Call reporting

• US 7,545,920 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2005
• Issued: 06/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SBC Knowledge Ventures LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SBC Knowledge Ventures LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wilson, Denise K., Korecki, Mark T., Crozier, Sarah R., Levell, Mark P.
• Primary Examiner(s): TIEU, BINH KIEN
• Application Number:
  US11/080,057
• Publication Number:
  US 20060115061A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,547 Days
• Field of Search: 379/111, 379/112.01, 379/112.06, 379/112.08, 379/114.01, 379/114.08, 379/114.13, 379/114.28, 379/133, 379/134, 379/137, 379/138, 379/139, 379/140
• US Class Current: 379/112.01
• 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 15/41 Billing record details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure of call data record [CDR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/44 Augmented, consolidated or itemized billing statement or bill presentation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/51 for resellers, retailers or service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/58 based on statistics of usage or network monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/745 Customizing according to wishes of subscriber, e.g. friends or family
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/83 Notification aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/84 Types of notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0104 Augmented, consolidated or itemised billing statement, e.g. additional billing information, bill presentation, layout, format, e-mail, fax, printout, itemised bill per service or per account, cumulative billing, consolidated billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0108 Customization according to wishes of subscriber, e.g. customer preferences, friends and family, selecting services or billing options, Personal Communication Systems [PCS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0164 Billing record, e.g. Call Data Record [CDR], Toll Ticket[TT], Automatic Message Accounting [AMA], Call Line Identifier [CLI], details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0168 On line or real-time flexible customization or negotiation according to wishes of subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0176 Billing arrangements using internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0188 Network monitoring; statistics on usage on called/calling number
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/54 Resellers-retail or service providers billing, e.g. agreements with telephone service operator, activation, charging/recharging of accounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/81 Notifying aspects, e.g. notifications or displays to the user
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/8129 Type of notification

Abstract

A technique for near real-time reporting of telephone number usage to a computer is disclosed. According to the technique, signaling protocol data is collected for telephone calls that involve telephone numbers associated with the user. The signaling protocol data is decoded and call information records (CIRs) are generated from the decoded signaling data. The CIRs contain information about calls associated with the telephone numbers. The CIRs are used to generate a report which is made available to the user.

Claims

1. A method for reporting usage of a called telephone number to a computer user at a computer interface, the method comprising:

identifying, via signaling data, a completed call made from a calling number to the called telephone number when a dropped call duration counter exceeds a dropped call threshold duration, and identifying a lost call made from the calling number to the called telephone number when the dropped call counter is below the dropped call threshold duration and the calling number fails to retry the call within a retry threshold duration;

generating a report, that reports usage of the called telephone number, from one or more call information records (CIRs), wherein the one or more CIRs are produced from the signaling data associated with one or more telephone calls that involve the called telephone number; and

transferring the report to the computer user'"'"'s computer interface.

2. A method as defined in claim 1 further comprising employing a Signaling System 7 (SS7) signaling protocol.

3. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the called telephone number is a toll free number.

4. A method a defined in claim 3 wherein the computer interface is a web browser.

5. A method as defined in claim 1 further comprising displaying the report using the computer user'"'"'s computer interface.

6. A method as defined in claim 1 further comprising storing the one or more CIRs in a database.

7. A method as defined in claim 1 further comprising:

filtering the one or more CIRs; and

storing the filtered CIRs in a database.

8. A method as defined in claim 1 further comprising notifying the user that the report has been generated.

9. A method as defined in claim 8 wherein the user is notified using an electronic mail (e-mail) message.

10. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the report is generated at a predetermined time.

11. A method as defined in claim 10 wherein the predetermined time is established by the computer user.

12. A method for reporting usage of a toll free telephone number to a computer user at a computer interface, the method comprising:

collecting signaling protocol data for one or more completed telephone calls that involve the toll free telephone number;

decoding the signaling protocol data;

identifying, via the signaling data, a completed call made from a calling number to the toll free telephone number when a dropped call duration counter exceeds a dropped call threshold duration, and identifying a lost call made from the calling number to the toll free telephone number when the dropped call counter is below the dropped call threshold duration and the calling number fails to retry the call within a retry threshold duration;

producing one or more call information records (CIRs) from the decoded signaling data;

generating a report, that reports usage of the toll free telephone number, from the one or more CIRs; and

transferring the report to the computer user'"'"'s computer interface.

