Subscriber control of access restrictions on a plurality of the subscriber's telephone lines

Claims

I claim:

1. A telephone communication system comprising:

a plurality of telephone switching offices for selectively providing switched communication services to a plurality of subscriber telephone lines connected thereto;

a central control separate from the plurality of telephone switching offices, said central control sending data to and receiving data from one or more of the telephone switching offices, to control at least some switching operations thereof;

a group of subscriber telephone lines connected to at least one of the telephone switching offices, all said subscriber telephone lines of said group being assigned to one subscriber;

means for remotely programing information sent from a subscriber telephone line via a common channel interoffice signaling lines to said central control by the subscriber specifying a period of time and an authorization code for comparison to data entered by said callers; and

a database in the central control for storing the received information, said means for remotely programming comprising means for inputting said subscriber information to said data base and means for setting a trigger in each telephone switching office associated with each subscriber telephone line of said group in accordance with said information programmed by said subscriber,

wherein when a caller attempts to obtain a communication service over one of the subscriber telephone lines in said group:

a telephone switching office connected to the one subscriber telephone line accepts input information from the caller and transmits the input information from the caller to the central control,

the central control accesses the information stored in the database to determine if the attempt to obtain a communication service occurred during said period of time and if the input information from the caller includes the authorization code,

the central control instructs the telephone switching office connected to the one subscriber telephone line to provide a switched telephone communication service over the one subscriber telephone line if the attempt to obtain service occurred during the period and if the input information from the caller includes the authorization code.

2. A telephone communication system as in claim 1, wherein said means for remotely programming further comprises:

means for providing prompts over a telephone line to the subscriber;

means for receiving Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) signals representative of data inputs dialed in on a keypad by the subscriber; and

means for transferring the data inputs to the database for storage therein.

3. A telephone communication system as in claim 1, wherein said means for remotely programming further comprises:

one of the telephone switching offices being responsive to dialing of a predetermined telephone number to receive DTMF input signals over a telephone line, said DTMF signals representing data identifying the period of time and the authorization code, wherein said one of the telephone switching offices transfers the data to the central control.

4. A telephone communication system as in claim 1, wherein said means for remotely programming comprises:

an interactive voice response unit for providing prompts and for transmitting and receiving Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) signals; and

a telephone line connecting the interactive voice response unit to one of the telephone switching offices, wherein:

the one telephone switching office connects a call to the telephone line to the interactive voice response unit in response to dialing of a first predetermined telephone number by the calling party, when connected, the interactive voice response unit sends prompts to a calling party and receives DTMF signals representing information identifying the period of time and the authorization code from the calling party, and

after the call is disconnected from the telephone line to the interactive voice response unit, the one telephone switching office is responsive to input of a second predetermined telephone number by the interactive voice response unit to receive DTMF input signals from the interactive voice response unit representing data identifying the period of time and the authorization code, wherein said one of the telephone switching offices transfers the received data to the central control.

5. A telephone communication system as in claim 1, wherein said means for remotely programming further comprise means for receiving data communications signals from a data terminal.

6. A telephone communication system as in claim 1, wherein said central control is an Integrated Service Control Point (ISCP) and the switching office connected to the one telephone line is a Service Switching Point (SSP), said system further comprising means for communicating data between the SSP and the ISCP.

7. A method of controlling provision of communication services over an identified group of subscriber telephone lines assigned to one subscriber, said subscriber telephones lines connecting to a public switched telephone network, said method comprising:

remotely programing into a centralized data base information sent from a subscriber telephone line via common channel interoffice signaling line to said central control by the subscriber identifying a period of time when the communication services provided over the group of subscriber telephone lines should be active and an authorization code;

storing the received information in the centralized database within the public telephone switched network and setting a trigger in each telephone switching office associated with each subscriber telephone line of said group in accordance with said information programmed by said subscriber;

detecting an attempt to initiate a call on one of the lines of the group:

receiving information from a caller on the one line of the group; and

providing a connection from the one line of the group to a destination telephone only if the attempt to initiate a call was detected within the period and the information from the caller includes information corresponding to the authorization code.

8. A method as in claim 7, wherein the authorization code comprises a code identifying a product or service offered by the subscriber and a password, said method further comprising the steps of:

comparing a first predetermined portion of said information from the caller with the code identifying a product or service; and

comparing a second predetermined portion of said information from the caller with the password,

wherein the information from the caller corresponds to the authorization code only if the first predetermined portion matches the code identifying a product or service and the first predetermined portion matches said password.

9. A method as in claim 7, wherein the step of providing a connection comprises routing the connection over trunk facilities identified by information stored in the centralized database.

