CLIAMS:We claim:
1. A method for analyzing at least one bill belonging to at least one service provider received by a device, the method comprising of
converting the bill into a text based format by the device using metadata information related to the bill, on receiving the bill; and
parsing the text based format by the device, using at least one contact list of at least one user.
2. The method, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the device receives the bill from at least one of the user; or the service provider.
3. The method, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the device receives the bill as at least one of a soft copy format; or a scan copy of the bill.
4. The method, as claimed in claim 1, wherein parsing the text based format by the device further comprises of
searching for each record in the at least one contact list; and
creating an entry for the communication between the at least one user and the record, on finding the record in the at least one contact list.
5. The method, as claimed in claim 4, wherein the method further comprises of presenting the entries by the device to the at least one user.
6. The method, as claimed in claim 4, wherein the method further comprises of enabling the user to perform analysis on the entries.
7. The method, as claimed in claim 4, wherein the method further comprises of enabling at least one external entity to perform analysis on the entries.
8. A device for analyzing at least one bill belonging to at least one service provider, the device configured for
converting the bill into a text based format using metadata information related to the bill, on receiving the bill; and
parsing the text based format, using at least one contact list of at least one user.
9. The device, as claimed in claim 8, wherein the device is configured for receiving the bill from at least one of the user; or the service provider.
10. The device, as claimed in claim 8, wherein the device is configured for receiving the bill as at least one of a soft copy format; or a scan copy of the bill.
11. The device, as claimed in claim 8, wherein the device is configured for parsing the text based format by the device by
searching for each record in the at least one contact list; and
creating an entry for the communication between the at least one user and the record, on finding the record in the at least one contact list.
12. The device, as claimed in claim 11, wherein the device is further configured for presenting the entries by the device to the at least one user.
13. The device, as claimed in claim 11, wherein the device is further configured for enabling the user to perform analysis on the entries.
14. The device, as claimed in claim 11, wherein the device is further configured for enabling at least one external entity to perform analysis on the entries.

,TagSPECI:FORM 2
The Patent Act 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patent Rules, 2005

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(SEE SECTION 10 AND RULE 13)

TITLE OF THE INVENTION
“A method and system for automated analysis of consumer phone bill(s) while correlating with User contact list(s)”

APPLICANTS:
Name : HCL Technologies Limited
Nationality : Indian
Address : HCL Technologies Ltd., 50-53 Greams
Road,Chennai – 600006, Tamil Nadu, India

The following specification particularly describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:-

FIELD OF INVENTION
[001] This invention relates to communication networks, and more particularly to analyzing bills related to communication networks.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[002] Currently, users have a large number of people to contact. This contact may be using voice calls (which may be performed over a telephone network, a cellular network, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service and so on), Short Messaging Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and so on. Over the course of time, the user may interact with a small group of people on a more regular and frequent scale.
[003] Currently, bills provided to a user are itemized and provide a listing of the numbers who have been contacted, using any suitable mode. If the user requires any analysis on the bill, the user has to do the analysis manually.

OBJECT OF INVENTION
[004] The principal object of this invention to propose a method and system of analyzing user interaction bills by correlating records mentioned in the bill with contacts stored by the user.

