Patent Publication Number: US-2012041871-A1

Title: Controlling consumption of a shared service

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present disclosure relates to a technique for controlling consumption of a shared service, such as a mobile telephone service being provided to a group of subscribers. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, the approaches described in this section may not be prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section. 
     An element of many billing packages offered by providers of a service, for example, a service provider for mobile telephone communication, is the notion of sharing. Whether it is a common pool of minutes shared by a family mobile plan, or a department&#39;s data services budget which can be shared amongst its members, sharing allows a service provider to sell more to larger groups, and allows members of these groups to used their shared funds efficiently. 
     With sharing comes the necessity for control. A parent may not want one child using all the minutes, just as a department manager may not want all money for Internet services going to one salesperson. 
     The present document discloses a technique for controlling consumption of a shared service. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     There is provided a method that includes (a) obtaining a first balance indicative of a first available funding for a service for a subscriber, in which the first balance may be consumed by the subscriber; (b) obtaining a second balance indicative of a second available funding for the service, in which the second balance may be consumed by the subscriber; (c) determining whether both of the first and second balances are sufficient to provide for the service; and (d) issuing a communication to a device to permit usage of the service by the subscriber, if both of the first and second balances are sufficient to provide for the service. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a configuration of balances being shared amongst subscribers within the account. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a configuration of balances being evaluated by a rating process. 
         FIG. 3  is block diagram of a configuration of balances, and shows a further illustration of a process for rating the balances. 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a configuration of balances involving a plurality of accounts. 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a configuration of balances associated with a system that is outside of a domain of a service provider. 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a configuration of balances in which a shadow balance is associated with a plurality of real balances in different accounts. 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram of a communication system that includes a rating server for administrating shadow balances. 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram of the rating server of  FIG. 7 . 
     
    
    
     A component or a feature that is common to more than one drawing is indicated with the same reference number in each of the drawings. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present description introduces a concept referred to herein as a “shadow balance.” A shadow balance is a specific type of balance defined for the purpose of controlling consumption of funds from another source in a controlled and limited fashion. In more detail, shadow balances are a mechanism by which a source rating entity (e.g., a subscriber) can use the funds of another entity for purposes of pricing, charging, promotions and authorization. This is achieved via a “virtual” balance that is based on one or more target balances from different entities, as well as information from the source object itself. The actual value of the virtual balance is derived based on business logic. 
     At the end of the present description, there is a table, namely Table 1, that contains definitions of some other terms. 
     A risk associated with sharing a balance in an account is that the shared balance may be over-shared. That is, parties that are sharing the balance may collectively attempt to consume more of the balance than is available for consumption. In a technique for managing this risk, the use of funds from a shadow balance implicitly considers the available funds of the associated account level balance, and prohibits a subscriber with a shadow balance from spending more than the account has in a real balance. The relationship between the shadow balance and the real balance is described below in greater detail. 
     The present document describes a capability for both guaranteed funds sharing and spending control using the concept of shadow balances. The useful abstraction of a shadow balance allows for simplified rating calculations while providing subscribers with a common pool of funds for use, and control over how much of the common pool each subscriber can spend. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a sample configuration of balances, designated as configuration  100 , associated with an account  105 . Account  105  is setup to provide mobile telephone service for two subscribers, namely a subscriber  170  and a subscriber  175 . Subscriber  170  uses a telephone  130 , and subscriber  175  uses a telephone  165 . While this example considers mobile service, any type of service could be provided. 
     There are two types of balances in configuration  100 , namely real balances (denoted by the filled rectangular shapes) and shadow balances (denoted by the open trapezoidal shapes). The size of each rectangle or trapezoid is indicative of its quantity, i.e., a larger size represents a greater quantity than a smaller size. It may help to think of the shapes as glasses or buckets that hold some quantity of liquid (i.e., funds). Since only the real balances reflect actual funds, they are depicted as “filled,” while the shadow balances, which only control how much of a real balance can be spent, are depicted as open containers of various capacities. Only in the virtual model when the balances are algorithmically combined do we have the notion of a “filled” virtual balance. 
     Account  105  has four real balances  110 ,  115 ,  120  and  125 . Subscriber  170  has two shadow balances  135 ,  140 , and one real balance  145 . Subscriber  175  also has one real balance  150 , and two shadow balances  155 ,  160 . 
     Real balances  110 ,  115 ,  120 ,  125 ,  145  and  150  are “real” in the sense that they have actual currency (or some other appropriate unit) associated with them, e.g., monetary allocations from prepaid recharge cards. It is also possible to have credit balances, which represent limits against funds that will be invoiced at a later time. 
     Real balance  110  has a maximum  106  (represented by an outer rectangle) and an available balance amount  107  (represented by a patterned inner rectangle). Maximum  106  is a service provider defined configuration that sets a limit on valid values for real balance  110 . Maximum  106  represents the maximum amount of funds that real balance  110  can hold. For example, maximum  106  may indicate that real balance  110  may not be allowed to hold more than $500. Available balance amount  107  indicates a quantity of real balance  110  that is available for consumption. Typically, real balances in prepaid systems are increased in value by funding, e.g., recharge, and decreased in value by usage. So, an available balance amount  107  of $10.83 indicates that an additional $10.83 of usage charges may be consumed from real balance  110 , at which point balance  110  is exhausted and cannot be used to pay for usage. 
     Each real balance, similarly to real balance  110 , has a maximum and an available balance amount. Real balance  1115  has a maximum  111  and an available balance amount  112 . Real balance  120  has a maximum  116  and an available balance amount  117 . Real balance  125  has a maximum  121  and an available balance amount  122 . Real balance  145  has a maximum  141  and an available balance amount  142 . Real balance  150  has a maximum  146  and an available balance amount  147 . 
     The different maxima of the real balances may reflect the fact that they are different units, i.e., a bytes balance would have a higher maximum than a ringtones balance. 
     Shadow balance  135  has a limit  131  (represented by an outer trapezoid) and an available balance amount  132  (represented by an inner trapezoid). Limit  131  defines a maximum amount of real balance  110  that subscriber  170  can use in any particular period. Available balance amount  132  indicates a quantity of shadow balance  135  that is currently available. 
     Each shadow balance, similarly to shadow balance  135 , has a limit and an available balance amount. Shadow balance  140  has a limit  136  and an available balance amount  137 . Shadow balance  155  has a limit  151  and an available balance amount  152 . Shadow balance  160  has a limit  156  and an available balance amount  157 . 
     As mentioned above, a shadow balance is for the purpose of controlling the consumption of funds from another source. Accordingly, each shadow balance is associated with a real balance at the account level. Shadow balances  135  and  155  are associated with real balance  110 . Shadow balance  140  is associated with real balance  120 . Shadow balance  160  is associated with real balance  125 . 
     For example, assume that real balance  110  and shadow balance  135  represent a number of minutes of broadband usage. If subscriber  170  uses two minutes of broadband service, two minutes will be deducted from each of real balance  110  and shadow balance  135 . The two minutes from real balance  110  represents two minutes that account  105  is permitted to consume (by either of subscriber  170  or subscriber  175 ), and the two minutes from shadow balance  135  represents, i.e., shadows, the two minutes that subscriber  170  is consuming from real balance  110 . 
