MXPA96005680A - Provide special services to a subscriber who calls, configured as a part called virt - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to the special services to the subscriber are implemented by providing functionality operator and service logic of a transit telephone exchange (25) to equip it as a service node. A subscriber (22) connected to a terminal office (21) is coupled to the transmission telephone exchange (25) and invokes the special services functionality (26) by sending signals such as by means of a prolonged blow of the switch hook. Once invoked, the specific special services (31 and 32) can be selected by sending DTMF or digital signals.

Description

"PROVIDE SPECIAL SERVICES TO A SUBSCRIBER WHO CALLS, CONFIGURED AS A VIRTUAL CALL PART" FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to telecommunications systems and, more particularly, to providing special services to the subscriber in a telecommunications network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION History of related technology In telecommunication systems, the special characteristics of the subscriber such as call waiting, call sending, dialing of the abbreviated desired number, etc., have become increasingly important for both individual subscribers (due to reasons of additional convenience) as well as telecommunications providers (because these features are sources of additional income). These features are usually provided by special programming in the communications center software that serve a specific subscriber. That is, the switch software of the local telephone exchange is separately programmed to provide special service features to the subscribers connected thereto. Frequently, both the hardware and the software of a telephone exchange must be improved in order to allow the provision of special functionality to the subscriber. The calls between two parties connected to different telephone exchanges are completed by means of a central tandem or transit telephone call that is part of the network that interconnects the individual central office switches with one another. In those calls, the transit telephone exchange is transparent for the two parties to call and simply provides a voice path between the two urban call centers. Any of the special service features that are invoked by any party must be provided by the urban terminal to which the subscriber is connected, regardless of the network connection between the two parties. In most telecommunication systems that provide simple old telephone service (POTS), the communication link is between a calling party (party A) and the called party (party B), is under the control of party A. That is, the communication link remains in place until that the telephone instrument of part A "hangs up" and then the system interrupts the communication links in the urban terminal centers of both parties and in any transit telephone exchange (s) used to link together the urban terminal stations. Placing the telephone part of the called party (part B) on-hook, has little effect until after a period within the order of several minutes (eg, four minutes) after which the timer expires by activating the disconnection of the circuits between the calling and called parties. In certain other types of telecommunication services, such as the integrated services digital network (ISDN), the disconnection of part B is used but the mechanisms for implementing it are considerably different from those of conventional POTS networks. Providing special services to the subscriber within the conventional telecommunication telephone exchanges requires an extensive improvement of each and every one of the individual telephone exchanges that will supply these special services to the clients. This improvement of telephone exchanges is often extremely costly and virtually prohibitive from a point of cost efficiency with respect to the additional revenues provided by the additional subscriber services. This is particularly prevalent in small towns or rural areas where the demand for special services to the subscriber is relatively low and where the existing telephone exchanges have been placed for a considerable period of time and continue to adequately service telecommunications needs basic subscribers. In telephone exchanges that contain the improved software necessary to provide special services to the subscriber, the mechanism by which these services are activated to the subscriber in the telephone exchange is that of a "hit" on the switch hook of the subscriber's instrument, that is, a brief oppression of the switch hook of the instrument to send signals to the system that special services are required. For example, a short oppression of the switch hook by one part is used to place the other party on hold and talk to a third party in response to a call waiting tone. A second hit of the hook of the switch restores the connection with the other part and disconnects the third part. These blows of the hook are terminated only in the urban terminal with which the subscriber who sends the hook hit is connected. That is, the function of sending signals that is provided by the hit of the hook of the switch is detected only in the local central office to which the sending subscriber is connected and does not reach any transit telephone exchange through which that Office can connect with another local central office. Only when the period of time in which the switch hook is depressed exceeds a first long period of time is when the local switch interprets the hit as a signal of disconnection of the calling party (instead of a signal that invokes special services) to then interrupt the connection. The blow of the switch hook of a considerably longer second period of time is necessary in order to send signals to a called party to disconnect. In any case, a hit of the hook of the real switch is transparent to the transit telephone exchange and is only in response to disconnect the signals received from the urban terminal that cause its network connection to be disconnected between the office. It would be highly desirable that there be a means by which the subscriber's special services could be provided at the transit telephone exchange level so that a transit telephone exchange could service many different local telephone exchanges and thereby minimize the cost of a service provider to offer special services to its subscribers, that is, if special services were provided at the level of the tandem or transit telephone exchange as opposed to the level of the local urban terminal, the modifications in the hardware / The necessary software in the transit telephone exchange would be more cost effective than the improvement of each and every one of the separate urban offices or terminals as is currently the case. Comparatively recently, the concept of the universal telephone number (UTN) has been promoted in which a subscriber would have a single telephone number to identify that subscriber to a telecommunications network regardless of the terminal of the individual network in which the subscriber is located. subscriber. The network would maintain a database so that once the subscriber having the UTN notifies the network of the current access terminal where the subscriber is located, by calling the network and admitting that information, the network can locate the subscriber in case that any of the calls are placed in the UTN. This concept greatly improves the mobility of a subscriber and also allows the subscriber to be provided with special services to the subscriber associated with his UTN. The subscriber can then be provided with the desired complement of the special services, regardless of where the subscriber originates or receives a call. UTN subscribers reasonably expect to be provided with their special services regardless of where they are located or physically located. This expectation is difficult to satisfy in case that special services can be provided to the subscriber only due to special software and programming contained within the urban terminal with which the subscriber is connected. A barrier against the proportion of special services within a transit telephone exchange is that in conventional telecommunication networks POTS, the transit telephone exchanges are essentially transparent to the telecommunications link. That is, it is virtually impossible to use the sending of signals in DTMF band to control the functionality of the special services to the subscriber, since this will avoid the use of this signaling to control other modern telephone applications such as banking services. Therefore, it would be highly desirable to be able to provide a certain means to provide within the transit telephone exchange a capability to implement the characteristics of special services. This will require a means to send signals to the transit telephone exchange that a party wishes to invoke and control the characteristics of special services to the subscriber.

