METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPLEMENTING TELEPHONE PAYMENTS

Abstract

There is provided a method of implementing a payment in relation to a telephone call between a customer and a merchant or service provider, the telephone call consisting of a signalling component and a media component. The method comprises, when establishing the telephone call, routing the signalling component to the merchant/service provider via a payment service system and routing the media component directly to the merchant/service provider. The method further comprises, at a communication management system of the merchant or service provider, sending an indication that the customer is required to make a payment to the payment service system and, at the payment service system, upon receipt of the indication that the customer is required to make a payment, using the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a redirection of the media component of the telephone call via the payment service system, extracting payment details of the customer from the redirected media component, and providing the payment details to a payment processing system to action the payment.

Claims

1. A method of implementing a payment in relation to a telephone call between a customer and a merchant/service provider, the telephone call consisting of a signalling component and a media component, the method comprising: when establishing the telephone call, routing the signalling component to the merchant/service provider via a payment service system and routing the media component directly to the merchant/service provider; at a communication management system of the merchant/service provider, sending an indication that the customer is required to make a payment to the payment service system; and at the payment service system, upon receipt of the indication that the customer is required to make a payment, using the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a redirection of the media component of the telephone call via the payment service system, extracting payment details of the customer from the redirected media component, and providing the payment details to a payment processing system to action the payment.

2. The method of claim 1, and further comprising: at the payment service system, upon receipt of confirmation that the payment processing system has actioned the payment, using the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a further redirection of the media component of the telephone call directly to the merchant/service provider.

3. The method of claim 1, and further comprising: at the communication management system, providing transaction information to the payment service system, the transaction information specifying details of the payment required in relation to a transaction between the customer and the merchant/service provider; and at the payment service system, sending the received transaction information to the payment processing system with the payment details.

4. The method of claims 1, and further comprising: at the communication management system of the merchant/service provider, upon determining that the customer is required to make a payment, determining call identification data for the telephone call, and sending the call identification data to the payment service system; and at the third party service system, receiving the call identification data from the communication management system, and using the received call identification data to identify the telephone call for which the media component is to be redirected.

5. The method of claim 3, and further comprising: at the communication management system of the merchant/service provider, upon determining that the customer is required to make a payment, determining call identification data for the telephone call and transaction identification data for identifying the transaction information associated with the payment required, and sending the call identification data and the transaction identification data to the payment service system; and at the third party service system, receiving the call identification data and the transaction identification data from the communication management system, using the received call identification data to identify the telephone call for which the media component is to be redirected, using the received transaction identification data to identify the transaction information for the payment, and correlating the transaction information with the identified telephone call.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein correlating the transaction information with the identified telephone call enables the payment service system to associate the transaction information with the payment details communicated over the media component of the telephone call, and the payment service system then sends the transaction information and the associated payment details to the payment processing system to action the payment.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the transaction identification data for identifying the transaction information associated with the payment required comprises: a unique agent identifier for an agent of the merchant/service provider that has provided the transaction information to the payment service system; a unique computer identifier for a computer of the merchant/service provider that has provided the transaction information to the payment service system; and a unique transaction identifier assigned to the payment required.

8. The method of claims 4, wherein the call identification data comprises one or more of: a timestamp for the start of the telephone call; a telephone number of the customer; a telephone number of the merchant/service provider to which the telephone call has been routed; a telephone number of an agent of the merchant/service provider that is handling the telephone call; header information extracted from data packets that comprise the telephone call; and a unique call identifier assigned to the telephone call.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment details extracted from the redirected media comprises one or more of: a primary account number, credit card number, or debit card number; a card verification code; a card issue number; a card date of validity and/or date of expiry; and a password or pin code.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment details are communicated from the customer to the payment service system over the media component using any of DTMF audio tones and spoken word (e.g. using Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR)).

11. A communication management system of a merchant/service provider configured to enable implementation of a payment in relation to a telephone call between a customer and the merchant/service provider, the telephone call consisting of a signalling component and a media component, the communication management system comprising: a first receiver configured to receive the signalling component of the telephone call, the signalling component having been routed to the communication management system via a payment service system; a second receiver configured to receive the media component of the telephone call; an interface configured to accept an input indicating that the customer is required to make a payment; a processor configured to generate an indication that the customer is required to make a payment; and a transmitter configured to send the indication to the payment service system.

12. A method of operating a communication management system of a merchant/service provider configured to enable implementation of a payment in relation to a telephone call between a customer and the merchant/service provider, the telephone call consisting of a signalling component and a media component, the method comprising: receiving the signalling component of the telephone call, the signalling component having been routed to the communication management system via a payment service system, and separately receiving the media component of the telephone call; and upon receipt of an input indicating that the customer is required to make a payment, generating an indication that the customer is required to make a payment and sending the indication to the payment service system.