     By having shadow balances  135  and  155  associated with real balance  110 , subscribers  170  and  175  are both able to consume funds from real balance  110 . In other words, subscribers  170  and  175  are sharing real balance  110  from account  105 , and as such, real balance  110  may be consumed by either of subscriber  170  or subscriber  175 . Shadow balance  135  is for controlling subscriber  170 &#39;s consumption of funds from real balance  110 , and shadow balance  155  is for controlling subscriber  175 &#39;s consumption of funds from real balance  110 . 
     Note that none of shadow balances  135 ,  140 ,  155  or  160  has a particular unit. Instead, the unit type of a shadow balance is defined by its association with a real balance. That is, a shadow balance takes on the unit type of the real balance with which the shadow balance is associated. For example, if real balance  110  is in units of dollars, then shadow balances  135  and  155  will be in units of dollars. Balances may be designated in any desired unit, for example, currency, bytes, short message service (SMS) messages, or tokens. 
     The associations between shadow balances and real balances can be pre-defined by a provider of the mobile phone service, or can be customized on a case-by-case basis by a service representative or through customer self-care, e.g., an Internet web page. For example, assume that shadow balance  135  represents a number of minutes of broadband usage, shadow balance  140  represents a quantity of SMS messages, and real balance  145  represents a number of minutes of telephone usage. The quantities in each of shadow balance  135 , shadow balance  140  and real balance  145  can be initialized at the beginning of each month, in accordance with a service agreement. Available balance amounts  132  and  137  are initially set to values of limits  131  and  136  respectively, and are reset to these values at the beginning of each new period. As with real balances, shadow balances typically start with a high value and then decrease as they are consumed, i.e., the available balance value reflects a remaining amount. 
     For example, consider that shadow balances  135  and  155  have monthly periods. This means that at the beginning of each month, available balance amounts  132  and  152  are reset to their respective limits  131  and  151 . In this example, assume that available balance amount  137  was $0.80 before the reset, and $15 after. By resetting available balance amounts  137  and  152 , subscribers  170  and  175  are again able to use their full allocations of real balance  110 . Accordingly, subscriber  170  is allowed to consume up to $15/month from real balance  110 . Prior to the reset, subscriber  170  only had $0.80 remaining of their $15 from May, and after the reset subscriber  170  has a new $15/month allocation for June. Real balance  110  itself is not cyclical in nature and is not reset; real balance  110  is replenished only by voucher recharge or other payment methods as needed, and these methods are not discussed here or relevant to the stated invention. When placing a call, both real balance  110  and available balance amount  137  are both deducted by the charge amount. Continuing the example, subscriber  170  places a call on June 1; the charge for the call is $2.50. Assuming funds in balance  110  are available, both real balance  110  and available balance amount  137  are deducted by $2.50. Limit  131  remains $15, as this is part of the configuration, not dynamic running balance information. 
     A key aspect of the concept of shadow balances is the introduction of control into the sharing of real balances. This control is achieved by configuring each subscriber&#39;s shadow balances with limits. Each limit represents the maximum amount of a shared real balance a subscriber can use in any particular period. For example, recall that shadow balance  135  has limit  131 . Assume that limit  131  is set to $15/month. When the limit of $15 is reached, shadow balance  135  can no longer be used to fund activities. The service provider and the customers themselves have the ability to define different limit values for each shadow balance for each subscriber. This permits such scenarios as parents being able to spend $50/month of a shared family balance, but the children only being able to spend $20/month. In addition, the service provider can define various periods (e.g., weekly, monthly), as well as restrict which activities can be paid off with a shadow balance. 
     As mentioned above, subscriber  170  has two shadow balances  135 ,  140 , and one real balance  145 . Shadow balance  135  has a small limit, i.e., limit  131 , relative to limit  136  of shadow balance  140 . The relative sizes of available balance amount  132  and limit  131  indicate that for shadow balance  135 , subscriber  170  has consumed about half of limit  131 . The relative sizes of available balance  137  and limit  136  indicate that subscriber  170  has used very little of its allocation of shadow balance  140 . Real balance  145  is also mostly unused, as indicated by relative sizes of maximum  141  and available balance amount  142 . 
     As mentioned above, subscriber  175  has one real balance  150 , and two shadow balances  155  and  160 . Real balance  150  is about halfway used, as indicated by relative sizes of maximum  146  and available balance amount  147 . For shadow balances  155  and  160 , limit  151  and limit  156  are equal to one another. Subscriber  175  has used some of its limit  151  of shadow balance  155 , as indicated by relative sizes of limit  151  and available balance amount  152 , while shadow balance  420  is unused, as indicated by relative sizes of available balance amount  157  and limit  156 . 
     Since shadow balances share a real balance, if one subscriber consumes all of the real balance, the other subscriber will not be permitted to make a further consumption from the real balance. For example, assume that subscriber  175  consumes all of real balance  110 . Consequently, even if available balance amount  132  shows that subscriber  170  is permitted to make a further consumption from real balance  110 , since real balance  110  is depleted, subscriber  170  cannot make the further consumption from real balance  110 . 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a configuration of balances, namely configuration  200 , that is similar to configuration  100 , but includes a rating engine  205 . 
     Rating engine  205  calculates a virtual balance  210 , i.e., a resultant balance, having a virtual available balance amount  207 . Virtual available balance amount  207  is the minimum, i.e., smallest, of (a) available balance amount  107 , i.e., the currently available amount of real balance  110 , and (b) available balance amount  132 , i.e., the currently available amount of shadow balance  135 . Note that even though there are funds available in real balance  110 , i.e., available amount balance  107 , subscriber  170  is limited to only what is remaining in shadow balance  135 , i.e., available balance amount  132 . Thus, rating engine  205  determines which of available balance amount  107  and available balance amount  132  is smallest, and concludes that both of available balance amount  107  and available balance amount  132  are sufficient to provide for a service, if the smallest balance is sufficient to provide for the service. 
