Flexible system for real-time rating of telecommunications transactions

摘要

Methods and apparatus facilitate rating of telecommunications transactions and allow modification of the rating process without requiring reprogramming of the rating system program. An input data structure includes pointers to functions that return internally or externally derived data values to the rating system program. By virtue of a system of selection criteria and selection rules, the rating system program evaluates telecommunications transaction characteristics to obtain appropriate rating data for the transaction and to calculate charges based on this rating data.