Telephone network credit card calling apparatus and method of operation.

摘要

Apparatus and method for controlling a telephone network (1) to establish connections between calling (2) and called (40,41) telephone stations in accordance with dialed telephone numbers identified by calling party credit cards (20). The apparatus responds to the receipt of a telephone number and a credit card number from a calling telephone (2) by identifying a company (50) having issued the credit card assigned the received credit card number. A data link connection (1050) is established with a data base (50) maintained by the identified company and the received credit card number is transmitted to the identified company during the call sequence for a determination of the validity of the received credit card number. The apparatus controls the telephone network to establish a network connection between the calling telephone and a telephone identified by the called telephone number upon receiving validation of the validity of the credit card and to establish a network connection between the calling telephone and an announcement circuit (1101) stating that the identified credit card cannot be used for telephone calls upon receiving non-validation of the credit card or upon identifying the credit card as fraudulent. <IMAGE>