FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT  1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES  2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10  rule 13)

“A method and system of establishing a phone call from a first user device to a second user device in a telecommunication network”

Tejas Networks Limited
2nd floor  GNR Tech Park  46/4  Garbebhavi Palya 
Kudlu Gate  Hosur main road 
Bangalore 560 068  Karnataka  India

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally in the field of communication and  more specifically  to a method and system to process a request for communication between a calling device and a called device.

Background of the Invention
In some scenario  where telecommunications users have occasion to make emergency calls. Mobile users may have a phone that does not have service or may be enrolled in a service plan that does not currently provide service  such as when the user has exceeded the spending limit or the service package is pre-paid and the user has exceeded the pre-paid number of minutes. In such situations  cellular systems do not provide the ability for the cell phone to place a call when there is a zero balance in the pre-paid account of the calling person.
In many situations  a calling party with zero balance may in a need to have a vital situation for establishing telephone communications with the called party  such as a relative  friend  or business associate. For example  a parent may have an important need to allow a child to call home from a mobile phone without using a calling card  credit card  collect charging  or coins. Another example exists  where family members may wish to receive calls from an inmate and accept the charges of the call. In all above scenario  when the calling party has a zero balance account on his/her mobile  the systems do not provide the ability to place a call.
There is a need exists for a method and system of allowing a communication service between a calling device and a called device  where the calling device has zero balance in the account.

Summary of the Invention
An aspect of the present invention is to address at least the above-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below.
Accordingly  an aspect of the present invention is to provide a method of establishing a phone call from a first user device to a second user device in a telecommunication network  the method comprising: initiating the call from the first user device in order to connect the second user device  wherein the first user device has zero balance in the account  prompting the second user by the network about the call by informing the first user account information and allowing the second user to select an option of accept or deny the call originated from the first user device  wherein the prompting the second user by the network in order to inform about the credit information of the first user account has no balance in the account to place a valid call.
Other aspects  advantages  and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description  which  taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings  discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

Brief description of the drawings
The above and other aspects  features  and advantages of certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a block diagram generically depicting a system according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a flow chart of a method of establishing a phone call from a first user device to a second user device in a telecommunication network  according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example  the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detail description of the Invention
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly  those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. In addition  descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.
The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings  but  are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly  it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
It is to be understood that the singular forms “a ” “an ” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus  for example  reference to “a component surface” includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.
By the term “substantially” it is meant that the recited characteristic  parameter  or value need not be achieved exactly  but that deviations or variations  including for example  tolerances  measurement error  measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art  may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.
Figs. 1 through 2  discussed below  and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way that would limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged communications system. The terms used to describe various embodiments are exemplary. It should be understood that these are provided to merely aid the understanding of the description  and that their use and definitions in no way limit the scope of the invention. Terms first  second  and the like are used to differentiate between objects having the same terminology and are in no way intended to represent a chronological order  unless where explicitly stated otherwise. A set is defined as a non-empty set including at least one element.
When referred to hereafter  the terminology “wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU)” includes but is not limited to a user equipment (UE)  a mobile station  a fixed or mobile subscriber unit  a pager  a cellular telephone  a personal digital assistant (PDA)  a computer  or any other type of user device capable of operating in a wireless environment. When referred to hereafter  the terminology “base station” includes but is not limited to an eNodeB  a site controller  an access point (AP)  or any other type of interfacing device capable of operating in a wireless environment.
While the present invention will be described fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings  in which particular embodiments are shown  it is to be understood at the outset that persons skilled in the art may modify the embodiments herein described while still achieving the desired result of this invention. Accordingly  the description which follows is to be understood as a broad informative disclosure directed to persons skilled in the appropriate arts and not as limitations of the present invention.
The present invention allows a calling party (in figure 1 first user device ) to call a destination number and  upon approval of the called party  initiate the billing of the call which is deducted from an account owned and maintained by the called device or party (in figure 1 second user device). The account can be a credit card account  a checking or savings account having an associated debit or checking card  a conventional pre-paid calling card  or a special pre-paid account as described herein.
The present invention can be implemented on any type of telecommunications network system. FIG. 1 generically depicts a telecommunications network 10 in communication with an originating device 20 (first user device) and a terminating device 30 (second user device). The network 10 is a telecommunication network including private or public network. The network 10 includes telecommunications infrastructure that is well known in the telecommunications industry.
An originating party  or calling party  uses the device 20 to initiate a telephone call to a called party  wherein the calling party enters a 10-digit destination number (e.g. a mobile number). The device 20 may be a telephone set  mobile phone  computer  facsimile machine  or any other device that is capable of placing a phone call. The network 10 facilitates connection of the call and notification of the called party that it is in receipt of a call from the calling party.
The called party is now given the option to bill the call to a credit card account  debit card account  a prepaid calling card account  or any other type of account not associated with the telephone service account of the destination telephone number  or  accept the call utilizing standard collect calling methods wherein the call is billed to the destination number. The network of the present invention allows the called party to accept a reverse-billed phone call from any location.
Figure 2 is a flow chart of a method of establishing a phone call from a first user device to a second user device in a telecommunication network  according to one embodiment of the present invention.

