| 摘要 |
During peak usage times in a communications system, a communications control system and a billing system are required to handle a very large volume of communications from a large number of communications devices. Due to the large s volume, the control system and billing system are often overburdened, causing them to not record each and every communication. As a result, some of the communications conducted during peak times are not recorded and hence are not billed to customers, thereby causing a loss in potential revenue. The present invention provides a solution to this problem. Namely, each communications device is adapted to maintain a log of the communications conducted using that communications device. This log information is communicated to the control system at some later time (probably during an off-peak period) to enable the control system to retroactively update the billing system. The present invention provides the control system with the luxury of not having to register a communication with the billing system at the time that the communication is being conducted. Instead, the control system may choose to defer the registration process until a later time, knowing that it can always obtain the log information from the communications device that was used to conduct the communication. Thus, with the present invention, even if the control system fails to register a communication with the billing system during a peak usage period, no harm is done. Billing information for that communication can still be retroactively captured. In this manner, revenue loss caused by failure to immediately register a communication is prevented.
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