U.S. patent application number 11/488361 was filed with the patent office on 2006-11-16 for method and apparatus for enhanced call routing in a telecommunication system.
This patent application is currently assigned to SBC Properties, L.P.. Invention is credited to Susanne Marie Crockett, Vanessa Besteda Jackson, Thomas Joseph McBlain, Karen Jeanne Pelletier, Bruce Edward Stuckman.
Application Number | 20060256948 11/488361 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25507612 |
Filed Date | 2006-11-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060256948 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Crockett; Susanne Marie ; et
al. |
November 16, 2006 |
Method and apparatus for enhanced call routing in a
telecommunication system
Abstract
A method for routing calls in a telecommunication system
includes detecting data for a call from a calling party to a called
party, providing a menu of options to the calling party and routing
the call in accordance with information about the calling party,
information about the called party or a menu selection.
Inventors: |
Crockett; Susanne Marie;
(Buffalo Grove, IL) ; McBlain; Thomas Joseph;
(Arlington Heights, IL) ; Jackson; Vanessa Besteda;
(Oak Park, IL) ; Stuckman; Bruce Edward; (Austin,
TX) ; Pelletier; Karen Jeanne; (LaQuinta,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BRINKS HOFER GILSON & LIONE
P.O. BOX 10395
CHICAGO
IL
60610
US
|
Assignee: |
SBC Properties, L.P.
|
Family ID: |
25507612 |
Appl. No.: |
11/488361 |
Filed: |
July 18, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
09963719 |
Sep 26, 2001 |
7099453 |
|
|
11488361 |
Jul 18, 2006 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
379/220.01 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 3/42102 20130101;
H04M 2207/12 20130101; H04M 2203/2044 20130101; H04M 3/42059
20130101; H04M 2242/22 20130101; H04M 3/42229 20130101; H04M 3/44
20130101; H04Q 3/0029 20130101; H04M 3/4211 20130101; H04M 3/436
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
379/220.01 |
International
Class: |
H04M 7/00 20060101
H04M007/00 |
Claims
1. A data communication method for an Advanced Intelligent Network,
the method comprising: receiving a GR 1129 message containing a
selected code; using the selected code, retrieving at least one of
data and program instructions from storage; and executing the
retrieved at least one of data and program instructions.
2. An Advanced Intelligent Network comprising: a first network
element; a second network element in communication with the first
network element using GR 1129 protocol; and a program code stored
at the second network element and selectable in response to a code
included in a GR1129 message received from the first network
element.
3. The Advanced Intelligent Network of claim 2 wherein the second
network element comprises: a memory; and a processor configured to
execute instructions stored in the memory including the program
code upon receipt of the code.
4. The Advanced Intelligent Network of claim 3 wherein the memory
comprises: a table indexed by the code.
5. A data communication method for telecommunications network, the
method comprising: at a service node/intelligent peripheral (SN/IP)
of the telecommunications network, receiving an encrypted message
in accordance with GR 1129 protocol from another network element of
the network; and invoking a series of program instructions based on
the encrypted message in the GR 1129 protocol.
6. The data communication method of claim 5 further comprising:
returning a GR 1129 resource_clear message.
7. The data communication method of claim 6 wherein returning a GR
1129 resource_clear message comprises encrypting to have another
meaning.
8. A data communication method in a telecommunication network, the
method comprising: at a local end of a communication connection,
selecting instructions or data to be executed at a remote end of
the communication connection; at the local end of the communication
connection, identifying a code for the selected instructions and
data; formatting a GR 1129 message using the identified code; and
communicating the GR 1129 message from the local end of the
communication connection to the remote end of the communication
connection.
9. The data communication method of claim 8 wherein the
instructions and data comprise instructions and data necessary to
implement a subscriber profile for customized call routing based on
providing a menu of options to a caller.
10. The data communication method of claim 9 wherein the
instructions and data comprise types of announcements to play to
the caller, and types of menu options to expect or to receive from
the caller.
11. The data communication method of claim 10 wherein the
instructions and data further comprise content of a message to be
played and corresponding menu options to provide to the caller.
12. The data communication method of claim 8 wherein identifying a
code for the selected instructions and data comprises a look-up
table procedure in which the selected instructions or data are
provided to a table to extract a table value which may be used for
transmission of a message.
13. The data communication method of claim 8 wherein identifying a
code for the selected instructions and data comprises inserting an
instruction code in a GR 1129 message for subsequent decoding.
14. The data communication method of claim 8 wherein formatting a
GR 1129 message comprises: encoding the identified code in the GR
1120 message; and providing necessary header data, footer data and
other data required to form a complete GR 1129 message.
15. The data communication method of claim 8 wherein communicating
the GR 1129 message comprises: sending the GR 1129 message from a
Service Control Point (SCP) to a service node/intelligent
peripheral (SN/IP) or the reverse path, from the SN/IP to an
SCP.
16. The data communication method of claim 8 further comprising:
receiving the encoded GR 1129 message at the remote end of the
communication connection; decoding the message to extract the code
which defines the necessary instructions and data; using the code,
retrieving the stored data and instructions.
17. The data communication method of claim 16 wherein retrieving
the stored data and instructions comprises: at the remote end of
the communication connection, applying the extracted code to a
look-up table to identify a portion of code or an application or
series of programming instructions; and invoking the portion of
code or the application or the series of programming
instructions.
18. A data communication method in a telecommunication network, the
method comprising: at the local end of a communication connection,
receiving an encoded GR 1129 message from the remote end of the
communication connection; decoding the GR 1129 message to extract
the code which defines selected instructions or data to be executed
at the local end of the communication connection and which have
been encoded using the code at the remote end of the communication
connection; using the code, retrieving from storage at the local
end the data and instructions.
19. The data communication method of claim 18 wherein the selected
instructions and data comprise instructions and data necessary to
implement a subscriber profile for customized call routing based on
providing a menu of options to a caller.
20. The data communication method of claim 19 wherein the
instructions and data comprise types of announcements to play to
the caller, and types of menu options to expect or to receive from
the caller.
21. The data communication method of claim 20 wherein the
instructions and data further comprise content of a message to be
played and corresponding menu options to provide to the caller.
23. The data communication method of claim 18 wherein retrieving
the stored data and instructions comprises: at the local end of the
communication connection, applying the extracted code to a look-up
table to identify a portion of code or an application or series of
programming instructions; and invoking the portion of code or the
application or the series of programming instructions.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a divisional of application Ser.
No. 09/963,719, filed Sep. 26, 2001, which is hereby incorporated
herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The present invention relates generally to telecommunication
systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to method
and apparatus for providing customized call routing based on
providing a caller a menu of call routing options.
[0003] Recent advances in telecommunication technology allow for
telecommunication service providers to make available increased and
more flexible telephone service customization. The Advanced
Intelligent Network (AIN) has increased capability of telephone
networks to provide services to users. An Advanced Intelligent
Network includes a service control point (SCP) containing software
for AIN services, a service switching point (SSP) containing
special software that allows it to identify AIN calls and
communicate with the SCP, and may include one or more intelligent
peripherals (IP), such as Service Nodes, which are network elements
containing functionality and resources which may be used to
exchange information with an end user. When a telephone call is
made that would require a network to provide some type of
customized call processing service, an AIN trigger is detected at
the SSP and an AIN message is communicated to an SCP. Once an AIN
message is received by an SCP, the various network components begin
to communicate over data lines with one another.
