Communications System

Abstract

A method of providing services in a communication system. The method comprises: establishing a call instance from a caller terminal to a service provider terminal in the communication system; transmitting from the service provider terminal a service proposal in the form of an electronic document via the established call instance to the caller terminal; selectively accepting or rejecting the service proposal at the caller terminal; and in the case of acceptance of the service proposal, transmitting a request for money to a backend server in the communication system from the caller terminal; transmitting electronic cash tokens from the backend server to the caller terminal in response to the request to receive money; forwarding the electronic cash tokens from the caller terminal to the service provider terminal, whereafter the service provider provides services in accordance with the service proposal.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A server comprising:
 at least one processor; and   one or more hardware computer-readable storage devices storing processor executable instructions which, responsive to execution by the at least one processor, are configured to enable the server to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, from a caller client terminal in a communication system and over a network, a service proposal identifying one or more communication services to be provided by a service provider server in the communication system, the service proposal including one or more conditions associated with providing the one or more communication services; 
 authenticating the service proposal from the caller client terminal based, at least in part, on authenticating the service provider server; 
 responsive to authenticating the service proposal, generating a verification message that indicates whether the service proposal was authenticated; 
 returning, to the caller client terminal and over the network, the verification message; 
 responsive to returning the verification message, receiving, from the caller client terminal and over the network, a request to verify whether the one or more conditions associated with the service proposal are met by a caller account associated with the caller client terminal; 
 determining whether the caller account is able to support the one or more conditions; 
 responsive to determining the caller account is able to support the one or more conditions, obtaining one or more encrypted electronic tokens associated with supporting the one or more conditions; and 
 returning, to the caller client terminal and over the network, the one or more encrypted electronic tokens to forward to the service provider server, the one or more encrypted tokens configured to enable the service provider server to validate the one or more encrypted electronic tokens prior to providing the one or more communication services. 
   
     
     
         3 . The server as recited in  claim 2 , wherein determining whether the caller account is able to support the one or more conditions further comprises:
 accessing a database comprising information associated with a plurality of caller accounts, at least some of the information comprising a status associated with the caller account that indicates whether the caller account is able to support the one or more conditions.   
     
     
         4 . The server as recited in  claim 2 , wherein authenticating the service proposal further comprises:
 using an identity associated with the service provider server to verify a signature applied to the service proposal.   
     
     
         5 . The server as recited in  claim 2 , wherein each encrypted electronic token of the one or more encrypted electronic tokens comprises at least one of:
 a caller identifier associated with the caller client terminal;   a service provider identifier associated with the service provider server;   a proposal identifier associated with the service proposal;   a value associated with the respective encrypted electronic token; or   a cryptographic signature.   
     
     
         6 . The server as recited in  claim 2 , wherein the one or more encrypted electronic tokens are each cryptographically signed based on a crypto-context handshake used between the server and the service provider server. 
     
     
         7 . The server as recited in  claim 2 , wherein at least one communication service of the one or more communication services is a time-based service. 
     
     
         8 . The server as recited in  claim 2 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 identifying a context associated with the service proposal;   determining the caller account is unable to support the one or more conditions based, at least in part, on the context; and   returning, to the caller client terminal and over the network, a null message in response to determining the caller account is unable to support the one or more conditions.   
     
     
         9 . A method comprising:
 receiving, at a server and from a caller client terminal over a network, a service proposal identifying one or more communication services to be provided by a service provider server in a communication system, the service proposal including one or more conditions associated with providing the one or more communication services;   authenticating the service proposal from the caller client terminal based, at least in part, on authenticating the service provider server;   responsive to authenticating the service proposal, generating a verification message that indicates whether the service proposal was authenticated;   returning, to the caller client terminal and over the network, the verification message;   responsive to returning the verification message, receiving, from the caller client terminal and over the network, a request to verify whether the one or more conditions associated with the service proposal are met by a caller account associated with the caller client terminal;   determining whether the caller account is able to support the one or more conditions;   responsive to determining the caller account is able to support the one or more conditions, obtaining one or more encrypted electronic tokens associated with supporting the one or more conditions; and   returning, to the caller client terminal and over the network, the one or more encrypted electronic tokens to forward to the service provider server, the one or more encrypted electronic tokens configured to enable the service provider server to validate the one or more encrypted electronic tokens prior to providing the one or more communication services.   
     
