Ulllted States Patent [19]
`Byers
`
`IIIIII IIIIIIII III IIIII llIlI IIIII IIIII IlIII IIIII IIllI IIIII IlIlII III IIIII IIII
`USOO5570417A
`[11] Patent Number:
`5,570,417
`[45] Date of Patent:
`Oct. 29, 1996
`
`[54] SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY
`PROVIDING CUSTOMER ACCESS TO
`ALTERNATIVE TELEPHONY SERVICE
`PROVIDERS
`
`Primary Examiner-Krista M. Zele
`- Assistant Examiner-Daniel 5. Hunter
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Dennis J. Williamson
`[57]
`ABSTRACT
`
`[75] Inv?nlofl Charles C- Byers, Aurora’ 111-
`
`[73] Assignee: Lucent Technologies Inc" Murray Hill’
`N'J'
`
`[21] APPL NO-I 412,248
`.
`_
`Mar’ 28’ 1995
`[22] Flled'
`[51] Int. Cl.6 .......................... .. H04M 15/00; H04M 7/00
`[52] U.S. Cl. ........................ .. 379/115; 379/114; 379/121;
`379/220; 379/221
`[58] Field of Search ................................... .. 379/112, 113,
`379/114, 115, 121’ 133, 134, 207, 219,
`220, 221
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`
`U~S- PATENT DOCUMENTS
`2/1994 Hokari .................................. .. 379/221
`5,289,536
`8/1994 Kobayashi et al. ..
`379/234
`5,337,352
`9/1995 Yamamoto ........ ..
`379/115
`5,452,351
`5,473,630 12/1995 Penzias et a1. ........................ .. 379/114
`
`Atelecommunications network including aplurality of local
`exchanges or switching systems, each local switch support
`ing at least one customer line accessed by customer premise
`equipment (CPE) such as telephone station sets or multime
`dia stations. The local switches are connected to one another
`directly and through tandem switches to create the network.
`A data base is associated with each local exchange, or with
`a limited number of local exchanges, and is accessed by the
`local exchange to provide information for controlling the
`routing of a 9911- Each data base contains rate information
`for the service providers oifen'ng competitive services. Such
`rate information includes the Service Providers’ basic rate
`structures, time of day discounts, group calling plans, usage
`discounts and the like. The switching system, in response to
`information provided by the data base, automatically routes
`the call to the lowest cost service provider based on this rate
`information. The data base is updated to re?ect changes in
`service provider rates and to record calls made by each
`Customer f°r P11YP°Ses of tracking quantity calling discmmts
`of the like and to update the raw infonh?iioh
`
`20 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets
`
`_
`TANDEM swTTcH
`PROCESSOR
`If
`
`I
`I 34
`
`L-r _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ __J
`
`r30
`
`I
`{32 I
`
`1
`
`-
`
`VOICE AND DATA
`SWITCHING NETWORK
`
`GD
`
`/ SIGNALING
`
`NETWORK
`
`'
`
`LOCAL
`DATA BASE
`
`__ TRANSACTION
`RECORDER
`
`3 4
`-]
`‘is
`
`I6
`
`~31
`
`VOICE AND DATA
`SWITCHING NEIWORK
`
`t {20
`DATA BASE
`CONTROL
`
`REGIONAL
`DATA BASE
`
`GTL 1005
`IPR of U.S. Patent 6,636,591
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`0a. 29, 1996
`
`Sheet 1 of 3
`
`5,570,417
`
`_
`
`_
`
`_ I30
`
`TANDEM SWITCH
`
`r _________________ __
`
`L- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __J
`
`I
`'‘34
`
`PROCESSOR
`‘f
`
`T
`[32 I
`
`1
`
`_
`
`VOICE AND DATA
`SWITCHING NETWORK
`
`A
`A
`
`SIGNALING
`NETWORK
`
`SWITCHING SYSTEM
`PROCESSOR
`f 1Q
`
`;14-
`
`{12
`
`CALL
`S S
`DATA " CPU ‘ CONTROL
`
`M A M
`
`l
`
`l
`
`A 118
`
`LOCAL
`DATA BASE
`V
`
`_
`
`V TRANSACTION
`RECORDER
`
`VOICE AND DATA
`SWITCHING NETWORK
`
`<
`—
`
`—
`
`A
`
`--
`Ty
`DATA BASE
`CONTROL
`
`—
`
`~31
`
`FIG. 1
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`0a. 29, 1996
`
`Sheet 2 of 3
`
`5,570,417
`
`FIG. 2
`
`CUSTOMER
`DISABLED
`SERVICE?