[0004] One particular service requirement in a telecommunication
system is for an ability to locate a called party who may be away
from his normally used telephone. Some subscribers of telephone
services have multiple land lines, cellular or other radiotelephone
service, facsimile lines, pagers and other numbers. These devices
increase mobility for the subscribers and, at the same time, reduce
the likelihood of finding the subscriber. Accordingly, there is a
need for method and apparatus for routing calls to a subscriber in
a telecommunication system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunication system;
[0006] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a
method for operating the telecommunication system of FIG. 1;
[0007] FIG. 3 illustrates data storage in a portion of the
telecommunication system of FIG. 1 in accordance with the method
illustrated in FIG. 2;
[0008] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating another embodiment of
a method of operating the telecommunication system of FIG. 1;
[0009] FIG. 5 illustrates data storage in a portion of the
telecommunication system of FIG. 1 in accordance with the
embodiment of FIG. 4;
[0010] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a telecommunication system
illustrating a prior art call flow;
[0011] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating another embodiment of
a method for operating the telecommunication system of FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a telecommunication system
illustrating call flow in accordance with the embodiment of FIG.
7;
[0013] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a
method for operating the telecommunication system of FIG. 8;
[0014] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a telecommunication
system;
[0015] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating another embodiment of
a method for operating the telecommunication system of FIG. 1;
[0016] FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating another embodiment of
a method for operating the telecommunication system of FIG. 1;
[0017] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a telecommunication system;
and
[0018] FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a telecommunication
system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED
EMBODIMENTS
[0019] By way of introduction, the embodiments described below
relate to method and apparatus for providing customized call
routing based on providing a caller with a menu of call routing
options. In general in these embodiments, a caller is presented
with a menu of call routing options to locate the subscriber, any
one of which may be selected as a destination for the call. The
contents of the menu are determined based on a subscriber profile
or other information provided by the subscriber and stored in the
telecommunication system. Upon selection of a menu option by the
caller, the selection is detected by the system and the call is
automatically forwarded to the selected destination. Additional
enhancements and embodiments of the basic system are also
described.
[0020] Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a
telecommunications system 100. The system 100 comprises a service
switching point (SSP) 102, a signal transfer point (STP) 104, a
service control point (SCP) 106, a first SCP database 108, a second
SCP database 110, a compact service node (CSN) 112, a central
office 114, called telephone station 116 and calling telephone
station 118. Intelligent network system components, commonly
referred to as advanced intelligent network (AIN) components,
suitable for implementing the present embodiment are commercially
available from several vendors and are known to those skilled in
the art. AIN components can implement computer readable program
code as known to those skilled in the art. Vendors of AIN
components typically have a preferred programming language and
operating platform as known to those skilled in the art.
[0021] SSP 102 preferably comprises an AIN switch that routes
calls, recognizes and responds to triggers, generates queries to
obtain call information and responds to returned call information
from other AIN components. SSP 102 connects called telephone
station 116 with central office 114 to enable calls to be placed
between called telephone station 116 and calling telephone station
118. SSP 102 preferably communicates with SCP 106, central office
114 and CSN 112 by utilizing a signaling protocol such as Signaling
System 7 (SS7) or other such signaling protocols as presently known
to those skilled in the art or developed in the future. SSP 102
preferably generates queries to SCP 102 and receives and responds
to responses to the queries returned from SCP 106. In the
illustrated embodiment, communication between the SSP 102 and the
SCP 106 employs Transaction Capabilities Applications Protocol or
TCAP.
[0022] STP 104 preferably comprises a network element that
transfers signaling communications in response to signaling
protocols such as SS7 or other such signaling protocols as
presently known to those skilled in the art or developed in the
future. STP 104 preferably transfers queries from SSP 106 to SCP
106 and transfers responses to the queries from SCP 106 to SSP
102.
[0023] SCP 106 preferably comprises an AIN element that stores call
information and receives and responds to queries. SCP 106
preferably stores call control information in the first SCP
database 108 and can access the stored call control information.
SCP 106 also stores standard caller identification information in
the second SCP database 110 and can access the stored caller
identification information. SCP 106 receives queries generated by
SSP 102 and preferably responds to the queries by performing
database searches to locate the requested call control information
or caller identification information as known to those skilled in
the art. SCP 106 can forward the call control information or caller
identification information to SSP 102.
[0024] CSN 112 preferably comprises a network element that enables
communications between telephone stations 116, 118 and the network.
CSN 112 can preferably transmit messages to and receive responses
from telephone stations 116, 118. CSN 112 can generate
announcements that can be transmitted to telephone stations 116,
118. CSN 112 can transmit responses such as audible caller
identification information from telephone station 118 to telephone
station 116 by connecting telephone stations 118, 116 or by
recording and playing back the responses as known to those skilled
in the art. The announcements transmitted to telephone station 116
preferably comprise accept and reject options along with requests
for input from the telephone station 116. The requests for input
preferably comprise requests for input that can be used by CSN 112
to cancel calls to telephone station 116, connect calls to
telephone station 116, forward calls to a voice mail system or
another location such as another telephone line, and transmit
messages to telephone station 118. As used herein, the term voice
mail system means all types of message recording systems as known
to those skilled in the art. CSN 112 can preferably receive and
respond to the input transmitted from telephone station 116. The
term input means any suitable signal such as DTMF tones, voice
input, dial pulse input or modem/fax input as known to those
skilled in the art.
[0025] In alternative embodiments, other system equipment may
provide the functions provided by CSN 112. For example, equivalent
functionality may be provided by an AIN service node or by an
Intelligent Peripheral, as those terms are understood in the art.
These components and others which are operationally equivalent may
be substituted for the CSN 112 in FIG. 1.
[0026] Database 108 preferably comprises a data storage element for
use with SCP 106 as known to those skilled in the art. Database 108
preferably stores call control information that can be implemented
by SSP 102 to control calls. Such call control information is known
to those skilled in the art.
[0027] Database 110 preferably comprises a standard caller
identification with name database as known to those skilled in the
art. Database 110 preferably includes the name of the person
associated with calling telephone station 118 along with the
telephone number that is associated with calling telephone station
118. Database 110 can alternatively comprise a directory assistance
database as known to those skilled in the art. While databases 108,
110 are depicted within a telecommunications system, databases 108,
110 can comprise any suitable databases containing information
adapted for use in the present embodiment and are not limited to
databases located within a telecommunications network. It is also
important to note that while databases 108, 110 are shown as
separate components, they can be implemented as a single
database.
[0028] Central office 114 preferably comprises an AIN network
switch as known to those skilled in the art. Central office 114
enables calls to be placed between calling telephone station 118
and called telephone station 116. Alternatively, central office 114
can comprise a non-AIN network switch as known to those skilled in
the art.
[0029] Telephone stations 116, 118 preferably comprise analog
telephone sets as known to those skilled in the art. Alternatively,
telephone stations 116, 118 can comprise wireless, PCS, ISDN or any
other form of communication station known to those skilled in the
art. Called telephone station 116 preferably includes CPE equipment
for use with caller identification services as known to those
skilled in the art.
[0030] In one embodiment described herein, the components of the
telecommunication system 100 communicate in accordance with a
standard generally referred to as GR1129. This standard is
described in a Bellcore publication known as "GR1129:
Switch-Intelligent Peripheral Interface." The GR1129 standard
defines a protocol which directs that communications between the
SCP and the IP travel to the SSP. This method of communication
between network elements of an AIN permits the SSP to keep track of
billing records and release the SSP-IP voice/data connection when
it is no longer required while maintaining control of the original
call. Additionally, the SSP can receive subsequent call processing
instructions from the SSP for the same call as part of the same
initial transaction. There are, however, limitations to the GR1129
protocol. For example, messaging and communication among AIN
elements according to GR1129 is somewhat rudimentary and
inflexible. The command structure and messaging format do not allow
a large variety of data or commands to be conveyed in GR1129.
Additionally, the GR1129 interface places a significant processing
demand on the SSP because all data communications from the SCP to
the IP go through the SSP and require the SSP to reformat SS7
messages from the SCP into ISDN messages to send to the IP, and
vice versa. Further discussion of the operation of the system 100
in conjunction with GR1129 will be provided in greater detail
below.