     As an example, assume that (i) account  105  has $30 in real balance  110 , i.e., available balance amount  107  is $30, and (ii) subscriber  170  has a shadow balance  135  with a monthly limit  131  of $20/month, of which $10 is remaining, i.e., available balance amount  132  is $10. Virtual balance amount  207  would be $10, i.e., the smaller of available balance amount  107  and available balance amount  132 . In this example, subscriber  170  would only be able to use $10, i.e., virtual available balance amount  207 , of the $30, i.e., available balance amount  107 , shared for any particular activity. 
     Note that rating engine  205  is presented with a single view of shadow balance  135  (for subscriber  170 ). For example, rating engine  205  does not need to consider that shadow balance  155  (for subscriber  175 ) is also associated with real balance  110 , and that shadow balances  135  and  155  thereby share real balance  110 . This concept of a single view divorces from calculations within rating engine  205  any knowledge about how shadow balances may share in a real balance, various limit values, etc. By presenting this single view to rating engine  205 , rating engine  205  is able to provide balance sharing, e.g., real balance  110  being shared by shadow balance  135  and shadow balance  155 , and control of how much each subscriber  170  and  175  consumes from real balance  110 , without additional complexities being introduced into the implementation of rating engine  205 . 
       FIG. 3  is block diagram of a configuration of balances, namely configuration  300 , and shows a further illustration of a rating process for shadow balances. In configuration  300 , a rating engine  305  calculates (i) a virtual balance  310  having a virtual available balance amount  307  and (ii) a virtual balance  315  having a virtual available balance amount  312 . Virtual available balance amount  307  is the minimum, i.e., smallest, of available balance amount  107  and available balance amount  152 . Virtual available balance amount  312  is the minimum, i.e., smallest, of available balance amount  122  and available balance amount  157 . 
     Rating engine  305  also calculates a real balance  320  having an available balance amount  317 , which is, in essence, a copy of real balance  150  and available balance amount  147 , respectively. Of note here is that rating engine  305  can use real balances and shadow balances in any combination. Any single charge may span multiple balances, depending on the service provider&#39;s configuration. For example, a data plan may be paid off in either usage units, e.g., bytes, or in currency. If a subscriber has a plan in which they have a bytes balance with 50 Kb remaining, and any excess usage is paid at $0.10/Kb, then a usage of 80 Kb would be charged 50 Kb to the bytes balance, and $3 to the currency balance (80 Kb−50 Kb)*($0.10/Kb). By using multiple balances, the rating engine may also use multiple balance types, e.g., the bytes balance is a shadow balance, but the currency balance is a real balance. 
     Note that subscriber  175  has plenty of available capacity in shadow balance  160  (indicated by the relative positions of available balance amount  157  and limit  156 ), yet the account balance itself has insufficient funds (as indicated by available amount  122 ). A more concrete example of this type of scenario would be a small business account for a sales team, where each salesperson could spend up to $500/quarter of the department&#39;s shared funds. When Mary attempts to use data services, she may be denied service even though she has not spent $500 this quarter, because the department&#39;s balances are under-funded. This relates back to the concept of guaranteed sharing, where the subscribers are not permitted to spend more money via their shadow balances than the account has available. 
     Each of  FIGS. 1-3  shows shadowing of subscriber balances to an account within the same hierarchy. For example, in  FIG. 1 , all of the balances represented in configuration  100  are subordinate balances of a common account, i.e., account  105 . Note however, that it is quite possible to shadow to different balances in other hierarchies, permitting sharing or funding outside normal account relationships. For example, John pays for his friend&#39;s SMS messages, even though they each have their own independent accounts. 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a configuration of balances, namely configuration  400 , involving a plurality of accounts, i.e., account  105  and an account  405 . Account  405  consists of a single subscriber, i.e., a subscriber  420 . Subscriber  420  has a shadow balance  410  and a real balance  415 . Although subscriber  420  is a member of account  405 , shadow balance  410  is associated with real balance  115  of account  105 . As a result of this configuration, subscriber  420  is able to consume funds from account  105 , which is outside subscriber  420 &#39;s account hierarchy. 
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a configuration of balances, namely configuration  500 , associated with a system that is outside of a domain of the service provider. An account  510  consists of a single subscriber, i.e., a subscriber  525 . Subscriber  525  has a shadow balance  515  and a real balance  520 . Shadow balance  515  is associated with an external balance management system  505 . Thus, subscriber  525  is able to consume funds that are stored and represented outside of a domain of the service provider of account  510 . 
     For example, it is possible that during integration of a service provider&#39;s business software systems, separate systems (from different vendors) provide the rating capability and the balance management capability (at least in part). For example, vendor A provides a system that manages accounts funded by cash payments within a retail network. Vendor B provides the shadow balance capability as part of vendor B&#39;s rating system. The service provider may wish to have subscribers on vendor B&#39;s system, e.g., mobile accounts, have their services paid for out of the balances managed by vendor A&#39;s cash management system. 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a configuration of balances, namely configuration  600 , in which a shadow balance is associated with a plurality of real balances in different accounts. An account  630  is configured with a single subscriber, i.e., a subscriber  630 . Subscriber  630  has shadow balance  635  and real balance  640 . Shadow balance  635  is associated with (i) a real balance  610  in an account  605 , and (ii) a real balance  625  in an account  620 . Real balance  610  has an available balance amount  607 , and real balance  625  has an available balance amount  622 . Accounts  605  and  620  may also have their own subscribers (not shown) with their own shadow balances (not shown). Shadow balance  635  is a subordinate balance of account  630 , while real balance  610  is a subordinate balance of account  605 , and real balance  625  is a subordinate balance of account  620 . 
