An approach for providing charging information of a call established over a data
network is disclosed. A communications system includes a user agent that initiates
a call to another user agent according to an application layer protocol. The system
also includes a network element that assists in establishing the call and forwards
information indicating that the call is chargeable to the user agent. The present
invention has particular applicability to SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) IP
(Internet Protocol) telephony services.
