Patent ID: 6856675

Claim:
A process for signaling cost information in a telecommunications network comprised of a plurality of exchanges, wherein the process comprises: establishing a connection between a subscriber's terminal and an exchange of the plurality of exchanges, forwarding a tariff request for a to-be-completed telephone call or an on-going telephone call from a call handling function resident in the exchange to an independent tariff server, wherein the tariff server is connected to several of the exchanges comprising the telecommunications network and receives tariff requests from the exchanges, receiving a tariff response at the call handling function at the exchange from the tariff server for the requested connection, forwarding the tariff response from the call handling function to a CDR generating function in the exchange, forwarding current cost information from the CDR generating function to the cost communication function of the exchange, and communicating the current cost information from the cost communication function to the subscriber's terminal prior to the establishment of the to-be-completed telephone call or during the on-going telephone call, wherein the exchange forwards the current cost information to a bill server and the bill server updates a subscriber database resident on the tariff server with the received current cost information.