STATEMENT OF INVENTION
[005] Accordingly the invention provides a method for analyzing at least one bill belonging to at least one service provider received by a device, the method comprising of converting the bill into a text based format by the device using metadata information related to the bill, on receiving the bill; and parsing the text based format by the device, using at least one contact list of at least one user.
[006] Also, disclosed herein is a device for analyzing at least one bill belonging to at least one service provider, the device configured for converting the bill into a text based format using metadata information related to the bill, on receiving the bill; and parsing the text based format, using at least one contact list of at least one user.
[007] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
[008] This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, through out which like reference letters indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following description with reference to the drawings, in which:
[009] FIG. 1 depicts a communication network, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0010] FIGs. 2a and 2b depict a device, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the process, according to embodiments as disclosed herein; and
[0012] FIG. 4 is an exemplary table depicting the data that may be accessed by the user, according to embodiments as disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
[0013] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
[0014] Embodiments herein disclose a method and system of analyzing user interaction bills by correlating records mentioned in the bill with contacts stored by the user. Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 4, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown preferred embodiments.
[0015] FIG. 1 depicts a communication network, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. The network as depicted comprises of a device 101 which can be accessed by a user. The device 101 may be configured to connect to the internet using a suitable means. The device 101 may be at least one of a phone, a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a server, a cloud based computing means and so on. In an embodiment herein, the device 101 may be connected to a service provider 102, wherein the service provider 102 provides the user a suitable means to connect to at least one other user using at least one of a voice call, a messaging service and so on. Examples of the service provider may comprise of a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) provider, a cellular network provider, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), a web based messaging service and so on. The user may access the services of the service provider 102 using the device 101 or any other device capable of communicating with the service provider 102 and is accessible to the user or any other authorized users.
[0016] The device 101, on receiving a bill related to the service provider 102, converts the bill into a suitable text based format. The device 101 may receive the bill from the service provider 102. The device 101 may also receive the bill from the user, who uploads the bill to the device 101 or points the device 101 to a location where the bill is present. The bill may be received in a computerized soft copy or as a scan of a paper bill. The suitable text format may be a text data format, a tabular data format and so on. The device may use metadata information of the service provider 102. The metadata may be provided by the service provider 101. The metadata may also be stored at a suitable location, wherein the metadata may be stored in at least one of the device 101 or an external location which may be accessed by the device 101, when required. The metadata information may comprise of information specific to the service provider 102 such as bill plan tariff details, special discounted rates, bill fields, bill layout and so on.
[0017] The device 101 further parses the text based format, based on the information present in a contact list of the user. The contact list may comprise of information such as phone numbers of the contacts, VoIP contact information and so on. The device 101 may fetch the contact list from a storage location present in the device itself, another device (such as a phone, a computer, a cloud server, a remote server and so on) connected to the device 101 using a suitable means and so on. The device 101 searches for each record in the bill in the contact list and create an entry for the connection between the user and the respective contact, on finding an entry in the contact list.
[0018] The device 101 may perform further analysis, wherein contacts may be sorted using a plurality of factors comprising of cost (sorted as most expensive or least expensive), duration of connection (in terms of time sorted as most expensive or least expensive), number of connections and so on.
[0019] The device 101 may further perform analysis in terms of determining at least one emergency contact for the user, by checking the contact with which the user connects the highest (which may be in terms of cost, duration of connection, number of connections and so on). This may be determined based on preferences as set by the user.
[0020] The device 101 may enable the user to access the data using a suitable means such as an application residing on the device, a web based interface and so on.
[0021] In an embodiment herein, the device 101 may maintain persistent contact lists over a period of time, even on changes being made in the contact list.
[0022] In an embodiment herein, the device 101 may correlate multiple bills with at least one contact list. In an embodiment herein, the device 101 may correlate multiple bills with a plurality of contact lists, wherein the contact lists may not belong to the same user. In an embodiment herein, the device 101 may correlate multiple bills with a plurality of contact lists, wherein the contact lists may belong to the same user. In an embodiment herein, the device 101 may correlate a single bill with a plurality of contact lists, wherein the contact lists may not belong to the same user. In an embodiment herein, the device 101 may correlate a single bill with a plurality of contact lists, wherein the contact lists may belong to the same user.
[0023] In another embodiment, the device 101 may correlate bills related to a plurality of service providers.
[0024] FIGs. 2a and 2b depict a device, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. The device 101 may be at least one of a phone, a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a server, a cloud based computing means and so on. The device 101 as depicted comprises of a bill management engine 201, which in turn comprises of a bill conversion engine 202, a bill parsing engine 203, an interface 204 and a database 205. In an embodiment herein, the database 205 may be present internal to the device 101, as depicted in FIG. 2a. In an embodiment herein, the database 205 may be present external to the device 101 and may be connected to the device 101 using a suitable means, as depicted in FIG. 2b.
