KR102426378B1 - Apparatus and method for charging for communicating service - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for billing for use of a communication service. A method for controlling a billing system according to the present invention includes the steps of: receiving a request for adding data from a customer; additionally allocating data of the requested size to the customer according to the data addition request; and charging an additional fee corresponding to the data additionally allocated to the customer in at least one month following the month in which the corresponding data is additionally allocated.

Description

DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CHARGING FOR COMMUNICATION SERVICES

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for billing a communication terminal, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for billing a data use service among communication services.

With the recent development of electronic communication technology and communication-related technology, most people carry mobile communication terminals such as cell phones and smart phones.

The purpose of using a mobile communication terminal can be broadly divided into calls and data communication.

Call refers to direct communication with a counterpart using voice or video, and data communication refers to communication excluding voice/video calls or traditional text message exchange, such as accessing the Internet or using a messenger.

Mobile telecommunication companies that provide telecommunication services also differentiate between voice/video communication and data communication, and present their tariff policies.

Recently, mobile carriers are introducing various types of flat rate that require customers to pay a fixed amount each month. it does happen

In this case, the mobile communication company blocks the user's data communication or charges the amount in excess of the agreed amount of data.

When data communication is blocked, customers are inconvenient because they can no longer use data communication during the month, and in the case of pay-as-you-go, a relatively high rate is applied, which increases the burden on customers.

Patent Publication No. 10-2013-0015327

The present invention has been devised to solve the above conventional problems, and its object is to minimize the burden of using additional data while allowing users who want to use additional data only at a specific point in time to continue to use data communication services. It is to provide an apparatus and method for billing a communication service use that can be used.

In order to achieve the above object, a billing system according to the present invention includes: a request receiving unit for receiving a customer's request for adding data; a data allocator for additionally allocating data of the requested size to the customer according to the data addition request received from the request receiving unit; and a billing unit that charges an additional fee corresponding to the data additionally allocated to the customer by the data allocating unit in at least one month following the month to which the corresponding data is additionally allocated.

In addition, in order to achieve the above object, there is provided a method for controlling a billing system according to the present invention, the method comprising: receiving a data addition request from a customer; additionally allocating data of the requested size to the customer according to the data addition request; and charging an additional fee corresponding to the data additionally allocated to the customer in at least one month following the month in which the corresponding data is additionally allocated.

As described above, according to the present invention, additional data may be allocated to a customer according to a customer's request, and an additional charge corresponding to the additional data may be charged in installments according to the customer's request or charged in a specific month after the month of use. However, customer satisfaction may increase compared to the existing method of charging a bill in the month of data use without considering the customer's economic situation.

In particular, there is an effect that customers do not have to switch to an expensive flat-rate plan (for example, unlimited data plan) to use additional data for a specific month.

In addition, it is possible to induce customers to decide the amount of data to be used in advance by calculating an additional charge corresponding to additional data by applying a lower contract rate compared to the volume-based billing, which has the effect of allocating data to customers at a lower price It has the advantage of being able to perform overall network traffic management in advance through the amount of data additionally requested by customers from the standpoint of mobile carriers.

1 is a functional block diagram of a billing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is an example showing a case in which the billing system according to an embodiment of the present invention calculates an additional data usage fee in installments of several months;
3 is an example illustrating a case in which the billing system according to an embodiment of the present invention calculates an additional data usage fee in a specific month designated by the customer;
4 is a control flowchart of a billing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, each embodiment according to the present invention is merely an example for helping understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. In particular, the present invention may be composed of a combination of at least any one of individual components, individual functions, or individual steps included in each embodiment.

The billing system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention performs a function of calculating a communication fee for a user using a communication terminal, and may consist of one server or includes a plurality of physical servers. may be configured.

The billing system 100 may calculate, for example, a mobile communication usage fee of customers using a mobile communication terminal on a monthly basis. Since the general technology for registering information about customers who have subscribed to a specific rate plan and charging a customer with a billing fee according to the subscription plan corresponds to a previously known technique, the description of overlapping content with such prior art may be omitted. .

The functional blocks of the billing system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention are as shown in FIG. 1 .

As shown in the figure, the billing system 100 may include a request receiving unit 110 , a data allocating unit 120 , a billing unit 130 , and a storage unit 140 .

The storage unit 140 performs a function of storing various data and information necessary for the operation of the billing system 100 , or data and information generated while the function of the billing system 100 is performed or received from the outside.

In particular, the storage unit 140 may store separately the contracted rate and the non-contracted rate for data used by the customer.