`
`;202
`I,
`NORMAL SELECTIDN
`0F LONG DISTANCE
`CARRIER
`
`~
`
`I204
`CALL CONTROL SENDS
`CALLING AND CALLED
`PARTY IDs TO
`DATA BASE CONTROL
`FOR QUERY
`
`[205
`I,
`DATA BASE SEARCHED
`FOR SPECIFIC
`RATE DATA
`
`Ty RETRIEVE SPECIFIC
`
`RATE DATA AND
`DETERMINE LOWEST
`COST CARRIER
`
`y 207
`I,
`USER ANALYSIS
`
`{208
`I
`RouTE CALL TO
`IDENTIFIED CARRIER
`
`' Ty MARK CUSTOMER
`
`
`RECORD IN DATA BASE
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`0a. 29, 1996
`
`Sheet 3 of 3
`
`5,570,417
`
`FIG. 3
`
`CALL LONG .
`DISTANCE?
`
`NORMAL SELECTION
`OF LOCAL CARRIER
`
`

`

`5,570,417
`
`1
`SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY
`PROVIDING CUSTOMER ACCESS TO
`ALTERNATIVE TELEPHONY SERVICE
`PROVIDERS
`
`Technical Field
`
`20
`
`25
`
`This invention relates, generally, to customer access to
`competitive telephony service providers and, more particu
`larly, to a system for automatically switching a customer to
`the least expensive service provider for a particular call.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`As will be appreciated, telephony customers in the United
`States presently can choose from a number of long distance
`service providers or carriers each o?’ering various subscrip
`tion services and rate packages. Moreover, a rate package
`from even a single service provider can result in different
`rates for different calls depending on the time of day,
`customer usage, the identity of the person called and/or other
`factors, such as promotional offers. As a result, the custom
`er’s decision as to which carder to use is a complicated one
`and will not necessarily result in the lowest cost service for
`all long distance calls. It is also likely that, in the relatively
`near future, local service will be provided by a number of
`competing entities such that the customer will have the same
`choices in selecting local service that now exist for long
`distance service. Such open competition will only increase
`the complexity of selecting service carriers.
`In response to this problem, a personal data base main
`tained on the customer’ s personal computer for use with the
`customer’s premise equipment such as a telephone or mul
`timedia station has been developed that includes rate infor
`mation for various long distance providers. The customer
`can search the data base in an attempt to identify the lowest
`cost carrier for a particular call. One problem with such a
`system is that each customer must import and maintain his
`or her own personal data base. Such a system is expensive
`and is clearly not feasible for all telephony customers.
`Moreover, the user must somehow gather rate information
`and load this information into the data base. Even for those
`customers who have the capability of establishing such a
`data base, the continual maintenance and updating of such a
`system is time consuming and cumbersome because the
`service providers’ rate packages and subscriber plans change
`frequently.
`Therefore, a problem in the art is that there is no simple
`and cost-eifective system for routing any customer to the
`least expensive service for a particular call.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`This problem is solved and a technical advance in the art
`is achieved by the switch based call routing system of the
`present invention. The system of the invention operates in a
`telecommunications network including a plurality of local
`switches or exchanges where each local switch supports
`customer lines accessed by customer premise equipment
`(CPE) such as telephone station sets or multimedia stations.
