WO2004100520A1 - Procede de transfert de temps d'utilisation dans un reseau de telephonie - Google Patents

Procede de transfert de temps d'utilisation dans un reseau de telephonie Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2004100520A1
WO2004100520A1 PCT/IB2004/001479 IB2004001479W WO2004100520A1 WO 2004100520 A1 WO2004100520 A1 WO 2004100520A1 IB 2004001479 W IB2004001479 W IB 2004001479W WO 2004100520 A1 WO2004100520 A1 WO 2004100520A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
call
recipient
network
airtime
account
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IB2004/001479
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Ari Kahn
Original Assignee
Ari Kahn
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Ari Kahn filed Critical Ari Kahn
Publication of WO2004100520A1 publication Critical patent/WO2004100520A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M15/00—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
    • H04M15/83—Notification aspects
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M15/00—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M15/00—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
    • H04M15/68—Payment of value-added services
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M17/00—Prepayment of wireline communication systems, wireless communication systems or telephone systems
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M17/00—Prepayment of wireline communication systems, wireless communication systems or telephone systems
    • H04M17/20—Prepayment of wireline communication systems, wireless communication systems or telephone systems with provision for recharging the prepaid account or card, or for credit establishment
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M2215/00—Metering arrangements; Time controlling arrangements; Time indicating arrangements
    • H04M2215/01—Details of billing arrangements
    • H04M2215/0192—Sponsored, subsidised calls via advertising, e.g. calling cards with ads or connecting to special ads, free calling time by purchasing goods
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M2215/00—Metering arrangements; Time controlling arrangements; Time indicating arrangements
    • H04M2215/01—Details of billing arrangements
    • H04M2215/0196—Payment of value-added services, mainly when their charges are added on the telephone bill, e.g. payment of non-telecom services, e-commerce, on-line banking
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M2215/00—Metering arrangements; Time controlling arrangements; Time indicating arrangements
    • H04M2215/68—Billing calls completely to the calling party, except POTS, e.g. charge on caller's choice service
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M2215/00—Metering arrangements; Time controlling arrangements; Time indicating arrangements
    • H04M2215/82—Advice-of-Charge [AOC], i.e. notify subscriber of charges/cumulative charge; meter at the substation

Definitions

  • THIS invention relates to a method of distributing airtime or another credit value to a subscriber of a communication network.
  • subscribers to the network In modern telephony networks, particularly cellular networks, subscribers to the network generally either have a credit account or make use of prepaid airtime.
  • the cost of calls made by the subscriber is debited to the subscriber's account, which is paid from time to time, typically monthly, by the subscriber.
  • the subscriber purchases a predetermined amount of airtime in advance, with the airtime balance being stored by the network and being reduced as the subscriber makes calls.
  • a method of operating a communication network comprising:
  • the communication network will be a modern telephony network, and the transmission may comprise voice, a text message, or other data.
  • the sender will typically be a telephone caller and the recipient a call recipient, or a message/data sender and recipient, respectively.
  • the caller may be a subscriber to the same telephony network as the call recipient, or a different network.
  • the credit value may comprise a quantity of network airtime, a monetary amount, or a number of points or other value units, for example.
  • the credit value will comprise network airtime equivalent to conventional prepaid airtime.
  • the amount of airtime credited to the account of the call recipient may be a fixed amount.
  • the amount of airtime credited to the account of the call recipient may be related to the cost or duration of the call.
  • the amount may be equivalent to a percentage of the cost of the call.
  • the cost of the call may be the cost of the call as billed to the caller, or the interconnect cost of the call to the originating network where the caller is connected to a different network than the call recipient, for example.
  • the method may include crediting an account of the caller with additional credit or airtime related to the call.
  • the accounts of the call recipient and the caller may be credited in a predetermined ratio.
  • the method may include monitoring the account status of the call recipient and crediting the account of the call recipient only if one or more predetermined conditions apply.
  • the account of the call recipient may be credited only if the call recipient has no, or less than a predetermined amount of, remaining prepaid airtime.
  • the account of the call recipient may be credited a limited number of times, the account of the call recipient being eligible to be credited further only when at least a portion of an accrued credit value is used.
  • Figure 1 is a simplified diagrammatic illustration of a telephony network operable to implement the method of the invention
  • Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating the interconnect relationship between different networks.
  • the drawing shows, in a highly simplified schematic form, the architecture of a part of a modern GSM mobile telephone network.
  • the diagram does not purport to be comprehensive but merely illustrative.
  • the network will typically embody intelligent network (IN) functionality, but this is not essential for implementation of the invention.
  • a mobile telephone 10 of a caller communicates with a first base station 12 which in turn communicates with a mobile switching center (MSC) 14.
  • the base station 12 comprises a base station controller (BSC) and a base transceiver station (BTS) with associated antenna (not shown).
  • BSC base station controller
  • BTS base transceiver station
  • VLR visited location register
  • a call recipient has a mobile telephone 18 which communicates with a second base station 20.
  • the base station 20 is connected to a further mobile switching center (MSC) 22 with its own associated visited location register 24. (In some cases, the two base stations could be connected to the same MSC.)
  • the respective mobile switching centers 14 and 22 and the respective visited location registers 16 and 24 are interconnected as shown.
  • the visited location registers are also connected to a home location register (HLR) 26 and to a billing center 28.
  • the MSC's 14 and 22 are also connected to the billing center.
  • the HLR is a central database containing data relating to the account status and predetermined network settings of subscribers.
  • the VLRs are decentralised databases which are updated with data from the HLR relating to a particular subscriber when that subscriber's telephone connects to the MSC in question.
  • the present invention is applicable to scenarios in which both the caller and call recipient are subscribers to the same network, and to scenarios where the caller is a subscriber to a different network from that of the call recipient.
  • the call recipient will typically be a prepaid subscriber with a prepaid airtime account which is administered by the network, the airtime balance being reduced as calls are made. However, the call recipient could also be a subscriber with a credit account on the network.
  • the phrase "credit value” has a broad meaning which includes the concept of prepaid network airtime as generally understood in the art, but also includes a monetary credit in the case of a network subscriber with a credit account, or points (or other units of value) redeemable by the subscriber, for example.
  • the caller When the caller dials the telephone number of the call recipient and a call is established between the caller and the call recipient, the caller is billed for the cost of the call. For example, where the caller and the call recipient are subscribers of the same network, the caller may be billed at R1.80 per minute for the call.
  • the balance in the account of the call recipient is increased when the call is established.
  • a fixed, standard amount of airtime or monetary credit can be credited to the call recipient's account when the call is established.
  • the balance in the call recipient's account can be increased by an amount related to the cost or duration of the call. This will typically be a percentage of the cost of the call, which can be set by the network operator.
  • the cost of the call is effectively the cost as billed to the caller.
  • establishing the call from the caller's network (the originating network) to the call recipient's network (the terminating network) incurs a termination fee, typically R1.20 per minute in South Africa.
  • the amount of the credit placed in the call recipient's account is related to the cost of the call, the credit can be based on the interconnect cost.
  • Figure 2 illustrates the relationship between different networks, with network traffic and hence billing flowing between the networks along the triangular path illustrated.
  • call recipients will benefit from the described method, in that the balances in their accounts (whether prepaid airtime accounts or credit accounts) will be increased whenever they are called.
  • the network operator effectively passes on a portion of the charge levied on the caller to the call recipient (and, optionally, to the caller - so-called bi-directional crediting).
  • the network operator effectively passes on a portion of the interconnect fee earned by the network from the call to the call recipient (uni-directional crediting).
  • both the caller's and call recipient's accounts can be credited in a predetermined ratio.
  • semaphores which essentially comprise rules regulating the operation of the method.
  • the system may only permit a certain number of airtime credits or "recharges" to accrue to a subscriber, then requiring the subscriber to use all or at least some of the accrued credits before being able to accrue further credits.
  • the system may be set up to apply credits only to the accounts of subscribers who have no credit/airtime left, or less than a predetermined amount.
  • a parent may have one or more children, who are given mobile telephones and a certain, relatively small, amount of prepaid airtime per month. By accepting calls from his/her parent, the child's airtime balance is increased, thus encouraging communication between family members.
  • the child is a member of an approved reverse-charge caller group set up by the parent, as described in International patent application no. PCT/IB2004/001150, making a reverse charge call to the parent will result in billing being applied as if the parent were the caller and the child the call recipient, so that the additional airtime would accrue to the child. This would actively encourage children to call their parents, for example.
  • the crediting of airtime to the child who is a member of the approved reverse-charge caller group can be done at a preferential (that is, higher) rate than normal.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • Meter Arrangements (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Abstract

