Patent ID: 8036210

Claim:
A method for providing an online charging, comprising: in a Circuit Switched (CS) domain, not invoking an online charging for a user who subscribes for a service involving simultaneously the CS domain and an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and needs the online charging, when the user originates or terminates a call in the CS domain; and in the IMS, performing a credit control for the user when the call of the user is processed in the IMS; wherein the credit control is performed through an interaction of an Application Server (AS) controlling the service involving simultaneously the CS domain and the IMS with at least one of an online charging system (OCS) in the IMS and a prepay system in the CS domain; when the user subscribes for the online charging service simultaneously in the CS domain and the IMS, accomplishing, by the AS controlling the service involving simultaneously the CS domain and the IMS, the credit control in the CS domain and the IMS through interacting with the OCS of the IMS directly via a standard Ro interface and interacting with the prepay system in the CS domain via the OCS of the IMS in accordance with user's subscription data; or, accomplishing, by the AS controlling the service involving simultaneously the CS domain and the IMS, the credit control in the CS domain and the IMS through interacting with the OCS of the IMS via the standard Ro interface and interacting with the prepay system in the CS domain via a CAP interface in accordance with user's subscription data.