US5666405A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
True family telecommunication service
Assignee: NEC Corp
•
Filing: 1995-07-14
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Granted: 1997-09-09
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Expires: 2015-07-14
Abstract
Abstract Entities who normally are financially responsible for calls made by them have their calls paid for by a sponsor when they are selected by the sponsor to be included in a "family ring" and they make calls to other entities that are included by the sponsor in the family ring. This capability is achieved with the aid of a database node which maintains information about the identity of members in the family ring. Operationally, in accordance with one embodiment, any member of the family ring who wishes to call another member of the family ring calls a pre-designated number that connects the calling party to a database node. The database node interacts with the calling party by first determining whether the calling party is a member of the family ring, and when the calling party is authenticated, the database node responds to information that identifies a selected called party who is also a member of the family ring. The database node performs a translation, as necessary, and informs the telecommunication network of the destination desired by the calling party. In response, the telecommunication network connects the calling party to the called party.
Inventors
- 👤 Roy Philip Weber
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 07:08
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M15/00; H04M15/70; H04M15/765; H04M15/7652; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M2215/00; H04M2215/72; H04M2215/724; H04M2215/7245
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 27
Claim 1
Independent Claim
135 words
A method for providing telecommunication service to a group of communication entities that are preselected by a sponsor to form a group, comprising the steps of: in a database node, maintaining information about said communication entities that are members of said group; based on information provided by one of said communication entities acting as a calling party, and through interaction with-to said database node, determining identity of another one of said communication entities with which the calling party wishes to communicate as a called party that is a member of said group; effecting a connection between the calling party and the called party, and charging said sponsor for said connection instead of the entity that would be charged were it not for the fact that both calling party and called party belong to said group.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
135 words
A method for providing telecommunication service to a group of communication entities that are preselected by a sponsor to form a group, comprising the steps of: in a database node, maintaining information about said communication entities that are members of said group; based on information provided by one of said communication entities acting as a calling party, and through interaction with-to said database node, determining identity of another one of said communication entities with which the calling party wishes to communicate as a called party that is a member of said group; effecting a connection between the calling party and the called party, and charging said sponsor for said connection instead of the entity that would be charged were it not for the fact that both calling party and called party belong to said group.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 1 where said information comprises a telephone number that is unique to said group.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 1 where said information comprises a telephone number that is unique to said group, followed by information that uniquely identifies one of said entities as the called party.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 1 where said information comprises a telephone number that identifies the called party.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 4 where said information comprises a telephone number that identifies the called party, preceded by a code.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 4 where said information comprises a telephone number that identifies the called party, followed by a code.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising a step of authenticating the calling party.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 7 wherein the step of authenticating comprises determining the calling party's telephone number.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 7 wherein the step of authenticating comprises determining the calling party's identity.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 7 wherein the step of authenticating comprises verifying a personal identification number provided by the calling party.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 10 where the personal identification number is a calling card number.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the information provided by the calling party is a dialing sequence.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising a step of establishing a communication path between the calling party and said database node and a step of sending an acknowledgment signal from the database node to the calling party.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 13 wherein the information provided by the calling party comprises a dialed code that is sent to the database node following receipt of the acknowledgment signal.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 13 wherein the information provided by the calling party comprises a spoken message that is sent to the database node following receipt of the acknowledgment signal.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of establishing a communication path between the calling party and said database node in response to a dialed sequence by the calling party.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 16 where the calling party's dialing sequence includes an area code designation followed by a number.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 16 where the calling party's dialing sequence includes a pseudo area code designation followed by a number.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
11 words
The method of claim 18 where the area code is 800.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 16 where the calling party's dialing sequence is a "local call" number.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
118 words
A method for providing telecommunication service to a group of communication entities that are preselected by a sponsor, comprising the steps of: forming a communication path between one of the communication entities (a calling party) and a predetermined one of a plurality of database nodes; based on information provided by said calling party and information provided by the predetermined database node, determining identity of another one of said communication entities with which the calling party wishes to communicate (a called party), where it is possible that neither said calling party and said called party is said sponsor; effecting a connection between the calling party and said called party, and assigning a charge for said connection to said sponsor.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
118 words
A method for providing telecommunication service to a group of communication entities that are preselected by a sponsor, comprising the steps of: forming a communication path between one of the communication entities (a calling party) and a predetermined one of a plurality of database nodes; based on information provided by said calling party and information provided by the predetermined database node, determining identity of another one of said communication entities with which the calling party wishes to communicate (a called party), where it is possible that neither said calling party and said called party is said sponsor; effecting a connection between the calling party and said called party, and assigning a charge for said connection to said sponsor.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 21 Where the database node employed in the step of determining is predetermined based on the calling party.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 21 where the communication entities in the group are associated with different switches of a telecommunication network.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
115 words
A method for providing telecommunication service to a group of communication entities that are preselected by a sponsor, comprising the steps of: maintaining, in a database; node information about said communication entities as members of said group; based on information provided by a calling party to said database node, determining identity of another one of said communication entities with which the calling party wishes to communicate as a called party, where it is possible that neither said calling party and said called party is said sponsor where said information comprises a preselected number unique to said group; effecting a connection between the calling party and the called party; and charging said sponsor for the connection.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
115 words
A method for providing telecommunication service to a group of communication entities that are preselected by a sponsor, comprising the steps of: maintaining, in a database; node information about said communication entities as members of said group; based on information provided by a calling party to said database node, determining identity of another one of said communication entities with which the calling party wishes to communicate as a called party, where it is possible that neither said calling party and said called party is said sponsor where said information comprises a preselected number unique to said group; effecting a connection between the calling party and the called party; and charging said sponsor for the connection.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2000-09-08 | 2001-03-10 | 2001-09-09 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2004-09-08 | 2005-03-10 | 2005-09-09 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2008-09-08 | 2009-03-10 | 2009-09-09 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |