Reconciling addresses

• US 9,443,206 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2010
• Issued: 09/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: John, Josy, Chatterjee, Sutap
• Primary Examiner(s): ADAMS, CHARLES D
• Application Number:
  US12/729,553
• Publication Number:
  US 20110238619A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,366 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management

Abstract

A device may include a memory, line cards, and a processor. The memory may include an address database for storing sub-location addresses. The line cards may be configured to communicate with other devices. The processor may be configured to receive a request to reconcile physical addresses from a network device, retrieve sub-location addresses from the database based on the request, determine whether each of the sub-location addresses can be deleted from the database based on association between the sub-location address and a physical device, and, for each of the sub-location addresses, delete the sub-location address from the database based on the determination.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a memory including an address database for storing sub-location addresses; and

a processor configured to;

receive, from a network device, a request to perform address reconciliation of the sub-location addresses that correspond to physical addresses associated with physical devices related to different central offices;

retrieve the sub-location addresses from the database based on the request;

determine, for each of the sub-location addresses, whether the sub-location address is to be deleted from the database by determining whether a physical device assigned to the sub-location address can be reassigned to the corresponding physical address; and

delete one or more of the sub-location addresses from the database based on the determinations.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more of the sub-location addresses includes a supplemental address that designates an area within the one or more of the sub-location addresses.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein when determining, the processor is further configured to:

for each of the sub-location addresses, when the sub-location address has an account history, reassign a user account associated with the sub-location address to the corresponding physical address.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor, when determining whether the sub-location address is to be deleted from the database, is configured to:

send a message to an external database that tracks whether the physical device is currently associated with the sub-location address, the message requesting the external database to allow or deny a deletion of the sub-location address from the database.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to:

perform a rollback when the external database denies the deletion of the sub-location address.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to:

include, in a report, a list of sub-location addresses for which the external database denies deletion.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to provide an operator with appropriate privileges for deleting sub-location addresses or generating a report when the operator logs into the device.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to generate at least one of:

a deleted address report;

an address deletion failure report;

or

a location standard exceeded report.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to enforce a sub-location address creation standard.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

allow creation of at least one sub-location address but less than a threshold number of sub-location addresses for which there is no predefined standard; and

generate an error responsive to an attempt to create a sub-location address in excess of threshold number of sub-location addresses for which there is no predefined standard.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive, from a user, a format for creating sub-location address in the database.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a list identifying the different central offices,

schedule address reconciliation activity for each of the central offices at a corresponding time,

wherein the processor determines, for each one of the central offices at the scheduled time, for each of the sub-location addresses that correspond to the central office, whether the sub-location address is to be deleted from the database by determining whether a physical device assigned to the sub-location address can be reassigned to the corresponding physical address, and

wherein each of the central offices includes a location at which telephone lines associated with addresses or user accounts are switched.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to limit a number of scheduled central offices for which the address reconciliation is to be performed per unit time.

14. The device of claim 1, wherein the request includes one of:

a request to delete the stored sub-location addresses;

or

a request to reassign user accounts associated with the stored sub-location addresses to the corresponding physical addresses and delete the stored sub-location addresses.

15. A method comprising:

receiving, from a network device, a request to reconcile physical addresses associated with telephone lines related to different central offices;

obtaining sub-location addresses, from a database associating the telephone lines with the physical addresses, based on a number of the different central offices identified in the request;

determining, for each of the sub-location addresses, whether the sub-location address is to be deleted from the database by determining whether a telephone line is assigned to the sub-location address or can be reassigned to another address;

deleting at least some of the sub-location addresses based on the determinations; and

generating a report identifying the deleted sub-location addresses.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the determining includes:

determining whether a sub-location address has an account history.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving a list of the number of the different central offices for reconciling the physical addresses.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

displaying an error when the number of the different central offices exceeds a threshold.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a processing device to:

receive a list of central offices for address reconciliation;

obtain sub-location addresses from a first database based on the list of central offices;

send a query describing a first one of the sub-location addresses to a second database that tracks whether a telephone line assigned to the first sub-location address can be reassigned to a physical address corresponding to the first sub-location address;

receive a reply from the second database indicating that the telephone line can be reassigned to the physical address;

determine that the first sub-location address can be deleted from the first database based on the reply;

reassign the telephone line from the first sub-location address to the physical address;

delete the first sub-location address; and

generate a report that includes the first sub-location address.