Maintenance of subscriber history for service support applications in an IP-based telecommunications system

• US 8,351,420 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2006
• Issued: 01/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Linkola, Janne, Caldwell, Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): Addy, Anthony
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rod, Yousef
• Application Number:
  US11/552,096
• Publication Number:
  US 20080096504A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,269 Days
• Field of Search: 370/338, 370/316, 370/341, 370/342, 370/345, 370/328, 370/352, 370/401, 370/493, 370/494, 455/405, 455/406, 455/407, 455/408, 455/411, 455/415, 455/414, 455/1, 455423-425, 709/227, 709/228, 379/221.05
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24 Querying
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/58 based on statistics of usage or network monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0084 Network monitoring; Error detection; Error recovery; Network testing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/002 Transmission of channel access control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]

Abstract

A facility for maintaining a subscriber history pertaining to the use of a mobile device with an IP-based telecommunications service offered by a service provider. When a connection request is made by a mobile device to access an IP-based telecommunications service, one or more identifiers associated with the requesting mobile device and access point are provided in the request and stored by the facility. In some cases, the identifiers are stored even if the mobile device is unable to, or not authorized to, access the telecommunications service. Additional parameters associated with the request from the mobile device, such as a time stamp and details of a subsequent telecommunications session, are also associated with the stored request. The history of requests to access the IP-based telecommunications service from the mobile device are maintained by the facility and provided to a service support provider.

Claims

1. A method of providing a service support representative with an interface for viewing an access history by a user of a mobile communication device to an IP-based wireless telecommunications network, the method comprising:

receiving via one or more wireless access points a plurality of connection requests to access an IP-based wireless telecommunications network from a mobile communication device that is capable of transmitting and receiving communications via an IP-based wireless telecommunications network, each of the plurality of connection requests including one or more identifiers, one of which is an identifier associated with a wireless access point via which the connection request was received,

wherein some of the plurality of connection requests result in the mobile communication device successfully accessing the IP-based wireless telecommunications network and some of the plurality of connection requests result in the mobile communication device failing to access the IP-based wireless telecommunications network;

wherein at least some of the connection requests that result in the mobile communication device failing to access the IP-based wireless telecommunications network fail because they include an identifier associated with a wireless access point that matches a set of blocked identifiers; and

wherein the mobile communication device is assigned an IP address when it successfully accesses the IP-based wireless telecommunications network;

storing the one or more identifiers associated with each of the plurality of connection requests, including the identifier associated with a wireless access point; and

providing an interface for a service support representative to view the stored one or more identifiers associated with at least a portion of the plurality of connection requests, including the identifiers associated with wireless access points, the interface allowing the service support representative to view the stored one or more identifiers associated with connection requests that were successful and the stored one or more identifiers associated with connection requests that failed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more identifiers are selected from the group consisting of a mobile device identifier, a subscriber identifier, an International Mobile Subscriber Identifier, a service set identifier, a Cell Global Identifier, a Media Access Control address, or a public IP address.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the connection requests that resulted in the mobile communication device successfully accessing the IP-based wireless telecommunications network are displayed differently than the connection requests that resulted in the mobile communication device failing to access the IP-based wireless telecommunications network.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing search functionality to allow the service support representative to search the one or more identifiers.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the search functionality allows the service support representative to search by International Mobile Subscriber Identifier.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing filtering functionality to allow the service support representative to filter the one or more identifiers associated with each of the plurality of connection requests.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the filtering functionality allows the service support representative to filter by a date range associated with the plurality of connection requests.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the IP-based wireless telecommunications network is an unlicensed mobile access (UMA) network.

