US 6,324,277 B1Granted

Completing telecommunications calls in a competitive local and toll environment

AssigneeAT&T Corp.

InventorsAkinwale Ademola Akinpelu, Promod Kumar Bhagat, Dana Lee Garoutte, Anthony Hatalla, Robert Bruce Hirsch, Ali H. Krisht, Chiu-Kai Lee, James Benford Shepard, Dorothy V. Stanley, Theodore Louis Stern

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Abstract

In an environment of competitive local and interexchange carriers, offering number portability between local carriers serving a common region and between switches serving that region, each local carrier accesses a regional database to determine the identity of the carrier and switch serving a local customer. In addition, interexchange carriers access a national database to determine the identity of the carrier and switch serving the customer specified by the number dialed by an originating customer. For customers requiring high reliability service, alternate carriers can be used to serve such customers in case the primary carrier is unavailable; the databases identify these alternate carriers. Advantageously, this arrangement allows a high degree of freedom of movement of customers between carriers and geographic relocation without requiring a number change.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A method of establishing a telecommunications call from a caller, comprising the steps of:

receiving a Dialed Number of a called party at a first switch of a first local carrier;
determining whether said Dialed Number is for an toll-call connection or a local-call connection;
if it is determined that said Dialed Number is for said local-call connection, accessing by said first local carrier a regional database that associates a dialed number with an identity of a preferred local exchange carrier and an alternate local exchange carrier of said called party and of a preferred switch and an alternate switch for connecting said telecommunications call to said called party specified by said Dialed Number;
and
routing said telecommunications call to said preferred carrier and to said preferred switch for connecting said telecommunications call to said called party specified by said Dialed Number, and routing said call to said alternate carrier and to said alternate switch for connecting said telecommunications call to said called party when said preferred carrier or said preferred switch are not available.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 08/792,053Filed 3 Feb 1997 · continuation in part
Priority: 18 Oct 1994
Granted: 27 Nov 2001
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification17 codes

H04Q 3/0016
Selecting arrangements: arrangements providing connection between exchanges
H04M 15/00
Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication
H04Q 3/005
Provisions for intelligent networking: personal communication services, e.g. provisions for portability of subscriber numbers
H04M 3/42297
In networks: with number portability