A method and system are described for enhancing the security of calls made by a member of a controlled environment to an outside party, particularly when the outside party communicates via a cellular phone. An application is provided for the cellular device, which must communicate and register with a calling platform of the controlled environment. Certain elements of personal verification data are obtained by the user of the cellular device and stored at the calling platform for later reference. Calls from the inmate to the cellular device cause the calling platform to issue a notification to the user via the application. The user verifies his/her identity using the application, after which the call can be connected. As a further security measure, certain conditions can be required and periodically checked during the call to ensure the user remains verified.

A method and system are described for enhancing the security of calls made by a member of a controlled environment to an outside party, particularly when the outside party communicates via a cellular phone. An application is provided for the cellular device, which must communicate and register with a calling platform of the controlled environment. Certain elements of personal verification data are obtained by the user of the cellular device and stored at the calling platform for later reference. Calls from the inmate to the cellular device cause the calling platform to issue a notification to the user via the application. The user verifies his/her identity using the application, after which the call can be connected. As a further security measure, certain conditions can be required and periodically checked during the call to ensure the user remains verified.

Systems, computer program products, and methods are described herein for real-time distributed communication channel and multiple data processing channel selection. The present invention is configured to receive, from a first user input device via a first communication channel, a request to access resources; retrieve connectivity and routing parameters associated with the first communication channel; determine communication channel requirements associated with the request to access the resources; determine that the connectivity and routing parameters associated with the first communication channel does not meet the communication channel requirements associated with the request to access the resources; capture geographic information associated with the first user input device; determine a second communication channel available to the first user input device to access the resources; and authorize the first user input device to access the resources via the second communication channel.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a collect call method and system thereof, more particularly, in order to charge the called party with a uniform toll for collect call, which is determined by only the type and location of called party terminal. In one embodiment, the collect call method, system and a counsel service providing method use a free VoIP network for part of the voice call link and a charge PSTN network for the rest of the voice call link. In one embodiment, if the first link corresponding to the collect call request is established, the collect call switch calls the called party terminal to establish the second link, and billing on the second link is initiated.

The object of the invention is a certification method of contracts in an electronic format wherein a telecommunication operator certifies sending a contract by a user customer of said operator to another user which is not a customer of the telecommunication operator by means of an electronic mail and/or SMS; and this can sign by means of the response to the electronic mail or to the SMS the acceptance or rejection of the contract in a reliable way, generating proof of the transaction in every moment, so that it can be considered a legally binding contract since the entire process is certified by a telecommunication operator.

A user equipment (UE) may receive charging data and use the charging data in determinations of whether to offload data from a mobile communication network, such as a 3GPP cellular network, to another wireless access network, such as a wireless local area network (WLAN). For example, the UE may receive, from the mobile communication network, charging data regarding one or more WLANs in the vicinity of the UE. The UE may also receive rules regarding whether to offload communication traffic from the cellular communication network to a particular WLAN based on charging data relating to the particular WLAN. The UE may detect one of the WLANs and determine whether to offload communication traffic to the WLAN based at least in part on the received rules and the received charging data regarding the WLAN. The determination may be further based on user preferences saved on the UE regarding the charging data.

Systems and methods for providing a better user experience and provider profitability. An exemplary system includes a telecommunications device subject to a cellular service plan from a cellular carrier. The telecommunications device includes an application program that gathers device usage data and determines whether the current cellular service plan is the best service plan based on gathered usage data. If a current cellular service plan is not the best service plan, based on the gathered usage data, then cellular service plans from the current cellular service provider or other service providers are measured against the gathered device-usage data to determine the best available service plan.

Systems and methods to selectively block calls from reaching destinations based on an input received from a callback connection. One embodiment includes a web server to receive a selection of an advertisement from an customer and to obtain a communication reference from the customer in response to the selection; a session border controller to interface with a packet switched network; and one or more telecommunication servers coupled to the session border controller and the web server, the one or more telecommunication servers to establish a connection for real time communications using the communication reference, to initiate a connection for real time communications with an advertiser of the advertisement after receiving an indication of acceptance of the connection established using the communication reference; where the advertiser is charged an advertisement fee in response to establishing a connection for real time communications between the advertiser and the customer.

Systems, computer program products, and methods are described herein for real-time distributed communication channel and multiple data processing channel selection. The present invention is configured to receive, from a first user input device via a first communication channel, a request to access resources; retrieve connectivity and routing parameters associated with the first communication channel; determine communication channel requirements associated with the request to access the resources; determine that the connectivity and routing parameters associated with the first communication channel does not meet the communication channel requirements associated with the request to access the resources; capture geographic information associated with the first user input device; determine a second communication channel available to the first user input device to access the resources; and authorize the first user input device to access the resources via the second communication channel.

The embodiments herein relate to a method performed by a charging function (125) for handling a subscriber's communication services. The charging function (125) detects that a subscriber's credit account has reached or fallen below a credit threshold when the subscriber has multiple ongoing communication services consuming credit from the credit account. The charging function (125) sends a threshold notification to a UE (101) on which the subscriber has at least one of the multiple ongoing communication services. The charging function (125) determines if a response to the threshold notification has been received with prioritization of one of the multiple ongoing communication services. If a response with prioritization of one communication service has been received, the charging function (125) initiates termination of all ongoing communication services except the prioritized communication service, and provides all available credit to be available for the prioritized communication service.