Method and apparatus for the billing of value-added communication calls

摘要

New use of the existing PSTN for capturing data to charge enhanced service provider (ESP) fees on phone bills of numbers terminating calls originated by dialing seven digit 555 numbers. The local exchange performs the digit analysis and translation before routing the call to an ESP. The Local Exchange Carrier translates a caller-dialed 7-digit 555 number into a ten-digit phantom number and then passes the call to the appropriate carrier assigned the ten-digit routing plan. The translation function is performed as a look-up in an appropriate database such as the Service Management System (SMS). Heretofore, the SMS was used for ten-digit 800-number translation and was not available to ESP. This novel use of PSTN facilities enables the system to provide caller dialed number and billing information on a real-time basis (during call processing). It is based on signaling the billing and caller dialed number information in the voice channel (In-Band Signaling) during the setup of calls to connecting carriers. The ESPs receive the circuit "off-hook" signal (seizure), receive two fields of Multi-Frequency Tones, then process the information to collect and validate the billing information needed to deny the call or to accept it. If the ESP accepts the call, the caller dialed information is processed to bill the subscriber for access to the particular service the caller selected. Using the available network signaling circuits that exist between the Local Exchange Carriers and the toll carriers in a manner similar to 800 call processing allows the billing information to remain intact through-out the hand-off from the carriers to the ESP.