MXPA01005081A - Method for effecting telecommunication connections at low cost and a device for carrying out the method - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for effecting telecommunication connections for users in a telecommunication system having competing rates, wherein a selection of a rate which is the most economical for the user is made based on data stored in a memory containing competing rates, wherein these rates represent prices in dependence on at least one of the following parameters:starting time of the telecommunication connection, day of the week, holiday, and rate zone. The method is characterized in that the ending time and the duration of a telecommunication connection and the data associated therewith are additional parameters belonging to the above mentioned rate data, the communication connection is switched without previously choosing any single one of the rate and, after the telecommunication connection has been ended, the rate data are used to determine that rate which would have been the most economical also taking into consideration the length of the telecommunication connection, wherein invoicing to the user takes into consideration this most economical rate. In this fashion, it is possible to invoice a lower fee for the conversation to the user.

Description

METHOD FOR CARRYING OUT LOW COST TELECOMMUNICATION CONNECTIONS AND DEVICE FOR CARRYING OUT THE METHOD Description of the invention The invention relates to a method for making telecommunication connections in a telecommunications system that has competitive rates for users, wherein the choice a tariff that is the most economical for a given user is based on the competitive rate data contained in a report, where these rates represent prices based on at least one of the following parameters, the start time of the connection telecommunication, day of the week, holiday and rate zone. In telecommunication systems in which a multitude of network providers that have different tariffs make telecommunication connections (telephone connections, telefax connections, data connections) through the public telecommunication network, the rates differ depending on the day of the week, holiday, time of day and the locations between which the connection is made. In the case of a multitude of network providers, this results in a multitude of possible combinations which, by comparing tariff tables, make it extremely difficult for the user to choose the cheapest connection rate for a given situation. For this reason, what are known as low cost tracers to be connected to the user have been available, which comprise a memory in which data of the different rates are stored and which, when the user intends to make a telephone call and on the basis of to the stored rates, the momentary time of day, the day of the week or holiday and the zonal tariff associated with the dialed number (in particular the area code), based on these data determine the cheapest rate or the provider of this , and then use what is called the call-by-call procedure to insert the number of the provider in this particular way, in this example a network provider, which processes the number dialed by the user but has not yet been transferred to the public telecommunication network, and then transmits this complete numerical combination to the public telecommunication network. Through this the call can be processed and invoiced by the previously determined provider, where the duration in time of the call is used as well as the start time and the time of termination, which together define an important window of time for the charges. , to determine the charges calculated by the network provider. Optionally it is possible to establish direct pass connection with certain numbers without charge (in Germany, eg, 0800) and calls at cost (in Germany, eg, 0190) without initiating a comparison of the rates. It often turns out that 5 differences are obtained in the calculation of the individual rates depending on the duration of the conversation in which, for example, if a conversation lasts only ten seconds the cheapest is an A provider, but if the conversation lasts 50 seconds the most economical is a provider B and if the mF 10 conversation lasts 60 seconds or more, the cheapest one is a provider C. Although this situation is known in the art, until now it has only been taken into account in a limited way. For this purpose a user tries to influence the choice of the low cost tracer based on his habits of phone (perhaps only very short calls or perhaps only very long calls), in which the low cost tracer tries to make the choice based on telephone habits previously communicated by the user. The • Rates can also be expressed in charge units. 20 A procedure of this kind becomes more and more imprecise as the number of different individuals calling from the terminal increases. Another possibility is that the user who is in the process of routing an outgoing call previously the probable duration of the call to a low cost tracer equipped to take into account different call durations. In this way the user can frequently take advantage of a particularly low rate. However, if the user specifies a longer call duration that he had planned for the connection, and mistakenly marks another number (unintentionally connects with another person), then the choice of the rate based on the expected duration is incorrect and does not It turns out to be the cheapest rate. Accordingly, the object on which the invention is based is that of avoiding the previously specified disadvantages. The invention avoids these disadvantages by using a method of the type under consideration in which, in addition to the previously mentioned data with respect to the tariffs, parameters comprising the end time and the duration of a telecommunication connection are introduced, and the connection of the communication is established without the prior choice of a certain tariff and, after the telecommunication connection ends, the data is used to select the tariff including the duration in time of the telecommunication connection to choose the cheapest tariff, and this cheaper rate is used to determine the charges to the user. Therefore, the rate is chosen only after the conversation has ended, taking into account the duration in time of the conversation and other parameters ^ as mentioned above or even additional parameters that reflect the ways in which the individual rates differ from each other for determine the tariff that would have been the cheapest