US6266401B1 — Consolidated billing system and method for use in…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 174 words

In a telephony network, a method of generating a customer invoice for usage of network services provided by a service provider operating the telephony network and third-party services supportable by the telephony network but provided by a third party service provider who does not operate the telephony network, comprising: in the telephony network, acquiring network charge information representative of charges incurred by a customer for usage of the network services provided by the service provider operating the telephony network; transmitting an order record to the third-party service provider to activate the third-party services; receiving the completed order record from the third-party service provider; in the telephony network, acquiring third-party charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the services supportable by the telephony network but provided by the third party service provider; identifying the third-party charge information so as to distinguish the third-party charge information from the network charge information; and integrating, within a single invoice, network and third-party charges reflective of the network and the third-party charge information, respectively.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 174 words

In a telephony network, a method of generating a customer invoice for usage of network services provided by a service provider operating the telephony network and third-party services supportable by the telephony network but provided by a third party service provider who does not operate the telephony network, comprising: in the telephony network, acquiring network charge information representative of charges incurred by a customer for usage of the network services provided by the service provider operating the telephony network; transmitting an order record to the third-party service provider to activate the third-party services; receiving the completed order record from the third-party service provider; in the telephony network, acquiring third-party charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the services supportable by the telephony network but provided by the third party service provider; identifying the third-party charge information so as to distinguish the third-party charge information from the network charge information; and integrating, within a single invoice, network and third-party charges reflective of the network and the third-party charge information, respectively.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 52 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein: the network charge information is representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the network services and for equipment usage; and the third-party charge information is representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the third-party services and for equipment usage.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 18 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the third-party charge information comprises validating the third-party charge information.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 30 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the third-party charge information comprises identifying a code indicating a particular third-party service provider as a source of the third-party charge information.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 90 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein: the third-party charge information comprises usage charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the third-party services and equipment charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for use of third-party equipment; and identifying the third-party charge information comprises identifying a particular source code indicating a third-party service provider as a source of the usage charge information associated with the customer and identifying an equipment code indicting the particular third-party service provider as a source of the equipment.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 54 words

The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, by the third-party service provider, the order record transmitted from the telephony network; inserting, by the third-party service provider, service parameters, equipment parameters, and a customer code into the order record; and transmitting the order record from the third-party service provider to the telephony network.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 48 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein integrating the network and third-party charges comprises locating, in the single invoice, the network charges at a location of the invoice presenting network related billing information and the third-party charges at a location of the invoice presenting non-network related billing information.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 56 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein: the charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the network services comprises charges for usage of voice and data services; and the charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the third-party services comprises charges for usage of paging services.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 46 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the third-party services comprises charges for usage of paging services associated with each of one or more paging units identified by a corresponding unique identification number.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 35 words

The method of claim 1 , further comprising computing a discount for at least one of usage of the third-part services or equipment usage, wherein information concerning the discount is integrated within the single invoice.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 153 words

A billing system for use in a telephony network, comprising: a first subsystem that acquires usage charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the network services and for usage of third-party services supportable by the network; a second subsystem that acquires charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of network equipment and third-party equipment; an extraction subsystem that extracts the charge information from the first and second subsystems and sorts the charge information associated with each customer; and an invoice processing subsystem that receives the sorted charge information from the extraction subsystem and integrates, within a single invoice, network and third-party usage and equipment charges associated with each customer, such that the network usage and equipment charges are grouped at a first common location on the invoice and the third-party usage and equipment charges are grouped at a second common location on the invoice.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 153 words

A billing system for use in a telephony network, comprising: a first subsystem that acquires usage charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the network services and for usage of third-party services supportable by the network; a second subsystem that acquires charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of network equipment and third-party equipment; an extraction subsystem that extracts the charge information from the first and second subsystems and sorts the charge information associated with each customer; and an invoice processing subsystem that receives the sorted charge information from the extraction subsystem and integrates, within a single invoice, network and third-party usage and equipment charges associated with each customer, such that the network usage and equipment charges are grouped at a first common location on the invoice and the third-party usage and equipment charges are grouped at a second common location on the invoice.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 15 words

