Patent Publication Number: US-6990182-B2

Title: Prepaid phone service for both wired and wireless telecommunication devices

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/742,924, filed Dec. 21, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,529,593, and is incorporated herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to prepaid phone service and more specifically to a system and method of providing a single prepaid account for both wireline and wireless phone service. 
     2. Discussion of Related Art 
     Many individuals use both a wireline telephone, for example a home telephone line, and a wireless telephone or other wireless device for communication. Often different entities, each having different billing strategies, provide service for wireline and wireless services. Subscribers of both kinds of services typically receive separate bills for the respective telephone usage. Further, the separate billing arrangements increase the cost of the overall telephone service for the individual. 
     With the increased cost of having both a wireline and wireless telephone service, many individuals and families are unable to control their spending for these services. Bad credit risks prevent some people from receiving phone service because of previous payment history. To address some of these concerns, prepaid phone systems have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,485 to Martin et al., discloses a system in which a user can call a server that communicates with the user to identify a telephone terminal and a receive a prepayment for that terminal before the user can make calls. The &#39;485 patent discloses individual methods of setting up a prepayment plan for either a wireline system or a wireless system. However, the &#39;485 patent fails to teach any method or system for combining a single prepaid account for all telephone service needs. The contents of the &#39;458 patent are incorporated herein. 
     Another group of patents, U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,155, U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,642 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,621, all invented by Castro, teach a method and system for prepayment of telecommunications connections between a first and a second device. Castro discloses a system wherein a group of registered subscribers can prepay a bulk amount of money for telecommunication connection initiated by members of the registered group. This allows the group to obtain preferred calling rates. However, none of the Castro patents discloses any way of providing a simple and easy prepaid system that serves the entire group of telecommunication devices used by many subscribers. The contents of the &#39;155, &#39;642 and &#39;621 patents are incorporated herein by reference. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     What is needed in the art is a system and method that enables subscribers to control and monitor the amount of money they spend on all of their telecommunications services. Users may wish to be able to control the amount of their spending by prepaying for telecommunication service on a monthly basis. Rather than having separated prepaid accounts for wired and wireless services, the present invention provides a single subscriber prepayment account associated with a plurality of subscriber telecommunication devices. This enables subscribers to control their overall spending for telecommunication services. 
     In order to address the deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention is proposed for enabling a user to make a single pre-payment of telecommunication services that will serve to pay for both wireline and wireless telecommunications connections. According to the first embodiment of the present invention, a system for providing prepayment of telecommunication services is provided. The system is associated with a wireless communication network and a wireline communication network and comprises an account management server communicating with both the wireless communication network and the wireline communication network, the account management server storing a value associated with the telecommunication time paid for by a subscriber, and a time-measurement module. The time-measurement module monitors the amount of time the subscriber uses both the wireless communication network and the wireline communication network and decreases the value in the subscriber account accordingly. 
     The system according to the first embodiment of the present invention enables a subscriber to make a single prepayment for telecommunication services. The prepaid value is applied to the wireline and/or wireless telecommunication devices. The system may be organized to enable a subscriber to have a lump value (time or dollar amount) applied to all the telecommunication devices in the account, or the subscriber may be able to allocate certain prepaid values to specific devices. In this manner, if a child has a wireless phone the parent can limit the spending on that specific wireless phone accordingly. 
     According to a second embodiment of the present invention, a method is proposed for providing a single pre-paid telecommunication service amount to apply to subscriber wireline and wireless telecommunication devices. The method comprises storing a prepaid value in a computer server, monitoring telecommunication time for the subscriber&#39;s wireless and wireline telecommunication devices, and decreasing the value on the computer server according to the used telecommunication time by the subscriber. 