[0031] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a
method for operating the telecommunication system of FIG. 1. FIG. 2
relates to a method for call screening on customized call routing
service. In particular, the method illustrated in FIG. 2 relates to
an enhancement to customize call routing services in which a menu
is provided to the caller, the menu being based not only on a
subscription tied to the called party, but also based on the
identity of the calling party. In one example, a particular calling
number, by itself or in a group, indicates that a particular menu
should be played instead of the subscriber's normal menu. For
example, the subscriber might predefine a family group, a work
group, a building team group, etc. If the caller's number is
associated with one of these predefined groups, the options which
populate the menu provided to the caller are selected based on that
group membership. One advantage of this particular method is that
the method allows customers to not provide all numbers and menu
choices to all callers. For example, the subscriber may not want
members of the work group to be able to reach the subscriber on the
subscriber's car phone. Instead, the subscriber may prefer to have
the car phone option provided only to friends or family group
members.
[0032] The method begins at block 200. The method illustrated in
FIG. 2 may be performed by a telecommunication system such as an
AIN telecommunication network, by one component of such a system,
such as an SCP, or the acts of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 may
be performed in a distributed fashion by several components of such
a telecommunication system. It is well within the purview of those
ordinarily skilled in the art to implement the method described
herein in components of AIN telecommunication network, such as an
SCP, one or more signal switching points and one or more signal
transfer points.
[0033] At block 202, the network receives a call. The call is
placed by a calling party or caller and intended for a called party
or called communications station. The call is described by various
information, including the directory number (DN) associated with
the called communication station or called party, and the calling
line identification information (CLID) associated with the caller
or calling communication station. One or more components of this
associated information, such as the CLID may be extracted from the
call and passed among components of the network processing the call
for routing or other processing.
[0034] At block 204, the network determines if the called party is
a subscriber to the service. In this example, the service is used
to provide customized call screening based on the caller ID or the
membership of the caller in a predefined group. At block 204, the
directory number for the called party is compared with a list of
subscribers to the service, for example in an SCP. Thus, in an AIN
embodiment, the call is received at an end office switch such as an
SSP and the call routing information including the directory number
and the CLID are extracted from the call. The SSP communicates a
query to the SCP which retrieves information related to the
directory number from the SCP database associated with the SCP.
Information about this directory number and its associated service
subscription may be stored in the SCP database. If it is determined
that the directory number is not associated with subscriber, the
call is processed normally, block 206.
[0035] At block 208, the calling line identification information or
other data about the caller or calling communication station is
received by the system. In one embodiment, this information is
conveyed with the call through the network and extracted by the
system. At block 208, the subscriber's profile is retrieved from
storage. In this embodiment, the subscriber has established a call
routing profile which defines possible destinations for the call,
possible callers, possible groups of which the caller may be a
member and other information. As noted above, in one embodiment,
the subscriber's profile is stored at the SCP database of an AIN
network.
[0036] At block 212, it is determined if the calling party
associated with the CLID is a member of a group defined in the
subscriber's profile. As noted, the profile may define one or more
groups of possible callers, such as a work group, a family group,
etc., and even subgroups within these groups. At block 212, a
comparison is made between the CLID or data or other information
related to the CLID and members of the different groups defined by
this subscriber. That is, a straight number-to-number comparison
for the directory number of the calling line may be compared with
directory numbers stored in the profile, or a text identifier
associated with the name or other identifying information for the
caller may be compared with text identifiers stored in the profile.
At block 214, if the caller is defined as a member of a group in
the subscriber's profile, a menu customized for the group or the
caller is provided to the caller. This menu specifies the calling
options for this group. The menu options may include choices such
as "press 2 to leave a voice mail message," "press 3 to call cell
phone," "press 4 to call work phone" and "press 5 to page." As
noted, the menu options provided for different groups may vary
depending on the desires and requirements of the subscriber.
[0037] At block 216, it is determined if the CLID is specified for
a particular treatment in the subscriber's profile. In this
example, the caller defines his own individual group. The
subscriber has specified a particular menu to be provided to this
calling party. In this case, at block 218, the specified menu
options chosen by the subscriber for presentation to this caller
are provided to this caller.
[0038] At block 220, if the caller is not a member of a group or is
not individually specified in the profile for a customized menu, at
block 220 standard menu options are provided to the caller. These
menu options may be standard choices specified by the subscriber in
the profile for standard treatment or these menu options may be
default values specified by the system when the subscriber has not
directed particular treatment for this caller or group.
[0039] At block 222, after provision of the menu options in
accordance with one of blocks 214, 218, 220, the system listens to
detect the menu selection made by the caller. This may be
accomplished by detecting dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) tones
provided by the caller pressing keys of the telephone of the
calling communication station, by detecting a spoken menu selection
by the caller, or by any other suitable method. At block 224, the
call is routed according to the menu selection received at block
222. The method ends at block 226.
[0040] FIG. 3 illustrates data stored in a portion of the
telecommunication system of FIG. 1 in accordance with the method
illustrated in FIG. 2. In particular, FIG. 3 illustrates one
embodiment of a subscriber profile 300 for use in establishing a
customized call screening and call routing system. The subscriber
profile 300 includes three groups 302, 304, 306 established by the
subscriber. As established by the subscriber, the group 302 is
established with a convenience label, Group I "family". The label
may be chosen to help the subscriber identify the group or may be
assigned automatically or by default by the system. The members 310
of the group 302 are specified by the subscriber. In this
embodiment, the members are specified by listing the directory
numbers associated with the group members. During processing of a
call, if one of these directory numbers is detected by comparing
the calling line identification information with the group member,
the call will be processed according to the service described
herein. Further in FIG. 3, the members 310 of the group 308 are
associated with predefined menu and routing choices 312 specified
by the subscriber. The menu and routing choices 312 may be any
selected by the subscriber. Examples are provided above. In
addition, other examples include routing all calls from the group
to voice mail, canceling or disconnecting all calls received from a
group member, or requiring entry of a personal identification (PIN)
number as an added level of security or confirmation before
providing access to the subscriber.
[0041] A second group 304 has a group label Group II "work". The
group 304 has two members specified, member 316 and member 320.
However, in specified member 316 the subscriber included an
asterisk 318 as a wild card to specify that the group 304 includes
all directory numbers which begin with 847-248-, without regard to
the remaining four numbers of the directory number. The member 316
thus actually corresponds to a subgroup 316. Thus, where all work
numbers of the group 304 have been assigned to the area code 847
and the exchange 248, the subgroup of all work numbers will be
located by the system as being in the group 304 and be given the
treatment specified by the menu and routing choices 322 associated
with the group 304. In addition to the subgroup 316, the group 304
also includes members 320.
[0042] The group 306 has been given the identifier Group III "kids"
324 by the subscriber. Upon receipt of a call associated with any
of these directory numbers, the call will receive the routing
specified by the menu and routing choices 328 specified by the
subscriber.
[0043] In one embodiment, the subscriber may specify the
information illustrated in FIG. 3 by using a World Wide Web (WWW or
"web") window and Internet access to the database maintained by the
service provider. Preferably, the web page provides a plurality of
data entry slots and data entry guidance information for the
subscriber to define and populate the groups 302, 304, 306. In
addition, preferably the information about menu and routing choices
is displayed for easy selection by the subscriber. Upon defining
the groups, the subscriber may transmit the web page to the service
provider, where the information is received and the subscriber
profile is established. Subsequently, the subscriber preferably can
update his profile using the same technique. By accessing a
database of profile information, the subscriber can preferably view
the information, make changes, deletions and additions as required
and resubmit the information for updating the profile.
[0044] Other techniques for establishing and maintaining the
profile may be employed as well. For example, an interactive voice
response (IVR) system may be established for keypad and voice entry
of the required information. Alternatively, the caller may speak
with an operator or other representative of the service provider to
establish and update the subscriber profile. Any other suitable
technique may be used as well.
[0045] Thus, FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate one embodiment of a method
for routing calls in a telecommunication system. This method
includes detecting data associated with a call from a calling party
to a called party. The call is routed in accordance with
information about the calling party and the called party. Examples
of this information include the calling line identification
information of the calling party and the subscriber profile and
directory number of the called party. Other information about the
two parties to the call may be used as well. The calling party is
provided with a call routing message which has been customized for
the calling party based at least in part on information about the
calling party.
