Method and system for providing real-time communications services

• US 9,305,301 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2012
• Issued: 04/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Infosys Limited
• Original Assignee: Infosys Limited
• Inventors: Paul, Sanjoy, Srinivasan, Karthik
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh, Asfand
• Application Number:
  US13/683,355
• Publication Number:
  US 20130084830A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,231 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/16 Central resource management; Negotiation of resources or communication parameters, e.g. negotiating bandwidth or QoS [Quality of Service]

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and a system for providing at least one communications service to one or more service providers by a communications service provider. Communications capabilities of the communications service provider are sliced into a plurality of virtual slices and each of the plurality of virtual slices is configured for a different service provider from among the one or more service providers. At least one communications service is provided to each of the one or more service providers through a respective configured virtual slice by the communications service provider. Each of the one or more service providers further provides the communications service to a user through the respective configured virtual slice in collaboration with the communications service provider.

Claims

1. A method for providing a communications service, the method comprising:

configuring one or more computer processors for;

partitioning a communications service provider network into a plurality of non-overlapping virtual slices, each virtual slice comprising;

communications infrastructure including at least a defined communication bandwidth, and

at least two predefined network services that are distinct from the communications infrastructure;

receiving a request for the communications service from the user through the at least one communication device, wherein the request is received by the service provider offering the service;

authenticating the user based on a set of user credentials provided by the user at the time of creating the request;

forming a list of one or more agents capable of providing the communications service to the user along with the request, the list being formed based on a first set of predefined factors, wherein the first set of predefined factors comprises qualifications and experiences of the one or more agents;

calculating accessibility scores of the one or more agents based on network connectivity of the one or more agents, current location of the one or more agents, and availability of the one or more agents;

transmitting the list from the service provider to the communications service provider;

accessing the list and analyzing the request in accordance with a rule-set to identify one of the one or more agents, the one of the one or more agents being identified by the communications service provider based on a second set of predefined factors, wherein the second set of predefined factors comprises accessibility scores of the one or more agents; and

establishing a connection between the identified agent and at least one communication device of the user through which the user accesses the communications service over the communication channel via the allocated one or more virtual slices.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first set of predefined factors further comprises at least one of user profile, user subscription details, and communications service requested.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of analyzing the request is preceded by the step of prioritizing the list of one or more agents by the service provider.

4. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the step of analyzing the request comprises the step of dynamically selecting a set of communications services available to the user based on the user subscription details.

5. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the step of analyzing the request comprises the step of dynamically selecting content accessible to the user based on at least one of the user profile and the user subscription details.

6. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the step of analyzing the request comprises the step of dynamically determining quality of service requirements for the communications service.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the step of dynamically determining quality of service requirements comprises the step of dynamically mapping the communications service with predefined quality of service requirements.

8. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the step of establishing the connection between the identified agent and the at least one communication device is preceded by the step of provisioning the at least one communication device by the communications service provider based on the user profile.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of establishing the connection between the identified agent and the at least one communication device is preceded by the step of provisioning a plurality of network resources by the communications service provider.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the rule-set comprises a service flow for each communications service offered by the service provider.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the second set of predefined factors comprises at least one of network connectivity of the one or more agents, current location of the one or more agents, availability of the one or more agents, device capabilities of communication devices registered by the one or more agents, type of the communications service requested, urgency of the communications service requested, and overall accessibility scores of the one or more agents.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the communication device is at least one of a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a television, a desktop computer and a laptop.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the identified agent is a server.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the identified agent is a human agent.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the step of establishing the connection between the identified agent and the at least one communication device comprises the step of establishing a connection between one or more communication devices registered by the human agent and the at least one communication device of the user.

16. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising billing the at least one user by the service provider based on usage of the communications service by the user.

17. A system for providing a communications service, the system comprising:

one or more computer processors configured to;

(i) partition a communications service provider network into a plurality of non-overlapping virtual slices, each virtual slice comprising;

communications infrastructure including at least a defined communication bandwidth, and

at least two predefined network services that are distinct from the communications infrastructure;

(ii) configure a first platform to provide at least one service provider with the ability to;

receive a request for a communications service offered by the service provider, the request received from the user through the at least one communication device over the communication channel;

authenticate the user based on a set of user credentials provided by the user at the time of creating the request; and

form a list of one or more agents capable of providing the communications service to the user along with the request, the list formed based on a first set of predefined factors, wherein the first set of predefined factors comprises qualifications and experiences of the one or more agents;

calculate accessibility scores of the one or more agents based on network connectivity of the one or more agents, current location of the one or more agents, and availability of the one or more agents;

transmit the list from the service provider to the communications service provider; and

(iii) configure a second platform to provide a communications service provider with the ability to;

access the list and analyze the request in accordance with a rule-set to identify one of the one or more agents, the one of the one or more agents being identified based on a second set of predefined factors, wherein the second set of predefined factors comprises accessibility scores of the one or more agents; and

establish a connection between the identified agent and at least one communication device of the user through which the user accesses the communications service over the communication channel via the allocated one or more virtual slices.

18. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the first set of predefined factors further comprises at least one of user profile, user subscription details, and communications service requested.

19. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the communications service provider dynamically selects a set of communications services available to the user based on the user subscription details.

20. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the communications service provider dynamically selects content accessible to the user based on at least one of the user profile and the user subscription details.

21. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the communications service provider dynamically determines quality of service requirements for the communications service.

22. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein the communications service provider dynamically maps the communications service with predefined quality of service requirements to determine the quality of service requirements for the communications service.

23. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the communications service provider provisions the at least one communication device based on the user profile prior to establishing the connection between the identified agent and the at least one communication device.

24. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the communications service provider provisions a plurality of network resources prior to establishing the connection between the identified agent and the at least one communication device.

25. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the rule-set comprises a service flow for each communications service offered by the service provider.

26. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the second set of predefined factors comprises at least one of network connectivity of the one or more agents, current location of the one or more agents, availability of the one or more agents, device capabilities of communication devices registered by the one or more agents, type of requested communications service requested, urgency of the communications service requested, and overall accessibility scores of the one or more agents.

27. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the communication device is at least one of a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a television, a desktop computer and a laptop.

28. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the identified agent is a server.

29. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the identified agent is a human agent.

30. The system as recited in claim 29, wherein the communications service provider establishes a connection between one or more communication devices registered by the human agent and the at least one communication device of the user.