KR20030042501A - Method for billing in audio response system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A billing method for an ARS(Automatic Response System) is provided to adopt various billing schemes in one ARS telephone number. CONSTITUTION: A user(10) calls an ARS server(20)(S101). The ARS server(20) automatically transmits a guidance mention(S103). The user(10) listens to the guidance mention and pushes a code of a desired menu(S105). The ARS server(20) receives the code selected by the user and transmits corresponding contents(S107). If the user(10) performs hook-on(S109), the ARS server(20) senses the hook-one and stores a service use time, the used menu code, a telephone number of the user(10) in a billing history table of a CP(Contents Provider)-side billing DB(S111). The ARS server(20) transmits the storing billing history to a billing server(30) per a uniform period through a data communication network(S113). The billing server(30) receives billing information from the ARS server(20), calculates a use charge with reference to a billing scheme table stored in a switch-side billing DB, and demands the payment of a telephone charge from the user(10)(S115).

Description

Method for billing in audio response system

The present invention relates to a charging method of a voice response system, and more particularly, to a charging method capable of adopting various charging methods within one ARS phone number.

ARS (audio response system) refers to a system that can provide a variety of voice information or download the content by automatically responding when the user makes a call. At present, there are paid ARS services such as 700 ARS starting with 700 and 800 ARS starting with 800 in Korea.

Such ARS service is generally used for the purpose of receiving voice information, but recently, mobile phone ringtones have been downloaded (Patent Publication No. 1999-0074946, Registered Patent No. 282159), or Internet micropayment means (Patent Publication No. 2000-0063899). Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-0072617 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-0072617).

In the case of using paid voice information such as various stock information, news, and fortune-telling, a method of paying a certain amount per hour (hereinafter, referred to as a part-time billing method) is generally used. In this case, the longer the user uses the service, the higher the fee. On the other hand, in the micropayment method using ARS, a method of paying a fixed amount per phone call regardless of time (hereinafter referred to as a flat rate charging method) is mainly used.

However, this conventional ARS billing method has a disadvantage in that it only accepts one billing method and a fee per number. That is, only one bill is charged for one number, for example, 800-1004, whether you charge 90 won per 30 seconds, 50 won per 10 seconds, or 1000 won per call. Only schemes can be used.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional charging method. The users 10a, ..., 10n call the desired ARS servers 20a, ..., 20m through the general telephone network 100 to obtain the desired information. At this time, the information regarding which billing method and how much the fee is to be adopted for each telephone number assigned to each server is stored in the billing DB 35 of the switchboard billing server 30. The billing server 30 is a time at which the users 10a, .., 10n access the ARS servers 20a, .., 20m and use the information according to the information on the fee system stored in the billing DB 35. The service fee is calculated and summed from the number of calls, and the user is charged along with the phone charge every certain period.

However, the information or content provided may have many differences in terms of quality and quantity. Therefore, the contents provider (CP) prefers various billing systems. For example, mobile phone ringtones currently provided by the mobile phone ringtone download service include a single ringtone (1 poly), a four-tone ringtone (4 poly), and a 16-tone ringtone (16 poly). There are different ringtone types. There is also a significant difference in the cost of making a ringtone. Accordingly, CP will maintain various billing systems according to each ring type, for example, 300 won for a single ringtone, 600 won for a ringtone for 4 chords, and 1000 won for a ringtone for 16 chords. However, according to the current ARS system, only one service fee can be adopted for one phone number, and therefore different phone numbers must be used according to the ring type. That is, a separate phone number should be allocated, such as 800-1234 for a single ringtone download service, 800-1235 for a ringtone download service for 4 chords, 800-1236 for a ringtone download service for 16 chords, and the like.

In this case, if a phone number is allocated to each service having a different billing system, the CP needs to list several phone numbers when advertising. Therefore, the awareness of consumers is lowered and the effect of advertisement is lowered. There is a disadvantage. In addition, the user has a disadvantage in that it is inconvenient to use because the user must know exactly the telephone number of the service to be received. In addition, in the case of the 700 or 800 service, since the number of the telephone numbers that can be used under the corresponding telephone station number is limited to 10000 numbers from 0000 to 9999, there is a possibility that the ARS service cannot be provided because there is no number even if the ARS demand increases.

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ARS charging method that can accommodate various charging systems under one phone number.

1 is a network diagram illustrating a charging method according to the present invention.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a charging method table.

3 is a view showing an example of the billing history table.

