JP2001119502A - Billing system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a prepaid system using a prepaid card or the like and a postpaid system such as a direct debit, etc., with respect to a settlement method of a charge in a charging system. A service control center manages a telephone number of a mobile device owned by each user who is a subscriber of a communication service and a prepaid balance corresponding to the telephone number. And
When there is a call request from a mobile station of a user who is a subscriber of the communication service, the local exchange 13 inquires the service control center 12 about prepaid information. As a result, if the mobile device requesting the call receives the communication service based on the prepaid fee, the communication fee according to the communication time or the like is reduced from the balance of the prepaid amount of the prepaid card. Then, after the balance of the prepaid amount becomes “0”, the communication fee charging method is switched from prepaid to postpaid.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a charging system for charging a communication fee for a mobile station that communicates with another person over a wireless network or via a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, portable telephones and PHS (Personal H
2. Description of the Related Art In mobile devices such as the andyphone System, a user has prepaid for an amount corresponding to his / her budget using a prepaid card, and a prepaid service using a mobile phone or the like within the fee has started to be provided. By using this prepaid service, a user who uses a mobile phone or the like does not have to worry about being billed for unexpected amounts later. As described above, the prepaid service uses a mobile phone or the like within a prepaid fee, so it can be said that the prepaid service is an epoch-making billing system that removes anxiety of a user who is overused and who cares about the amount of the call charge.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned prepaid service, when the telephone charge exceeds the prepaid amount, the mobile device can be used by adding the prepaid fee. However, in order to add a prepaid fee, the user needs to pay a bank and other outgoing fees,
There is a problem that the procedure is cumbersome. Also, even during a call, if the call charge exceeds the prepaid charge, the line is automatically disconnected, so that the user cannot use the mobile device with confidence.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and relates to a method of settling a call charge in mobile communication, in which a prepaid system and a postpaid system can be used together. It is an object of the present invention to provide a charging system for charging a communication fee of a mobile device that communicates with a mobile terminal.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the configuration of the first aspect, charging of a communication fee for a mobile station that communicates with another person via a wireless section and a network. In the charging system for performing the above, storage means for storing the balance of the prepaid amount of the communication fee for each mobile device, the communication fee of each mobile device is reduced from the balance of the prepaid amount, the balance of the prepaid amount is " When the number becomes "0", the network is provided with a billing means for billing the communication fee of each of the mobile stations by post-payment.

[0006] In the structure of the second aspect,
In a billing system for billing a communication fee of a mobile station communicating with another person via a wireless section and a network, a service control center for associating call number information specifying the mobile station with a balance of a prepaid amount. When a call request is issued from the mobile device, the service control center is inquired of the balance of the prepaid amount of the communication fee of the mobile device, the communication fee of the mobile device is reduced from the balance of the prepaid amount, and the When the balance is "0", a subscriber exchange for charging the communication fee of the mobile device by post-payment is provided.

[0007] In the structure of the third aspect,
3. The charging system according to claim 2, further comprising storage means for storing a scratch number unique to each prepaid card and a prepaid frequency prepaid by purchasing the card in association with each other. When there is a prepaid frequency charge request from the mobile device, the scratch number stored in the storage means is compared with the scratch number sent from the mobile device, and if there is a matching number, the telephone number of the mobile device And the service control center is notified of the prepaid frequency, and if there is no matching number, the prepaid frequency charging request is rejected. Prepaid frequency charge request,
A card service control device for rejecting without comparing the scratch number is provided.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below to make the present invention easier to understand. Such an embodiment shows one aspect of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention, and can be arbitrarily changed within the scope of the present invention.