At step 210  the method initiates the call from the first user device in order to connect the second user device  where the first user device has zero balance in the account. If the second user accepts the call  then the second user account will be deducted for the duration of call which is initiated by the first user device. If the second user denies the call  the network drops the call which is initiated from the first user device. Before initiating the process of zero balance call  the first user device and the second user device agree the rules and regulation of the network in order to place the zero balance call facility. In an example embodiment  the zero balance call facility is possible by downloading an application by the users in order to use the service of zero balance call where the application may pre-test for the zero balance or insufficient fund of calling party and then initiate the call.

At step 220  the method prompts the second user by the network about the call by informing the first user account information. The prompting of the second user by the network in order to inform about the credit information of the first user account has no balance in the account to place a valid call. Further  prompting includes determining whether the account of the second user device has sufficient funds to complete the call  where the account of the second user device is identified by an identification number provided by the first user device.

At step 230  the method allows the second user to select an option of accept or deny the call originated from the first user device.
At step 240  the method deducts the amount for the duration of call from the second user account on accepting the call from the first user device.
In a working example embodiment  the second user device who has added the first user device as a preferential user in order to use the facility of zero balance call i.e. suppose there are two users (user 1 and user 2)  the user 1 may be a father and user 2 is a son  where the father has registered or added the son mobile device as a preferential user list. The preferential user list includes one of the name in the present example is son who is having no balance or zero balance in his phone account  who wants to place a call to his father. Any number of preferential Users can be added to the user device or of his/her operator. In an example embodiment  during this process  the father gets a flash message that his son wants to place a call and his call account is not having sufficient funds or zero balance. The father accepts the call in order to have communication with the son  where the network can detect the amount of call for the duration of conversation between them from the father’s account.
Although the method flowchart includes steps 210-240 that are arranged logically in the exemplary embodiments  other embodiments of the subject matter may execute two or more steps in parallel  using multiple processors or a single processor organized as two or more virtual machines or sub-processors. Moreover  still other embodiments may implement the steps as two or more specific interconnected hardware modules with related control and data signals communicated between and through the modules  or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Thus  the exemplary process flow diagrams are applicable to software  firmware  and/or hardware implementations.
It should also be understood that elements of the present invention may also be provided as a computer program product which may include a machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which may be used to program a computer (e.g.  a processor or other electronic device) to perform a sequence of operations. Alternatively  the operations may be performed by a combination of hardware and software. The machine-readable medium may include  but is not limited to  floppy diskettes  optical disks  CD-ROMs  and magneto-optical disks  ROMs  RAMs  EPROMs  EEPROMs  magnet or optical cards  propagation media or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. For example  elements of the present invention may be downloaded as a computer program product  wherein the program may be transferred from a remote computer or telephonic device to a requesting process by way of data signals embodied in a carrier wave or other propagation medium via a communication link (e.g.  a modem or network connection).
FIGS. 1-2 are merely representational and are not drawn to scale. Certain portions thereof may be exaggerated  while others may be minimized. FIGS. 1-2 illustrate various embodiments of the invention that can be understood and appropriately carried out by those of ordinary skill in the art.
In the foregoing detailed description of embodiments of the invention  various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments of the invention require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather  as the following claims reflect  inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus  the following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description of embodiments of the invention  with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.
It is understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative  and not restrictive. It is intended to cover all alternatives  modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of the invention should  therefore  be determined with reference to the appended claims  along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. In the appended claims  the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein ” respectively.

We Claim:

1. A method of establishing a phone call from a first user device to a second user device in a telecommunication network  the method comprising:
initiating the call from the first user device in order to connect the second user device  wherein the first user device has zero balance in the account;
prompting the second user by the network about the call by informing the first user account information; and
allowing the second user to select an option of accept or deny the call originated from the first user device 
wherein the prompting the second user by the network in order to inform about the credit information of the first user account has no balance in the account to place a valid call.

2. The method of claim 1  wherein if the second user accept the call  the second user account will be deducted for the duration of call which is initiated by the first user device.

3. The method of claim 1  wherein if the second user denies the call  the network drops the call which is initiated from the first user device.

4. The method of claim 1  wherein the second user device has added the first user device as a preferential user.

5. The method of claim 1  wherein the step of prompting includes determining whether the account of the second user device has sufficient funds to complete the call.

6. The method of claim 1  wherein the account of the second user device is identified by an identification number provided by the first user device.

7. The method of claim 1  the first user device and the second user device are agreed with the rules and regulation of the network in order to place the zero balance call facility.

Dated this the 30th day of March  2012
S Afsar
Agent for the Applicant
Of Krishna & Saurastri Associates
Registration No. IN/PA-1073

Abstract
A method and system of establishing a phone call from a first user device to a second user device in a telecommunication network
The present invention relates to a method and system of establishing a phone call from a first user device to a second user device in a telecommunication network. In one embodiment this is accomplished by initiating the call from the first user device in order to connect the second user device  wherein the first user device has zero balance in the account  prompting the second user by the network about the call by informing the first user account information and allowing the second user to select an option of accept or deny the call originated from the first user device  wherein the prompting the second user by the network in order to inform about the credit information of the first user account has no balance in the account to place a valid call.

Figure 2 (for publication)