[0025] The bill conversion engine 202, on receiving a bill related to the service provider 102, converts the bill into a suitable text based format. The bill conversion engine 202 may receive the bill from the service provider 102, via the interface 204. The bill conversion engine 202 may also receive the bill from the user, via the interface 204, who uploads the bill to the device 101 or points the device 101 to a location where the bill is present. The bill conversion engine 202 may receive the bill in the form of a computerized soft copy or as a scan of a paper bill. The suitable text format may be a text data format, a tabular data format and so on. The bill conversion engine 202 may use metadata information of the service provider 102 present in the database 205. The service provider 102 may provide the metadata to the database 205, via the interface 204.
[0026] The bill conversion engine 202 on converting the bill passes the bill in the converted format to the bill parsing engine 203. The bill parsing engine 203 parses the text based format, based on the information present in a contact list of the user. The contact list may comprise of information such as phone numbers of the contacts, VoIP contact information and so on. The bill parsing engine 203 may fetch the contact list from the database 205. The bill parsing engine 203 may also fetch the contact list from a storage location present in the device itself, another device (such as a phone, a computer, a cloud server, a remote server and so on) connected to the device 101 using a suitable means and so on. The bill parsing engine 203 searches for each record in the bill in the contact list and create a record for the connection between the user and the respective contact, on finding an entry in the contact list.
[0027] The bill management engine 201 may perform further analysis, wherein contacts may be sorted using a plurality of factors comprising of cost (sorted as most expensive or least expensive), duration of connection (in terms of time sorted as most expensive or least expensive), number of connections and so on.
[0028] The bill management engine 201 may further perform analysis in terms of determining at least one emergency contact for the user, by checking the contact with which the user connects the highest (which may be in terms of cost, duration of connection, number of connections and so on). This may be determined based on preferences as set by the user.
[0029] The bill management engine 201 may enable the user to access the data using a suitable means such as an application residing on the device, a web based interface and so on.
[0030] In an embodiment herein, the bill management engine 201 may maintain persistent contact lists over a period of time, even on changes being made in the contact list.
[0031] In an embodiment herein, the bill management engine 201 may correlate multiple bills with at least one contact list. In an embodiment herein, the bill management engine 201 may correlate multiple bills with a plurality of contact lists, wherein the contact lists may not belong to the same user. In an embodiment herein, the bill management engine 201 may correlate multiple bills with a plurality of contact lists, wherein the contact lists may belong to the same user. In an embodiment herein, the bill management engine 201 may correlate a single bill with a plurality of contact lists, wherein the contact lists may not belong to the same user. In an embodiment herein, the bill management engine 201 may correlate a single bill with a plurality of contact lists, wherein the contact lists may belong to the same user.
[0032] In another embodiment, the bill management engine 201 may correlate bills related to a plurality of service providers.
[0033] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the process, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. The device 101, on receiving (301) a bill related to the service provider 102, converts (302) the bill into a suitable text based format. The device 101 may receive the bill from the service provider 102. The device 101 may also receive the bill from the user, who uploads the bill to the device 101 or points the device 101 to a location where the bill is present. The device may use metadata information of the service provider 102. The device 101 fetches (303) the contact list of the user. The device 101 may fetch the contact list from a storage location present in the device itself, another device (such as a phone, a computer, a cloud server, a remote server and so on) connected to the device 101 using a suitable means and so on. The device 101 further parses (304) the text based format, based on the information present in the contact list of the user. The device 101 parses by searching for each record in the bill in the contact list and create a record for the connection between the user and the respective contact, on finding an entry in the contact list. The various actions in method 300 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG. 3 may be omitted.
[0034] FIG. 4 is an exemplary table depicting the data that may be accessed by the user, according to embodiments as disclosed herein.
[0035] Embodiments herein further comprises of an Application Programming Interface (API), wherein the APIs enable an entity such as an organization or an individual other than the user to access the data and perform further analysis on the data.
[0036] The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the network elements. The network elements shown in Figs. 1, 2a and 2b include blocks which can be at least one of a hardware device, or a combination of hardware device and software module.
[0037] Embodiments herein disclose a method and system of analyzing user interaction bills by correlating records mentioned in the bill with contacts stored by the user. Therefore, it is understood that the scope of the protection is extended to such a program and in addition to a computer readable means having a message therein, such computer readable storage means contain program code means for implementation of one or more steps of the method, when the program runs on a server or mobile device or any suitable programmable device. The method is implemented in a preferred embodiment through or together with a software program written in e.g. Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) another programming language, or implemented by one or more VHDL or several software modules being executed on at least one hardware device. The hardware device can be any kind of portable device that can be programmed. The device may also include means which could be e.g. hardware means like e.g. an ASIC, or a combination of hardware and software means, e.g. an ASIC and an FPGA, or at least one microprocessor and at least one memory with software modules located therein. The method embodiments described herein could be implemented partly in hardware and partly in software. Alternatively, the invention may be implemented on different hardware devices, e.g. using a plurality of CPUs.
[0038] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.