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Claims  |
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What is claimed is:
1. A method for processing database-queried calls through a communication
switching system which includes:
i) a first database storing call handling and routing information;
ii) a second database which is connected to said first database and which
stores subscriber information including callers' related information; and
iii) a source of call origination information,
wherein said method includes the steps of:
generating a first call process information by applying said call
origination information to said first database;
transmitting said first call process information to said second database;
retrieving in said second database said stored callers' related information
using said first call process information as a retrieval key;
generating in said second database a second call process information as a
joint function of said retrieved stored callers' related information and
said first call process information;
transmitting said second call process information to said first database;
and
formulating in said first database processing instructions comprised of a
destination number for routing and handling said call using said second
call process information.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said second call process information is a
processing label which includes at least one of the following fields i) a
routing label which provides routing input data to said carrier's database
ii) an end point label which denotes characteristics associated with calls
iii) a billing information label which contains data for creating a
billing record for said calls.
3. A method for processing database-queried calls through a communication
switching system which includes:
i) a first database storing call processing programs and call handling and
routing information and;
ii) a second database which is connected to said first database and which
stores subscriber information including routines and callers' related
information; and
iii) a source of call origination information,
wherein said method includes the steps of:
receiving in said first database said call origination information;
retrieving from said first database said stored call handling and routing
information which instructs said first database to send said call
origination information to said second database;
transmitting said call origination information to said second database in
order for said second database to execute said stored routines using as
input said caller's related information and said call origination
information to generate call process information;
receiving in said first database said call process information from said
second database;
executing in said first database said call processing programs to determine
a destination number and a call treatment for said call using as input
said call process information and said stored call handling and routing
information.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein said call treatment includes directing
said call to an audio response unit.
5. A method for processing database-queried calls using the call processing
capabilities of a communication switching system, which includes:
i) a carrier's database which receives call originating information from an
originating switch, and which stores a plurality of carrier definable call
processing programs, call handling instructions and routing parameters
associated with a subscriber; and
ii) a subscriber's database which stores subscriber definable programs,
parameters and callers' related information, and which has a connection to
said carrier's database, wherein said method comprises the steps of:
a) retrieving from said carrier's database said call handling instructions
which direct said carrier's database to forward said call originating
information to said subscriber's database via said connection;
b) sending said call originating information to said subscriber's database
so that said subscriber's database can execute said subscriber definable
programs to formulate a processing label in said subscriber's database as
a logical function of the value of said call originating information and
said caller's related information associated with said originating
information;
c) receiving in said carrier's database via said connection, said
processing label from said subscriber's database;
d) executing said call processing programs in said carrier's database using
as input data said processing label information and said routing
parameters to select a destination number for said call wherein said
destination number conforms to characteristics denoted in said processing
label; and
e) forwarding said destination number and at least part of said processing
label from said carrier's database to said originating switch in order to
route said call to a subscriber's location using said communication
switching system.
6. The invention defined in claim 5, wherein the subscriber definable
programs are comprised of:
a) decision instructions which i) compare values of at least one of a
plurality of stored fields in a record associated with a caller to
predefined parameters and ii) derive action instructions from said
comparison; and
b) action instructions which specify i) input data to be evaluated in the
execution of call processing programs in said carrier's database and ii)
commands for specific functions to be performed by said carrier's
database.
7. The method of claim 5, further including the step of said carrier's
database instructing said originating switch to direct an attached call
prompting device to solicit and collect information from said caller to
supplement said originating information prior to forwarding said
originating information to said subscriber's database.
8. The method of claim 5, further including the steps of:
determining in said subscriber's database if a record exists for said
caller; and
directing said carrier's database to instruct said originating switch to
solicit and collect information from said caller upon a negative outcome
of said determining step.
9. The method of claim 5, wherein, said originating information passed by
said carrier's database to said subscriber's database includes:
i) the Automatic Number Identification (ANI) of a calling station;
ii) a called number; and
iii) caller entered information.
10. The method of claim 5, wherein said processing label includes at least
one of the following fields:
i) a routing label which provides routing input data to said carrier's
database;
ii) an end point label denoting characteristics associated with said call;
iii) a billing information label which contains data for creating a billing
record for said call.
11. The method of claim 10 further including the step of subscriber's
premise equipment at said subscriber's location receiving said call and
routing said call to one of a plurality of attendant split positions as a
function of the information contained in said end point label.
