Telephone switch dual monitors

A monitoring system for a pair of telephone switches operating in mated relationship to one another such that a plurality of call control data messages pertaining to a separate communication network carrying voice or data signals of a particular call transaction over a selected communication channel between a calling party and a called party will always pass through one or both of said pair of switches, said monitoring system comprising:

• a first processor associated with a first of said pair of switches, wherein said first processor is coupled to each one of a plurality of data links connected to said first switch, wherein said first switch data links transfer said call control data messages into and out of said first switch, and wherein said first processor captures said call control data messages from said first switch data links and stores said call control data messages in a first call record;
• a second processor associated with a second of said pair of switches, wherein said second processor is coupled to each one of a plurality of data links connected to said second switch, wherein said second switch data links transfer said call control data messages into and out of said second switch, and wherein said second processor captures said call control data messages from said second switch data links and stores said call control data messages in a second call record;
• and
• a communications bus coupled to said first processor and to said second processor for transferring at least one of said call control data messages between said first call record and said second call record whenever said first processor and said second processor both capture said call control data messages pertaining to said particular call transaction.

A method of monitoring a pair of telephone switches operating in mated relationship to one another such that a plurality of call control messages pertaining to a separate communication network carrying voice or data signals of a particular call transaction over a selected communication channel between a calling party and a called party will always pass through one or both of the pair of switches, the method comprising the steps of:

• capturing the call control messages of the particular call transaction with a pair of monitoring devices, wherein each monitoring device is associated with one of the pair of telephone switches;
• storing the captured call control messages in a memory table in each monitoring device;
• establishing the memory table in one of the monitoring devices as a primary memory table and the memory table in the other monitoring device as a secondary memory table;
• truncating the captured call control messages in the secondary memory table into a subset record comprising calling party identification, called party identification and communication network link identification;
• transferring the subset record to the primary memory table;
• and
• merging the subset record with the captured call control messages stored in the primary memory table that correspond to the particular call transaction based on the calling party identification, called party identification and communication network link identification to thereby create a unified call record.