Enterprise Gatekeeper for Network Communication Billing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional packet-switched networks face challenges in providing reliable and efficiently accessible communication details for billing purposes, as they rely on unverified data stored at customer sites, are resource-intensive to retrieve, and often store data in formats unsuitable for processing by billing systems, especially when communications involve circuit-switched networks.

Innovation Solution

A system and method that records and transmits communication details from network endpoints to an enterprise gatekeeper, which processes and aggregates this information into suitable formats for billing systems, including parsing alphanumeric termination cause codes into numeric formats and generating authentication records for billing purposes.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If communication details are stored at customer sites by call mediators, then local data storage is achieved, but data reliability and verification are compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata reliabilityVSAvoiddata verification complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The enterprise gatekeeper acts as an intermediary between call mediators and billing systems. It receives communication details from call mediators, verifies and standardizes the data, then forwards it to billing systems. This mediator approach ensures data reliability without requiring complex verification processes at customer sites.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The enterprise gatekeeper performs preliminary actions by pre-processing, validating, and standardizing communication details before they reach billing systems. This includes parsing alphanumeric termination cause codes into numeric formats and ensuring data formats are suitable for billing processing, thereby ensuring data reliability in advance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Quantity of substance

If communication details are retrieved from multiple call mediators, then comprehensive billing data is obtained, but system resources are consumed excessively

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebilling data quantityVSAvoidsystem resource consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The enterprise gatekeeper merges communication details from multiple call mediators into a single standardized format before forwarding to billing systems. This consolidation approach reduces the total data transmission volume and processing requirements compared to retrieving and processing individual records from each call mediator separately.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The enterprise gatekeeper serves as an intermediary that aggregates data from multiple call mediators and presents it in a unified format to billing systems. This reduces the number of direct queries billing systems must make to individual call mediators, thereby reducing system resource consumption.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Ease of manufacture

If call mediators store communication details in local formats, then data storage is simplified, but compatibility with billing systems is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata storage simplicityVSAvoiddata format compatibility

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The enterprise gatekeeper changes data parameters by converting communication details from various call mediator formats into a standardized format suitable for billing systems. This includes parsing alphanumeric termination cause codes into numeric formats and ensuring all data fields conform to billing system requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The enterprise gatekeeper acts as a format translator and intermediary between call mediators and billing systems. It receives data in diverse local formats from call mediators and transforms it into a consistent, billing-system-compatible format, thereby ensuring adaptability without complicating the storage process at customer sites.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Adaptability or versatility

If call mediators handle all communication routing, then packet-switched network control is maintained, but circuit-switched network communications are excluded

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenetwork protocol coverageVSAvoidcommunication routing complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The enterprise gatekeeper provides universal functionality by handling both packet-switched and circuit-switched network communications through a single system. It can receive communication details from various network types and standardize them for billing processing, eliminating the need for separate handling mechanisms for different network protocols.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS7764670B2System and method for monitoring communications in a network

Publication Date: 2010.07.27 LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS LLC

AI summary

Methods and systems are described for monitoring communications in a packet-switched network. More specifically, the system initiates a communication between a network endpoint associated with a call mediator and at least a second network endpoint; records, at the call mediator, information associated with the communication; and upon termination of the communication, communicates, from the call mediator to an enterprise gatekeeper, the information associated with the communication.