     By configuring multiple shadow balance targets, i.e., real balances  610  and  625 , for the same shadow balance  635 , subscriber  645  is able to consume from multiple sources of funds as part of a single transaction. In effect, a net real available balance amount is a sum of available balance amount  607  and available balance amount  622 . The fact that subscriber  645  may use, via shadow balance  635 , funds from each of real balances  610  and  625  is based on a service agreement for each of accounts  630 ,  605  and  620 . 
     Recall that during a rating operation, a rating engine calculates a virtual available balance amount that is a minimum, i.e., smallest, of (a) an available balance amount in a real balance and (b) an available balance amount in a shadow balance. For example, see  FIG. 2 , rating engine  205 . Similarly, subscriber  645  can only consume from real balances  610  and  625  if (i) shadow balance  635  has a sufficient available amount balance  627 , and (ii) the sum of available amount balances  607  and  622  is non-zero. Note that real balances  610  and  625  will have the same unit type, e.g., dollars. 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram of a communication system  700  that includes a server, i.e., a rating server  720 , for administrating shadow balances. Communications system  700  includes a telephony network  705 , a signaling gateway  715 , rating server  720 , a system database  725 , a customer management server  740 , and a customer care terminal  735 . Communications system  700  also includes a web server  750  coupled to the Internet  755 . 
     A user  765 , i.e., a subscriber, purchases a mobile handset  770  from a mobile service provider (not shown). Handset  770  communicates via a mobile telephony network, i.e., telephony network  705 , which includes a telephony switch  710 . 
     Telephony switch  710  is configured to notify signaling gateway  715  of any network events related to subscribers represented on system database  725 . For example, call offered, call answered, and call disconnected are three types of events for which signaling gateway  715  would receive notification. Signaling gateway  715 , in turn, passes events to rating server  720 . 
     Rating Server  720  implements techniques for administrating shadow balances, as shown in  FIGS. 1-6 . In this regard, rating server  720  runs software that, among other rating calculations, manages shadow balances, and factors shadow balances into its calculations. As a result of these calculations, rating server  720  communicates back through signaling gateway  715  to telephony switch  710 , advising of conditions on user  765 &#39;s account that may limit user  765 &#39;s activities, such as a low balance condition. 
     Telephony switch  710  acts on advice from rating server  720  and affects user  765 &#39;s call, either by disconnecting, denying or changing the quality of service. This scenario describes a real-time rating and authorization capability, where usage is allowed or denied based on calculations that are performed in sequence with the network events. 
     As charges for usage are calculated and applied, system database  725  is updated accordingly. Customer management server  740  is connected to system database  725  and provides administrative capabilities to clients such as customer care terminal  735  and web server  750 . A customer service representative  730  can use customer care terminal  735  to inform user  765  about details of user  765 &#39;s account, and make any changes at user  765 &#39;s request. User  765  can also manage their own account through a computer  760 , e.g., a personal computer, which is connected through the Internet  755  to web server  750 . 
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram of rating server  720 . Rating server  720  includes a processor  810  and a memory  815 . Memory  815 , in turn, includes a shadow balance administrator  820 , that contains instructions that are readable by processor  810  to cause processor  810  to perform the activities described in the context of  FIGS. 1-7 , and further described below. 
     Processor  810 , pursuant to the instructions in shadow balance administrator  820 , implements a rating engine  822  that includes a balance manager  823  and a charge calculator  855 . Processor  810 , via balance manager  823 , maintains a real balance  825 , and maintains a shadow balance  840  for subscriber  765 . Processor  810  also performs rating calculations within charge calculator  855 . Real balance  825  has a maximum  830  and an available balance amount  835 . Shadow balance  840  has a limit  845  and an available balance amount  850 . Shadow balance  840  is associated with real balance  825 . 
     Rating engine  822  receives a communication, i.e., event  875 , indicative of an event concerning a call being made by subscriber  765  (e.g., call offered, call answered, or call disconnected). Rating engine  822 , via balance manager  823 , evaluates real balance  825  and shadow balance  840 , and calculates a virtual available balance amount  860 . Virtual available balance amount  860  is the minimum, i.e., smallest, of available balance amount  835  and available balance amount  850 . Rating engine  855 , based on its evaluation of real balance  825  and shadow balance  840 , and in particular its calculation of virtual available balance amount  860 , performs rating calculations within charge calculator  855 , and outputs a communication, i.e., a condition  870 , indicative of a condition of user  765 &#39;s account. 
     Condition  870  is communicated through signaling gateway  715  to telephony switch  710 . Telephony switch  710  acts on condition  870  and affects user  765 &#39;s call, for example by permitting, disconnecting, denying or changing the quality of service. 
     As the call progresses, rating engine  822  receives information about the call, e.g., duration of call, via a subsequent event  875  communication, and accordingly, updates available balance amount  835  and available balance amount  850  via balance manager  823  based on charges calculated using charge calculator  855 . If necessary, rating engine  822  issues a subsequent condition  870 . 
     Thus, processor  810 , pursuant to instructions in shadow balance administrator  820 , performs actions of (a) obtaining a first balance, e.g., available balance amount  850 , indicative of a first available funding for a service for subscriber  765 , in which the first balance may be consumed by subscriber  765 ; (b) obtaining a second balance, e.g., available balance amount  835 , indicative of a second available funding for the service, in which the second balance may be consumed by subscriber  765 ; (c) determining whether both of the first and second balances are sufficient to provide for the service; and (d) issuing a communication, e.g., condition  870 , to a device, e.g., telephony switch  710 , to permit usage of the service by the subscriber, if both of the first and second balances are sufficient to provide for the service. 