     The method according to the second embodiment of the invention may further include steps to enable the subscriber to control whether the account is arranged to limit the prepaid amount on a device by device basis on a subscriber account basis. The method of the present invention has the advantages of enabling the subscriber to control both how much money is spent on telecommunication services and control, if desired, the use of telecommunication time on a device-by-device basis. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of several embodiments of the invention with reference to the corresponding accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of hardware and software for implementing the first embodiment of the invention for prepayment of telecommunication services for subscriber wireless and wireline accounts; 
         FIG. 2  is a detailed diagram of the central switching center and the account manager; 
         FIG. 3   a  is a flowchart illustrating the steps according to the second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3   b  is a flowchart illustration additional steps according to an aspect of the second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4   a  illustrates the organization of the subscriber data on a device by device basis; and 
         FIG. 4   b  illustrates the organization of subscriber data on a subscriber account basis. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The first embodiment of the invention is described with reference to  FIG. 1 . The overall system  10  comprises a wireless or mobile telephone network  12  and an exemplary base station  11  that communicate with a plurality of mobile units  14 . The mobile units  14 , or wireless units, may be wireless phones, pagers, personal data devices such as palm pilots®, Internet-capable phones, mobile computers and the like. Wireless phones according to the present invention may be digital, analog, TDMA, CDMA, GSM, EDGE, or GPRS or any other protocol for wireless communicating. In other words, the present invention is not limited to any specific industry standard or device. A switched telephone network central switching station  16   a  communicates over a wire line with at least one telephone  18 . The telephone  18  refers to any type of telephone that is different from a cellular based telecommunications device as is shown in association with the mobile network  12 . Thus, telephone  18  may be a cordless phone or a wireless phone that is associated with a personal base station. A truck line  15  communicate calls from the central switching station  16   a  to a central switching station  16   b  serving another area code. 
     The mobile phone network  12  communicates calls to and from the switched-network  16   a  according to means known to those of skill in the art. Each of the mobile phone network  12  and the switched telephone network  16   a  communicates with an account management server  26 . The account management server  26  stores information regarding the prepayment of telecommunication services for an individual subscriber. Thus each individual subscriber has a prepaid account that is associated with both his or her wireless device  14  and the wireline telephone  18 . The account management server  26  manages the subscriber accounts and associated phone numbers with the wireline and wireless accounts. A bank server  28  communicates with the account management server  26  to enable a user to transfer funds from a credit card or other account to the account management server  26  in order to prepay for the telecommunication service. Those of skill in the art will understand how to provide prepayment by electronic funds transfer, bank card or check. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,485 to Martin et al., whose contents are incorporated herein by reference, illustrate several means for prepaying for service. 
     The account management server  26  communicates with the Internet  32  in order to enable a subscriber to enter an Internet web page associated with the prepayment system and method of the present invention and monitor his or her account status. In this manner, via a computer  34 , wireless device  36  and/or a portable computing device  38 , the subscriber may add further prepayment amounts to the account to purchase additional telecommunications time. 
     Although the above illustration and description of the first embodiment of the invention discusses a subscriber having a wireline phone and a wireless phone, another aspect of the present invention may enable a subscriber to add any number of telephone numbers or devices to a prepayment account. For example, many subscribers have two home phone numbers, and a wireless phone for each of a husband and wife, and perhaps more for children. Broadband services, cable services, or other communication or multimedia services may also be integrated into the prepayment concept according to the present invention. Thus, the present invention is flexible in that all of these phone numbers and various communication means may be paid for on the same prepayment account. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, while a single prepayment account may be provided for a plurality of wireline and wireless phones, a subscriber may be able to allocate various amounts of time for each device. For example, if a family has a children&#39;s wireless phone and a family home/wireline phone, the parents may be able to enter the subscriber website through a computer  34  and limit the amount of money (or time) that can be spent using the children&#39;s wireless phone to, for example, $30 per month. 
     The wireless devices according to the embodiments of the present invention may be of any type or protocol. For example, TDMA, CDMA, EDGE, GPRS and/or GSM wireless networks may provide for this prepaid option. In a GSM based-wireless telephone network, U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,226 to Martineau, which contents are incorporated fully herein, illustrates a prepayment smart card for use in a GSM system. While Martineau discloses and focuses his invention on a cellular telephone system which may be used completely anonymously, the present invention will require the network to monitor and to bill the prepaid account of the subscriber. Further network elements needed for a prepaid system as disclosed herein wherein the wireless device uses a SIM card as in the GSM system includes an intelligent networking infrastructure with a billing capability to keep track of on-line tax and rate information. The user remains attached to the respective SIM card and is considered as a subscriber and managed as a subscriber. 
