Patent ID: 8144849

Claim:
A method of selectively issuing pre-authorized credit from a user to an incoming call, said method comprising: identifying one or more source identifications (IDs) for receiving pre-authorized credit for the incoming call, said incoming call being a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) call; specifying one or more destinations to receive the incoming call; defining a rule associated with the one or more destinations and the one or more source IDs; receiving the incoming call directed to one of the destinations from a caller; evaluating the incoming call and the caller as a function of the one of the destinations, one or more identified source IDs and the defined rule; notifying the caller if evaluating indicates that the incoming call does not satisfy the defined rule to receive the issued pre-authorized credit for the incoming call; issuing the pre-authorized credit for the incoming call from the caller if the evaluating indicates that the incoming call to the destination satisfies the defined rule; and routing the incoming call from the caller to the user, wherein the caller establishes a connection with the user without being charged for the incoming call.