12. The method of claim 11 further including the step of said subscriber's
premise equipment forwarding said end point label to display monitors.
13. The method of claim 11 further including the step of said subscriber's
premise equipment forwarding said end point label to an attached processor
to retrieve additional information about said call.
14. The method of claim 5 further including the steps of:
determining in said carrier's database the operational status of said
subscriber's database; and
invoking a default routing logic when said subscriber's database is
disabled.
15. The method of claim 5 further including the step of said carrier's
database temporarily disabling communications with said subscriber's
database upon instructions from said subscriber.
16. The method of claim 5 further comprising the steps of:
receiving in said carrier's database at call termination, a call
termination message from said originating switch;
receiving in said subscriber's database said call termination message sent
by said carrier's database; and
updating a call handling resources file in said subscriber's database using
said received call termination message.
17. The method of claim 10 wherein said routing label directs said
carrier's database to route said call to an audio response unit capable of
emitting a plurality of announcements, and wherein one of said
announcements is selected as a function of the value of said end point
label.
18. The method of claim 10 wherein said billing information label is
forwarded by said carrier's database to said originating switch for the
purpose of creating a billing record for said call after said call has
been terminated.
19. The method of claim 5, wherein said forwarding step by said carrier's
database of said destination number to said originating switch further
includes the step of sending said destination number to said subscriber's
database after said call has been completed; and wherein said method
includes updating a file of call handling resources available at all
subscriber's locations in accordance with said forwarded information.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein records of said updated call handling
resources file in said subscriber's database are used as input data in the
formulation of said processing label
21. The method of claim 10, wherein said routing label associates said call
to a specific class triggering the execution of specific routing tree
instructions in said carrier definable programs in said carrier's database
to determine a treatment for said call.
22. A method of routing a caller-initiated database-queried call to a
subscriber's premise equipment and forwarding to said subscriber's premise
equipment information associated with said call, using the call processing
capabilities of a communication switching system comprised of:
i) an originating switch which receives from the caller originating
information associated with said call;
ii) a carrier's storage and processing facility storing carrier definable
call processing programs, subscriber's related call processing information
and routing parameters; and
iii) a subscriber's storage and processing facility storing subscriber
definable programs and callers' related information,
wherein said method comprises the steps of:
a) retrieving in said carrier's storage and processing facility initial
call handling instructions based on said subscriber's related call
processing information;
b) forwarding to said subscriber's storage and processing facility said
originating information associated with said call so that said
subscriber's storage and processing facility can execute said subscriber
definable programs to formulate a processing label identifying with a code
a plurality of stations with specific characteristics associated with said
call at any of a plurality of locations;
c) receiving said processing label in said carrier's storage and processing
facility and devising a destination number for said call in said carrier's
storage and processing facility using at least part of said processing
label and said carrier's storage and processing facility routing
parameters;
e) forwarding said destination number and part of said processing label to
said originating switch;
f) routing said call to said subscriber's premise equipment using said
communication switching system; and
g) forwarding part of said processing label to said subscriber's premise
equipment for the purpose of directing said call to one of a plurality of
specific stations connected to said subscriber's premise equipment.
23. A system for processing database-queried calls through a communication
switching system which includes:
i) a first database storing call handling and routing information;
ii) a second database which is connected to said first database and which
stores subscriber information including callers' related information; and
iii) a source of call origination information,
wherein said system includes:
means for generating first call process information by applying said call
origination information to said first database;
means for transmitting said first call process information to said second
database;
means for retrieving in said second database said stored callers' related
information using said first call process information as a retrieval key;
means for generating in said second database second call process
information as a joint function of said retrieved stored callers's related
information and said first call process information;
means for transmitting said second call process information to said first
database; and
means for formulating in said first database processing instructions
comprised of a destination number for routing and handling said call using
said second call process information.
24. A system for processing database-queried calls through a communication
switching system which includes:
i) a first database storing call processing programs and call handling and
routing information and;
ii) a second database which is connected to said first database and which
stores subscriber information including routines and callers' related
information; and
iii) a source of call origination information,
wherein said system includes:
means for receiving in said first database said call origination
information;
means for retrieving from said first database said stored call handling and
routing information which instructs said first database to send said call
origination information to said second database;
means for transmitting said call origination information to said second
database in order for said second database to execute said stored routines
using as input said caller's related information and said call origination
information to generate call process information;
means for receiving in said first database said call process information
from said second database;
means for executing in said first database said call processing programs to
determine a destination number and a call treatment for said call using as
input said call process information and said stored call handling and
routing information.