`The local switches are connected to one another directly and
`through tandem switches to create the telephone network as
`will be understood by one skilled in the art. In the preferred
`form of the invention, a data base is associated with each
`local exchange, or with a limited number of local exchanges,
`and is accessed by the local exchange to provide information
`for controlling the routing of calls of many, if not all, of the
`customers sewed by the exchange. Each data base contains
`
`65
`
`2
`rate information for the service providers oifering competi
`tive services. Such rate information includes the service
`providers’ basic rate structures, time of day discounts, group
`calling plans, usage discounts and the like. In the preferred
`system, customers subscribe to the service thereby allowing
`access to the data base for all outgoing calls made by the
`subscribing customer. The switching system, in response to
`information provided by the data base, automatically routes
`the call through a selected service provider. The data base is
`routinely updated to maintain the current rate structures of
`the service providers and to record the calls made by each
`customer for purposes of tracking quantity calling discounts
`or the like. Thus, the customer can be guaranteed of getting
`the least expensive service for every call.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
`
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the telecommunications
`network in which the present invention operates;
`FIG. 2 is a ?ow diagram of the method for operating the
`system of the invention; and
`FIG. 3 is a ?ow diagram of an alternate method for
`operating the systems of the invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`FIG. 1 is an architectural block diagram illustrating the
`operation of the invention. FIG. 1 shows a telecommunica
`tions network 1 including a local exchange or switching
`system 2. Switching system 2 can be a 5ESS® switch,
`described in AT&T Technical Journal, Vol. 64, No. 6, part 2,
`pp. 1305-1564, July/August 1985, and manufactured by
`AT&T. Other suitable switches or switching systems can
`also be used as will be understood by one skilled in the art.
`A plurality of CPEs, such as telephone station set 3 or
`multimedia station 5, are connected to switching system 1
`over customer lines 4. The customer lines 4 can include
`analog lines, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
`lines, coaxial cable or other access loop technologies,
`switching system 2 having the capabilities for dealing with
`these technologies. Accordingly, switch 2 may be an ISDN
`switching system such as the system disclosed in U.S. Pat.
`No. 4,592,048 issued to Beckner et al. on May 27, 1986.
`The switching system 2 comprises a processor 8 for
`controlling the switch. The processor 8, in turn, comprises a
`central processing unit (CPU) 10, a call control 12 storing a
`call control program for controlling the operations of the
`central processing unit, and call data 14. Switching system
`2 also includes a local data base 16 for storing data such as:
`1) customer lines connected to the system, such as a Q.931
`equipped customer line, 2) interconnecting networks, 3) data
`links, and 4) data about the data base control. CPU 10
`accesses the local data base 16 for supplying data for display
`at CPEs connected to switching system 2 and/or for sup
`plying data in response to requests received from signaling
`network 23. Signaling network 23 can consist of a CCS7
`signaling network. CPU 10 controls a transaction recorder
`18 for recording billing information associated with services
`provided in accordance with the invention. Voice and data
`switching network 6, under control of the CPU 10, transmits
`data among processor 8 and regional data base control 20,
`and transmits voice and data among data links coming into
`the system such as the data link 21 to the signaling network
`23, data link 25 to the local telephone network 27 of the
`public switched telephone network and customer lines 4.
`Regional data base 22 is connected to the data base control
`
`

`

`5,570,417
`
`3
`20 via data link 24 such that data in the regional data base
`can be accessed by processor 8.
`In the typical arrangement of FIG. 1, the location at which
`the calls are connected with the long distance service
`providers is in a tandem switch. As will be appreciated, a
`tandem switch links local exchanges such as switching
`system 2 to one another and to other tandem switches. As
`illustrated in FIG. 1, switch 30 represents a tandem switch
`in which voice and data switching network 32 routes calls
`received from the local telephone network 27 and routes
`those calls to one of the alternative long distance service
`providers SP1,SP2. . . SPN. Like switching system 2, switch
`30 includes voice and data switching network 32 that is
`controlled by a processor 34 and can include data bases
`and/or transaction recorders (not shown). Moreover, the
`voice and data switching network 32 is connected to and
`forms a pan of the local telephone network 27 and the
`signaling network 23. While in the exemplary arrangement
`the connection to the long distance service providers is at the
`tandem switch 30, it will be appreciated that connection to
`the long distance service providers can also be made at the
`local exchange or switching system 2. It is immaterial for
`purposes of this invention whether the long distance service
`providers are accessed at the local exchange, at a tandem
`switch or elsewhere in the network. Further, while in the
`illustrated embodiment, switch 30 is described as a tandem
`switch, it will be appreciated that switch 30 could constitute
`another local exchange or an inter-network switch.
