TITLE: METHOD AND SYSTEM OF CHARGING FOR SERVICES IN A

COMMUNICATION NETWORK

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and a method for charging a communication system user for services. More particularly, the invention relates io a system and a method of charging based on grouping of services in communications system.

DEFINITIONS

Network: It includes, but is not limited to, internet, intranets, Wide Area Networks (WANs), Local Area Networks (LANs), Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and transducer links such as those using Modulator-Demodulators (modems).

Mobile device: A portable device enabled to communicate with other devices for the transfer of signals. Examples of mobile device include, but are not limited to, voice phone, cordless phone, mobile phone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), pager, notebook PC, ultra-mobile PC.

User: A person who is using communication network is referred to as a user.

Subscriber: A user subscribed to one or more services is referred to as a subscriber.

The following acronyms have been used in this text hereinafter:

USSD: Unstructured Supplementary Service Data

SMS: Short Messaging Service

MMS: Multimedia Messaging Service

IVR: Interactive Voice Response

VAS: Value Added Service(s)

LBS: Location Based Services RBT: Ring Back Tone

BACKGROUND

Mobile phones have become immensely popular in past few years. Mobile phones have graduated from their fundamental role of a communication medium to become a personalized gadget of a user. Typically, communication service providers (CSPs) provide VAS in addition to the usual communication services. Examples of usual communication services include voice service, internet services etc. Examples of VAS include but are not limited to surfing internet, sports news, zodiac prediction, online shopping etc. A VAS may be an add-on to a usual communication service (such as voice and fax) and sometimes, is charged at a premium rate. For example, a subscriber may be given an option to decide the circumstances under which she wishes to receive a call, and the subscriber may be charged a premium for this. This exemplary service is an addon to the usual communication service - voice call.

The ability to personalize services in mobile phones adds great value to many non-voice services such as LBS and RBT. For example, subscribers can search for a nearby movie theatre using a WAP enabled phone. CSP determines the subscriber's location and provides her with a list of movie theatres within her vicinity. For a large number of subscribers, mobile phone has become an extension of the personality. The enormous success of RBT validates the point that a service that provides personalization has a good potential of being a market hit. Recently, services technologies are getting mature. For example, TV broadcast to mobile phones and financial transactions using mobile phones (m- Commerce) have become quite popular. Numerous services are being added in the domains of entertainment, business and trading, information support and communications.

The subscribers might have a prepaid or a postpaid connection. In a prepaid connection, a subscriber needs to pay the CSP before using services. In a postpaid connection, a subscriber may pay periodically, say every month, after using services. Conventionally, charging systems of services took into account factors such as the nature of the service, subscription type and time period. Typically, a service is charged to subscribers on a monthly basis. Recently, some service charging systems also take into account subscriber location. This type of application allows a CSP to offer differentiated service to its subscribers. The subscriber may establish personalized zones such as home zone, office zone or premium-price zone. As such, the subscriber may enjoy flat-rate calling while in the home area and special rates while in other defined zones. Thus location based charging is beneficial to both the subscriber and the CSP. The subscriber can use her mobile phone at preferred rates based on location, while the CSP benefits from incremental revenues from additional usage and premium charging.

United States Publication No. 20060084410, titled "Flexible billing architecture" discloses a method and a system for capturing communication events on a more granular level. The captured communication events can then be aggregated into different event categories and combined with other event parameters to provide a wider variety of billing options to mobile network operators. The system aimed to effectively bill subscribers for a wide variety of different communication events and services on mobile phones.

Another publication WO/2006/043165, titled "Improved Subscriber Partitioning in a charging system", discloses a system and method for charging that can segment subscribers on a service class level and then can further segment those subscribers on an account level by using a service offerings parameter. This method enables an operator to use the subscriber's service offerings parameter to override or alter the setting that is common for the subscribers of the service class.

Conventional charging applications have become increasingly inadequate to the demands of charging for services as charging has undergone a profound transformation in recent years. Consider the following situation. A pre-paid subscriber wishes to subscribe for an RBT worth INR 30 for a month. Now, in case the subscriber doesn't have adequate balance, say she has INR 20, the CSP doesn't provide him with any option to subscribe for a period depending on her balance. As a result, no subscription to the RBT is effected. Both the parties, the subscriber and the CSP, incur damages. The subscriber isn't able to use the RBT and the CSP looses potential INR 20. In the process, the service further risks the loyalty of the subscriber.

