US20020061093A1 - Telephone travel card system under the control of its customers - Google Patents
Telephone travel card system under the control of its customers Download PDFInfo
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- US20020061093A1 US20020061093A1 US09/938,861 US93886101A US2002061093A1 US 20020061093 A1 US20020061093 A1 US 20020061093A1 US 93886101 A US93886101 A US 93886101A US 2002061093 A1 US2002061093 A1 US 2002061093A1
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M15/00—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
- H04M15/70—Administration or customization aspects; Counter-checking correct charges
- H04M15/745—Customizing according to wishes of subscriber, e.g. friends or family
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M15/00—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M15/00—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
- H04M15/47—Fraud detection or prevention means
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M17/00—Prepayment of wireline communication systems, wireless communication systems or telephone systems
- H04M17/02—Coin-freed or check-freed systems, e.g. mobile- or card-operated phones, public telephones or booths
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/22—Arrangements for supervision, monitoring or testing
- H04M3/36—Statistical metering, e.g. recording occasions when traffic exceeds capacity of trunks
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/38—Graded-service arrangements, i.e. some subscribers prevented from establishing certain connections
- H04M3/382—Graded-service arrangements, i.e. some subscribers prevented from establishing certain connections using authorisation codes or passwords
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
- H04M3/53—Centralised arrangements for recording incoming messages, i.e. mailbox systems
- H04M3/533—Voice mail systems
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2215/00—Metering arrangements; Time controlling arrangements; Time indicating arrangements
- H04M2215/01—Details of billing arrangements
- H04M2215/0108—Customization according to wishes of subscriber, e.g. customer preferences, friends and family, selecting services or billing options, Personal Communication Systems [PCS]
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2215/00—Metering arrangements; Time controlling arrangements; Time indicating arrangements
- H04M2215/01—Details of billing arrangements
- H04M2215/0148—Fraud detection or prevention means
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/42229—Personal communication services, i.e. services related to one subscriber independent of his terminal and/or location
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
- Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
- Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
Abstract
A telephone system for travel card users where the users may program a switch processor so that it completes, re-routes, or refuses to complete calls as predetermined by the customer. Data is captured as it is transferred from the switching module to an internal buffer and is fed through a digital communications path and an analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converter to a switching station computer. The switching station computer is in communication with a data storage server computer and the data storage server computer is in communication with remote telephones and with computers and facsimile machines in remote customers' offices. The switching station computer is thus programmable by the customer and incoming calls are handled as predetermined by the customer. A voice response device provides verbal communication between the system and its users. The system enables its users to defeat or limit travel card fraud, to receive billing information on a real time or other preselected basis, and to gain miscellaneous business advantages from creative control of the switch processor.
Description
- This is a continuation application of Ser. No. 299,397, filed Sep. 1, 1994, which is a CPA continuation application of Ser. No. 758,031, filed Sep. 12, 1991 (which was abandoned on Jan. 11, 1995), which is a continuation-in-part application of Ser. No. 359,200, filed May 31, 1989, which issued into U.S. Pat. No. 5,068,891 on Nov. 26, 1991.
- 1. Field of the Invention
- This invention relates, generally, to a telephone system that helps users of travel cards control their costs and limit their losses. More particularly, it relates to a system whereby the travel card customer can control use of the travel cards without relying upon the issuer of the cards.
- 2. Description of the Prior Art
- A real time telephone system having utility in reducing losses due to travel card fraud was first introduced in 1990 by the present inventor; that system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,068,891.
- The essence of that breakthrough invention was its capture of data at a point between the DCO switching equipment of the telephone system and the internal buffer that temporarily stores data downloaded from said DCO switching equipment. However, in that earlier system, the data is downloaded and captured at the conclusion of a call.
- Thus, the patented system interfaced with the DCO switch, but could not interact with it during a call. Thus, if a travel card user expended all of his or her travel card credit during a call, no means was provided where the call could be terminated while it was still in progress. An overseas call of several hours duration, for example, could result in losses to the card issuer or the customer of the issuer (depending upon which part absorbed the loss).
- The earlier patent was a pioneering patent because it disclosed the first real time means for limiting travel card fraud by enabling the card customer to deactivate a PIN associated with any travel card anytime during the month when the credit balance on that card was exhausted. Before the disclosure of the patent, travel card customers were required to wait until the end of a monthly billing cycle before abuses could be detected; thus, an entire month of abuses could occur before such abuses were detected and stopped.
- It should be understood, then, that the patented system was a system that interfaced with the DCO switch of an existing phone system, thereby eliminating the need to wait for the end of a billing cycle, but it was not a system that interacted with the DCO switch during a call.
- What is needed, then, is an interactive system so that calls may be terminated, if desired, at the front end of or during progress of the call. A system accessible by those who use cellular telephones is also needed. Moreover, there is a need for a system equipped with a voice response means to increase the versatility of the system. A need also exists for creative techniques for checking the validity of PINS.
- However, the prior art, when considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, neither taught nor suggest that these features would be desirable nor points the way to a system capable of providing them.
- The present invention enables the customers of the issuers of travel cards to gain interactive access to the issuer's DCO switching equipment.
- It therefore provides card validation and account status checking prior to the termination of a call.
- It further provides means for determining whether or not an apparently valid PIN really is valid.
- Additional features of the present invention include a voice response means and means for accessing the system through cellular telephones.
- More particularly, personal computers (PCs) under the control of the card issuer and in communication with PCs of the customers of the issuer are an integral part of the DCO switching equipment so that the DCO switching equipment may be “programmed” by the customers to perform a variety of functions having utility to the customers of the travel card issuer.
- Accordingly, a customer desiring to deactivate one or all of its PINs may deactivate them from its home office by simple communication with the DCO switching equipment through the issuer's PC. For example, most travel card customers will want to deactivate the PIN of an employee who is leaving the company for any reason, as mentioned earlier. If the customer wants to reroute the calls of certain sales people in the field, that also can be accomplished easily, and so on.
- As a further example, if a home office wanted to leave a message with a salesperson in the field, the home office could instruct the issuer's PC of the DCO switching equipment and program it to activate an electronic voice response device that would provide the message to the salesperson when the salesperson made a call to any number with the travel card. Alternatively, the customer could program the issuer's PC of the switching equipment to re-route the salesperson's next call to the home office so that regardless of the number called by the person in the field, that call would be directed to the home office and the desired message could be delivered.
- Moreover, the home office, i.e., the customer of the travel card issuer, could program the issuer's PC of the switching equipment to monitor any number of parameters and to validate or invalidate attempted calls as desired. For example, a company having no salespersons with authority to travel into certain territories could program the issuer's PC of the switching equipment to invalidate any call originating from a state or other geographical region within which the presence of no salesperson was authorized. This important feature would prevent the use of purloined travel card and PINs in those states that were screened out by the issuer's PC of the DCO switching equipment. Similarly, a west coast company could program the issuer's PC of the DCO switching equipment to reject all calls attempted before 8:00 A.M., PST and an east coast firm could cause all calls made after 5:00 P.M. EST to be rejected. This would curtail the use of purloined accounts by east coast and west coast thieves, respectively, before and after the respective times, and would provide the Company with information concerning the capture of its confidential numbers by hackers. Numerous other techniques could be employed to both foil and catch telephone thieves.
- To provide these and other features, a communications port in the form of a digital communications path is added to DCO switching equipment under the control of the travel card issuer, and that port is connected to a personal computer and a backup, redundant personal computer owned by the issuer, as in the earlier patented system. Through the use of its own PC and standard programming techniques, each customer of the travel card user can program the issuer's PC to cause the DCO switching equipment to activate voice response messages, re-route calls, change the parameters for validating attempted calls, and the like.
- As mentioned earlier, the novel system includes a voice response device that is connected to a personal computer controlled by the issuer and to the DCO switching equipment as well. If a home office of a travel card user decides that certain salespersons, for example, are not authorized to leave voice response messages, the personal computer in the home office is used to program the issuer's PC to instruct the DCO switching equipment to refuse access to the voice response device if the call thereto originates from an unauthorized travel card holder. In practice, the DCO switching equipment notifies the issuer's computer that a caller is attempting to activate the voice response device. In response to this notification, the issuer's personal computer searches its memory to determine whether or not the particular caller holds an authorization to activate said voice response device. The issuer's personal computer then sends a signal to the DCO switching equipment to either validate or invalidate the call so that the voice response device may or may not be activated, respectively; importantly, the issuer's computer merely follows instructions as programmed into it by the customer's computer.
- The DCO switching equipment notifies the issuer's personal computer of each and every incoming call. That PC checks its memory to validate the account number and the PIN, and either instructs the DCO equipment to complete the call as dialed, or to re-route the call to the home office, to the voice response device, or the like, all as determined by the computer in the customer's home office.
- The system preferably includes a bank of monitoring computers that monitor usage of the system by all callers. All of the monitoring computers store information collected by them in a data storage server computer that is in communication with the issuer's personal computer and hence the DCO switching equipment.
- The customer has access to the data storage server computer and, accordingly, can order billing information at any time, and can cause the billing information to be printed over a facsimile machine in the customer's home office so that a hard copy thereof is provided.
- The system is also accessible by cellular telephones.
- It is therefore apparent that the primary object of this invention is to enable the customer of a travel card system to control use of the system by its card holders for miscellaneous business advantages and to curtail travel card fraud and abuse.
- Another important object is to enable travel card users to customize their travel card monitoring system to their particular requirements.
- These and other important objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent as this description proceeds.
- The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.
- For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:
- The FIGURE is a block diagram of the novel system.
- Referring now to the FIGURE, it will there be seen that an illustrative embodiment of the novel telephone system is denoted as a whole by the
reference numeral 10. -
System 10 includestelephone booth 12 which represents any fixed position telephone booth having Touch Tone (trademark) capability; it also represents any out of town Touch Tone telephone.Line 14 represents a dial-up connection betweenphone 12 andswitch processor 18. When the novel system is in use, this dial-up connection will be the most commonly used connection; when a travel card user dials the number on his or her card, dial-up communication is established withswitch processor 18. Dial-up communication can also be established between aremote phone 68 andvoice response device 66, as indicated by dial-upline 69, or between aremote phone 50 and datastorage server computer 42, as indicated byline 52. It should also be understood thatphones - The Digital Central Office (DCO) switch of the novel system is denoted22 as a whole. In conventional telephone system, the DCO switch includes
switch processor 18 andinternal buffer 20; in the novel system,DCO switch 22 further includes digital communication path (DCP) 61, the function of which is hereinafter described. -
Box 36 at the top of the FIGURE denotes the Central Monitoring Office (CMO) that houses theDCO switch 18 in an illustrated embodiment of the invention; theCMO 36 and the switchingstation 16 are shown remote from one another in the FIGURE. It should be understood that the CMO is owned by or under the control of the travel card issuer. -
Line 19 inDCO switch 22 interconnects switchprocessor 18 andinternal buffer 20; that buffer serves as a temporary data storage means. Data carried byline 19 fromswitch processor 18 to buffer 20 is captured frompoint 21 bypersonal computer 32 containing capture software available from Utility Computer Co. of Monroe, La., or Info Systems of San Antonio, Tex., or other vendors. Any competent programmer having knowledge of the telecommunications industry can prepare a suitable capture program.Line 31 carries the captured data to “Y”block 64 which splitsline 31 into the two depicted lines that go toPCs -
Buffer 20 is connected to a more permanent data storage device such as a nine track tape, not shown, The CMO may further house abilling department 24 where the amounts due are tabulated, aprinting department 26 where the bills are printed, and abilling station 28 from where the printed bills are distributed to the travel card customers. Thebilling department 24 is depicted as being remote from the CMO in theFIGURE Note line 72 that provides communication betweenbilling department 24 and thedata storage server 42 in theCMO 36. - Data is captured in real time as aforesaid and is input into the above-mentioned two way digital communication path (DCP)61; the capture is transparent to the system, i.e., the transferring of data from the
switch processor 18 to the internal buffer memory means 20 is unaffected by the capture. Note that the point of capture is upstream ofpoint 21 in this particular embodiment. It should be noted that the capture of data atpoint 21 could also be accomplished by theDCP 61. A DCP is an optional port provided by manufacturers of DCO switches to bypass internal computers.Cable 62 electrically connects the DCP to digital conversion box (DCB) 63; that device converts digital signals to analog and vice versa. - Accordingly, real time data is made available to
PCs - When the validity of the call has been checked,
