A method, system and apparatus for processing bill payments in a PSTN. The
method of the invention can include, responsive to answering a telephone
call from a caller over the PSTN, identifying the caller from a data
communications source external to the telephone call and retrieving
billing information for the identified caller. Once the billing
information has been retrieved for the identified caller, the payment of
a bill can be processed based upon the billing information. In a
preferred aspect of the invention, the identifying step can include
identifying the caller based upon identifying information for the caller
received through a data communications link from a name resolution
adapter disposed within the PSTN. For instance, the identifying step can
include identifying the caller based upon identifying information
retrieved from a LIDB and transmitted by the name resolution adapter.