[0046] Preferably, a menu of call routing options is provided to
the calling party, the options being customized for the calling
party. In one embodiment, the options are selected from a group of
options based on the calling line information and the retrieved
subscriber profile. In another embodiment, based on the retrieved
subscriber profile, a call group with which the caller's calling
line information is associated is identified by the system. The
menu of call routing options is customized for the calling party
based on the identified call group.
[0047] This method may be implemented by a telecommunication system
which includes a network element configured for processing a call
between a calling party and a called party, such as an SCP. The
system further includes computer readable program code which is
stored at the network element and includes a first computer
readable code to obtain a subscriber profile for the called party,
a second computer readable program code to determine information
about the calling party and a third computer readable program code
which formats a menu of call routing options customized for the
calling party based on the subscriber profile and the information
about the calling party. The computer readable program code may be
stored and executed at any suitable locations within the network.
The computer readable program codes may be subroutines or portions
of other routines or subroutines executed by call processing
equipment of the network.
[0048] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating another embodiment of
a method for operating a telecommunication system of FIG. 1. The
embodiment of FIG. 4 provides enhanced customized call routing by
routing calls intended for a subscriber to a service node,
intelligent peripheral, or other network device. There, the service
node plays a user defined, customized announcement as well as
routing directions such as call numbers, time of day, day of week,
or menu selections based on a pre-established subscriber template
or profile. The announcements provided by the service node can
include a mixture of spoken, canned phrases, customer recorded
phrases, text entered by the customer, for example via a World Wide
Web interface, which can be altered using text to speech processes.
The service node or other network equipment then listens for menu
choices, such as DTMF keypad entry of spoken responses from the
caller using voice recognition. The service node then routes the
call back out to the network based on the choices made by the
caller and the customer's profile.
[0049] Previous devices only provided customization for
subscribers. An interactive voice response or service management
system screen has allowed subscribers to enter routing telephone
numbers and a selected routing plan based on time of day, day of
week, etc. The embodiment illustrated herein provides the advantage
of customization of call routing selections on a service node,
taking advantage of the service node's flexibility to provide user
defined announcements as well as routing directions. The method
begins at block 400.
[0050] At block 402, a call is received by the system. The
embodiment described in FIG. 4 may be implemented in any
telecommunication network. One exemplary suitable telecommunication
network is an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) and its
constituent components. These components include in typical
embodiments an originating switch or SSP where the call is
received, a terminating switch or SSP associated with the called
communication station of the called party, one or more SCPs, and in
the preferred embodiment, one or more service nodes or intelligent
peripherals. At block 404, the terminating number for the received
call is detected. The terminating number is the directory number or
other identifying information associated with the called party.
[0051] At block 406, the system determines if the terminating
number is associated with a called party who is a subscriber to the
service. If the called party is not a subscriber, at block 408 the
call is processed normally. If the called party is a subscriber, at
block 410, the system retrieves a subscriber profile for this
terminating number or for this subscriber. The subscriber profile
may be stored at any suitable location in the system, such as an
SCP database associated with the SCP of the network.
[0052] At block 412, a subscriber-defined announcement is played
for the called party. Preferably, the call or data related to the
call is routed to the service node, intelligent peripheral or other
network element capable of playing announcements and collecting
entered digits or other caller response information. In a typical
embodiment, calling information is routed from an SCP to the SN to
identify the call and provide the subscriber profile information
suitable for providing an announcement and collecting caller
response information. The service node or intelligent peripheral is
particularly well suited for this purpose. In response to the
subscriber profile information, the intelligent peripheral
establishes a connection to the calling party and plays a
subscriber defined announcement. This may include, for example,
playing a standard announcement selected by the subscriber. One or
more canned announcements, such as "to leave a voice mail message,
press 2," may be provided for selection and designation by the
subscriber when establishing subscriber profile. Playing the
subscriber defined announcement may further or alternatively
include playing a recorded announcement recorded by the subscriber.
This may be similar to the voice mail greeting that is provided in
some voice mail or other answering systems, but may be customized
and enhanced for providing call routing information. Any suitable
information may be provided by the subscriber including messages
for particular callers, a schedule of availability, a list of
possible telephone numbers where the subscriber may be reached,
etc. Preferably, the recorded announcement includes a menu of
caller options. Playing the recorded announcement may be achieved
by recording a subscriber-defined message, digitizing the message
as subscriber defined message data and storing the data. When the
message is played back, the announcement is provided by retrieving
the subscriber-defined message data and converting the message data
to an audible announcement. Alternatively, rather than recording
audible customer message data, the customer or subscriber may enter
text, via a web interface, for example, which is stored. Upon
message playback, the subscriber defined message text is retrieved
and converted to audible speech using a text to speech process.
[0053] At block 414, the system awaits a caller input in the form
of spoken call routing information, a DTMF keypad entry or other
input. At block 416, the system detects the menu selection made by
the caller. Preferably, the service node detects, identifies and
converts DTMF data into menu selection data which may be used to
route the call. Alternatively, the service node may detect a spoken
response provided by the caller, convert the spoken response to
selection data and route the call according to the selection, block
418. The method ends at block 420.
[0054] FIG. 5 illustrates data storage in a portion of the
telecommunication system of FIG. 1 in accordance with the
embodiment of FIG. 4. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 5, a
service node 500 stores two subscribers' profiles, a first profile
502 and a second profile 504. In alternative embodiments, the
profiles 502, 504 may be stored at other locations in the network,
such as an SCP database. Storing the subscriber profiles at the
service node 500, however, reduces or eliminates the need to
communicate the subscriber profile over the network during call
processing, reducing traffic on the network. Instead of
communicating the entire profile, a subscriber designator or other
information designating the selected profile is communicated from
an SSP, SCP or other call routing equipment.
[0055] The first profile 502 stores information defining an
announcement to play and routing directions and other information.
As noted, the announcement play may be stored as a recorded
message, recorded by the subscriber, one or more canned messages or
standard, predefined messages, or text which may be provided
directly to a caller or process in a text to speech system for
audible provision to the caller. The routing direction of the
profile 502 define menu selections which may be provided by the
caller and associated destinations or terminating numbers to which
a call may be routed. These terminating numbers may correspond to
voice mail systems, other land line telephone numbers, cellular
numbers, pagers, facsimile numbers and other numbers associated
with the subscriber. The second profile 504 stores a subscriber's
speech recognition or interactive voice response (IVR) and menu
choice information for routing calls using customized
announcements. The second profile 504 also stores a routing
schedule based on time of day. A schedule may be established by a
subscriber and stored as part of the customer profile 504. Call
routing menu options are provided based on the routing schedule as
well as the other menu information provided by the subscriber.
[0056] The method embodied in FIG. 4 may be implemented in a
telecommunication system which includes a network element
configured to process a call from a calling party, the call having
an associated terminating number. In one embodiment, the network
element is a service node which also may be configured as a compact
service node (CSN). In another embodiment, the network element may
be an intelligent peripheral (IP). The terminating number is
preferably the directory number or telephone number associated with
the called party. The telecommunication system further includes a
first computer readable program code which controls the network
element to retrieve a subscriber profile of the calling party based
on the terminating number. A second program code controls the
network element to play a subscriber defined announcement of call
routing options. A third program code detects a menu selection of
the calling party and a fourth program code communicates call
routing information from the network element to call routing
equipment of telecommunication systems, such as a terminating
switch and an originating switch. In one embodiment, the
telecommunication system further include an originating SSP, and
SCP and a terminating SSP, all in communication with the service
node or other network element. In an alternative embodiment, no SCP
is provided and the telecommunication system includes only an
originating SSP, a terminating SSP and the service node or other
network element, all in data communication.
