Patent ID: 6965668
Filing Date: 2005-11-15
Classification: H04M

Abstract:
1. In a telecommunications billing system, a method of providing billing information to a customer in accordance with a custom-defined format, the method comprising: assigning telephone numbers to company units; defining how each of the company units relate to each other in a hierarchy; receiving billing data from at least one service provider at a billing repository; storing the received billing data with associated information indicating that the customer desires presentation of the billing information via a web-based billing application; storing the hierarchy on a server, the server extracting billing data from the billing repository and formatting the billing data in accordance with the hierarchy, the formatting including processing the billing data associated with each telephone number in accordance with the hierarchy; and presenting the processed billing information to the customer in accordance with the associated information, the processed billing information presented to the customer via a graphical user interface comprising a billing screen including a plurality of columnized charges listed under respective column headings and arrange according to a type of charge, such that selection by the customer of a charge in a particular column causes a report to be displayed to the customer showing detailed charges that comprise the selected charge.