Consider another situation in which a CSP provides several groups of services, say A, B etc. with each group containing multiple services. For example, group A consists of services 1 , 2 and 3, while group B consists of services 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. A subscriber of group A wises to subscribe service 6 of group B. To do so, the subscriber has to subscribe to group B as a whole and she cannot upgrade his services from A to A-plus-B6 due to unavailability of dynamic grouping of services. Thus, if subscriber subscribes for group B, she looses money unnecessarily on services 4 and 5 which she doesn't want. So, the subscriber might decide not to go for subscription of service 6. Also, the CSP Jooses the incremental revenue which could have been generated if the subscriber were allowed to A-plus-B6 plan. Again, the service further risks the loyalty of the subscriber due to non availability of incremental modification to the subscribed service.

As such, there is a need for a charging system that offers flexible solutions to the subscriber in case she doesn't have enough balance to pay for the service. There is a further need for a charging system that offers the option of incremental modification of services charging to the subscriber.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an embodiment, a method for charging a user for services in a communication network is disclosed. The services are classified into service groups, with each service group comprising at least one parent service and may comprise one or more child service. Each service is one of the parent service and the child service. Each child service is associated with one or more parent service. The method includes receiving a service prompt based on an event, the service prompt corresponding to the at least one service. The method further includes checking subscription conditions related to the at least one service and executing subscription action based on the subscription conditions. Furthermore, the method includes charging the subscriber based on the subscription action executed.

According to an embodiment, a system for charging a user for services in a communication network is disclosed. The system includes a database for storing subscription information. The system also includes a subscription engine configured to receive a service prompt based on an event where the service prompt corresponds to the at least one service. The subscription engine is also configured to check subscription conditions related to the at least one service and executing subscription action based on the subscription conditions. The system further includes a billing integration module for charging the subscriber based on the subscription action executed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic depicting an exemplary communication environment in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustrating architecture of subscription manager in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustrating use case of subscription manager according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for charging in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. Various aspects and features of example embodiments of the invention are described in more detail hereinafter.

A method for charging a user for services in a communication network is disclosed. According to an embodiment, a user is charged for accessing at least one service in a telecommunication network using a mobile device. According to another embodiment, a user is charged for accessing at least one service using internet through a desktop computer or laptop.

FIG. 1 illustrates a communication environment according to an embodiment of the invention. The communication environment comprises of a mobile device 102, a communication network 104, a charging interface 108, a subscription manager 110, an application server 112 and a provisioning network 116. Mobile device 102 may be carried by a user of the communication network 104. Communication network 104 is connected to mobile device 102, subscription manager 110 and application server 112. Also, communication network 104 can support multiple mobile devices 102. The connection between mobile device 102 and communication network 104 is provided by a CSP. Communication network 104 may include different channels for communication, for example, MSC, SMSC, USSDC, internet, WAP etc.

Charging interface 108 charges the subscribers for subscribing to services. Subscribers may have a prepaid connection, a postpaid connection. Charging interface 108 is described in detail in conjunction with FIG. 2.

Subscription manager 110 facilitates the charging of users for services. Subscription manager 110 manages service subscription information for each service application 114 in application server 112. Subscription manager 110 provides service subscription information to application server 112. Subscription manager 110 has been described in detail in conjunction with FIG. 2.

Application server 112 is connected with communication network 104 and subscription manager 110. Application server 112 may include one or more service applications for providing service to subscribers. For example, application server 112 may include a service application 114 'Cricket' for providing information related to cricket to subscribers. The information may be sent to the subscriber via different means, for example, SMS. Application server 112 further comprises a content database for storing phone numbers of subscribers and the content to be provided to the subscribers for each service. For example, the content database may include the SMS content to be provided to the subscribers of service 'Cricket' during a cricket match. Service application 114 uses the cricket related information stored in the content database for providing service to the respective subscribers.

