[54] AUTHENTICATED COMMUNICATIONS ACCESS SERVICE
[75] Inventors: John B, Medamana, Matawan; John W. Palmer, Atlantic Highlands; Roy P. Weber, Bridgewater, all of N.J.
[73] Assignee: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, N.J.
[21] Appl. No.: 359,823
[22] Filed: May 31, 1989
[51] Int. CI.-"1 H04M 11/00
[52] U.S. CI 379/95; 379/94;
379/97
[58] Field of Search 379/91, 93, 94, 95,
379/97, 102, 104, 105, 88, 89, 67, 188
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
3,920.908 11/1975 Kraus 179/2 CA
4.162,377 7/1979 Mearns 179/18 D
4,191,860 3/1980 Weber 179/18 B
4.277,649 7/1981 Sheinbein 179/18
4,559,415 12/1985 Bernard et al 379/91
4,656,624 4/1987 Collins et al 379/94
4,756.020 7/1988 Fodale 379/91
4,763.191 8/1988 Gordon et al 379/91
4,791,640 12/1988 Sand 379/144
4,815,031 3/1989 Furukawa 379/95
4,827,500 5/1989 Binkerd et al 379/88
4,876,717 10/1989 Barron et al 379/95
4,893,330 1/1990 Franco 379/91
4,896,346 1/1990 Belfield et al 379/89
4,897,870 1/1990 Golden 379/144
4,899,373 2/1990 Lee et al 379/144
Primary Examiner—James L. Dwyer
Assistant Examiner—Stella L. Woo
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Werner Ulrich
[57] ABSTRACT
This invention relates to arrangements for providing pre-authenticated access from a caller to a service provider. The caller dials the number of the service provider and subsequently enters a personal identification number (PIN) or other suitable authentication data, and, if necessary, an account number. A data base in the communications carrier verifies that the caller has been authorized to access the service provider and that the PIN is correct for that caller and forwards the call to the service provider only if both checks are satisfied. Only preauthenticated calls are delivered to the service provider, and the caller need only remember one PIN for all the service providers accessed by this arrangement.
27 Claims, 6 Drawing Sheets
