CONVERGENT COMMUNICATIONS PLATFORM AND METHOD FOR MOBILE ANDELECTRONIC COMMERCE IN A HETEROGENEOUS NETWORK ENVIRONMENT

摘要

A method and apparatus for providing mobile and electronic commerce, custome r care and communication services via networks, including receiving in a roami ng network an identification number and a request for a service, forwarding to a home network the identification number, the request for the service, and a cost/rate of the service, verifying, by a convergent communication platform located on the home network, that the identification number relates to a val id user account, that a user device is authorized to receive the service, and that the valid user account has sufficient value, providing an authorization to the service provider, and charging the valid user account on a real time basis. The convergent communications system employs a rule set usable in determining at least one rule applicable for authorizing a transaction and debiting an account of the authorized user according to the at least one rul e, in real time.