13. A computer readable medium storing computer implementable instructions which when implemented by a programmable computer cause the computer to perform the method as claimed in claim 12.

14. A payment service system configured to implement a payment in relation to a telephone call between a customer and a merchant/service provider, the telephone call consisting of a signalling component and a media component, the payment service system comprising: a first transceiver configured to receive the signalling component of the telephone call, the signalling component having been routed via a payment service system, and to implement onward routing of the signalling component to the merchant/service provider; a receiver configured to receive an indication that the customer is required to make a payment from a communication management system of the merchant/service provider; a processor configured to, upon receipt of the indication that the customer is required to make a payment, use the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a redirection of the media component of the telephone call via the payment service system, extract payment details of the customer from the redirected media component, and generate a payment request including the payment details; and a transmitter configured to send the payment request including the payment details to a payment processing system to action the payment.

15. The payment service system of claim 14, and further comprising a second transceiver configured to receive the redirected media component of the telephone call, and to implement onward routing of at least portions of the redirected media component to the merchant/service provider.

16. The payment service system of claim 14, wherein the processor configured to, upon receipt of confirmation that the payment processing system has actioned the payment, use the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a further redirection of the media component of the telephone call directly to the merchant/service provider.

17. A method of operating a payment service system configured to implement a payment in relation to a telephone call between a customer and a merchant/service provider, the telephone call consisting of a signalling component and a media component, the method comprising: receiving the signalling component of the telephone call, the signalling component having been routed via a payment service system, and implementing onward routing of the signalling component to the merchant/service provider; receiving an indication that the customer is required to make a payment from a communication management system of the merchant/service provider; upon receipt of the indication that the customer is required to make a payment, using the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a redirection of the media component of the telephone call via the payment service system, extracting payment details of the customer from the redirected media component; and sending a payment request including the payment details to a payment processing system to action the payment.

18. The method of claim 17, and further comprising: receiving the redirected media component of the telephone call, and implementing onward routing of at least portions of the redirected media component to the merchant/service provider.

19. The method of claim 17, and further comprising: upon receipt of confirmation that the payment processing system has actioned the payment, using the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a further redirection of the media component of the telephone call directly to the merchant/service provider.

20. A computer readable medium storing computer implementable instructions which when implemented by a programmable computer cause the computer to perform the method of claims 17.

Description

[0033] FIGS. 2a to 2e illustrate schematically an embodiment of a telephone payment process in which a payment is implemented in relation to a telephone call between a customer and a merchant/service provider, the telephone call consisting of a signalling component and a media component In this process, when establishing the telephone call, the signalling component is routed to the merchant/service provider via a payment service system whilst the media component is routed directly to the merchant/service provider. In this regard, the telecommunications network carrying the telephone call routes the media component to a communication management system of the merchant/service provider without passing through the payment service system (se FIG. 2a).

[0034] Then, if it is determined that a payment is required in relation to the telephone call, the communication management system of the merchant/service provider generates an indication that a payment is required and sends this indication to the payment service system (S1). Upon receipt of the indication that the customer is required to make a payment, the payment service system uses the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a redirection of the media component of the telephone call via the payment service system (S3) (see FIG. 2b).

[0035] When the media component of the telephone call has been redirected via the payment service system (S4), the payment service system can the extracting payment details of the customer from the redirected media component (S5) (e.g. from DTMF tones or speech communicated using the media component). The payment service system can then provide (S7) the payment details to a payment processing system to action the payment (see FIG. 2c).

[0036] When the payment processing system has actioned the payment, the payment processing system will inform the payment service system that the payment is complete (S8). Upon receipt of confirmation that the payment processing system has actioned the payment, the payment service system again makes use of the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a further redirection of the media component of the telephone call directly to the merchant/service provider (S10) (see FIG. 2d).

[0037] The media component of the telephone call is then again redirected via the payment service system by the telecommunications network (S11) (see FIG. 2e). The routing of the signalling component of the telephone call via the payment service system is maintained for the duration of the call, both before and after any telephone payments have been implemented.

[0038] The step of informing the payment service system that a payment is required in relation to one of the telephone calls for which the signalling component that is being routed via the payment service system will typically involve an agent at the merchant/service provider making use of a separate interface (e.g. a web interface) with the payment service system provided on their computer to inform the payment service system that a payment is required. However, the payment service system then needs to identify the telephone call with which this particular payment instance is associated.

[0039] In order to allow the payment service system to identify the telephone call with which this particular payment instance is associated, the communication management system of a merchant/service provider determines some call identification data from the call.

