Method and systems for identifying faulty communication calls

• US 9,894,105 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2015
• Issued: 02/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wipro Limited
• Original Assignee: Wipro Limited
• Inventors: Seetharaman, Swaminathan, Ramadoss, Kumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Beharry, Noel
• Assistant Examiner(s): SCHNELL, RICHARD L
• Application Number:
  US14/748,143
• Publication Number:
  US 20160277267A1
• Time in Patent Office: 966 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1023 Media gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/41 Billing record details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure of call data record [CDR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/56 for VoIP communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/70 Administration or customization aspects; Counter-checking correct charges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/725 by the operator
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/73 Validating charges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/74 Backing up
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/556 Statistical analysis and interpretation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/08 Indicating faults in circuits or apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2218 Call detail recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2281 Call monitoring, e.g. for law enforcement purposes; Call tracing; Detection or prevention of malicious calls

Abstract

This disclosure relates generally to call monitoring techniques, and more particularly to method and system for identifying faulty communication calls. In one embodiment, a method comprises generating communication call record information for a communication call upon determining release of the communication call on a signaling plane. The method further comprises receiving a notification that media plane resources are still active after release of the communication call on the signaling plane. The method further comprises requesting for and receiving media activity of the communication call on the media plane in response to active media plane resources. The method further comprises identifying the faulty communication call based on the communication call record information and the media activity of the communication call.

Claims

1. A method for identifying faulty communication call, the method being performed by a media gateway controller and comprising:

generating communication call record information for a communication call upon determining that the communication call has been released on a signaling plane;

determining whether a message associated with the communication call has been exchanged between the media gateway controller and a media gateway within a pre-defined time interval;

receiving from the media gateway, in response to determining that no message has been exchanged between the media gateway controller and the media gateway, a notification indicating that resources for the communication call are active on a media plane in the media gateway;

responsive to receiving the notification, transmitting, to the media gateway, a request for information related to media activity of the communication call on the media plane after the communication call has been released on the signaling plane;

receiving, from the media gateway, the requested information; and

identifying, by the media gateway controller, the faulty communication call based on the communication call record information and the requested information.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication call record information comprises at least one of:

a duration of the communication call, a timestamp associated with the release of the communication call, a reason for the release of the communication call, one or more events occurred before or during the release of the communication call, historical information on media terminations, and information about users involved in the communication call.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising generating an add-on communication call record information for the generated call record information.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the add-on communication call record information comprises duration of the communication call and media resources used for the communication call after the release of the communication call.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information about media activity of the communication call comprises at least one of:

timestamp of recent valid media exchange between calling and called users, information being currently transferred on the media plane and status information of the valid media exchange.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the faulty communication call based on the communication call record information and the requested information comprises:

responsive to determining that the communication call continues on the media plane after the communication call is released on the signaling plane, identifying the communication call as faulty.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining that the communication call continues on the media plane comprises excluding at least one of:

comfort noise, parked tone, and one or more tones not used for communication.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein determining that the communication call continues on the media plane comprises detecting, based on the communication call record, whether the communication call ends with an announcement.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein determining that the communication call continues on the media plane comprises determining whether an event related to at least one of:

a disconnection, an outage, an alarm, or a congestion event occurs at the media gateway.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein determining that the communication call continues on the media plane comprises determining whether one or more digits were dialed before the communication call was released on the signal plane.

11. A media gateway controller for identifying faulty communication call, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores processor-executable instructions, which, on execution, causes the processor to;

generate communication call record information for a communication call upon determining that the communication call has been released on a signaling plane;

determine whether a message associated with the communication call has been exchanged between the media gateway controller and a media gateway within a pre-defined time interval;

receive from the media gateway, in response to determining that no message has been exchanged between the media gateway controller and the media gateway, a notification indicating that resources for the communication call are active on a media plane in the media gateway;

responsive to receiving the notification, transmit, to the media gateway, a request for information related to media activity of the communication call on the media after the communication call has been released on the signaling plane;

receive, from the media gateway, the requested information; and

identify the faulty communication call based on the communication call record information and the received information.

12. The media gateway controller as claimed in claim 11, wherein the communication call record information comprises at least one of:

a duration of the communication call, a timestamp associated with the release of the communication call, a reason for the release of the communication call, events occurred before and during the release of the communication call, historical information on media terminations, and information about users involved in the communication call.

13. The media gateway controller as claimed in claim 11, wherein an add-on communication call record information is generated for the generated communication call record information.

14. The media gateway controller as claimed in claim 13, wherein the add-on communication call record information comprises duration of the communication call and media resources used for the communication call after the release of the communication call.

15. The media gateway controller as claimed in claim 11, wherein the information about media activity of the communication call comprises at least one of:

timestamp of recent valid media exchange between calling and called users, information being currently transferred on the media plane, and status information of the valid media exchange.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions stored thereon that, when processed by at least one processor of a media gateway controller, cause the media gateway controller to perform operations comprising:

generating communication call record information for a communication call upon determining that the communication call has been released on a signaling plane;

determining whether a message associated with the communication call has been exchanged between the media gateway controller and a media gateway within a pre-defined time interval;

receiving from the media gateway, in response to determining that no message has been exchanged between the media gateway controller and the media gateway, a notification indicating that resources for the communication call are active on a media plane in the media gateway;

responsive to receiving the notification, transmitting, to the media gateway, a request for information related to media activity of the communication call on the media plane after the communication call has been released on the signaling plane;

receiving, from the media gateway, the requested information; and

identifying, by the media gateway controller, the faulty communication call based on the communication call record information and the requested information.

17. The medium as claimed in claim 16, wherein the communication call record information comprises at least one of:

a duration of the communication call, a timestamp associated with the release of the communication call, a reason for the release of the communication call, events occurred before and during the release of the communication call, historical information on media terminations, and information about users involved in the communication call.

18. The medium as claimed in claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise generating an add-on communication call record information for the generated call record information.

19. The medium as claimed in claim 18, wherein the add-on communication call record information comprises duration of the communication call and media resources used for the communication call after the release of the communication call.

20. The medium as claimed in claim 16, wherein the information about media activity of the communication call comprises at least one of:

timestamp of recent valid media exchange between calling and called users, information being currently transferred on the media plane, and status information of the valid media exchange.