Provisioning network 116 is used for provisioning based on the information received from subscription manager 110. For example, a user may be subscribed to the service 'Ring Back Tone'. After the user has been charged for the service, subscription manager 110 informs provisioning network 116 regarding the user being subscribed to the service. Provisioning network 116, thereafter, classifies the user as a subscriber to the service 'Ring Back Tone' by updating the Home Location Register (HLR).

According to an embodiment of the invention, subscription manager 110 manages the service subscription information by classifying services into service groups, with each service group comprising at least one parent service. Consider an example of the service group 'Sports', which may include a service related to

sports, for example, 'cricket'. Each service is associated with certain features and a Charging Time Period (CTP). CTP of a particular service is the time period for which the particular service may be accessed by a subscriber. At the end of CTP, the subscriber is required to renew the subscription for the particular service. For example, a service called 'Cricket' in the service group 'Sports' may have features like providing SMS alerts for one day matches, or test matches to the subscribers. Further, the service 'Cricket' may have a CTP of one month for a particular subscriber. At the end of one month of the subscription, the subscriber of service 'Cricket' is required to renew the subscription. The method of renewal and other related aspects are described in detail in conjunction with FIG. 4.

The service groups may be organized in the form of a tree structure so that within each service group, each service is either a parent service or a child service or both. Each parent service may be associated with one or more child service. Features of the service and the CTP define the relationship between a parent service and a child service. A parent service typically has more features and/or has a greater CTP than any of its child service. The distinction between a parent and child service would be clear with the following example.

Let us consider a service group - Cricket, having one parent service ('A') and two child service ('AV and 'A2'). Service 'A' comprises three features: sending USSD alerts and text message (SMS) to the subscriber after every over in a cricket match; allowing participation in a cricket quiz at a reduced tariff; and allowing participation in an opinion poll hosted by the cricket match broadcaster at reduced rates. The three features are available for, say, a CTP of three months. Assume, child service 'AV includes the first two services of 'A' for the same CTP of three months. Similarly, assume child 'A2' includes only the first service of 'A' for a CTP of one week. 'AV is called the child of 'A' since 'AV has lesser features than 'A'. Similarly, 'A2' is called the child of 'A' because 'A2' has lesser features and lesser CTP than 'A'.

The above classification of organizing the service into service groups and classifying service into parent service and child service helps the subscription manager in charging the subscriber for a service in a suitable manner.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustrating subscription manager 110 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In the embodiment, subscription manager 110 manages service subscription information for each service and is used for charging the subscribers for services. Service subscription information for a particular service includes details of all the subscribers subscribed to the particular service, for example, phone numbers of subscribers, connection type (prepaid/postpaid) for each subscriber, balance available with the subscriber (in case of prepaid subscribers), date on which the particular service was activated for the subscriber, expiry date of CTP, information on whether the subscriber has requested for renewal of subscribed service etc. Service subscription information for the particular service further includes the features of the service, the CTP for the service, the geographical areas in which the particular service is available (e.g. a geographical area may have services 'News' and 'Jokes' while another geographical area may have services 'Recipes', 'Stocks' and 'Horoscopes'), the parent service and the child service for the particular service, activation charge, rental charge for the particular service etc. Further details regarding subscription of service and charging are discussed in conjunction with FIG. 4.

According to an embodiment, subscription manager 110 includes a subscription engine 202, a billing integration module 204, a database 206, a third party service provider interface 208, a customer service interface 210 and an admin interface 212.

Subscription engine 202 is responsible for maintaining service subscription information for each service. Subscription engine 202 may store service subscription information in database 206 and retrieve the information from database 206 when required. Subscription engine 202 provides service

subscription information for each service to Billing Integration Module 204 for billing subscribers. TPSPI 208 and Customer service interface 210 may also access database 206 using subscription engine 202. Further, subscription engine 202 may also send notifications to the subscribers. These notifications may be about the service subscription of the subscriber for e.g. a notification on a new service available, a reminder for the renewal of a service etc.