and charge the user for the conversation an amount that is the most attached to this currently cheaper rate, in particular that corresponds exactly with this rate or, in fact, is maybe a little bit more than this rate or, if the provider wants it, it may be a little higher than this rate. For the transport of data, that is, for the telephone conversation, arbitrary public access routes can be used, for example the IP method (telephone conversations using the Internet protocol, IP). Telephoning over the Internet has an extremely low cost and should be taken into account in the comparison if there is availability of adequate computer equipment for users. In this way, even conversations over very large distances can be made at the cost of local calls. According to a different aspect, the invention relates to a method with which charges for a telephone conversation (or any other type of telecommunication) in a public network are determined by the network or an intermediate distributor after the connection is completed and taking into account the start time, the termination time, the duration of the connection, the rate zone and, optionally, other necessary parameters. Unlike the state of the art, not only a single tariff (the tariff of the network provider) is taken into account, but prior to the calculation of the charges a multitude of parameters mentioned in the above or other parameters that could be used are used. be important, or a selection of those that have a sufficient degree of distinction and prediction, to choose from the multitude of rates offered by other providers or intermediaries of the network, the rate that is the most economical for this call, and calculate the charges to the user for this connection using this rate (not necessarily in precise agreement with it). This is also true with appropriate modification when billing is done by an intermediary distributor. The invention also relates to devices for carrying out the method according to the invention. Accordingly, a network operated by a network provider is presumed and, for each individual telecommunication connection, records the relevant data including the duration of the conversation to determine the charges. According to the invention, for the determination of the charges a memory is used in which the competitive rate data are contained and which are associated with individual parameters, being that the termination time and the duration of the connection belong to these parameters. Depending on the fact that the network provider or an intermediary distributor does or does not calculate the charges to the user, the charge calculation devices of the network provider or the intermediary distributor have access to the aforementioned memory that has the data of the competitive rates, and carry out, in the manner previously described, the calculation of the charge that is invoiced to the user, either exactly according to the most economical rate determined or with deviations from this rate. In the embodiments of the device according to the invention, a speech data memory is provided in which conversations or other telecommunication connections of a user can be stored separately in funcic >; n of those rates with which the associated conversation is calculated. In this way, at the end of the billing period, for example, a month during which it is invoiced. presently an individual fee related to and already recorded for the user's conversations, it is conveniently possible for the network provider or for the intermediary distributor to easily ensure the discounts (rebates) available from another network provider or intermediary distributor, for example in function of the volume of conversations, and for the provider of the network or intermediary distributor that uses the invention to accredit them to the user. Therefore, a single network provider or intermediary distributor has a large number of different possible accounts for a user, each corresponding to a tariff and therefore corresponds to other network providers or intermediate distributors. Already in the foregoing it was described for a device to store data of conversations associated with different tariffs, in particular charges in a manner associated with the respective tariff, but it is also considered to be an improvement of the method according to the invention. Instead of associating the data, including the charges for the individual conversations with the associated rate and therefore charging them separately, it is also possible to initially collect the data of an individual user, for example in a purely chronological manner within a period of time of individual invoicing and evaluate and / or classify these data separately only when producing the invoice, and then use the individual rates that in that case, naturally, must be contained in the individually stored conversation rate information. The network can be a large or small network, for example a local network or an urban network. • In the embodiments described below, the retroactive calculation of a charge that is the most favorable for the user is carried out, for example, by a network provider offering this possibility, in another mode by a distributor intermediary who does not operate the same network but who has a contractual agreement A) 10 with a network provider to "sell" the network provider's telecommunication capacity for individual conversations and that, using the data provided by the provider of the network, the network in relation to each individual conversation (including naturally connections of facsimile or data connections) as a data set that has all the details that are necessary for the comparison of tariffs and that, additionally for communication to the user, for example together with an invoice • monthly and the detail of the individual conversations of according to the different zonal tariffs and / or including the telephone number called, calculates the cheapest tariff and the charge for the conversation. An appropriate method of operation of the method according to the invention requires that the data that is refer to the rates and that are stored in the memory correspond to the rates presently offered by network providers or intermediaries. When calculating the charges for a particular telephone conversation, as regards the charges that will be billed to the user, it is not taken into account by which telephone communication the telephone conversation in question was carried out. Rather, conveniently for the user, it can simply be considered for the calculation of the associated charge that the connection was made through the cheapest route offered by the provider of the cheapest tariff. According to the invention, the user automatically has the advantage that even if a user has to dial an area code to be able to connect with another individual living in a neighboring locality, being this connection a network provider calculates it as a local connection while another operator • The network considers it a long distance call, determines that the least expensive tariff is the local rate of the first mentioned provider and is then used, with the possible deviations set forth in the foregoing, as a basis for billing the associated telephone call. This provides the technical and marketing possibility of presently charge the user a charge for this type of call that is less than that of another network provider. Other features and advantages derive from the subsequent description of the embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawing illustrating important details for the invention and the claims. These features can each be performed individually or collectively in arbitrary combination in the embodiments of the invention. Figure 1 illustrates a telecommunication system comprising a multitude of networks, Figure 2 illustrates a first embodiment of a device according to the invention, Figure 3 illustrates a second embodiment of a device according to the invention. Figure 1 schematically shows a telephone network NI having a multitude (two are shown) of interconnection points 5 and 6. The terminal device 7 of a user is connected to interconnection points 5 (central, switch) by a dialing process , and the terminal device 7 'of a user residing in another city is connected to the interconnection points 6, and the two interconnection points are connected to each other via a sufficient number of transmission channels 10. The NI network connects to additional N2 and N3 networks. Figure 2 shows schematically the important components for the invention that, for example, are associated with the interconnection point 5. To begin with, this point comprises in a conventional manner a coupling point network 12 by means of which a telephone conversation (cf. the telephone conversation term, as described in the above, also refers to telefax communications or connections and a data connection) is switched from a calling user, arranged to the left according to the representation of Figure 2, to a called user (right). The data referring to this • conversation, conventionally contained in a call detail record (= CDR for its acronym in English) contain information regarding the start time of the connection, if the connection is transmitted by another network and optionally information regarding the way in which this communication traveled, information referring to the external carriers (for example, the network provider) that have transferred the telephone conversation and other necessary information (in particular the numbers telephone calls from the calling party and the called party). These data are initially stored in a computer device 14 taking into account the final hour of the conversation (this is the time at which the conversation ended and through which the duration of the conversation) and taking into account the rate of the network provider of the stored NI network, in the example, on the computer device 14 for each individual conversation as a set of charges per • conversation contained within the memory 16, symbolized 5 as a memory having a rotating memory medium. These charges are invoiced by the network provider to those users who have not taken advantage of the option to determine the least expensive fare. According to the invention, the point of (^ 10 interconnection (ICP) 5 has a computer device 18 (in other embodiments of the invention, the computer device is centrally located and connected to a multitude of ICP's by means of data connections) to which from the computer device 14 the log of data is fed. call detail associated with the conversation instantly completed. The computer device 18 uses the stored rate data of all other network providers or other distributors, stored in a rate memory 20 which was recognized as important for the operator of the NI network to determine the rate that, taking into account the start and end time, the duration, the day of the week, the day of the week and other possibly important parameters, leads to the tariff more economical by conversation. The charges results and the call detail record are stored in a billing memory 22. The network provider can then also take into account ^ possible discounts for volume or other type of price reductions. Additionally, the provider can use the conversational volume determined within a certain period of time to carry out a comparison with all rate data on the computer device to verify if another provider makes a greater volume discount within this time period, and take this ^ fc 10 in consideration when calculating the charge. In another embodiment of the invention which is described in connection with Figure 3, the provider of the network NI does not provide the same a charge calculation for the lowest possible costs. However, in this case there is a intermediary dealer who can not personally access the NI network directly, but who nevertheless has an agreement with the network provider NI that allows him to bill participating users authorized by the intermediary distributor and in some other way may be recognized in some way by the network provider. The aforementioned recognition may take place, for example, when the network provider knows the telephone numbers of these users or by providing these telephone numbers with a certain additional component. through a technical device of the intermediary distributor. To facilitate billing, a network provider communicates the conversational data to the intermediary distributor. For this purpose, and with the • configuration according to figure 3, the left interconnection point 5 of figure 1 to which a reference symbol 5 'is assigned to distinguish it from figure 2, and in contrast to the interconnection point 5 of figure 2 it is configured in the conventional manner so that a computer device 24 bills the standard charges to a user who has telephoned through this network NI without using an intermediary distributor, and stores them in a memory 16 for each individual user. The computer device 24 sends the registration data to the intermediary distributor.

Call detail for the authorized user through a transmission channel 26, in which the intermediary distributor has an evaluation unit 28 comprising a computer device 18 comparable to the computer device 18 of Figure 2 and which also evaluates, for its part, tariff data of a tariff memory 20 to determine the least expensive rate for the call that has already been completed. In this case, as in Figure 2, the data is stored in a billing memory 22. The intermediary distributor issues these charges in the form of an invoice to the user at an appropriate time of time based on the rate data contained in the billing memory 22. To the intermediary distributor itself, the provider of the network invoices • charges associated with the charges contained in the -memory 16 of 5 charges (for example, the sum of the charges minus a volume discount). The association of a previously mentioned additional element to the call number of a calling user that is processed by the fc provider of the device network 5 'using this additional element, so that their data is transferred to the intermediary distributor it can be effected in a particularly simple manner if the intermediary distributor itself operates a telephone device by means of which a A multitude of individual users and companies can each access an individual connection or the characteristics of a multi-terminal installation without these companies presently having a multi-terminal facility in their offices. Since, with a view to For this purpose, conversations travel through channels to which the intermediary distributor has access, for the intermediary distributor it is possible to introduce a special distinctive feature in the call detail record. Then an intermediary distributor of this kind is similar to a network provider in that, to some extent, it can influence the technical and informative apparatus (call detail record) that is transferred from there to another location. The invention is intended to include -feales 5 modalities with which the user who, for example, is served by the intermediary distributor and his technical apparatus 28 of figure 3, does not have access to phones for reduced individual conversation, rather receives, for example, a discount on the charge at the end of a billing period. Also in this case the user finally pays reduced fees compared to those he would have had to pay to the network provider without the services of the device 28 operated by the intermediary distributor. In other embodiments of the invention, the NI network is a local network, specifically an urban network that only has a single interconnection point. The foregoing describes a method for making telecommunication connections for users in a system telecommunications that has competitive rates, where the choice of a tariff that is the most economical for the user is made based on the data stored in a memory containing the competitive rates, where these rates represent prices based on the less one of the following parameters: time of the start of the telecommunication connection, day of the week, holiday and rate zone. The method is characterized in that the termination time and duration of a telecommunication connection and the data associated with it are 5 additional parameters belonging to the aforementioned rate data, the telecommunication connection is established without previously selecting the tariff some and, after the telecommunication connection was terminated, the data of the tariffs are used to determine the tariff that would have been the most economical, also taking into account the duration of the telecommunication connection, where the billing the user takes into account this cheaper rate. In this way it is possible to bill the user's conversation at a lower rate.

Claims (8)

1. CLAIMS 1. Method for making telecommunication connections for a user in a telecommunications system that has competitive rates, where a choice of a tariff that is as economical as possible for the user is made based on the data stored in a memory that it contains the competitive rates, where these rates represent prices based on at least one of the following parameters: time of the beginning of the telecommunication connection, day of the week, holiday, rate zone; the termination time and the duration of a telecommunication connection and the data associated therewith belong to the aforementioned data for the tariff, being that the telecommunication connection is established without the prior selection of a single tariff, characterized in that after that the aforementioned telecommunication ends are used the tariff data of this connection are used to determine which tariff is the most economical for this connection, also taking into account the duration of the telecommunication connection, and this more economical rate takes into account when billing the user. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the determination of the cheapest tariff is made immediately after the telecommunication is finished. Method according to claim 1 or 2, (^ characterized in that in determining the most economic tariff are taken into account because the costs incurred 5 between the party making the call and the provider of the network that has the most tariff cost as well as the costs between the called party and the network after leaving the network 4. Method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, w? 10 characterized in that it is carried out by a network provider in its network. Method according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is carried out by an intermediate distributor so that a network 15 through which the intermediary distributor offers connections without being the same a network provider, provides a set of data of the call detail record to the intermediary distributor for each individual telecommunication connection, and the distributor The intermediary uses this data set to determine which of the stored rates is the most economical for this call at this time in accordance with the duration of the call. Device for carrying out a method according to any of the preceding claims using a circuit configured to carry out this method, there being a tariff memory in which data of a multitude of tariffs are stored according to a multitude of parameters, including the termination time and the duration of the connection and providing a device to which network data can be fed as the call detail record and the data file characterizing the conversation, characterized in that this device is adapted to use this data from individual conversations or connections and the individual rates of the stored data to determine that rate that gives the lowest price for the particular call that has just ended. Method according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the charges for conversations of a user per billing period are associated with the rates used in each case, and a sum is generated for each tariff so that discounts for each period are determined. volume or similar for the corresponding rates, contained in the tariffs or in the regulations of the associated supplier. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the device is adapted to associate charsets by a user's conversation per billing period with the tariffs used in each case, and generate a sum for each tariff in such a way that discounts are determined by volume or similar for the corresponding rates, contained in the tariffs or in the regulations of the associated supplier. t and METHOD FOR CARRYING OUT LOW COST TELECOMMUNICATION CONNECTIONS AND DEVICE FOR CARRYING OUT THE METHOD A method for making telecommunication connections for users in a telecommunications system that has competitive rates, wherein the choice of a tariff that is the most economical for the user is made based on the data stored in a memory that contains the competitive rates, where these rates represent prices based on at least 10 one of the following parameters: time of the beginning of the telecommunication connection, day of the week, holiday and zone of the tariff. The method is characterized in that the - termination time and the duration of a connection. of telecommunication and the data associated with it are 15 additional parameters belonging to the aforementioned rate data, the telecommunication connection is established without previously selecting any of the rates and, after the telecommunication connection is terminated, the data of the 20 tariffs to determine the tariff that would have been the most economical, also taking into account the duration of the telecommunication connection, where the billing to the user takes into account this cheaper rate. In this way it is possible to invoice the user's conversation to 25 a lower rate