     
         10 . The method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein determining whether the caller account is able to support the one or more conditions further comprises:
 accessing a database comprising information associated with a plurality of caller accounts, at least some of the information comprising a status associated with the caller account that indicates whether the caller account is able to support the one or more conditions.   
     
     
         11 . The method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein authenticating the service proposal further comprises:
 using an identity associated with the service provider server to verify a signature applied to the service proposal.   
     
     
         12 . The method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein each encrypted electronic token of the one or more encrypted electronic tokens comprises at least one of:
 a caller identifier associated with the caller client terminal;   a service provider identifier associated with the service provider server;   a proposal identifier associated with the service proposal;   a value associated with the respective encrypted electronic token; or   a cryptographic signature.   
     
     
         13 . The method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the one or more encrypted electronic tokens are each cryptographically signed based on a crypto-context handshake used between the server and the service provider server. 
     
     
         14 . The method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein at least one communication service of the one or more communication services is a time-based service. 
     
     
         15 . The method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 identifying a context associated with the service proposal;   determining the caller account is unable to support the one or more conditions based, at least in part, on the context; and   returning, to the caller client terminal and over the network, a null message in response to determining the caller account is unable to support the one or more conditions.   
     
     
         16 . One or more computer-readable memory devices comprising processor-executable instructions which, responsive to execution by at least one processor, perform operations comprising:
 receiving, at a server and from a caller client terminal over a network, a service proposal identifying one or more communication services to be provided by a service provider server in a communication system, the service proposal including one or more conditions associated with providing the one or more communication services;   authenticating the service proposal from the caller client terminal based, at least in part, on authenticating the service provider server;   responsive to authenticating the service proposal, generating a verification message that indicates whether the service proposal was authenticated;   returning, to the caller client terminal and over the network, the verification message;   responsive to returning the verification message, receiving, from the caller client terminal and over the network, a request to verify whether the one or more conditions associated with the service proposal are met by a caller account associated with the caller client terminal;   determining whether the caller account is able to support the one or more conditions;   responsive to determining the caller account is able to support the one or more conditions, obtaining one or more encrypted electronic tokens associated with supporting the one or more conditions; and   returning, to the caller client terminal and over the network, the one or more encrypted electronic tokens to forward to the service provider server, the one or more encrypted electronic tokens configured to enable the service provider server to validate the one or more encrypted electronic tokens prior to providing the one or more communication services.   
     
     
         17 . The one or more computer-readable memory devices as recited in  claim 16 , wherein determining whether the caller account is able to support the one or more conditions further comprises:
 accessing a database comprising information associated with a plurality of caller accounts, at least some of the information comprising a status associated with the caller account that indicates whether the caller account is able to support the one or more conditions.   
     
     
         18 . The one or more computer-readable memory devices as recited in  claim 16 , wherein authenticating the service proposal further comprises:
 using an identity associated with the service provider server to verify a signature applied to the service proposal.   
     
     
         19 . The one or more computer-readable memory devices as recited in  claim 16 , wherein each encrypted electronic token of the one or more encrypted electronic tokens comprises at least one of:
 a caller identifier associated with the caller client terminal;   a service provider identifier associated with the service provider server;   a proposal identifier associated with the service proposal;   a value associated with the respective encrypted electronic token; or   a cryptographic signature.   
     
     
         20 . The one or more computer-readable memory devices as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the one or more encrypted electronic tokens are each cryptographically signed based on a crypto-context handshake used between the server and the service provider server. 
     
     
         21 . The one or more computer-readable memory devices as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 identifying a context associated with the service proposal;   determining the caller account is unable to support the one or more conditions based, at least in part, on the context; and   returning, to the caller client terminal and over the network, a null message in response to determining the caller account is unable to support the one or more conditions.