MXPA99007713A - Call charging method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To enable special or discounted call charging of a telephone subscription, outgoing calls are logged in a call counter memory (2). Corresponding calls to specific countries and/or specific areas and/or specific telephone numbers, are summed in the call counter memory (2). The log or parts thereof are sorted with respect to call activity to form a basis for special or discounted charging in a charging centre (3).

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CALLING CALLS TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates, in general, to the collection of calls and, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for enabling the special or discounted charging of calls of a telephone subscription.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Telecom operators usually offer subscribers different discounts, for example for calls to specific countries and / or specific areas and / or specific telephone numbers. These discounts are usually offered for calls of a certain volume since the subscribers have to pay a fee to obtain access to the discounted charge. To have this access, the subscriber has to specify the telephone numbers, usually of relatives abroad or business partners, who often receive calls. These telephone numbers are then stored by the operators, for example, in a telephone exchange, and the subscriber will have access to the "discounted" telephone numbers using, for example, abbreviated dialing sequences. The handling or processing of these "discounted" telephone numbers by telecommunications operators is costly from an administrative point of view in that these telephone numbers have to be stored manually in a memory in the telephone exchange.

COMPENDIUM OF THE INVENTION The objective of the invention is to simplify the administrative routines that telecommunication operators have to perform in order to handle discounted charges for telephone calls. This is achieved by means of the method and apparatus according to the invention in which the discounted or special charge of the telephone calls is made through the telecommunications operators simply based on the telephone numbers that frequently receive more calls, as determined by means of a record of call activity. By this means, a subscriber will not have to specify in advance the telephone numbers from which he will be subject to special or discounted charges and, consequently, the operators will not have to manually store these numbers in a memory. In this way, the administration of special or discounted charges will be easier from the point of view of telecommunications operators.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the attached drawing in which the single Figure schematically illustrates one embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention.

PREFERRED MODALITIES The drawing illustrates schematically one embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention for enabling special or discounted charging of subscription calls. In the drawing, the subscription is represented by a single telephone set 1. However, it will be understood that more than a telephone set may be associated with the subscription. In the mode shown, the telephone set 1 is connected to a call meter memory 2 which, in turn, is connected to a charging center 3. The memory of the call meter 2 can be located, for example, in a central office. telephone (not shown). According to the invention, an outgoing call from the telephone subscription, ie the telephone set 1 in the illustrated mode, is verified by the memory of the call meter 2 with respect to whether or not the call is the first call to a call. specific country, specific area, specific telephone number or "all the above." If this is the case, a call record is made in the call meter memory 2. If this call has already been made, the corresponding record in the The memory of the call meter 2 increases by 1, ie the corresponding registers are added In this way, a record of the call activity is kept in the memory of the call meter 2 and this register is updated each time it is called. makes a call In accordance with the invention, this record of call activity is used as a basis for special charges or discounted calls. For example, in agreement with the telecommunications operator, the five or ten or more telephone numbers that receive the most frequent calls, determined by means of the record of the activity of the calls, can be subject to collection at a discount. To accomplish this, for example, the memory of the call meter 2 may contain the means adapted to classify the record of the activity of the calls with respect to the activity of the calls to a specific country, area or telephone number, with which part of the register in the memory of the call meter 2, for example, the five or ten telephone numbers receiving calls with higher frequency would be transferred to the collection center 3 at predetermined times, for example every third month, for another handling. As an alternative, the complete record could, of course, be transferred to the collection center 3 to be classified according to some predetermined criteria. Thus, according to the invention, the subscribers do not have to inform telecommunications operators in advance of the telephone numbers that would be subject to discount collection. As a result, operators would not have to program any telephone number in the telephone exchange. Instead, a simple agreement can be made between telecommunications operators and subscribers, for example, that calls to a certain country or area or telephone number would be discounted, for example, if the number of calls exceeds one. predetermined number during a predetermined time interval. By this means, the administration of discounted call charges by telecommunications operators is greatly simplified. This then gives rise to lower rates for subscribers who request this service.

Claims (4)

1. A method to enable the collection of special calls from a telephone subscription is characterized in that an outgoing call is verified with respect to whether or not the call is the first call to a specific country, specific area or specific telephone number, or all the previous, - that, if this is the case, a record of the call is made in a call meter memory (2) associated with the telephone subscription, - that, if this is not the case, the previous registration of a call corresponding in the memory of the call counter (2), increases by 1, and - that when less parts of the call records are transferred to a charging center (3) based on the collection of special calls.

2. The method according to claim 1 is characterized in that these parts of the registers are transferred at predetermined times.

3. An apparatus for enabling the collection of special calls from a telephone subscription, characterized in that it contains a memory of the call meter (2) associated with the telephone subscription, and the adapted means - to verify an outgoing call with respect to whether the call is or is not the first call to a specific country, specific area or specific telephone number or all the previous ones - if this is the case, make a record of the call in the memory of the call meter (2), - if this it is not the case, increase the previous registration of a corresponding call in the memory of the call meter (2) in 1, and - transfer at least parts of the records of the calls to a collection center (3), as a basis for the collection of special calls.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the means are adapted to transfer these parts of the registers at predetermined times.