A. Configuration of Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile communication system 100 using a charging system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this mobile communication system, a mobile device (for example, the mobile devices 15a and 15b in FIG. 1) communicates with another person via a wireless section and the network 200. Here, the network 200 includes the card service control device 11
, A service control center 12, a local exchange 13,
A charge detail center 14 is provided. These devices constitute a billing system according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, mobile units 15a and 15b are:
For example, it is a portable communication terminal such as a mobile phone and a PHS. In the present embodiment, the user who owns these mobile devices 15a and 15b purchases a prepaid card and performs a process of registering the prepaid amount on the network 200 side (hereinafter, referred to as a prepaid frequency charge request), thereby prepaid the fee. Can receive communication services. A user who receives a communication service with a prepaid fee eventually runs out of a prepaid fee corresponding to the purchase amount of the prepaid card while receiving the communication service. In such a case, in the present embodiment, the method of charging the communication fee is switched from prepaid to postpaid, and the user is charged for the communication fee by postpaid.

The local exchange 13 has mobile units 15a and 15
When various communication terminals such as “b” communicate with others via the network 200, it is means for performing switching for forming the communication path. Also, this subscriber exchange 1
3 is a user (generally a caller) communicating via a communication path formed by the local exchange 13.
However, it has a function of measuring the communication traffic (communication time) for the called party in the case of incoming billing and performing billing processing. This billing process is a process corresponding to both the above-mentioned advance payment and post-payment. That is, it is as follows. First, when the remaining balance of the prepaid amount of the prepaid card of the user to be charged is larger than "0", the subscriber exchange 13 performs the charging by reducing the communication fee from the remaining amount of the prepaid amount. Then, after the remaining amount of the prepaid amount of the prepaid card becomes “0”, the subsequent communication fee is reported to the charge detail center 14 so that the user can pay later. Charge detail center 14
Is a means for compiling the post-paid communication fee reported from each of the local exchanges for each user and preparing a statement of the post-paid communication fee.

The card service control device 11 and the card service control center 12 provide the subscriber exchange 13 with information on the remaining amount of the prepaid amount corresponding to the user when the subscriber exchange 13 starts charging the user. Means. The details are as follows. First, the card service control device 11 has a storage unit (not shown). In this storage unit, for each of the sold prepaid card and the prepaid card sold in the near future, each scratch number and each prepaid frequency are stored in association with each other. Here, the scratch number is a number unique to each prepaid card. The prepaid frequency is a frequency of a call for which a prepaid card is paid in advance by purchasing a prepaid card. The card service control device 11 receives the prepaid frequency charge request from the user. This prepaid frequency charge request is performed by a method in which a user who has purchased a prepaid card calls the card service control device 11 via the local exchange 13 and transmits a scratch number printed on the prepaid card. The card service control device 11 reads the prepaid frequency corresponding to the scratch number sent from the storage unit, and reads the prepaid frequency and the telephone number (calling number) of the mobile station that has sent the prepaid frequency charging request.
Is notified to the service control center 12.

The service control center 12 stores a telephone number of a mobile device owned by each user who is a subscriber of the communication service and a prepaid balance (frequency) in a storage unit (not shown) in association with each other. This service control center 12
Receives the subscriber information from the service control device 11,
The telephone number and prepaid frequency of the mobile device are extracted from the subscriber information. Then, the extracted prepaid frequency is added to the prepaid balance stored in the storage unit in association with the telephone number of the mobile device. In addition, the subscriber exchange 13
When the charging process is started, a prepaid amount notification request including the telephone number of the mobile device to be charged is sent from the local exchange 13 to the service control center 12. Upon receiving this prepaid amount notification request, the service control center 12 reads out the prepaid remaining amount corresponding to the telephone number included in the request from the storage unit and notifies the subscriber exchange 13 of it.

The components of the charging system according to this embodiment have been described above. On the network 200 side, a prepaid amount corresponding to the prepaid card can be obtained from the scratch number transmitted as described above. The process for obtaining the advance payment amount will be described later.

(1) Description of Operation of Card Service Control Apparatus 11 FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the card service control apparatus 11. FIG. 2 shows the operation of the card service control device 11 when a charge request for a valid prepaid frequency is issued from the mobile device 15a. First, it is assumed that the user A has purchased a prepaid card at a convenience store or the like. This prepaid card has a portion concealed by a seal or the like, and a scratch number is printed on the concealed portion.

