A Telecom Access Billing System provides the capability for a communication carrier service provider to substantially automate the payment to other communication carrier service providers for the use of their services and equipment. Billed charges are received in a variety of forms from the communication carrier service providers which are providing the services. A processor uploads the information, checks its integrity, and converts it to a format in which it can be further processed. Once the information has been uploaded and converted, a validation process is performed in which the individual items of the bill are checked as to whether the rate information charged by the communication carrier service providers matches the rates which have been either negotiated or established by a third party. Any discrepancies noted in this comparison process are included in a dispute report which is associated with the invoice on which the billed charges appear. The user of the system may then review the invoices in conjunction with any discrepancy amounts which have been noted. An automated payment module then provides for the electronic transfer of funds to the communication carrier service provider for approved invoices.
A point of presence with data collecting means (24; 43) arranged for collecting predetermined data and having a first output for outputting said predetermined data at a first transmission rate, the point of presence having forwarding means (22, 28(1), 28(2); 44) with a forwarding means output for outputting data to a dedicated telecommunication network (8) at a second transmission rate differing from said first transmission rate, said point of presence also having feedback means (26(1), 26(2), 26(3), 26(4); 46, 48; 46, 48, 26(5), 52) having a feedback input and a feedback output, said feedback means being arranged to receive said predetermined data at said first transmission rate from said data collecting means (24; 43), said forwarding means (22, 28(1), 28(2); 44) being connected to said feedback output for receiving said predetermined data and forwarding these predetermined data to said dedicated telecommunication network (8) at said second transmission rate.
A computer network architecture and software that accesses multiple telephone billing systems across multiple telephone service regions, provides a telecommunications service provider with a consolidated view of a customer's telephone usage, and provides means for creating, automatically implementing, and monitoring billing plans based on customer billing relationships illustrated in the consolidated view. The present invention pulls information from different billing systems and presents the telecommunications service provider with a consolidated account view that summarizes a customer's total worth to the service provider, rather than listing a series of unrelated accounts for the same customer. With the individualized consolidated views, a telecommunications service provider can formulate and implement flexible terms and conditions for each customer. The computer network architecture also supports extensive reporting capabilities and means for correcting the accounts presented in the consolidated views. Further, the architecture enables automatic implementation of billing plans without coding software programs.
A method that provides improved invoice validation in a wireless telecommunication system comprises receiving billing input data for a circuit and indicating a discrepancy if a billed amount and a calculated amount differ by greater than a threshold amount, the billing input data including the billed amount. In addition the method includes indicating billing parameters used to create the calculated amount.
A data management method and system to more correctly bill a customer of a reseller of telephone service, based on wholesale billing data of a telephone company. The wholesale billing data is divided into many very small parts, or cells, of information. The system accesses one cell of information at a time, and excludes a portion of the accessed information from subsequent data manipulation. Then, the system transforms the un-excluded information from one data format to another data format. The wholesale billing data can be in EBCDIC data format and the tabulated data is not in the EBCDIC data format. The tabulated data can be in a personal-computer data format. After transformation, the system generates tabulated data from the un-excluded wholesale billing data based on at least a user-preference. The tabulated data is then compared to the reseller's internally generated billing information to correct mistakes in the bills to the customer.
A data management method and system to more correctly bill a customer of a reseller of telephone service, based on wholesale billing data of a telephone company. The wholesale billing data is divided into many very small parts, or cells, of information. The system accesses one cell of information at a time, and excludes a portion of the accessed information from subsequent data manipulation. Then, the system transforms the un-excluded information from one data format to another data format. The wholesale billing data can be in EBCDIC data format and the tabulated data is not in the EBCDIC data format. The tabulated data can be in a personal-computer data format. After transformation, the system generates tabulated data from the un-excluded wholesale billing data based on at least a user-preference. The tabulated data is then compared to the reseller's internally generated billing information to correct mistakes in the bills to the customer.
