Jean A Atkins

US Patent:

52874036, Feb 15, 1994

Filed:

Jul 22, 1992

Appl. No.:

7/918726

Inventors:

Jean Atkins - Naperville IL
Richard M. Harris - Hoboken NJ
David C. McChristian - Naperville IL

Assignee:

AT&T Bell Laboratories - Murray Hill NJ

International Classification:

H04M 1500
H04M 1700

US Classification:

379144

Abstract:

When a telephone caller charges a call to a commercial credit card, an announcement which includes the name of the credit card issuer is supplied to the caller after the validation of the credit card. In a preferred embodiment, the issuer of the commercial credit card is identified, for purposes of announcing its name, by examining the prefix code of a credit card number supplied by the calling party. Also, in the preferred embodiment, not only the issuer of the commercial credit card but also the name of the telephone carrier is supplied as part of the announcement given prior to connecting the calling station to the called station after validation of the credit card. An illustrative such announcement is "Thank you for using AT&T and for charging this call to your American Express card".

US Patent:

54871077, Jan 23, 1996

Filed:

Feb 14, 1994

Appl. No.:

8/195414

Inventors:

Jean Atkins - Naperville IL
Richard M. Harris - Hoboken NJ
David C. McChristian - Naperville IL

Assignee:

AT&T IPM Corp. - Coral Gables FL

International Classification:

H04M 164
H04M 1100
H04M 1500
H04M 1700

US Classification:

379144

Abstract:

When a telephone caller charges a call to a commercial credit card an announcement which includes the name of the credit card issuer is supplied to the caller after the validation of the credit card. In a preferred embodiment, the issuer of the commercial credit card is identified, for purposes of announcing its name, by examining the prefix code of a credit card number supplied by the calling party. Also, in the preferred embodiment, not only the issuer of the commercial credit card but also the name of the telephone carder is supplied as part of the announcement given prior to connecting the calling station to the called station after validation of the credit card. An illustrative such announcement is "Thank you for using AT&T and for charging this call to your American Express card".

US Patent:

56994168, Dec 16, 1997

Filed:

Oct 5, 1995

Appl. No.:

8/539384

Inventors:

Jean Atkins - Naperville IL

Assignee:

AT&T Corp. - Middletown NJ

International Classification:

H04M 1560
H04M 342
H04M 700

US Classification:

379127

Abstract:

A method for selecting one of a plurality of line identification (ID) databases for validation of an operator-assisted call billed to a ported directory number account comprises determining whether billing information received from a caller is directory number-based. If the billing information is directory number-based, an operator services system (OSS) queries a number portability database to retrieve available routing information associated with billing information provided by the caller. The routing information is used to access a billing acceptance database which stores a list of those service providers which allow the OSS to access their customer data. If the OSS is able to access an identified service provider's data, the routing information received from the number portability database is used to route a billing validation request to a selected one of the plurality of line ID databases.