Apparatus and method for intelligent call routing and call return
First Claim
1. An intelligent call routing method for routing a service call from a calling party to a service network comprising a plurality of interconnected service switching points and a plurality of service network locations, each of said service network locations being connected by a communication line to at least one of said plurality of service switching points, each of said service switching points being connected by a signaling communication system to a service control point, said signaling communication system providing communication of data messages between said service switching points and said service control point, said method comprising:
- receiving, at one of said service switching points, a service call request to connect the calling party to one of said service network locations;
sending, in response to said request, a query message from said one of said service switching points to said service control point over said signaling communication system;
determining, at said service control point, a location of the calling party based on a calling number of said calling party;
identifying, based on the location of the calling party, one of said service network locations for receiving said service call request, and identifying routing information for routing said service call request to said receiving service network location;
sending, from said service control point, a response message over said signaling communication system to said querying service switching point, said response message including said routing information; and
completing, in response to receiving said response message, said service call request to said receiving service network location based on said routing information, wherein the location of said calling party is determined based on an Number Plan Area (EPA) and a Central Office Code (NXX) of the calling number of the calling party, and wherein said service control point comprises an NPA table comprising a plurality of entries indicating an NPA corresponding to each combination of an incoming trunk line number and an NPA code, said query message including the NXX of the calling number of the calling party, an incoming trunk line number and an NPA code associated with the calling number, wherein said location of the calling party is determined by searching said NPA table to determine the NPA of the calling number of the calling party based on the incoming trunk line number and the NPA code contained in said query message.
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Accused Products
Abstract
According to the present invention, intelligent call routing and call return capabilities are provided in an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) or AIN-type network environment. The intelligent call routing features of the present invention may be utilized for routing service calls to an appropriate service or control center (e.g., a Poison Control Answering Point (PCAP)), in accordance with the location of the calling party and one or more routing options. For example, the Number Plan Area (NPA) and Central Office Code (NXX) of the calling party'"'"'s telephone number may be analyzed in order to determine where to route the call. In addition, other routing features may be provided to facilitate handling of the call. For instance, calls may be routed according to the time-of-day and/or day-of-week, and recorded announcements may be provided to indicate when a particular service call cannot be completed. The routing features of the present invention may also be combined with the intelligent call return capabilities, for returning the service call over the network to a location from which the call was transferred (e.g., to a 911 operator located at a Public Service Answering Point (PSAP))
105 Citations
60 Claims
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1. An intelligent call routing method for routing a service call from a calling party to a service network comprising a plurality of interconnected service switching points and a plurality of service network locations, each of said service network locations being connected by a communication line to at least one of said plurality of service switching points, each of said service switching points being connected by a signaling communication system to a service control point, said signaling communication system providing communication of data messages between said service switching points and said service control point, said method comprising:
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receiving, at one of said service switching points, a service call request to connect the calling party to one of said service network locations; sending, in response to said request, a query message from said one of said service switching points to said service control point over said signaling communication system; determining, at said service control point, a location of the calling party based on a calling number of said calling party; identifying, based on the location of the calling party, one of said service network locations for receiving said service call request, and identifying routing information for routing said service call request to said receiving service network location; sending, from said service control point, a response message over said signaling communication system to said querying service switching point, said response message including said routing information; and completing, in response to receiving said response message, said service call request to said receiving service network location based on said routing information, wherein the location of said calling party is determined based on an Number Plan Area (EPA) and a Central Office Code (NXX) of the calling number of the calling party, and wherein said service control point comprises an NPA table comprising a plurality of entries indicating an NPA corresponding to each combination of an incoming trunk line number and an NPA code, said query message including the NXX of the calling number of the calling party, an incoming trunk line number and an NPA code associated with the calling number, wherein said location of the calling party is determined by searching said NPA table to determine the NPA of the calling number of the calling party based on the incoming trunk line number and the NPA code contained in said query message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An intelligent call return routing method for returning a service call placed to a service network by a calling party to one of a plurality of service answering points, said service network comprising a plurality of interconnected service switching points and a plurality of service network locations, each of said service network locations being connected by a communication line to at least one of said plurality of service switching points, each of said service switching points being connected by a signaling communication system to a service control point, said signaling communication system providing communication of data messages between said service switching points and said service control point, said method comprising:
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initiating, at one of said service network locations, a call return request to return said service call of said calling party to one of said service answering points; receiving, at one of said service switching points, said call return request from said one of said service network locations; sending, in response to said call return request, a query message from said one of said service switching points to said service control point over said signaling communication system; determining, at said service control point, a location of said calling party based on a calling number of said calling party; identifying, based on the location of said calling party, one of said service answering points for receiving said call return request, and identifying routing information for routing said call return request to said receiving service answering point; sending, from said service control point, a response message to said querying service switching point, said response message including said routing information; and completing, in response to receiving said response message, said call return request to said receiving service answering point based on said routing information. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for routing a service call placed to a poison control service network by a calling party, said poison control service network comprising a plurality of interconnected service switching points and a plurality of service network locations, each of said service network locations being connected by a communication line to at least one of said plurality of service switching points, said service network locations comprise poison control answering points that are adapted to provide assistance and counseling to calling parties that have been poisoned, each of said service switching points being connected by a signaling communication system to a service control point, said signaling communication system providing communication of data messages between said service switching points and said service control point, said method comprising:
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initiating said service call request, from a location of the calling party, by dialing a predefined emergency assistance number; receiving said service call request at a 911 tandem switch in response to said predefined emergency assistance number being dialed, and transferring said service call request from said 911 tandem switch to one of said service switching points over a communication line; receiving, at said one of said service switching points, said service call request to connect the calling party to one of said service network locations; sending, in response to said request, a query message from said one of said service switching points to said service control point over said signaling communication system; determining, at said service control point, the location of the calling party based on a calling number of the calling party; identifying, based on the location of said calling party, one of the service network locations for receiving said service call request, and identifying routing information for routing said service call request to said receiving service network location; sending, from said service control point, a response message over said signaling communication system to said querying service switching point, said response message including said routing information; completing, in response to receiving said response message, said service call request to said receiving service network location based on said routing information; initiating, at said receiving service network locations, a call return request to return said service call of the calling party to one of a plurality of service answering points; receiving, at one of said service switching points, said call return request from said receiving service network location; sending, in response to said call return request, a query message from said one of said service switching points to said service control point over said signaling communication system; determining, at said service control point, the location of the calling party based on the calling number of the calling party; identifying, based on the location of the calling party, one of said service answering points for receiving said call return request, and identifying routing information for routing said call return request to said receiving service answering point; sending, from said service control point, a response message to said querying service switching point, said response message including said routing information; and completing, in response to receiving said response message, said call return request to said receiving service answering point based on said routing information.
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30. An intelligent call routing system for routing a service call from a calling party to a service network comprising a plurality of interconnected service switching points and a plurality of service network locations, each of said service network locations being connected by a communication line to at least one of said plurality of service switching points, each of said service switching points being connected by a signaling communication system to a service control point, said signaling communication system providing communication of data messages between said service switching points and said service control point, said system comprising:
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a receiving system that is adapted to receive, at one of said service switching points, a service call request to connect the calling party to one of said service network locations; a sending system that is adapted to send, in response to said request, a query message from said one of said service switching points to said service control point over said signaling communication system; a determining system that is adapted to determine, at said service control point, a location of the calling party based on a calling number of the calling party; an identifying system that is adapted to identify, based on the location of the calling party, one of said service network locations for receiving said service call request, and to identify routing information for routing said service call request to said receiving service network location; a sending system that is adapted to send, from said service control point, a response message over said signaling communication system to said querying service switching point, said response message including said routing information; and a completing system that is adapted to complete, in response to receiving said response message, said service call request to said receiving service network location based on said routing information, wherein said determining system comprises means for determining the location of the calling party based on an Number Plan Area (NPA) and a Central Office Code (NXX) of the calling number of the calling party and wherein said service control point comprises an NPA table comprising a plurality of entries indicating an NPA corresponding to each combination of an incoming trunk line number and an NPA code, said query message including the NXX of the calling number of the calling party, an incoming trunk line number and an NPA code associated with the calling number, said determining system comprising means for searching said NPA table to determine the NPA of the calling number based on the incoming trunk line number and the NPA code contained in said query message. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. An intelligent call return routing system for returning a service call placed to a service network by a calling party to one of a plurality of service answering points, said service network comprising a plurality of interconnected service switching points and a plurality of service network locations, each of said service network locations being connected by a communication line to at least one of said plurality of service switching points, each of said service switching points being connected by a signaling communication system to a service control point, said signaling communication system providing communication of data messages between said service switching points and said service control point, said system comprising:
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an initiating system that is adapted to initiate, at one of said service network locations, a call return request to return said service call of said calling party to one of said service answering points; a receiving system that is adapted to receive, at one of said service switching points, said call return request from said one of said service network locations; a sending system that is adapted to send, in response to said call return request, a query message from said one of said service switching points to said service control point over said signaling communication system; a determining system that is adapted to determine, at said service control point, a location of said calling party based on a calling number of said calling party; an identifying system that is adapted to identify, based on the location of said calling party, one of said service answering points for receiving said call return request, and to identify routing information for routing said call return request to said receiving service answering point; a sending system that is adapted to send, from said service control point, a response message to said querying service switching point, said response message including said routing information; and a completing system that is adapted to complete, in response to receiving said response message, said call return request to said receiving service answering point based on said routing information. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A system for routing a service call placed to a poison control service network by a calling party, said poison control service network comprising a plurality of interconnected service switching points and a plurality of service network locations, each of said service network locations being connected by a communication line to at least one of said plurality of service switching points, said service network locations comprise poison control answering points that are adapted to provide assistance and counseling to calling parties that have been poisoned, each of said service switching points being connected by a signaling communication system to a service control point, said signaling communication system providing communication of data messages between said service switching points and said service control point, said system comprising:
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an initiating system that is adapted to initiate said service call request, from a location of the calling party, by dialing a predefined emergency assistance number; a receiving system that is adapted to receive said service call request at a 911 tandem switch in response to said predefined emergency assistance number being dialed, and transferring said service call request from said 911 tandem switch to one of said service switching points over a communication line; a receiving system that is adapted to receive, at said one of said service switching points, said service call request to connect the calling party to one of said service network locations; a sending system that is adapted to send, in response to said request, a query message from said one of said service switching points to said service control point over said signaling communication system; a determining system that is adapted to determine, at said service control point, the location of the calling party based on a calling number of the calling party; an identifying system that is adapted to identify, based on the location of the calling party, one of said service network locations for receiving said service call request, and identify routing information for routing said service call request to said receiving service network location; a sending system that is adapted to send, from said service control point, a response message over said signaling communication system to said querying service switching point, said response message including said routing information; and a completing system that is adapted to complete, in response to receiving said response message, said service call request to said receiving service network location based on said routing information, wherein said service control point comprises Number Plan Area (NPA) table comprising a plurality of entries indicating an NPA corresponding to each combination of an incoming trunk line number and an NPA code, said query message including a Central Office Code (NXX) of the calling number of the calling party, an incoming trunk line number and an NPA code associated with the calling number, wherein the location of the calling party is determined based on the NPA and the NXX of the calling number of the calling party, said determining system comprising means for searching said NPA table to determine the NPA of the calling number based on the incoming trunk line number and the NPA code contained in said query message. - View Dependent Claims (59)
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60. A system for routing a service call placed to a poison control service network by a calling party, said poison control service network comprising a plurality of interconnected service switching points and a plurality of service network locations, each of said service network locations being connected by a communication line to at least one of said plurality of service switching points, said service network locations comprise poison control answering points that are adapted to provide assistance and counseling to calling parties that have been poisoned, each of said service switching points being connected by a signaling communication system to a service control point, said signaling communication system providing communication of data messages between said service switching points and said service control point, said system comprising:
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an initiating system that is adapted to initiate said service call request, from a location of the calling party, by dialing a predefined emergency assistance number; a receiving system that is adapted to receive said service call request at a 911 tandem switch in response to said predefined emergency assistance number being dialed, and transferring said service call request from said 911 tandem switch to one of said service switching points over a communication line; a receiving system that is adapted to receive, at said one of the service switching points, said service call request to connect said calling party to one of said service network locations; a sending system that is adapted to send, in response to said request, a query message from said one of said service switching points to said service control point over said signaling communication system; a determining system that is adapted to determine, at said service control point, the location of the calling party based on a calling number of the calling party; an identifying system that is adapted to identify based on the location of the calling party, one of said service network locations for receiving said service call request, and identify routing information for routing said service call request to said receiving service network location; a sending system that is adapted to send, from said service control point, a response message over said signaling communication system to said querying service switching point, said response message including said routing information; a completing system that is adapted to complete, in response to receiving said response message, said service call request to said receiving service network location based on said routing information; an initiating system that is adapted to initiate, at said receiving service network locations, a call return request to return said service call of the calling party to one of a plurality of service answering points; a receiving system that is adapted to receive, at one of said service switching points, said call return request from said receiving service network location; a sending system that is adapted to send, in response to said call return request, a query message from said one of said service switching points to said service control point over said signaling communication system; a determining system that is adapted to determine, at said service control point, the location of the calling party based on the calling number of the calling party; an identifying system that is adapted to identify, based on the location of the calling party, one of said service answering points for receiving said call return request, and identifying routing information for routing said call return request to said receiving service answering point; a sending system that is adapted to send, from said service control point, a response message to said querying service switching point, said response message including said routing information; and a completing system that is adapted to complete, in response to receiving said response message, said call return request to said receiving service answering point based on said routing information.
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Specification