     With further reference to  FIG. 1 , a portion of a public telecommunication switching network (PTSN) is schematically represented. Only the central switching stations and associated billing systems for a first area code “I” and a second area code “II” are shown, as well as a single wireless system. As illustrated, central switching station I  16   a  for area code I is in communication with central switching station  16   b  for area code II by way of trunk-line circuit  15 , as is known in the art. Each central switching station is connected to subscriber telecommunication devices  18  that has been assigned a unique calling number by its central switching station. Telecommunication devices  18  may be telephones, facsimile machines or other data-communication devices that can be connected within the telecommunication switching network. Other network requirements for other broadband, cable, or personal base station networks are not shown. These elements are known to those of skill in the art. 
     A wireless network  12  communicates calls to and from at least one wireless device  14  through at least one base station  11  to the central switching station I  16   a . In order to process the cost and charges for each connection across the switching network and account for these charges over time for subscriber billing, an account manager system  26  is operably connected to the central switching station I  16   a  as well as the wireless network  12 . The account management server  26  is capable of handling the account monitoring and processing for both local, long distance, and wireless calls in the overall network. Utility fees owing to other central switching stations for use of their lines and equipment during long-distance calls are accounted for and may be deducted from the pre-paid account. 
     A telecommunications time manager  17  is operably connected to both the wireless network  12  and the central switched station I  16   a . The time manager  17  monitors the time during which calls are made from any telecommunication device associated with a subscriber&#39;s account. The telecommunication time manager  17  will then communicate with the account management server  26  to modify or process the telecommunication data stored in the account management server  26  to reflect decrements in pre-purchased telecommunication-time during the course of a telecommunication connection. The function of the time manager  17  may be carried out in a number of ways, such as using a data processing device, a count-down timer or the like. 
     In order to warn the user that the available pre-purchased telecommunication time has been reduced to a predetermined level, an alarm may be provided from the account manager  26 . The alarm informs a subscriber that a certain X amount of minutes remains on the account or that a certain amount of money remains in the account. Also, the telecommunication time manager  17  includes signal-generating circuit capable of selectively generating a telecommunication-disconnect signal or rate re-enabled signal. This circuit, operably connected to the central switching station I  16   a , presents the user with the choice of continuing an ongoing telecommunication process subject to rate-based cost computing when pre-purchased telecommunication time is completely exhausted. For example, using a keypad data entry device on either a wireline phone  18  or a wireless device  14 , the user can program or inform the central switching station I  16   a  (i.e. its control program) to cause the signal generating circuit to generate and transmit a rate re-enable signal pattern. 
     This signal, when received at the central switching station and billing system, will re-enable the use of rate schedules and automatically generate a second transaction record for that portion of the telecommunication process extending beyond prepayment servicing. The second transaction record will be subject to rate-based cost computation, while the first transaction record for the first portion of the telecommunication process has been subject to prepayment servicing according to the present invention. 
     Alternatively, instead of such split transaction records, the user can program the system controller to automatically cause signal generating circuit  71  to generate a telecommunication disconnect signal pattern which is transmitted to the central switching station upon depletion of pre-purchased telecommunication-time. When received, this signal will be decoded as authorization to terminate the telecommunication connection. 