`The change required in the switching system 2 to imple
`ment the present invention is the addition of a program in the
`CPU 10 for executing the tasks described in the ?ow chart
`of FIG. 2. The information supplied to the CPU 20 for
`executing the program may come from the local data base 16
`or from the regional data base 22 where the regional data
`base is accessed by a limited number of local switches
`located in that region. It is to be understood that a centralized
`data base could be used for storing this data; however, the
`use of the local or regional data bases speeds call set up time.
`The data base contains information about the rate structures
`of the service providers SP1. .
`. SPN and provides this data
`to the switching system 2 when requested.
`Speci?cally, the data base contains the general rate struc
`ture for each long distance carrier that can be accessed via
`the network to carry calls made from the switching system
`associated with that data base. In addition to the general rate
`structure, the data base includes a table of rate variations
`based on the time of day at which the call is made to account
`for discounts provided by most service providers for off
`peak calls. In this regard, CPU 20 is provided with a real
`time clock to identify the time of the call. The data base also
`includes special promotions and subscriber plan information
`such as discounts for calls to selected numbers in a predes
`ignated group of numbers or the like. It will be appreciated
`that such customer information must be maintained in a
`con?dential manner such that access to this information is
`limited to entities entitled to such access. Finally, the data
`base maintains a running tally for all calls made by a
`customer during a billing cycle (i.e., monthly). In this
`manner, when an individual customer reaches a predeter
`mined call quantity on a particular carder that triggers
`discounts, the system of the invention can take advantage of
`those discounts.
`It is also possible to split up the rate information between
`local data base 16 and regional data base 22. For example,
`local data base 16 could include information relevant to the
`customers served by switching system 2 such as the calling
`and/or called party information and the subscriber informa
`
`4
`tion. Regional data base 22 could include information com
`mon to all customers such as general rate structures, time of
`day discounts, promotions or the like. It will be appreciated
`that all of the rate information can be stored in either local
`data base 16 or regional data base 22, if desired. In any
`event, CPU 20 will access the data base containing the
`relevant information and retrieve the speci?c information
`required for the particular call.
`In addition to the above-mentioned information, the data
`base is intended to maintain data on any rate structure and
`is updated routinely to incorporate such information, as will
`be appreciated by one skilled in the art. In the preferred form
`of the invention, the data base of the invention is updated
`automatically when revised rate information is input into the
`system for billing purposes. For example, the data base
`containing the rate information for operating the system of
`the invention, such as regional data base 22 is connected to
`the signaling network 23 by data link 31. When a long
`distance service provider updates its rate information in the
`network, the new information is delivered to the regional
`data bases through the signaling network 23. Other methods
`for updating the rate information in the data base via the
`network can also be used as will be understood by one
`skilled in the art. Unlike the prior art, the switch based data
`base is maintained current even for short lived special
`promotions that would otherwise be impossible to maintain
`on a customer’s personal data base.
`The operation of the system will now be described with
`reference to the ?ow diagram of FIG. 2. Upon receipt of a
`long distance call at switching system 2 (FIG. 1), the CPU
`determines if the calling station or customer is entitled to
`access to the service of the invention (block 201 ). For
`purposes of this description, calling station includes any
`originating CPE served by switching system 2. For example,
`if service is available only to customers who presubscribe,
`the CPU determines if the calling station or the personal
`identi?cation number of the calling customer identify a
`presubscriber. If the customer does not presubscribe, long
`distance service is selected in the normal manner (block
`202). If desired, all‘ customers on a local exchange could
`automatically be entitled to the service in which case the step
`of block 201 could be eliminated for any calls made from a
`CPE in that local exchange. It is also possible to include
`some processing functions in, for example, data base control
`20 such that the data base control can make some determi
`nations such as customer access to the service of the
`invention without the need to transmit data from the data
`base to the CPU.
`If the customer does presubscribe, the CPU then deter
`mines if the customer has disabled the service (block 203).
