Pre-paid telephone calling card having an associated pre-recorded personal greeting Number:7,145,989 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) owispatent System and a method for recording a personal greeting associated with a pre-paid telephone calling card. The system and method include and involve a data storage system for storing data corresponding to a pre-paid telephone calling card and a personal greeting. Also included and involved is a pre-paid telephone calling card processing system that is coupled to the data storage system and which is configured to receive a request to record the personal greeting during a setup call over a telephone network and to cause the personal greeting to be recorded for subsequent playback. The pre-paid telephone calling card processing system is also configured to receive a request to make an outbound telephone call in relation to the pre-paid telephone calling card during an access call over the telephone network and to cause the personal greeting to be played back automatically during the access call.<H associated, telephone, Pre, paid, teleph, 7145989.html, Patent, pto, 7145989

Title: Pre-paid telephone calling card having an associated pre-recorded personal greeting

Abstract: System and a method for recording a personal greeting associated with a pre-paid telephone calling card. The system and method include and involve a data storage system for storing data corresponding to a pre-paid telephone calling card and a personal greeting. Also included and involved is a pre-paid telephone calling card processing system that is coupled to the data storage system and which is configured to receive a request to record the personal greeting during a setup call over a telephone network and to cause the personal greeting to be recorded for subsequent playback. The pre-paid telephone calling card processing system is also configured to receive a request to make an outbound telephone call in relation to the pre-paid telephone calling card during an access call over the telephone network and to cause the personal greeting to be played back automatically during the access call.

Patent Number: 7,145,989 Issued on 12/05/2006 to Bond, et al.

Inventors: Bond; James Duke (Allen, TX), Borocz; Stacy (Roswell, GA), Gillman; Anne (Marietta, GA), Henderson; Karl (Highland Village, TX)
Assignee: MCI, Inc. (Basking Ridge, NJ)

Appl. No.: 09/123,109

Filed: July 27, 1998

Current U.S. Class: 379/76 ; 379/114.2; 379/51; 705/14

Current International Class: H04M 1/64 (20060101)

Field of Search: 379/67.1,68,76,114.05,114.18,114.2,57.1,75,80,88.04,88.16,88.25,88.26,88.28,114.15,124.04,144.04,201.02,207.11,88.23,88.24,144.07,144.02,114.09,114.16 235/380 273/237 700/233 709/206

References Cited [Referenced By]

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Primary Examiner: Gauthier; Gerald

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A system for recording a personal greeting associated with a pre-paid telephone calling card, comprising: a data storage system for storing data corresponding to a pre-paid telephone calling card and a personal greeting related to said pre-paid telephone calling card; and a pre-paid telephone calling card processing system coupled to said data storage system and configured to receive a request to record said personal greeting during a calling card setup call over a telephone network and to cause said personal greeting to be recorded during said calling card setup call, wherein said pre-paid telephone calling card processing system plays, without input by a user to request the playback, said personal greeting upon use of the pre-paid telephone calling card by the user, and maintains status of whether said personal greeting has been played.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said data storage system and said pre-paid calling card processing system are remotely located.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said data corresponding to said pre-paid telephone calling card includes a quantity corresponding to a number of service units available to be used to make at least one call in relation to said pre-paid telephone calling card.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein said at least one call is a long distance telephone call.

5. The system according to claim 3, wherein said service units correspond to telephone call service minutes.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein said pre-paid telephone calling card processing system causes said personal greeting to be recorded within said data storage system in accordance with a card identifier corresponding to said pre-paid telephone calling card.

7. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a voice data storage facility coupled to said pre-paid telephone calling card processing system and to said data storage system, and operative to store said personal greeting based on a card identifier corresponding to said pre-paid telephone calling card.

8. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a voice response system coupled to said pre-paid calling card processing system and configured to prompt a caller to record said personal greeting via at least one voice prompt during said calling card setup call over said telephone network.