     The choices of handling exhausted prepaid account may be modified for each subscriber account. For example, a child&#39;s wireless phone may be prevented from purchasing additional time when the prepaid amount is exhausted. These options are stored as parameters associated with each account and the account management server  26  operates accordingly. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the central switching center  16   a,b  comprises a switching computer  40  communicating with a transaction data generator  42  and a reporting data receiver  64 . Data lines in  FIG. 2  illustrate communication between other central switching centers, wireless networks, or subscriber lines. The transaction data generator  42  and reporting data receiver  64  each communicate with the account manager  26 . The account manager  26  comprises data storage I  48  and data storage II  52 , a data gating module  44 , rate-data storage  56 , a call cost processor  58 , a billing record module  60  and a printer  62 . The data gating module  44  communicates with the bank server  28  for receiving electronic transfers of funds for prepayment or other accounts. Data storage I and data storage II can be any memory device which stores transaction data records produced from central switching station  16   a  for each telecommunication connection effectuated (i.e. process conducted). While illustrated as separate units, the data storage units I, II can be realized in a single data storage device, whose storage space is ramified into two distinct subspaces. 
     Transaction-record data produced for each prepaid telecommunication connection is stored in data storage I  48 . Such data storage can be achieved by providing gating module  44  data to a subscriber table module  46 . In this module  46 , a subscriber&#39;s various telecommunication numbers are organized such that the cost for a call from, for example, the subscriber&#39;s wireless device  14  is debited from the appropriate subscriber data account in data storage I  48 . Transaction-record data produced for each non-prepaid telecommunication connection is stored in data storage II  52  for subsequent cost computation. Both types of transaction record data can be organized in a variety of ways, for example, according to (i) the number of each telecommunication line allocated by the central switching station, or (ii) an assigned number to each prepaid subscriber, including a number associated with each respective telecommunications device. 
     Rate-data from rate-data storage unit  56  and transaction record data from data storage II  52  are both provided to cost processor  58  for computing the cost for each call transaction, as shown. In general, cost processor  58  can be any suitably programmed device, such as a general purpose computing system with appropriate software for cost computation. Typically, the rate-data is a function of the time, day and duration of the call, and thus such information from each transaction record will be used to select the applicable cost rate from rate-date storage module  56 . If a call transaction or monthly statement includes both prepaid portions and rate-billed portions (i.e., the subscriber&#39;s account allows for rate billing when the prepaid amount is exhausted), then the call cost processor  58  draws data from both the data storage II  52  and the data storage I  48  to process and print a billing statement. 
     For each transaction record provided to the cost processor, a billing record is generated and stored in billing record storage unit  60 . Preferably, billing record data is organized according to a subscriber name or number including numbers associated with each additional telecommunications device associated with that subscriber. In this way, a complete monthly billing record can be readily generated for each prepaid subscriber that may be further broken down according to each telecommunication device on the account if desired. A printer  62  enables the system to print the invoices or notices of remaining pre-paid amounts for mailing to customers in a conventional fashion. 
     The subscriber may gain access to data within the account manager  26  via the Internet  32 . In this manner, the subscriber may review and modify the pre-payment amounts in his or her account. For example, the subscriber may be able to effect an electronic transfer from a bank server  28  to the subscriber&#39;s account to add more time on the account. The account manager data  26  may further be accessed via the Internet  32  using an Internet related wireless device  14  through a wireless interface  36 , palm pilot® or the like  38  or a computer  34 . Also via the Internet  32 , the subscriber may be able to modify the options associated with the account. The options may include, but are not limited to: (1) single prepayment amount or individual prepaid amounts for each telecommunication device in the account; (2) rate-billing after exhaustion or prepaid amount, either on an account basis or on a device-by-device basis; (3) modifying the amounts of prepaid time on a device by device basis; and (4) modifying the thresholds for low time remaining warnings. 
     If the prepaid amount of money or time left on the system is low, below a predetermined threshold, a data generator  50  will indicate the status of the account to a reported data receiver  64  that will inform the switching computer  40 . The switching computer  40  then notifies the device with a warning such as “You have only X minutes remaining on your prepaid account.” This warning message may vary based on the organization of the account (variations of which are described below in connection with  FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b ). For example, if an account is organized as described for  FIG. 4   a , the warning may be for a child&#39;s cell-phone and may be: “Nancy, you only have 10 minutes left on your account.” 
