined number from where message 5 is routed to prepayment server 4, which in turn sends a short message to user 1A.

Figure 4 illustrates the relationship between the prepaid server 4, the telephone exchange 5 and the billing system 6. When a user calls or sends an SMS message (short message message) via a subscription included in the SMS prepayment system, the telephone exchange 10 transmits information about call pulses to the billing system 6 where it is priced. They are then transferred to the prepayment server 4, which reduces the amount of talk time by an amount indicated by the billing system 6. If the talk time decreases to zero, the prepaid server 4 instructs the telephone exchange 5 to close that subscription step by step so that in the first step, a few more 15 short message messages can be sent so that more talk time can be charged to the subscription. If even the last short messages have been consumed and no additional talk time has been loaded then the subscription will be closed. In this case, additional talk time may be charged by the operator.

Because call rates fluctuate instead of talk time, you could just as well talk about money. Talk time when you can turn it into cash and vice versa.

· ,; 20 * · * · »*» · * »

Claims (3)

113727 A method for paying telephone charges in advance in a digital telephone network, comprising: 5. providing a unique code character information (10) to a user (1) for consideration, - establishing a connection between the user (1) and the operator, and - receiving a short message from the user, (1) receiving 10 short messages addressed to a predetermined service number containing code character information (10) in a predetermined format, - recognizing the user (1) A identity, - interpreting the short message message, - defining code character information (10) contained in the interpreted short message message; ) Based on the A-number information, the user (1) pays' the amount corresponding to the talk time. 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that a short message message is sent to the user (1) as an acknowledgment of the accepted code character information; · '; indicates the new talk time or amount corresponding to the call time defined by the action. ! * 3. A method according to claim 1, characterized by receiving from the user (1) a specific short message message from the user (1), in response to the user (1) sending the information about the available telephone time or ': the amount of money. i 1 I> 113727