Network chat applying integrated charging

Abstract

A method for facilitating negotiated fee-based billable communication on a network that is comprised of forming a business relationship between a third party and a plurality of business service providers, facilitating communication between the business service providers and clients of the business service providers via the network, facilitating real-time negotiation between the business service providers and the clients for a flat or time-based communication fee and facilitating automatic billing of the client and automatic payment of the business service provider for a billable communication session.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention generally relates to network communication, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a method for real-time communication through a network according to a negotiated fee. Background technique [0002] Online chat systems are well known that allow participants to communicate with each other over a network, typically the Internet. Examples of such chat systems are: America Online (AOL) chat rooms, American Online Instant Messaging, and Microsoft Instant Messaging (Aim, MSN, ICQ, etc.). Typically, such online chat systems communicate via text messages. However, audio messaging systems and video messaging systems are also known. [0003] This existing messaging system is typically employed in a peer-to-peer capacity situation. While such existing online messaging systems are employed for fee-based consultations, inherent drawbacks of such existing messaging systems reduce their overall efficiency and satisfaction. ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Despite the adoption of this existing online messaging system for fee-based consultations, the inherent drawback of this existing messaging system is that it reduces its overall efficiency and satisfaction

[0004] The existing online messaging system lacks: a means to negotiate the rate of charges, a means to record and display the amount currently charged, a means to negotiate a new rate if conditions change, a means to inform the customer and the Business Service Provider (BSP ) means for automatically billing and means for easily providing accumulative value for various services including, but not limited to: audio services, video services, multi-party conference call services, file transfer services, language translation services , currency exchange, and co-browsing

In addition, existing online messaging systems usually require devices and protocols to have some commonality

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