At least one device can be classified based on user activity. At least one telemetry variable with respect to time may be received for the at least one device. The at least one telemetry variable with respect to time may be used to determine an activity model for the at least one device. Based on the activity model, a probability of the at least one device belonging to a profile or to a type of user may be determined. Based on the type of user of the at least one device, a setting associated with the at least one device may be changed.

A variety of methods, systems, devices and arrangements are implemented for assessing and/or controlling call routing for Internet-based (e.g., VoIP/VioIP) calls. According to one such method, endpoint devices are used to monitor and/or assess the call-quality. The assessment is sent to a centralized server arrangement and call-routing is controlled therefrom. Endpoint devices employ a decentralized testing mechanism to further monitor and assess call quality. Aspects of call quality are analyzed and attributed to endpoint devices and/or local connections or networks to distinguish intermediate routing issues from local/endpoint issues.

An example communications system for providing communication services between communications devices may employ multiple usage rates for metered communication services. A method for adjusting usage amounts to account for multiple usage rates may include determining a usage adjustment factor for a communications event; determining a metered usage amount for the communications event; and determining an adjusted usage amount based on the usage adjustment factor and the metered usage amount for the communications amount. Thus, a billing system in the communications system may determine an invoice amount based on the adjusted usage amount and a predetermined bill rate.

A phone appliance and method of use are provided where the phone appliance can be used to make VoIP communications calls. In a preferred embodiment, the phone appliance includes an RF connection for connecting to a computer or other computing device for facilitating the placement of the VoIP communications calls. The phone appliance further includes a display or portal for depicting advertisements provided by various advertisers. The advertisements provided can be used to defray all or part of the cost associated with making VoIP communications calls. The portal can also be used to communicate with businesses for ordering products, such as ordering a pizza, and to perform various services, such as purchasing stocks. In an exemplary system, the phone appliance is used to transmit to a control center information related to the user of the phone appliance, such as interests and buying habits, and queries for receiving additional information for various advertised products and services. The control center transmits the queries to the appropriate vendors for providing the user with additional information. Other functions and features are provided to the phone appliance, such as being able to download e-mail messages stored within or received by the computer.

Systems, methods, and software that perform offline charging. One embodiment comprises a Charging Data Function (CDF) of an Offline Charging System (OFCS). The CDF receives accounting requests for a session from a Charging Trigger Function (CTF), and generates an incomplete Charging Data Record (CDR) for the session based on the accounting requests. The CDF identifies request identifiers (ID) assigned to the accounting requests used to generate the first incomplete CDR, and inserts the request IDs in the incomplete CDR. The CDF determines whether one or more of the accounting requests used to generate the incomplete CDR were indicated as a re-transmitted accounting request by the CTF, and inserts content information for the re-transmitted accounting request(s) in the incomplete CDR.

This disclosure describes a video interconnect system that may establish a Video over Long Term Evolution (ViLTE) communication session between two interacting client devices. In some examples, the video interconnect system may selectively establish a ViLTE communication based on one or more rules associated with the domain information of interacting client devices, availability of network bandwidth, bandwidth consumption of a video component of the ViLTE communication, or established service agreements between telecommunication service providers of the interacting client devices. Further, the video interconnect system may facilitate generating termination charges for a video and/or audio communication session of a ViLTE communication. For example, a video component of the ViLTE communication may be charged and metered based on data usage, and an audio component of the ViLTE communication may be charged and metered based on the duration and relative location of the interacting client devices.

A system for managing customer-to-business voice communication has a network-connected communications device and instructions executable on the communications device from a non-transitory physical medium, the instructions providing a first function for determining if a destination asserted requires treatment, a second function for sending data from the communications device to a network-connected server, a third function for receiving alternative destination information from the server, and a fourth function for establishing communication with the business based on the returned destination information.

Systems and methods for using secondary communication channel information, such as RTCP information to facilitate correlating business information to allow gateway recording. Using information in this secondary communication channel the recording system can correlate the business metadata either directly (e.g., using a phone extension) or through one or more indirect operations (e.g., a call ID-to-universal call id-to-phone extension). Additionally, information in the primary communication channel may be used to perform an indirect operation to correlate auxiliary business information (e.g., using the CALLID or UCID in SIP signaling to resolve the agent's phone extension and thereby access auxiliary business information.)

In a voice-over-IP communications network, call data records include dynamically assigned IP signaling addresses such as IPv6 signaling addresses used in provisioning communications sessions. Those dynamically assigned IP signaling addresses are computed from customer site identification codes using a reversible algorithm. The algorithm can then be reversed to compute a customer site identification code from an IP signaling address contained in a call data record, allowing the communications network provider to perform quality monitoring and diagnostics based on call data records.

An example gateway device determines that a first policy, applicable to a subscriber device when the subscriber device is coupled to a first access network, indicates that packets from the subscriber device are to be sent to a service device, and forwards a first set of packets from the subscriber device to the service device while the subscriber device is coupled to the first access network. After determining that the subscriber device has become coupled to a second access network of the plurality of access networks, the gateway device determines that a second policy, for the subscriber device when the subscriber device is coupled to the second access network, does not indicate that packets should be sent to the service device, but nevertheless forwards a second set of packets from the subscriber device to the service device while the subscriber device is coupled to the second access network.