Billing Integration Module (BIM) 204 is responsible for charging subscribers for the services. BIM 204 receives service subscription information for a particular service from subscription engine 202 for charging the subscribers of the particular service. Typically, the amount charged for a service includes an activation charge and a rental charge. The user pays the activation charge when she subscribes to the service. Thereafter, the user pays the rental charge after a fixed time cycle, for e.g. after a month. Thus for example, when a user subscribes to the service 'cricket' to become a subscriber, she is charged an activation charge. Thereafter a rental charge is deducted from the subscriber's account after each CTP and the subscriber is automatically subscribed for the next CTP. In one embodiment, a service has only the rental charge and no activation charge. In case a service has a subscription activation charge, the users are informed of the same. Only when a user agrees to the same, the user is charged for the activation amount; otherwise the user may not be allowed subscription.

Services subscribers are usually of two types - prepaid and postpaid. Prepaid subscribers need to pay the CSP before using the services. On the other hand, postpaid subscribers may pay periodically, say every month, after using services. In case of prepaid subscribers, BIM 204 interfaces with charging interface 108 and deducts the charge from the prepaid account. Charging interface 108 is an intermediary between subscription manager 110 and CTP. For prepaid connections, charging interface 108 interfaces with BIM 204 to deduct the charge from subscriber's account. For postpaid connections, BIM 204

generates a charge file containing the details of subscribed services and charging interface 108 passes on the charge from the charge file to subscriber's postpaid account. Some examples of the details in the charge file include time period for which the subscriber uses the subscribed service, corresponding charge levied to the user etc.

After, BIM 204 has charged the subscriber for services, subscription engine 202 may send notification to the subscriber informing her of the balance deducted.

Database 206 stores service subscription information for each service and is accessible to subscription engine 202, BIM 204 and admin interface 212.

Third Party Service Provider Interface (TPSPI) 208 of subscription manager 110 is a web based interface for a third party to download service subscription information of a service corresponding to the third party service provider. Third party service providers are the entities that supply content to be used in service. For example, a third party service provider may provide jokes for a service 'Jokes', while another third party service provider may provide news alerts for a service 'News'. Third party service providers can query subscription manager 110 via TPSPI 208 for the subscription information of the service showing number of subscribers with status 'Active' / 'Deactivated' / 'New' etc. Third party service providers can also see CTP of a service for a subscriber and download file(s) containing list of subscriber mobile numbers subscribed to a particular service.

Customer Service Interface (CSI) 210 of subscription manager 110 provides a web based graphical user interface to call center executives for providing customer service to the users. For example, a call center executive may receive a request from a user for subscribing to a particular service and use CSI 210 to register her for the particular service. Further, CSI 210 may be used

by a call center executive to provide service subscription information to the subscribers. It will be understood that subscribers may be allowed access to only a part of service subscription information.

Admin module 212 is a management and configuration interface of subscription manager 110. Admin module 212 is a web based management tool to help system administrators in configuring and managing service subscription information stored in database 206. A system administrator may add, modify or delete service subscription information related to a particular service using admin module 212. For example, service subscription information for service 'cricket' may include details like a subscriber is charged INR 30 for service 'cricket' for a CTP of one month. A system administrator, using the admin module 212, may change the charging amount to, for example, INR 40. A system administrator may also add or delete one or more service groups and/or one or more services within a service group through admin module 212.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustrating use case of subscription manager 110 according to an embodiment. Service application 114 is, for example, an application in application server 112, providing service 'cricket' to the subscribers. The feature of service application 114 is to send SMS alerts to subscriber's mobile device 102 after every over in a cricket match. A user may send a request for subscribing to the service 'cricket'. Subscription engine 202, after receiving the request, checks for the available balance of the user from database 206. If the available balance of the user is greater than activation charge for the service 'cricket', subscription engine 202 registers the user as a subscriber for the service and updates the service subscription information related to service 'cricket'. BIM 204 then deducts the activation charge from the .subscriber's account. Subscription engine 202 informs service application 114 regarding the successful subscription of the subscriber. Service application 114, thereafter, starts sending SMS subscriber's mobile device 102 after every over in a cricket match.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for charging a subscriber in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. At step 402, subscription engine 202 of subscription manager 110 receives a service prompt based on an event. An event might be a user seeking subscription to a service, or a subscriber seeking to modify, renew or deactivate his existing service subscription. Modification of the service subscription may include unsubscribing from existing service and subscribing for another service. For example, a subscriber is subscribed to a service X. Let service υ' be the parent service of 'X' and service 'Z' be the child service of 'X'. If the subscriber does not have sufficient balance to renew the subscription of 'X', the subscriber may request the subscription manager 202 for subscription to 'Z' while unsubscribing from 'X'. 'Z' being a child service of 'X' has less number of features and/or less CTP. However, 'Z ¹ has a low subscription cost, which the subscriber can afford currently. If the subscriber has sufficient balance, the subscriber may send a request for renewal of subscription to service 'X' or may even request for subscription to ¹ Y' while unsubscribing from 'X'.