Here, the contract rate is a rate corresponding to data allocated in advance according to the customer's request, and the non-contract rate is a rate corresponding to data used by the customer in excess of the data allocated according to the contract with the customer.

The request receiving unit 110 performs a function of receiving various requests from a customer (ie, a customer using a communication terminal). For example, the request receiving unit 110 receives a request directly from the customer's communication terminal (not shown), or when an employee such as a mobile communication agency inputs it into the employee terminal (not shown) according to the customer's request. It is possible to receive various requests from customers from the employee terminal.

Furthermore, it is possible to receive the customer's request from a server that collects various customer's requests.

Here, the customer's request may include a request to join a telecommunication company, a request to select a rate plan (a request to subscribe to a flat rate plan, etc.), and in particular, a request to add data from a customer who has already subscribed to a specific rate plan.

In addition, the customer's data addition request may include deferred request month information corresponding to any one of the months following the data addition request.

The data addition request is a request to allocate a predetermined amount of data in advance when a customer who subscribes to a specific plan wants to write data in excess of the amount of data allocated for the month.

The data allocating unit 120 performs a function of allocating data to customers according to a request received by the request receiving unit 110 .

For example, when a flat rate plan is requested from a customer, the data allocator 120 may allocate a basic data amount corresponding to the requested flat rate plan to the customer. For example, in a flat rate plan of 29,000 won per month, a basic data amount of 200 Mbytes may be allocated.

In addition, the data allocator 120 also performs a function of additionally allocating data of the requested size to the customer in response to the customer's data addition request.

For example, if the customer requests an additional 300Mbyte of data allocation while using the communication service while the amount of data of 200Mbyte is allocated to the customer according to the flat rate that the customer has subscribed to, the data allocator 120 will A total of 500 Mbytes of data is allocated to the customer in the month, and accordingly, the customer can use up to a total of 500 Mbytes of data in the month.

Here, the data allocator 120 first determines whether additional data allocation is possible based on at least one of the customer's pre-subscribed rate plan and the customer's communication usage according to the data addition request received from the request receiving unit 110, , if additional data allocation is possible as a result of the determination, data of the requested size may be additionally allocated to the customer.

For example, the data allocator 120 may determine that additional data allocation is possible when the customer subscribes to a flat rate of 50,000 won or more per month or when the customer has an average monthly communication usage fee of 50,000 won or more for a specific period. have.

The billing unit 130 charges an additional charge corresponding to the data additionally allocated to the customer by the data allocating unit 120, that is, the above-described 300 Mbyte, in at least one month that arrives after the month to which the corresponding data is additionally allocated. perform the function

For example, the billing unit 130 may charge an additional fee for additionally allocated data (300 Mbytes described above) to the customer in equal proportions in a plurality of months that arrive after the additionally allocated month.

For example, if you allocate additional data to a customer in January, the additional data for that additional data can be billed in equal installments over three months from February to April.

In this case, the billing unit 130 may divide the data size additionally allocated to the customer by the number of months, and charge an additional fee corresponding to the divided data size for each of the plurality of months.

That is, in the above example, the billing unit 130 may divide the additional charge itself corresponding to 300 Mbyte by 3 and charge the divided amount over 3 months, respectively, or add 300 Mbyte divided by 3 and corresponding to 100 Mbyte. You can also bill over three months. The total amount of the additional charge corresponding to 300Mbyte divided by 3 and the additional charge corresponding to 100Mbyte may be different.

Here, the plurality of equal months may be preset or requested by the customer.

That is, it may be predetermined to be charged evenly from the month after which the additional data is allocated to a preset number of months, or the customer may designate a plurality of specific months after the additional data is allocated.

When the billing unit 130 charges an additional fee in the month after the data is additionally allocated to the customer, the additional fee corresponding to the additional data is included in the billing fee charged in the month after the month in which the data is actually added. It may mean that the data is actually added, or it may mean that an additional charge corresponding to the additional data is included in the communication usage bill for the month after the month in which the data is actually added.

For example, if additional data is allocated in the month of January, the billing unit 130 may evenly include additional charges corresponding to the additional data in the invoices actually issued to customers in the months of February to April. Alternatively, the communication fee for the month of February to April (regardless of whether an invoice is issued to an actual customer) may include an additional charge corresponding to the corresponding additional data evenly.

In the above example, the additional data for the additional data is included evenly in a plurality of months as an example. However, the amount allocated for each month may be different, and the additional data is not charged separately in a plurality of months, but in a specific month. Additional fees may be charged in full.

For example, when a request for data addition is made in January, the billing unit 130 may charge an additional charge corresponding to the additional data in April, three months after the request.