     Rating server  720  may be implemented in a general-purpose computer, in which case, shadow balance administrator  820  may be implemented in software as a program module. The term “module” is used herein to denote a functional operation that may be embodied either as a stand-alone component or as an integrated configuration of a plurality of sub-ordinate components. Alternatively, rating server  720  may be implemented as an application-specific device in hardware or firmware, or a combination thereof. 
     Although shadow balance administrator  820  is shown herein as being installed in memory  815 , shadow balance administrator  820  can be tangibly embodied on an external computer-readable storage medium  880  for subsequent loading into memory  815 . Storage medium  880  can be any conventional storage medium, including, but not limited to, a floppy disk, a compact disk, a magnetic tape, a read only memory, or an optical storage medium. Shadow balance administrator  820  could also be embodied in a random access memory, or other type of electronic storage, located on a remote storage system and coupled to memory  815 . 
     Also, although real balance  825  is shown as being maintained within rating server  720 , real balance  825  could be maintained on external balance management system  505  (see  FIG. 5 ). 
     The technical benefits of shadow balances lie in the way that the association of the balances and the respective balance limits is disassociated from the actual rating calculations. Using the concept of a “virtual” balance, the attributes of the shadow balance and the real balance are combined into a single entity for purposes of rating calculations. 
     The use of shadow balances provides service providers with the ability to configure flexible and attractive packages for their customers. In particular, the service provider may now offer plans with shared funds amongst different entities, and be able to guarantee that this sharing does not exceed the fund&#39;s capacity. This provides variety for the service provider, allowing them to offer more attractive packages to their customers, while at the same time limiting the service provider&#39;s exposure to revenue loss. 
     Sharing may allow customers to pay for services using a combination of local (their own) and remote (other customers&#39;) balances. Again this provides variety to the customer both within and outside of any normal billing relationship. This can allow customers to “sponsor” other customers&#39; activity. For example, see configuration  600  in  FIG. 6 . 
     Sharing may cross object types (e.g., prepaid, postpaid, online, offline), again providing variety by permitting various combinations of sharing and sponsoring. For example, a postpaid business account might sponsor the usage (by providing a shared balance) to a contractor&#39;s personal prepaid account. 
     Shadow balances provide the service provider with a simple form of sharing versus a full liability redirection, which carries more of a financial responsibility for the parties. While John may sponsor his friend&#39;s SMS usage by providing a shared balance, John will not be financially responsible if John&#39;s friend does not pay his bills. 
     The service provider may specify the order in which balances are used. That is, a customer could consume shared balances first, last, or mixed in with real balances. For example, in  FIG. 3 , virtual balances  310  and  315  and real balance  320  may be charged in any order, depending upon configuration. The service provider may configure an order in which real balance  320  is consumed first, and then virtual balances  310  and  315  thereafter, or conversely virtual balances  310  and  315  may be used first, with real balance  320  being used last. Multiple balances are only used whenever there are insufficient funds in one or more balances to pay for the entire usage. For example, if available balance amounts  307 ,  312  and  317  have values $1, $1 and $2 respectively, and the usage is rated for a total charge of $3, and the configured balance order is virtual balance  310 , virtual balance  315 , and real balance  320 , then $1 will be charged to each of virtual balance  310 , virtual balance  315 , and real balance  320  and deducted from available balance amounts  307 ,  312  and  317 . 
     The service provider may also control the spending of the shared funds at an individual level, allowing full customization. This allows the service provider to tailor individual plans for each customer. This type of personalization is very attractive to customers and promotes retention and new customer acquisition. 
     Use of shadow balances permits customers to tailor their own plans to meet their unique needs. A family may allocate higher spending limits to the parents versus the children. Parents may opt to increase a child&#39;s monthly limit as a reward for good grades or behavior. A small business may allow different spending limits for members of its sales force (who make more international calls) than members of its development staff. 
     The service provider can limit which balances can be shared and for which activities. Service providers may allow sharing of local minutes, but may not for international calls. This minimizes the service provider&#39;s exposure for revenue loss by controlling who pays for high-value services. 
     Although  FIGS. 1-8  are described in the context of a mobile telephone communication service, the techniques described herein are not limited as such, but instead could be employed in the context of other services, such as a data communication service. Another exemplary service is a credit transaction. For example, assume two members of a sales department each have a credit card with an individual spending limit, and together a shared limit. Accordingly, for an attempted credit transaction, a rating server similar to rating server  720  would be employed to control a device to permit, deny or otherwise limit the credit transaction. 
     The techniques described herein are exemplary, and should not be construed as implying any particular limitation on the present invention. Also, steps associated with the processes described herein can be performed in any order, unless otherwise specified or dictated by the steps themselves. It should be understood that various alternatives, combinations and modifications could be devised by those skilled in the art. The present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances that fall within the scope of the appended claims. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Term 
                 Definition 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 Account 
                 An entity that represents a customer of a service provider. An 
               
               
                   
                 account can be billable (for example, the liable party that owns 
               
               
                   
                 the accounts receivable) or non-billable. An account contains 
               
               
                   
                 the subscriber profile details and can have associated subscribers 
               
               
                   
                 and offers. An account can have one or more child accounts 
               
               
                   
                 (organized in a hierarchy), as well as one or more subscribers 
               
               
                   
                 and offers. An account can have zero or one account bundle. 
               
               
                   
                 Accounts can have real-time balances and accumulators. 
               
               
                 Award 
                 A rule that applies a monetary amount or non-monetary units to 
               
               
                   
                 a balance. Sources for awards include voucher purchases, 
               
               
                   
                 recharges, recurring charges, and bonus plans. The award is 
               
               
                   
                 consumed in real time, through usage that occurs after the award 
               
               
                   
                 has been granted. See also bonus. 
               
               
                 Balance 
                 A balance is a collection of funds of a similar unit type. 
               
               
                   
                 Balances can be either (1) running (real-time authorization) 
               
               
                   
                 balances or (2) financial (accounts receivable) balances. A 
               
               
                   
                 balance is a representation of either a monetary or non-monetary 
               
               
                   
                 (units-based) amount. A balance can be either postpaid or 
               
               
                   
                 prepaid. A postpaid balance can signify a unit amount, a 
               
               
                   
                 monetary credit, a spending limit, or the total amount due; all of 
               
               
                   
                 which are incremented based upon user consumption activity. A 
               
               
                   
                 real-time prepaid balance can represent the reserved holding of 
               
               
                   
                 funds or units drawn from when a user consumes services. 
               
               
                 Balance Order 
                 The order in which usage, recurring, and non-recurring charges 
               
               
                   
                 are applied to the balances associated with the subscriber and 
               
               
                   
                 accounts 
               
               
                 Bonus 
                 A promotion scheme that rewards a subscriber with discounts or 
               
               
                   
                 awards based upon specific subscriber characteristics or upon 
               
               
                   
                 achieving a certain threshold level of usage. See also award. 
               
               
                 Charging 
                 The process of modifying balances based on the calculated 
               
               
                   
                 amounts for recurring charge terms, non-recurring terms, and 
               
               
                   
                 usage. 
               
               
                 Credit Limit 
                 A service provider-defined, cyclical balance limit, used to limit 
               
               
                   
                 exposure on a postpaid balance. On a periodic basis, the balance 
               
               
                   
                 is reset to this limit. If a balance reaches its minimum value 
               
               
                   
                 (usually 0) during a cycle, then that balance cannot be used to 
               
               
                   
                 authorize events until it is reset to the limit value at the start of 
               
               
                   
                 the next cycle. Exemplary cycles include Daily, Weekly, 
               
               
                   
                 Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly, Bill Cycle, and None. 
               
               
                 Customer Care 
                 The graphical user interface used to create and manage accounts, 
               
               
                 Interface 
                 subscribers, and hierarchies. 
               
               
                 Invoice 
                 Cyclically generated or on-demand detailed listing of charges, 
               
               
                   
                 taxes, and outstanding balance against an account, associated 
               
               
                   
                 discounts or credits, and adjustments. Also includes invoice 
               
               
                   
                 number, invoice date, total amount, and so on. Invoices can be 
               
               
                   
                 generated and formatted for dispatch to customers. 
               
