Methods and apparatus for regulating the remote ordering, authorization, access and control of services and service features associated with a terminal

摘要

A method for use in an environment having a service provider, a subscribed terminal, and a remote terminal, for activating a service for the subscribed terminal. The method processes an order from a terminal and processes an authorization request from a terminal. However, the service order is activated only upon an authorization request from the subscribed terminal. The subscribed terminal may be a telephone in which case a caller ID value provided by a central office switch serving the requesting terminal is used to determine whether a requesting telephone is the subscribed telephone.