25. The system of claim 24, further including means in said first database
to select a destination number as call treatment.
26. The system of claim 24, further including means in said first database
to direct said call to an audio response unit as a form of call treatment.
27. A system for processing database-queried calls using the call
processing capabilities of a communication switching system, which
includes:
i) a carrier's database which receives call originating information from an
originating switch, and which stores a plurality of carrier definable call
processing programs, call handling instructions and routing parameters
associated with a subscriber; and
ii) a subscriber's database which stores subscriber definable programs,
parameters and callers' related information, and which has a connection to
said carrier's database, wherein said system comprises:
a) means for retrieving from said carrier's database said call handling
instructions which direct said carrier's database to forward said call
originating information to said subscriber's database via said connection;
b) means for sending said call originating information to said subscriber's
database so that said subscriber's database can execute said subscriber
definable programs to formulate a processing label in said subscriber's
database as a logical function of the value of said call originating
information and said caller's related information associated with said
originating information;
c) means for receiving in said carrier's database via said connection, said
processing label from said subscriber's database;
d) means for executing said call processing programs in said carrier's
database using as input data said processing label information and said
routing parameters to select a destination number for said call wherein
said destination number conforms to characteristics denoted in said
processing label; and
e) means for forwarding said destination number and at least part of said
processing label from said carrier's database to said originating switch
in order to route said call to a subscriber's location using said
communication switching system.
28. The invention defined in claim 27, wherein the subscriber definable
programs include:
a) decision instructions which i) compare values of at least one of a
plurality of stored fields in a record associated with a caller to
predefined parameters and ii) derive action instructions from said
comparison; and
b) action instructions which specify i) input data to be evaluated in the
execution of call processing programs in said carrier's database and ii)
commands for specific functions to be performed by said carrier's
database.
29. The system of claim 27, further including means in said carrier's
database for instructing said originating switch to direct an attached
call prompting device to solicit and collect information from said caller
to supplement said originating information prior to forwarding said
originating information to said subscriber's database.
30. The system of claim 27, further including:
means for determining in said subscriber's database if a record exists for
said caller; and
means for directing said carrier's database to instruct said originating
switch to solicit and collect information from said caller upon a negative
outcome of said determination.
31. The system of claim 27, wherein, said originating information passed by
said carrier's database to said subscriber's database includes:
i) the Automatic Number Identification (ANI) of a calling station;
ii) a called number; and
iii) caller entered information.
32. The system of claim 27, wherein said processing label includes at least
one of the following fields:
i) a routing label which provides routing input data to said carrier's
database;
ii) an end point label denoting characteristics associated with said call;
iii) a billing information label which contains data for creating a billing
record for said call.
33. The system of claim 32 further including means for subscriber's premise
equipment at said subscriber's location receiving said call to route said
call to one of a plurality of attendant split positions as a function of
the value of said end point label.
34. The system of claim 33 further including means in said subscriber's
premise equipment for forwarding said end point label to display monitors.
35. The system of claim 33 further including means in said subscriber's
premise equipment for forwarding said end point label to an attached
processor in order to retrieve additional information about said call.
36. The system of claim 27 further including:
means for determining in said carrier's database the operational status of
said subscriber's database; and
means for invoking a default routing logic when said subscriber's database
is disabled.
37. The system of claim 27 further including means in said carrier's
database for temporarily disabling communications with said subscriber's
database upon instructions from said subscriber.
38. The system of claim 32 further including means in said carrier's
database for using said routing label to route said call to an audio
response unit capable of emitting a plurality of announcements, and
wherein one of said announcements is selected as a function of the value
of said end point label.
39. The system of claim 32 further including means in said carrier's
database for forwarding said billing information label to said originating
switch for the purpose of creating a billing record for said call.
40. The system of claim 27, wherein, said destination number forwarding
means in said carrier's database further includes means for sending said
destination number to said subscriber's database after said call has been
completed; and wherein said system further includes means for updating a
file of call handling resources available at all subscriber's locations in
accordance with said forwarded information.
41. The system of claim 40, wherein said updating means further includes
means for updating said file of call handling resources in accordance with
a preselected average call holding time
42. The system of claim 40, wherein said updating means further includes
means for receiving in said carrier's database at call termination, a call
termination message from said originating switch;
means for receiving in said subscriber's database said call termination
message sent by said carrier's database; and
means for updating said call handling resources file in said subscriber's
database in accordance with said received information.
43. The method of claim 40 further including means for using records of
said updated call handling resources file in said subscriber's database as
input data in the formulation of said processing label.
44. The system of claim 32, further including means for using said routing
label to associate said call to a specific class triggering the execution
of specific routing tree instructions in said carrier definable programs
in said carrier's database to determine a treatment for said call.
45. A system of routing a database-queried call initiated by a caller to a
subscriber's premise equipment and forwarding to said subscriber's premise
equipment information associated with said call, using the call processing
capabilities of a communication switching system comprised of:
i) an originating switch which receives from the caller originating
information associated with the call;
ii) a carrier'storage and processing facility storing carrier definable
call processing programs, subscriber's related call processing information
and routing parameters; and
iii) a subscriber's storage and processing facility storing subscriber
definable programs and callers' related information,
wherein said system comprises:
a) means for retrieving in said carrier's storage and processing facility
initial call handling instructions based on said subscriber's related call
processing information;
b) means for forwarding to said subscriber's storage and processing
facility said originating information associated with said call so that
said subscriber's storage and processing facility can execute said
subscriber definable programs to formulate a processing label identifying
with a code a plurality of stations with specific characteristics
associated with said call at any of a plurality of locations;
c) means for receiving said processing label in said carrier's storage and
processing facility and devising a destination number for said call in
said carrier's storage and processing facility using at least part of said
processing label and said carrier's storage and processing facility
routing parameters;
e) means for forwarding said destination number and part of said processing
label to said originating switch;
f) means for routing said call to said subscriber's premise equipment using
said communication switching system; and
g) means for forwarding part of said processing label to said subscriber's
premise equipment for the purpose of directing said call to one of a
plurality of specific stations connected to said premise equipment.
46. The method of claim 19 wherein said said updating step further includes
the step of:
updating said file of call handling resources in accordance with a
preselected average call holding time. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a system and method for processing
database-queried telephone calls, and more particularly, to a system and
method enabling such calls to be completed through the cooperative
generation and processing of routing and handling instructions by a
subscriber's database system and a carrier's routing database as part of a
total communication switching system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Database queried communications services, such as 800 and 900 services
which require information look-up in order to route each call, have become
increasingly critical for day-to-day operations of a large number of
telephone subscribers. As the vital pipeline to a vast pool of callers,
telephone calls made to subscribers of these services represent potential
business opportunities and therefore need to be routed, completed and
handled by telecommunications carriers and subscribers of these services
represent potential business opportunities and therefore need to be
routed, completed and handled by telecommunications carriers and
subscribers alike, in the most efficient manner. To that end,
communications carriers have enhanced these services by offering two major
optional features, namely, 1) "advanced routing", which aims to enable
subscribers to get optimal performance from their call handling resources
and 2) "calling party identification" which purports to give subscribers
some background information regarding the caller.
The advanced routing features are implemented as part of a plurality of
inventions that have sprung out of the teachings of R. P. Weber in U.S.
Pat. No. 4,191,860. Weber's patent described a technique for translating
an 800 number to a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) number in a routing
database using the dialed number and the Numbering Plan Area (NPA) of the
caller as routing parameters. New advanced routing features introduced by
communications carriers allow subscribers to select from a broader class
of routing parameters. Selection of these parameters however, is still
limited to a restricted set. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,094,
Asmuth et al. disclosed a method for routing calls based on additional
information received from the caller through a call prompting device and
other carrier defined routing parameters, such as time of day, day of the
week, time zone at subscriber's locations or calling station, etc. While
subscribers can periodically change the value of these carrier defined
parameters or send congestion status information to the carrier's database
via dedicated lines, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,983, carriers,
however, have been reluctant to allow external parameters other than
congestion status information to influence routing decisions on a call by
call basis, because of heightened security concerns raised by the
interaction between subscriber's databases and carrier's routing
databases. As a result, subscribers are forced to choose exclusively from
carrier's defined parameters that may be ill-suited for their business
needs. For example, a bank with its operations confined to one time zone
would likely prefer to have routing decisions for calls originating from
its depositors or debtors predicated on their account number or loan
number, in addition to traditional routing parameters (such as time of
day, day of week etc). However, meeting the requirements of this bank and
each of a carrier's numerous subscribers wishing to customize routing
decisions to their particular business environment will necessitate a
prohibitively costly expansion of the carrier's routing database. In
addition, carriers are legitimately concerned about the potential
degradation in performance in terms of call setup time delay that could
arise from the increase in size and attendant processing logic complexity
of carrier's routing database. Thus, the current stat of the art prevents
subscribers from defining their own routing parameters that could take
advantage of the vast wealth of customer information stored in a
subscriber's database to route calls in a manner that is more functional
to their business needs and customers requirements.
