System and method for forwarding call from disconnected telephone number to new telephone number

• US 6,088,433 A
• Filed: 07/09/1998
• Issued: 07/11/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: SBC Technology Resources, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SBC Technology Resources, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Culli, Laura, Coronado, M. Lourdes, Tamasi, Mark, Simino, John E., Kolker, Michael E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz, Curtis A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, DUC MINH
• Application Number:
  US09/112,383
• Time in Patent Office: 733 Days
• Field of Search: 379/211, 379/212, 379/220, 379/207, 379/111-115, 379/120, 379/127, 379/130-134, 379/219, 379/221, 379/242, 379/243, 379/229
• US Class Current: 379/114.28
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/12 intelligent networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/54 Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; to voice mail H04M3/53308
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/005 Personal communication services, e.g. provisions for portability of subscriber numbers

Abstract

A call forwarding system for an AIN telecommunications environment is provided in which a destination has changed from an old telephone number to a new telephone number. A calling party places a call which attempts to contact the destination by dialing the old telephone number. The call forwarding system includes a hub switch, and an old address switch with which the calling party connects to upon dialing the old telephone number. The old address switch, upon recognizing that the calling party has called a telephone number which has been changed, prefixes the old telephone number with a three digit code, and forwards the call, along with the prefixed old telephone number, to the hub switch. The hub switch recognizes the three digit code, and launches an AIN trigger to an AIN platform which determines the new telephone number and whether the destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call to the new telephone number. The AIN platform also determines whether the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call to the new telephone number when the destination has not elected to pay for forwarding the call. The AIN platform completes the call to a new telephone number switch if either the destination or the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call. If neither the destination nor calling party has elected to pay for call forwarding, the call is not forwarded and is handled by standard switch based intercept treatment.

Claims

1. A call forwarding system for an AIN telecommunications environment in which a destination has changed from an old telephone number to a new telephone number, and a calling party places a call which attempts to contact the destination by dialing the old telephone number, the call forwarding system comprising:

a locator that determines the new telephone number;

a sponsor determiner that determines whether the destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number, and that determines whether an eligible calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number when the destination has not elected to pay for forwarding the call; and

a system that completes the call from the calling party to the new telephone number if either the destination or the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call; and

a hub system that analyzes the old telephone number and launches an AIN trigger to an AIN platform when the old telephone number satisfies a predetermined criteria, the hub system comprising a first central office, which corresponds to the old telephone number, and a hub central office, the first central office receiving digits dialed by the calling party, prefixing a unique code to the received digits and subsequently forwarding the prefixed received digits to the hub central office, the unique code causing the hub central office to launch the AIN trigger.

2. The call forwarding system of claim 1, in which the AIN platform determines an NPA of the dialed number based upon a code identifying the first central office and the unique code.

3. The call forwarding system of claim 2, in which a database is queried by using the received digits and the NPA to determine the new telephone number and whether the destination has elected to sponsor the call forwarding.

4. The call forwarding system of claim 1, in which the AIN platform further comprises a judging system which determines whether the calling party is eligible to pay for forwarding the call when the destination has not elected to pay for call forwarding.

8. The call forwarding system of claim 1, in which the call is not forwarded when neither the calling party nor destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call.

5. A call forwarding system for an AIN telecommunications environment in which a destination has changed from an old telephone number to a new telephone number, and a calling party places a call that attempts to contact the destination by dialing the old telephone number, the call forwarding system comprising:

a locator that determines the new telephone number;

a sponsor determiner that determines whether the destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number, and that determines whether an eligible calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number when the destination has not elected to pay for forwarding the call; and

a system that completes the call from the calling party to the new telephone number if either the destination or the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call;

wherein the AIN platform further comprises a judging system that determines whether the calling party is eligible to pay for forwarding the call when the destination has not elected to pay for call forwarding and determines whether the calling party is served by a same telephone company as a telephone company serving the old telephone number, the judging system indicating the calling party is eligible to pay for call forwarding if the same telephone company serves the calling party.

6. A call forwarding system for an AIN telecommunications environment in which a destination has changed from an old telephone number to a new telephone number, and a calling party places a call that attempts to contact the destination by dialing the old telephone number, the call forwarding system comprising:

a locator that determines the new telephone number;

a sponsor determiner that determines whether the destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number, and that determines whether an eligible calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number when the destination has not elected to pay for forwarding the call; and

a system that completes the call from the calling party to the new telephone number if either the destination or the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call;

wherein the AIN platform comprises a judging system that determines whether the calling party is eligible to pay for forwarding the call when the destination has not elected to pay for call forwarding determines a type of service/equipment utilized by the calling party, and determines whether the calling party'"'"'s service/equipment complies with eligibility requirements, thereby making the calling party eligible to pay for forwarding the call, the judging system indicating the calling party'"'"'s eligibility if the service/equipment complies with the eligibility requirements.

7. A call forwarding system for an AIN telecommunications environment in which a destination has changed from an old telephone number to a new telephone number, and a calling party places a call that attempts to contact the destination by dialing the old telephone number the call forwarding system comprising:

a locator that determines the new telephone number;

a sponsor determiner that determines whether the destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number, and that determines whether an eligible calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number when the destination has not elected to pay for forwarding the call;

a system that completes the call from the calling party to the new telephone number if either the destination or the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call; and

an ACU measurement that measures the usage of an ISCP central processing unit.

