Patent ID: 8271383

Claim:
A method for providing a soft disconnection, the method comprising: determining that a payment has not been received for a service after a date for which an account holder responsible for the service has been sent a disconnection notice; disconnecting, in response to determining that the payment has not been received, a portion of the service wherein disconnecting the portion the service comprises remotely disabling at least one of the following: digital cable television and internet access, wherein the service comprises both digital cable television and internet access; providing, in response to determining that the payment has not been received, a first user interface to a device for receiving the disconnected portion of the service, the device for receiving the disconnected portion of the service comprising one of the following: a video on demand server, a set top box, a service processor, a broadcast server, and a cable modem; receiving identification data in response to the provided first user interface, wherein receiving the identification data in response to the provided first user interface comprises receiving the identification data from the device for receiving the disconnected portion of the service; determining that the identification data is valid; providing, in response to determining that the identification data is valid, a second user interface to the device for receiving the disconnected portion of the service; receiving payment data in response to the provided second user interface, wherein receiving the payment data in response to the provided second user interface comprises receiving the payment data from the device for receiving the disconnected portion of the service; determining that the payment data is valid; and reinstating the disconnected portion of the service to the device in response to determining that the payment data is valid.