       FIG. 3   a  illustrates a second embodiment of the present invention comprising a method of enabling a subscriber to have a single pre-paid account for all of his or her telecommunication devices.  FIG. 3   a  illustrates the example of when a subscriber has a single wired telephone  104  and a wireless device  102 . However, any combination of telecommunication devices may be associated with a single subscriber or subscriber family, which association in the same subscriber account is monitored by the subscriber table  46  within the account manager  26 . According to the method of the present invention, data associated with either a call from a wireless device  102  or a wired device  104  is processed according to the subscriber&#39;s single pre-paid account  106 . The process determines whether the funds or time in the account is less than a predetermined number “X”. For example, if the account is monitored according to the money left, say X=$10, then the routine determines whether there is less than $10 left in the prepaid account  108 . If yes, then a warning is provided  110  to the subscriber regarding how much money is left on the account, and the call is connected  112 . If there is no money left in the account, then the call may not be connected. If the answer is no (there is more than $10 in the account), than routine connects the call  112  and monitors the time associated with the call  114 . The routine decrements the prepaid account accordingly  116 . 
     If the pre-paid account is monitored according to the time left in the account, then step  108  inquires whether the amount of time is less than, say,  10  minutes. If so, then the routine warns the user at 10 minutes left  110  and connects the call or maintains the call. If there is more than the minimum X number of minutes, than the call is connected and the amount of time the call takes is monitored  114 . The prepaid account is decremented according to the time spent on the particular call. 
       FIG. 3   b  illustrates further steps between steps  108  and  110  of  FIG. 3   a . In  FIG. 3   b , if the answer to the query of whether the amount of time left in the account is less than a certain threshold  108  is yes, the routine determines whether the amount is zero  118 . If yes, then the routine determines whether approval on the account, for that device, enables rate-billing  120 . If yes, rate-billing is enabled, a further optional question provided to the subscriber is whether they wish to continue the call or whether switching to rate-billing is authorized  124 . If no, the routine terminates the call or service  122 . If yes, then the system switches to rate billing  126  and the call proceeds  112 . If rate billing is not approved for the account or for the individual telecommunications device  120 , then the routine terminates the call  112 . If at step  118 , the value or amount left in the account is not zero, then the routine warns the user  110  and connects the call  112 . 
       FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b  illustrate examples of how the subscriber data may be organized. In  FIG. 4   a , the data is organized in a table  130  such that a subscriber&#39;s phone numbers  132 ,  134 ,  136  each have a separate prepaid amount associated with it. In this manner, a subscriber may make a single payment but allocate different amounts to different phones as desired. Parents may be able to control the amount of calls children can make on the family phone or their own wireless phones. Each amount of prepaid time remaining has an associated amount of money left such that the “value” reported to the subscriber may be either how much money is left for the account or how much time remains for the use of the respective telecommunications device. Also associated with each phone number or telecommunications device  132 ,  134 ,  136  is whether rate-billed approval is authorized. In the example shown in  FIG. 4   a , the authorization is provided in a device-by-device basis, although this may be modified to be on a subscriber account basis. Further data may also be provided, such as the name of each person who will be using a particular cell phone and threshold warning values. Thus, warnings and other data provided to each user of the subscriber account may be personalized to that user. 
       FIG. 4   b  illustrates a table  150  wherein a subscriber has a first wired phone number  152 , and a first wireless phone number  154  and a second wireless phone number  156 . A prepaid amount column includes a single pool of money in the account from which each telecommunications device assigned to the subscriber draws from as they are used. The parameters for authorization for rate-billing, name on the account, and threshold warning amount are also illustrated in  FIG. 4   b  on an subscriber account basis. 
     Although the above description may contain specific details, they should not be construed as limiting the claims in any way. Other configurations of the described embodiments of the invention are part of the scope of this invention. For example, although many details are provided in  FIG. 2 , the concepts and spirit of the invention are not meant to be limited to that particular system organization. As wireline and wireless network improve and change, such modifications are contemplated as within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims and their legal equivalents should only define the invention, rather than any specific examples given.