`In a preferred embodiment, the customer is given the ability
`to disable the service for any particular call even though the
`customer subscribes to the service. By entering a numeric
`code before dialing the called number, the customer may
`disable the service and is allowed to choose a desired service
`provider regardless of its relative cost. If the service is
`disabled, the long distance can‘ier is chosen by the customer
`in the normal manner (block 202). Alternatively, the cus
`tomer may not be given the option of disabling the service,
`with the result that all calls made by that customer would
`automatically be routed to the system selected service pro
`vider.
`If the calling customer subscribes to the service and the
`service is not disabled, the speci?c rate information relevant
`to the call (including calling and called party information) is
`retrieved from either the local or regional data base, depend
`ing on where the information is stored (block 204). CPU
`
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`5,570,417
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`5
`searches the retrieved rate information for the lowest cost
`service provider by looking up the basic rate structure of
`each service provider, determining if a time of day discount
`applies and determining, based on the called and calling
`party information, if a quantity discount applies, if the called
`party is a member of the calling party’s designated group, if
`a special promotion is applicable or any other relevant
`selection criteria (block 205). It should be noted that not all
`customers are members of a designated group or are entitled
`to quantity discounts or special promotions, therefore,
`before these searches are executed, a preliminary check can
`be made to determine if the subscribing customer is entitled
`to such discounts. As previously described, this preliminary
`check can be made in data base control 20 rather than CPU
`10, if desired. Based on these searches, the lowest cost
`carrier for the call is determined. Once the speci?c rate data
`is located, it is retrieved and the CPU determines the lowest
`cost carrier (block 206).
`Before routing the call to the lowest cost carrier, a user
`analysis could be made, if desired (block 207). The user
`analysis is intended to prevent routing to a lowest cost
`carrier where such routing otherwise would be undesirable
`for the customer. For example, if a call is made near. the end
`of a billing cycle and the lowest cost carrier has not yet been
`used during the billing cycle (and the rate differential is
`minimal), the call is routed to the slightly more expensive
`carrier to avoid sending the customer an additional bill.
`Other user analyses could also be made. For example,
`subscribers may choose not to be connected to a particular
`carrier or a limit could be made on the number of different
`carriers a customer is connected to during a billing cycle.
`Alternatively, some of these decisions could be made as part
`of the initial search process. Further, if two carriers have the
`same cost for a particular call, a predesignated customer
`preferred carrier would be selected. It will be appreciated
`that the user analysis could be eliminated and the customer
`could always be routed to a lowest cost career.
`Once the ?nal carrier is determined, the call is routed to
`that carrier in the known manner (block 208) by switching
`network 6 in accordance with routing instructions provided
`by CPU 10. Arecord of the call is made for billing purposes
`and the appropriate data base is updated to record the last
`call on the calling customer’ s record for purposes of quantity
`- discounts and the like (block 209).
`A similar system can be used to automatically route local
`calls to a low cost carrier where competitive local services
`are available. In the simplest scenario, all calls within a local
`exchange are non-competitively routed to a single carrier.
`For local calls outside of the service area of that exchange,
`a call could be routed to any of the competing local carriers.
`Referring to FIG. 1, for example, any calls with a destination
`outside the service area of switching system 2 would be
`eligible for routing to one of several competing local cani
`ers. A single carrier would carry all calls between CPEs
`served by switching system 2.
`To implement such a system, an additional plateau is
`incorporated in the operation of the system of the invention.
`Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, for a call made from a CPE
`served by switching system 2 to a CPE served by a different
`switching system, CPU 20 ?rst determines if the call is local
`or long distance (block 301). If it is long distance, the
`operation described with respect to FIG. 2 occurs. If it is a
`local call, the CPU determines if the destination is far
`enough away from the switching system 2 to warrant a
`search for the lowest cost carrier (block 302). The threshold
`distance at which the service of the invention is imple
`mented is somewhat arbitrary; however, use of a threshold
`
`50
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`55
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`65
`
`20
`
`25
`
`40
`
`45
`
`6
`level will eliminate searching alternate carriers where there
`is little or no economic justification for making the search.
`Once it is determined that the call is outside of the threshold
`distance, the search process proceeds as previously
`described with reference to FIG. 2 except that the data base,
`or a portion of the data base, is searched for local rather than
`long distance service providers. If the call is not outside the
`threshold distance, selection of the local carrier occurs in the
`normal manner (block 303).
