Selectable billing options for a single communications account

Abstract

The present invention, referred to herein as Personal Billing Selection, enables a telecommunications service subscriber to designate billing options for outgoing and incoming calls on a per-call basis, even if the subscriber's account includes several numbers and/or addresses. The present invention also preferably allows users to designate default billing accounts on a per-number basis. The subscriber may have a plurality of service accounts established in a database such as service profile. Calls for personal use and calls for other uses (e.g., business calls, separate client accounts, etc.) may be distinguished on a per-call basis by the call originator for outgoing calls or by the call recipient for incoming calls if the recipient is billed for incoming calls. For both outgoing and incoming calls, network usage is automatically allocated to the appropriate service account.