Delivery of display information to the caller in an advanced intelligent network

An AIN telephone signaling network permitting delivery of information associated to a called party to a caller terminal equipment unit, the called party being associated to a number dialed at the caller terminal equipment unit, said AIN telephone signaling network, comprising:

• a central office switch having a service switching point capability of AIN interaction;
• a plurality of terminal equipment units;
• a plurality of data transport paths permitting exchange of data between respective ones of said plurality of terminal equipment units and said central office switch;
• and
• a service control point connected to said central office switch and capable of exchanging data with said central office switch, said service control point including a database for storing a list of identifiers of terminal equipment units and data elements related to the identifiers of terminal equipment units;
• said central office switch being operative for monitoring said terminal equipment units for detecting a certain condition indicative of a request for receiving certain data, the request originating from a caller terminal equipment unit, the certain data being associated with a called party with which a user of the caller terminal equipment unit wishes to establish a connection;
• when said central office switch detects the certain condition at a certain caller terminal equipment unit, said central office switch being operative for formulating a query request to said service control point, said query request including a telephone number dialed at the caller terminal equipment unit, said query request further including a portion constituting an identifier of the caller terminal equipment unit;
• said service control point being operative for:
• a) searching said list of identifiers of terminal equipment units to locate the identifier of the caller terminal equipment unit included in said query request;
• b) extracting from said database a data element corresponding to the identifier of the caller terminal equipment unit, said data element being indicative of a requirement to invoke a call confirmation procedure at said central office switch;
• c) processing said query request and generating a response message including the certain data associated to the called party and the data element extracted in b);
• and
• d) transmitting the response message generated in c) to said central office switch;
• and
• said central office switch being operative for processing said message and delivering to the certain caller terminal equipment unit the certain data associated to the called party over the data transport path associated with the certain caller terminal equipment unit.

A method for displaying a subscriber name associated with a remote telephone instrument on a caller telephone set, the caller telephone set including a display screen, the remote telephone instrument being associated to a number dialed at the caller telephone set, the caller telephone set being connected to an AIN type network that includes:

• a central office switch having service switching point capability to which the caller telephone set is connected, the central office switch being capable of exchanging data over a certain data transport path with the caller telephone set;
• and
• a service control point capable of exchanging data with said central office switch;
• said method comprising:
• a) monitoring at the central office switch the occurrence of a request originating from the caller telephone set to receive a subscriber name associated with a certain remote telephone instrument, the request from the telephone set including a data element sent by the caller telephone set to said central office switch over said certain data transport path that includes an identifier associated with the certain remote telephone instrument;
• b) formulating at said central office switch a query request in response to said request from the caller telephone set, said query request including an identifier associated to the caller telephone set and the identifier of the certain remote telephone instrument;
• c) forwarding said query request to said service control point;
• d) receiving said query request at said service control point, said service control point including a database containing a plurality of identifiers of telephone instruments associated to corresponding subscriber names and to data elements indicative of a requirement to invoke a call confirmation procedure;
• e) searching said database to locate an identifier corresponding to the identifier of the certain remote telephone instrument;
• f) extracting from said database a subscriber name corresponding to the identifier associated with the certain remote telephone instrument;
• g) searching said list of identifiers of terminal equipment units to locate the identifier in said query request associated to the caller telephone set;
• h) extracting from said database a data element corresponding to the identifier associated to the caller telephone set, said data element being indicative of a requirement to invoke a call confirmation procedure at said central office switch;
• i) formulating a response message including data representative of the subscriber name associated with the certain remote telephone instrument and the data element indicative of a requirement to invoke a call confirmation procedure associated with the caller telephone set;
• j) forwarding said message to said central office switch;
• k) delivering to the telephone set over the certain data transport path the subscriber name associated with the certain remote telephone instrument;
• and
• l) displaying on the display screen of the caller telephone set the subscriber name associated with the certain remote telephone instrument.

A system for displaying a subscriber name associated with a remote telephone instrument on a caller telephone set that includes a display screen, the remote telephone set being associated to a number dialed at the caller telephone set, said caller telephone set being connected to an AIN type network that includes:

• a central office switch having service switching point capability to which the caller telephone set is connected, said central office switch being capable of exchanging data over a certain data transport path with the caller telephone set;
• and
• a service control point capable of exchanging data with said central office switch;
• said system comprising:
• a unit for monitoring at said central office switch occurrence of a request originating from the caller telephone set to receive a subscriber name associated with a certain remote telephone instrument, the request from the caller telephone set including data sent by the caller telephone set to said central office switch over said certain data transport path that includes an identifier of the certain remote telephone instrument;
• a unit for formulating at said central office switch a query request in response to said request from the caller telephone set, said query request including an identifier of the caller telephone set and the identifier of the certain remote telephone instrument;
• a unit for forwarding said query request to said service control point;
• a unit for receiving said query request at said service control point, said service control point including a database containing a plurality of identifiers of telephone instruments related to corresponding subscriber names and to data elements indicative of a requirement to invoke a call confirmation procedure;
• a unit for searching said database to locate an identifier corresponding to the identifier of the certain remote telephone instrument;
• a unit for extracting from said database a subscriber name corresponding to the identifier associated with the certain remote telephone instrument;
• a unit for searching said list of identifiers of terminal equipment units to locate the identifier in said query request associated to the caller telephone set;
• a unit for extracting from said database a data element corresponding to the identifier associated to the caller telephone set, said data element being indicative of a requirement to invoke a call confirmation procedure at said central office switch;
• a unit for formulating a response message including data representative of the subscriber name associated with the certain remote telephone instrument and the data element indicative of a requirement to invoke a call confirmation procedure associated with the caller telephone set;
• and
• a unit for forwarding said message to said central office switch;
• said central office switch being operative to deliver to the caller telephone set over the certain data transport path the subscriber name associated with the certain remote telephone instrument and causing the subscriber name associated with the certain remote telephone instrument to be displayed on the display screen of the caller telephone set.

In combination:

• a caller terminal equipment unit associated to a user, the user being a subscriber of a service that provides selected information about a called party based on the number dialed by the user of the caller terminal equipment unit, the number dialed being associated to the called party;
• a switch for use in a telephone network, said switch having a service switching point capability for AIN interaction, said switch being capable of exchanging data over a certain data transport path with a certain caller terminal equipment unit at which a call session with a destination terminal equipment unit associated with a called party can be originated;
• and
• a service control point connected to said switch and capable of exchanging data with said switch, said service control point including a database for storing a list of identifiers of terminal equipment units and data elements related to the identifiers of terminal equipment units;
• said switch being responsive to an AIN trigger observed on the data transport path, the trigger being indicative of a request originating from the caller terminal equipment unit for delivering certain data to the certain caller terminal equipment unit through AIN interaction, the certain data being associated with a destination terminal unit of the call session for formulating a query request to said service control point, said query request including a number dialed at the caller terminal equipment unit, said query request further including a portion constituting an identifier of the caller terminal equipment unit;
• said service control point being responsive to said query request for:
• a) searching said list of identifiers of terminal equipment units to locate the identifier of the caller terminal equipment unit included in said query request;
• b) extracting from said database a data element corresponding to the identifier of the caller terminal equipment unit, said data element being indicative of a requirement to invoke a call confirmation procedure at said central office switch;
• c) generating a response message containing the certain data and the data element extracted in b);
• and
• d) transmitting said response message to said switch;
• and said switch being responsive to said response message for delivering the certain data associated with a called party, to the certain caller terminal equipment unit over the certain data transport path.