Method and apparatus for implementing customer group functionality in a wireless environment

#This invention relates generally to wireless telecommunications services, and in particular to implementing customer group functionality in a wireless environment.

#When wireline (sometimes referred to as landline) telephone service is sought from a local telephone service provider, an employee of the telephone company obtains from the customer the relevant information necessary to implement the desired service. Such information can include billing information, contact information, and the particular features, such as call waiting, call forwarding, and calling number identification presentation, which the subscriber would like set up for their phone. This information is then used to ‘provision’ the appropriate equipment. The provisioning process generates an electronic subscriber ‘profile’ that contains relevant information relating to the subscriber, and which is used by the wireline equipment to implement the desired service for the subscriber. This process, from the information acquisition stage through the provisioning stage, is relatively labor intensive and consequently costly for the service provider.

#In some circumstances, a large number of subscribers may be provisioned for identical services. For example, when a company sets up a new facility, hundreds or even thousands of telephones may need to be provisioned for service with a service provider, and each telephone may have associated with it the same, or substantially the same, services. The use of a ‘customer group’ can ease what might otherwise be a substantial manual effort in entering identical information in the profile of each subscriber. A customer group contains a group profile for a group of subscribers having a set of common services, or features. Each subscriber in the group receives the features activated in the customer group profile, even if the feature is not activated in the subscriber's individual profile. For example, each subscriber associated with a particular customer group can be provisioned with call waiting by provisioning the group profile, without having to modify each subscriber's individual profile. The use of a customer group can greatly reduce the labor that would otherwise be required to similarly provision a large number of subscribers. Moreover, it helps ensure uniformity of features for each individual line.

#The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of this specification, illustrate several aspects of the present invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principals of the present invention. In the drawings:

#FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a wireless subscriber station roaming from a first service area to a second service area;

#FIG. 2 is a diagram of components in a wireless environment or network;

#Reference will now be made in detail to present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals indicate the same elements throughout the views.

#For purposes of illustration, FIGS. 1 and 2 will be discussed together. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a service area 20 (illustrated by shaded cells), a service area 22 (illustrated by clear cells), and a wireless subscriber station 21. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing various components used to coordinate wireless communications within a particular service area, and for transferring wireless communications from one service area to another service area. It will be assumed for purposes of illustration that home location register (HLR) 24 is the HLR for both service areas 20 and 22, although it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this is not a requirement of the present invention. It will be further assumed that mobile switching center (MSC) 26 and visitor location register (VLR) 30 are associated with service area 20, while MSC 28 and VLR 32 are associated with service area 22. The interaction between a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 25 and the MSCs 26, 28 is known to those skilled in the art and will not be discussed in detail herein.

#Wireless subscriber station 21 comprises wireless equipment, such as an analog or digital wireless phone. Upon activation, subscriber station 21 sends a transmission to MSC 26, which in turn queries VLR 30 for information relating to wireless subscriber station 21. Location registers, such as HLR 24 and VLRs 30, 32, maintain information about a particular subscriber station in a record referred to as a profile. Each wireless subscriber station is associated with a particular HLR that is the HLR on which the subscriber station was initially provisioned and that maintains a permanent copy of the subscriber station's profile. The information in the profile can include, for example, the billing information associated with the subscriber station, and feature data indicating the features subscribed to by the wireless subscriber, such as, for example, calling number identification presentation, call forwarding, and distinctive ringing. A copy of the subscriber station's profile is also stored in the VLR associated with the service area in which the particular subscriber station last communicated.