Patent ID: 7181421

Claim:
In a system for providing secure remote access between a plurality of unrelated host computer networks and a plurality of authorized users via a network access server, a method of monitoring access to each of the unrelated host computer networks comprising the steps of: receiving at a communication server a request from a remotely located computer user to access one of the plurality of unrelated host computer networks; automatically transmitting information regarding the request from the communication server to the network access server, the information comprising identification information for the remotely located computer user; determining at the network access server if the user is authorized to access the one of the plurality of unrelated host computer networks; establishing a connection between the remotely located computer user and the one of the plurality of unrelated host computer networks via the communication server if the remotely located user is an authorized remotely located user for the one of the plurality of unrelated host computer networks; storing computer usage time for the authorized remotely located computer user in a user log at the network access server after the authorized remotely located computer user disconnects from the one of the plurality of unrelated host computer networks whereby the user log contains a record of computer time usage for each authorized user; for each of the plurality of unrelated host computer networks, generating a billing and computer time usage summary, each billing and computer time usage summary listing charges and computer time usage for a respective one of the plurality of unrelated host computer networks; and electronically transmitting each billing and computer usage summary to an appropriate one of the plurality of unrelated host computer networks.