Methods and apparatus for paging systems

Abstract

An improved paging system including a transmitter and a call controller. An incoming call trunk, a memory device, an outgoing call trunk, and a central processing unit make up the call controller. A paging party connects to the call controller though the incoming call trunk and enters a phone number. The phone number is stored in the memory device, and the subscriber is notified of the page via the transmitter. To dial the phone number left by the paging party, the subscriber connects to the call controller through the incoming call trunk and enters an authorization code associated with a prepaid electronic account stored in the memory device. The central processing unit retrieves the stored phone number from the memory device and connects the subscriber directly to the phone number. During the duration of the phone call, the balance of the prepaid account is incrementally decreased by the central processing unit. Further included are a message database for storing messages left by the paging party, and a billing summary that is remotely configurable to a format preference indicated by the subscriber. Credit may also be added to the balance of the prepaid account while connected to the call controller, and any destination phone number may be dialed through the call controller, whereby the balance of the prepaid account is decreased during the duration of the call connection.