When the user A removes the seal portion (scratch) and confirms the scratch number, the user A enters the telephone number of the card service control device 11 (hereinafter referred to as a frequency charging dial) and the scratch number attached to the prepaid card. Input to the mobile device 15a. The mobile device 15a
A call request is sent to the frequency change dial for the network 200. In response to the call request, the local exchange 13 sends the card service control device 11 and the mobile unit 15a.
And connect. Then, a prepaid frequency charge request is sent from the mobile device 15a to the card service control device 11 together with the scratch number.

The card service control device 11, which has received the prepaid frequency charging request, searches for a scratch number sent from the mobile device 15a from a plurality of scratch numbers stored in the storage unit. When the card service control device 11 finds a scratch number that matches the scratch number sent from the mobile device 15a, it reads out the prepaid frequency corresponding to the scratch number from the storage unit, and reads the prepaid frequency and the telephone number of the mobile device 15a. The service control center 12 is notified of the subscriber information including the number.

Here, the user A who knows that the prepaid residual count has decreased has a frequency of, for example, 100 (1000
Suppose that the user purchased a prepaid card of (yen) and requested the card service control device 11 to charge a prepaid frequency (100 frequencies). If the charge request is legitimate, the prepaid frequency (100 frequency in the above example) for which the new charge request is made is sent to the service control center 1.
2 is notified. The service control center 12 adds the notified prepaid frequency to the current prepaid frequency, and stores the prepaid frequency after the addition and the telephone number of the mobile device in association with each other in the storage unit. In this way, when the service control center 12 receives the subscriber information from the card service control device 11, it becomes possible for the mobile device 15a to receive the prepaid communication service.

Next, the operation of the card service control device 11 when the mobile device 15a issues an unjustified prepaid frequency charging request will be described with reference to FIG. Here, it is assumed that the user A inputs the frequency charging dial of the card service control device 11 and the random scratch number to the mobile device 15a. Here, the random scratch number means, for example, a scratch number of a used prepaid card, a scratch number of a non-existing prepaid card, and the like. Until the scratch number is sent from the mobile device 15a to the card service control device 11, the process is the same as in the above-described case, and a description thereof will be omitted.

The card service control device 11, which has received the prepaid frequency charge request, searches for a scratch number sent from the mobile device 15a from a plurality of scratch numbers stored in the storage unit. Here, the storage unit of the card service control device 11 does not store a scratch number that matches the random scratch number sent from the mobile device 15a. Therefore, the card service control device 11 rejects the charge request from the mobile device 15a and forcibly disconnects communication with the mobile device 15a.

Here, when the number of times of forced disconnection exceeds a predetermined number (for example, five times a day) in a charge request of the prepaid frequency from the same mobile device (mobile device 15a in the above example), Card service control device 1
1 determines that the user of the mobile device has made an improper charge request, and stores the telephone number of the mobile device in the storage unit. Thereafter, the card service control device 11 rejects the prepaid card charge request from the mobile device corresponding to the stored telephone number.

As described above, the card service control device 11 rejects a charge request with an improper prepaid frequency, and provides a prepaid card service to a mobile device only when a legitimate charge request is made.

(2) Description of Operation of Service Control Center 12 FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the service control center 12. Upon receiving the subscriber information from the card service control device 11, the service control center 12 extracts the telephone number of the mobile device 15a and the prepaid frequency from the subscriber information. Then, it searches whether or not the prepaid balance is stored in the storage unit of the service control center 12 in association with the telephone number. Here, the service control device 12
If the telephone number of the mobile device 15a and the prepaid balance are stored in association with each other in the storage unit, the extracted prepaid frequency is added to the stored prepaid balance.

On the other hand, if the prepaid balance is not stored, the service control device 12 stores the extracted prepaid frequency in association with the telephone number of the mobile device 15a.
When the subscriber exchange 13 starts the accounting process,
A prepaid amount notification request including the telephone number of the user to be charged is sent from the local exchange 13 to the service control center 12.

