The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 14, 2010
Filed:
Aug. 18, 2008
Mark Titus, Arnold, MD (US);
Dara Ung, Odenton, MD (US);
Carle S. Johnson, Jr., Annapolis, MD (US);
Erik Wallace, Annapolis, MD (US);
Phillip Geil, Clarksville, MD (US);
Daniel Hronek, Annapolis, MD (US);
Mark Titus, Arnold, MD (US);
Dara Ung, Odenton, MD (US);
Carle S. Johnson, Jr., Annapolis, MD (US);
Erik Wallace, Annapolis, MD (US);
Phillip Geil, Clarksville, MD (US);
Daniel Hronek, Annapolis, MD (US);
TeleCommunication Systems, Inc., Annapolis, MD (US);
Abstract
A prepaid messaging solution which uses open networking standards (e.g., TCP/IP) and which supports pre-payment of enhanced Internet messaging services. The disclosed prepaid architectures and methods accurately determine if a subscriber has sufficient account balance to deliver a complete short message, prior to delivery of the message. The short message may be prevented from being delivered (either at the source end or at the destination end) if insufficient funds are in the subscriber's account. A prepaid tariff engine is preferably extensible over a TCP/IP network, and supports remote interaction with the SMSC and web chat servers for the purpose of applying a real-time billing charge for each message. A service provider may create subscriber classes of service that define and uniquely identify subscriber rate and/or tariffing plans used to apply real-time billing charges for sending or receiving of messages. The prepaid short message tariff engine determines the appropriate message billing based upon, e.g., flat rate per message, message count (e.g., 10 messages @ $5.00), character count (e.g., $0.01/char.), Time of Day, Day of Week (i.e., peak & non-peak hours), type of message, and/or mobile location (i.e., network point code). The prepaid short messaging service preferably supports Internet web page access to subscriber's relating to their short messaging account balances and status maintained in the prepaid short messaging database of the prepaid messaging server.