Patent ID: 6937710
Filing Date: 2005-08-30
Classification: H04M,H04W

Abstract:
1. In an intelligent switched telephone network having a plurality of Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) components, a method for providing a usage pattern for a customer of a telecommunications system, the usage pattern providing historical information concerning the customer's use of the telecommunications system, the method comprising: communicating with a data network and receiving a query for the customer's usage pattern, the query originating from the customer using a computer device operating on the data network; acquiring the usage pattern from a database communicating with a service control point; causing the usage pattern to be communicated along the data network to the computer device; causing the historical information of the usage pattern to be compared with a predetermined billing plan; displaying unused minutes remaining in the predetermined billing plan on the computer device to control the use of the telecommunications system based on the unused minutes, whereby the customer uses the computer device to access the usage pattern; and allowing the customer to learn an identity of an unrecognized telephone number placing a call to the customer, thereby preventing the customer from calling a service provider to learn the identity of the unrecognized telephone number.