4 is a flowchart showing a charging procedure according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart showing a charging procedure according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a network configuration diagram according to a conventional charging method.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

10a..10n your phone, 20a..20 mARS server,

25a..25mCP billing DB, 30 switchboard billing server,

35 switchboard billing DB, 100 general telephone network,

200 data communications networks.

In the present invention, the ARS server transmits the billing information such as the service used, the service usage time and the user's telephone number to the billing server as the user calls the ARS server and uses the service, and the billing server receiving the billing information stores the billing information. In addition, the fee is calculated for each service user by referring to the billing method table, which stores the billing method and fee specified for each service menu of the ARS server. The billing information may be transmitted every time the user uses the service, or may be stored by the ARS server once and then transmitted to the billing server at a predetermined time period. In addition, the service used by the billing server, the service using time and the user's telephone number may be detected and stored. It is also possible to calculate the fee from the ARS server.

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

1 is a network diagram illustrating a charging method according to the present invention.

As in the prior art, the users 10a, ..., 10n call the desired ARS servers 20a, ..., 20m through the general telephone network 100 to obtain desired information.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, unlike the related art, information regarding the charging method for each service is not stored in the exchange side charging DB 35, but the ARS side charging DB 25 connected to the ARS server 20a. Stored in According to another embodiment of the present invention, the information on the billing method is stored in the exchange-side billing DB 35, but unlike the prior art, information about which billing method to apply according to the service used in the same phone number is stored. do.

2 is an example of a billing method table used in the present invention. In Figure 2 'code' refers to a menu selection code that the user can select to use the content. For example, in the stock information providing ARS, a user can dial '1' for 'current market broadcasting', '2' for dialing 'company disclosure' and '3' for dialing 'stock recommendation' will be. 'Billing method' designates whether to charge or to pay in the menu. 'Charging amount' is to specify how the usage fee will be in the relevant charging method. In the case of a flat fee, the fee for use per call is specified for the billed amount, and for a fixed time, the fee for use for each fixed time (for example, 10 seconds) is specified. When specifying the billed amount of the part-time system, it is possible to designate a certain time which is a standard. That is, it is possible to specify whether to charge per 10 seconds or 30 seconds.

The charging method table may be stored in the exchange side charging DB 35 or may be stored in the CP side charging DB 25. When the billing method table is stored in the exchange side billing DB 35, a field for specifying which billing method for CP is further included. When the user uses the content, the fee is calculated according to the billing method table.

The content usage history of the user is stored in the billing history table. 3 shows an example of the billing history table. In FIG. 3, 'time' refers to a time when a user used content. The ARS server 20 records a content use start time and end time. 'User phone number' refers to the phone number of the phone used by the user. Charges for the use of the information will be made to the appropriate telephone number. The user's phone number is received from the exchange and stored. 'History' refers to the menu selected by the user. In FIG. 3, although the announcement is not charged, it is also possible to record only the service usage information that is charged. 'Use fee' refers to a fee for a service used by a user. It is also possible to calculate the billing fee by referring to the billing history table for a certain period without including the fee in the billing table.

The billing history table may be stored in the exchange side billing DB 35 or may be stored in the CP side billing DB 25. When the billing history table is stored in the exchange-side billing DB 35, the billing server 30 detects and stores a menu code selected by the users accessing the ARS server 20, or when the users use the content. Each menu code selected by the user from the ARS server 20 may be received and stored. The billing server 30 calculates a usage fee of each user from the billing history table stored every predetermined period and bills together with the phone bill.

When the billing history table is stored in the CP side billing DB 25, the ARS server 20 stores the billing history in the billing history table whenever users use the content, and then stores the billing history stored in the data communication network (for example). It passes to the billing server 30 through 200. As the data communication network 200, various communication channels such as an open communication network such as the Internet, a dedicated line, a wireless communication network, and the like may be used, and the present invention is not limited to a specific communication type. The billing server 30, which has received the billing history table from the ARS server 20, calculates a usage fee by referring to the billing method table and bills the user with the phone bill every predetermined period.

Next, the charging procedure according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The first embodiment is a case where the CP side billing DB 25 has a billing history table.

First, the user 10 makes a call to the ARS server 20 using a telephone (S101). Then, the ARS server 20 automatically receives a call and sends a announcement (S103). Examples of announcements may include:

"Hello? Welcome to Danal Cell Phone Heaven. Please press 1 to join the event, 1 to download 1 poly ringtone, 3 to download 4 poly ringtones and 4 to download 16 poly ringtones."

