An apparatus for transferring data on a network. The apparatus includes a switch comprising a primary component for switching the data through the switch. The apparatus includes a secondary component for switching the data through the switch if the primary component fails. The apparatus includes a mechanism for counting the data that has been received, transmitted or dropped by the switch without including any redundancy in the counting of the data due to the primary component and secondary comp...

A system for updating a merchant customer account database is provided, wherein the system may be used to update a merchant's customer database in response to changes made to a customer transaction account. The system provides a remote database location which stores a merchant's customer transaction account information for customers using the transaction account for recurring billing purposes. A server is used to manage the remote database information to update the remote database in response to...

A method and system is provided for improving the efficiency of a process for manufacturing a product and begins with the step of receiving from a manufacturer a desire to manufacture a number of said products. Next, the amount of materials that is required to produce the number of products is determined. Next, the optimum process for manufacturing the number of products is determined. Next, a cost to manufacture the number of products based on the amount of materials and the optimum process is ...

An Internet billing method comprises establishing an agreement between an Internet access provider and a customer, and an agreement between the Internet access provider and a vendor, wherein the Internet access provider agrees with the customer and the vendor to bill the customer and remit to the vendor for products and services purchased over the Internet by the customer from the vendor. The provider creates access to the Internet for the customer. When the customer orders a product or service ...

An Internet billing method comprises establishing an agreement between an Internet access provider and a customer, and an agreement between the Internet access provider and a vendor, wherein the Internet access provider agrees with the customer and the vendor to bill the customer and remit to the vendor for products and services purchased over the Internet by the customer from the vendor. The provider creates access to the Internet for the customer. When the customer orders a product or service ...

The present invention discloses an Internet billing method which can reject invalid orders with reliability, and which can be used without a credit card. In the present invention, a terminal makes a request of a content server for a chargeable service by using a prepaid information medium which has predetermined information necessary for transactions. After the request, the content server makes a request of a prepaid information management server for authentication to check whether the prepaid i...

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 te...

A bill editor, generator, messaging and insert system and method comprises a portion of a bill production processor designed to create monthly billing statements which are sent to customers and which detail charges incurred over the course of a billing cycle. The bill editor and generator allows billing personnel to design a bill using static text, dynamic text and paragraph areas. Once the report/bill is defined, the report definition is stored in temporary memory for later use. The report defi...

A billing statement system comprising a billing statement having a plurality of sheets or pages of multiple lengths or which are otherwise of multiple sizes and/or shapes. The billing statement preferably comprises a plurality of sheets wherein at least one sheet is of different, generally larger, size than the other sheets, and in which the larger sheet has a first region with a consumer's mailing address on one side and a provider's mailing address on the reverse side, and a second region whic...

An Internet billing method comprises establishing an agreement between an Internet access provider and a customer, and an agreement between the Internet access provider and a vendor, wherein the Internet access provider agrees with the customer and the vendor to bill the customer and remit to the vendor for products and services purchased over the Internet by the customer from the vendor. The provider creates access to the Internet for the customer. When the customer orders a product or service ...