PC 32 or its backup sends proper analog instructions back to theDCB 63, through its RS232 port (provided as standard equipment on IBM and IBM-compatible PCs) and theDCB 63 converts said analog instructions into digital form so that it can be read into the DCP. These analog instructions to thePC 32 are provided by the travel card customer and may originate fromcomputer 46 in the customer'soffice 44 or from anyTouch Tone phone 68. Based upon the content of the information thereby supplied to the DCO switching equipment, the DCO switching equipment may: 1) allow the call to proceed and terminate in the usual course, 2) pick up a voice response intercept overline 67 prior to call termination, or 3) re-route the call in the manner directed by said customer. The X.25 board employed in the earlier patented system is no longer needed with modern DCO switching equipment that is capable of supporting RS-232 asynchronous communications. - Digital information from
switch processor 18 may be converted into analog information when it flows from saidswitch processor 18 to thePCs PCs DCP 61 provides access to theDCO switch 22 by the travel card customer, as will be more fully set forth hereinafter. - The boxes denoted64, of which there are four in this embodiment, are “Y” blocks; they are used to split signals to the
primary computer 32 and theredundant computer 33 fromDCB 63, and to split the signals to saidPCs station box 16, the “Y” block on the left splits the signals fromvoice response unit 66 to saidPCs DCB 63 as already mentioned, and the “Y” block on the right splits the signal frompoint 21 where the transferred data is captured by the capture software in thePCs switch processor 18 and theinternal buffer 20, as mentioned above. The fourth “Y” block is inCMO 36 and splits the signal fromdata storage server 42 toPCs -
Lines interconnect computers computer 38 is connected to the other monitoring computers as shown and to datastorage server computer 42 overline 39.Line 40 interconnects themonitoring computers 38 and switchingstation 16. -
Monitoring computers 38 continuously analyze all data in the system; the card issuer or the customer may order reports of interest at any time. For example, if management desires a print out of an individual salesperson's activities on Mondays only, the monitoring computers perform the task of analyzing all data and providing the requested report. The variety of management reports available are unlimited as long as appropriate instructions are provided. - Note that remote
Touch Tone phone 68 accesses voiceresponse unit 66 through dial-upline 69, thatline 65 interconnectsvoice response unit 66 andline 19, and thatline 67 connectsvoice response unit 66 to “Y”box 64 and hence to thePCs Connection 67 between thevoice response unit 66 and thePCs PCs voice response unit 66 from anyTouch Tone phone 68 is authorized to have such access; if the attempted access is authorized, the caller may leave any message for broadcast. -
PC 32 checks all parameters on the front side of each call, including instructions to give a voice response message to a predetermined caller. Thus, where an individual accesses thevoice response unit 66 via dial-upline 69, thePC 32 also checks to see if a message is to be delivered to that caller and if so, the message is delivered to the caller overline 69 through thevoice response unit 66. The time required to deliver the message is measured byPC 32, and said PC deletes the message from thevoice response unit 66 when said message has been delivered, unless the customer has programmed it to deliver the message to more than one caller. ThePC 32 then sends information concerning the message to datastorage server computer 42 in the CMO; the information includes the date and time the message was delivered and to whom it was delivered.PC 32 then communicates with theDCO switch 22 overline 62 and either validates the call as originally dialed, re-routes the call as provided by customer override instructions, or disallows the call if the caller has an insufficient credit balance, if the call is made from an area where no valid phone calls can be made, and the like. - As mentioned earlier, the parameters which may invalidate a call are infinite, limited only by the imagination and requirements of the customer. For example, if no 900 calls are authorized, the customer, using standard programming, may instruct the issuer's
PC 32 to instruct theDCO switch 22 to disallow all 900 calls. Of course, all customers will programPC 32 to reject all calls using a PIN that is know to have been purloined. Other customers can programPC 32 to disallow all international calls, to only allow calls from or to a certain area code or prefix, or to allow calls only to certain numbers, and so on as aforesaid. Where a card has been programmed to allow only calls from a given travel card to certain numbers, the computer could detect an unauthorized use of such a card easily if the card user attempts to call an unauthorized number. - To provide a still fuller understanding of the invention, the course of a single call will be followed. When a call is received by the
