Patent ID: 6188752
Filing Date: 2001-02-13
Classification: G06Q,H04M,H04Q

Abstract:
In a telecommunications network, a method for facilitating prepayment for communication services, comprising the steps of:providing a subscriber to an automated, prepayment telecommunications network service with a prepaid account number having associated therewith a prepaid monetary value;using the prepaid account number at a communications terminal coupled to the communications network to pay for a communications service requested from the communications network, the prepaid monetary value being decreased in accordance with the communications service rendered by the communications network;the subscriber calling a prepayment telecommunications network service number from a communications terminal requesting that a specified monetary value be added to the prepaid account number;the prepayment telecommunications network service determining the prepaid account number associated with the request;the prepayment telecommunication network service authenticating the prepaid account number and confirming that the caller making the request is authorized to add monetary value to the prepaid account number; andbased on the authentication and confirmation, the prepayment telecommunications network service automatically adding the specified monetary value to the prepaid monetary value associated with the prepaid account number and providing charges corresponding to the added monetary value to a communications network billing system so those charges are included in a telephone bill to the subscriber,wherein the subscriber may thereafter use the added monetary value to pay for a subsequent communications service.