That is, as described above, when the customer's request for data addition includes information about the month of the request for deferral (information corresponding to any one of the months following the data addition request), the billing unit 130 allocates additional data to the customer. You can charge an additional fee for the data that is used in the month corresponding to the month information requested for deferment.

Of course, the billing unit 130 may charge a corresponding additional charge in a preset month (eg, a month in which three months have elapsed from the month to which additional data is allocated) when the information on the month of the request for deferral is not received from the customer.

The additional charge charged by the billing unit 130 according to the customer's request for adding data may be an amount calculated using the amount of data additionally requested by the customer and the aforementioned contract rate.

In addition, the billing unit 130 transmits the excess data amount and the above-described non-contract rate to the customer who exceeds the basic data amount according to the flat-rate plan in a state where the customer's data addition request is not received in the request receiving unit 110. You can include the additional charges calculated by using the service in your bill for the applicable month of excess data usage.

Here, the non-commitment rate has a higher cost per unit data compared to the contract rate described above, and in particular, an additional fee according to the non-contract rate is a kind of pay-as-you-go billing.

That is, since the volume-based billing is relatively expensive compared to the contract rate, it is more advantageous for customers to request additional data in advance according to the present invention and apply the contract rate when additional data is required.

From the mobile operator's point of view, by having customers request additional data in advance, customer complaints related to volume-based billing can be eliminated, and the data consumption of each customer can be predicted in advance, which can help network operation.

Meanwhile, when a service cancellation request is received from the customer, the billing unit 130 may calculate and charge an unpaid rate among additional charges corresponding to the data additionally allocated by the data allocating unit 120 .

For example, if you allocate additional data to a customer in January and allocate an additional fee for the additional data evenly for 3 months from February to April, and request cancellation of the service after the customer pays the fee for February In this case, the billing unit 130 may charge the customer for the amount allocated equally in March and April that have not yet been paid.

Similarly, with allocating additional data to the customer in January and charging an additional fee for that additional data in April, three months thereafter, a fee if the customer requests cancellation of the service before the end of April. The billing unit 130 may charge the customer for the additional allocation amount of April that has not yet been paid.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example in which, when a customer subscribed to a flat rate plan requests additional data, an additional charge corresponding to the additional data is charged in equal installments in the form of installments. In FIG. 2 , it is assumed that the customer subscribes to a flat rate plan of KRW 29,999 per month and is allocated unlimited voice (wireless) and 200 Mbyte of basic data.

Referring to FIG. 2 , if 200 Mbytes according to the flat rate plan are allocated in M month and 300 Mbytes of data are additionally allocated according to the user's request, only the basic fee of 29,000 won is charged in the M month, but M+1 to M+3 It can be seen that the basic fee corresponding to 100 Mbytes is additionally charged each month.

To this end, when there is a request for additional data, the billing system 100 may generate and store an installment history (ie, information that additional billing is required in M+1 to M+3 months) in advance.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example in which, when a customer subscribed to a flat rate plan requests additional data, an additional fee corresponding to the additional data is charged in a specific month requested by the customer.

In other words, if 200Mbytes according to the flat rate plan are allocated in M month and 300Mbytes of data are additionally allocated according to the user's request, only the basic fee of 29,000 won is charged in the M month, but 300Mbytes in M+March designated by the user. It can be seen that the corresponding basic fee is additionally charged.

To this end, when there is a request for additional data, the billing system 100 may generate and store an installment history (ie, information that additional billing is required in M+3 months) in advance.

Hereinafter, a control method of the billing system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4 .

The billing system 100 allocates a basic data amount to the customer according to the customer's flat rate plan request (step S1). Of course, the billing system 100 may allocate a basic volume of voice/video calls, a basic text volume, etc. to the corresponding customer in addition to the basic data amount.

After that, when there is a request for additional data from the customer (step S3), the billing system 100 additionally allocates the additional data amount for the month (step S5).

Next, an additional charge corresponding to the amount of additional data in the billing system 100 is divided by the number of months requested by the customer (step S7).

In addition, the billing system 100 generates an installment history specifying the billing month (the month requested by the customer) for which the additional charge is to be billed (step S9), and charges the additional charge calculated by equalizing it before the designated billing month (step S9) S11).

Of course, if the customer does not specify an installment month and specifies a specific month, the entire additional charge for the additional data amount may be charged in that specific month as described above.

Meanwhile, it goes without saying that the process of performing each of the above-described embodiments may be performed by a program or application stored in a predetermined recording medium (eg, computer-readable). Here, the recording medium includes an electronic recording medium such as a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic recording medium such as a hard disk, and an optical recording medium such as a compact disk (CD).