DCO switch 22, the long distance carrier provides the novel system with an Automatic Numbering Identification (ANI) that includes the area code, the three number prefix and the four numbers that follow the prefix of the number of the telephone from which the call was placed. The caller then enters a pre-assigned PIN; these two numbers (the ANI and the PIN) constitute two items of information. These two items are immediately passed through theDCP 61 and thence to theDCB 63 throughcable 62. The DCB converts the digital signals to analog for compatibility withPCs -
PC 32 or itsbackup PC 33 has an internal clock; accordingly, it adds the exact time of call origination to the two items of information already received, thereby making a total of three items of information now in the novel system. Call validity and processing is based upon these three items of data. First,PC 32 checks to see if the caller's PIN matches a valid PIN. If it does not, a signal instructing theDCO switch 22 to not complete the call is sent back to theDCO switch 22 along the same path from where the three items of data were received, and theDCO switch 22 generates a message to the caller through the voice response device that announces that the call will not be completed. ThePC 32 records in its memory that the call was attempted, i.e., all three items of data are stored. If two additional invalid calls are attempted from the same telephone (as indicated by the ANI) within a predetermined period of time, then the switching stationpersonal computer 32 instructs theDCO switch 22 to permanently block all future call attempts made from that number. Three attempts to make invalid calls thus creates a presumption that the card user is not an authorized user. Of course, the permanent block could be applied after a second invalid call, or even after the first, fourth, or some other number as selected by the user of then novel system. - If the attempted call passes this preliminary test, i.e., it is from an authorized location and the PIN appears to be valid, the novel system takes still further precautions before processing the call. More particularly, the
PC 32 checks to see if the PIN entered by the caller is already in use on another call. Since there is only one valid PIN per card, if a dual usage is detected, the system knows the confidentiality of the PIN has been breached, and thevoice response device 66 is activated to tell the caller that the call will not be completed. - If the dual use test is passed, the
PC 32 then reads its memory to determine when and from where the same caller placed his or her previous call. The time and location of the previous call is compared to the time and location of the attempted call, and a decision is made based on that information as to whether or not the previous call and the attempted call were made by the same individual. For example, if thePC 32 determines that the preceding call was placed from Boston and the attempted call is originating in St. Louis only an hour later, the attempted call is deemed fraudulent and the caller is advised that the call will not be completed. Further usage of that card can then be permanently blocked. - If all of these validity tests are passed, a signal is then sent to the
DCO switch 22 to complete the call if no customer-imposed limitations are in place. Of course, if customer-imposed limitations are present, such as call re-routing and the like, theDCO switch 22 completes the call in accordance with the customer's requirements. Where a customer has programmed a card so that it can only call certain numbers, thePC 32, through digitalvoice response device 66, will prompt the caller to enter the number to be called before validating the call; of course, if the caller then enters an invalid number, the call is not completed and further attempts to use that card may be blocked. - Still another feature of the present invention is its ability to provide billing information to its customers at any time; thus, no user of the novel system is compelled to wait for the completion of a thirty day billing cycle. Either
computer 46 in the customer'soffice 44 or the customer'sfacsimile machine 70 may accessdata storage server 42 over dial-uplines server 42 is connected through “Y”connection 64 toPC 32. Thus, a customer wanting to know the current billings attributed to a certain salesperson in the field, or all salespeople, or the like, may accesscomputer 32 and be provided with a current bill. A hard copy thereof may be obtained throughfacsimile machine 70 via dial-upline 71. In this way, the novel system may keep track of its telephone charges on a weekly basis or even on a real time basis, or any other basis selected. Similarly, remote callers may dial up datastorage server computer 42 overline 52 and receive verbal billing reports fromvoice response device 66. - Similarly, a customer having a
cellular phone 56 may access, via dial-upline 57, the datastorage server computer 42 through anycellular network entity 58 andcomputer 60 dedicated thereto and thereby receive all of the benefits and safeguards provided to other system users. - The novel system also provides to the customer full information concerning the results of the controls imposed on the system by the customer such as calls attempted and completed or rejected pursuant to said controls. This information is available to the customer on a real time basis or as otherwise demanded by the customer. Moreover, the information may be delivered in any format and may include any data of interest to the customer or the travel card issuer.
