PRIORITY TELEPHONE SERVICE REVERSION AND NOTIFICATION

• US 20080192921A1
• Filed: 01/23/2007
• Published: 08/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Krock, Richard E., Rauscher, Karl F., Goldman, Stuart O., Runyon, James P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,204,208 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/243
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/06 Lines and connections with preferential service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/382 using authorisation codes or passwords
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4872 Non-interactive information services

Abstract

A method of administering a priority service is provided in a telecommunications network (20). The priority service provides higher priority handling of calls employing the service as compared to calls not employing the service for purposes of call completion. The method includes: obtaining at least one authentication credential from a user placing a call over the network (20); verifying a validity of the obtained credential; designating the call for priority handling if the credential is valid, otherwise designating the call for non-priority handling if the credential is invalid; and, attempting to complete the call over the network (20) in accordance with the designated handling.

Claims

1. A method of administering a priority service in a telecommunications network, said priority service providing higher priority handling of calls employing the service as compared to calls not employing the service for purposes of call completion, said method comprising:

(a) obtaining at least one authentication credential from a user placing a call over the network;

(b) verifying a validity of the obtained credential;

(c) designating the call for priority handling if the credential is valid, otherwise designating the call for non-priority handling if the credential is invalid; and

,

(d) attempting to complete the call over the network in accordance with the designated handling.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

notifying the user placing the call if the obtained credential is invalid.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said notifying comprises:

at least one of playing an announcement or sending a message to the user during a setup of the call which indicates that the obtained credential is invalid.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said notifying also indicates to the user that the call is being attempted in accordance with non-priority handling.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein said notifying comprises:

identifying the user; and

,

sending a separate communication to the user.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the user is identified from the obtained credential.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said identifying comprises:

(i) obtaining a telephone number of an end user terminal being employed by the user to place the call; and

,

(ii) using the obtained telephone number to identify the user.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein step (ii) includes performing a reverse directory look-up to obtain a name associated with the telephone number.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein step (ii) includes performing a reverse directory look-up to obtain an address associated with the telephone number.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the separate communication is mail sent to the user via a postal service.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining a database of registered users that are permitted to access the priority service, said database associating registered users with their authentication credentials.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein step (b) comprises:

comparing the obtained credential to the credentials maintained in the database, said obtained credential being valid if it matches one maintained in the database, otherwise said obtained credential being invalid if it does not match one maintained in said database.

13. A system for administering a priority service in a telecommunications network, said priority service providing higher priority handling of calls employing the service as compared to calls not employing the service for purposes of call completion, said system comprising:

means for obtaining at least one authentication credential from a user placing a call over the network;

means for verifying a validity of the obtained credential;

priority designation means for designating the call for priority handling if the credential is valid, otherwise said priority designation means designating the call for non-priority handling if the credential is invalid; and

,

means for attempting to complete the call over the network in accordance with the handling designated by the priority designation means.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

notifying means for notifying the user placing the call if the obtained credential is invalid.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein said notifying means identifies the user, and sends a separate communication to the user indicating that the obtained credential is invalid.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein said telecommunications network includes at least one of a public switched telephone network and a wireless network.

15. The system of claim 15, wherein said notifying means provides a notification to the user indicating that the obtained credential is invalid.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said notification comprises:

at least one of an announcement played or a message sent to the user during a setup of the call.