9. A method for recording a personal greeting associated with a pre-paid telephone calling card, comprising the steps of: storing data corresponding to a pre-paid telephone calling card and a personal greeting to be associated with pre-paid telephone calling card; receiving a request to record said personal greeting during a calling card setup call over a telephone network; and causing said personal greeting to be recorded during said calling card setup call, said personal greeting to be played back during an access call related to the use of said pre-paid telephone calling card, wherein the pre-paid telephone calling card processing system plays, without input by a user to request the playback, said personal greeting upon use of the pre-paid telephone calling card by the user, and maintains status of whether said personal greeting has been played.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein said data corresponding to said pre-paid telephone calling card includes a quantity corresponding to a number of service units available to be used to make at least one call in relation to said pre-paid telephone calling card.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein said at least one call is a long distance telephone call.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein said service units correspond to telephone call service minutes.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein said causing step further comprises the step of recording said personal greeting in accordance with a card identifier corresponding to said prepaid telephone calling card.

14. A method of using a pre-paid telephone calling card, comprising the steps of: accessing a pre-paid telephone calling card processing system during a pre-paid telephone calling card setup call via a telephone network; entering a card identifier corresponding to data addressable by said pre-paid telephone calling card processing system; and recording a personal greeting during said setup call, said personal greeting being addressable by said pre-paid telephone calling card processing system during a subsequent telephone service access call, wherein the pre-paid telephone calling card processing system plays, without input by a user to request the playback, said personal greeting upon use of the pre-paid telephone calling card by the user, and maintains status of whether said personal greeting has been played.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein said personal greeting is stored in a data storage system in accordance with said card identifier.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein said telephone network is the publicly switched telephone network (PSTN).

17. A system for facilitating the use of a pre-paid telephone calling card having an associated pre-recorded personal greeting, comprising: a data storage system storing data corresponding to a prepaid telephone calling card and to a personal greeting related to said pre-paid telephone calling card, wherein said personal greeting was recorded during a calling card setup call; and a pre-paid telephone calling card processing system coupled to said data storage system and configured to receive a request to make an outbound telephone call in relation to said pre-paid telephone calling card during an access call over a telephone network and to cause, without use of a prompt, said personal greeting to be played during said access call, the pre-paid telephone calling card processing system being further configured to maintain status of whether said personal greeting has been played.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein said data storage system and said pre-paid calling card processing system are remotely located.

19. The system according to claim 17, wherein said data corresponding to said pre-paid telephone calling card includes a quantity corresponding to a number of service units available to be used to make at least one call in relation to said pre-paid telephone calling card.

20. The system according to claim 19, wherein said at least one call is a long distance telephone call.

21. The system according to claim 19, wherein said service units correspond to telephone call service minutes.

22. The system according to claim 17, wherein said pre-paid telephone calling card processing system causes said personal greeting to be played back in accordance with a card identifier corresponding to said pre-paid telephone calling card.

23. The system according to claim 17, further comprising a voice data storage facility coupled to said pre-paid telephone calling card processing system and to said data storage system, and operative to allow said personal greeting to be played back in accordance with a card identifier corresponding to said prepaid telephone calling card.

24. The system according to claim 17, further comprising a voice response system coupled to said pre-paid calling card processing system and configured to prompt a caller with at least one voice prompt related to the automatic playback of said personal greeting during said access call.

25. A method for facilitating the use of a pre-paid telephone calling card having an associated pre-recorded personal greeting, comprising: storing data corresponding to a pre-paid telephone calling card and to a personal greeting related to said pre-paid telephone calling card; and receiving a request to make an outbound telephone call in relation to said pre-paid telephone calling card during an access call over a telephone network; causing said personal greeting to be played without a prompt during said access call, wherein said personal greeting was recorded during a calling card setup call; and maintaining status of whether said personal greeting has been played.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein said data corresponding to said pre-paid telephone calling card includes a quantity corresponding to a number of service units available to be used to make said outbound call in relation to said pre-paid telephone calling card.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein said service units correspond to telephone call service minutes.

28. The method according to claim 25, wherein said causing step causes said personal greeting to be played back in accordance with a card identifier corresponding to said prepaid telephone calling card.

