Telephone call processing
AssigneeMetaswitch Networks Ltd.
InventorsMartin Taylor, Paul Brittain
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention, include provision of enhanced telephony services for telephone calls received at local telephone exchange switches which do not themselves support identification of enhanced telephony service users and the associated triggering to initiate the provision of enhanced telephony services. Using a supported number portability mechanism, local telephone exchange switches allow provision of enhanced telephony services.
Claims13
A method of providing an enhanced telephony service in a telecommunications network, the method comprising:
- maintaining a store of identifiers for enhanced telephony service users in the network;
- configuring a local telephone exchange switch to generate number portability queries for telephone calls received thereby;
- further configuring the local telephone exchange switch to alter a network address to where the local telephone exchange switch transmits number portability queries, the altered network address being associated with a number portability intercept node;
- receiving, at the number portability intercept node, a number portability query relating to a first telephone call in the network, the number portability query comprising a first identifier for the first telephone call, the number portability query being received from the configured local telephone exchange switch;
- searching the store for an identifier corresponding to the first identifier to identify a user of an enhanced telephony service;
- and
- in response to the searching identifying a user of an enhanced telephony service, instructing, at the number portability node, routing of the first telephone call to a first network node in the network responsible for the provision of a first enhanced telephony service, the first network node being different from the configured local telephone exchange switch and the number portability intercept node, and the first enhanced telephony service being a service other than a number portability service.
A method for providing an enhanced telephony service in a telecommunications network comprising a local telephone exchange switch capable of interworking with a telephone call control node remote to the local telephone exchange switch according to an existing interworking function, the method comprising:
- maintaining a store of identifiers for enhanced telephony service users in the network;
- reconfiguring the existing interworking operation to include an additional enhanced telephony service initiation function;
- in response to receiving a telephone call at the local telephone exchange switch, triggering the reconfigured interworking operation;
- during the reconfigured interworking operation, searching the store for an identifier corresponding to the received telephone call to identify a user of an enhanced telephony service;
- in response to the searching identifying a user of an enhanced telephony service, instructing routing of the received telephone call to a node in the network responsible for providing an enhanced telephony service.
A method of providing an enhanced telephony service and a number portability service in a telecommunications network, the method comprising:
- generating, at a local telephone exchange switch, a number portability query including a destination network address;
- altering, at the local telephone exchange switch, the destination network address to a network address associated with a number portability intercept node;
- receiving, at the number portability intercept node, a message caused by the number portability query, the message identifying a user;
- identifying whether the user is registered to receive the enhanced telephony service;
- if the user is so registered, providing the enhanced telephony service;
- if the user is not so registered, providing the number portability service.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions stored thereon, which, when executed cause a computing device to perform a method of providing an enhanced telephony service in a telecommunications network comprising a local telephone exchange switch capable of interworking with a telephone call control node remote to the local telephone exchange switch according to an existing interworking function, the method comprising:
- maintaining a store of identifiers for enhanced telephony service users in the network;
- reconfiguring the existing interworking operation to include an additional enhanced telephony service initiation function;
- in response to receiving a telephone call at the local telephone exchange switch, triggering the reconfigured interworking operation;
- during the reconfigured interworking operation, searching the store for an identifier corresponding to the received telephone call to identify a user of an enhanced telephony service;
- in response to the searching identifying a user of an enhanced telephony service, instructing routing of the received telephone call to a node in the network responsible for providing an enhanced telephony service.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.