Telephone Line Validation via Inverted Call Verification

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for authenticating users through SMS-based verification of telephone lines are costly and insecure, with risks of interception and high costs due to repeated message sending when network congestion occurs.

Innovation Solution

A method that allocates a temporary validation telephone number for a dedicated validation system, where the user's communication terminal initiates a call to this number, allowing secure validation without sending SMS, reducing costs and enhancing security by ensuring the call originates from the user's terminal.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If SMS-based verification is used to authenticate users, then user authentication can be performed, but costs increase significantly and security risks arise from message interception

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveauthentication reliabilityVSAvoidcost

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of the server sending verification codes via SMS to the user's phone number, the invention inverts the process by having the server send a challenge code to the user's terminal via data network, then verify the user's telephone line by analyzing the incoming call back to the server. This reversal eliminates costly SMS messages while maintaining authentication reliability through call-based verification.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Solution Approach 2:

The invention replaces the SMS message-based verification mechanism with a voice call-based verification mechanism. By substituting text messages with voice calls, the system eliminates the costs and security vulnerabilities associated with SMS while achieving the same authentication objective through a different technical approach.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Reliability

If SMS-based verification is used, then user authentication can be performed, but security is compromised due to interception risks

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveauthentication securityVSAvoidinterception risk

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The invention replaces the vulnerable SMS transmission channel with a more secure voice call channel. Voice calls benefit from network-level security and are harder to intercept compared to text messages, thereby reducing the harmful factor of interception risk while maintaining authentication security.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The invention introduces an intermediary verification process where the server sends a challenge code through the data network to the user's terminal, which is then read aloud during the incoming call. This intermediary step adds an layer of security by requiring the user to actively participate in the verification process, making interception more difficult.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Ease of operation

If SMS verification is sent repeatedly due to network congestion, then user authentication can be completed, but costs are multiplied

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveauthentication completionVSAvoidcost

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

By inverting the verification process to use incoming calls rather than outgoing SMS, the system avoids the problem of message delivery failures due to network congestion. The call-based approach ensures more reliable delivery and reduces the need for repeated attempts, thereby eliminating the multiplied costs associated with re-sending SMS messages.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

4Ease of operation

If manual re-entry of phone numbers is required after failed verification, then users can retry authentication, but user experience deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveretry capabilityVSAvoidvalidation time

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring the user's telephone number from the SIM card and maintaining it in the database before verification is needed. When verification fails, the system can quickly re-initiate the process without requiring the user to manually re-enter their phone number, thereby reducing the time loss while maintaining the ability to retry authentication.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS10841418B2Method for verifying the validity of a telephone line of a user of a service or of a software application

Publication Date: 2020.11.17 ONOFF TELECOM

AI summary

Verification of the validity of a telephone line of a user likely to use a service or a software application, the verification process can include: the allocation to said validation procedure, by a validation system, of a temporary validation telephone number that has a predetermined validity duration; the generation of a call by the communication terminal of the user, via a telephone communication network, to the temporary validation telephone number; the verification of the correspondence between the temporary validation telephone number called and the validation procedure; and the validation of the telephone line of the user insofar as the correspondence between the temporary validation telephone number called by the communication terminal of the user and the validation procedure has been verified in the preceding step, such that the client system is able to authorise the user to use the service or software application.