The user 10 who listens to the announcement presses a code of a desired menu (S105). The ARS server 20 receiving the code selected by the user transmits the corresponding content (S107). At this point, you can send out additional announcements for the following charges before sending out the content:

Choose 1: "This event is free."

If you choose 2 times: "This service costs 90 won per 30 seconds. Please press 1 for information or 2 for cancellation."

If you select 3 times: "This service charges 150 won for 30 seconds. Please press 1 for information or 2 for cancellation."

....

When the user 10 receiving the ARS service is on-hook (S109), the ARS server 20 detects the service usage time, the menu code used, the user's telephone number, and the like. Store in (S111).

The ARS server 20 transmits the stored billing information to the billing server 30 through the data communication network 200 at predetermined intervals (S113). The billing server 30 that receives the billing information from the ARS server 20 calculates a fee by referring to the billing method table stored in the billing DB 35 of the exchanger, and bills the user 10 in addition to the phone bill. (S115).

Alternatively, the billing method table is placed in the CP billing DB 25, the ARS server 20 calculates a fee, and stores the bill in the billing history table of the CP billing DB 25. It is also possible to transmit to 30).

Next, the charging procedure according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5. The second embodiment is a case where the exchange side billing DB 35 has a billing history table.

In FIG. 5, steps S201 to S209 are similar to steps S101 to S109 in the first embodiment, and thus detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

The ARS server 20 that detects the on-hook of the user 10 receiving the ARS service transmits the billing information such as a service use time, a used menu code, and a user's telephone number to the billing server 30 (S211). Alternatively, instead of transmitting the billing information to the billing server 30 each time the ARS service is used, the billing information is stored in the CP billing DB 25 once, and then the billing server stored at a time for a certain period of time. It is also possible to transmit to 30).

The charging server 30 receiving the charging information from the ARS server 20 stores it in the exchange side charging DB 35 (S213). Every predetermined period of time, the billing server 30 calculates a usage fee from the billing details by referring to the billing method table stored in the exchange billing DB 35, and bills the user 10 in addition to the phone bill (S215).

Meanwhile, in the first and second embodiments, the ARS server 20 detects and stores information such as a user's telephone number and a used service. However, the charging server 30 may also perform the information. That is, when the user 10 calls the ARS 20 server and uses the service, the charging server 30 charges the user's phone number, the ID of the ARS server, the service code used, and the service usage time. Save your details. In addition, the user fee is calculated from the stored billing history by referring to the billing method table designated for each ARS server at predetermined time intervals. At this time, when it is difficult to detect the service used by the user in the charging server 30, it is also possible to receive and use only the service code and the time used by the user from the ARS server 20.

While the invention has been described using some preferred embodiments, these embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the rights set forth in the appended claims.

As described above, according to the present invention, since various billing systems can be accommodated in one ARS phone number, only one phone number can be used even when a billing method or a fee is changed according to the type of content.

In addition, from the user's point of view, it is convenient to use one CP since only one telephone number needs to be known regardless of the type of contents provided by the CP.

Claims (5)

Transmitting billing information, such as a service used by the ARS server, a service usage time, and a user's telephone number, to the billing server as the user calls the ARS server to use the service; Receiving, by the charging server, the charging information with the ID of the ARS server; Calculating the fee for each service user by referring to the billing method table that stores the billing method and fee specified by the service menu of the ARS server. Charging method of the voice response system comprising a. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the charging information to a charging server comprises: Storing the billing information as the user uses the service; Transmitting, by the ARS server, the charging information to the charging server every predetermined period; Charging method of a voice response system comprising a. Storing billing information such as a service used by the ARS server, a service using time, and a user's telephone number as the user calls the ARS server to use the service; Calculating, by the ARS server, a fee for each service by referring to a billing method table that stores the billing method and fee specified for each service menu from the stored billing information; Transmitting the billing information and the calculated fee to the billing server Charging method of the voice response system comprising a. Storing the billing information such as the ARS server ID, the service used, the service usage time and the user's telephone number as the user calls the ARS server to use the service; Calculating a fee for each service by referring to a billing method table that stores the billing method and fee specified for each service menu for each ARS server from the stored billing information; Charging method of the voice response system comprising a. The method of claim 4, wherein storing the charging information comprises: As the user calls the ARS server and uses the service, the ARS server transmits the service code and the usage time information used by the user to the billing server; Adding the ID of the ARS server and the user's telephone number to the information received by the billing server, and storing the received ARS server; Calculating the fee for each service user by referring to the billing method table that stores the billing method and fee specified by the service menu of the ARS server. Charging method of a voice response system comprising a.