Telecommunication service registry

• US 20040111429A1
• Filed: 12/09/2002
• Published: 06/10/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Creamer, Thomas E., Moore, Victor S., Bou-Ghannam, Akram A., Narayan, Vishwanath
• Granted Patent: US 7,243,155 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/104.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A system for presenting telecommunication services to potential customers can include a distributed, platform independent registry disposed within a publicly accessible network. The registry can include a plurality of entries, each entry specifying at least one telecommunication service, wherein selective ones of the telecommunication services can be provided by two or more providers. Each entry can further contain connectivity information for contacting an associated one of the providers across a publicly accessible network in order to obtain the telecom service from the provider. Each of the telecommunication services can be configured to function within multiple switch environments.

Claims

1. A system for presenting telecommunication services to potential customers comprising a distributed registry disposed within a publicly accessible network containing a plurality of entries, each entry specifying at least one telecommunication service, and wherein each entry contains connectivity information for contacting an associated one of said providers across said publicly accessible network in order to obtain said telecommunication service from said provider, and wherein each of said telecommunication services is configured to function within multiple switch environments.

2. The registry of claim 1, wherein said registry further comprises at least one entry specifying at least one non-telecommunication service.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein selective ones of said entries can be updated by said providers associated with said entries.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said registry is a universal description discovery and integration (UDDI) compliant registry.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein said registry is updated with a Web services description language (WSDL) compliant message received from said provider.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said connectivity information specifies connection parameters necessary to establish a simple object access protocol (SOAP) compliant connection.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said telecommunication services is a self contained, self describing modular application configured to be published, located, and invoked across a public network.

8. A method for marketing telecommunication services comprising the steps of:

receiving at least one telecommunication service description from one or more providers across a publicly accessible network;

parsing at least one of said telecommunication service descriptions into one or more telecommunication service entries;

storing said telecommunication service entries into a directory disposed in said publicly accessible network;

receiving a telecommunication service query from a requester across said publicly accessible network;

responsive to said telecommunication service query, searching said directory for qualifying telecommunication entries; and

,

presenting results of said searching to said requester.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said telecommunication service description comprises connectivity information allowing said requester to connect to said provider across said publicly accessible network in order to obtain said telecommunication service from said provider.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said connectivity information specifies how to establish a simple object access protocol (SOAP) compliant connection.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein said telecommunication service description is formatted in a Web services description language (WSDL) complaint format.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein at least one of said telecommunication service descriptions describes a Web service.

13. A method of advertising telecommunication services comprising the steps of:

publishing a telecommunication service description of one or more telecommunication services to a publicly accessible registry across a publicly accessible network, wherein said telecommunication service description comprises connectivity information;

receiving a connection request from a requester application that utilizes said connectivity information;

establishing a connection between said requester application and said provider application across said publicly accessible network;

receiving a telecommunication service request from said requester across said established connection; and

,

providing said telecommunication service specified by said telecommunication service request.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said publicly accessible registry is a universal description discovery and integration compliant (UDDI) registry.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein said telecommunication service description is formatted in a Web services description language (WSDL) complaint format.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein said connectivity information specifies how to establish a simple object access protocol (SOAP) compliant connection.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of said telecommunication services is a Web service.

18. A method of purchasing telecommunication services comprising the steps of:

accessing a publicly accessible registry across a publicly accessible network;

searching said publicly accessible registry for at least one telecommunication service available from a provider;

responsive to said searching, selecting at least one telecommunication service;

receiving a telecommunication service response for said selected telecommunication service, wherein said telecommunication service response specifies connectivity information for connecting to a provider of said selected at least one telecommunication service;

sending a telecommunication service request to said provider across said publicly accessible network using said connectivity information; and

,

receiving requested services through a telecommunication carrier corresponding to said selected telecommunication service.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said publicly accessible registry is a universal description discovery and integration (UDDI) compliant registry.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein said telecommunication service response is formatted in a Web services description language (WSDL) complaint format.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein said sending step utilizes a simple object access protocol (SOAP) compliant mechanism.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of said telecommunication services is a Web service.

23. The method of claim 18, further comprising the steps of:

receiving said selected telecommunication service from said provider across said publicly accessible network; and

,

sending said selected telecommunication service to said telecommunication carrier for installation.

24. A machine readable storage having stored thereon, a computer program having a plurality of code sections, said code sections executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the steps of:

receiving at least one telecommunication service description from one or more providers across a publicly accessible network;

parsing at least one of said telecommunication service descriptions into one or more telecommunication service entries;

storing said telecommunication service entries into a directory disposed in said publicly accessible network;

receiving a telecommunication service query from a requester across said publicly accessible network;

responsive to said telecommunication service query, searching said directory for qualifying telecommunication entries; and

presenting results of said searching to said requester.

25. The machine readable storage of claim 24, wherein said telecommunication service description comprises connectivity information allowing said requester to connect to said provider across said publicly accessible network in order to obtain said telecommunication service from said provider.

26. The machine readable storage of claim 25, wherein said connectivity information specifies how to establish a simple object access protocol (SOAP) compliant connection.

27. The machine readable storage of claim 24, wherein said telecommunication service description is formatted in a Web services description language (WSDL) complaint format.

28. The machine readable storage of claim 24, wherein at least one of said telecommunication service descriptions describes a Web service.

29. A machine readable storage having stored thereon, a computer program having a plurality of code sections, said code sections executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the steps of:

publishing a telecommunication service description of one or more telecommunication services to a publicly accessible registry across a publicly accessible network, wherein said telecommunication service description comprises connectivity information;

receiving a connection request from a requester application that utilizes said connectivity information;

establishing a connection between said requester application and said provider application across said publicly accessible network;

receiving a telecommunication service request from said requester across said established connection; and

,

providing said telecommunication service specified by said telecommunication service request.

30. The machine readable storage of claim 29, wherein said publicly accessible registry is a universal description discovery and integration compliant (UDDI) registry.

31. The machine readable storage of claim 29, wherein said telecommunication service description is formatted in a Web services description language (WSDL) complaint format.

32. The machine readable storage of claim 29, wherein said connectivity information specifies how to establish a simple object access protocol (SOAP) compliant connection.

33. The machine readable storage of claim 29, wherein at least one of said telecommunication services is a Web service.

34. A machine readable storage having stored thereon, a computer program having a plurality of code sections, said code sections executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the steps of:

accessing a publicly accessible registry across a publicly accessible network;

searching said publicly accessible registry for at least one telecommunication service available from a provider;

responsive to said searching, selecting at least one telecommunication service;

receiving a telecommunication service response for said selected telecommunication service, wherein said telecommunication service response specifies connectivity information for connecting to a provider of said selected at least one telecommunication service;

sending a telecommunication service request to said provider across said publicly accessible network using said connectivity information; and

,

receiving requested services through a telecommunication carrier corresponding to said selected telecommunication service.

35. The machine readable storage of claim 34, wherein said publicly accessible registry is a universal description discovery and integration (UDDI) compliant registry.

36. The machine readable storage of claim 34, wherein said telecommunication service response is formatted in a Web services description language (WSDL) complaint format.

37. The machine readable storage of claim 34, wherein said sending step utilizes a simple object access protocol (SOAP) compliant mechanism.

38. The machine readable storage of claim 34, wherein at least one of said telecommunication services is a Web service.

39. The machine readable storage of claim 34, further comprising the steps of:

receiving said selected telecommunication service from said provider across said publicly accessible network; and

,

sending said selected telecommunication service to said telecommunication carrier for installation.