Calling card validation system and method therefor
First Claim
1. A system for validating calls made by subscribers using calling cards issued by a first telecommunications special service provider utilizing a first communications protocol from a signaling transfer point (STP) of a telecommunications network to which at least a second service provider is communicatively connected, comprising:
- (a) at least one gateway for providing an entry point for queries resulting from calls placed by said subscribers of said first service providers using said calling cards at an area provided service by said second service provider utilizing a second communications protocol, said gateway reformatting said queries to be usable for further processing;
(b) at least one file server for receiving said queries from said one gateway, validating said queries and providing responses for said queries;
(c) at least one mainframe computer for acting as a data repository for said gateway and said file server, said one mainframe computer including a master database for storing data collected and generated by said gateway and said file server for fraud detection, capacity planning and performance analysis; and
(d) a monitoring system for monitoring the operational effectiveness of said gateway and said file server to maintain the effectiveness of said system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention telecommunications system provides validation of authorization codes input by a user for placing a call from a service area of a first telecommunications service provider with a calling card issued by another telecommunications service provider. The present invention allows the subscriber to place a special service call irrespective of whether the signaling protocol of the first service provider is different from the service provider to which the subscriber is a customer of. If the protocol of one telecommunications service provider is indeed different from the other service provider, a gateway residing in an intelligent service network node would convert the signaling protocol of the first service provider into a signaling protocol that is compatible with the other service provider. Consequently, the first service provider can quickly validate the authorization code provided by the subscriber by sending a query to the service provider that issued the calling card to the caller by referencing the LIDB database of the latter service provider. To achieve the conversion of one protocol to another, a system that includes an ISN node having gateways, file servers, a monitoring system, and mainframes is used. The gateway inside the ISN node has a client application program interface (API) component, a translate/convert component, a transaction capabilities part (TCAP) component and a SS7 API component. These various components, together with other controlling and interface components, are able to convert a first signaling protocol, for example a SS7 protocol, into a second protocol, for example a network information distributed service (NIDS) sequenced packet protocol.
101 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A system for validating calls made by subscribers using calling cards issued by a first telecommunications special service provider utilizing a first communications protocol from a signaling transfer point (STP) of a telecommunications network to which at least a second service provider is communicatively connected, comprising:
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(a) at least one gateway for providing an entry point for queries resulting from calls placed by said subscribers of said first service providers using said calling cards at an area provided service by said second service provider utilizing a second communications protocol, said gateway reformatting said queries to be usable for further processing; (b) at least one file server for receiving said queries from said one gateway, validating said queries and providing responses for said queries; (c) at least one mainframe computer for acting as a data repository for said gateway and said file server, said one mainframe computer including a master database for storing data collected and generated by said gateway and said file server for fraud detection, capacity planning and performance analysis; and (d) a monitoring system for monitoring the operational effectiveness of said gateway and said file server to maintain the effectiveness of said system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10)
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7. A system for validating calls made by subscribers using calling cards of a first telecommunications special service provider from a signaling transfer point (STP) of a telecommunications network, comprising:
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(a) at least one gateway for providing an entry point for queries resulting from calls placed by callers at an area not provided service by said first service provider; (b) at least one file server for receiving said queries from said gateway, validating said queries and providing responses for said queries; (c) at least one mainframe computer for acting as a data repository for said gateway and said file server, said one mainframe computer including a master database for storing data collected and generated by said gateway and said file server for fraud detection, capacity planning and performance analysis; and (d) a monitoring system for monitoring the operational effectiveness of said gateway and said file server to maintain the effectiveness of said system; wherein said file server comprises; means for validating call data from said gateway and sending said validated response of either a validated call or an error message back to said gateway; means for updating said database with information received from said mainframe computer; means for sending alarm data to said monitoring system when an error occurs in said file server; means for collecting operational measurements (OMs) from said file server during operation of said file server and sending said OMs to said mainframe computer periodically; and means for generating service measurements (SMs) as billing detail records (BDRs) for fraud detection and sending said SMs to said mainframe computer for storage. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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11. A system for validating calls made by subscribers using calling cards of a first telecommunications special service provider from a signaling transfer point (STP) of a telecommunications network, comprising:
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(a) at least one gateway for providing an entry point for queries resulting from calls placed by callers at an area not provided service by said first service provider; (b) at least one file server for receiving said queries from said gateway, validating said queries and providing responses for said queries; (c) at least one mainframe computer for acting as a data repository for said gateway and said file server, said one mainframe computer including a master database for storing data collected and generated by said gateway and said file server for fraud detection, capacity planning and performance analysis; and (d) a monitoring system for monitoring the operational effectiveness of said gateway and said file server to maintain the effectiveness of said system; wherein said monitoring system comprises; a VAX console system (VCS) for monitoring and receiving alarm data from said file server and gateway and transmitting this data to a monitoring system of the service provider; means for providing a pass-through access capability into said file server and gateway for maintenance activities and manual data gathering; and means for providing a real-time monitor display indicating the current general state of said gateway and file server.