[0057] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the telecommunication system
600 illustrating a prior art call flow. The system 600 includes a
calling communication station or telephone 602, a called
communication station or telephone 604, an originating switch or
SSP 606, an SSP 608, a service node or intelligent peripheral
(SN/IP) 610 and a terminating switch or SSP 612. For routing a call
from the calling communication station 602 to the called
communication station 604, the calling party at telephone 602
places a call which is detected at the originating SSP 606.
Information about the call is routed (1) to the end office or SSP
608 associated with the SN/IP 610. The call is routed (2) to the
SN/IP 610. The service logic of the SN/IP 610 plays a message to
the calling communication station 602 and collects digits to
determine where the call should be routed to. Upon receiving this
menu selection, the SN/IP 610 places an outbound call (3) to the
routed destination, in this case terminating SSP 612. The call may
be tied together within the SN/IP 610 or transferred to the service
node end office 608 using common switch features.
[0058] While effective at conveying call routing menu options and
collecting call routing menu choices, this prior art technique has
the disadvantage of needlessly tying up the SN/IP 610 and its
associated end office switch 608 during the ongoing call between
the originating SSP 606 and the terminating SSP 612. This tends to
limit traffic flow and flexibility in the network 600.
[0059] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating another embodiment of
a method for operating a telecommunication system. FIG. 8 is a
block diagram of a telecommunication system 800 illustrating call
flow in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 7. The method
embodied in FIG. 7 will be described in conjunction with FIG. 8.
The system 800 includes a calling communication station 802, a
called communication station 804, an originating end office switch
or SSP 806, an SCP 808, an SSP or end office switch 810, a service
node/intelligent peripheral (SN/IP) 812 linked to the SSP 810, and
a terminating end office switch or SSP 814. In alternative
embodiments, the system 800 could also include a SN/IP 816 linked
to or associated with the SSP 806. The functions performed by the
SN/IP 812 as described herein may be performed alternatively by the
optional SN/IP 816 or by similar equipment located at any location
in the system 800.
[0060] The method of FIG. 7 begins at block 700. At block 702, a
call from the calling communication station 802 is received at the
originating switch, SSP 806. Preferably, AIN triggers such as an
on-hook delay (OHD) trigger are placed on the dialed digits to
route (1) the call to the SCP 808, block 706. At block 708, it is
determined if the called party associated with the directory number
of the call is a subscriber to the service. If not, at block 710
the call is processed normally. However, if a called party is a
subscriber, at block 712 the subscriber routing information is
retrieved.
[0061] At block 714, call routing options for the subscriber are
determined at the SCP 808. Preferably, the subscriber profile and
its associated call routing options and other information are
stored at the SCP, such as in an SCP database, not shown in FIG. 8.
At block 716, the SCP 808 communicates (2) information about the
call routing options based on the subscriber profile to the SN/IP
812. In accordance with one embodiment of FIG. 8, the communication
is made in using the GR1129 data communication protocol.
[0062] At block 720, the SN/IP 812 receives the information about
call routing options. The SN/IP processes this information to
establish a message to be played to the calling party at the
calling communications station 802. The message defines a menu of
options for call routing to permit the calling party to locate or
provide a message for the called party. At block 722, the message
is played (2) for example by converting text to audible speech or
by playing a pre-recorded message established by the subscriber, or
by playing a standard, canned message selected by the subscriber to
be played to the calling party at the calling communication station
802. At block 724, the SN/IP 812 collects the menu choice entered
by the calling party, for example by detecting a spoken response
and converting the spoken response to digital data or by detecting
DTMF tones entered at a keypad of the calling communication station
804.
[0063] At block 726, the SN/IP 812 communicates (3) information
about the call routing menu selection made from the calling
communication system 802 to the SCP 808. The information is passed
to the SCP 808 for use by the call routing logic of the SCP 808. In
accordance with one embodiment of FIG. 8, this information is
communicated using the GR1129 protocol. At block 730, the SCP 808
receives the selected call routing menu option information. At
block 732, the call is routed according to this information. That
is, the SCP 808 returns (4) to the originating SSP 806 information
to define the terminating SSP 814 associated with the called
communication station selected by the calling party and
communicated in the menu selection. The originating SSP 806 routes
(4) the call to the called communications station through the
terminating SSP 814. The method ends at block 734.
[0064] As noted above, in one embodiment of the method of FIG. 7
and the system of FIG. 8, data is communicated in accordance with
the GR 1129 protocol. Among other provisions, GR 1129 directs that
communications between an SCP and a SN/IP travel through an SSP.
This method of communication between the network elements of an AIN
permits the SSP to keep track of billing records and to release the
SSP-IP voice/data connection when it is no longer required while
maintaining control of the original call. Additionally, the SSP can
receive subsequent call processing instructions from the SCP for
the same call as part of the same initial transaction.
[0065] The application described herein of GR 1129 to call routing
operations is unique. Heretofore, two methods existed for providing
customized call routing based on providing the called a menu. In
the first method, a call is routed to a service node (SN) which has
the necessary service logic and plays announcements and collects
digits from the caller, the service node eventually routing the
call back to the network, but only as far as the end office switch
associated with the SN/IP. This is illustrated in the prior art
embodiment of FIG. 6. This option allows the system to make full
advantage of the SN/IP capabilities, including customized
announcements, text-to-speech conversion, speech recognition, etc.
However, this technique has a disadvantage of inefficiency in
routing in the network, as described above. A second method
involves using GR 1129 with an SCP and an IP or other peripheral.
In this case, the service logic which controls call routing is in
the SCP which uses the IP as a resource. This has the advantage of
routing the call more efficiently by using the AIN SCP. AIN
triggers such as TAT and SDS can be used to stop and route the call
more efficiently than simply using SSP-SSP call routing. However,
the scope of the GR 1129 protocol limits how much of the SN/IP
functionality can be utilized. For example, the full range of
programming capabilities on the SN/IP cannot be used in some
applications. This can mean that mixing and matching technologies,
such as text-to- speech, speech recognition, digit outpulse, etc.,
cannot be done.
[0066] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a
method for operating a telecommunications system to overcome these
difficulties and incorporate GR 1129 signaling in a call routing
method as described herein. In accordance with this embodiment, an
application or series of program instructions can be invoked on an
SN/IP of the network based on an encrypted message in the GR 1129
protocol received from another network element of the network. For
example, a message which instructs the SN/IP to "play announcement
number 27" might be coded on the SN/IP to "invoke application
number 3201" which can use the full range of the SN/IP's
programming and functionality, such as speech recognition,
text-to-speech conversion and so forth. When the SN/IP is finished
with its application, it returns a result in the resource clear
message to the SCP, part of GR 1129. The resource_clear message
itself could also be encrypted to have another meaning. For
example, if the SN/IP returns a resource_clear message indicating
that the caller entered the digits "1, 2, 3", the SCP may convert
this data to an indication that corresponds to routing the call to
a predetermined number, changing the calling party identifier to
another data element. Thus, this embodiment provides the advantages
of full use of the SN/IP resources and the more efficient
networking routing of GR 1129.
[0067] An exemplary embodiment of this process is shown in FIG. 9.
The method of FIG. 9 begins at block 900. At block 902,
instructions or data to be executed at the remote end of an AIN
communication connection are selected. In one example used herein,
the instructions and data correspond to those necessary to
implement a subscriber profile for customized call routing based on
providing a menu of options to a caller. In this embodiment, the
instructions include the types of announcements to play to the
caller, and the types of menu options to expect or to receive from
the caller. The data include the content of the message to be
played and the corresponding menu options to provide.
[0068] At block 904, a code is identified at the local end of the
GR 1129 connection for the selected instructions and data. This may
be done in any suitable manner. For example, a look-up table
procedure may be used in which the selected instructions or data
are provided to a table to extract a table value which may be used
for transmission of a GR 1129 message. Alternatively, an
instruction code may be inserted in a GR 1129 message for
subsequent decoding. At block 906, the GR 1129 message is
formatted. Formatting includes encoding the identified code in the
message as well as providing necessary header data, footer data and
other data required to form a complete GR 1129 message. At block
908, the GR 1129 message is communicated from the local end to the
remote end of the AIN communication connection. In the illustrated
embodiment, this transmission is from an SCP to a SN/IP or the
reverse path, from the SN/IP to an SCP. However, the communication
could occur between any components from the AIN network or any
other suitable components.
[0069] At block 910, the encoded GR 1129 message is received at the
remote end of the connection. At block 912, the message is decoded
to extract the code which defines the necessary instructions and
data. At block 914, using the code, the stored data and
instructions are retrieved. This may be done in any appropriate
method, such as by applying the extracted code to a look-up table
to identify a portion of code or an application or series of
programming instructions which may be invoked at the remote end of
the communication connection such as the SN/IP. Any decryption,
decoding or extraction method may be used to retrieve the encoded
data. The method ends at block 916.
[0070] Thus, the embodiments described herein illustrate a call
routing method in an advanced intelligent network. The method
includes, at an originating switch, receiving a call from a calling
communications station for a directory number (DN). Data about the
call is communicated to a service control point and subscriber
routing information associated with the DN is retrieved. In
response to the subscriber routing information, an interactive
communication is initiated between an intelligent peripheral or
service node or SN/IP of the AIN and the calling communication
station. Information about call routing data is received from the
calling communication station and communicated from the IP to the
SCP. In response to this information, the call is routed from the
originating switch to a terminating switch. In one embodiment, the
communication between the SCP and the IP is according to the GR
1129 protocol. Further, the method includes communication by
encrypting data or instructions in a message of the GR 1129
protocol and decrypting the message to extract the data or
instructions.
[0071] Another embodiment disclosed herein includes a call routing
method in an Advanced Intelligent Network. The method includes
receiving a call from a calling party for a called party at an
originating switch. In response to a trigger on the call, data
about the call is sent from the originating switch to a service
control point (SCP). At the SCP, call routing option data are
retrieved for the called party. In response to this call routing
option data, an intelligent peripheral is activated to provide one
or more menu options and receive one or more menu choices from the
calling party. Information about the one or more menu choices is
provided from the IP to the SCP and, in response, the call is
routed from the originating switch to a terminating switch. In one
embodiment, at the SCP, a plurality of command instructions for the
IP are encrypted at the SCP. At the IP, the command instructions
are in turn decrypted and executed. In this embodiment, encrypting
the plurality of command instructions includes formatting a GR 1129
message with code data indicative of the plurality of command
instructions for retrieval at the IP.
[0072] Another embodiment discloses a data communication method for
an Advanced Intelligent network. The method includes receiving a GR
1129 message containing a selected code. Using the selected code,
data for program instructions or both are retrieved from storage.
The retrieved data or instructions are then executed. This may be
implemented in an Advanced Intelligent Network which includes a
first network element, a second network element in communication
with the first network element using GR 1129 protocol and a program
code stored at the second network element and selectable in
response to a code included in a GR 1129 message. In one
embodiment, the second network element includes a memory and a
processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory
including the program code upon receipt of the code. The memory may
include a table indexed by the code.
[0073] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a telecommunication system
1000. FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of a method and a system
for providing a menu of subscriber specific call routing choices.
In current systems, call routing information stored in a
telecommunication system is updated via an interactive voice
response interface or via the service management system user
screens. While these techniques have been successful, a system is
desired which is simpler to use, provides greater flexibility for
the subscriber, and improves access to the service.
[0074] The embodiment of FIG. 10 provides a World Wide Web
interface where the user can populate the dialed digits and select
from pre-recorded voice files that associate the number to a spoken
name or place. An example might be associating the text or voice
file containing data for "Mom's Office" and the telephone number
(708) 555-3232. The end result, after presentation of a menu of
options including this one, would be that the caller presses a
number such as one on the key pad after hearing the menu including
the choice of "call Mom's Office." In one embodiment, the
corresponding telephone number is not provided or not accessible to
the calling party. Only a text or audible message identifying the
menu option is provided to the caller. This maintains a level of
privacy that may be desired by some subscribers.
[0075] Preferably the call routing information is established and
updated using a World Wide Web server implemented on a device such
as a personal computer, wireless device such as a cellular or other
radio telephone, etc. A message containing the new or updated
information is conveyed, for example, using TCP/IP protocol over
the Internet. The web browser can access a home page or other
screen to answer questions or complete data fields which define the
updated or new call routing information. In this manner, the
subscriber can easily modify the parameters of the call routing
service that presides on a SCP or on a service node or on an IP.
This service requires creation of a generic blank subscription
based on a service order prior to inserting or modifying the
data.
[0076] In FIG. 10, the system 1000 includes a personal computer or
other remote device 1002, an Internet service provider (ISP) system
1004 which provides access to the Internet 1006, a web server 1008
provided by the telecommunication service provider, a firewall 1010
which isolates components of the telecommunication system from the
Internet, an SCP 1012 and a SN/IP 1014 and other components of a
telecommunication system 1016. The telecommunication system in the
illustrated embodiment includes AIN elements such as the SCP 1012
and SN/IP 1014. Other types of components may be included as well
to provide telecommunication service to a calling party who seeks
to place a call to a called party. The called party in the
illustrated embodiment subscribes to a service which permits
customized call routing based on providing a menu of call routing
options to the caller.
[0077] The subscriber operates the device 1002 to access a web
browser such as Internet Explorer provided by Microsoft Corporation
or Netscape Navigator provided by Netscape Corporation. The device
1002 provides wireless or wireline access to facilities of an
Internet service provider 1004. The Internet service provider 1004
in turn provides access over the Internet 1006 to remote service
devices, including the web server 1008 of the telecommunication
service provider. As is known in the art, communication over the
Internet between the device 1002 and the web server 1008 is
according to transmission control protocol/internet protocol
(TCP/IP). According to this protocol, a message of one or more
packets is formatted and transmitted and routed from the origin to
the destination over the Internet 1006. The one or more packets are
re-assembled into a complete message at the destination 1008 and
the message is interpreted. In this manner, the subscriber
operating the device 1002 may submit call routing menu information
to the web server 1008.
[0078] The firewall 1010 provides isolation between the components
of the telecommunication network 1016 and the Internet 1006. The
firewall 1010 prevents inadvertent access to those components but
permits controlled access for updating information stored, for
example, at the SCP 1012 or the SN/IP 1014. Either under control of
the web server 1008 or other devices associated with the
telecommunication network 1016, call routing information received
at the web server 1008 may be used to update call routing data
included in a subscriber profile and stored at the SCP 1012 or the
SN/IP 1014. In this manner, update information received over the
Internet 1006 at the web server 1008 from a subscriber using the
device 1002 may be verified for accuracy and completion and used to
insert or modify the data stored in the network 1016.
[0079] FIG. 10 also illustrates one embodiment of a user interface
1018 which may be displayed on the device 1002 for use by the
subscriber to insert or modify call routing data in the
telecommunication network 1016. The user interface 1018 in the
illustrated embodiment is arranged as a World Wide Web display 1020
including one or more call termination option fields 1022 and one
or more telephone number fields 1024. Each telephone number field
corresponds to one or more call destination options. The display
1020 further includes a select button 1026. The subscriber may use
a mouse, stylus or other pointing device to maneuver through the
display 1020. Telephone numbers may be entered in the telephone
number fields 1024. The call termination option fields 1022 may be
clicked or otherwise selected to associate a call termination
option field with a telephone number field.
[0080] After the association has been made, the subscriber clicks
the select button 1026. In response to this action, the device 1002
formats a TCP/IP message including data representative of the
entered directory numbers or telephone numbers and the selected
call termination option information. The device 1002 transmits the
message as one or more TCP/IP packets to the Internet service
provider 1004. Equipment of the internet service provider 1004
communicates the message over the Internet 1006 to the web server
1008. The web server 1008 collects the TCP/IP packets and extracts
the telephone number field information and call termination option
information. The web server 1008 or another device formats the
information into a subscriber profile. The subscriber profile is
communicated within the network 1016 and subscriber profile data
are stored at one of the SCP 1012 and SN/IP 1014 for in multiple
locations.
