Apparatus and methods for telecommunication authentication

1. A method of authenticating a user identity using telephony signaling, comprising:

accessing, at least in part, an account for a user;

storing in memory account information for the user, the account information including at least a first phone number that the user is representing is associated with the user;

receiving at a call processing system a call from the user, the call associated with network call signaling information, including a caller identification field and a charge phone number field, wherein the charge phone number field is not the same field as the caller identification field and wherein the charge phone number contained in the charge number field is provided by a network system and is not entered by the user;

facilitating, via the call processing system, a comparison of the charge phone number information obtained from the charge phone number field with the first phone number to, at least in part, authenticate that the user is associated with the first phone number; and

at least partly in response to determining that the charge phone number information obtained from the charge phone number field does not correspond to the first phone number, transferring the call to a live operator.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the call signaling information indicates the call is from a private number.

3. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising:

accessing, at least in part, a user password from the account information;

facilitating, via the call processing system, a comparison of a password entered by the user and the user password accessed from the account information; and,

at least partly in response to determining that the password entered by the user does not correspond to the user password accessed from the account information, transferring the call to a live operator.

4. The method as defined in claim 3 , wherein the call processing system receives dtmf tones for the password entered by the user.

5. The method as defined in claim 3 , wherein the call processing system receives a spoken password for the password entered by the user.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising electronically comparing Caller identification information included in the caller identification field with the first phone number, wherein both the charge phone number information and the Caller identification information need to match the first phone number in order to provide verification that the first user is associated with the first phone number.

7. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising causing a computer terminal associated with the user to automatically place the call via an instruction transmitted over a data network to the user computer terminal.

8. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the call is placed by the user.

9. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising, at least partly in response to determining that the charge phone number information obtained from the charge phone number field does not correspond to the first phone number, sending an email to the user indicating a failed authentication.

10. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the call is associated with an activation of a credit card.

11. A method of authenticating a user identity using telephony signaling, comprising:

accessing, at least in part, an account for a user;

storing in memory account information for the user, the account information including at least a first phone number that the user is representing is associated with the user;

receiving at a call processing system a call from the user, the call associated with network call signaling information, including charge phone number information wherein the charge phone number is accessed from a charge number field distinct from a caller identification field and wherein the charge phone number contained in the charge number field is provided by a network system and is not entered by the user;

facilitating, via the call processing system, a comparison of the charge phone number information obtained from the charge phone number field with the first phone number to, at least in part, authenticate that the user is associated with the first phone number; and

at least partly in response to determining that the charge phone number information obtained from the call signaling does not correspond to the first phone number, connecting the call to a live operator.

12. The method as defined in claim 11 , wherein the call signaling information indicates the call is from a private number.

13. The method as defined in claim 11 , the method further comprising:

accessing, at least in part, a user password from the account information;

facilitating, via the call processing system, a comparison of a password entered by the user and the user password accessed from the account information; and,

at least partly in response to determining that the password entered by the user does not correspond to the user password accessed from the account information, connecting the call to a live operator.

14. The method as defined in claim 13 , wherein the call processing system receives dtmf tones for the password entered by the user.

15. The method as defined in claim 13 , wherein the call processing system receives a spoken password for the password entered by the user.

16. The method as defined in claim 11 , the method further comprising electronically comparing Caller identification information included in the caller identification field with the first phone number, wherein both the charge phone number information and the Caller identification information need to match the first phone number in order to provide verification that the first user is associated with the first phone number.

17. The method as defined in claim 11 , the method further comprising causing a computer terminal associated with the user to automatically place the call via an instruction transmitted over a data network to the user computer terminal.

18. The method as defined in claim 11 , the method further comprising, at least partly in response to determining that the charge phone number information obtained from the charge phone number field does not correspond to the first phone number, sending an email to the user indicating a failed authentication.

19. The method as defined in claim 11 , wherein the authentication call is associated with the activation of a credit card.

20. A call processing system comprising:

at least one computing device;

program instructions stored in non-transitory memory, that when executed by the at least one computing device, are configured to cause the system to perform operations comprising:

accessing, at least in part, an account for a user;

storing in memory account information for the user, the account information including at least a first phone number that the user is representing is associated with the user;

receiving a call from the user, the call associated with network call signaling information, including charge phone number information wherein the charge phone number is accessed from a charge number field distinct from a caller identification field and wherein the charge phone number contained in the charge number field is provided by a network system and is not entered by the user;

facilitating a comparison of the charge phone number information obtained from the charge phone number field with the first phone number to, at least in part, authenticate that the user is associated with the first phone number; and

at least partly in response to determining that the charge phone number information obtained from the call signaling does not correspond to the first phone number, connecting the call to a live operator.