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12. A method of validating calls made by subscribers using calling cards issued by a first telecommunications special service provider utilizing a first communications protocol from a signaling transfer point (STP) of a telecommunications network, comprising:
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(a) providing at least one gateway as an entry point for queries resulting from calls placed by said subscribers at an area provided service by said second service provider utilizing a second communications protocol, said gateway reformatting said queries to be usable for further processing; (b) utilizing at least one file server for receiving said queries from said gateway, validating said queries and providing responses for said queries; (c) storing in a master database of at least one mainframe computer data collected and generated by said gateway and said file server for fraud detection, capacity planning and performance analysis; and (d) using a monitoring system to monitor the operational effectiveness of said gateway and said file server to maintain the effectiveness of said system. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21)
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18. A method of validating calls made by subscribers using calling cards of a first telecommunications special service provider from a signaling transfer point (STP) of a telecommunications network, comprising:
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(a) providing at least one gateway as an entry point for queries resulting from calls placed by said subscribers at an area not provided service by said first service provider; (b) utilizing at least one file server for receiving said queries from said gateway, validating said queries and providing responses for said queries; (c) storing in a master database of at least one mainframe computer data collected and generated by said gateway and said file server for fraud detection, capacity planning and performance analysis; and (d) using a monitoring system to monitor the operational effectiveness of said gateway and said file server to maintain the effectiveness of said system; wherein said step (b) further comprises the steps of; validating call data from said gateway and sending said validated response of either a validated call or an error message back to said gateway; sending alarm data to said monitoring system when an error occurs in said file server; collecting operational measurements (OMs) from said file server during operation of said file server and sending said OMs to said mainframe computer periodically; generating service measurements (SMs) as billing detail records (BDRs) for fraud detection and sending said SMs to said mainframe computer for storage.
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22. A method of validating calls made by subscribers using calling cards of a first telecommunications special service provider from a signaling transfer point (STP) of a telecommunications network, comprising:
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(a) providing at least one gateway as an entry point for queries resulting from calls placed by said subscribers at an area not provided service by said first service provider; (b) utilizing at least one file server for receiving said queries from said gateway, validating said queries and providing responses for said queries; (c) storing in a master database of at least one mainframe computer data collected and generated by said gateway and said file server for fraud detection, capacity planning and performance analysis; and (d) using a monitoring system to monitor the operational effectiveness of said gateway and said file server to maintain the effectiveness of said system; wherein said step (d) further comprises the steps of; monitoring and receiving alarm data from said file server and gateway; transmitting the received data to a monitor system of said service provider; providing a pass-through access capability into said file server and gateway for maintenance activities and manual data gathering; and providing a real-time display to provide an indication of the dynamic general state of said gateway and file server.
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Specification