- The software that controls the operation of the novel system, known as Long Distance Service Software II, is commercially available from the present inventor.
- This invention is clearly new and useful. Moreover, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in this art at the time it was made, in view of the prior art considered as a whole as required by law.
- It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made apparent from the foregoing description, are efficiently attained and since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matters contained in the foregoing construction or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
- It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.
- Now that the invention had been described,
Claims (37)
1. A telephone system of a type controllable by travel cards, comprising:
a switching station including a switch processor for producing call data concerning calls from at least one communication source;
switching computer means for processing the call data, said switching computer means controlling said switch processor;
call capture means for capturing the call data including a personal identification number;
said call capture means capturing the call data at a front end of a call; and
said switching computer means directing the switching station to prevent completion of an attempted call using a travel card from a location indicated by the captured call data of the attempted call that a caller would not have been able to travel to in the time between the attempted call and an immediately preceding call using the same personal identification number.
2. A telephone system of a type controllable by travel cards, comprising:
a switching station including a switch processor for producing call data concerning calls from at least one communication source;
switching computer means for processing the call data, said switching computer means controlling said switch processor;
call capture means for capturing the call data including a personal identification number;
said call capture means capturing the call data at a front end of a call; and
said switching computer means directing the switching station to prevent repeated call attempts to enter the telephone system from a particular communication source by using a series of invalid personal identification numbers within a predetermined period of time.
3. A telephone system of a type controllable by travel cards, comprising:
a switching station including a switch processor for producing call data concerning calls from at least one communication source;
switching computer means capable of processing the call data, said switching computer means controlling said switch processor;
call capture means for capturing the call data including a personal identification number;
said call capture means capturing the call data at a front end of a call; and
a monitoring computer means, electrically connected to said switching computer means, for storing the captured call data; and
a data storage server means, for communication with the monitoring computer means and for providing access, through said monitoring computer means, by travel card customers of the telephone system to provide current telephone system user billing information including amounts due.
4. The telephone system as described in claim 3 , wherein said data storage server means further enables a travel card customer of the telephone system to obtain a printed copy of said customer's current billing information through a facsimile machine or computer.
5. The telephone system as described in claim 3 , further comprising voice response means, in communication with said switching computer means and in dial-up communication with callers to the telephone system, for providing an oral report of current account status to travel card users.
6. The telephone system as described in claim 5 , wherein the voice response means enables an authorized person to leave an oral message in said voice response means so that at least one later travel card caller to the telephone system can hear said message.
7. The telephone system as described in claim 3 , wherein said switching computer means is capable of rerouting calls by travel card users to the telephone system in accordance with instructions provided by travel card customers.
8. A telephone system of a type controllable by travel cards, comprising:
a switching station including a switch processor for producing call data concerning calls from at least one communication source;
a switching computer means for processing the call data, said switching computer means controlling said switch processor;
call capture means for capturing the call data including a personal identification number;
said call capture means capturing the call data at a front end of a call; and
said switching computer means obtaining data for at least one call validation parameter related to a travel card, in addition to said call data, for the switching computer means to act upon in processing call data and determining, from the captured call data and the additional call validation parameter, whether the attempted call is placed by a caller in good standing in accordance with parameters for the travel card; and
voice response means in communication with said switching computer means and capable of communication with customers so that a travel card customer can change the additional call validation parameter supplied to the switching computer means.