9. A service support system for viewing an access history by a user of a mobile communication device to an IP-based wireless telecommunications network, the system comprising:

a storage component for storing a plurality of connection requests to access an IP-based wireless telecommunications network received via one or more wireless access points from a mobile communication device that is capable of transmitting and receiving communications via an IP-based wireless telecommunications network, each of the plurality of connection requests including one or more identifiers, one of which is an identifier associated with a wireless access point via which the connection request was received,

wherein some of the plurality of connection requests result in the mobile communication device successfully accessing the IP-based wireless telecommunications network and some of the plurality of connection requests result in the mobile communication device failing to access the IP-based wireless telecommunications network,

wherein at least some of the connection requests that result in the mobile communication device failing to access the IP-based wireless telecommunications network fail because they include an identifier associated with a wireless access point that matches a set of blocked identifiers, and

wherein the mobile communication device is assigned an IP address when it successfully accesses the IP-based wireless telecommunications network; and

a display component coupled to the storage component to allow a service support representative to view the stored one or more identifiers associated with at least a portion of the plurality of connection requests, including the identifiers associated with wireless access points, the display component configured to allow the service support representative to view the stored one or more identifiers associated with connection requests that were successful and the stored one or more identifiers associated with connection requests that failed.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more identifiers are selected from the group consisting of a mobile device identifier, a subscriber identifier, an International Mobile Subscriber Identifier, a service set identifier, a Cell Global Identifier, a Media Access Control address, or a public IP address.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the connection requests that resulted in the mobile communication device successfully accessing the IP-based wireless telecommunications network are displayed differently than the connection requests that resulted in the mobile communication device failing to access the IP-based wireless telecommunications network.

12. The system of claim 9, further comprising a search component coupled to the storage component and the display component to allow the service support representative to search the one or more identifiers.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the search component allows the service support representative to search by International Mobile Subscriber Identifier.

14. The system of claim 9, further comprising a filtering component coupled to the storage component and the display component to allow the service support representative to filter the one or more identifiers associated with each of the plurality of connection requests.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the filtering component allows the service support representative to filter by a date range associated with the plurality of connection requests.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the IP-based wireless telecommunications network is an unlicensed mobile access (UMA) network.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to implement a method of providing a service support representative with an interface for viewing an access history by a user of a mobile communication device to an IP-based wireless telecommunications network, the method comprising:

receiving via one or more wireless access points a plurality of connection requests to access an IP-based wireless telecommunications network from a mobile communication device that is capable of transmitting and receiving communications via an IP-based wireless telecommunications network, each of the plurality of connection requests including one or more identifiers, one of which is an identifier associated with a wireless access point via which the connection request was received,

wherein some of the plurality of connection requests result in the mobile communication device being granted access to the IP-based wireless telecommunications network and some of the plurality of connection requests result in the mobile communication device not being granted access to the IP-based wireless telecommunications network,

wherein at least some of the connection requests that result in the mobile communication device failing to access the IP-based wireless telecommunications network fail because they include an identifier associated with a wireless access point that matches a set of blocked identifiers, and,

wherein the mobile communication device is assigned an IP address when it successfully accesses the IP-based wireless telecommunications network;

storing the one or more identifiers associated with each of the plurality of connection requests, including the identifier associated with a wireless access point; and

providing an interface for a service support representative to view the stored one or more identifiers associated with at least a portion of the plurality of connection requests, including the identifiers associated with wireless access points, the service support representative being able to view the stored one or more identifiers associated with connection requests that resulted in access being granted and the stored one or more identifiers associated with connection requests that resulted in access not being granted.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the one or more identifiers are selected from the group consisting of a mobile device identifier, a subscriber identifier, an International Mobile Subscriber Identifier, a service set identifier, a Cell Global Identifier, a Media Access Control address, or a public IP address.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the connection requests that resulted in access being granted to the IP-based wireless telecommunications network are displayed differently than the connection requests that resulted in access not being granted to the IP-based wireless telecommunications network.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising providing search functionality to allow the service support representative to search the one or more identifiers.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the search functionality allows the service support representative to search by International Mobile Subscriber Identifier.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising providing filtering functionality to allow the service support representative to filter the one or more identifiers associated with each of the plurality of connection requests.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the filtering functionality allows the service support representative to filter by a date range associated with the plurality of connection requests.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the IP-based wireless telecommunications network is an unlicensed mobile access (UMA) network.