IP-BASED CALL ANSWERING POINT SELECTION AND ROUTING

• US 20080304631A1
• Filed: 06/06/2008
• Published: 12/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bandwidth Inc., Solomon Technologies Incorporated (Technipower Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bandwidth Inc.
• Inventors: Peters, Richard A., Vilis, Raymond A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,830,987 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1096 Supplementary features, e.g. call forwarding or call holding systems providing special services or facilities to telephony subscribers H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/04 for emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/14 with services dependent on location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for IP-based call answering point selection and routing. When an IP-based call is placed to an answering point such as, for example, a Public Safety Answering Point a location for the caller can not be determined using traditional DNIS and ANI based techniques. In the present invention, a geographic location (geolocation) for the caller is determined, from as IP address associated with the caller, using a database. The database comprises information obtained from a plurality of IP location sources (e.g. Skyhook Wireless Inc.'"'"'s Loki™, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandated WiFi™ hotspot registration data). An answering point is selected from a plurality of answering points as a function of the caller'"'"'s location. The call is routed to the selected answering point and the caller'"'"'s location information is provided to that answering point.

Claims

1. An apparatus for Internet Protocol (IP)-based call answering point selection and routing, for connecting a call from a calling device over an IP-based medium to an answering point selected from a plurality of answering points, comprising:

a location database for collection and storing location information associated with a plurality of IP addresses and a plurality of identifier tags;

a rules repository for storing and retrieving of rules including rules for;

for identifying clusters and prioritizing the handling of a call responsive to call clusters;

a kernel for;

receiving a call origination request from the calling device;

determining an IP address for the calling device;

determining an caller location for the calling device by looking-up the IP address in a location database;

designating an answering point from the plurality of answering points to which the call is to be routed responsive to the caller location; and

connecting the call to the designated answering point.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of answering points is a Public Safety Answering Point.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, the kernel further for, after determining a caller location:

verifying the caller location by;

determining an identifier location by looking-up an identifier tag associated with the call in the location database;

determining a location match when the caller location and the identifier location are the same; and

determining a location mismatch when the caller location and the identifier location are not the same.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, the kernel further for, when there is a location mismatch and after verifying a caller location:

prompting a caller for a correct location by;

prompting a caller to select from the caller location and the identifier location; and

accepting a response from the caller indicating the correct location.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, the kernel further for, after determining a caller location:

applying call cluster routing by;

recording a time and the caller location associated with the call;

determining that the call originated from within a cluster when the caller location matches the location of a cluster; and

determining that the call originated outside of a cluster when the caller does not match the location of any cluster.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, the kernel further for, after designating an answering point:

designating an alternate answering point when call originated from with a cluster.

7. A method for Internet Protocol (IP)-based call answering point selection and routing, for connecting a call from a calling device over an IP-based medium to an answering point selected from a plurality of answering points, comprising the steps of:

receiving a call origination request from the calling device;

determining an IP address for the calling device;

determining an caller location for the calling device by looking-up the IP address in a location database;

designating an answering point from the plurality of answering points to which the call is to be routed responsive to the caller location; and

connecting the call to the designated answering point.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of answering points is a Public Safety Answering Point.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising, after the step of determining a caller location, the step of:

applying call cluster routing by;

recording a time and the caller location associated with the call;

determining that the call originated from within a cluster when the caller location matches the location of a cluster; and

determining that the call originated outside of a cluster when the caller does not match the location of any cluster.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising, after the step of designating an answering point, the step of:

designating an alternate answering point when call originated from with a cluster.

9. The method of clam 7, further comprising, after the step of determining a caller location, the step of:

verifying the caller location by;

determining an identifier location by looking-up an identifier tag associated with the call in the location database;

determining a location match when the caller location and the identifier location are the same; and

determining a location mismatch when the caller location and the identifier location are not the same.

10. The method of claim 9, when there is a location mismatch further comprising, after the step of verifying a caller location, the step of:

prompting a caller for a correct location by;

prompting a caller to select from the caller location and the identifier location; and

accepting a response from the caller indicating the correct location.