Telecommunications call management system
First Claim
1. A call management system for determining an optimum route for a telephone call made by a subscriber, said telephone call routed through one of N local exchange carriers coupled to said system via K telephone lines, each local exchange carrier coupled to one of M long distance carriers, the system comprising:
- a tariff data server for managing a database containing tariff related information on local and long distance carriers, local exchange, telephone exchange location related data and subscribers;
a first communication link coupling said tariff data server to a local client computer;
said local client computer for maintaining a client database containing tariff information relevant to the location of said subscriber, optional calling plans subscribed to or optional calling plans accessible from the location of said subscriber, said local client computer for determining said optimum route;
at least one line unit coupled to a telephone set, said N local exchange carriers and said local client computer, said at least one line unit for intercepting digits dialed by said subscriber, monitoring one of said K telephone lines, receiving a dialing string from said local client computer corresponding to said optimum route and transmitting said dialing string onto said one of said K telephone lines; and
a second communication link coupling said local client computer to said at least one line unit.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A call management system is disclosed that may interface with an existing PBX or may be utilized as a separate unit. In a preferred embodiment, the call management system includes a tariff data server, a local client computer and one or more line units. The tariff data server holds tariff data of service providers and transmits the tariff data to the local client computer via a communications link. The communications link can include the Internet making the tariff data widely available. Each line unit couples a telephone set to the telephone line provided by the LEC. The local client computer maintains a communications link with each line unit. Each line unit can be coupled to more than one LEC, allowing cost optimizations to take into account the LEC in addition to long distance carriers. The line unit intercepts the dialed digits and transmits them to the local client computer. The local client computer determines an optimum route for the call based on various parameters and transmits the complete dialing string back to the line unit which does the actual dialing of the digits. The local client computer maintains a client database of tariffs of telephone service providers and determines, from information in its client database, which telephone service provider or providers to utilize to execute the telephone call. The client database is updated on a periodic basis via, for example, electronic mail or FTP over the Internet. The local client computer also includes a carrier performance monitoring unit and call accounting unit. In another preferred embodiment, the call management system includes a telephone dialing unit and a data server which interfaces to existing PBX equipment.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A call management system for determining an optimum route for a telephone call made by a subscriber, said telephone call routed through one of N local exchange carriers coupled to said system via K telephone lines, each local exchange carrier coupled to one of M long distance carriers, the system comprising:
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a tariff data server for managing a database containing tariff related information on local and long distance carriers, local exchange, telephone exchange location related data and subscribers; a first communication link coupling said tariff data server to a local client computer; said local client computer for maintaining a client database containing tariff information relevant to the location of said subscriber, optional calling plans subscribed to or optional calling plans accessible from the location of said subscriber, said local client computer for determining said optimum route; at least one line unit coupled to a telephone set, said N local exchange carriers and said local client computer, said at least one line unit for intercepting digits dialed by said subscriber, monitoring one of said K telephone lines, receiving a dialing string from said local client computer corresponding to said optimum route and transmitting said dialing string onto said one of said K telephone lines; and a second communication link coupling said local client computer to said at least one line unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A call management system for determining an optimum route for telephone calls made by users of a private branch exchange (PBX), each of said telephone calls routed through one of N local exchange carriers coupled to said system via K trunk lines, each local exchange carrier coupled to one of M long distance carriers, the system comprising:
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a tariff data server for managing a database containing tariff related information on local and long distance carriers; a first communication link coupling said tariff data server to a local client computer; said local client computer for maintaining a client database containing tariff information relevant to the location of said subscriber, optional calling plans subscribed to or optional calling plans accessible from the location of said subscriber, said local client computer for determining said optimum route; at least one line unit coupled between a user'"'"'s telephone set and one of said K trunk lines, said at least one line unit coupled to said local client computer, said at least one line unit for intercepting digits out pulsed by said PBX, monitoring one of said K trunk lines and receiving a dialing string from said local client computer corresponding to said optimum route and transmitting said dialing string to said one of said K trunk lines; and a second communication link coupling said local client computer to said at least one line unit. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification