Completion of intelligent network telephone calls

An intelligent network system comprising

• an intelligent terminal including a memory for storing translations between dialed 800 telephone numbers and routing numbers that correspond to those dialed numbers;
• means, responsive to dialing an 800 number, for collecting the digits of the dialed number and comparing said digits to the numbers in the memory;
• an originating switch;
• means for transmitting the dialed number to the originating switch if no match is found by said collecting and comparing means;
• a service control point (SCP);
• means for originating and routing a query message to said service control point (SCP);
• means in said SCP for translating said 800 number to an appropriate routing number and for returning said routing number to said originating switch;
• and
• means in said originating switch for transmitting said routing number to said intelligent terminal for storage in said memory in association with said 800 number.

Apparatus for completing calls via a communications network, said apparatus comprising

• a memory containing routing information associated with dialed numbers;
• means responsive to a particular dialed number for determining if there is an entry in said memory containing said particular dialed number and its associated particular routing information;
• and
• means for (a) outputting to said communications network, said particular routing information stored in said memory, if an entry is present in said memory for said particular dialed number, and (b) (i) generating a query to an element in said communications network, said query including said particular dialed number, and (ii) storing the response to said query received from said element in said communications network, said response including the particular routing information associated with said particular dialed number, in said memory, if an entry is not present in said memory for said particular dialed number.

A method for routing telephone calls originated from an intelligent terminal through a telephone network, said method comprising the steps of

• receiving a dialed telephone number as an input to said intelligent terminal;
• determining if a destination number associated with said dialed telephone number is stored in said intelligent terminal;
• if a destination number associated with said dialed telephone number is stored in said intelligent terminal, transmitting said destination number in lieu of said dialed telephone number, to elements in said telephone network;
• if a destination number associated with said dialed telephone number is not stored in said intelligent terminal, routing a query containing said dialed telephone number to said elements in said telephone network, and, responsive thereto, receiving from said elements in said telephone network, a destination number associated with said dialed telephone number, and storing said destination number in said intelligent terminal.