Congestion detection and dynamic throttling of automated telephone call attempts during mass call events

• US 10,135,971 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2017
• Issued: 11/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AtHoc Incorporated (Blackberry Limited)
• Original Assignee: AtHoc Incorporated (Blackberry Limited)
• Inventors: Wu, Xi Sigmund, Makkar, Himanshu, Xiao, Yousong
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Khai N.
• Application Number:
  US15/790,920
• Publication Number:
  US 20180146087A1
• Time in Patent Office: 393 Days
• Field of Search: 37911204, 37911208, 3791121, 37922103
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/59 for emergency or urgency
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7428 Load situation, e.g. Current network load, traffic load or available resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/04 for emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/10 Providing fault- or trouble-signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2272 Subscriber line supervision circuits, e.g. call detection circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/367 Traffic or load control
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/424 Arrangements for automatic redialling at the subscriber's set H04M1/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/04 for time-division multiplexing H04Q11/0001 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13387 Call gapping

Abstract

A device is configured to detect congestion and throttle phone calls in a telephone communication system. The device receives, from a telephone dialing system, an indication indicating that a call to a phone number has successfully ended. In response to the indication, the device determines that a set of initial digits of the phone number matches a flooding group number of a flooding group, where the flooding group has a capacity limit. The device determines that a maximum number of concurrent active calls for the flooding group during a predefined period of time is within a predetermined threshold from the capacity limit of the flooding group and that no failed calls have occurred for the flooding group during the predefined period of time. In response to the determining, the device increases the capacity limit of the flooding group.

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one hardware processor communicatively coupled with the memory and configured to;

receive, from a telephone dialing system, an indication indicating that a call to a phone number has successfully ended;

in response to the indication indicating that the call to the phone number has successfully ended, determine that a set of initial digits of the phone number matches a flooding group number of a flooding group, wherein the flooding group includes a plurality of phone numbers, the set of initial digits of each of the plurality of phone numbers has values identical to the flooding group number, the plurality of phone numbers includes the phone number, and the flooding group has a capacity limit;

determine that a maximum number of concurrent active calls for the flooding group during a predefined period of time is within a predetermined threshold from the capacity limit of the flooding group and determine that no failed calls have occurred for the flooding group during the predefined period of time; and

in response to determining that the maximum number of concurrent active calls for the flooding group during the predefined period of time is within the predetermined threshold from the capacity limit of the flooding group and in response to determining that no failed calls have occurred for the flooding group during the predefined period of time, increase the capacity limit of the flooding group.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to:

receive a second phone number to dial;

determine that the set of initial digits of the second phone number matches the flooding group number of the flooding group;

determine a number of concurrent current active calls for the flooding group;

in response to the number of concurrent current active calls for the flooding group below the capacity limit of the flooding group, transmit the second phone number to the telephone dialing system;

after transmitting the second phone number, receive, from the telephone dialing system, an indication indicating a call failure to the second phone number; and

in response to receiving the indication indicating the call failure to the second phone number, decrease the capacity limit of the flooding group.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to:

receive a second phone number to dial;

determine that the set of initial digits of the second phone number matches the flooding group number of the flooding group;

determine a number of concurrent current active calls for the flooding group; and

in response to the number of concurrent current active calls for the flooding group exceeding the capacity limit of the flooding group, store the second phone number in a queue.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to:

receive, from the telephone dialing system, an indication indicating a call failure to a second phone number;

in response to the call failure, determine that initial digits of the second phone number do not match any flooding group number;

determine a new flooding group number based on initial digits of the second phone number;

determine a set of phone numbers including the second phone number, each phone number in the set of phone numbers having initial digits identical to the new flooding group number; and

generate a new flooding group, the new flooding group including the set of phone numbers and associated with the new flooding group number.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein generating the new flooding group comprises:

determining a time of the call failure and a number of concurrent active calls for the set of phone numbers at the time of the call failure;

in response to the number of concurrent active calls exceeding a predefined threshold, generating the new flooding group; and

determining a capacity limit of the new flooding group based on the number of concurrent active calls at the time of the call failure.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein the second phone number includes a main number and an extension number, and determining the new flooding group number includes using the main number as the new flooding group number.

7. The device of claim 4, wherein determining the new flooding group number comprises:

determining a time of the call failure;

determining a first number of concurrent active calls for a first set of phone numbers at the time of the call failure, each phone number in the first set of phone numbers having initial digits identical to the second phone number excluding last three digits;

determining a second number of concurrent active calls for a second set of phone numbers at the time of the call failure, each phone number in the second set of phone numbers having initial digits identical to the second phone number excluding last four digits;

determining a third number of concurrent active calls for a third set of phone numbers at the time of the call failure, each phone number in the third set of phone numbers having initial digits identical to the second phone number excluding last five digits; and

determining the new flooding group number based on the first, second and third number of concurrent active calls.

8. A method, comprising:

receiving, from a telephone dialing system, an indication indicating that a call to a phone number has successfully ended;

in response to the indication indicating that the call to the phone number has successfully ended, determining that a set of initial digits of the phone number matches a flooding group number of a flooding group, wherein the flooding group includes a plurality of phone numbers, the set of initial digits of each of the plurality of phone numbers has values identical to the flooding group number, the plurality of phone numbers includes the phone number, and the flooding group has a capacity limit;

determining that a maximum number of concurrent active calls for the flooding group during a predefined period of time is within a predetermined threshold from the capacity limit of the flooding group and determining that no failed calls have occurred for the flooding group during the predefined period of time; and

in response to determining that the maximum number of concurrent active calls for the flooding group during the predefined period of time is within the predetermined threshold from the capacity limit of the flooding group and in response to determining that no failed calls have occurred for the flooding group during the predefined period of time, increasing the capacity limit of the flooding group.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving a second phone number to dial;

determining that the set of initial digits of the second phone number matches the flooding group number of the flooding group;

determining a number of concurrent current active calls for the flooding group;

in response to the number of concurrent current active calls for the flooding group below the capacity limit of the flooding group, transmitting the second phone number to the telephone dialing system;

after transmitting the second phone number, receiving, from the telephone dialing system, an indication indicating a call failure to the second phone number; and

in response to receiving the indication indicating the call failure to the second phone number, decreasing the capacity limit of the flooding group.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving a second phone number to dial;

determining that the set of initial digits of the second phone number matches the flooding group number of the flooding group;

determining a number of concurrent current active calls for the flooding group; and

in response to the number of concurrent current active calls for the flooding group exceeding the capacity limit of the flooding group, storing the second phone number in a queue.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, from the telephone dialing system, an indication indicating a call failure to a second phone number;

in response to the call failure, determining that initial digits of the second phone number do not match any flooding group number;

determining a new flooding group number based on initial digits of the second phone number;

determining a set of phone numbers including the second phone number, each phone number in the set of phone numbers having initial digits identical to the new flooding group number; and

generating a new flooding group, the new flooding group including the set of phone numbers and associated with the new flooding group number.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein generating the new flooding group comprises:

determining a time of the call failure and a number of concurrent active calls for the set of phone numbers at the time of the call failure;

in response to the number of concurrent active calls exceeding a predefined threshold, generating the new flooding group; and

determining a capacity limit of the new flooding group based on the number of concurrent active calls at the time of the call failure.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the second phone number includes a main number and an extension number, and determining the new flooding group number includes using the main number as the new flooding group number.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the new flooding group number comprises:

determining a time of the call failure;

determining a first number of concurrent active calls for a first set of phone numbers at the time of the call failure, each phone number in the first set of phone numbers having initial digits identical to the second phone number excluding last three digits;

determining a second number of concurrent active calls for a second set of phone numbers at the time of the call failure, each phone number in the second set of phone numbers having initial digits identical to the second phone number excluding last four digits;

determining a third number of concurrent active calls for a third set of phone numbers at the time of the call failure, each phone number in the third set of phone numbers having initial digits identical to the second phone number excluding last five digits; and

determining the new flooding group number based on the first, second and third number of concurrent active calls.

15. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed, cause a computing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a telephone dialing system, an indication indicating that a call to a phone number has successfully ended;

in response to the indication indicating that the call to the phone number has successfully ended, determining that a set of initial digits of the phone number matches a flooding group number of a flooding group, wherein the flooding group includes a plurality of phone numbers, the set of initial digits of each of the plurality of phone numbers has values identical to the flooding group number, the plurality of phone numbers includes the phone number, and the flooding group has a capacity limit;

determining that a maximum number of concurrent active calls for the flooding group during a predefined period of time is within a predetermined threshold from the capacity limit of the flooding group and determining that no failed calls have occurred for the flooding group during the predefined period of time; and

in response to determining that the maximum number of concurrent active calls for the flooding group during the predefined period of time is within the predetermined threshold from the capacity limit of the flooding group and in response to determining that no failed calls have occurred for the flooding group during the predefined period of time, increasing the capacity limit of the flooding group.

16. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a second phone number to dial;

determining that the set of initial digits of the second phone number matches the flooding group number of the flooding group;

determining a number of concurrent current active calls for the flooding group;

in response to the number of concurrent current active calls for the flooding group below the capacity limit of the flooding group, transmitting the second phone number to the telephone dialing system;

after transmitting the second phone number, receiving, from the telephone dialing system, an indication indicating a call failure to the second phone number; and

in response to receiving the indication indicating the call failure to the second phone number, decreasing the capacity limit of the flooding group.

17. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a second phone number to dial;

determining that the set of initial digits of the second phone number matches the flooding group number of the flooding group;

determining a number of concurrent current active calls for the flooding group; and

in response to the number of concurrent current active calls for the flooding group exceeding the capacity limit of the flooding group, storing the second phone number in a queue.

18. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, from the telephone dialing system, an indication indicating a call failure to a second phone number;

in response to the call failure, determining that initial digits of the second phone number do not match any flooding group number;

determining a new flooding group number based on initial digits of the second phone number;

determining a set of phone numbers including the second phone number, each phone number in the set of phone numbers having initial digits identical to the new flooding group number; and

generating a new flooding group, the new flooding group including the set of phone numbers and associated with the new flooding group number.

19. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein generating the new flooding group comprises:

determining a time of the call failure and a number of concurrent active calls for the set of phone numbers at the time of the call failure;

in response to the number of concurrent active calls exceeding a predefined threshold, generating the new flooding group; and

determining a capacity limit of the new flooding group based on the number of concurrent active calls at the time of the call failure.

20. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the second phone number includes a main number and an extension number, and determining the new flooding group number includes using the main number as the new flooding group number.