Patent Document ID: 6038292
Application ID: 08965712

Base Claim:
1. A method for selecting a language to be used by a system center in guiding a calling party in placing a prepaid telephone call through the system center from any telephone configured to be connected to the system center, comprising the steps of: (a) connecting a calling party, from any telephone configured to be connected to the system center, to the system center; (b) entering, by the calling party selecting corresponding telephone number keys, an account code, representing an account with a prepaid account balance; (c) receiving said account code from the calling party and determining if said account code represents a valid prepaid account; (d) after receipt and validation of said account code, using said account code to access a database corresponding to said account code to determine if the calling party has previously established a preferred language to be used by the system center when communicating to the calling party; (e) prompting the calling party, in said preferred language, for a destination telephone number of a desired party; (f) connecting the calling party to the desired party; and (g) reducing the amount of prepaid credit in said prepaid account during the duration of the call connection.

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Claim 5:
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of entering an account code further comprises prompting the calling party in a plurality of languages to enter an account code and presenting to the calling party each of said plurality of languages in that particular language.