When the service control center 12 receives the prepaid amount notification request, if there is a prepaid balance corresponding to the telephone number included in the request, the service control center 12 reads out the telephone number and the prepaid balance from the storage unit, and Notify the exchange 13. On the other hand, when there is no prepaid balance corresponding to the telephone number, the subscriber exchange 13 is notified that there is no prepaid balance corresponding to the telephone number. When the mobile device 15a inquires of the remaining number of the prepaid card, the service control center 12 searches for the telephone number corresponding to the mobile device 15a from the caller number. Then, the prepaid balance corresponding to this telephone number is read from the storage unit, and the mobile unit 15a
(See FIG. 1). This notification content is displayed on a display unit (not shown) of the mobile device 15a. The user A who owns the mobile device 15a checks the contents of the notification displayed on the display unit and grasps the prepaid remaining frequency.

(3) Description of the operation of the local exchange 13 Next, the operation of the local exchange 13 will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the local exchange 13, and FIG.
6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment. First, when the user A operates the key of the mobile device 15a to request communication with the mobile device 15b, the local exchange 13 sends a prepaid amount notification request including the telephone number of the mobile device 15a to start charging processing. It is sent to the service control center (step S1). And
The local exchange 13 determines whether or not the mobile unit 15a has a prepaid amount based on the notification from the service control center 12 (step S2). If it is determined that the mobile device 15a has a prepaid amount, the process proceeds to step S3, and the prepaid remaining number p notified from the service control center 12 is set as an initial value.

Then, the process proceeds to step S4, where the mobile station 15
a and a communication line between the mobile device 15b. By connecting this communication line, the mobile device 15a and the mobile device 1 are connected.
5b communication becomes possible. Then, the process proceeds to step S5, and it is determined whether the mobile device 15a and the mobile device 15b are communicating. Here, when it is determined that the mobile device 15a and the mobile device 15b are communicating, the process proceeds to step S6, and the frequency corresponding to the communication time or the like is subtracted from the prepaid frequency p. Then, the process proceeds to step S7 to determine whether the subtraction result p 'is "0". Subtraction result p 'is "0"
If not, the process proceeds to step S8, and the subtraction result p 'is set as the prepaid frequency p. Then, the process returns to step S5, and the processes of steps S5 to S8 are repeatedly executed.

As described above, when the communication between the mobile device 15a and the mobile device 15b is completed while the processes of steps S5 to S8 are repeated, the local exchange 13 switches the mobile device 15a and the mobile device 15b in step S5. It is determined that the communication has been completed. If it is determined that the communication has been completed, step S9
Then, the service control center 12 is notified of the prepaid frequency p after the end of the communication, and the communication charge calculation process ends.
The service control center 12 that has received the notification stores the prepaid remaining frequency p as the prepaid remaining charge corresponding to the mobile device 15a.

On the other hand, it is assumed that the prepaid frequency p becomes "0" during the communication between the mobile device 15a and the mobile device 15b (step S7). Then, the local exchange 13 switches the charging method for communication from prepaid to postpaid (step S10). Then, the local exchange 13 notifies the service control center 12 that the prepaid frequency has become "0" (step S11), and proceeds to step S23. In step S23, “0” is input to the post-paid communication fee (charging frequency) q as an initial setting for post-paying the communication fee.

In step S24, the local exchange 1
3 determines whether or not the mobile device 15a and the mobile device 15b are communicating. If it is determined that the mobile device 15a and the mobile device 15b are communicating, the process proceeds to step S25, and a charging rate q according to the communication time and the like is calculated. Then, the process returns to step S24 to determine whether the mobile device 15a and the mobile device 15b are communicating.

When the communication between the mobile unit 15a and the mobile unit 15b is completed while the processes of steps S24 and S25 are repeated, the local exchange 13 switches to step S2.
In 4, it is determined that the communication between the mobile device 15a and the mobile device 15b has been completed. Then, the local exchange 13 notifies the charge detail center 14 of the charge rate q by the post-payment, and ends the communication charge calculation process (step S26).