In response to this need of the marketplace, other prior art systems have
tried to overcome some of the limitations of the advanced routing features
by forwarding all calls for a specific subscriber to a PBX at one of the
subscribers' central locations. Under this approach, the PBX forwards the
Automatic Number Identification (ANI) of the caller and the dialed number
to an attached processor which retrieves from its database called a
"subscriber's database", a destination number for the call. The
formulation of this destination number can be predicated on factors such
as dialed number, caller's ANI, call handling capacity at all locations as
well as information in a customer record retrieved from the subscriber's
database. The PBX then uses the destination number to redirect or transfer
the call to the appropriate location using, for example, the call redirect
pre-ringing feature or the call redirect post answer feature available in
the AT&T Definity.RTM. PBX. This solution however, is rather expensive due
to the cost associated with the advanced features of the PBX mentioned
above. In addition, the PBX solution subjects the caller to post-dial
delay inconveniences caused by the call transfer or call redirection
mechanism.
Another arrangement which uses a PBX to redirect calls is described in U.S.
Pat. No. 4,757,267 issued to B. Riskin on Jun. 17, 1987. The Riskin system
uses a processor attached to a PBX to retrieve a destination number for
the dealer of a national distributor or manufacturer that is closest to
the caller. An alternative embodiment of the Riskin system discloses an
arrangement wherein the processor, instead of being attached to the PBX,
is linked directly to the carrier's routing database, thereby vitiating
the need for the PBX as a call redirecting device. In this alternative
embodiment, the carrier's database offloads its route selection functions
to the processor which acts as a subscriber's database. Hence, the
carrier's database participation in the route selection process is limited
to relaying information back and forth between the carrier's originating
switch and the subscriber's database. This approach may be arguably
adequate for simple applications, such as the dealer locator type of
services disclosed in the Riskin patent, wherein the caller entered digits
or the NPA and the exchange number of the caller are matched to a
destination number. For complex applications however, where multiple types
of routing parameters play distinct but complementary roles in the
formulation of a destination number for a call, the Riskin approach unduly
penalizes the subscriber by forcing him or her to shoulder alone the
entire development cost of a routing database and associated routing
logic. In addition, Riskin's approach fails to exploit and use the
processing and routing logic capabilities of the carrier's database.
The other feature introduced by carriers to help subscribers in their call
handling tasks is broadly known as "caller identification" or "caller id"
which purports to offer a competitive marketing tool by providing the
subscriber with background information regarding the calling party.
Automatic Number Identification (ANI), the most common form of caller id,
when delivered to a subscriber's PBX, can be used as a key in a database
search to retrieve additional information about the caller. This approach
is adequate when all calls directed to a subscriber are routed to a single
centralized location served by a PBX connected to a processor with a
database containing all customer records. However, the caller
identification features are less desirable for subscribers with a
decentralized business structure or for subscribers who have implemented a
distributed computing architecture characterized by each location having
its own database storing information about local customers. For those
subscribers, the use of ANI as a key in a database search to retrieve
additional information about a caller constrains the subscriber to face
some economically unattractive choices. One of these choices consists of
duplicating the entire customer information database at all locations.
Such a choice can become prohibitively expensive as the number of
locations increases. In addition, coordination of database maintenance and
updating for all locations can transform simple upkeeping tasks into an
administrative nightmare. Another choice takes advantage of the advanced
routing feature to route a call to a specific location based on the
caller's ANI and the location of the database where the caller's records
are stored. In that case, the database containing information about local
customers is paired to another location's database storing the same
information thereby allowing the call to be routed to the second location
if the first location is unavailable. However, one of the deficiencies of
this approach is that the carrier's database has to store not only callers
' ANI data but also additional data indicating the locations where records
are stored for all callers associated with a subscriber.
Furthermore, the current architecture of database-queried communication
services has prevented carriers to target specific market segments and to
discretely differentiate various types of customers. Aiming to circumvent
this limitation, some subscribers have assigned different 800 numbers to
different classes of customers subject to different treatment. However,
this solution is rather rigid and inflexible, since once a priority 800
number is assigned to a customer, he or she would still enjoy the same
special treatment using that assigned number regardless of how little
benefit may be derived by the subscriber out of that special treatment
lavished on the caller.
In summary, the inability of the present architecture of database-queried
communication services 1) to process calls based on existing routing
parameters in the carrier's database and on functional parameters in the
subscriber's database, 2) to allow subscribes to take advantage of the
distributed computing trend in data processing and 3) to elevate these
services to the additional role of a competitive edge tool for
subscribers, is still an unresolved problem for subscribers of these
services.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with our invention, a system is disclosed to allow database
queried telephone calls to be efficiently handled and completed using in a
cooperative manner, the aggregate call processing capabilities of a
subscriber's database and a carrier's database as part of a total
communication switching system. According to one aspect of the invention,
selection of a route for a call is initiated when the carrier's database
forwards caller's originating information which includes the dialed number
and the ANI or Billing Number (BN) of the caller to the subscriber's
database through the signaling network or other type of data communication
network. The subscriber's database uses information from diverse sources
to formulate a processing label for the call. Sources of information
available to the subscriber's database include customers' profile
information, processing logic tailored to the subscriber's business needs
and optionally, status data of call handling resources at various
locations. The processing logic in the subscriber's database, analyzes the
specific characteristics associated with the call based on the dialed
number, the ANI and the corresponding customer profile information and
determines the specific criteria for the call to be handled. The
subscriber's database processing logic may also indicate a distinct class
for the caller, subjecting him or her to a particular call treatment.
Based on these criteria and input data from the other sources, the
subscriber's processing logic generates a processing label for the call
that is forwarded to the carrier's database. The processing label is
comprised of a routing label and an end point label which can play two
distinct but complementary roles in the final disposition of the call. For
certain implementations of our invention, the processing label may also
include a billing information label. The routing label provides input data
to the carrier's communication switching system for route selection. The
end point label, by contrast, consists of a set of alphanumeric characters
which denote characteristics associated with a call and/or information to
be forwarded by the communication switching system to the terminating PBX
(or other CPE). Alternatively, the processing label may include in lieu of
the routing label a caller class indicator that instructs the carrier's
database to select a specific routing logic associated with a set of
locations to determine a destination number for the call. Finally, the
third element of the processing label, namely, the billing information
label provides to the communications carrier a customized billing rate for
the purpose of creating a billing record for the call. This aspect of the
invention logically partitions call processing functions between a
subscriber's database handling caller's related processing functions and a
carrier's database performing subscriber's related call handling and
routing functions.
According to another aspect of the invention, information associated with
the call such as the ANI and the dialed number is supplemented by caller
entered information gathered by a prompting device, which solicits during
the call setup process, any necessary information from the caller to
delineate the contours of a more precise profile of the caller/customer.
The ANI, the dialed number and the caller entered information form what is
hereafter referred to as the "originating information" associated with the
call. Request for additional information from the caller to complete the
originating information for a call can be initiated either by the
carrier's database or the subscriber's database. Formulation of a
processing label in the subscriber's database and destination number or
call treatment in the carrier's database then follows the same pattern
outlined above. However, the information obtained through the prompting
device allows subscribers significant additional control in the selection
of variables and parameters taken into consideration by a carrier's
communication switching system to generate call processing commands.
A third aspect of the invention contemplates the carrier's database
forwarding the destination number for the call i) first to the originating
switch for routing the call, and ii) immediately after the call is
completed, to the subscriber's database for updating a file of call
handling resources available at all of the subscriber's locations. The
call handling resources file in the subscriber's database is further
updated by using two alternative techniques. According to the first
technique, a preselected average call holding time is used to determine
when a resource is free for reuse. The second technique contemplates the
originating switch at call termination time sending a call termination
message to the carrier's database to indicate that the resource is
available for use. The carrier's database in turn, forwards that message
to the subscriber's database for the purpose of updating the call handling
resources file. This aspect of the invention allows the subscriber's
database to keep track of resource utilization at different locations and
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