13. A server for reporting usage of a called telephone number to a computer user at a computer interface, the server comprising:

a network interface configured to acquire one or more call information records (CIRs), the one or more CIRs being produced from signaling data associated with one or more telephone calls that involve the called telephone number; and

a computer configured to;

identify a completed call made from a calling number to the called telephone number when a dropped call duration counter exceeds a dropped call threshold duration value, and identify a lost call made from the calling number to the called telephone number when the dropped call counter is below the dropped call threshold duration value and the calling number fails to retry the call within the retry threshold duration value;

generate a report, that reports usage of the telephone number, from the one or more CIRs, and

transfer the report to the computer user'"'"'s computer interface.

14. A server as defined in claim 13 further comprising a storage device containing a database, wherein the processor is further configured to store acquired CIRs in the database.

15. A server as defined in claim 14 wherein the processor is further configured to:

filter CIRs; and

store the filtered CIRs in the database.

16. A server as defined in claim 13 further comprising:

an inbound daemon associated with one or more inbound threads; and

a multiplexor configured to transfer the CIRs to the one or more inbound threads.

17. A server as defined in claim 16 further comprising a call pool to hold the acquired CIRs, and wherein the inbound threads are to store the CIRs in the call pool.

18. A server as defined in claim 17 wherein the inbound threads:

filter the acquired CIRs; and

store the filtered CIRs in the call pool.

19. A server as defined in claim 17 further comprising:

a database; and

an output daemon associated with one or more outbound threads to acquire CIRs from the call pool and store the CIRs in the database.

20. An apparatus for reporting called telephone number usage to a computer user at a computer interface, the apparatus comprising:

means for acquiring one or more call information records (CIRs), the one or more CIRs being produced from signaling data associated with one or more telephone calls that involve the called telephone number;

means for identifying, via the signaling data, a completed call made from a calling number to the called telephone number when a dropped call duration counter exceeds a dropped call threshold duration;

means for identifying, via the signaling data, a lost call made from the calling number to the called telephone number when the dropped call duration counter is below the dropped call threshold duration and the calling number fails to retry the call within a retry threshold duration;

means for generating a report, that reports usage of the called telephone number, from the one or more CIRs; and

means for transferring the report to the computer user'"'"'s computer interface.

21. A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions to:

identify, via signaling data, a completed call made from a calling number to a called telephone number when a dropped call duration counter exceeds a dropped call threshold duration;

identify, via the signaling data, a lost call made from the calling number to the called telephone number when the dropped call counter is below the dropped call threshold duration and the calling number fails to retry the call within a retry threshold duration;

generate a report, that reports usage of the called telephone number, from one or more call information records (CIRs) wherein the one or more CIRs are produced from the signaling data associated with one or more telephone calls that involve the called telephone number; and

transfer the report to a computer user'"'"'s computer interface.

22. A computer readable medium as defined in claim 21 wherein the computer user'"'"'s computer interface comprises a web browser.

23. A computer readable medium as defined in claim 21 further comprising computer executable instructions to store the one or more CIRs in a database.

24. A computer readable medium as defined in claim 21 further comprising computer executable instructions to:

filter the one or more CIRs; and

store the filtered CIRs in a database.

25. A computer readable medium as defined in claim 21 further comprising computer executable instructions to notify the user that the report has been generated.

26. A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions to:

collect signaling protocol data for one or more completed telephone calls that involve a called toll free telephone number;

decode the signaling protocol data;

identify, via the signaling protocol data, a completed call made from a calling number to the called telephone number when a dropped call duration counter exceeds a dropped call threshold duration;

identify, via the signaling protocol data, a lost call made from the calling number to the called telephone number when the dropped call counter is below the dropped call threshold duration and the calling number fails to retry the call within a retry threshold duration;

produce one or more call information records (CIRs) from the decoded signaling data;

generate a report, that reports usage of the called toll free telephone number, from the one or more CIRs; and

transfer the report to a computer interface.