Claims:We Claim:
1. A method for verifying a prepaid balance notification received from a service provider on a mobile device for a prepaid service account registered with the service provider, the method comprising:
identifying on the mobile device, at least one service usage plan from published service usage plans of the service provider, wherein the identification is based on one or more notifications received from the service provider, and the service usage plan includes at least one applicable service rate for a service used during an active communication session initiated on the mobile device;
storing the applicable service rate in a memory of the mobile device;
processing the prepaid balance notification received on termination of an active communication session to determine an applied service rate;
comparing the applied service rate with the applicable service rate; and
providing a discrepancy notification on the mobile device if the applied service rate is different from the applicable service rate.

2. A method for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 1 wherein the notification is a service purchase confirmation received from the service provider, the service purchase confirmation including one or more of a service usage plan identifier, a prepaid amount and/or the applicable service rate.

3. A method for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 1 wherein the notification is a prepaid balance notification.

4. A method for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 1 wherein the processing of the prepaid balance notification comprises of determining for at least one prepaid balance notification, duration and/or data usage of the active communication session, and determining the applied service rate based on the duration and/or the data usage.

5. A method for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claim in claim 1, wherein the prepaid balance notification comprises of one or more of a monetary amount, a data usage amount and an expiration date.

6. A method for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 5, wherein the service usage plan further includes an applicable expiration date, the method further comprising:
processing the prepaid balance notification received on termination of the active communication session to determine the expiration date from the prepaid balance notification;
determining if the expiration date is in accordance with the applicable expiration date;
providing a discrepancy notification on the mobile device if the expiration date is not in accordance with the applicable expiration date.

7. A method for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 1 wherein the method further comprising :
identifying on the mobile device a location and/or a service provider of a secondary device engaged in the active communication with the mobile device; and
determining the applicable service rate based on the location and/or the service provider of the secondary device.

8. A method for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 1 further comprising providing a prompt on the mobile device for initiating a manual prepaid balance query on the mobile device, if the prepaid balance notification is not received automatically.

9. A method for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 1 wherein the processing of the prepaid balance notification further comprises of receiving a user feedback indicator on the mobile device, the user feedback indicator identifying a correction in the prepaid balance notification, the method further comprising processing the prepaid balance notification including the correction.

10. A system for verifying a prepaid balance notification received from a service provider on a mobile device for a prepaid service account registered with the service provider, the mobile device comprising:
a transceiver configured to receive one or more notifications from the service provider;
a memory; and
a prepaid verification module configured to:
identify on the mobile device, at least one service usage plan from published service usage plans of the service provider, wherein the identification is based on the one or more notifications received from the service provider, and the service usage plan includes at least one applicable service rate for a service used during an active communication session initiated on the mobile device;
store the applicable service rate in the memory of the mobile device;
process the prepaid balance notification received on termination of an active communication session to determine an applied service rate;
compare the applied service rate with the applicable service rate; and
provide a discrepancy notification on the mobile device if the applied service rate is different from the applicable service rate.

11. A system for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 10, wherein the notification received by the transceiver is a service purchase confirmation, the service purchase confirmation including one or more of a service usage plan identifier, a prepaid amount and/or the applicable service rate.

12. A system for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 10, wherein the notification received by the transceiver is a prepaid balance notification.

13. A system for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 10, wherein the prepaid verification module is configured to determine for at least one prepaid balance notification, duration and/or data usage of the active communication session, and to determine the applied service rate based on the duration and/or the data usage.

14. A system for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 10, wherein the prepaid balance notification comprises of one or more of a monetary amount, a data usage amount and an expiration date.

15. A system for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 14, wherein the service usage plan further includes an applicable expiration date, the prepaid verification module is further configured to:
process the prepaid balance notification received on termination of the active communication session to determine the expiration date from the prepaid balance notification;
determine if the expiration date is in accordance with the applicable expiration date;
provide a discrepancy notification on the mobile device if the expiration date is not in accordance with the applicable expiration date.

16. A system for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 10, wherein the prepaid verification module is further configured to:
identify on the mobile device a location and/or a service provider of a secondary device engaged in the active communication with the mobile device; and
determine the applicable service rate based on the location and/or the service provider of the secondary device.

17. A system for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 10, wherein the prepaid verification module is further configured to provide a prompt on the mobile device for initiating a manual prepaid balance query on the mobile device, if the prepaid balance notification is not received automatically.

18. A system for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 10, further comprising an input module configured to receive a user feedback indicator on the mobile device, the user feedback indicator identifying a correction in the prepaid balance notification.

19. A system for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 18, the prepaid verification module further configured to process the prepaid balance notification including the correction.

20. A system for verifying a prepaid balance notification as claimed in claim 10 comprising a display module configured to display the discrepancy notification on the mobile device in real time on identifying any discrepancy in the prepaid balance notification by the prepaid verification module.

