Method and apparatus for a customer self-provisioning of outpulsed digits in a telecommunication network

A method for use in a communication service provider's network that routes calls to particular customer premises equipment via a terminating node and at least one trunk line that connects said customer premises equipment to said terminating node, the method comprising,

• receiving from a customer, and storing in a network control point, information identifying a) said at least one trunk line, b) at least one non-geographic telephone number associated with said at least one trunk line, and c) for each said associated telephone number, outpulsed digits that are assigned to that telephone number by said customer, but are other than digits of that telephone number,
• receiving a telephone number dialed to initiate a call, said dialed telephone number being one of the telephone numbers stored in said network control point,
• utilizing said dialed telephone number to retrieve from the network control point the information identifying the associated at least one trunk line and further identifying said outpulsed digits assigned to said dialed telephone number, and
• utilizing the retrieved information identifying said at least one trunk line to route the call to said terminating node and to provide the identified outpulsed digits to said terminating node, said terminating node thereupon routing the call to said customer premises equipment via the identified at least one trunk line, said terminating node outpulsing the identified outpulsed digits to said customer premises equipment, the routing of said call to said terminating node and the routing of said call to said customer premises equipment being independent of said identified outpulsed digits.

A method for use in a communication service provider's network that routes calls to particular customer premises equipment via a terminating node and at least one trunk line that connects said customer premises equipment to said terminating node, the method comprising,

• receiving from a customer, and storing in a network control point without further human intervention, information identifying a) said at least one trunk line, b) a plurality of non-geographic telephone numbers associated with said at least one trunk line, and c) for each identified telephone number, outpulsed digits that are assigned to that telephone number by said customer and are other than digits of that telephone number,
• receiving a telephone number dialed to initiate a call, said dialed telephone number being one of said plurality of telephone numbers stored in said network control point,
• utilizing said dialed telephone number to retrieve from the network control point the information identifying said at least one trunk line and further identifying the outpulsed digits assigned to said dialed telephone number, and
• utilizing the retrieved information identifying said at least one trunk line to route the call to said terminating node and to provide the identified outpulsed digits to said terminating node, said terminating node thereupon routing the call to said customer premises equipment via the identified at least one trunk line, said terminating node outpulsing the identified outpulsed digits to said customer premises equipment, the routing of said call to said terminating node and the routing of said call to said customer premises equipment being independent of said identified outpulsed digits.