[0040] For example, the call identification data that can determined by the communication management system can include, but is not limited to, one or more of a timestamp for the start of the telephone call, a telephone number of the customer, a telephone number of the merchant/service provider to which the telephone call has been routed, a telephone number of the agent of the merchant/service provider that is handling the telephone call, some header information that can be extracted from data packets that comprise the telephone call, and a unique call identifier assigned to the telephone call.

[0041] The communication management system then sends the call identification data and the transaction identification data to the payment service system (S1) (see FIG. 2b). The payment service system can then use the call identification data to identify the telephone call to which the required payment relates (S2). The payment service system can then initiate the redirection of the media component of the identified call (S3).

[0042] In addition, transaction information specifying the details of the payment required (e.g. amount payee, payer, payee's reference etc.) can be included in the indication sent by the communication management system to the payment service system (S1) together with the call identification data. This then makes it straightforward for the payment service system to associate the transaction information with the payment details obtained from the media component of the telephone call identified by the call identification data that accompanied the transaction information.

[0043] Alternatively, the indication sent by the communication management system to the payment service system can include transaction identification data (as opposed to the transaction information), which can then be used to associate the identified telephone call (and the extracted payment details) with transaction information that is subsequently received from the communication management system. By way of example, the transaction identification data that could be determined by the communication management system and sent to the payment service system can include, but is not limited to, one or more of a unique agent identifier for an agent of the merchant/service provider that is to handle the call, a unique computer identifier for a computer of the merchant/service provider that is to be involved in handling a transaction in relation to the call, and a unique transaction identifier that is assigned to any transactions required in relation to the call.

[0044] The present inventors have also recognised that, when using suppression of the audio that is transmitted to the merchant/service provider to hide/obscure the payment details conveyed in the audio (e.g. DTMF tones or speech), it is possible that some or all of this audio can remain in the media component transmitted to the merchant/service provider. For example, this can occur due to poor conversion of the audio within the telecommunications network and/or feedback at the telephony device of the customer. It is therefore proposed herein to provide a buffer at the payment service system that can be used when implementing a telephone payment, after the media component of the telephone call has been redirected via the payment service system, to introduce a delay into the transmission of the media and store up the audio stream for a short time. Then, when the payment service system detects audio that must be supressed (e.g. a DTMF tone or appropriately timed speech) the buffer is cleared, causing the audio to be silenced for the duration of the buffer length. The size of the buffer can be configurable as their is trade-off between the latency introduced by the buffer and “bleed through” of audio that should be suppressed.

[0045] FIG. 3 illustrates schematically an embodiment of a communication management system 10 of a merchant/service provider suitable for implementing the methods described herein. The system 10 can be implemented as a combination of computer hardware and software, and comprises a memory 11, a receiver 12, a transmitter 13, a processor 14 and an interface 15. Whilst the system 10 has been illustrated schematically as single device (e.g. server or computer) comprising a single occurrence of each of the functional elements listed above, the system could equally comprise multiple occurrences of each functional element and could equally be provided by a plurality of separate devices that cooperate to provide the required functionality. By way of example, separate aspects of the functionality of the system could be distributed between a number of separate servers or computer devices, such that a first group of one or more servers/computer devices implements all of the necessary processing and interface functions whilst a second group of one or more servers/computer devices provides database functionality (e.g. including storage, security, data integrity, data redundancy etc). The memory 11 typically stores the various programs/executable files that are implemented by the processor 14, including a payment system interface unit 16, a correlation data determination unit 17 and any data 18 that may be of use to the system 10.

[0046] FIG. 4 illustrates schematically an embodiment of a third party service system 20 suitable for implementing the methods described herein. The system 20 can be implemented as a combination of computer hardware and software, and comprises a memory 21, a receiver 22, a transmitter 23, a processor 24 and an interface 25. Whilst the system 20 has been illustrated schematically as single device (e.g. server or computer) comprising a single occurrence of each of the functional elements listed above, the system could equally comprise multiple occurrences of each functional element and could equally be provided by a plurality of separate devices that cooperate to provide the required functionality. By way of example, separate aspects of the functionality of the system could be distributed between a number of separate servers or computer devices, such that a first group of one or more servers/computer devices implements all of the necessary processing and interface functions whilst a second group of one or more servers/computer devices provides database functionality (e.g. including storage, security, data integrity, data redundancy etc). The memory 21 typically stores the various programs/executable files that are implemented by the processor 24, including a call routing unit 26 including a media redirection unit 26a, a payment implementation unit 27 including a correlation unit 27a, a buffer unit 28, and any data 29 that may be of use to the system 20.

[0047] It will be appreciated that individual items described above may be used on their own or in combination with other items shown in the drawings or described in the description and that items mentioned in the same passage as each other or the same drawing as each other need not be used in combination with each other. In addition, any reference to “comprising” or “consisting” is not intended to be limiting in any way whatsoever and the reader should interpret the description and claims accordingly.