In this case, the program stored in the recording medium may be executed on hardware such as a computer or a smart phone to perform each of the above-described embodiments. In particular, at least one of the functional blocks of the billing system according to the present invention described above may be implemented by such a program or an application.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but can be practiced with various modifications and modifications within the scope without departing from the gist of the present invention. It will be apparent that such modifications and variations are included in the present invention provided they fall within the scope of the appended claims.

100: billing system 110: request receiving unit
120: data allocation unit 130: billing unit
140: storage

Claims (16)

(a) receiving a request to add data from a customer;
(b) additionally allocating data of the requested size to the customer according to the data addition request in step (a);
(c) charging an additional fee corresponding to the data additionally allocated to the customer in at least one month following the month in which the corresponding data is additionally allocated;
Separately storing the contracted rate and the non-contracted rate for data;
The method further comprising the step of allocating a basic data amount corresponding to the requested flat rate plan to the customer according to the customer's subscription request for a flat rate plan,
The additional charge in step (c) is the amount calculated using the amount of data additionally requested by the customer in step (a) and the contract rate,
In the absence of a request for data addition from the customer in step (a), an additional fee calculated using the excess data amount and the non-contracted rate will be charged for the month of excess data use A method of controlling a billing system, characterized in that it is included in gold. According to claim 1,
In the step (c), the additional charge for the data additionally allocated to the customer is charged equally in a plurality of months following the additionally allocated month. According to claim 1,
In step (c), the data size additionally allocated to the customer is divided by the number of months set or requested by the customer, and an additional fee corresponding to the divided data size is set or requested by the customer. A method for controlling a billing system, characterized in that each billing is performed in a plurality of months. According to claim 1,
The data addition request in step (a) includes information on the deferred request month corresponding to any one of the months that arrive after the data addition request,
In the step (c), an additional charge for the data additionally allocated to the customer is charged in a month corresponding to the deferred request month information. delete According to claim 1,
Step (b) is,
(b1) determining whether additional data can be allocated based on at least one of the customer's subscription plan and the customer's communication usage in response to the data addition request in step (a);
(b2) if additional data allocation is possible as a result of the determination in step (b1), additionally allocating data of the requested size to the customer. According to claim 1,
When a service cancellation request is received from the customer, the control of the billing system further comprising the step of calculating and billing an unpaid fee among the additional fees corresponding to the data additionally allocated in the step (b) Way. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing the method of any one of claims 1 to 4, 6 to 7 is recorded. 8. An application stored on a medium in combination with hardware to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 4, 6 to 7. a request receiving unit for receiving a customer's request for adding data;
a data allocator for additionally allocating data of the requested size to the customer according to the data addition request received from the request receiving unit;
a billing unit that charges an additional fee corresponding to the data additionally allocated to the customer by the data allocating unit in at least one month that comes after the month to which the corresponding data is additionally allocated;
Further comprising a storage unit for storing the contracted rate and the non-contracted rate for data separately,
When the request receiving unit receives a customer's subscription request for a flat rate plan, the data allocator allocates a basic data amount corresponding to the requested flat rate plan to the customer,
The billing unit pays an additional fee calculated by using the excess data amount and the non-contracted rate to the customer who has used the basic data amount in a state where the customer's data addition request has not been received by the request receiving unit. included in the monthly bill;
The additional charge charged by the billing unit in response to the customer's request for adding data is an amount calculated using the amount of data additionally requested by the customer and the contract rate. 11. The method of claim 10,
The billing system, characterized in that the billing unit bills the additional charge for the additional data additionally allocated to the customer in equal proportions in a plurality of months following the additionally allocated month. 11. The method of claim 10,
The billing unit divides the data size additionally allocated to the customer by the number of a plurality of months preset or requested by the customer, and divides the additional charge corresponding to the divided data size into a plurality of preset or requested by the customer. Billing system, characterized in that billing each month. 11. The method of claim 10,
The data addition request received by the request receiving unit includes information on the deferred request month corresponding to any one of the months that arrive after the data addition request,
The billing system, characterized in that the billing unit bills an additional charge for the data additionally allocated to the customer in a month corresponding to the deferred request month information. delete 11. The method of claim 10,
The data allocating unit determines whether additional data allocation is possible based on at least one of the customer's subscription plan and the customer's communication usage according to the data addition request received from the request receiving unit, and as a result of the determination, additional data allocation If this is possible, the billing system, characterized in that the additional data of the requested size is allocated to the customer. 11. The method of claim 10,
wherein the billing unit calculates and charges an unpaid fee among additional charges corresponding to the data additionally allocated by the data allocating unit when a service cancellation request is received from the customer.

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