A method and a device for telecommunication

TELECOMMUNICATIONS METHOD AND APPARATUS

The present invention relates to a method for transmitting and charging a telephone call, as well as to an apparatus for performing the method.

In today's telephone systems, it is only possible for a subscriber calling another subscriber to pay for the call without having to subscribe manually. However, it is possible to enable the calling subscriber to pay for the call by manually subscribing to a service provided by the responsible telephone company. However, in Sweden, the receiving subscriber is allowed to pay for the call without having to subscribe manually, provided that the receiving subscriber has a so-called 020 number.

It is not possible for a third party to pay for the call.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for enabling a third party to pay for a call between two subscribers without having to subscribe manually.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a method for transmitting and charging a telephone call, wherein the first subscriber's telephone is connected to a second subscriber's telephone via a standard telephone network, wherein the first subscriber dials a prefix followed by a subscriber number connecting to the third subscriber unifying number; the prefix causing the telephone network to connect the call via said telephone network to a computer unit associated with the third subscriber and connected to the telephone network, and also allowing the computer unit to forward the call to said second subscriber via the computer unit; and that detecting the prefix in the telephone network allows the network to charge the third subscriber for the call between the first and second subscriber (subscriber bill).

The invention also relates to a device for the device of claim 1. 7.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to an exemplary embodiment and also with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating telecommunications.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a method for transmitting and charging a telephone call, wherein the telephone of the first subscriber is connected to a telephone of the second

EE 03466 Bl via telephone network. A standard telephone network can be both a publicly switched telephone network and a mobile telephone network.

According to the present invention, a telephone connection is established for a first subscriber who dials a prefix followed by a subscriber number referred to in the example below as 333 333 leading to a third subscriber and additionally dialing a subscriber number leading to a second subscriber in the example below 222 222. According to one embodiment, this can be achieved by initially selecting the first subscriber prefix followed by 333 333, thereby connecting the first subscriber to the third subscriber. Once the connection is established, the first subscriber dials 222 222, thereby transferring the call to the second subscriber. According to an alternative embodiment, the first subscriber selects a prefix instead and then dials 333 333 and 222 222, whereby the call is connected to the third subscriber, followed by the connection of the call to the second subscriber.

A prefix is ​​a number, such as 030 or other suitable number. Thus, for the latter alternative, the first subscriber dials 030 333 333 222 222.

The prefix causes the telephone network to connect the call via the telephone network to a third party subscriber unit number 333 333 which is connected to the telephone network. Also, the prefix causes the computer unit to transfer the call to the second subscriber number 222 222 through the computer unit so as to establish a connection between the first and second subscriber. However, the latter call is connected so that it passes through a third subscriber.

A telephone network, such as a telephone exchange, detects a prefix by transmitting long distance calls in the same way as, for example, Sweden, prefix 020. Detecting a prefix in a telephone network causes the telephone network to bill a third subscriber for a call between first and second subscriber.

Thus, it is possible for the first subscriber to establish a voice connection with the second subscriber through a third subscriber, whereupon the third subscriber is charged for the cost of the call.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for telephone call and billing according to the invention, wherein the first subscriber telephone 1 is connected to a second subscriber telephone 2 via a standard telephone network referred to as 3.

According to the invention, the third subscriber has a computer unit 4 which is connected to a telephone network 3. The computer unit 4 is adapted to detect a prefix to be selected

EE 03466 B1 by the first subscriber, followed by the subscriber number leading to the third subscriber. The third subscriber may have a local telephone exchange or a telephone switching center 5 to which the computer unit 4 is connected. The telephone exchange 5 may be designed to connect an incoming call to the computer unit for detection of a prefix. Upon detection of the prefix, the computer unit 4 forwards a call over the telephone network to the subscriber number selected by the first subscriber after selecting the first subscriber number that directs to the second subscriber to connect the first subscriber to the second subscriber.

The telephone network 3 is also designed to charge for a call between the first and second subscribers to detect the prefix mentioned by the third subscriber. The prefix is ​​suitably detected in the telephone switching center for long distance call exchange 6 associated with the telephone network for billing a call.

This service may, for example, be used for goodwill purposes to identify certain telephone numbers and the companies or organizations to which they belong, making it necessary to dial a company or organization telephone number after selecting a prefix in order to use the service.

According to a very preferred embodiment, the computer unit is designed to transmit information on a telephone connection between the first and second subscriber at certain time intervals.

According to a first embodiment, this information is transmitted such that both the first and second subscribers hear the information, although they cannot talk to each other while the information is being transmitted.

According to another embodiment, the information is transmitted so that both the first and the second subscriber hear the information and can also talk to each other at the same time.

This information preferably consists of advertising information concerning a company or organization that is a third party subscriber.

For example, a chain of hamburger restaurants or a chain of gas stations may have a computer unit controlled by a telephone number consisting of a prefix followed by a subscriber number. If the first subscriber is connected to a computer unit, or if the first subscriber is connected to a second subscriber, the above promotional information may be, for example, information about promotional offers or ongoing sales campaigns.

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In this case, the first subscriber will not be billed for calling the second subscriber, given that the participating company delivers its advertised offer to at least the first subscriber, but preferably to both the first and second subscriber.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the information is transmitted over short periods of time such that the total information transmission time is less than 20% of the total call time.

For example, an advertisement can be delivered five seconds after the call has been thirty seconds, after which the call is allowed to continue for another thirty seconds, and then the advertising program is skipped for five seconds and so on.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the duration of the speech connection is limited to a predetermined call cost. For example, the cost of a call may be limited to match a five-minute call with a local call tariff. For long distance calls within a country, the cost of a call may be limited, for example, to two minutes. Of course, shorter calling times are also conceivable for international calls.

Obviously, the duration of a call may vary considerably depending on the case and it may be decided that calls can only be connected in geographically limited areas.

It was mentioned above that the company or organization may be provided with said computer unit. However, the invention is also applicable to a connection between companies that typically connect a computer unit to a telephone network. In this case, ad broadcasts that promote the convenience of the various companies involved in the connection, whether mixed in a bag or in a predetermined order, are transmitted. In this case, the prefix and number lead to the computer unit.

According to one embodiment of the invention, advertising is controlled according to the regions or places where the first subscriber and the second subscriber are located. For example, if the first subscriber is in Stockholm and the second subscriber is in Gothenburg and the first subscriber dials the prefix and number that leads to the Stockholm company, promotional information about the Stockholm company may be forwarded to the first subscriber whereas promotional information about the Gothenburg company is sent to the second subscriber. Thus, the advertising information may be verified to be related to the region or place where the respective subscribers are located.

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The advertising information may be stored on a computer unit in a storage medium, such as read only memory, or on a CD or on a tape recorder connected to a computer. 7 in FIG. 1 indicates external memory or tape recorder.

It is obvious that the present invention solves the problem mentioned in the introduction by allowing a third subscriber to pay for a call between two other subscribers.

The term third subscriber is used above and in the following claims. Of course, the term or expression includes a third subscriber who orders from a related telephone company. However, this term also includes cases where a computer unit is installed with a given subscriber but where one party other than the one to which the computer unit is connected is billed for the cost of the call.

It is also to be understood that the present invention can be successfully used as a marketing tool for an affiliated company or organization, with the benefit of both, the company or organization and the person talking through the computer block.

It will also be appreciated that modifications may be made. For example, a computer unit may include, wholly or in part, a local telephone exchange in a company or organization A computer unit may also include, wholly or in part, a telephone exchange for long distance calls.

The present invention is therefore not limited to these exemplary embodiments described above, but modifications can be made within the scope of the following claims.