I dont know how to use storedProcedure that returns one value as a result to a VB calling

My stored procedure works perfectly when I run Query Analyser, but when I run my VB program I get the eror: I get the message : An SqlParameter with ParameterName'@.total' is not contained by this SqlParameterCollection.

Here is my stored Proc and my VB program is right below

I- Stored Proc:

CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.totalsub
@.account bigint,
@.total bigint output
AS
select total=sum(SubPhnNmbr) from tblsub whereSubAccNmbr=@.account
return
GO

II- And my pogram in VB is:

Dim totsub As Int64
Dim cm As New SqlCommand
Dim cn As New MyConnection
cn.open
'my connection is defined by me don't worry about it
cm.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure
cm.CommandText = "totalsub"
cm.Connection = cn
Dim pm As SqlParameter
pm = cm.Parameters.Add(New System.Data.SqlClient.SqlParameter("@.Account", System.Data.SqlDbType.BigInt))
pm.Value = 100000165
pm = cm.Parameters.Add(New System.Data.SqlClient.SqlParameter("total", System.Data.SqlDbType.BigInt, 4))
pm.Direction = ParameterDirection.Output
totsub = cm.Parameters("total").Value
cm.ExecuteScalar()
totsub = cm.Parameters("total").Value

I also tried using @.total instead of total and I tried ParameterDirection.ReturmValue instead of ParameterDirection.Output

No Luck, someone pls can help

check the second part ofthis article.|||Thanks.