Next, the case where the mobile station 15a does not receive the communication service by the advance payment will be described. When the subscriber exchange 13 determines that the mobile station 15a has not received the prepaid communication service based on the notification from the service control center 12 (step S2), the process proceeds to step S21. Then, the local exchange 13 inputs “0” as the post-payment charge rate q as an initial setting for post-payment of the communication fee. Then, the process proceeds to step S22 to connect the communication lines of the mobile device 15a and the mobile device 15b. By connecting a communication line, communication between the mobile device 15a and the mobile device 15b becomes possible. The local exchange 13
By executing the processing of step S24 and step S25,
The accounting degree q according to the communication time or the like is calculated. While the processing of steps S24 and S25 is repeated,
If it is determined that the communication between the mobile device 15a and the mobile device 15b has been completed (step S24), the process proceeds to step S26, where the charge rate q to be paid later is notified to the charge detail center 14, and the communication charge calculation process ends.

(4) Description of Operation of Charge Detail Center 14 As described above, the charge rate q by post-payment is notified from the subscriber exchange 13 to the charge detail center 14. The toll center 14 counts the number of charges q in a predetermined period (for example, one month) and creates a statement of postpaid communication charges (see FIG. 1).

As described above, according to the billing system according to the present embodiment, when the user runs out of the prepaid card prepaid card, the subscriber exchange 13 switches the communication billing method from prepaid to postpaid. This allows
Payment of communication charges by advance payment and payment of communication charges by postpaid payment can be used together. Therefore, the user receiving the prepaid communication service can use the mobile device without worrying about the remaining prepaid amount.

The billing system 10 according to the present embodiment
0, a card service control device 11 is provided,
If there is a prepaid frequency charge request from 5a, it is determined whether or not the request is valid based on the scratch number. If a used prepaid card number or a non-existing prepaid card number is used at the time of the prepaid frequency charging request, the prepaid frequency charging request is rejected as an improper charging request. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an unnecessarily charge request of the prepaid frequency.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
After the prepaid balance becomes “0”, the local exchange 1
3 switches the method of charging the communication fee from prepaid to postpaid. Therefore, the user of the mobile device subscribing to the charging system 100 can use both the method of prepaying the amount to be applied to the communication fee using the prepaid card and the method of collectively postpaying the communication fee for a predetermined period. This has the effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a charging system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an operation of the card service control device 11 in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an operation of the card service control device 11 in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a service control center 12 according to the embodiment;
It is a figure for explaining operation of.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the local exchange 13 in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the local exchange 13 in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11: Card service control device 12: Service control center 13: Local exchange 14: Charge detail center 15a: Mobile device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Makoto Jingu, 2-10-1, Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo NTT Mobile Communications Network Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5K025 AA05 AA09 CC01 DD06 EE25 5K040 BB04 CC07 GG13 5K067 AA29 BB04 DD13 DD29 EE02 EE10 FF04 FF23 FF25

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A charging system for charging a communication fee of a mobile device that communicates with another person via a wireless section and a network, a storage unit for storing a balance of a prepaid communication fee for each mobile device, A charging unit for reducing the communication fee of each mobile device from the balance of the prepaid amount and, when the balance of the prepaid amount becomes “0”, charging the communication fee of each mobile device by postpayment; A billing system provided in a network. 2. A charging system for charging a communication fee of a mobile station communicating with another person via a wireless section and a network, wherein call number information for specifying the mobile station is associated with a prepaid balance. When there is a call request from the mobile device and the service control center to be stored, the service control center is inquired of the balance of the prepaid amount of the communication fee of the mobile device, and the communication fee of the mobile device is reduced from the balance of the prepaid amount. And a subscriber exchange for charging the communication fee of the mobile device by post-payment when the balance of the prepaid amount is “0”. 3. An apparatus having storage means for storing a scratch number unique to each prepaid card and a prepaid frequency prepaid by purchasing the card in association with each other. When there is a request, the scratch number stored in the storage means is compared with the scratch number sent from the mobile device, and if there is a matching number, the telephone number of the mobile device and the prepaid frequency are calculated. Notify the service control center, if there is no matching number, reject the prepaid frequency charge request, if the prepaid frequency charge request is rejected a predetermined number of times, a prepaid frequency charge request from the mobile device And a card service control device for rejecting without comparing the scratch number. Billing system according to claim 2.