System and method of billing a predetermined telephone line for service utilized by a calling party

Abstract

A billing system and method automatically charges a call to a predetermined telephone line wherein the call is placed by a calling part through a service. This service is any one or combination of a voice mail system, a call forwarding system, and the like. Preferably, this billing system and method also automatically charges the call to a predetermined telephone line even when the calling party places the call from a remote location. The billing system and method preferably includes a signal control point coupled to the calling party, the predetermined telephone line, and the service. Preferably, the signal control point is configured to implement the billing system and method such that the call placed by the calling party through the service is billed to the predetermined telephone line. A terminating attempt trigger within a switch associated with predetermined telephone line preferably directs this switch to record a duration of the call and a particular feature utilized for the call. As a result, this switch associated with the predetermined telephone line stores both the call duration and the particular feature associated with the call in a single record. Accordingly, the billing system and method does not need to perform additional steps or add further complexity to obtain both the call duration and the particular feature associated with the call. Further, the calling party is preferably capable of selecting the predetermined telephone line which serves as a telephone line to be billed.