10. A method as in claim 9, further comprising the step of receiving from the subscriber information identifying trunk facilities, and storing the information identifying trunk facilities in the centralized database for subsequent use in routing the connection.

11. A method as in claim 10, wherein the information identifying a period of time and an authorization code and the information identifying trunk facilities are received from the subscriber via a telephone line.

12. A method as in claim 7, wherein the information identifying a period of time and an authorization code is received from the subscriber via a telephone line.

13. A telecommunication system comprising:

a plurality of switching offices for selectively providing switched communication services to a plurality of communication lines connected thereto;

a central control separate from the plurality of switching offices, said central control sending data to and receiving data from one or more of the switching offices to control at least some switching operations thereof;

a group of communication lines connected to at least one of the switching offices, all of said group of communication lines being assigned to one subscriber;

means for remotely programming information sent from a subscriber telephone line via a common channel interoffice signaling line to said central control by the subscriber, specifying criteria under which the subscriber wishes to offer communication services over the group of lines to one or more of the subscriber's customers; and

means for storing the programmed information in a database in the central control, and means for setting a trigger in each telephone switching office associated with each subscriber telephone line of said group in accordance with said information programmed by said subscriber,

wherein when a caller attempts to obtain a communication service over one of the communication lines in said group:

a switching office connected to the one communication line transmits information characterizing the attempt to obtain a communication service to the central control,

the central control accesses the information defining criteria stored in the database and instructs the switching office connected to the one communication line to provide switched communication service over the one line if the information characterizing the attempt to obtain a communication service meets the criteria.

14. A method of controlling provision of communication services over an identified group of communication lines assigned to one subscriber, said communication lines connecting to a switched communication network having a plurality of switching offices, said method comprising:

remotely programming into a central data base sent from a subscriber telephone line via a common channel interoffice signaling line to said central control by the one subscriber, information defining criteria under which the one subscriber wishes to offer communication services over the group of lines to one or more persons;

storing the programmed information in a centralized database in the switched communication network separate from the plurality of switching offices and setting a trigger in each telephone switching office associated with each subscriber telephone line of said group in accordance with said information programmed by said subscriber;

detecting an attempt by one of the persons to obtain a communication service over one of the communication lines in said group;

transmitting information characterizing the attempt to obtain a communication service from a switching office connected to the one communication line to the centralized database;

accessing the information defining criteria stored in the centralized database; and

providing a communication service on said one of the lines of the group if the information characterizing the attempt to obtain a communication service meets the criteria.

15. A method as in claim 14, wherein:

the criteria includes an authorization code;

the information characterizing the attempt to obtain a communication service includes information input by the one person; and

communication service is provided on said one of the lines of the group if the information input by the one person includes the authorization code.

16. A method as in claim 15, wherein the authorization code comprises a code identifying a product or service offered by the subscriber and a password, said method further comprising the steps of:

comparing a first predetermined portion of said information input by the one person with the code identifying a product or service; and

comparing a second predetermined portion of said information input by the caller with the password,

wherein the information input by the caller corresponds to the authorization code only if the first predetermined portion matches the code identifying a product or service and the second predetermined portion matches said password.

17. A method as in claim 15, wherein information defining the authorization code is received from the subscriber via a communication line connected to one of the switching offices.

18. A method as in claim 14, wherein the communication service is provided on said one of the lines of the group when the criteria indicates that service is active when the one person attempts to obtain a communication service.

19. A method as in claim 18, wherein criteria indicates that service is active by defining a period of time, and the communication service is provided on said one of the lines of the group when the attempt to obtain a communication service is detected during said period of time.

20. A method as in claim 14, wherein the switched communication network comprises a public switched telephone network, the lines of the group are telephone lines, and the step of providing a communication service comprises providing a switched telephone call connection from the one of the lines of the group to a destination telephone line.

21. A method as in claim 20, wherein the criteria identifies certain types of telephone calls which the subscriber wants to permit.

22. A method as in claim 20, wherein the step of providing a switched telephone call connection comprises routing the connection over trunk facilities identified by information stored in the centralized database.

23. A method as in claim 22, further comprising the step of receiving from the subscriber information identifying trunk facilities, and storing the information identifying trunk facilities in the centralized database for subsequent use in routing the connection.

24. A method as in claim 23, wherein the information identifying trunk facilities is received from the subscriber via a telephone line.

25. A method as in claim 14, wherein the information defining criteria is received from the subscriber via a communication line connected to one of the switching offices.