[0081] For updating information already provided and stored in a
subscriber profile, the subscriber operating the device 1002 may
access the web server 1008 over the Internet 1006 and retrieve
information about the subscriber profile. In this example, the user
interface 1018 includes a display 1020 on which a previously stored
telephone number 1028 is displayed. Using a mouse, stylus or other
pointing device, the user may update this information. For example,
the stored number may be deleted, the number may be changed or
corrected, or its association with a call termination option field
1022 may be changed. The call termination options in the
illustrative embodiment include clickable call destination buttons
1032, which specify destinations such as "home" and "work," and
clickable called party buttons 1030 which specify a particular
called party such as "brother" and "mom".
[0082] The TCP/IP messages communicated between the device 1002 and
the web server 1008 preferably include a subscription number or
other identifying information for the subscriber and the selections
of the subscriber. Prerecorded names and places associated with the
clickable call destination buttons 1032 and clickable called party
buttons 1030 correspond to announcement identifiers already
populated at the SN/IP 1014 and the SCP 1012. The user interface
also includes an alpha entry field 1026 which may be filled with
data defining a location, an individual or other text message to be
delivered to a caller. Text stored in the alpha field 1026 invokes
a text-to-speech operation of the SN/IP or other network
element.
[0083] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating another embodiment of
a method for operating the telecommunication system of FIG. 1. The
embodiment of FIG. 11 illustrates one method for implementing a
"find me" service. In accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 11, a
caller dials a designated number such as a toll free or 800
telephone number or another local number that would route the call
to a platform. An example of a platform is a service node or an
intelligent peripheral (IP) of an AIN network. This platform would
have an interactive voice response apparatus that would allow the
caller to reach the subscriber of the service at any of the numbers
the subscriber has chosen. For example, the following message might
be played to the caller. "If you would like to reach your party at
work, press 1. If you would like to reach your party at home, press
2. If you would like to try her cell phone, press 3. If you would
like to have her paged, press 4. If you would like to send her a
fax, press 5." Upon receipt of a menu selection by the caller, the
call will be routed in accordance with the selection.
[0084] The method of FIG. 11 begins at block 1100. At block 1102, a
call is received at a designated number. As noted, in one example,
the designated number is an 800 or other toll free number assigned
to the subscriber or to the service. In one example, the service is
accessed by dialing a toll free number, and a subscriber identifier
or PIN number is entered to access the subscriber profile for the
desired called party.
[0085] At block 1104, the system retrieves the subscriber profile
associated with the subscriber of the service. At block 1106, a
message defining the subscriber's specific call routing options is
played for the caller. This may be done in any appropriate manner.
In one example, the network makes use of the capabilities of a
service node or intelligent peripheral to provide announcement
playback. At block 1108, the caller input is received in response
to the message options provided. At block 1110, the call is routed
to the terminating number associated with the caller selection. For
example, if the caller selection corresponds to a home telephone
number of a subscriber, the call is routed to the switch or SSP
associated with that terminating number. Further, if the caller
input corresponds to a number outside the telecommunication
network, the call will be routed to that number as well. An example
of this is a number associated with a cellular or other
radiotelephone account of the subscriber. In this case, the call is
routed outside the telecommunication network to the radio telephone
system, and through the mobile telephone switching center or other
equipment of the radiotelephone system to communicate a wireless
message seeking to locate the radiotelephone of the subscriber. The
method ends at block 1112.
[0086] Thus, a method in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 11
includes receiving a call from a caller, the call including a
subscriber identifier. As noted, the subscriber identifier may be
the designated number such as the toll free number associated with
the subscriber. Alternatively, the subscriber identifier may be a
PIN number or a subscriber number to be entered upon accessing the
service. The method further includes identifying a service
subscriber associated with the subscriber identifier and retrieving
a subscriber profile of the service subscriber including a list of
call routing options and a subscriber-specific message for playback
to the caller. This subscriber specific message is played to the
caller and a caller routing indication is received from the caller.
The call is then routed to a terminating directory number
associated with the call routing indication. Retrieving the
plurality of listings may include, in one embodiment, retrieving
one or more listings of terminating directory numbers associated
with the first telecommunication network, such as a wire line
network and retrieving one or more listings of terminating
directory numbers associated with a second telecommunication
network, such as a cellular telephone network. Then, processing the
call includes routing the call from the first telecommunication
network to the second telecommunication network.
[0087] FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating another embodiment of
a method for operating the telecommunications system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 12 illustrates another way to execute a "find me" service. In
this embodiment, the service is provided by expanding the listing
for a subscriber in directory assistance. Subscribers may expand
their listing, for a fee or at no additional charge, to include
cellular, pager and facsimile numbers. The caller calling directory
assistance is, for no fee or for a normal directory assistance
charge, able to get what ever number or numbers associated with the
called party are desired. This has the benefit of stimulating
additional usage of the directory assistance service provided by a
telecommunication service provider.
[0088] In FIG. 12, the method begins at block 1200. At block 1202,
a telecommunication system receives a directory assistance call. In
general, the directory assistance call is directed to a directory
assistance number, such as 411 or 555-1212 and is from a caller
seeking directory assistance for a called party in general and in
particular for a service subscriber. At block 1204, an option to
receive expanded directory assistance listings is offered to the
caller. At block 1206, it is determined if the caller selects the
option. For example, at block 1204, the option may be offered by
providing an audible greeting and instructions including the
request to select or press a first key if the option is selected or
to press a second key if the option is not selected. At block 1206,
the key press is detected and acceptance is determined.
[0089] At block 1208, in accordance with one embodiment, a fee is
charged to the caller for accessing the expanded directory
assistance listings. The fee may be charged, for example, by
debiting an account of the caller maintained with the
telecommunications service provider. At block 1210, the expanded
directory assistance listings are retrieved. At block 1212, the
enhanced directory assistance listings are provided to the caller.
At block 1214, the caller input is received and at block 1216, the
call is routed in accordance with the caller input. The method ends
at block 1218.
[0090] At block 1220, in one embodiment, a standard directory
assistance fee is charged of the caller. This may be done in any
suitable manner, such as deducting the fee amount from an account
maintained by the caller with the provider of the telecommunication
service. At block 1222, the standard directory assistance listing
for the called party is retrieved. Typically, a standard directory
assistance listing includes a single terminating number, such as
the home telephone number for the called party. At block 1224, the
standard directory assistance listing is provided and at block 1226
the call is routed in accordance with caller input. For example, at
block 1224, the caller might be invited to complete a call to the
provided number associated with the standard directory assistance
listing by pressing, for example, 1 on the keypad. If this input is
received, the call is routed accordingly. If no input is received,
the call is terminated or cancelled. The method ends at block
1218.
[0091] Thus, in accordance with the method embodiment illustrated
in FIG. 12, a telecommunication method includes receiving a
directory assistance call from a caller and retrieving a plurality
of listings for a service subscriber. A menu of call routing
options including the listings of the plurality of listings is
provided to the caller and a menu selection is received from the
caller. The call is then routed according to the menu selection.
The retrieved listings may include a land line telephone listing, a
land line facsimile listing, a cellular telephone listing of the
service subscriber, a pager listing or a voice mail listing of the
service subscriber. In one embodiment, the caller is charged a fee
upon retrieving a plurality of listings. Alternatively, the fee may
be charged at any time during the process. In another embodiment,
the caller is given an option to receive a single listing or a
plurality of listings associated with the called party or service
subscriber and the caller is charged a fee only upon retrieving the
plurality of listings. In another embodiment, the service
subscriber is charged a fee. In this embodiment, the fee may be
charged upon receiving the plurality of listings or at any time
during the processing the directory assistance call. In another
embodiment, the fee may be charged to a service subscriber upon
receiving the plurality of listings and setting up the enhanced
directory assistance account.