Dated this 19th day of February, 2016

Aparna Kareer
Of Obhan & Associates
Agent for the Applicant
Patent Agent No. 1359
, Description:Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to real time prepaid balance notifications received from a service provider. More particularly the present disclosure relates to verifying the prepaid balance notifications in real time and providing a discrepancy notification to a prepaid service user regarding discrepancies identified in prepaid billing systems based on the verification of the prepaid balance notifications.
Background
Wireless telecommunication service providers offer wireless service plans in which a customer pays in advance to fund a prepaid balance. Deductions are made against the prepaid balance in accordance with the usage of the wireless service such as calling services, short messaging services, internet data usage services, etc., until there are no funds remaining (at this point of time services are no longer available). A user of the wireless services may avoid such a break in service by making payments to increase the remaining prepaid balance.
In many cases, the prepaid balance is monitored and decremented in real time, i.e., at the same time the user uses wireless services. Unless the user keeps a track of the minutes used, and knows the service rates or charges of the applicable service plan, he must rely on the wireless service provider to inform him of the remaining prepaid balance. Within the prepaid service plans, a variety of service rate schedules are offered by the service providers. For example, for local calls to a mobile device affiliated with the same service provider, one service rate may apply and for local calls to a mobile device affiliated with a different service provider, a different service rate may apply. Further, the prepaid service plans may offer certain benefits, for example zero service rates, or no charge, may apply for certain fixed minutes of calls or fixed number of text messages. On expiration of the validity period of these benefits, other specified service rates may apply to future use of services from the service provider. Unfortunately, the user may be totally dependent on his service provider to be informed of the various services rates and benefits applicable to his prepaid service account, and thus relies on the prepaid balance notifications received from the service provider for information on the remaining prepaid balance in his prepaid account.
The prepaid balance notifications are sometimes subjected to misapplication of the service rates agreed upon by the service provider in their service plans which are purchased by the user. Also, it is difficult for the user to interpret the prepaid balance notification to understand if the benefits entitled to him through his service plans are actually provided to him by his service provider. Any discrepancy that may occur in the prepaid balance notifications from the service provider’s end may be difficult to be identified by the end user.
U.S. Patent No. US 8,781,090 discloses a system, method and apparatus for identifying discrepancies in a billing data from a billing entity by comparing an assessed fee and an expected fee which is generated from the rate information associated with the customer. However, the disclosed system in ‘090 document relies on an electronic bill which is submitted by a subscriber to a third party, on receiving the same from his/her operator. Therefore, the systems and methods disclosed in ‘090 may not applicable to real time prepaid notifications which the user may desire to receive at the end of a service used on his mobile device. In fact, sometimes the user may receive no such notification from the service provider and there would be no record or detection of any prepaid deduction for that particular service with the user. Also, submitting an electronic billing involves the risk of sharing sensitive information of the caller and the called party. Further, the prior art system disclosed may only rely on the electronic bill provided by the operator or rely on the operator itself, therefore, there may be no real time detection of any errors in the prepaid billing notifications received from the service providers/operators.

Summary Of The Invention
In an aspect of the present disclosure, a method for verifying a prepaid balance notification received from a service provider on a mobile device is disclosed. The prepaid balance notification is for a prepaid service account registered with the service provider. The method comprises of identifying on the mobile device, at least one service usage plan from published service usage plans of the service provider, wherein the identification is based on one or more notifications received from the service provider, and the service usage plan includes at least one applicable service rate for a service used during an active communication session initiated on the mobile device. Further, the method comprises of storing the applicable service rate in a memory of the mobile device, processing the prepaid balance notification received on termination of an active communication session to determine an applied service rate, comparing the applied service rate with the applicable service rate, and providing a discrepancy notification on the mobile device if the applied service rate is different from the applicable service rate.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, a system for verifying a prepaid balance notification received from a service provider on a mobile device is disclosed, the prepaid balance notification is for a prepaid service account registered with the service provider. The system comprises of a transceiver configured to receive one or more notifications from the service provider, a memory, and a prepaid verification module. The prepaid verification module is configured to identify on the mobile device, at least one service usage plan from published service usage plans of the service provider, wherein the identification is based on the one or more notifications received from the service provider, and the service usage plan includes at least one applicable service rate for a service used during an active communication session initiated on the mobile device. Further, the prepaid verification module is configured to store the applicable service rate in the memory of the mobile device, process the prepaid balance notification received on termination of an active communication session to determine an applied service rate, compare the applied service rate with the applicable service rate, and provide a discrepancy notification on the mobile device if the applied service rate is different from the applicable service rate.

Brief Description Of The Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates an overall system for receiving a prepaid balance notification on a mobile device from a service provider, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Fig. 2 illustrates block diagram of a mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Fig. 3 illustrates a few examples of service purchase confirmations received on a mobile device from a service provider, without any limitations to the present disclosure.
Fig. 4 illustrates an example of a list of service usage plans of a service provider, without any limitations to the present disclosure.
Fig. 5 illustrates an example of a prepaid balance notification, without any limitation to the present disclosure.
Fig. 6 illustrates a method of verifying a prepaid balance notification in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0001] F
Detailed Description
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing objects and the following description of the nature of invention are exemplary and explanatory of the invention and are not intended to be restrictive thereof.
For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to various alternative embodiments and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated method and system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
Many of the functional units described in this specification have been labeled as modules, in order to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, a module may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom very large scale integration circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic, chips, transistors, or the other discrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or the like.
Modules may also be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors or microprocessors. An identified module of executable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions which may, for instance, be organized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executable of an identified module need not be physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joined together, comprise the module and achieve the stated purpose for the module.
Indeed, a module of executable code could be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data maybe collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different member disks, and may exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” “an embodiment” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment”, “in an embodiment” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.
In accordance with an embodiment, a method for verifying a prepaid balance notification received from a service provider on a mobile device is disclosed. The prepaid balance notification received on the mobile device may be verified in real time to provide a discrepancy notification on the mobile device on identifying discrepancies in the prepaid balance notification. Further, in accordance with present embodiment, the disclosed method for verifying the prepaid balance notification received on the mobile device, do not require any integration with the of wireless services for the mobile device, and rely on the notifications received from the service provider, on the mobile device itself. The method of identifying discrepancies will be discussed in more details below.
In accordance with another embodiment, a system for verifying a prepaid balance notification received from a service provider on a mobile device is disclosed. In accordance with an embodiment, the disclosed system may include a prepaid verification module installed/stored on the mobile device that is configured to carry out the various processes of the method for verifying a prepaid balance notification, disclosed herein. Further, in accordance with an embodiment, the disclosed system for verifying the prepaid balance notification may be configured to verify the prepaid balance notification received on the mobile device in real time and provide a discrepancy notification on the mobile device, on identifying any discrepancies. Accordingly, a user of the mobile device can be notified in real time if the prepaid balance notification received from his service provide includes an error.
In accordance with an embodiment, the prepaid balance notification received from a service provider may be associated with at least one prepaid service account registered with the service provider. The user of the mobile device may have more than one prepaid service account registered with the same service provider or another service provider on the mobile device. The present disclosure of verifying the prepaid balance notifications may individually apply to each prepaid service account of the user on the mobile device. The user may purchase a prepaid amount for the registered prepaid service account from the service provider, in advance of use of services of the service provider. In accordance with an embodiment, the services used on the mobile device may be wireless network services including voice communication, transfer of data, short messaging services (SMS), Internet access, multimedia content and/or voice over internet protocol (VoIP), etc. The purchased prepaid amount is added to the prepaid service account of the mobile device and as the services of the service provider are used on the mobile device, the prepaid amount may be deducted against the services used. The deduction may be according to service rates applied by the service provider to the particular prepaid service account of the mobile device.
In accordance with an embodiment, a user of the mobile device may purchase the prepaid amount or a service plan from a bundle of service plans provided by the service provider. In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the service plan may also refer to a service pack of benefits on one or more services of the service provider. The service plan may include one or more service rates according to the various benefits offered in the service plan, and/or a prepaid amount that a user may purchase from the service provider to utilize certain cost benefits from his/her service provider. The various service plans provided by the service provider may be available on the website of the service provider. As stated earlier, a service plan may include a benefit such as a service rate which may be discounted from regular service rates of the service provider or may even include zero rated services. In case of a service provider that may be a mobile operator, the service plans may include service rates and/or a prepaid amount for both voice services and Internet data services. In accordance with an embodiment, service plans of a mobile operator including service rates and/or prepaid amount for both voice services and Internet data services may be conclusively be referred to as ‘service usage plan’ hereafter. Herein, related terms for service usage plan, including ‘recharge voucher’, ‘tariff voucher’, ‘rate plan, ‘rate cutter’, rate pack’, ‘mobile internet pack’, etc. may be used interchangeably to refer to a service usage plan. A service usage plan may be identified by a type of recharge, ‘recharge type’, or by a retail price, ‘MRP’, applicable for purchase of the particular service usage plan from the service provider, or any other proprietary codes/names used by a particular service provider. Fig. 4 illustrates an example of a list of published service usage plans of a mobile operator as a service provider. The list shown in Fig. 4 is only for illustration purposes without any restriction to the present disclosure. Any information that may be able to identify a service usage plan may be referred to as a ‘service usage plan identifier’ in the present disclosure. Further, the service usage plan may include a finite prepaid amount of talk time, SMS, or Internet data usage. In accordance with an embodiment, the prepaid amount may include a monetary amount, for example a dollar amount, rupees amount, or in any other currency applicable to each country. In accordance with another embodiment, the prepaid amount may include a data usage amount, for example few MB of downloads. In accordance with another embodiment, the prepaid amount may include duration/time amount, for example, minutes of talk time, days of Internet data usage, etc. Further, the service usage plan may include a validity/expiration date for the service usage plan, on expiration of the validity, the user may repurchase the service usage plan, or may purchase another service usage plan, or may be subjected to a different service rate, for using further services from the service provider. In accordance with an embodiment, the prepaid amount and/or an expiration date included in a service usage plan may also qualify as service usage plan identifiers, or may be used to identify a particular service usage plan. Further, in accordance with an embodiment, the one or more service rates included in the service usage plan may also identify a particular service usage plan. Various other information or data included in published service usage plans may be used to identify a particular service usage plan. The foregoing description shall now include the details of the various embodiments of the disclosed method and the mobile device.