9. A telephone system of a type controllable by travel cards, comprising:
a switching station including a switch processor for producing call data concerning calls from at least one communication source;
switching computer means for processing the call data, said switching computer means controlling said switch processor;
call capture means for capturing the call data including a personal identification number;
said call capture means capturing the call data at a front end of a call; and
said switching computer means obtaining data for at least one call validation parameter related to a travel card, in addition to said call data, for the switching computer means to act upon in processing call data and determining, from the captured call data and the additional call validation parameter, whether the attempted call is placed by a caller in good standing in accordance with parameters for the travel card; and
said switching computer means determining from the captured call data and the data of the additional call validation parameter at least one of the following for the switching station to act upon in processing call data: account balance status of the travel card at the beginning and during calls in progress, dual use of the same personal identification number, and geographically impossible calling with the same personal identification number.
10. The telephone system as described in claim 9 wherein said call capture means is integral with said switching computer means.
11. A telephone system of a type controllable by travel cards, comprising:
a switching station including a switch processor for producing call data concerning calls from at least one communication source;
switching computer means for processing the call data, said switching computer means controlling said switch processor;
call capture means for capturing call data including a personal identification number;
said call capture means capturing the call data at a front end of a call;
said switching computer means obtaining data for at least one call validation parameter related to a travel card, in addition to said call data, for the switching computer means to act upon in processing call data and determining, from the captured call data and the additional call validation parameters, whether the attempted call is placed by a caller in good standing in accordance with parameters for the travel card; and
data storage server computer means, in communication with at least one telephone, for providing accessibility to permit travel card customers to change the additional call validation parameters in the switching computer means to act upon in processing call data from at least one selected travel card of the telephone system.
12. The telephone system as described in claim 11 wherein said call capture means is integral with said switching computer means.
13. The telephone system as described in claim 1 wherein said call capture means is integral with said switching computer means.
14. The telephone system as described in claim 2 wherein said call capture means is integral with said switching computer means.
15. The telephone system as described in claim 3 wherein said call capture means is integral with said switching computer means.
16. The telephone system as described in claim 8 wherein said call capture means is integral with said switching computer means.
17. The telephone system as described in claim 9 wherein said call capture means is a DCP.
18. The telephone system as described in claim 1 wherein the captured call data further includes an automatic numbering identification.
19. The telephone system as described in claim 2 wherein the captured call data further includes an automatic numbering identification.
20. The telephone system as described in claim 3 wherein the captured call data further includes an automatic numbering identification.
21. The telephone system as described in claim 8 wherein the captured call data further includes an automatic numbering identification.
22. The telephone system as described in claim 9 wherein the captured call data further includes an automatic numbering identification.
23. The telephone system as described in claim 11 wherein the captured call data further includes an automatic numbering identification.
24. The telephone system as described in claim 9 further comprising data storage server means for communication with remote access means, said remote access allowing customers of the telephone system to access said data storage server means to obtain current billing information.
25. A method of handling telephone calls by the use of travel cards, comprising the steps of:
providing a switching station including a switch processor for producing call data from at least one communication source using a travel card;
processing the call data produced by the switch processor and controlling the switch processor by use of a switching computer, said call data including a personal identification number;
capturing the call data at a front end of a call;
supplying the captured call data to the switching computer;
supplying processed data from the switching computer to the switching station; and
directing the switching station to prevent completion of an attempted call using a travel card from a location indicated by the call data of the attempted call that a caller would not have been able to travel to in the time between the attempted call and an immediately preceding call using the same personal identification number.
26. A method of handling telephone calls by the use of travel cards, comprising the steps of:
providing a switching station including a switch processor for producing call data from at least one communication source using a travel card and providing a switching computer for processing the call data produced by the switch processor and controlling the switch processor, said call data including a personal identification number;
capturing call data at a front end of a call and supplying the captured call data to the switching computer, and supplying processed data from the switching computer to the switching station; and
directing the switching station to prevent repeated call attempts to enter the telephone system from a particular communication source by using a series of invalid personal identification numbers within a predetermined period of time.
27. A method of handling telephone calls by the use of travel cards, comprising the steps of:
providing a switching station including a switch processor for producing call data concerning calls from at least one communication source using a travel card and providing a switching computer for processing the call data and controlling said switch processor, said call data including a personal identification number;
capturing the call data at a front end of a call and supplying the captured call data to the switching computer, and supplying processed data from the switching computer to the switching station;
obtaining data for at least one call validation parameter related to a travel card, in addition to said call data, for the switching computer to act upon in processing call data and determining, from the captured call data and the additional call validation parameters, whether the attempted call is placed by a caller in good standing in accordance with parameters for the travel card; and
providing voice response means in communication with the switching computer for communication with customers so that a travel card customer can change the additional call validation parameter supplied to the switching computer.