9. A call forwarding system for an AIN telecommunications environment in which a destination has changed from an old telephone number to a new telephone number, and a calling party places a call which attempts to contact the destination by dialing the old telephone number, the call forwarding system comprising;

a hub switch; and

an old address switch with which the calling party connects to upon dialing the old telephone number, the old address switch, upon recognizing that the calling party has called a telephone number which has been changed, prefixes the old telephone number with a three digit code, and forwards the call, along with the prefixed old telephone number, to the hub switch, the hub switch recognizing the three digit code initiates an AIN trigger to an AIN platform which determines the new telephone number and whether the destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call to the new telephone number, and determines whether the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call to the new telephone number when the destination has not elected to pay for forwarding the call;

the AIN platform completing the call to a new telephone number switch if either the destination or the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call.

10. The call forwarding system of claim 9, in which the call is not forwarded when neither the calling party nor destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call.

11. A call forwarding method for an AIN telecommunications environment in which a destination has changed from an old telephone number to a new telephone number, and a calling party places a call which attempts to contact the destination by dialing the old telephone number, the call forwarding method comprising:

receiving digits dialed by the calling party at a first central office corresponding to the old telephone number;

prefixing a unique code to the received digits;

forwarding the prefixed received digits to a hub central office where the unique code causes a AIN trigger to be launched to an AIN platform;

locating the new telephone number;

determining whether the destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number;

determining whether an eligible calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number when the destination has not elected to pay for forwarding the call; and

completing the call from the calling party to the new telephone number if either the destination or the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call.

12. The call forwarding method of claim 11, further comprising determining an NPA of the dialed number based upon a code identifying the first central office, and the unique code.

13. The call forwarding method of claim 12, further comprising querying a database, with the received digits and the NPA as keys, to determine the new telephone number and whether the destination has elected to sponsor the call forwarding.

14. The call forwarding method of claim 11, further comprising judging whether the calling party is eligible to pay for forwarding the call when it is determined that the destination has not elected to pay for call forwarding.

18. The call forwarding method of claim 11, further comprising terminating the call when neither the calling party nor destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call.

15. A call forwarding method for an AIN telecommunications environment in which a destination has changed from an old telephone number to a new telephone number, and a calling party places a call which attempts to contact the destination by dialing the old telephone number, the call forwarding method comprising:

locating the new telephone number;

determining whether the destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number;

determining whether an eligible calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number when the destination has not elected to pay for forwarding the call;

completing the call from the calling party to the new telephone number if either the destination or the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call;

judging whether the calling party is eligible to pay for forwarding the call when it is determined that the destination has not elected to pay for call forwarding; and

judging whether the calling party is served by a same telephone company as a telephone company serving the old telephone number, and indicating the calling party is eligible to pay for call forwarding if the same telephone company serves the calling party.

16. A call forwarding method for an AIN telecommunications environment in which a destination has changed from an old telephone number to a new telephone number, and a calling party places a call which attempts to contact the destination by dialing the old telephone number, the call forwarding method comprising:

locating the new telephone number;

determining whether the destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number;

determining whether an eligible calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number when the destination has not elected to pay for forwarding the call;

completing the call from the calling party to the new telephone number if either the destination or the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call;

judging whether the calling party is eligible to pay for forwarding the call when it is determined that the destination has not elected to pay for call forwarding;

judging whether the calling party is eligible to pay for forwarding the call when it is determined that the destination has not elected to pay for call forwarding;

determining a type of service/equipment utilized by the calling party;

determining whether the calling party'"'"'s service/equipment complies with eligibility requirements, thereby making the calling party eligible to pay for forwarding the call; and

indicating the calling party'"'"'s eligibility if the service/equipment complies with the eligibility requirements.

17. A call forwarding method for an AIN telecommunications environment in which a destination has changed from an old telephone number to a new telephone number, and a calling party places a call which attempts to contact the destination by dialing the old telephone number the call forwarding method comprising:

locating the new telephone number;

determining whether the destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number;

determining whether an eligible calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call from the old telephone number to the new telephone number when the destination has not elected to pay for forwarding the call;

completing the call from the calling party to the new telephone number if either the destination or the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call; and

measuring the usage of an ISCP central processing unit.

19. A call forwarding method for an AIN telecommunications environment in which a destination has changed from an old telephone number to a new telephone number, and a calling party places a call which attempts to contact the destination by dialing the old telephone number, the call forwarding method comprising:

connecting to an old address switch upon dialing the old telephone number;

prefixing the old telephone number with a three digit code, and forwarding the call, along with the prefixed old telephone number, to a hub switch upon recognizing that the calling party has called a telephone number which has been changed;

recognizing the three digit code at the hub switch and launching an AIN trigger;

determining the new telephone number and whether the destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call to the new telephone number;

determining whether the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call to the new telephone number when the destination has not elected to pay for forwarding the call; and

completing the call to a new telephone number switch if either the destination or the calling party has elected to pay for forwarding the call.

20. The call forwarding method of claim 19, further comprising terminating the call when neither the calling party nor destination has elected to pay for forwarding the call.