Telephonic communications – Plural exchange network or interconnection – With interexchange network routing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-01
2003-03-04
Hong, Harry S. (Department: 2642)
Telephonic communications
Plural exchange network or interconnection
With interexchange network routing
C379S221080, C379S221140, C379S230000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06529595
ABSTRACT:
RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable
MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communication systems, and in particular, to a system that processes number portability data for a call.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Number portability provides users the ability to retain their phone number when changing either their service provider, location or service. Switching telephone companies is one example of changing service providers. One example of changing services is changing from Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) to Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).
FIG. 1
depicts a system level block diagram of a prior solution for call processing with number portability. In
FIG. 1
, a call processing system
130
and a call processing system
150
are disclosed in a pending U.S. patent application Ser. No., entitled “System and Method for Processing a Call”, filed on Nov. 5, 1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference. An interexchange carrier (IXC)
120
typically queries an IXC Service Control Point (SCP)
122
for number portability data. The number portability data could be any data or information associated with providing number portability. However, changes in standards for number portability allow the originating network such as a local telephone company
110
to query a local telephone company SCP
112
for the number portability data.
FIG. 2
depicts a message sequence chart for a prior solution for call processing with number portability. In
FIG. 2
, the IXC
120
has agreed to accept the number portability data from the local telephone company
110
. A local telephone company switch
114
begins processing of a call by querying the SCP
112
with an invoke message for the number portability data. The SCP
112
processes the invoke message and identifies the number portability data for the call. The SCP
112
transmits a response with the number portability data to the switch
114
.
The switch
114
transmits an Initial Address Message (IAM) including the number portability data for the call using Signaling System #
7
(SS
7
) to a signaling processor
132
. The signaling processor
132
then receives the IAM with the original number portability data. The signaling processor
132
processes the IAM to generate and transmit a first route instruction for a routing system
134
based on the processing of the IAM with the number portability data. The signaling processor
132
also transmits the IAM with the number portability data to the signaling processor
152
.
The signaling processor
152
then receives the IAM with the number portability data. The signaling processor
152
processes the IAM. The signaling processor
152
then generates and transmits a second route instruction for a routing system
154
based on the processing of the IAM with the number portability data. The signaling processor
152
also transmits the IAM with the number portability data to a local telephone company switch
164
in a local telephone company
160
. The switch
164
processes the IAM. The switch
164
responds with a series of messages for call setup, which are not shown for the sake of clarity. Those skilled in the art understand how the call is set up between the switch
114
and the switch
164
via the routing system
134
, the packet network
140
, and the routing system
154
.
The problem is that the number portability data from the local telephone company
110
may not always be correct. The IXC
120
then misroutes the call with the faulty number portability data. Call misrouting and then call failure may decrease the caller's satisfaction with the IXC's
120
telecommunication service. For long distance calls, customers usually call the IXC
120
if there are problems with call routing, which result in call failure. In order to prevent call failure and properly route calls, the IXC
120
needs the ability to obtain correct number portability data.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention solves the above problem by identifying incorrect original number portability data from a first network and obtaining new number portability data. The invention advantageously prevents call misrouting due to incorrect number portability data from the first network. A second network avoids decreasing customer satisfaction by properly routing calls with the new number portability data. The second network receives original number portability data from the first network. The second network then determines whether to use the original number portability data from the first network for call routing. If the original number portability data from the first network is not used for call routing, the second network generates and transmits a query to obtain new number portability data for call routing. The second network receives the new number portability data for call routing in response to the query. The second network then generates and transmits a route instruction using the new number portability data. If the original number portability data from the first network is used for call routing, the second network generates and transmits the route instruction using the original number portability data.
In one embodiment of the invention, the second network determines whether calls are misrouted. The second network then processes the number of misrouted calls to determine whether a threshold has been exceeded. The second network then disregards the original number portability data from the first network for call routing based on the determination that the threshold has been exceeded. In different embodiments of the invention, the threshold may be set on a per trunk basis, per trunk group basis, per Point Code basis, per a first network basis, per called party number basis, or per every call basis. Also, in different embodiments of the invention, the threshold may be a total number of misrouted calls or a misrouted call percentage of total calls, attempted calls, or correctly routed calls.
The invention advantageously identifies incorrect original number portability data from a first network and obtains new number portability data to prevent misrouted calls. In some embodiments, the threshold for misrouted calls ensures that incorrect number portability data is not used and the correct number portability data is used for call routing.
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Medhat Khalid M.
Torrey Jason
Ball Harley R.
Funk Steven J.
Hong Harry S.
Robb Kevin D.
Sprint Communications Company L.P.
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