26. A method as in claim 14, wherein:

the criteria includes a code identifying a product or service offered by the subscriber, a password and information defining a period of time during which service should be active;

the information characterizing the attempt to obtain a communication service includes information input by the one person and a time at which the attempt was made, said method further comprising the steps of:

comparing a first predetermined portion of said information input by the one person with the code identifying a product or service;

comparing a second predetermined portion of said information input by the one person with the password; and

comparing the time at which the attempt was made with the period of time during which service should be active, wherein

communication service is provided on said one of the lines of the group if the first predetermined portion matches the code identifying a product or service, the second predetermined portion matches said password and the time at which the attempt was made is within the period of time during which service should be active.

27. A method as in claim 26, wherein the criteria also identifies certain types of communication service the subscriber wants to permit and the communication service is provided on said one of the lines of the group if the subscriber requests a type of communication service which the subscriber wants to permit.

28. A method as in claim 26, wherein the step of providing a communication service comprises providing a communication link over trunk facilities identified by information stored in the centralized database.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to methods and system structures which will permit a commercial telephone subscriber to offer its customer's access to telephone services over a group of the subscriber's lines on a basis controlled by the subscriber. More specifically, the present invention permits the subscriber to turn on and off telephone service on the group of lines and to establish access authorization codes which the subscriber can give to its customer's to control their use of the group of lines, to restrictions on the types of calls the customers can make, and/or control how the calls will be routed.

ACRONYMS

The written description uses a large number of acronyms to refer to various services and system components. Although known, use of several of these acronyms is not strictly standardized in the art. For purposes of this discussion, acronyms therefore will be defined as follows:

Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN)

Automatic Number Identification (ANI)

Common Channel Inter-office Signalling (CCIS)

Data and Reporting System (D&RS)

Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF)

Integrated Service Control Point (ISCP)

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) unit

Local Access and Transport Area (LATA)

Service Circuit Node (SCN)

Service Control Point (SCP)

Service Management System (SMS)

Service Switching Point (SSP)

Signaling System Seven (SS#7)

Signaling Transfer Point (STP)

Station Message Detail Recording (SMDR)

Service Creation Environment (SCE)

Transaction Capabilities Applications Protocol (TCAP)

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years a number of Intelligent Network type telephone system architectures have been developed to provide and control a variety of communication services from a centralized database within the telephone network. In such a system, the central database controls switching operations through multiple end offices. Local and/or toll offices of the public telephone network detect a call processing event identified as an AIN "trigger". For ordinary telephone service calls, there would be no event to trigger AIN processing; and the local and toll office switches would function normally and process such calls without referring to the database for instructions. An office which detects a trigger, however, will suspend call processing, compile a call data message and forward that message via a common channel interoffice signalling (CCIS) link to a Service Control Point (SCP) which includes the database. If needed, the SCP can instruct the central office to obtain and forward additional information. Once sufficient information about the call has reached the SCP, the SCP accesses its stored data tables to translate the received message data into a call control message and returns the call control message to the office of the network via CCIS link. The network offices then use the call control message to complete the particular call.

Pierce et al., "Meeting Private Needs with the Public Network", BELLCORE EXCHANGE, January/February 1988, pp. 8-13, is one example of a disclosure of an intelligent network architecture which includes a description of the variety of communication services which such a network can offer. As disclosed therein, the network identifies a number of lines for a commercial subscriber as members of a closed group, referred to as a private virtual network, even though those lines connect to a number of different local switching offices. The system then uses subscriber data stored in the SCP to control the end offices to offer services such as routing control, class of service restriction and corresponding access authorization to override the restriction, and a telecommuting service whereby services available on a subscriber business line may also be available on the subscriber's home line. The customer can also change the programming in the SCP so that when an employee moves, the network number used to reach that person stays the same even though that person is assigned a new public-network directory number. Pierce et al. further suggest that the intelligent network can provide a closely related " Area Wide Centrex" service offering additional features, such as call transfer, to a closed user group.