COMPENDIUM OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides special service features within a telecommunication network including a first terminal communications center to which a calling party can be connected, a second terminal communications center with which the called party can be connected and a telephone exchange transit that connects the two urban terminals. The transit telephone exchange is provided with a service switching function and logical service building blocks to provide special service features to the subscriber, a call is completed from a calling party connected to the first central city terminal with a called party connected to the second office through the service switch function of the transit telephone exchange. A signal from the called party is recognized in the transit telephone exchange as being indicative of a desire to invoke special services to the subscriber, in response to the recognition of the called party's signal, the transit telephone exchange is conditioned for additional reception of signals from the called party, indicative of which of the services to the subscriber wish to be invoked. The service logic within the service logical building blocks is connected to the completed call circuit, to which the called subscriber is connected and the special services to the subscriber invoked by the called party are provided by the service logic circuit. The present invention also provides special service features to the subscriber to the universal telephone number (UTN) subscribers within a telephone communication network. Each subscriber has pre-selected specific special services features to which he wishes to have access. The telecommunication network includes a pair of local urban call centers with which one of the UTN subscribers can be connected as either a called party or a calling party. A transit telephone exchange links the offices or urban terminals with the other. A service switch function and logical service building blocks to provide special service features to the subscriber are provided within the transit telephone exchange. At least one UTN subscriber is registered within the transit telephone exchange as being present in a specific access terminal of one of the pair of central urban central terminals. A call is completed from a calling party connected to one of the urban call centers with a called party connected to the other urban call centers through the service switch function of the transit telephone exchange. An event signal is received at the transit telephone exchange from the UTN subscriber connected to the network as a called party. The transit telephone exchange recognizes that the signal of the received event is indicative of the desire of the subscriber UTN to invoke special services to which it has subscribed. The reception of additional signals from the UTN subscriber that selects which of the specific special services it wishes to invoke is conditioned within the logical building blocks of service of the transit telephone exchange and user characteristics within the logical service building blocks of the user. the transit telephone exchange provide each special service characteristic of the subscriber invoked to the UTN subscriber. The registration of at least one UTN subscriber also includes receiving in the transit telephone exchange, from the UTN subscriber connected with an access terminal in an urban terminal, the dialed numbers of the UTN subscriber number and receiving in the telephone exchange of UTN. transit the hanging signal of the subscriber UTN after the marked figures of the number UTN are received. Then a call is completed from the transit telephone exchange to the subscriber UTN in the access terminal from where the dialed numbers of the subscriber number UTN were received to connect the UTN subscriber to the network as a "virtual called party" within the network and allowing the UTN subscriber to place a call to the called party and then invoke the special services by sending signals to the transit telephone exchange with a blow from the extended switch hook.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a complete understanding of the present invention and for the objects and additional advantages thereof, reference may now be made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a functional diagram that illustrates a telecommunication network within which the system of the present invention can be implemented; Figure 2 is a functional diagram of a system embodying the present invention; and Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating the rendition of the special subscriber telecommunication services in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION As discussed above, providing special telecommunication services to subscribers by improving each local telephone exchange is costly and often not cost effective. It is considerably more efficient if the subscriber's special services are provided from a central location, for example, or a transit telephone exchange that can service a plurality of local telephone exchanges and provide special services to the multiple party subscriber. Providing special services to the subscriber associated with the UTN numbers also presents a unique problem. A particularity or main characteristic of having a UTN service is the ability to receive a telecommunication service independently of the terminal (or central urban terminal to which the terminal is connected) in which the subscriber is located or located and the special services can not be generally provided on a base of a local terminal without modification to that local terminal. In this way, providing special service features at the level of a transit telephone exchange has the additional advantage in the case of providing these services to UTN subscribers. *** As discussed above, the switch hooks are usually used in advanced local urban terminal stations to activate access to the subscriber's special services. Therefore, in the terminal offices that are equipped to provide these features, the reception of a "hung" condition is interpreted as being a signal to implement the characteristics of special services. It is only in case the hanging condition lasts beyond a pre-selected period of time, which is communicated outside the local telephone exchange to the network. For example, if the duration of the hook strike is within the range of 50 to 300 milliseconds, it is terminated at the local central office; when the hanging condition lasts through a period greater than 300 milliseconds, more or less is considered as being a "hanging condition" and the operation of a stopwatch starts at the transit telephone exchange that expires after three or four minutes for interrupt the call as a condition of "disconnection of the called party". Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown a first local telephone exchange 11 with which the A 12 or calling party is connected, and a second exchange 13 or termination with which a B 14 or called party is connected. The two offices 11 and 13 are connected by means of the transit telephone exchange 15 which is coupled by the communication link 16 with the telephone exchange 11 and the communication link 17 with the telephone exchange 13. Figure 1 illustrates the conventional way of " disconnect the calling party "which requires a called party to be connected for a considerable period of time in order to effect a disconnection of the link. Once a communication path between part 12A and part 14B is installed, a condition "" hung "on the instrument of part A will activate a disconnection of the entire link. A "hanging" condition that occurs in the instrument of part 14B, it will initially be recognized in only the local telephone exchange 13 and can be seen as a signal to invoke special services if that local telephone exchange is able to provide them. It is only when the "hanging" condition of part B lasts more than a selected period that. its event is communicated out to the link 17 to the telephone exchange 15 where a timer is operated to disconnect the call after a selected period of time.