[0092] FIGS. 13 and 14 are block diagrams of telecommunications
systems. These figures illustrate alternate embodiments of methods
to execute a "find me" service. This embodiment involves a
pay-per-use (PPU) service that is activated when the called party
does not answer the call. In this version of the service, once the
call reaches the service node, intelligent peripheral or other
platform, a message is provided to the caller such as "the person
you are trying to reach is currently not available. If you would
like to leave a message for them, press 1 now." This option routes
the caller to the called party's voice mail. In this embodiment,
the message continues "for a 75 cent charge, you can try to reach
the called party at additional numbers they have listed for
themselves. If you would like to try to reach the party you are
calling at one of these additional numbers, press 2 now." The
calling party is then offered any other numbers or a subset of
numbers listed in directory assistance for the called party. The
call is placed to whatever number or numbers the calling party
selects. In one embodiment, numbers can be contacted sequentially,
either using a default sequence or a sequence specified by the
service subscriber in a subscriber profile. In another embodiment,
the numbers can be contacted simultaneously. All numbers associated
with the subscriber can be contacted simultaneously or a subset of
numbers associated with the subscriber can be contacted
simultaneously. The subscriber may specify the numbers to be used
when contacting sequentially or simultaneously, and may specify a
subset of numbers to be used when processing a call from this
calling party or a group including this calling party.
[0093] FIG. 13 illustrates one embodiment of this method in
conjunction with a telecommunications system 1300. The system 1300
includes a calling communications station 1302, a called
communications station 1304 and an end office switch or SSP 1306, a
signaling transfer point (STP) 1308 and an SCP 1310. A public
switched telephone network (PSTN) 1312 links these components to a
terminating end office switch or SSP 1314, a service
node/intelligent peripheral (SN/IP) 1316, including its associated
database 1318. The database may be accessed, for example, over the
Internet 1320 by a remote device 1322 for updating subscriber
profile information contained in the database 1318. An alternate
terminating number or called device 1324 is also accessed over the
PSTN 1312.
[0094] The method begins when the calling party dials the
terminating directory number associated with the called
communications station 1304, 555-1234 in the example of FIG. 13.
The call is received (1) at the originating SSP 1306. The call is
routed (2) through the PSTN 1312 to the called communication
station with the terminating directory number, which rings. In
accordance with the present embodiment, the system waits a
predetermined time, such as 34 seconds, to determine if the called
communication station 1304 is answered. If the station 1304 is
answered, the call is processed normally. However, if the
communication station 1304 is not answered, an AIN trigger is
encountered which generates a query to the SCP 1310. The query is
routed (3) from the SSP 1306 through the STP 1308 to the SCP 1310.
The SCP performs a look-up operation to determine if the called
party associated with the terminating directory number is a
subscriber to the enhanced name and number delivery service. If
not, call processing continues as normal. If the called party is a
subscriber, the call is routed to the switch, SSP 1306, for
announcement (4) of the service.
[0095] The SSP 1306 announces the service and offers menu options
to select the service. The caller selection is routed (5) to the
SCP for further processing. In response, the call is routed (6) to
a number associated with the end office or SSP 1314 associated with
the SN/IP which will provide the interactive menu process. The
SN/IP plays (7) the service logic to produce the announcement and
collects digits and routes. The announcement may be played in any
manner described herein, including a text-to-speech process,
playing of canned messages or pre-recorded subscriber messages.
Caller input and menu selection may be achieved in any method as
described herein, including detecting DTMF tones, or voice
recognition operation. The SN/IP 1316 accesses the subscriber
profile stored in the database 1318 to determine the menu options
to provide to the calling party and the directory numbers and call
routing option. The SN/IP 1316 determines the appropriate route and
terminating number in response to the menu selection received from
the calling party at the calling communication station 1302 and in
response to the subscriber profile stored in the database 1318. The
route is returned (8) to the end office or SSP 1314 associated with
the SN/IP 1316. The end office 1318 routes the call (8) through the
PSTN 1312 to the alternate terminating number 1324.
[0096] In accordance with another embodiment, the subscriber may
update subscriber profile information using a remote device 1322,
such as a personal computer. The subscriber may access the call
routing information stored in the SN/IP database 1318 over the
Internet 1320. This may be done in accordance with the embodiments
described herein or in accordance with any other suitable
embodiment or method.
[0097] FIG. 14 illustrates another embodiment for implementing a
pay-per-use (PPU) find me service using GR 1129 communication
protocol in a telecommunication system 1400. In the
telecommunication system 1400, a calling party at a calling
communications station 1402 dials the terminating directory number
associated with a called communications station 1304, 555-1234 in
the example of FIG. 14. The call is routed (1) to an originating
switch or SSP 1406 for processing. The switch 1406 routes the call
over at the PSTN 1414 to the called communications station 1404
(2). After a predetermined time, such as 34 seconds, the switch
1406 determines that the called communications station 1404 is not
answered. In response, the switch 1406 encounters a trigger and
launches a query to the SCP 1410. The query is routed (3) through
the STP 1408 to the SCP 1410. In response to the query, the SCP
determines if the called party associated with the called
communications system is a subscriber to the enhanced name and
number delivery service. If not, call processing continues as
normal.
[0098] If the called party is a subscriber, the call is routed (5)
to the originating switch 1406 to provide an announcement (4) to
the calling party offering the service. If the calling party does
not accept the service, the call is cancelled or processed
normally. If the calling party accepts the service, for example, by
entering an appropriate DTMF response, that information is conveyed
(5) in a message from the originating switch 1406 to the SCP 1410.
In response, the SCP initiates a GR 1129 message intended for the
SN/IP 1410. The GR 1129 message may command the SN/IP 1410, for
example, to play message 456 for subscriber 555-1234 and collect
digits for routing. This GR 1129 message is routed (6) from the
originating switch 1406 to the terminating switch 1408 for the
SN/IP 1410. The GR 1129 message is decoded or decrypted to extract
the command contained therein. In response, the SN/IP 1410 executes
a plurality of instructions or an application, including associated
data. The SN/IP 1410 plays (8) service logic which implements menu
selections and associated telephone numbers.
[0099] The SN/IP 1410 formats a GR 1129 message including data
about the digits entered by the calling party at the calling
communications station 1402. This message is routed (8) to the SCP
1410 for processing. The SCP 1410 analyzes the collective digits
and routes (9) the call based on the collected digits. The call is
routing to a called communications station 1420 associated with the
terminating directory number, 633-4545 in the example of FIG. 14,
specified by the menu selection of the calling party.
[0100] In accordance with another embodiment, the SCP database 1412
may be accessed over the Internet 1422 or other network by the
subscriber using a remote device 1424 such as a personal computer.
In this manner, the subscriber profile or other call routing option
information presented to calling parties may be stored or updated.
This may be accomplished in accordance with any of the embodiments
described herein.
[0101] From the foregoing, it can be seen that the present
invention provides methods and apparatus for providing customized
call routing based on providing the caller a menu of options.
Provision is made for initiating or updating a subscriber profile
by means of a variety of methods. The subscriber profile is used to
format a menu of options which are provided to a calling party,
either initially or detecting a no-answer condition at a called
communication station. The calling party's menu response is
detected and the call is routed according to this perceived
response.
[0102] While particular embodiments of the present invention have
been shown and described, modifications may be made. The
operational blocks shown in the block diagrams of the drawing may
be embodied as hardware components, software code operating in
conjunction with hardware, or a combination of the two.
Implementation of such functions in hardware, software or a
combination thereof is well within the purview of those ordinarily
skilled in the appropriate art. Further, such illustrated
functionality may be combined with other operations by way of
modification. Accordingly, it is therefore intended in the appended
claims to cover such changes and modifications that follow in the
true spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *