One number, intelligent call processing system

• US 20040141604A1
• Filed: 12/09/2003
• Published: 07/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/1996
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NeuStar Information Services, Inc. (Neustar Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Targus Information Corporation (Neustar Incorporated)
• Inventors: Moore, George G., Shaffer, James D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,167,553 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/201.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/06 Recording class or number of calling , i.e. A-party or called party , i.e. B-party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4228 in networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4931 Directory assistance systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0012 Details of application programming interfaces [API] for telephone networks; Arrangements which combine a telephonic communication equipment and a computer, i.e. computer telephony integration [CPI] arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0029 Provisions for intelligent networking

Abstract

A one number, multi-application, intelligent call processing system provides service benefits to a caller, a servicing location and/or a vanity number advertiser during a call, parallel to the call and/or post call in an integrated common architecture. The system utilizes VRU technology in conjunction with the national telecommunications network connected via Computer Telephone Integration (CTI) to a virtual telephone number database containing a nationwide master list of telephone numbers with attribute data items associated by Spatial Key linkage to each telephone number. The process of the invention is initiated by a caller dialing a selected telephone number to request information and/or services. Based on the number dialed, a caller or network provided ten-digit telephone number and VRU prompted for and received caller input, the system retrieves the application requested data from the virtual telephone number database and provides it to the network.

Claims

1. A method of telephone call processing using a voice processing platform that is connected over a data link to a separate routing processing platform, the method comprising:

receiving, at a routing processing platform, a telephone number of a caller captured during a telephone call;

determining, at the routing processing platform, a precise geographic identifier based on the caller telephone number;

transmitting the geographic identifier over the data link to the voice processing platform;

selecting at least one potential routing destination from a database based on the geographic identifier; and

communicating information related to the at least one potential routing destination over a telecommunication network to the caller or else connecting the caller to one of the at least one potential routing destinations.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the geographic identifier over the data link further comprises transmitting the geographic identifier via a local area network data link.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the geographic identifier over the data link further comprises transmitting the geographic identifier via a wide area network data link.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the geographic identifier over the data link further comprises transmitting the geographic identifier via a dedicated data link.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the geographic identifier over the data link further comprises transmitting the geographic identifier via a shared data link.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the geographic identifier over the data link further comprises transmitting the geographic identifier via a public network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the geographic identifier over the data link further comprises transmitting the geographic identifier via a portion of the telecommunication network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a telephone number of a caller captured during a telephone call comprises one of receiving a captured ANI, receiving keypad input data, and receiving spoken information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a precise geographic identifier comprises determining a geographic coordinate.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a precise geographic identifier comprises determining a latitude and longitude pair.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a precise geographic identifier comprises determining a ZIP+4 code.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises performing radius-based calculations during the telephone call.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises performing point-in-polygon calculations during the telephone call.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises determining a spatial key.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises selecting from different hierarchical levels of precision based on the granularity of the geographic identifier.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises selecting a plurality of potential routing destinations.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises selecting a distance-ordered list of potential routing destinations.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises selecting a potential routing destination with a predetermined service area that contains the geographic identifier.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating information related to the at least one potential routing destination over a telecommunication network to the caller comprises transmitting recorded speech.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating information related to the at least one potential routing destination over a telecommunication network to the caller comprises converting text to speech.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating information related to the at least one potential routing destination over a telecommunication network to the caller comprises providing information for visual display.

