Billing data interface for conferencing customers
View Patent ↗A billing data interface provides billing data to customers in an accurate and efficient manner. Billing data is processed to preserve client billing information and to meet a customer's individual data requirements. The billing data may be presented in such a way that the customer may input the billing data directly into its client billing system. The billing data may be processed according to client billing specifications corresponding to a client billing system used by the customer. The processed data may preserve leading zeros, separate client code and matter code into two fields, etc. The resulting data file may be delivered to the customer for entry into the customer's client billing system.
1. A method for processing billing data for customers using conferencing services, comprising:
receiving, from a conference facility, cost data and client billing information for a conference conducted by participants related to a customer;
processing the cost data to remove extraneous data;
batching the processed data with the client billing information to create billable event data corresponding to the conference;
separating data fields in the billable event data according to client billing specifications of the customer, wherein the separating further includes preserving leading zeros in data fields corresponding to the client billing information;
sorting the billable event data according to the client billing specifications;
converting the sorted billable event data into a data file according to the client billing specifications; and
delivering the data file to the customer.
2. A method for providing billing data to customers using conferencing services, comprising:
receiving, from a conference facility, cost data and client billing information for a conference conducted by participants related to a customer;
processing the cost data and the client billing information according to client billing specifications to create a data file, wherein the processing includes:
creating a first data field for a client code and a second data field for a matter code, and
preserving leading zeros in the client code and the matter code; and
delivering the data file to the customer such that the data file may be input directly into a client billing system used by the customer to allocate costs from the conference.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the delivering further comprises:
storing the data file in a secure location; and
granting the customer access to the secure location to obtain the data file.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the delivering further comprises:
enabling the customer to download the data file via a network.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the delivering further comprises:
storing the data file to a memory medium; and
sending the memory medium to the customer.
6. A system for processing billing data for customers using conferencing services, comprising:
a receiving component configured to receive, from a conference facility, cost data and client billing information for a conference conducted by participants related to a customer;
a processing component configured to process the cost data to remove extraneous data;
a batching component configured to batch the processed data with the client billing information to create billable event data corresponding to the conference;
a separating component configured to separate data fields in the billable event data according to client billing specifications of the customer, wherein the separating component further includes a preserving component configured to preserve leading zeros in data fields corresponding to the client billing information;
a sorting component configured to sort the billable event data according to the client billing specifications;
a converting component configured to convert the sorted billable event data into a data file according to the client billing specifications; and
a delivering component configured to deliver the data file to the customer.
7. A system for providing billing data to customers using conferencing services, comprising:
a receiving component configured to receive, from a conference facility, cost data and client billing information for a conference conducted by participants related to a customer;
a processing component configured to process the cost data and the client billing information according to client billing specifications to create a data file, wherein the processing component includes:
a creating component configured to create a first data field for a client code and a second data field for a matter code, and
a preserving component configured to preserve leading zeros in the client code and the matter code; and
a delivering component configured to deliver the data file to the customer such that the data file may be input directly into a client billing system used by the customer to allocate costs from the conference.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the delivering component further comprises:
a storing component configured to store the data file in a secure location; and
a granting component configured to grant the customer access to the secure location to obtain the data file.
9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the delivering component further comprises:
an enabling component configured to enable the customer to download the data file via a network.
10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the delivering component further comprises:
a storing component configured to store the data file to a memory medium; and
a sending component configured to send the memory medium to the customer.
11. A system for providing billing data to customers using conferencing services, comprising:
means for receiving, from a conference facility, cost data and client billing information for a conference conducted by participants related to a customer;
means for processing the cost data and the client billing information according to client billing specifications to create a data file, wherein the processing includes
creating a first data field for a client code and a second data field for a matter code, and
preserving leading zeros in the client code and the matter code; and
means for delivering the data file to the customer such that the data file may be input directly into a client billing system used by the customer to allocate costs from the conference.
12. A computer-readable medium with code embodied therein for performing a method for providing billing data to customers using conferencing services, the method comprising:
receiving, from a conference facility, cost data and client billing information for a conference conducted by participants related to a customer;
processing the cost data and the client billing information according to client billing specifications to create a data file, wherein the processing includes
creating a first data field for a client code and a second data field for a matter code, and
preserving leading zeros in the client code and the matter code; and
delivering the data file to the customer such that the data file may be input directly into a client billing system used by the customer to allocate costs from the conference.