Patent ID: 8086545

Claim:
A method for determining a charge for a communication in a communications network, the method comprising: (a) receiving, at a first network node of a computing device; a message from a user equipment, the message comprising a payload and addressed to a plurality of destinations, wherein the first network node and each of the plurality of destinations comprise a computing device; (b) sending, from the first network node of a computing device; a first message towards a destination of the plurality of destinations, the first message comprising the payload, a first charging identifier, and a second charging identifier, the first charging identifier associated with the message and the second charging identifier generated for the destination, wherein the second charging identifier corresponds to a service that generates the plurality of messages and that is performed at the first network node; and (c) sending a charging message to a second network node to charge an account of the user equipment, the charging message comprising the first charging identifier and the second charging identifier, wherein the second network node comprises a computing device.