Point of sales and customer support for femtocell service and equipment

• US 9,246,759 B2
• Filed: 12/11/2014
• Issued: 01/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gurajala, Ravindra Babu, Lott, Robert Wayne, Huber, Kurt Donald, Flynn, Judson John, Mansfield, William Gordon, Seymour, Jefferey Thomas, Brisebois, Arthur Richard, Davis, John Potts
• Primary Examiner(s): ANWAR, MOHAMMAD S
• Application Number:
  US14/567,839
• Publication Number:
  US 20150094012A1
• Time in Patent Office: 411 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/68 Payment of value-added services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8038 Roaming or handoff
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

A femto cell service framework is utilized for purchase and service of femtocell equipment and customer support thereof. A point of sale (POS) platform enables purchase of femtocell equipment based on a set of eligibility criteria. POS also allows purchase of add-on services. Direct fulfillment and post-sale transactions such as returns and equipment replacement are also provided. An account management service enables femtocell equipment and service self-care or through customer representatives. Configuration of service account and monitoring of account status is provided. Customer care architecture also enables remote troubleshooting of purchased equipment. Remote troubleshooting includes diagnosis and related manipulation of purchased equipment.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

receiving request data indicative of a request to activate a femto access point device that was associated with customer account profile data via a registration procedure, wherein the request data comprises location information that represents a geographical location at which the femto access point device has been deployed, and

in response to verifying that the location information satisfies a location tolerance criterion, assigning identity data indicative of a cell global identity to the femto access point device, wherein the location tolerance criterion comprises an offset value that represents a difference between the location information and other location information stored in the customer account profile data in response to the registration procedure.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

verifying the registration procedure was successful comprising determining that the femto access point device has been registered with a network device that is employable to provide a backend service that allows operation of the femto access point device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to verifying that the location information does not satisfy the location tolerance criterion, facilitating an error management procedure.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the request data is first request data, the request is a first request, and the operations further comprise:

receiving second request data indicative of a second request for a reconnection of the femto access point device to a network device, wherein the second request data comprises equipment identifier data indicative of the femto access point device, and

in response to determining that the equipment identifier data is active, authorizing the reconnection of the femto access point device to the network device.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the second request data is received in response to a determination that the femto access point device has been restarted.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the second request data is received in response to a determination that the geographical location has been changed.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the determining that the equipment identifier data is active comprises the determining that the equipment identifier data is active based on flag data representing an activation status flag of an equipment profile linked to the equipment identifier data.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to determining that the equipment identifier data is not active, facilitating an activation cycle associated with the femto access point device.

9. The system of claim 4, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to the authorizing, receiving, via a secure communication protocol, connection signaling that facilitates the reconnection.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations comprise:

receiving, from a femtocell account data store, profile data associated with the femto access point device, wherein the profile data comprises notification service address data, and

directing, to an emergency service provider device, a provisioning message that facilitates recording of an assignment of the identity data to the notification service address data.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the notification service address data represents an email address.

12. A method, comprising:

in response to determining that a femto access point device linked to customer account profile data via a registration procedure is coupled to a broadband network device, facilitating, by the femto access point device comprising a processor, a transmission of request data indicative of a request to activate the femto access point device, wherein the request data comprises location information that represents a geographical location at which the femto access point device has been deployed;

receiving, by the femto access point device, identity data indicative of a cell global identity that has been assigned to the femto access point device based on the location information; and

receiving, by the femto access point device, a location tolerance criterion that comprises an offset data structure representing a difference between the location information and other location information of the customer account profile data.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining, by the femto access point device, the location information comprising a latitude and a longitude of the geographical location.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the facilitating comprises facilitating the transmission to a gateway device of a femto network platform.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the facilitating comprises facilitating the transmission via a transmission control protocol internet protocol.

16. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system comprising a processor to perform operations, comprising:

receiving request data indicative of a request to activate a femto access point device identified by profile data received in response to a registration procedure, wherein the request data comprises location information that represents a geographical location of the femto access point device; and

in response to determining that the location information satisfies a configurable location tolerance criterion, determining identity data indicative of a cell global identity that is to be assigned to the femto access point device, wherein the determining that the location information satisfies the configurable location tolerance criterion comprises comparing the configurable location tolerance criterion to offset data representing a difference between the location information and other location information stored in the subscriber account profile data as a result of the registration procedure.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the comparing is in response to determining that the femto access point device has been registered, via the registration procedure, with a network device that is employable to provide a backend service that allows operation of the femto access point device.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise in response to determining that the location information does not satisfy the configurable location tolerance criterion, facilitating an error management procedure.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining the profile data associated with the femto access point device, wherein the profile data comprises address data representing an address of a subscriber account to which a notification associated with the femto access point device is to be transmitted,

directing, to an emergency service provider device, a provisioning message that is employable to record an association between the identity data and the address data.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the address is an email address.