Methods, systems, and products for providing communications services by determining the communications services require a subcontracted processing service and subcontracting to the subcontracted processing service in order to provide the communications services

• US 9,240,901 B2
• Filed: 01/28/2011
• Issued: 01/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hodges, Donna K., Kreiner, Barrett Morris, Tischer, Steven N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Murray, Daniel C
• Application Number:
  US13/015,772
• Publication Number:
  US 20110125907A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,817 Days
• Field of Search: 709/226, 709/201, 709/223, 709/231, 370/216
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5067 Customer-centric QoS measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5087 wherein the managed service relates to voice services management of VoIP services H04M7/0081
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5096 wherein the managed service relates to distributed or central networked applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/724 at intermediate nodes, e.g. resource reservation protocol [RSVP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/781 Centralised allocation of resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/808 User-type aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/822 Collecting or measuring resource availability data

Abstract

Methods, systems, and products receive a request for communications service at a service provider. A subcontracted processing service is determined to fulfill the request for communications service. Packets of data are subcontracted to a different service provider to receive the subcontracted processing service. A result of the subcontracted processing service is received from the different service provider.

Claims

1. A server of a service provider, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing code that when executed causes the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising;

receiving electronic packets of data from an interface to a communications network, the electronic packets of data containing a request for communications service sent from a client device, the client device requesting a communications service provided by the service provider;

determining that the communications service, provided by the service provider, requires a subcontracted processing service provided by a different subcontractor service provider to fulfill the request for communications service requested by the client device;

creating a segment of the electronic packets of data requiring the subcontracted processing service;

subcontracting the segment of the electronic packets of data from the server into the communications network for delivery to a network address associated with a subcontractor server associated with the different subcontractor service provider to receive the subcontracted processing service; and

receiving, at the server, a result of the subcontracted processing service subcontracted to the different subcontractor service provider.

2. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise storing the result in the memory.

3. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise sending a packetized assertion endorsing the subcontracted processing service subcontracted to the different subcontractor service provider.

4. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise receiving an assertion sent from the client device, the assertion endorsing the subcontracted processing service subcontracted to the different subcontractor service provider.

5. The server of claim 4, wherein the operations further comprise providing a denial in response to a failure of receipt of the assertion.

6. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise sending the result of the subcontracted processing service to the client device.

7. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise incorporating the result of the subcontracted processing service, subcontracted to the different subcontractor service provider, into the communications service provided by the service provider.

8. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise querying for a data stream to fulfill the request for communications service.

9. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise assessing an availability of the communications network to fulfill the request for communications service.

10. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise sending a reservation to reserve a routing path to the network address associated with the subcontractor server of the different subcontractor service provider.

11. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise retrieving a service level agreement.

12. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise assembling the result with a data stream.

13. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise assembling the result with another segment created from the electronic packets of data.

14. The server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise assembling the result with a single electronic packet of data.

15. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a server from a communications network, electronic packets of data sent from a client device, the electronic packets of data containing a request for communications service provided by a service provider;

determining, by the server, that the communications service requires a subcontracted processing service provided by a subcontractor service provider;

grouping, by the server, individual ones of the electronic packets of data requiring the subcontracted processing service into a segment of packets of data;

subcontracting, by the server, the segment of packets of data into the communications network for delivery to a network address associated with a subcontractor server of the subcontractor service provider to receive the subcontracted processing service; and

receiving, by the server, a result of the subcontracted processing service subcontracted to the subcontractor service provider.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising incorporating the result of the subcontracted processing service, subcontracted to the subcontractor service provider, into the communications service provided by the service provider.

17. A computer readable memory storing instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

receiving a request for communications service from an interface to a communications network, the request for communications service sent from a client device, the client device requesting a communications service from a service provider;

retrieving a stream of data to fulfill the request for communications service;

determining that the communications service requires a subcontracted processing service provided by a subcontractor service provider to fulfill the request for communications service;

creating a segment from the stream of data, the segment containing all packets of data that require the subcontracted processing service;

subcontracting the segment into the communications network for delivery to a network address associated with a subcontractor server of the subcontractor service provider to receive the subcontracted processing service; and

receiving a result of the subcontracted processing service subcontracted to the subcontractor service provider.

18. The computer readable memory of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise reserving a routing path to the network address associated with the subcontractor server of the subcontractor service provider.

19. The computer readable memory of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise incorporating the result of the subcontracted processing service, subcontracted to the subcontractor service provider, into the communications service provided by the service provider.

20. The computer readable memory of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a subcontractor assertion sent from the client device, the subcontractor assertion endorsing the subcontracted processing service subcontracted to the subcontractor service provider.