29. A method of using a pre-paid telephone calling card, comprising the steps of: accessing a pre-paid telephone calling card processing system during a telephone service access call via a telephone network; entering a card identifier corresponding to data addressable by said pre-paid telephone calling card processing system; retrieving a pre-recorded personal greeting associated with said pre-paid telephone calling card based on said card identifier entered during said entering step, wherein said personal greeting was recorded during a calling card setup call; playing, without prompting, said pre-recorded personal greeting associated with said pre-paid telephone calling card during said telephone service access call; and maintaining status of whether said personal greeting has been played.

30. The method according to claim 29, further comprising the step of entering a terminating telephone number to which an outbound call will be placed automatically after said prerecorded personal greeting has been played.

31. The method according to claim 29, wherein said accessing end entering steps are carried out remotely from said retrieving and playing steps.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to systems and methods that are used to facilitate enhanced services related to pre-paid telephone calling cards.

2. Description of the Related Art

It is well known that pre-paid telephone calling cards (hereinafter "pre-paid cards") have become widely used to obtain telephone calling services such as long distance calling services, etc. For example, consumers can purchase pre-paid cards from retail stores and use the same to obtain access to telephone services to call friends and family all over the world. As such, many different kinds of pre-paid telephone calling cards are now available. Consumers can purchase pre-paid telephone calling cards having a variety of calling options (domestic calling options, international calling options, etc.) and a wide selection of pre-paid values. For example, consumers can purchase domestic-use calling cards that are charged with 100 domestic call units (i.e., a unit is typically equal to one telephone service minute, but may be associated with some other amount of time--e.g., 50 seconds, etc.).

The appeal of pre-paid cards to consumers is due in large part to the fact that pre-paid telephone calling cards often allow consumers to realize savings associated with making telephone calls. For example, pre-paid telephone calling cards often allow consumers to avoid the costs associated with using a conventional telephone calling card that is associated with a particular telephone line (e.g., an access call service charge that is added to other toll-call rates and charges). As a result of their appeal, many retailers have begun to offer and sell pre-paid cards. Since a relatively large selection of pre-paid telephone calling cards can be stocked and displayed without requiring significant retail floor space, retailers can enjoy maximized revenues relative to small sections of their leased or owned storefronts.

Despite the appeal of pre-paid cards to both users and retailers, such market acceptance has created serious problems for providers of pre-paid cards and related telephone services. In particular, providers of pre-paid cards have been forced to distinguish their products in order to effectively compete. To date, the only effective way to distinguish one's pre-paid cards has been to continuously lower telephone service rates to the point of extremely thin or negative margins. And, unfortunately, pre-paid cards that promise the "lowest" telephone service rates often are not sufficient to capture and retain pre-paid card customers.

Thus, there exists a need to provide systems and methods that will allow providers of pre-paid cards to offer enhanced services in relation to their pre-paid cards without requiring providers to lower their telephone service rates to unreasonable levels. To be viable, such systems and methods must allow users of pre-paid cards to easily take advantage of such enhanced services while, at the same time, using pre-paid cards to obtain conventional telephone calling services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention solves the above-described problems associated with prior pre-paid telephone calling cards by providing systems and methods that facilitate the provisioning, processing, and use of enhanced services.

By providing such systems and methods, providers of pre-paid telephone calling cards will be able to effectively compete in the pre-paid card marketplace by offering better, more feature-rich services on which consumers will come to enjoy and rely. In particular, such systems and methods may be used to provide enhanced services to card purchasers who wish to pre-record personal greetings or messages to be associated with pre-paid telephone calling cards intended as gifts for individual recipients. For example, such a personal greeting or message may be played back automatically to a card user during a first use of a pre-paid telephone calling card.

As such, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention, provided is a system and a method for recording a personal greeting associated with a pre-paid telephone calling card. The system and method include and involve a data storage system for storing data corresponding to a pre-paid telephone calling card and a personal greeting. Also included and involved is a pre-paid telephone calling card processing system that is coupled to the data storage system and which is configured to receive a request to record the personal greeting during a setup call over a telephone network and to cause the personal greeting to be recorded for subsequent playback.

According to another aspect of the present invention, provided is a system and a method for facilitating the use of a pre-paid telephone calling card that has an associated pre-recorded personal greeting. The system and method include and involve a data storage system that stores data corresponding to a pre-paid telephone calling card and to a personal greeting. Also included and involved is a pre-paid telephone calling card processing system that is coupled to the data storage system and which is configured to receive a request to make an outbound telephone call in relation to the pre-paid telephone calling card during an access call over a telephone network and to cause the personal greeting to be played back automatically during the access call.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the following drawing figures, of which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system in which enhanced services may be provided in conjunction with pre-paid calling cards according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a call flow diagram that illustrates pre-paid telephone calling card set-up operations in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2C is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 2A and 2B;

FIG. 2D is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 2A 2C;

FIG. 2E is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 2A 2D;

FIG. 2F is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 2A 2E;

FIG. 2G is the conclusion to the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 2A 2F;

FIG. 3A is a call flow diagram that illustrates the operations carried out within the system depicted in FIG. 1 to allow use of a pre-paid telephone calling card and, in particular, one having an associated pre-recorded personal greeting in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 3C is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 3A and 3B;

FIG. 3D is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 3A 3C;

FIG. 3E is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 3A 3D;

FIG. 3F is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 3A 3E;

FIG. 3G is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 3A 3F;

FIG. 3H is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 3A 3G;

FIG. 3I is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 3A 3H;

FIG. 3J is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 3A 3I;

FIG. 3K is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 3A 3J;

FIG. 3L is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 3A 3K;

FIG. 3M is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 3A 3L;

FIG. 3N is a continuation call flow diagram of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 3A 3M; and

FIG. 3O is the conclusion of the call flow diagram started in FIGS. 3A 3N.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is now discussed in detail with reference to the drawing figures that were briefly described above. An overview section is followed by a discussion of the structural aspects of the present invention and a discussion of corresponding data and call flows. Unless otherwise indicated, like parts, systems, and processes are referred to with like reference numerals.

Overview

The present invention is concerned with providing systems and methods that may be used to provide enhanced pre-paid telephone calling card services and features. Such enhanced services and features include and involve systems and methods that are provided by the present invention to deliver pre-paid telephone calling cards (hereinafter "pre-paid cards") having associated pre-recorded personal greetings. With such enhanced pre-paid cards and related services, people will be able to pre-record and play-back personal greetings intended for particular recipients. That is, the present invention will allow data stored in relation to a particular pre-paid card to include or point to a pre-recorded message that may be played back to a card user at a later time (e.g., upon first use/first access call related to a pre-paid card, etc.). As such, the present invention will allow a purchaser of a pre-paid card ("card purchaser") to record a personal greeting (e.g., "HAPPY BIRTHDAY--MY SON. ENJOY YOUR PRE-PAID CARD," etc.) and then give the pre-paid card to a recipient ("card user") who will hear the pre-recorded personal greeting when the card user accesses a pre-paid card system to make an outbound telephone call. As such, the present invention provides a new pre-paid card that may be purchased and given to recipients as gifts and the like.

To facilitate the provisioning of a pre-paid card that is to have an associated pre-recorded personal greeting, the present invention includes two phases of operation that are discussed in detail below with regard to FIGS. 1, 2A 2G and 3A 3FF, respectively. A first phase involves pre-paid card activation and feature setup, while a second phase includes card use. The first phase, pre-paid card activation and feature setup, involves the actions of a seller of pre-paid cards in conjunction with the actions of a service provider who is responsible for managing systems to support pre-paid card use. Pre-paid card feature setup involves the actions of a card purchaser who, by way of the present invention, is now able to initiate a setup call to a pre-paid card processing system to pre-record a personal greeting to be associated with a particular pre-paid card and which may be intended for a particular recipient (e.g., a particular card user).

The aforementioned second phase, card use, may involve the actions of another party (e.g., a card user) who seeks to make a telephone call through use of a pre-paid card (or someone who seeks to receive the benefit of some other pre-paid card related service--e.g., pre-paid network service such as pre-paid Internet access, pre-paid cellular service, etc.). A card user, now may hear the card purchaser's pre-recorded message or personal greeting upon use (e.g., upon a first use, etc) of the pre-paid card. The pre-recorded message may be a message recorded by the card purchaser during the aforementioned card setup call via a telephone network, for example. Also, the pre-recorded message may be played any number of times (e.g., one or more times), for example, upon a first use of the pre-paid card by the card user.

