Patent ID: 6904276

Claim:
An apparatus for managing call billing records for users of a signaling network operative to carry user calls, comprising: a gateway interfacing the signaling network with an Internet Service Provider and a local exchange carrier and operative to collect call billing data from the signaling network in a first data structure format; and a network processor operative to: receive the collected call billing data in the first data structure format from the gateway, convert the collected call billing data from the first data structure format to a second data structure format, access a directory of call event records associated with the call billing data in the first data structure within the gateway; generate an output file representing the call billing data in the second data structure based on the call event records, wherein the second data structure includes default values for header fields and trailer fields; and transmit the output file to a data network for billing processing by a co-carrier access billing system for settlement with the Internet Service Provider and the local exchange carrier.