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Method for handling parallel transactions on telephone pre-paid accounts
| Details |
Inventors: Smith, Ola; Sodren, Carl; Vincent, Karl Tage Goran;
Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Stockholm, SE)
Primary Examiner: Bost; Dwayne D.
Assistant Examiner: Wyche; Myron K.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Jenkens & Gilchrist, P.C.
A method is disclosed such that when a call is being set up from or to a mobile (or fixed) pre-paid subscriber, a portion of the value in the subscriber's pre-paid account is withdrawn to cover the cost of the call. Preferably, the amount withdrawn is large enough to cover the cost for a call of typical duration (e.g., 4 minutes). At call set up, for example, in an Intelligent Network, this amount is withdrawn from the account and allocated to the call being set up. If this amount is not completely used up, the remainder is returned to the pre-paid account. If, however, the allocated amount is depleted before the call is completed, a second allocation or withdrawal from the account is requested for that call. If the value left in the account is large enough to cover the second withdrawal request, a second amount is withdrawn and allocated to cover the ongoing call. If needed, additional withdrawals can be made to cover the ongoing call until it is completed. Once the call is completed, any remainder of the allocated amount is returned to the pre-paid account. Consequently, a pre-paid subscriber can have a plurality of parallel ongoing calls, and because the amount in the pre-paid account is being monitored and accounted for before or while the calls occur, there is no risk that these calls will not be covered by the amount in the pre-paid account. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to eliminate the risk for a service provider that the cost for parallel calls will not be covered by the amount in a telephone subscriber's pre-paid account.
It is another object of the present invention to process parallel pre-paid mobile telephone account transactions that are discrete and instantaneous.
It is yet another object of the present invention to process parallel, non-interfering pre-paid mobile telephone account transactions.
It is also an object of the present invention to enable supplementary mobile telephone services, such as Call Forwarding or conference calls, to be handled securely for pre-paid accounts.
It is another object of the present invention to make pre-paid mobile telephone services as attractive to service providers and subscribers as post-paid telephone services.
In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by a method in which when a call is being set up from or to a pre-paid subscriber, a portion of the value in the subscriber's pre-paid account is withdrawn to cover the cost of the call.
Preferably, the amount withdrawn is large enough to cover the cost for a call of typical duration (e.
g.
, 4 minutes).
At call set up, this amount is withdrawn from the account and allocated to the call being set up.
If this amount is not completely used up, the remainder is returned to the pre-paid account.
If, however, the allocated amount is depleted before the call is completed, a second allocation or withdrawal from the account is requested for that call.
If the value left in the account is large enough to cover the second withdrawal request, a second amount is withdrawn and allocated to cover the ongoing call.
If needed, additional withdrawals can be made to cover the ongoing call until it is completed.
Once the call is completed, any remainder of the allocated amount is returned to the pre-paid account.
Consequently, if a parallel transaction takes place, the account value made available for this transaction is less than or equal to the actual current account value, and the risk is eliminated that the costs for parallel calls will not be covered by the subscriber's pre-paid account
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