Fig. 1 illustrates an overall system 100 including a mobile device 200, a base station 102, and a prepaid billing system 104 and a prepaid accounts database 106. As illustrated, the mobile device 200 communicates with the prepaid billing system 104 via the base station 102. While FIG. 1 depicts a typical network arrangement, it is understood that any type of network is within the scope of this disclosure. For example, the mobile device 200 may be in communication with a wireless network including a cellular network. The prepaid billing system 104 may be affiliated with the service provider, or otherwise. In accordance with an embodiment, the mobile device 100 may be configured to receive one or more notification via the base station 102 from the service provider, for example, a prepaid balance notification that may be received from the prepaid billing system 104 of the service provider. In accordance with an embodiment, a prepaid balance notification may be received on termination of an active communication session that is initiated on the mobile device 200. In another embodiment, the mobile device 200 may be configured to receive the prepaid balance notification from the prepaid billing system 104 before initiating a communication session on the mobile device 200, or during the active communication session. Further, the prepaid balance notification may be received automatically or on initiating a manual prepaid balance query to the prepaid billing system 104, on the mobile device 200. The manual prepaid balance query may be initiated on the mobile device 200 by dialing a particular service number on the mobile device 200. The service number may be specific to the service provider. In accordance with an embodiment, the service number is a USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) code communicated over a USSD channel to the service provider via an auxiliary network, i.e., other than the main communication network. The active communication session may include a calling session, an Internet data usage or download session, SMS messaging, multimedia messaging, etc. The prepaid balance notification may include a prepaid balance amount and/or an expiration date associated with the prepaid service account of the mobile device 200. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the prepaid billing system 104 engages with the prepaid accounts database 106 to provide to the mobile device 200, the most current prepaid balance amount of the prepaid service account of the mobile device 200 in the prepaid balance notification. The prepaid accounts database 106 may include details of the user of the mobile device 200 and details of the respective prepaid service account of the mobile device 200, for example, the prepaid amount in the prepaid service account of the mobile device 200, the service usage plan purchased by the user, the applicable service rates to the services used by the user on the mobile device 200, etc. In accordance with further embodiments, the prepaid billing system 104 may include appropriate modules to retrieve records of the active communication session initiated on the mobile device 200 which may be required for prepaid billing purposes, for example, duration and/or usage monitored by the service provider, and mobile device specific details such as location and network of the calling party as well as for the called party, etc.
Further, Fig. 2 illustrates a block diagram of certain components of the mobile device 200. The mobile device 200 may include cellular telephones, mobile phones, messaging devices, mobile data terminals and any other device capable of communication with one or more networks, such as wireless cellular networks, so as to use the services of a suitable service provider. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the mobile device 200 may include a transceiver 202 to transmit and receive information from the base station 102 via the communication network, as disclosed in FIG. 1. In accordance with the present embodiments, the transceiver 202 may be configured to receive one or more notifications from the service provider via the base station 102. The one or more notifications may include notifications regarding purchase of a service usage plan and/or a prepaid amount from the service provider. Additionally, the one or more notifications may include prepaid balance notifications as described above. Further, the mobile device 200 includes a display 204 configured to display one or more notifications received by the transceiver 202. The mobile device 200 further includes a memory 206 that may store a current prepaid balance amount of the prepaid service account on the mobile device 200, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In accordance with further embodiments, the memory 206 may further store a validity/expiration date for the prepaid balance amount. In accordance with another embodiment, the memory 206 may further store a validity/expiration date for the service usage plan, including one or more service rates, purchased by the user of the mobile device 200. In accordance with a further embodiment, the mobile device 200 may include a prepaid verification module 208 that may be stored in the memory 206 of the mobile device 200. The prepaid verification module 208 may be configured to carry out various processes of the methods described herein. Further, the prepaid verification module 208 may further include one or more modules to carry out different processes, described in more detail below.
As illustrated in Fig. 2 the mobile device 200 further includes a processor 210 configured to facilitate various operations of the mobile device 200. Further, the processor 210 operates in accordance with the prepaid verification module 208 so as to facilitate the operation of verifying the prepaid balance notification and providing a discrepancy notification on the mobile device 200. In accordance with an embodiment, the discrepancy notification may be displayed on the display 204. In accordance with the present embodiments, the discrepancy notification may be displayed on the display 204 in real time, on identifying any discrepancy in the prepaid balance notification by the prepaid verification module 208. In accordance with another embodiment, the discrepancy notification may be provided in an audible manner on the mobile device 200 during an audio communication of the prepaid balance notification. Further, a mobile device 200 may include an input module 212, such as a keypad, touch or typable, configured to receive inputs from the user of the mobile device 200.
It should be understood that the one or more modules such as prepaid verification module 208 may be implemented as software instructions, and/or hardware which can facilitate the operation of the method as disclosed herein. Further, the processor 210 may embody a single microprocessor or multiple microprocessors that includes means for receiving signals from the transceiver 202, modules 208 and the input module 212 to carry out various operations as disclosed in detail below. Numerous commercially available microprocessors may be configured to perform the functions of the processor 210. It should be appreciated that the processor 210 may readily embody a general machine microprocessor capable of controlling numerous machine functions. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the processors 210 may additionally include other components and may also perform other functionalities of facilitating wireless communication on the mobile device 200, not described herein.
As disclosed above, the mobile device 200 may receive one or more notifications associated with the prepaid service account on the mobile device 200, from the service provider 200 in communication with the network via the base station 102, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The prepaid verification module 208 may include a receiving module configured to receive notifications from the service provider via the transceiver 202. The notifications may be received on the mobile device 200 on purchase of service usage plans/prepaid amount from the service provider. Such notifications may include information regarding the service usage plan identifiers, as described above, the purchased prepaid amount (included in the service usage plan) and/or the validity/expiration date for the purchased prepaid amount or the purchased service usage plan. Further, such information included in the notifications may be used by the prepaid verification module 208 to identify purchase of a particular service usage plan. Such notifications confirming purchase of a service usage plan and/or a prepaid amount shall be hereafter referred to as a ‘service purchase confirmation’. Fig. 3 illustrates a few examples of service purchase confirmations, without any limitations to the present disclosure.
Additionally, the notifications received on the mobile device 200 may be prepaid balance notifications, wherein the prepaid balance notifications may include a prepaid balance amount and/or an expiration date associated with the prepaid service account of the user. As stated earlier, the prepaid balance amount may include a monetary amount, a data usage amount and/or duration.
In accordance with an embodiment, the prepaid verification module 208 may include a notification processing module configured to determine if the one or more notifications received on the mobile device 200 is a service purchase confirmation or a prepaid balance notification. The notification processing module may include necessary elements to parse and extract relevant details from the notifications and identify a particular notification as a service purchase confirmation or a prepaid balance notification.
In accordance with a further embodiment, the prepaid verification module may further include a service rate determining module. In accordance with an embodiment, the notifications which are identified as a service purchase confirmation and/or a prepaid balance notification by the notification processing module may be communicated to the service rate determining module. Further, the service rate determining module may also be configured to receive details of the notifications extracted by the notification processing module. For a service purchase confirmation, these extracted details may be the service plan identifiers as described above and may also include a finite prepaid amount, one or more service rates and/or the expiration date included in the service purchase confirmation. For a prepaid balance notification, these extracted details may be the prepaid balance amount and/or the expiration date and/or the duration or usage of the last communication session, included in the prepaid balance notification. In accordance with a further embodiment, the service rate determining module may be configured to identify a service usage plan from a list of service usage plans published by the service provider, based on the extracted details of the notifications received from the notification processing module. The published service usage plans may be available on the website of the service provider which may be automatically accessed by the service rate determining module. In accordance with another embodiment, the published plans may be available on a third party server which may be automatically accessed by the service rate determining module.
Where the notification is a service purchase confirmation, the service rate determining module may compare the extracted details with the details of the published service usage plan to identify the service usage plan which may have details matching the extracted details from the service purchase confirmation. The service rate determining module may include necessary elements to read and extract details included in the published service usage plans. This embodiment of the present disclosure ensures identifying the accurate service usage plan applicable for the mobile device 200. Thereafter, the service rate included in the identified service usage plan may be determined by the service rate determining module as an applicable service rate for the services used on the mobile device 200. Fig. 4 illustrates an example of a list of published service usage plans from a service provider, i.e., a mobile operator X, without any limitations to the present disclosure. As an example of the present embodiment, it may be seen that Fig 3 (b) that represent a service purchase confirmation includes service usage plan identifiers: ‘STV 41’, ‘10p/min’, ‘25p/min’, ‘valid 28 days’, etc. Further, it may be seen from the list of published service usage plan, as illustrated in Fig. 4, that the fourth row, highlighted in the illustration, includes service usage plan identifiers closely matching those of Fig. 3(b). Accordingly, the service rate determining module may identify the service rates include in the service usage plan, fourth from the top of the list as shown in Fig. 4, as applicable service rates for communication sessions initiated on the mobile device 200.
Where the notification is a prepaid balance notification, the service rate determining module may obtain extracted information such as the prepaid balance amount and/or the expiration date and/or the duration or usage of the last communication session, included in the prepaid balance notification, from the notification processing module. To identify the applicable service rate, the service rate determining module processes a series of prepaid balance notifications received on termination of each active communication session initiated on the mobile device 200 to obtain a deduction in the prepaid amount each time a prepaid balance notification is received on the mobile device 200. Further, in accordance with an embodiment, the service rate determining module may obtain duration of each active communication session initiated on the mobile device 200, and determine an applicable service rate based on the information on deduction of the prepaid balance amount in accordance with the duration of the respective active communication session on the mobile device 200. In accordance with an embodiment, the prepaid verification module may include a duration monitoring module that may be configured to monitor the duration of each active communication session initiated on the mobile device 200. Further, the duration module may communicate the monitored duration to the service rate determining module. In accordance with another embodiment, the prepaid verification module may include a usage monitoring module that may be configured to monitor the usage of an active communication session initiated on the mobile device 200, for example data usage for an Internet data session on the mobile device 200, or the number of SMS sent from the mobile device 200, and similar kind of usage related to various active communication sessions that may be initiated on the mobile device 200. Further, in accordance with a present embodiment, the service rate determining module may determine the applicable service rate based on the information from the deducted prepaid balance deducted in accordance with the monitored usage of the active communication session initiated on the mobile device 200, for example internet data usage, number of sent SMS etc. In accordance with further embodiment, the service rate determining module may be further configured to identify a service usage plan from the list of published service usage plans of the service provider that includes one or more service rates closely matching the applicable service rate identified from the prepaid balance notifications and the monitored duration and/or usage on the mobile device 200. The present embodiment ensures identifying the most accurate applicable service rate for the services used on the mobile device 200.