Although such intelligent network systems offer commercial subscribers considerable flexibility in customizing their telephone services, they have not as yet offered such subscriber's as much control over availability of services and/or access restrictions for such services. In one example, an airline operating a courtesy lounge might want to activate phone service via telephones in the lounge and offer that service to passengers on a delayed flight. It would be desireable, however, to control the service carefully to avoid abuse. Some access control has been provided by the telephone network, including the systems using intelligent network architectures, however, they do not offer the subscriber sufficient direct access to the data in the SCP or the flexibility to control authorization codes, to efficiently provide the control necessary for the airline courtesy lounge example.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,020 to Fodale suggests access authorization control in an AIN type multiple office environment. The Fodale system however, restricts access to a long distance telephone network based on the status of the billing number associated with the call, i.e. delinquent. In the Fodale network, the information in the database can not be modified by the customer and does not activate or deactivate service to one subscriber's identified group of lines. Also, Fodale does not suggest storing any authorization code or password data in the database.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,035 to Jordan et al. patent discloses a method of providing a person locator service through multiple exchanges of the switched telephone network using an intelligent network type of telephone system architecture. Jordan et al. teach offering the subscriber access to the subscriber's data in the central database, to input data for controlling the person locator service. The Jordan et al. system, however, does not activate service provided via a group of the subscriber's telephone lines and does not allow the subscriber to establish codes or passwords to control access to the activated service.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,408 to Greenspan et al. discloses a telephone communication system for blocking calls to certain types of telephone numbers, typically 900 or 976 numbers. In response to such a call, the local switching office launches a query to the database, and the database returns a response message instructing the switch as to how to process the call. The response can instruct the switch to play an announcement and collect digits, terminate the call, connect the call to a translated destination number or connect the call to a dialed destination number. In one example given, the switch is configured to block all 976 calls, but the switch will query the database regarding override under certain circumstances. To override a call block, the subscriber goes off-hook, dials an access code and a 976 directory number. In response, the switch launches the query to the database. The database checks the customer's data file. If the customer has requested completion under such circumstances, the database sends back an instruction to the switch to complete the call to the dialed 976 directory number. If the subscriber's data indicates that the subscriber has requested a screening procedure, the database would send back an instruction to play an announcement and collect additional digits, e.g. corresponding to the subscriber's personal identification number. In this second case, the database sends the call completion instruction only after the caller has passed the screening procedure specified by the subscriber. Greenspan et al. however, do not allow one subscriber to control outdialing services on a plurality of the subscribers lines and do not allow the subscriber to change the subscriber's data during an interactive call-in procedure.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,346 to Belfield et al. discloses an automated telephone switching system which provides restricted access to a subscriber's trunk facilities using an authorization code and a spoken password to identify persons permitted access. Also, the subscriber can enter the password in the database within the telephone network using an interactive procedure. Belfield et al., however, do not allow the subscriber to establish different authorization codes, particularly codes which relate to the subscriber's products or services.

From the above discussion it becomes clear that a need still exists to offer subscriber's greater control over activation of services and related restrictions to services, so that subscribers can in turn offer those services to their own customer's on a carefully restricted basis. The subscriber should be able to turn on the service for a group of the subscriber's lines at will, without intervention by telephone company personnel. The subscriber should also have the ability to easily establish authorization codes for use in accessing such services, so that the subscriber can give the codes only to those customer's to whom it wishes to offer access to the communications services. The subscriber should also be able to control routing of calls through the network to minimize costs and/or optimize use of the subscriber's own private facilities.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention meets the above discussed needs by using an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) type communication system architecture. A central database in an Integrated Service Control Point (ISCP) controls the switching operations through multiple end offices of the network. The present invention allows a, commercial subscriber to interact with a database maintained in the ISCP, to establish and modify various criteria to activate and/or restrict communication services provided on a group of the subscriber's telephone lines.

As used throughout the description of the present invention, the term "subscriber" refers to an entity which purchases communication services from a Telephone Company or other common communication carrier. A commercial subscriber will typically offer for sale one or more products or services, which may not relate to communications. The term "customer" refers to a person who normally buys products or services from such a commercial subscriber.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to methods and systems for controlling the provision of communication services over an identified group of communication lines assigned to one subscriber. The lines connect to a switched communication network having a plurality of switching offices. The subscriber inputs information defining criteria under which the subscriber wishes to offer communication services over the group of lines to one or more of the subscriber's customers. The input information is stored in a centralized database in the switched communication network separate from the plurality of switching offices. The system will detect when a person, e.g. one of the subscriber's customers, wants to use one of the subscriber's lines. For example, the connected switching office will recognize an attempt to seize the one line. The connected switching office will transmit information characterizing the attempt to obtain a communication service to the centralized database. The subscriber's information stored in the database is accessed, and the system provides switched communication service on the one communication line of the subscriber's group if the information characterizing the attempt to obtain a communication service meets the stored criteria.

The criteria set by the subscriber can relate to a wide variety of different factors. For example, the subscriber can activate the service for a set period by inputting on-time and off-time data. A subscriber can also define authorization code criteria, and the party using the line must then input a valid code before the system would provide the actual communication service. The information stored in the centralized database can limit the types of calls