The system of claim 11 , wherein the first subsystem validates the third-party charge information.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 34 words

The system of claim 11 , wherein the invoice processing subsystem identifies a code embedded in the third-party charge information indicating a particular third-party service provider as a source of the third-party charge information.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 53 words

The system of claim 11 , wherein the first subsystem detects a source code indicating a particular third-party service provider as a source of the usage charge information associated with a particular customer, and the second subsystem detects an equipment code indicating the particular third party as a source of the third-party equipment.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 40 words

The system of claim 11 , wherein the second subsystem transmits an order record to a third-party service provider, and subsequently receives the order record, which includes service parameters, equipment parameters, and a customer code, from the third-party service provider.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 54 words

The system of claim 11 , wherein the invoice processing subsystem computes a discount associated with at least one of the third-party usage or equipment charges associated with each customer, and integrates information associated with the discount proximate to the third-party usage and equipment charges grouped at the second common location on the invoice.

Claim 19

Independent Claim 182 words

A system for producing a customer invoice for usage of network services provided by a service provider operating a telephony network and third-party services supportable by the telephony network but provided by a third party service provider who does not operate the telephony network, comprising: in a telephony network, means for acquiring network charge information representative of charges incurred by a customer for usage of the network services provided by the service provider operating the telephony network; means for transmitting an order record to a third-party service provider to activate the third-party services; means for receiving the completed order record from the third-party service provider; in the telephony network, means for acquiring third-party charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the services supportable by the telephony network but provided by the third party service provider; means for identifying the third-party charge information so as to distinguish the third-party charge information from the network charge information; and means for integrating, within a single invoice, network and third-party charges reflective of the network and the third-party charge information, respectively.

Claim 20

Independent Claim 182 words

A system for producing a customer invoice for usage of network services provided by a service provider operating a telephony network and third-party services supportable by the telephony network but provided by a third party service provider who does not operate the telephony network, comprising: in a telephony network, means for acquiring network charge information representative of charges incurred by a customer for usage of the network services provided by the service provider operating the telephony network; means for transmitting an order record to a third-party service provider to activate the third-party services; means for receiving the completed order record from the third-party service provider; in the telephony network, means for acquiring third-party charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the services supportable by the telephony network but provided by the third party service provider; means for identifying the third-party charge information so as to distinguish the third-party charge information from the network charge information; and means for integrating, within a single invoice, network and third-party charges reflective of the network and the third-party charge information, respectively.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 94 words

The system of claim 17 , wherein: the third-party charge information comprises usage charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for usage of the third-party services and equipment charge information representative of charges incurred by the customer for use of third-party equipment; and means for identifying the third-party charge information comprises means for identifying a particular source code indicating a third-party service provider as a source of the usage charge information associated with the customer and identifying an equipment code indicating the particular third-party service provider as a source of the equipment.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 60 words

The system of claim 17 , further comprising: means for receiving, by the third-party service provider, the order record transmitted from the telephony network; means for inserting, by the third-party service provider, service parameters, equipment parameters, and a customer code into the order record; and means for transmitting the order record from the third-party service provider to the telephony network.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 52 words

The system of claim 17 , wherein means for integrating the network and third-party charges comprises means for locating, in the single invoice, the network charges at a location of the invoice presenting network related billing information and the third-party charges at a location of the invoice presenting non-network related billing information.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2004-07-23	2005-01-22	2005-07-24	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2008-07-23	2009-01-22	2009-07-24	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2012-07-23	2013-01-22	2013-07-24	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Consolidated billing system and method for use in telephony networks

Abstract

Inventors

Bibliographic Details

Claims Analysis

References Cited (Backward Citations)

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Assigned Categories & Tags

Assign Category Tag