In accordance with even further embodiment, the prepaid verification module may include a location identifying module that may be configured to identify a location of the mobile device 200. The location identifying module may be configured to receive location from a Global Positioning System (GPS) installed on the mobile device 200. Other known location detecting systems for mobile devices known in the art may be applicable to the present disclosure through which the location identifying module may obtain the location of the mobile device 200. Further, the prepaid verification module may further include modules to extract the details of a secondary device which may engage in the active communication session initiated or received by the mobile device 200. The details extracted by the prepaid verification module 208 or another module included in the prepaid verification module 208 may be used by the location identifying module to determine the location of the secondary device. The secondary device may be a communication device which may be capable of communication through a network such as wireless cellular services like the mobile device 200, for example the secondary device may be another mobile device. As an exemplary embodiment, for a calling session, the prepaid verification module 208 may extract the called number of the secondary device from the call logs of the mobile device 200. The called number may then be compared against an available database of country wise and/or city wise numbers (for calling purposes), STD codes, ISD codes, etc,. to identify a location of the secondary device. Similarly, the called number may be used to identify a service provider/network of the secondary device based on an available database of possible service providers/networks associated with the called numbers.
The information regarding the location of the mobile device 200 and the location and/or service provider of the secondary device may be provided to the service rate determining module. In accordance with a further embodiment, the service rate determining module may further use the location of the mobile device 200 to determine the applicable service rate for the mobile device 200 from one or more service rates included in an identified service usage plan, based on the location of the mobile device 200. For example, depending on whether the mobile device 200 is within its service provider’s area or in a roaming area, the applicable service rate may be determined from the one or more service rates included in an identified service usage plan, as disclosed above. In accordance with even a further embodiment, the service rate determining module may further use the location and the service provider/network of the secondary device to determine the applicable service rate from the one or more service rates included in an identified service usage plan. For example, depending on whether the secondary device is within the local area of the service provider of the mobile device 200 or in a different area, the applicable service rate may be determined from one or more service rates included in an identified service usage plan. For illustrative purposes of the present disclosed embodiments, in an example without any limitations to the present disclosure, the service rate determining module may determine the applicable service rate ‘@10p/min’ for local calls and the applicable service rate ‘@25p/min’ for STD calls, initiated from the mobile device 200, from the identified service usage plan as illustrated in Fig. 4.
In accordance with above disclosed embodiment, the service rate determining module may be configured to identify at least one applicable service rate from one or more service rates included in the identified service usage plan. The applicable service rate may be determined from one or more of (a) service purchase confirmations; (b) prepaid balance notifications (may be received automatically or on manual balance query, as disclosed above); (c) monitored duration and/or usage of the active communication session; (d) location of the mobile device 200; and (e) location and service provider/network of the secondary device. Accordingly, the service rate determining module may be configured to identify, accurately, the most likely applicable service rate for a given service used on the mobile device 200 during an active communication session initiated on the mobile device 200. Such identification of the applicable service rate is based on the various processes, described above, performed on the mobile device 200 and does not require integration with the particular service provider.
In accordance with further embodiments, the prepaid verification module 208 may include a storing module configured to store the identified service usage plan and the one or more applicable service rates included in the identified service usage plan in the memory 206 of the mobile device 200.
Further, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the prepaid verification module 208 may be configured to process the prepaid balance notifications received on termination of the active communication session initiated on the mobile device 200 to determine one or more discrepancies in the prepaid balance notification. The one or more discrepancies may include a discrepancy in the service rate applied by the service provider, a discrepancy in the duration monitored by the service provider and/or a discrepancy in the service usage monitored by the service provider for the respective communication session. In accordance with further embodiments, the one or more discrepancies may include unexplained deductions from the prepaid service account of the mobile device 200. In accordance with another embodiment, the one or more discrepancies may include unexplained expiry of the validity of the prepaid amount in the prepaid service account, or unexplained expiry of the validity of the service usage plan, before a valid expiration date of the purchased prepaid amount or the purchased service usage plan.
In accordance with an embodiment, the prepaid verification module 208 may be configured to determine an applied service rate by the service provider on the services used on the mobile device 200. The applied service rate may be determined by prepaid verification module 208 based on a series of prepaid balance notifications received on the mobile device 200, on termination of each active communication session. As disclosed above, the prepaid balance notification may include a prepaid balance amount and/or duration of the last communication session that may be monitored by the service provider for the respective communication session on the mobile device 200. In accordance with another embodiment, the prepaid verification module 208 may rely on the duration of the active communication session included in the prepaid balance notification, wherein the prepaid balance notification includes the duration of the last active communication session, to determine the applied service rate. The prepaid amount and the duration indicated in the prepaid balance notification may be extracted by the relevant modules of the prepaid verification module 208 to determine an applied service rate by the service provider on the particular service used during the respective communication session. Fig. 5 illustrates an example of a prepaid balance notification, without any limitation to the present disclosure. The prepaid balance notification as shown in Fig. 5 may be processed to extract a monetary prepaid amount of ‘Rs. 72.063’ and duration of last call charge as ’00:00:03’. The prepaid verification module 208 may process a series of such prepaid balance notifications to determine a deduction in the prepaid balance amount. In accordance with an embodiment, the prepaid verification module 208 may access the previously stored prepaid balance amount in the memory 206 and then accordingly determine a deduction in the prepaid balance amount based on the difference between the previously stored prepaid balance amount and the prepaid balance amount indicated in the current prepaid balance notification. Accordingly, the prepaid verification module 208 may determine the applied service rate based on the the deduction and the duration indicated in prepaid balance notification.
In accordance with an embodiment, the prepaid balance notification may include a prepaid balance amount and/or usage of the last communication session that may be monitored by the service provider for the respective communication session on the mobile device 200. In accordance with another embodiment, the prepaid verification module 208 may rely on the usage of the active communication session included in the prepaid balance notification, wherein the prepaid balance notification includes the usage of the last active communication session, to determine the applied service rate. The prepaid amount and the usage indicated in the prepaid balance notification may be extracted by the relevant modules of the prepaid verification module 208 to determine an applied service rate by the service provider on the particular service used during the respective communication session. For example, the usage may be indicated as ‘MB’ of data downloads using in the last active communication session. The prepaid verification module 208 may process a series of such prepaid balance notifications to determine a deduction in the prepaid balance amount. In accordance with an embodiment, the prepaid verification module 208 may access the previously stored prepaid balance amount in the memory 206 and then accordingly determine a deduction in the prepaid balance amount based on the difference between the previously stored prepaid balance amount and the prepaid balance amount indicated in the current prepaid balance notification. Accordingly, the prepaid verification module 208 may determine the applied service rate based on the the deduction and the usage indicated in prepaid balance notification.
In accordance with further embodiments, the prepaid verification module 208 may further include a discrepancy analytics module. The discrepancy analytics module may communicate with the memory 206 to retrieve the stored applicable service usage plan and the one or more applicable service rates to the services used on the mobile device 200. Further, the discrepancy analytics module may be configured to receive the applied service rate determined by the prepaid verification module 208, as disclosed above. The discrepancy analytics module may be configured to compare the applied service rate with the applicable service rate that may be obtained from the memory 206. Further, the discrepancy analytics module may identify a discrepancy on identifying a difference in the applied service rate and the applicable service rate. For example, the applicable service rate for a calling service on the mobile device 200 was determined to be ‘Rs. 1.00 per second’ by the service rate determining module based on the identified service usage plan. Whereas, on processing the prepaid balance notifications, the applied service rate was determined to be ‘Rs. 1.20 per second’. In another example, the applicable service rate for a particular calling session on the mobile device 200 was determined to be a local service rate by the service rate determining module based on the identified service usage plan. Whereas, on processing the prepaid balance notifications, the applied service rate was determined to be a STD service rate based on the identified service usage plan.
Further, the discrepancy analytics module may be configured to identify a discrepancy if the prepaid balance amount indicates a deduction in the prepaid service account of the mobile device 200, whereas the service usage plan indicates a zero rated service for the particular communication session. For example, the identified service usage plan by the service rate determining module includes a fixed number of free SMS from a SMS pack included in the service usage plan. Whereas, in processing the prepaid balance notification, a prepaid balance amount is deducted for a SMS sent out from the mobile device 200.
In accordance with another embodiment, the discrepancy analytics module may be configured to identify a discrepancy in the applied expiration date included in the prepaid balance notification, the expiration date associated with the prepaid service account of the mobile device 200 for the purchased service usage plan and/or the purchased prepaid amount. The discrepancy analytics module may obtain the applicable validity/expiration date included in the identified service usage plan which may be stored in the memory 206. Further, the discrepancy analytics module may check if the applied expiration date included in the prepaid balance notification is in accordance with the applicable validity/expiration date stored in the memory 206. On identifying any difference between the applied expiration date and the applicable validity/expiration date, the discrepancy analytics module may identify a discrepancy. In accordance with further embodiment, the validity included in the identified service usage plan may be a number of minutes or a fixed usage of data. The discrepancy analytics module may be configured to check if the applied validity included in the prepaid balance notification is in accordance with the applicable validity from the identified service usage plan. In an alternate embodiment, the applied validity of the services may not be included in the prepaid balance notification. In such case, the discrepancy notification module may be configured to identify if the validity has expired sooner than the applicable validity included in the service usage plan. This discrepancy analytics module may be configured to identify a difference in service rates applied at different points of time to predict a discrepancy in validity. For example, 1 Re/min should have been the the applied service rate for a calling session with validity of 60 minutes for such benefit. However, the discrepancy analytics module determines that after 40 minutes, a different service rate, for example, Rs 1.50/min is applied on the calling session after expiry of 40 minutes of calling session. Therefore, it is determined that a validity has expired sooner than included as the applicable validity in the service usage plan.
In accordance with further embodiments, the discrepancy analytics module may be configured to identify a discrepancy in the applied duration included in the prepaid balance notification. For example, a prepaid balance notification includes duration of the last calling session, ’00:00:03’. The discrepancy analytics module may obtain the duration monitored on the mobile device 200 by the duration monitoring module of the prepaid verification module 208. Further, the discrepancy analytics module may be configured to compare the duration monitored on the mobile device 200 with the duration applied by the service provider. On identifying a difference in the duration monitored on the mobile device 200 and the applied duration by the service provider, the discrepancy analytics module may identify a discrepancy. For example, the monitored duration of the last calling session on the mobile device 200 was determined to be ‘2 seconds’, and the applied duration in the prepaid balance notification is 3 seconds. This would also reflect a difference in the applied service rate. The discrepancy analytics module may be configured to determine the discrepancy due to difference in the duration for the communication session as applied by the service provider and the duration actually monitored on the mobile device 200.
In accordance with further embodiment, the discrepancy analytics module may be further configured to identify a discrepancy in the prepaid balance notification including a deducted prepaid balance amount, if no service or no active communication session is monitored on the mobile device 200 by the one or more modules included in the prepaid verification module 208, before receiving the particular prepaid balance notification. For example, a prepaid balance notification may be received on the mobile device 200 including a deducted monetary prepaid amount without any prior use of services or any active communication session on the mobile device 200.
On identifying the one or more discrepancies, as disclosed above, by the discrepancy analytics module, the prepaid verification module 208 may be configured to provide a discrepancy notification on the mobile device 200. The prepaid verification module 208 may include a displaying module configured to display the details of the identified discrepancy on the display 204 of the mobile device 200.
In accordance with few other embodiments, the prepaid verification module 208 may include modules to monitor and determine the data speed of an active internet data session on the mobile device 200. Further, the prepaid verification module 208 may configured to obtain the applicable data speed for internet service usage on the mobile device 200 from the identified service usage plan for the mobile device 200. Herein, the discrepancy analytics module may be further configured to identify a discrepancy if the data speed monitored and determined on the mobile device 200 do not match the applicable data speed included in the service usage plan, identified for the mobile device 200.
It should be understood that many more modifications may be applied to the discrepancy analytics modules based on the type of information/details extracted from the prepaid balance notifications received on the mobile device 200 and the identified applicable service usage plan/service rates for the mobile device 200.
In accordance with further embodiments of the present disclosure, the prepaid verification module 208 may include a user feedback indicator module that may receive user input on the mobile device 200 to indicate whether the user agrees or disagrees with the prepaid discrepancy notifications received on the mobile device 200. The user feedback indicator module may be used by the prepaid verifying module 208 to improve the disclosed methods of verifying the prepaid balance notifications on the mobile device 200. The user feedback indicator module may include modules to generate a user interface on the display 204 of the mobile device 200. The user interface may be generated after providing each prepaid discrepancy notification or after providing a series of discrepancy notifications on the mobile device 200. Further, the user feedback indicator module may receive input on the generated user interface through the input module 212 of the mobile device 200.
In accordance with further embodiments, the user feedback input module may be configured to receive user input of a service rate and/or a validity/expiration date of the services used on the mobile device 200. The user input may be received for one or more services that may be used during the active communication sessions initiated on the mobile device 200. Further, the prepaid verification module 208 may include further modules to compare the user input of the service rate and/or the validity/expiration date with the applicable service rate and/or the applicable validity/expiration date determined by the prepaid verifying module 208 on the mobile device 200. The comparison may be used as a feedback by the prepaid verifying module 208 to improve the disclosed methods of verifying the prepaid balance notifications on the mobile device 200.
In accordance with the above disclosed embodiments, Fig. 6 illustrates a method 600 for verifying a prepaid balance notification received from a service provider on a mobile device 200 for a prepaid service account registered with the service provider. The method 600 includes step 602 of receiving one or more notifications from the service provider, as disclosed above. Further, the method 600 includes step 604 of identifying on the mobile device 200 at least one service usage plan from published service usage plans of the service provider, wherein the identification is based on one or more notifications received from the service provider in step 602. Further, the method 600 includes step 606 of identifying at least one applicable service rate included in the service usage plan, for a service used during an active communication session initiated on the mobile device 200. After identifying the applicable service rate in step 606, the method includes a step 610 of storing the applicable service rate in a memory 204 of the mobile device 200. Further, the method 600 includes the step 612 of processing the prepaid balance notification received on termination of an active communication session to determine an applied service rate. The method 600 further includes a step 614 of comparing the applied service rate with the applicable service rate. Further, the method 600 includes a step 616 of providing a discrepancy notification on the mobile device 200 if the applied service rate is different from the applicable service rate.
In accordance with an embodiment, the step 612 for processing the prepaid balance notification of the method 600 as illustrated in Fig. 6 includes, determining for at least one prepaid balance notification, duration and/or data usage of the active communication session. In accordance with a further embodiment, the step 612 of the method 600 includes determining the applied service rate based on the duration and/or the data usage.
In accordance with a further embodiment, the step 612 for processing the prepaid balance notification of the method 600 as illustrated in Fig. 6 includes, determining if the expiry date included in the prepaid balance is in accordance with the applicable expiry date. Further, in accordance with an embodiment, the step 616 of providing a discrepancy notification on the mobile device 200 of the method 600 further includes providing a discrepancy notification on the mobile device if the expiry date is not in accordance with the applicable expiry date.
In accordance with further embodiments as disclosed above, the method 600 for verifying a prepaid balance notification may comprise of identifying on the mobile device 200, a location and/or a service provider of the secondary device engaged in the active communication with the mobile device.
In accordance with further embodiments as disclosed above, the method 600 for verifying a prepaid balance notification may comprise of providing a prompt on the mobile device 200 for initiating a manual prepaid balance check on the mobile device, if the prepaid balance notification is not received automatically.
In accordance with further embodiments as disclosed above, the method 600 for verifying a prepaid balance notification may comprise of receiving a user feedback indicator on the mobile device 200, the user feedback indicator identifying a correction in the prepaid balance notification, the method 600 may further comprising processing the prepaid balance notification including the correction.

[0002] F

Industrial Applicability

The above disclosed methods and system for verifying a prepaid balance notification enable providing a discrepancy notification on the mobile device 200 in real time on identifying any discrepancy in the prepaid balance notification by the prepaid verification module 208. This feature provides the utility to the user of the mobile device 200 to understand the actual service rates promised to the user of the mobile device 200 by his operator/service provider. Further, the disclosed methods and system for verifying the prepaid balance notification do not require direct integration with any particular operator/service provider for analyzing the prepaid balance notifications. Since, the prepaid verification module 208 performs all the required processes on the mobile device 200, no sensitive data pertaining to the mobile device 200 or the user of the mobile device 200 is required to be shared outside the mobile device 200. Further, the on-mobile device 200 analytics features disclosed does not require any network or data connection, since the various processes can be performed offline on the mobile device 200 itself. Additionally, the described methods above allow determining various types of possible discrepancies in the prepaid balance notifications received from the service provider and accordingly provide discrepancy notifications on the mobile device 200 in real time on identifying any such discrepancy.