To support local number portability and service portability in a telephone network, a method and apparatus handle subscription and administrative service requests in a local service management system to maintain records at a service control point. The subscription requests include create, modify, and delete requests of records in the service control point. The administrative service requests include Numbering Plan Area (NPA) code split, mass change, and query and resend requests. The records at the service control point are accessible by switches via respective signal transfer points to determine the network addresses of the switches handling services and calls corresponding to a particular telephone number.

A method and system for automatically updating subscriber service accounts to accommodate a numbering plan change, such as an NPA split, is provided. Subscriber service account information, such as account information pertaining to speed dialing, is automatically updated by a subscriber account update process, which runs periodically on an administrative computer system connected to an ISN via a wide area network. The subscriber account update process accesses NPA split tables to determine pending NPA splits. For each pending NPA split, the update process determines impacted ANIs that have existing service accounts. Then, for each such impacted ANI, the update process creates a new service account, which is indexed by the new ANI, to which the impacted ANI is being converted. The new service account includes account information previously stored in the existing account. The existing account is updated to refer to the new account. In this way, a subscriber having an impacted ANI can access the subscriber's service account using either the impacted ANI or the new ANI during the permissive dialing period. In addition, the update process deletes obsolete service accounts a certain period of time after the mandatory dialing period of an NPA split has begun. The updated service account records are automatically stored in the accounts database and are replicated and distributed throughout the ISN to NIDS servers using a data replication and distribution system.

A telecommunications interface system is operably coupled to customer premises termination equipment such as a telephone or facsimile machine for controlling signal transmissions to and from a public or private communication network. The interface system can be incorporated into the termination equipment, or can be contained in a housing that is externally connected between the termination equipment and a wall jack providing access to the telecommunications network. The interface system has a memory device for storing data representative of information such as long distance access codes and service providers. Each access code provides access to a long distance service provided by a service provider. A data processing system is provided that performs data processing functions on data stored in the memory device. The interface system also includes a visual display device for displaying information relating to one of the long distance providers based upon data stored in the memory device. Two push-button switches allow a user to change provider information displayed on the display device by scrolling through provider information stored in the memory device. When a desired provider is displayed, the user selects that carrier by pressing a carrier push-button switch. The system then transmits a dial signal indicating the access code for the selected service to the network. Push-button switches are provided that trigger the system to dial preprogrammed area code information stored in the memory device when pressed. Additional push-button switches trigger the system to dial preprogrammed toll free codes also stored in the memory device when pressed.