Arrangement for outbound telecommunications

In a telecommunications system, apparatus for altering the characteristics of outbound telephone calls originated in one of a plurality of target stations and routed to a destination via a telecommunications network including a plurality of switches, each of said target stations being homed on a particular one of said switches, said apparatus comprising:

• means for storing a plurality of records, each record indicative of the characteristics to be applied to calls processed in said switches;
• means for transferring, in response to a call initiated from a location remote from a particular one of said target stations, one of said records to the one of said switches on which said one target station is homed;
• and
• means in each of said switches including an ANI trigger table responsive to ANI information in a call originated from said target station, for applying characteristics to said call in accordance with said transferred one of said stored records.

A system for customizing billing records generated in connection with telephone calls originating from a particular telephone instrument, said particular telephone instrument being connected to a toll switch in a communication network via a local switch, said local switch arranged to pass an indication of the origination number of said particular telephone instrument to said toll switch, said system comprising:

• a trigger table in said toll switch arranged to generate a query in response to receipt of a telephone call from a particular telephone instrument only if the origination number of said particular telephone instrument is stored in said trigger table;
• a database for retrieving and applying to said toll switch, in response to said query, a particular one of a plurality of records stored in said database, said record indicating the characteristics to be applied to billing records generated in connection with said telephone call;
• and
• means for updating from a remote location, originating numbers stored in said trigger table and records stored in said database.

Apparatus for customizing calling characteristics for calls placed by subscriber from a telephone station and routed through a telecommunications network including a plurality of intelligent switches, said apparatus comprising:

• database means for storing a profile containing desired calling characteristics for said subscriber;
• means responsive to designation of a particular telephone station by said subscriber for transferring said profile to a selected one of said switches on which said particular station is homed;
• and
• means including an ANI trigger table in said selected switch for accessing said transferred profile in response to a call originated in said particular telephone station so as to complete calls made from said particular telephone station in accordance with characteristics contained in said profile.

In a telecommunications system, a method for altering the features provided to outbound telephone calls originating from a target station and routed to a destination via a switch, said method comprising the steps of:

• storing in a database a record indicative of the features to be applied to calls originated from said target station and processed in said switch,
• retrieving said record from said database in response to automatic number identification (ANI) information associated with a call originated from said target station;
• applying characteristics to said call as specified in said retrieved record, and
• updating said record in said database in response to a call initiated from a station other than said target station.

In a telecommunications system, a method for altering the characteristics of outbound telephone calls originated in one of a plurality of target stations and routed to a destination via a telecommunications network including a plurality of switches, each of said target stations being homed on a particular one of said switches, said method comprising the steps of:

• storing a plurality of records, each record indicative of the characteristics to be applied to calls processed in said switches;
• transferring, in response to a call initiated from a location remote from a particular one of said target stations, one of said records to the one of said switches on which said one target station is homed;
• and
• responsive to ANI information in a call originated from said target station, processing said call in said one of said switches on which said one target station is homed in accordance with characteristics specified in said transferred one of said stored records.

A method for customizing billing records generated in connection with telephone calls originating from a particular telephone instrument, said particular telephone instrument being connected to a toll switch in a communications network via a local switch, said local switch arranged to pass an indication of the origination number of said particular telephone instrument to a trigger table in said toll switch, said method comprising:

• generating a query in response to receipt of a telephone call from a particular telephone instrument only if the origination number of said particular telephone instrument is stored in said trigger table;
• retrieving and applying to said toll switch, in response to said query, a particular one of a plurality of profiles stored in a database, said particular profile indicating the characteristics to be applied to billing records generated in connection with said telephone call;
• generating a billing record in said toll switch in accordance with information contained in said particular one of said profiles;
• and
• periodically updating from a remote location, originating numbers stored in said trigger table and profiles stored in said database.

A method for generating a billing record for a long distance call originated in a telephone station and routed to a destination via a toll switch, said system comprising:

• storing in a database, profiles containing information indicative of desired billing characteristics to be applied to long distance calls;
• retrieving one of said profiles from said database in response to receipt of a call originated from said telephone station, said one profile being selected as a function of the telephone number of said telephone station;
• and
• processing said retrieved profile in said toll switch so as to generate a billing record for said long distance call having said desired billing characteristics.

A method of customizing calling characteristics for calls placed by a subscriber from a telephone station and routed through a telecommunications network including a plurality of intelligent switches, said method comprising:

• storing in a database, a profile containing desired calling characteristics for said subscriber;
• transferring said profile, in response to designation of a particular telephone station by said subscriber, to a selected one of said switches on which said particular station is homed;
• and
• processing information contained in said profile in said selected switch so as to service calls made from said particular telephone station in accordance with characteristics contained in said profile.