28. A method of handling telephone calls by the use of travel cards, comprising the steps of:
providing a switching station including a switch processor for producing call data concerning calls from at least one communication source using a travel card and providing a switching computer for processing the call data and controlling the switch processor, said call data including a personal identification number;
capturing the call data at a front end of a call;
supplying the captured call data to the switching computer;
supplying processed data from the switching computer to the switching station;
obtaining data for at least one call validation parameter related to a travel card, in addition to said call data, for the switching computer to act upon in processing call data and determining from the captured call data and the additional call validation parameter whether the attempted call is placed by a caller in good standing in accordance with parameters for the travel card; and
determining from the captured call data and the data of the additional call validation parameter at least one of the following for the switching station to act upon in processing call data: account balance status of the travel card at the beginning and during calls in progress, dual use of the same personal identification number, and geographically impossible calling with the same personal identification number.
29. A method of handling telephone calls by the use of travel cards, comprising the steps of:
providing a switching station including a switch processor for producing call data from at least one communication source and providing a switching computer for processing the call data and controlling said switch processor, said call data including a personal identification number;
capturing the call data at a front end of a call;
supplying the captured call data to the switching computer;
supplying processed data from the switching computer to the switching station;
obtaining data for at least one call validation parameter related to a travel card, in addition to the captured call data, for the switching computer to act upon in processing the call data and determining, from the captured call data and the additional call validation parameters, whether the attempted call is placed by a caller in good standing in accordance with parameters for the travel card; and
providing a data storage server computer in communication with at least one telephone, the data storage server computer providing accessibility to permit travel card customers to change the additional call validation parameters for the switching computer to act upon in processing call data from at least one selected travel card of the telephone system.
30. The telephone system as described in claim 3 wherein said data storage server means provides said current telephone system user billing information in real time.
31. The telephone system as described in claim 8 wherein said call capture means captures the call data from within said switching station.
32. The telephone system as described in claim 12 wherein said call capture means captures the call data from within said switching station.
33. A method of handling telephone calls as described in claim 25 wherein the capturing of call data is from within the switching station.
34. A method of handling telephone calls as described in claim 26 wherein the capturing of call data is from within said switching station.
35. A method of handling telephone calls as described in claim 27 wherein the capturing of call data is from within the switching station.
36. A method of handling telephone calls as described in claim 28 wherein the capturing of call data is from within the switching station.
37. A method of handling telephone calls as described in claim 29 wherein the capturing of call data is from within the switching station.
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US09/938,861 US20020061093A1 (en) | 1989-05-31 | 2001-08-27 | Telephone travel card system under the control of its customers |
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US07/359,200 US5068891A (en) | 1989-05-31 | 1989-05-31 | Credit control system for long distance telephone services |
US75803191A | 1991-09-12 | 1991-09-12 | |
US08/299,397 US5790636A (en) | 1989-05-31 | 1994-09-01 | Telephone travel card system under the control of its customers |
US09/127,220 US6295344B1 (en) | 1989-05-31 | 1998-07-31 | Telephone travel card system under the control of its customers |
US09/938,861 US20020061093A1 (en) | 1989-05-31 | 2001-08-27 | Telephone travel card system under the control of its customers |
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US09/127,220 Expired - Fee Related US6295344B1 (en) | 1989-05-31 | 1998-07-31 | Telephone travel card system under the control of its customers |
US09/938,861 Abandoned US20020061093A1 (en) | 1989-05-31 | 2001-08-27 | Telephone travel card system under the control of its customers |
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US09/127,220 Expired - Fee Related US6295344B1 (en) | 1989-05-31 | 1998-07-31 | Telephone travel card system under the control of its customers |
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AU3375395A (en) | 1996-03-22 |
WO1996007265A1 (en) | 1996-03-07 |
US5790636A (en) | 1998-08-04 |
US6295344B1 (en) | 2001-09-25 |
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