Patent ID: 6249573
Filing Date: 2001-06-19
Classification: H04M,H04W

Abstract:
In a prepaid telephone system, a method for providing account information to a subscriber comprising:(a) receiving a call from the subscriber requesting the account information;(b) obtaining a personal identification number (PIN) from the subscriber;(c) retrieving a copy of the subscriber's account balance from a database using the PIN;(d) establishing a maximum allowable talk time for the subscriber;(e) dividing time into plural time periods;(f) dividing the time periods in which the call exists into a series of time segments commencing with the initiation of the call, each of the time segments having a billing rate associated therewith;(g) determining the time at which the call is initiated;(h) determining the cost for the first time segment of the call;(i) subtracting the cost of the first segment from the copy of the subscriber's account balance;(j) determining the number of time segments remaining in the time period in which the call was initiated until the length of the call reaches the maximum allowable talk time;(k) determining the number of additional time segments remaining in the time period in which the call was initiated;(l) calculating the number of additional time segments in the time period in which the call was initiated that the subscriber can afford to use by considering the subscriber's account balance;(m) using the lowest number of additional time segments determined in steps (j), (k) and (l) and the assigned billing rate for the additional time segments of the time period in which the call was initiated to determine a cost of the additional time segments during the time period in which the call was initiated;(n) subtracting the cost of the additional time segments from the copy of the account balance;(o) repeating steps (j-n) for additional time periods until either the account can no longer afford additional time segments or the remaining maximum allowable talk time is exhausted;(p) adding the costs of the call for each time period; and,(q) providing the result to the subscriber.