# US 2008/0192920 A1 · Service and information management system for a telecommunications network

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- Number: US 2008/0192920 A1
- Document ID: US20080192920A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 12/103,669
- Filed: 2008-04-15
- Published: 2008-08-14
- Earliest claimed: 1995-05-16
- Inventors: GURCHARAN S. BHUSRI
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20080192920A1

## CPC

- H04M 15/44: {Augmented, consolidated or itemized billing statement or bill presentation}
- H04M 3/2254: {in networks}
- H04M 3/36: Statistical metering, e.g. recording occasions when traffic exceeds capacity of trunks
- H04M 15/55: {for hybrid networks}
- H04M 15/58: {based on statistics of usage or network monitoring}
- H04M 15/90: {using Intelligent Networks [IN] or Advanced Intelligent Networks [AIN]}
- H04Q 3/0029: {Provisions for intelligent networking}
- H04Q 3/0062: {Provisions for network management}
- H04M 2215/0104: Augmented, consolidated or itemised billing statement, e.g. additional billing information, bill presentation, layout, format, e-mail, fax, printout, itemised bill per service or per account, cumulative billing, consolidated billing
- H04M 2215/016: Billing using Intelligent Networks [IN] or Advanced Intelligent Networks [AIN]
- H04M 2215/0188: Network monitoring; statistics on usage on called/calling number
- H04M 2215/44: Charging/billing arrangements for connection made over different networks, e.g. wireless and PSTN, ISDN, etc.
- H04Q 2213/13521: fault management
- H04Q 2213/13541: routing
- H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08)
- H04Q: SELECTING (switches, relays, selectors H01H; wireless communication networks H04W)

## Abstract

A system for service control and operations for a telecommunications network. In particular, an architecture and method for a service control and operations element system. The system communicates with a plurality of interconnected telecommunications network elements via a switching and signaling subsystem. The system provides and controls the various functions of the telecommunications network, such as call processing and routing, automatic fault detections and correction, providing services to customers in an interactive manner, fraud detection and control, identification of patterns of abuse of the network, collecting data regarding call activity at each network element, and producing a record of each call placed within the network.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus for servicing a telephone call made in a telecommunications network, comprising:
an interconnect bus;
a database for storing processing and routing information relating to the telephone call, said database in communication with said interconnect bus;
a processor in communication with said interconnect bus;
a communications unit in communication with a plurality of interconnected network elements in the telecommunications network and in communication with said interconnect bus; and
an information packet associated with the telephone call, said information packet containing data which supports at least one function of the apparatus, said information packet being transmitted from at least one of the plurality of interconnected network elements to said communications unit.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said information packet comprises a message part and a transaction part, the message part being transmitted between the interconnected network elements in response to the telephone call traversing the plurality of network elements, the transaction information part being appended to the message part prior to said information packet being transmitted from at least one of the plurality of interconnected network elements to said communications unit.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said database identifies one of the plurality of interconnected network elements responsible for processing and routing the telephone call.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of interconnected network elements routes the telephone call based on information contained in a first message sent to said at least one network element by said communications unit.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said processor detects when an error has occurred during a set-up of the telephone call, and places a test call that is initiated and answered by said communications for determining where the error occurred.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The apparatus of claim 5, wherein one of the plurality of interconnected network elements responsible for routing the telephone call differentiates between the test call being initiated and answered by the communications unit and a normal call being placed by a telecommunications network subscriber.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The apparatus of claim 6, wherein one of the plurality of interconnected network elements responsible for routing the telephone call indicates to a next succeeding network element that the test call is being placed.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said one of the plurality of interconnected network elements indicates to the next succeeding network element via a signal contained within a second message.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
means for recognizing and responding to a speech signal.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said means for recognizing and responding to said speech signal provides an interactive communication service.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said processor places a test call, the test call being placed when a telecommunications customer requests billing verification information.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said database comprises a data table containing a list of numbers identifying phone numbers of calling parties which have been marked for fraud or for accumulated billing charges.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said processor determines whether a calling party's phone number has been marked for fraud or for accumulated billing charges.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said processor determines call processing and routing through the plurality of interconnected network elements for the telephone call.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said processor detects patterns of abuse of the telecommunications network.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said processor collects data representing calling activity at each of the plurality of interconnected network elements.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said processor prepares a call detail record for the telephone call based on the data contained in said information packet.

### Claim 18

A method of recording information generated by a plurality of interconnected telecommunications network elements in response to a call traversing the network elements, comprising:
transmitting to an originating network element a message generated by one of the plurality of interconnected network elements;
copying the message;
forwarding the message to a succeeding interconnected network element;
appending transaction information to the copied message having an error signal indicating whether an error was detected in the transmitted message, so that the transaction information and the copied message form an information packet;
forwarding the information packet to a communications unit in communication with the originating network element; and
storing the forwarded information packet in a database so that a record of each call is formed.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, further comprising:
extracting the error signal from the message forwarded to the communications unit to determine a cause of a problem resulting in call failure;
identifying at least one of the plurality of interconnected network elements associated with the error signal; and
instructing the identified element to correct the problem.

### Claim 20 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, further comprising:
utilizing the information packet associated with the call placed from a particular phone number to detect a pattern of abuse of the telecommunications network.

### Claim 21

A method of establishing a through path for a call which traverses a plurality of interconnected network elements within a telecommunications network, comprising:
detecting by an originating network element a request message indicating that the call has been initiated;
copying the request message;
forwarding the request message to succeeding interconnected network elements in the through path;
appending a set of transaction information to the copied request message, so that the transaction information and the copied request message form an information packet;
including in the information packet an indication that the originating network element desires instructions regarding processing and routing of the call;
forwarding the information packet from the originating network element to a communications unit; and
utilizing a database in communication with the communications unit to determine the required processing and routing of the call based on the contents of the information packet.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The method of claim 21, further comprising:
transmitting a message from the communications unit to the originating network element indicating how to process and route the call.

### Claim 23 (depends on 21)

The method of claim 21, further comprising:
transmitting a message from the communications unit to a second network element indicating that the second network element should notify the originating network element how to process and route the call.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The method of claim 23, further comprising:
extracting a calling party's phone number from the information packet forwarded to the communications unit;
looking up the calling party's number in a database which contains phone numbers which have been marked for fraud to determine whether the calling party's number has been marked for fraud or for accumulated billing charges; and
forwarding a message requesting call termination to the originating network element if the calling party's number has been marked for fraud or for accumulated billing charges.

### Claim 25 (depends on 24)

The method of claim 24, wherein the accumulated billing charges are associated with an abnormally long call being served by the telecommunications network.

### Claim 26 (depends on 23)

The method of claim 23, wherein the through path terminates at the communications unit, so that a customer of the telecommunications network is able to subscribe to a new service automatically by communicating directly with the communications unit.