`'
`Eventually there may exist competition for local service,
`even within a local exchange. In such a situation, the
`switching system 2 will be physically divided among a
`number of competitive carriers where access to any carrier
`on the exchange will be controlled in the same manner as
`access to long distance carriers. The routing system of the
`invention is equally applicable to such a situation and access
`to the local carrier can be decided as described with refer
`ence to FIGS. 2 and 3 except that access to the selected local
`carrier occurs within switching system 2 such as by using
`data in local data base 16.
`While the invention has been described in detail with
`respect to the attached ?gures, it is will be appreciated that
`numerous changes and modi?cations can be made in the
`system without departing from the scope of the invention.
`The invention claimed is:
`1. In a telecommunications network having at least one
`switching system connected to a plurality of calling stations,
`a method of automatically routing a call from one of the
`plurality of calling stations to a selected one of a plurality of
`service providers accessible from the switching system, said
`selected service provider offering the lowest cost service for
`carrying the call, comprising the steps of:
`storing in a data base rate information regarding said
`plurality of service providers and said plurality of
`calling stations, said data base being associated with
`said switching system such that it is accessible by all
`calling stations;
`receiving the call in said switching system;
`before accessing the data base, determining if accessing
`the data base is economically justified for the call;
`accessing said data base responsive to receiving the call;
`retrieving from said data speci?c rate information asso
`ciated with said call;
`determining the selected one of said plurality of service
`providers based on said speci?c rate information; and
`routing the call through said selected one of said service
`provider.
`2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the rate
`information includes the basic rate structures for the plural
`ity of service providers.
`3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the rate
`information includes time-of-day discounts.
`4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the rate
`information includes special discounts available to a calling
`art .
`
`p 5.yThe method according to claim 1, further including the
`preliminary step of determining if the data base is to be
`accessed for the call.
`6. The method according to claim 1, wherein before
`routing the call, determining if the call should not be routed
`to the selected one of said service providers.
`7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of
`determining if accessing the data base is economically
`justified includes the step of determining the distance of the
`call.
`8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data base
`is a local data base in the switching system and said step of
`accessing includes the step of accessing the local data base.
`
`

`

`5,570,417
`
`7
`9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data base
`is a regional data base serving a region of the network and
`said step of accessing includes using a data link to access
`said regional data base.
`10. The method of claim 1, further including the step of 5
`updating the data base with information regarding the call
`made by the calling party.
`11. The method of claim 1 further including the step of
`updating the data base with revised rate information sup
`plied by the service providers.
`12. A telecommunications network including a switching
`system connected to a plurality of calling stations, said
`switching system receiving a call made by a calling party
`from one of the plurality of calling stations and routing said
`call to a selected one of a plurality of service providers
`accessible from the switching system, said selected one of a
`plurality of service providers offering the lowest cost service
`for carrying the call, comprising:
`a data base for storing rate information on said plurality
`of service providers and said plurality of calling sta
`tions, said data base being associated with said switch
`ing system such that it is accessible by said plurality of
`calling stations;
`means for receiving a call in said switching system;
`means for preliminarily determining if accessing the data
`base is economically justi?ed;
`means for accessing said data base responsive to receiving
`said call;
`means for retrieving from said data base, speci?c rate
`information associated with said call;
`
`30
`
`20
`
`25
`
`8
`means for determining the selected one of said plurality of
`service providers based on said speci?c rate informa
`tion; and
`means for routing the call through said selected one of
`said service provider.
`13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the rate
`information includes the basic rate structure of the service
`providers.
`14. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the rate
`structure includes time-of-day discounts.
`15. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the rate
`information includes special discounts available to the call
`ing party
`16. The apparatus according to claim 12, further including
`means for determining if the call should not be routed to the
`selected one of said service providers.
`17. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the data
`base is in the switching system.
`18. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the data
`base serves a region of the network including said switching
`system,
`19. The apparatus of claim 12, further including means for
`updating the data base with information regarding the call
`ing party.
`20. The method of claim 12, further including means for
`updating the data base with information regarding the rate
`information of said service providers, wherein the rate
`information is input to said data base through the network.
`
`*
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`*
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