As can be seen in Figure 1, the subscriber's special services can be provided to part 12A in case these services are implemented in their own local terminal 11. Similarly, special services can be provided to the subscriber to the 14B part. in case the local telephone exchange 13 with which it is connected is removed to provide these services. When a UPT subscriber who normally resides outside the network shown in Figure 1 and who has subscribed to certain special services the subscriber tries to implement those services either as part 12A or part 14B, those services can not be provided if the special services are only available due to the programming of the 12 or 13 local telephone exchanges. The system of the present invention provides a means within the transit exchange 15 for providing special service features to the subscriber to a subscriber party connected within the network, regardless of whether that subscriber is connected to the party 12A or to the party 14B. In general, the transit telephone exchange 15 is improved to become a UPT service node by providing functionality to the operator therein as well as a means to analyze and respond to UPT numbers to provide special service features to the subscriber under control. either of the DTMF signals or voice mechanisms. This functionality can be provided in different ways, including the addition of a special services subsystem (SES) within a stored-program controlled telecommunication switching center (SPC) AX-10, of the type manufactured by Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, the concessionaire of the present invention. This SES includes numerous modules that provide all the necessary functionality to improve an SPC telephone exchange to incorporate special service features to the subscriber. With the transit telephone exchange 15 having its improved functionality with respect to that of a UTP server node as described above, a subscriber 14B can then interact with the transit telephone exchange by means of a hook hit of the switch. extended and invoke the special services to the subscriber. That is, assuming that the transit telephone exchange 15 is constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention and a call is made from the subscriber 12 A to the subscriber 14 B in Figure 1 through the urban terminal stations 11 and 13 , a UPT user connected to the access line 14 of the subscriber B can invoke special services by first making a prolonged hit of the switch hook of sufficient interval to be passed out of the terminal exchange 13 to the transit telephone exchange. As discussed above, a hit of the hook having a hanging period of approximately 50 to 300 milliseconds, for example, simply communicates with the terminal exchange 13 and is normally used to invoke special services that. they are provided through that office or central office. However, a stroke of more than about 300 milliseconds, for example, 500 to 1500 milliseconds (prolonged hook hit) would be communicated outside the terminal hub 13 and detected at the transit telephone terminal 14. The detection of this signal in the transit telephone exchange is interpreted as a wish of a UPT user connected to terminal 14 of part B to invoke special services. The signal would condition the necessary circuit to then receive the subscriber characteristic control information from the UPT user in the terminal 14 B. For example, the DTMF numbers could be used to select the desired special services or a voice request for the entry of certain DTMF figures that could also be used as a menu. Then, the special services to the subscriber subscribed to and invoked by the UPT user located in terminal B 14 se - lí would provide through the transit telephone exchange. When a UPT user is the called party in a network that has disconnection from the calling party, the present invention is implemented to provide special services in response to the receipt of a prolonged blow from the switch hook at an "event detection point". "provided at the transit exchange 15. The present system also provides an "intermediate call activator" mechanism by which the called party can invoke the special services provided by a transit telephone exchange. The system of the present invention also includes a technique by means of which a transit telephone exchange provides special services to the subscriber both to the UPT part A and to the UPT part B within a calling party's release environment. Referring to Figure 2 there is shown a terminal exchange 21 to which the part 22 A which calls through a second terminal 23 is connected to a part B called 24. The terminal exchanges 21 and 23 are connected to one another by a transit exchange 20 providing a service switch function 25 connected to the terminal exchange 21 via a main line 26 and with the exchange terminal 23 via a main line 27. The portion 25 of the service switching function of the The transit telephone exchange 20 is connected to the service logical building blocks 28 (SLBBs) where a plurality of user characteristics 31 and 32 are provided. Assuming that the subscriber comprising the calling party A is a UPT subscriber. , the service switching function 25 receives, illustratively, the figures of its UPT number marked by the subscriber A 22 followed by an identification number. Personal n (PIN). Upon completion of dialing your own UPT number and PIN code, UPT's elaborate connected terminal 22 A simply hangs up. Then, the service switching function 25 completes a call back to the access with which the part A 22 was connected in the terminal exchange 21 and when the party answers it it effectively becomes a called or "virtual" part B. 22 B as it relates to the service switching function 25. Then, the UPT subscriber now connected to the network as part 22 B "call" virtual admits the numbers of the part B 24 real call. Upon completion of the connection between part 22 B and part 24, through function 25 of the service switch, both parts 22 B and 24 are actively connected to the transit telephone exchange 20 as the "called" parties. Then, any of the parties can invoke the special services to the subscriber of the function 25 of the service switch in the transit telephone exchange 20 by means such as a hook hit of the extended switch just as in the case of the part B 14 called in the example described above in relation to Figure 1. The service logical building blocks 28 (SLBBs) within the transit telephone exchange 20 are of the general types specified by. the specifics of the CCITT. However, the specific SLBBs 28 involved in the present invention would include a programmable timer capable of detecting a hook hit of the extended switch indicative of the fact that a subscriber wishes to invoke special service features that are provided by the transit exchange. In addition, the SLBBs 28 would also include the required number of normal modules needed to provide the characteristics of special services available for selection by the parties. Service logic-consists of three basic parts, a source portion that provides the connection to the calling party, a termination portion to provide a connection to the called party, and a service logic to provide a subscriber with the service. logic of the special services feature. Referring next to Figure 3, there is a flow chart illustrating certain aspects of the methods inherent in the present invention. At 41, a UPT subscriber is registered with the system. registration with function 25 of the service switch is required within the transit exchange 20 when a UPT user for both outgoing and incoming calls, eg, the UPT user may go to a different location site normal and simply select a phone terminal in that site and dial in the network and register as being present in a certain access number. The system registers the presence of the UPT user in that registered access number and updates its database so that calls placed in the network for the UPT subscriber can be sent to a specific access terminal in which it is placed in the network. Currently, a UPT user who wishes to place a call from a terminal other than his ordinary location can dial his own UPT number in the network followed by a PIN code and thus register with the network and update its database to access the special service features of the UPT subscriber with which it has subscribed. A UPT user can connect to the transit telephone exchange for access to special services to the subscriber either as a calling party or a called party after the UPT user has registered with the network as represented at 41. Then, at 42, an incoming call to the network and destined for the registered UPT user would be recognized as such at the transit telephone exchange or at any other place within the network at 43. The incoming call is addressed at 44 to the service switching function and the call service logic that corresponds to the characteristics of special services with which the UPT user receiving the call associated with the call is associated in 45. In 46, the logic of The control in the transit telephone exchange retains the call for the UPT subscriber as part B and in 47 completes the connection with the B party to establish the call with the calling party. Since the UPT user is connected to the part B due to the establishment of the original call, it is capable of sending signals via a hook of the extended switch to the network to invoke the characteristics of special services associated with the level of the exchange transit telephone However, at 42, if the UPT subscriber wishes to place an outgoing call as a calling party, the procedure moves up to 51, where the UPT subscriber dials his own UPT number plus a PIN code and then hangs up . At 52, the service logic recognizes the UPT subscriber and the PIN code and establishes a new connection from the service switching function to the UPT calling subscriber at the access terminal where the call was placed. Effectively, this connects the UPT subscriber who wishes to place the call on the network as a virtual "part B". Then, at 53, the calling UPT subscriber dials the real number B of the called party to establish the call and the network completes the call through a connection at 47. Assuming that any of the subscribers of Illustrative UPT, both of which are viewed as "B parts" by the network generates a prolonged hit of the hook at 61, that strike is communicated outside the central terminal to the transit telephone exchange. At 62 the system at an event detection point (EDP) within the transit telephone exchange determines whether the length of time of the prolonged hook hit was within a programmed scale to the service switching function to be recognized as a "intermediate call activation" sending signals for the desire of a UPT user to invoke special service features from the network. If the interval of the hook of the switch hook was not within the pre-programmed scale, the system moves to 63 and ignores the hit. however, in 62, the time interval during which the instrument of the UPT subscribers was adapted was within the pre-programmed scale, eg, from 400 to 1500 milliseconds, the system moves to 64 where activates the user's characteristic logic. Then, at 65, the system receives the DTMF signals or other responses to the voice menu to select the specific characteristics of special services desired by the UPT subscriber by invoking the features by a prolonged blow of the switch hook. At 66, the system performs the selected feature for the UPT subscriber. As can be seen from the foregoing description, the present invention proposes the rendering of services in a manner indicative of an intelligent network (IN). However, it should be understood that the system can be implemented without IN hardware simply by providing certain well-known components in the transit telephone exchange to respond to a "prolonged switch hook" strike of predetermined duration to allow the selection of certain characteristics of special services and provide those characteristics through the service logic. The system and method of the present invention allow the rendering of special service features to a subscriber and, particularly UPT subscribers, in a highly efficient manner. Special features are provided to the subscriber within a network at a considerably lower cost to the operators and without any costly modification of the terminal offices of the local telephone exchange. It is believed, therefore, that the operation and construction of the present invention will become apparent from the foregoing description. Although the method, apparatus and system shown and described has been characterized as being preferred, it will be evident that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims.

Claims (10)

R E I V I N D I C A C I O N E S:

1. The method for providing special service features to the subscriber within a telephone communication network according to claim 4, the step of receiving a first signal that invokes certain special features to the subscriber further comprises the steps of: detecting within the exchange transit telephone receiving a second signal from the calling party or real call by selecting a special service feature to the specific subscriber to invoke; and carry out the special services feature at the specific selected subscriber in the transit telephone exchange.

2. The method for providing features of special services to the subscriber within a telephone communication network according to claim 4, wherein the hit of the hook of the switch is of sufficient duration to be detected outside the local central exchange with which The calling party or the called real party is connected to the transit telephone exchange.

3. The method for providing special service features to the subscriber within a telephone communication network according to claim 2, wherein the sufficient duration of the hit of the switch hook is between 500 and 1500 milliseconds.

4. A method for providing features of special services to the subscriber within a telephone telecommunication network that includes a pair of local exchange with which one or more subscribers is connected as a calling or calling party and a transit telephone exchange coupled between the local terminal exchanges, comprising the steps of: receiving a call from a calling party authorized to receive special characteristics to the subscriber in the transit telephone exchange, the calling party is connected to a certain local terminal exchange; subsequently receive a signal hung from the calling party at the transit telephone exchange; complete a call from the transit telephone exchange back to the calling party through a certain local terminal where the calling party originally called to connect the calling party to the telephone communication network as a "virtual party" call "place a call from the calling party as a virtual called party to a current called party connected to another local telephony terminal office, the call being completed through the transit telephone exchange; then receiving in the transit telephone exchange the first signal from either the calling party or the called real party, the first signal comprising a hook hit of the switch; and recognizing within the transit telephone exchange that the first received signal is indicative of the desire of the calling party or real party to invoke a feature of a plurality of special service features to the subscriber.

5. The method for providing features of special services to the subscriber within a telephone communication network according to claim 4, wherein the step of receiving a first signal also includes the step of receiving a number in the transit telephone exchange. Personal identification (PIN).

6. The system for providing features of special services to the subscriber within a telephone communication network according to claim 9, the means for receiving a first signal that invokes certain special features to the subscriber further comprises: a means for detecting within the transit telephone exchange after recognizing the first signal, receiving a second signal from the calling party or the called real party by selecting a specific characteristic of special services to the subscriber to invoke; and a means for carrying out the specific selected subscriber's special services feature.

7. The system for providing features of special services to the subscriber within a telephone communication network in accordance with claim 9, wherein the hook hit of the switch is of sufficient duration to be detected outside the central office of the local office to which the calling party or the called real party is connected and in the transit telephone exchange.

The system for providing special service features to the subscriber within a telephone communication network according to claim 7, wherein the sufficient duration of the hook strike of the switch is between 500 and 1500 milliseconds.

9. A system for providing features of special services to the subscriber within a telephone communication network that includes a pair of local terminal office exchanges to which one or more of the subscribers is connected as a calling or calling party and a telephone exchange traffic coupled between the terminal stations of the local office comprising: means for receiving a call from a calling subscriber authorized to receive special characteristics of the subscriber in the transit telephone exchange, the calling subscriber is connected to a certain terminal office from the local exchange; means for subsequently receiving a signal hung from the calling party at the transit telephone exchange; means for completing a call from the transit telephone exchange to the calling party through a terminal office of the local exchange from where a calling party originally called to connect the calling subscriber with the telephone communication network as a "virtual call party" and also allowing the calling subscriber to place a call as a virtual call party to an actual called party connected to another terminal office of the local exchange, the call is completed through the transit telephone exchange; means for then receiving a first signal from either the calling part or the called real part at the transit telephone exchange, the first signal comprising a hook hit of the switch; and means for recognizing within the transit telephone exchange that the first received signal is indicative of the desire of the calling party or the real called party to invoke one of a plurality of pre-selected special service features to the subscriber.

10. The system for providing special service features to the subscriber within a telephone communication network according to claim 9, wherein the means for receiving the first signal further includes means for receiving a number in the transmission telephone exchange. Personal identification (PIN).