Patent ID: 7215663

Claim:
In a dispersed Internet protocol network that supplies communication and data services across components that are electrically attached to a central arbitration server, a method of allowing communication applications to modify call detail records for services rendered on a per record basis by providing generic fields that allow the central arbitration server to collect billing information for any application without having to anticipate it, the method comprising: the step of initiating a control path connection on a network layer between individual components attached to the dispersed network and at least one central arbitration server for centralized arbitration of service requests received from the individual components; the step of receiving a service request; the step of initiating a data path connection between the individual components designated by the service request; and the step of the central arbitration server initiating a service layer to supply the requested service; the step of the central arbitration server generating a call detail record for the service request and populating one or more call detail record fields thereof by default; and the step of the central arbitration server allowing an application corresponding to the requested service to extend the one or more call detail record fields known to the central arbitration server by allowing the application to populate a generic filed within the call detail record with information specific to the requested service provided by the application in order to allow the application to add information on a per call detail record basis, wherein the generic field within the call detail record can be populated by a plurality of applications to add information specific to services offered by each of the plurality of applications.