Structural Aspects of the Present Invention

To deliver the aforementioned enhanced services/features and, in particular, the ability to record and playback personal greetings associated with pre-paid cards, the present invention utilizes systems and corresponding processes which are now described. In particular, the structural aspects of the present invention are described with reference to FIG. 1. Depicted in FIG. 1 is a system which supports enhanced pre-paid cards such as those that may be set up to have associated pre-recorded personal greetings and messages in accordance with the present invention as discussed above. In particular, system 100 includes a calling party (e.g., having telephone number 301-993-1234), a called party (e.g., having telephone number 972-918-1244), the publicly switched telephone network (PSTN) 102, a pre-paid telephone calling card processing system 104 such as one including at least one intelligent network platform having one or more service data points (SDP) 106, at least one service switching control point (SSCP) 108, the functionality of which may be dispersed among multiple systems or components, and a customer service center 110 which may be attended by live operators. In FIG. 1, calling party (e.g., a card purchaser, card user, etc.) may use a prepaid card 120 to obtain enhanced pre-paid telephone calling card services in accordance with the present invention (e.g., telephone call and pre-recorded message/personal greeting services).

Also included within pre-paid telephone calling card processing system 104 is a voice response system 107 which may be used to automatically voice prompts and/or recorded messages/personal greetings in accordance with the present invention via a telephone call (e.g., a setup call during which a personal greeting may be recorded, an access call during which a personal greeting may be played back automatically) over a telephone network such as the PSTN 102. The use of such voice response systems will be readily apparent and understood by those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that voice response system 107 may be configured to actually store message content (e.g., digital data, etc.) related to a pre-recorded personal greeting to be associated with pre-paid card 120. That is, voice response system 107 may include and/or operate with a voice data storage system (e.g., one similar or like a voice mail storage system) to record personal greetings associated with pre-paid cards in accordance with the present invention (e.g., a personal greeting may be stored in a manner similar or like a voice mail message, etc.). The ultimate voicing of the message that may incorporate a personal greeting from a card purchaser to a card user, may be voiced over a telephone call connection initiated by the card user via voice response system 107 in response to appropriate instructions from SSCP 108, and in relation to message data addressable thereby (e.g., stored within a data storage facility or system). The use of a voice response system to facilitate voicing of digitally recorded voice sequences will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

System 100 facilitates both card setup by a card purchaser, for example, and card use by a card user. A pre-paid calling card like pre-paid calling card 120 may be used to obtain long-distance telephone service or other services which may be offered in conjunction with a pre-paid type card (e.g., pre-paid Internet service, pre-paid cellular telephone service, etc.).

As noted above, pre-paid telephone calling card processing system 104 is one that includes at least one intelligent network platform consisting of, among other things, SSCP 108 and SDP 106. As such, a card purchaser of pre-paid calling card 120 may access SSCP 108 via PSTN 102 to affect database records related to pre-paid calling card or pre-paid card 120 in accordance with the present invention. In particular, a card purchaser may setup pre-paid card 120 by recording a greeting or message to be played back automatically upon (e.g., a first use) use of pre-paid card 120 by a card user (a gift recipient of a card purchaser). Data related to pre-paid card 120 may be stored in SDP 106. Such data may include card usage data such as remaining minutes, unit billing rates, and, according to the present invention, message information related to a personal greeting that may be stored in relation to pre-paid card 120 and played, for example, upon first use of pre-paid card 120 by a card user. Such message information may include, for example, digitally recorded message content data, pointer data such as file names corresponding to message content stored in a particular, corresponding file etc. which point to digitally recorded message data within storage facilities etc.

A card purchaser of pre-paid card 120 may cause data related to pre-paid card 120 to be affected via a live operator session handled through customer service center 110. The facilities to support use of a customer service call center, ultimately to support pre-paid cards in accordance with the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

Once pre-paid card 120 has been setup in accordance with the present invention (e.g., caused to be associated with a recorded personal greeting to be played upon use of pre-paid card 120, etc.), a card user may place a pre-paid telephone calling card call in a conventional way (e.g., by dialing a 1-800 access number and entering an appropriate card identified such as a PIN/CARD ID number to obtain long distance telephone service, etc. In accordance with the present invention, however, a pre-recorded message (e.g., one pre-recorded by a card purchaser, etc) may be played automatically via pre-paid telephone calling card processing system 104 to a card user prior to completing an outbound long distance or other telephone call (or other service request). Such a personal greeting may be one from a parent to a child such as "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLY, I HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR BIRTHDAY GIFT--YOUR VERY OWN PRE-PAID TELEPHONE CALLING CARD."

