Prepaid short messaging

US7428510B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, INC. · US

Inventors

• Mark Titus · Arnold, US
• Dara Ung · Odenton, US
• Carle S. Johnson, Jr. · Annapolis, US
• Erik Wallace · Annapolis, US
• Phillip Geil · Clarksville, US
• Daniel Hronek · Annapolis, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 23, 2001
• Grant date: Sep 23, 2008
• Expiry date: Jul 27, 2023

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04W8/18
• WIPO field: Telecommunications
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A prepaid messaging solution which uses open networking standards (e.g., TCP/IP) and which supports pre-payment of enhanced Internet messaging services. The disclosed prepaid architectures and methods accurately determine if a subscriber has sufficient account balance to deliver a complete short message, prior to delivery of the message. The short message may be prevented from being delivered (either at the source end or at the destination end) if insufficient funds are in the subscriber's account. A prepaid tariff engine is preferably extensible over a TCP/IP network, and supports remote interaction with the SMSC and web chat servers for the purpose of applying a real-time billing charge for each message. A service provider may create subscriber classes of service that define and uniquely identify subscriber rate and/or tariffing plans used to apply real-time billing charges for sending or receiving of messages. The prepaid short message tariff engine determines the appropriate message billing based upon, e.g., flat rate per message, message count (e.g., 10 messages @ $ 5.00), character count (e.g., $0.01/char.), Time of Day, Day of Week (i.e., peak & non-peak hours), type of mess…