A user may request for subscription for a service via customer service, SMS etc. According to an embodiment, user dials into a voice portal to choose the service she wishes to subscribe to. The voice portal collects call information (such as user's mobile number, information on whether the user has a prepaid or postpaid connection) and the service selected for subscription from the user and transfers the information to subscription engine 202 as service prompt. In another embodiment, a user sends an SMS to a predefined number with a keyword and service code of the service she wishes to subscribe. For example the user may send an SMS "CUA" for subscribing to service 'cricket'.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, subscription engine 202 receives a service prompt based on the service subscription information stored in database 206. In this case, the event may be the expiry of the CTP for a subscriber subscribed to for example, service 'X'. Thus if the subscription of a

subscriber to service 'X' is about to end , and subscription engine 202 has not received any request for renewal/modification/deactivation from the subscriber, subscription engine 202 may receive a service prompt based on the service subscription information for service 'X' stored in database 206.

At step 404, after receiving the service prompt for a particular service, subscription engine 202 checks subscription conditions related to the service prompt for the particular service. Subscription conditions are different options for subscription engine 202 for charging the subscriber based on the service prompt. Subscription conditions for a service prompt for any particular service is based on service subscription information. For example, subscription engine 202 may receive a service prompt from the subscriber regarding renewal of a service 'A'. Following may be the subscription conditions related to the service prompt: a) If the subscriber has sufficient balance for renewal of service 'A', renew the subscription for subscriber for service 'A' for another CTP; b) If the subscriber does not have sufficient balance for service 'A', then subscribe the subscriber to any child service of A for which the subscriber has sufficient balance; else unsubscribe the subscriber from the service.

Similarly for another service 'B', following may be the subscription conditions related to the same service prompt: a) If the subscriber has sufficient balance for renewal of service 'B', renew the subscription for subscriber for service 'B' for another CTP; b) If the subscriber does not have sufficient balance, give a grace period of five days to the subscriber for paying the balance and renew the subscription for service 'B' for another CTP. In case the subscriber does not have sufficient balance even after the grace period of five days, unsubscribe the subscriber from the service.

It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the above examples are not limiting and many more subscription conditions may be associated with different service prompts. Further examples of subscription conditions for any

service ¹ C are given below but it will be apparent that the invention should not be construed to be limited to these examples. Any combination of the following subscription conditions may be checked for a service prompt. a. If the user has sufficient balance for renewal of service 'C, check if the user has sufficient balance for a parent service 'Cf of 'C. In case the user has sufficient balance for service 'C1 \ subscribe the user for service 'CV. b. Renew the subscription status of subscriber for a less rental charge than usual; however provide advertisements to the user along with the service. c. While renewing the subscriber for service 'C, provide another service 'D' for free.

At step 406, subscription engine 202 executes a subscription action based on the subscription conditions. For example, if the subscriber does not have sufficient balance to renew the service she is subscribed to; and the subscription condition is that the subscriber should be subscribed to a child service in case she does not have sufficient balance, then subscription engine 202 executes a subscription action i.e. subscribes the subscriber to the child service.

Another example of subscription action may be "subscribing the subscriber for service 'C and providing service 'D' for free".

At step 408, BIM 204 charges the subscriber based on the subscription action executed at step 406.

While example embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be clear that the invention is not limited to these embodiments only. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the claims.