Patent ID: 6266401
Filing Date: 2001-07-24
Classification: G06Q,H04M

Abstract:
In a telephony network, a method of generating a customer invoice for usage of network services provided by a service provider operating the telephony network and third-party services supportable by the telephony network but provided by a third party service provider who does not operate the telephony network, comprising:in the telephony network, acquiring network charge information representative of charges incurred by a customer for usage of the network services provided by the service provider operating the telephony network;transmitting an order record to the third-party service provider to activate the third-party services;receiving the completed order record from the third-party service provider;in the telephony network, acquiring third-party charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the services supportable by the telephony network but provided by the third party service provider;identifying the third-party charge information so as to distinguish the third-party charge information from the network charge information; andintegrating, within a single invoice, network and third-party charges reflective of the network and the third-party charge information, respectively.