Intelligent configuration server

• US 5,926,530 A
• Filed: 03/26/1998
• Issued: 07/20/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AC IP Software Institute LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: XIOX Corporation
• Inventors: Schlossman, David Y., Welling, William H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz, Curtis A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, DUC MINH
• Application Number:
  US09/048,917
• Time in Patent Office: 481 Days
• Field of Search: 379/111-113, 379/117, 379/133-134, 379/136, 379/234, 379/243, 379/265-266
• US Class Current: 379/117
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/28 with meter at substation or with calculation of charges at terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/34 Charging, billing or metering arrangements for private branch exchanges

Abstract

An intelligent configuration system automatically logs a sample of a PBX Call Detail Recording (CDR) message. The sample CDR messages are sent via modem from a local call accounting system connected to the PBX to a central configuration server. The configuration server analyzes the sample CDR messages to determine the PBX type. The appropriate PBX interface file for the identified PBX type is transmitted back to the call accounting system and used by the accounting system to interpret and price CDR messages output from the PBX into call accounting and traffic analysis reports. Identification and location data is transmitted from the accounting system to the configuration server. The configuration server uses the data to automatically transmit and update rate tables used in the accounting system.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

telephone call interconnecting means which includes reporting means for generating CDR messages;

a configuration server;

communication means for electronically transmitting said CDR messages from said telephone call interconnecting means to said configuration server;

means based on said CDR messages in the configuration server for examining said CDR messages and based on said CDR messages for generating identification data identifying said telephone call interconnecting means; and

means for transmitting said identification data to said telephone call interconnecting means to facilitate configuration of said telephone call interconnecting means.

2. A system according to claim 1 wherein the telephone call interconnecting means includes a personal computer running a telephone accounting program, said telephone accounting program reformatting said CDR messages into accounting and traffic engineering analysis reports according to said identification data received from said configuration server.

3. A system according to claim 1 wherein said telephone call interconnecting means includes memory for storing a telephone rate table transmitted to said telephone call interconnecting means from said configuration server.

4. A system according to claim 1 wherein the configuration server includes a processor and a memory, the processor comparing the CDR messages received from said telephone call interconnecting means to sample CDR messages for different types of telephone call interconnecting means previously stored in the configuration server memory.

5. A system according to claim 4 wherein the configuration server memory stores multiple rate tables each associated with a different telephone area code and exchange, one of said multiple rate tables transmitted to said telephone call interconnecting means according to a local telephone area code associated with said telephone call interconnecting means.

6. A system comprising:

a first means which generates CDR messages which identify said first means;

a configuration server located at a location which is remote from said first means;

second means for communicating said CDR messages from said first means to said configuration server;

third means in the configuration server for identifying said first means from said CDR messages and for generating identification data;

forth means for transmitting said identification data from said configuration server to said first means, and

sixth means in said first means for using said identification data transmitted from said configuration server to enable said first means for subsequent operations.

7. A distributed system comprising:

a first system which generates CDR messages which identify said first system;

a configuration server located at a location which is remote from said first system,

means for communicating said CDR messages from said first system to said configuration server;

means in the configuration server for identifying said first system from said CDR messages and for generating system specific data;

means for transmitting said system specific data from said configuration server to said first system, and

means in said first system for using said system specific data transmitted from said configuration server to enable said first system for subsequent operations.

8. An automatic configuration system for a telephone account reporting system, comprising:

multiple telephone call interconnecting means each having an output for generating CDR messages;

multiple local computers each coupled to an associated one of the interconnecting means for receiving and transmitting the CDR messages; and

a configuration server receiving a sample CDR message from each one of the local computers, the configuration server identifying an associated interconnecting means type for each of the interconnecting means according to the sample CDR messages and transmitting the associated interconnecting means type back to the local computers.

9. An automatic configuration system according to claim 8 wherein the configuration server comprises a server processor and a server memory, the server processor comparing the CDR messages transmitted from each one of the local computers with CDR messages for different interconnecting means types stored in the server memory.

10. A configuration system according to claim 8 wherein each one of the local computers includes a local processor and a local memory for storing the associated one of said multiple rate tables, the local processor generating account reports and traffic analysis reports according to the associated one of the rate tables and the associated interconnecting means type transmitted from the configuration server.

11. A method for automatically configuring a call reporting system connected to a telephone system, comprising:

providing a configuration server for storing telephone system type information;

generating a sample CDR message from the telephone system;

reading the sample CDR message generated from the telephone system with the reporting system;

transmitting the sample CDR message from the reporting system to the configuration server;

identifying the telephone system type with the configuration server according to the sample CDR message;

transmitting the identified telephone system type from the configuration server to the reporting system; and

generating telephone reports from CDR messages output from the telephone system according to the telephone system type sent from the configuration server.

12. A method according to claim 11 including the following steps:

transmitting telephone system identification and location data from the reporting system to the configuration server;

identifying a rate table in the configuration server associated with the transmitted telephone system identification and location data;

transmitting the identified rate table to the reporting system; and

generating call rates in the telephone reports according to the transmitted rate table.