22. A method of telephone call processing using a voice processing platform that is connected over a data link to a separate routing processing platform, the method comprising:

receiving, at a routing processing platform, a telephone number of a caller captured during a telephone call;

determining, at the routing processing platform, a precise geographic identifier based on the caller telephone number;

selecting at least one potential routing destination from a database based on the geographic identifier;

transmitting information related to the at least one potential routing destination over the data link to the voice processing platform; and

communicating information related to the at least one potential routing destination over the telecommunication network to the caller or else connecting the caller to one of the at least one potential routing destinations.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein transmitting the geographic identifier over the data link further comprises transmitting the geographic identifier via a local area network data link.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein transmitting the geographic identifier over the data link further comprises transmitting the geographic identifier via a wide area network data link.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein transmitting the geographic identifier over the data link further comprises transmitting the geographic identifier via a dedicated data link.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein transmitting the geographic identifier over the data link further comprises transmitting the geographic identifier via a shared data link.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein transmitting the geographic identifier over the data link further comprises transmitting the geographic identifier via a public network.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein transmitting the geographic identifier over the data link further comprises transmitting the geographic identifier via a portion of the telecommunication network.

29. The method of claim 22, wherein receiving a telephone number of a caller captured during a telephone call comprises one of receiving a captured ANI, receiving keypad input data, and receiving spoken information.

30. The method of claim 22, wherein determining a precise geographic identifier comprises determining a geographic coordinate.

31. The method of claim 22, wherein determining a precise geographic identifier comprises determining a latitude and longitude pair.

32. The method of claim 22, wherein determining a precise geographic identifier comprises determining a ZIP+4 code.

33. The method of claim 22, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises performing radius-based calculations during the telephone call.

34. The method of claim 22, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises performing point-in-polygon calculations during the telephone call.

35. The method of claim 22, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises determining a spatial key.

36. The method of claim 22, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises selecting from different hierarchical levels of precision based on the granularity of the geographic identifier.

37. The method of claim 22, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises selecting a plurality of potential routing destinations.

38. The method of claim 22, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises selecting a distance-ordered list of potential routing destinations.

39. The method of claim 22, wherein selecting at least one potential routing destination based on the geographic identifier comprises selecting a potential routing destination with a predetermined service area that contains the geographic identifier.

40. The method of claim 22, wherein communicating information related to the at least one potential routing destination over a telecommunication network to the caller comprises transmitting recorded speech.

41. The method of claim 22, wherein communicating information related to the at least one potential routing destination over a telecommunication network to the caller comprises converting text to speech.

42. The method of claim 22, wherein communicating information related to the at least one potential routing destination over a telecommunication network to the caller comprises providing information for visual display.

43. A method of displaying information related to a telephone number, the method comprising:

capturing a telephone number of a first party over a network data link during a network communication session;

determining a precise geographic identifier based on the captured telephone number;

retrieving spatial information from a spatial database based on the precise geographic identifier; and

communicating the retrieved spatial information over the network data link to the first party for display on a display device.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein capturing a telephone number comprises capturing data provided by the first party.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein capturing a telephone number comprises capturing spoken information.

46. The method of claim 43, wherein capturing a telephone number comprises capturing key-entered information.

47. The method of claim 43, wherein the spatial information corresponds to a location of the telephone number captured from the first party.

48. The method of claim 43, wherein the spatial information corresponds to a second party location associated with a location of the telephone number captured from the first party.

49. The method of claim 43, wherein the spatial information comprises a third-party telephone number spatially associated with the telephone number captured from the first party.

50. The method of claim 43, wherein the spatial information comprises third-party address information spatially associated with the telephone number captured from the first party.

51. The method of claim 43, wherein retrieving spatial information comprises performing radius-based calculations during the network communication session.

52. The method of claim 43, wherein retrieving spatial information comprises performing point-in-polygon calculations during the network communication session.

53. The method of claim 43, wherein retrieving spatial information comprises determining a spatial key.

54. The method of claim 43, wherein retrieving spatial information comprises using different hierarchical levels of precision based on the granularity of the geographic identifier.

55. The method of claim 43, wherein retrieving spatial information comprises selecting a plurality of locations spatially related to the telephone number captured from the first party.

56. The method of claim 43, wherein retrieving spatial information comprises selecting a distance-ordered list of locations spatially related to the telephone number captured from the first party.

57. The method of claim 43, wherein retrieving spatial information comprises selecting a service location with a predetermined service area that contains the geographic identifier.