Procédé d'exploitation d'un réseau de communication du type réseau de téléphonie. Selon ce procédé, une transmission est établie entre un expéditeur est un destinataire, au moins le destinataire étant un abonné du réseau de communication. A la suite de cette transmission, une valeur de crédit associée à la transmission est portée au crédit d'un compte du destinataire. Par exemple, dans le cas d'un réseau de téléphonie, un temps d'utilisation prépayé ou une valeur de crédit associée au coût ou à la durée de la communication est porté(e) au crédit du compte du destinataire de la communication. Lorsque l'appelant et le destinataire de la communication sont connectés à des réseaux différents, le coût de la communication peut être calculé en fonction du coût d'interconnexion de la communication vers le réseau de départ.
PCT/IB2004/001479 2003-05-09 2004-05-10 Procede de transfert de temps d'utilisation dans un reseau de telephonie WO2004100520A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
ZA2003/3596 2003-05-09
ZA200303596 2003-05-09

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2004100520A1 true WO2004100520A1 (fr) 2004-11-18

Family

ID=33435714

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/IB2004/001479 WO2004100520A1 (fr) 2003-05-09 2004-05-10 Procede de transfert de temps d'utilisation dans un reseau de telephonie

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2004100520A1 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2006078381A2 (fr) 2005-01-21 2006-07-27 J2 Global Communications Procede de gestion d'un compte client
US7540408B2 (en) 2006-06-22 2009-06-02 Hip Consult Inc. Apparatus and method for facilitating money or value transfer

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5568541A (en) * 1994-06-21 1996-10-22 Greene; Leonard M. System and method for adding a surcharge to the cost/call for telephone solicitations
WO2003009574A1 (fr) * 2001-07-20 2003-01-30 Teimuraz Tchkadua Paiement de frais supplementaires par la partie appelante

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5568541A (en) * 1994-06-21 1996-10-22 Greene; Leonard M. System and method for adding a surcharge to the cost/call for telephone solicitations
WO2003009574A1 (fr) * 2001-07-20 2003-01-30 Teimuraz Tchkadua Paiement de frais supplementaires par la partie appelante

Non-Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
"TMN promotes mass use of mobile phones and adds a revolutionary concept to its prepaid cards: PAKO charged by incoming calls", TMN PRESS RELEASE, 17 April 2000 (2000-04-17), XP002224217 *
SCHAEFER VO: "VIAG: Bei Anruf - Guthaben", WWW.TELTARIF.DE - KOMMUNIKATION GANZ EINFACH, 1 November 2000 (2000-11-01), XP002224216 *

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2006078381A2 (fr) 2005-01-21 2006-07-27 J2 Global Communications Procede de gestion d'un compte client
EP1844421A2 (fr) * 2005-01-21 2007-10-17 J2 Global Communications Procede de gestion d'un compte client
EP1844421A4 (fr) * 2005-01-21 2009-03-18 J2 Global Comm Procede de gestion d'un compte client
US7762455B2 (en) 2005-01-21 2010-07-27 J2 Global Communications Method for maintaining a customer account
US7540408B2 (en) 2006-06-22 2009-06-02 Hip Consult Inc. Apparatus and method for facilitating money or value transfer

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