A telephone call desired by a calling party (e.g., by a card user) may be placed from a calling party station such as one having telephone number 301-993-1234 to a called party having a telephone terminal station identified at telephone number 972-918-1244.

Pre-Paid Card Activation and Setup

The structural aspects of the present invention as described above and as shown in FIG. 1, are designed to operate together to facilitate the phases of operation that were discussed in the OVERVIEW section hereof. In particular, the structures depicted in FIG. 1 which make up system 100 are configured to support both pre-paid card activation and set-up as a first phase of operation and card use, as a second phase of operation in accordance with the present invention. Pre-paid card activation involves the operations related to data stored for pre-paid card 120 that may be stored in SDP 106 (FIG. 1). Such activation operations, include but are not limited to, card activation, deactivation, re-charge of remaining minutes, etc. and in particular, Point-of-sale activation of the same are intended to place a pre-paid card like pre-paid card 120 into an active, ready-for use state. Pre-paid card activation may occur via a point-of-sale operation, a telephone session with a live operator, etc. An exemplary system to provide for activation operations related to pre-paid calling cards and is shown in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/089,815 entitled "POINT OF SALE ACTIVATION AND DEACTIVATION OF PRE-PAID TELEPHONE CALLING CARDS," which is commonly assigned and incorporated herein by reference. The systems and call flows illustrated within the aforementioned, co-pending United States patent application may be used to activate and deactivate (and otherwise affect data stored within SDP 106) to render a particular pre-paid card such as pre-paid card 120 ready-for-use (e.g., make pre-paid card ready for initiation of outbound telephone calls such as long distance calls) by a card user. And, in particular, such activation systems and call flows may be used to ready a card for use by a card user in accordance with the present invention.

After a card has been activated as described above, the card may be setup in accordance with the present invention. In particular, a pre-paid card may be setup by causing a personal greeting to be recorded in relation to data stored for a pre-paid card such as pre-paid card 120. Upon use in accordance with a use phase related to the present invention, such a pre-recorded personal greeting may be played or voiced automatically to a card user who may be a recipient of a pre-paid card as a gift or otherwise.

The operations and call flows within a system like or similar to system 100 (FIG. 1) are illustrated in FIGS. 2A 2G. Such operations are self-explanatory, but are discussed herein to further illustrate the novel aspects of the operations that may occur within the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 2A, depicted therein is a pre-paid card setup call flow, and, in particular, one that supports the recordation of a personal greeting via a sequence that may be performed by a card purchaser for later play back to a card user. In FIG. 2A, a card purchaser or other calling party likely will access a pre-paid telephone calling card processing system via a telephone call (e.g., a setup call) through a network such as the PSTN 102 through use of a toll-free access number (e.g., a 1-800 access number). After initiating such a setup telephone call, a voice response system such as voice response system 107 voices a prompt during the setup telephone call to the calling party as indicated at step 2 in FIG. 2A. Thereafter, at step 3, internal variables to control looping and the like are set or otherwise initialized. Thereafter, at steps 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, and 19, the calling party will be prompted to enter a DTMF sequences such as "1" to continue or "2" to disconnect, and also to record a personal greeting. If the calling party can not respond or does not respond in an appropriate way such as through proper entry of an appropriate DTMF code, processing may end at steps 10, 14, and 15, which ultimately return a call port associated with pre-paid telephone calling card processing system 104 to an idle state.

If, at step 16 it is determined that the calling party intends to record a personal greeting for later playback to a card user in accordance with the present invention, processing proceeds at the top of FIG. 2B and, in particular, at step 19 thereof.

Processes depicted in FIG. 2B includes steps 20, 21, 22, 23, 23-1 23-7 and 24 45. The depicted operations are those that may be carried out by pre-paid telephone calling card processing system 104 to establish