A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A FEE IS TO BE CHARGED TO A PARTY INITIATING A TELEPHONE CALL

摘要

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for determining whether a party initiating a telephone call is authorized by the recipient party to communicate with the recipient party. If the calling party is not authorized (34), a fee may be charged (37) to the calling party in order for communication to the recipient party to continue. Processing equipment located at the subscriber's central office is programmed to determine the identity (32) of the calling party and determine if the calling party is an authorized party to the communication recipient. This is done by comparing the calling parties identity (32) or telephone number to a pre-programmed list (34) of authorized calling parties associated with the called parties identifier or telephone number.