               
                 Offer 
                 An offer is a minimum sellable entity that can be delivered to an 
               
               
                   
                 account or subscriber for the consumption of service. It is a 
               
               
                   
                 collection of reusable building blocks that models its activity 
               
               
                   
                 usage type, service, price, eligibility, and dependencies with 
               
               
                   
                 other offers, correlated resources, service payments, and 
               
               
                   
                 consumed credits. Common types of offers are primary offer, 
               
               
                   
                 supplementary offer, and account offer. 
               
               
                 Payment 
                 A payment is the transfer of money from one party (such as a 
               
               
                   
                 person or company) to another. A payment is usually made in 
               
               
                   
                 exchange for the provision of goods, services or both, e.g., 
               
               
                   
                 transfer of money from subscriber to communication service 
               
               
                   
                 provider in exchange for the services and goods offered. 
               
               
                 Payment Mode 
                 Payment mode refers to the mode in which the subscriber makes 
               
               
                   
                 payment to the communications service provider. Payment can 
               
               
                   
                 be made in Prepaid Mode or Postpaid mode. 
               
               
                 Postpaid Balance 
                 A postpaid balance signifies a unit amount, a monetary credit, a 
               
               
                   
                 spending limit, or the total amount due; all of which are 
               
               
                   
                 incremented based upon user consumption activity. 
               
               
                 Postpaid Payment 
                 Postpaid Payment mode refers to services paid for after use, i.e., 
               
               
                 Mode 
                 use and pay. 
               
               
                 Prepaid Balance 
                 A prepaid balance represents the reserved holding of funds or 
               
               
                   
                 units drawn from when a user consumes services. 
               
               
                 Prepaid Payment 
                 Prepaid Payment mode refers to services paid for in advance, 
               
               
                 Mode 
                 i.e., pay and then use. 
               
               
                 Product Catalog 
                 The Product Catalog is a system-provisioning data store for 
               
               
                   
                 coherent and centralized management of market offerings. It 
               
               
                   
                 supports multiple virtual service provider product definitions 
               
               
                   
                 within a deployment and provides various paradigms for market 
               
               
                   
                 segmentation and product pricing. 
               
               
                 Real Time 
                 Describes an activity or transaction that occurs during the rating 
               
               
                   
                 and/or charging process, as opposed to waiting until the end of a 
               
               
                   
                 cycle (bill time). Note that the “real-time” rating and/or 
               
               
                   
                 charging process takes place, in most cases, during the actual 
               
               
                   
                 duration of the usage event that is being rated and/or charged. 
               
               
                 Recurring/Non- 
                 The entity that generates recurring and non-recurring charges 
               
               
                 Recurring Charge 
                 and applies them to subscriber balances. 
               
               
                 Server 
               
               
                 Spending Limit 
                 A user-definable (account-definable) cyclical limit on a balance, 
               
               
                   
                 put in place to voluntarily control spending on a balance. A 
               
               
                   
                 spending limit is used to limit exposure on a postpaid balance. 
               
               
                   
                 Spending limits are reset cyclically and are not impacted by 
               
               
                   
                 payments. 
               
               
                 Statement 
                 Cyclically generated or on-demand detailed listing of charges, 
               
               
                   
                 taxes, and remaining balance against an account, associated 
               
               
                   
                 discounts or and credits. Also includes statement number, 
               
               
                   
                 statement date, statement amount, and so on. Statement can be 
               
               
                   
                 generated and formatted for dispatch to customers. 
               
               
                 Subscriber 
                 Subscriber refers to: (a) A person who uses the product or 
               
               
                   
                 service (b) A specific service-delivery point for a product or 
               
               
                   
                 service, for example, a telephone line, a login account for an 
               
               
                   
                 online service, an end point in a leased line network. 
               
               
                 Unified Rating 
                 Unified Rating Engine enables service providers to charge for all 
               
               
                 Engine 
                 telecom services in real time and non-real-time, with complete 
               
               
                   
                 real-time balance management for prepaid, postpaid, and hybrid 
               
               
                   
                 customers. It has a flexible charging model that can adapt to 
               
               
                   
                 evolving customer models with the ability to limit overall 
               
               
                   
                 customer liabilities for reduced financial risk. It enables real- 
               
               
                   
                 time and deferred promotions, with cross-product discounting to 
               
               
                   
                 create innovative marketing offers for penetrating new customer 
               
               
                   
                 segments and reducing churn. It supports many rating features 
               
               
                   
                 to meet a wide range of requirements from the wireline, mobile, 
               
               
                   
                 cable, and Internet broadband industries.