Telecommunication network that provides caller-entered information to multiple call destinations

• US 7,099,449 B1
• Filed: 01/15/2002
• Issued: 08/29/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Cope, Warren B., Brown, Lori L., Bell, Jeffrey A., Marah, Steven R., Rogers, Carl E., Ma, Xinjia, Donelan, Joseph Brent
• Primary Examiner(s): Chan, Wing
• Assistant Examiner(s): ADDY, THJUAN KNOWLIN
• Application Number:
  US10/047,298
• Time in Patent Office: 1,687 Days
• Field of Search: 379/211.01, 379/88.21, 379/142.01, 370/426
• US Class Current: 379/211.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/12 intelligent networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4936 Speech interaction details speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5183 Call or contact centers with computer-telephony arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/58 Arrangements for transferring received calls from one subscriber to another; Arrangements affording interim conversations between either the calling or the called party and a third party substation line holding circuits H04M1/80

Abstract

In a telecommunication network, a switching system routes a call to a service platform. The service platform transfers a prompt message over the call, collects caller-entered information from the caller, and transfers the caller-entered information to an SCP system. The SCP system transfers the caller-entered information to a first destination processor, processes a first destination routing code from the first destination processor to determine a first destination routing instruction, and transfers the first destination routing instruction to the switching system. The switching system routes the call to a first destination in response to the first destination routing instruction. The SCP system transfers the caller-entered information to a second destination processor, processes a second destination routing code from the second destination processor to determine a second destination routing instruction, and transfers the second destination routing instruction to the switching system. The switching system routes the call to a second destination in response to the second destination routing instruction.

Claims

1. A method of operating a telecommunication network, the method comprising:

in a switching system, routing a call to a service platform;

in the service platform, transferring a prompt message over the call, collecting caller-entered information from the caller over the call in response to the prompt message, and transferring the caller-entered information to a Service Control Point (SCP) system;

in the SCP system, transferring the caller-entered information to a first destination, processing a first destination routing code from the first destination to determine a first destination routing instruction, and transferring the first destination routing instruction to the switching system;

in the switching system, routing the call to the first destination in response to the first destination routing instruction;

in the SCP system, transferring the caller-entered information to a second destination, processing a second destination routing code from the second destination to determine a second destination routing instruction, and transferring the second destination routing instruction to the switching system; and

in the switching system, routing the call to the second destination in response to the second destination routing instruction.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a request from the first destination to transfer the call to the second destination.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the service platform does not re-collect the caller-entered information during the call.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first destination selects the first destination routing code based on the caller-entered information and the second destination selects the second destination routing code based on the caller-entered information.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the call from the caller comprises a first call and further comprising:

in the service platform, transferring a tracking number to the SCP system with the caller-entered information, initiating a second call to the switching system and transferring the tracking number to the switching system with the second call, and connecting the first call to the second call;

in the switching system, transferring an SCP query for the second call to the SCP system;

in the SCP system, correlating the SCP query with the caller-entered information based on the tracking number and processing the SCP query to transfer the caller-entered information to the first destination; and

wherein

in the switching system, routing the first call to the first destination comprises routing the second call to the first destination in response to the first destination routing instruction.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

in the service platform, receiving a call transfer instruction from the first destination, initiating a third call to the switching system and transferring the tracking number to the switching system with the third call, and connecting the first call to the third call;

in the switching system, transferring an SCP query for the third call to the SCP system;

in the SCP system, correlating the SCP query for the third call with the caller-entered information based on the tracking number and processing the SCP query for the third call to transfer the caller-entered information to the second destination; and

wherein

in the switching system, routing the first call to the second destination comprises routing the third call to the second destination in response to the second destination routing instruction.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising, in the service platform, terminating the second call after receiving the call transfer instruction.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the caller-entered information comprises a caller identification number or a caller account number.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in the SCP system, transferring an Automatic Number Identification (ANI) to the first destination and the second destination wherein the first destination selects the first destination routing code based on the ANI and the second destination selects the second destination routing code based on the ANI.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the first destination correlates the caller-entered information with the call received into the first destination based on the ANI, and the second destination correlates the caller-entered information with the call received into the second destination based on the ANI.

11. A telecommunication network comprising:

a switching system configured to route a call to a service platform;

the service platform configured to transfer a prompt message over the call, collecting caller-entered information from the caller over the call in response to the prompt message, and transferring the caller-entered information to a Service Control Point (SCP) system;

the SCP system configured to transfer the caller-entered information to a first destination, process a first destination routing code from the first destination to determine a first destination routing instruction, and transfer the first destination routing instruction to the switching system;

the switching system further configured to route the call to the first destination in response to the first destination routing instruction;

the SCP system further configured to transfer the caller-entered information to a second destination, process a second destination routing code from the second destination to determine a second destination routing instruction, and transfer the second destination routing instruction to the switching system; and

the switching system further configured to route the call to the second destination in response to the second destination routing instruction.

12. The telecommunication network of claim 11 wherein the service platform is configured to receive a request from the first destination to transfer the call to the second destination.

13. The telecommunication network of claim 11 wherein the service platform does not re-collect the caller-entered information during the call.

14. The telecommunication network of claim 11 wherein the first destination selects the first destination routing code based on the caller-entered information and the second destination selects the second destination routing code based on the caller-entered information.

15. The telecommunication network of claim 11 wherein the call from the caller comprises a first call and wherein:

the service platform is configured to transfer a tracking number to the SCP system with the caller-entered information, initiate a second call to the switching system and transfer the tracking number to the switching system with the second call, and connect the first call to the second call;

the switching system is configured to transfer an SCP query for the second call to the SCP system;

the SCP system is configured to correlate the SCP query with the caller-entered information based on the tracking number and process the SCP query to transfer the caller-entered information to the first destination; and

the switching system is configured to route the second call to the first destination in response to the first destination routing instruction and wherein routing the first call to the first destination comprises routing the second call to the first destination.

16. The telecommunication network of claim 15 wherein:

the service platform is configured to receive a call transfer instruction from the first destination, initiate a third call to the switching system and transfer the tracking number to the switching system with the third call, and connect the first call to the third call;

the switching system is configured to transfer an SCP query for the third call to the SCP system;

the SCP system is configured to correlate the SCP query for the third call with the caller-entered information based on the tracking number and process the SCP query for the third call to transfer the caller-entered information to the second destination; and

the switching system is configured to route the third call to the second destination in response to the second destination routing instruction wherein routing the first call to the second destination comprises routing the third call to the second destination.

17. The telecommunication network of claim 16 wherein the service platform is configured to terminate the second call after receiving the call transfer instruction.

18. The telecommunication network of claim 11 wherein the caller-entered information comprises a caller identification number or a caller account number.

19. The telecommunication network of claim 11 wherein the SCP system is configured to transfer an Automatic Number Identification (ANI) to the first destination and the second destination wherein the first destination selects the first destination routing code based on the ANI and the second destination selects the second destination routing code based on the ANI.

20. The telecommunication network of claim 19 wherein the first destination correlates the caller-entered information with the call received into the first destination based on the ANI, and the second destination correlates the caller-entered information with the call received into the second destination based on the ANI.