United States Patent
`
`[19]
`
`lllllllllllllllillllllIlllllllllllllllllll|l||l|||||lllllllllllllllllllllll
`USOOS333185A
`
`[11] Patent Number:
`
`5,333,185
`
`Burke et al.
`[45] Date of Patent: Jul. 26, 1994
`
`
`
`[54] SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING CALLING
`PARTY INFORMATION FOR
`INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS
`SERVICES
`
`[75]
`
`Inventors: Karen B. Burke, Aberdeen; Luis E.
`Nieto, East Brunswick; 1. Grace
`Tseng, Middletown, all of NJ.
`
`[73] Assignee: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray
`Hill, NJ.
`
`[21]
`
`App]. No.:
`
`709,047
`
`[221
`
`Filed:
`
`Jun. 3, 1991
`
`[51]
`
`[521
`
`[58]
`
`[56]
`
`Int. 0.5 ................. .. H04M 15/00; H04M 11/00;
`H04M 1/56; H04M 3/42
`US. Cl. .................................... .. 379/127; 379/97;
`379/112; 379/142; 379/207; 379/246
`Field of Search ............... .. 379/97, 142, 201, 207,
`379/210, 211, 212, 112, 127, 230, 245, 246
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`4,191,860 3/1980 Weber ............................... .. 379/115
`4,555,594 11/1985 Friedes et a1.
`.. 379/247 X
`4,611,094 9/1986 Asmuth et a1. ............... ,. 379/201
`
`7/1988 Riskin ................... .. 379/201 X
`4,757,267
`
`8/1992 Tejada et a]. ............... .. 379/97 X
`5,136,633
`8/1992 Wegrzynowicz .............. .. 379/97 X
`5,136,636
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`The Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 56, No. 7, Sep.
`1977 (Cover sheet and Index only are attached due to
`voluminous nature of publication-complete text will be
`furnished if requested.
`The Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 61, No. 7, Sep.
`
`1982, “800 Service Using SPC Network Capability”,
`Sheinbein et al, pp.l737—1744.
`Engineering and Operations in the Bell System, Second
`Ed. 1982-1983, Sec. 8.5.5, pp. 292—294.
`AT&T Technical Journal, vol. 64, No. 6, Part, 2, “The
`SESS Switching System”.
`1990,
`3, Nov.
`Issue
`Bellcore, TA—NWT—000394,
`“Switching System Requirements for Interexchange
`Carrier Interconnection Using the Integrated Services
`Digital Network User Part” (ISDNUP).
`J. Bouche et al., “The Freephone Service”, Communi-
`cation & Transmission by SOTELEC, No. 4, 1986, pp.
`91-102.
`
`Primary Examiner—James L. Dwyer
`Assistant Examiner—Harry S. Hong
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Barry H. Freedman
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`14 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
`
`
`
`A system for delivering originating country information
`for international toll-free calls to a subscriber includes
`three separate processes. The country code is extracted
`from billing and routing data forwarded by the caller’s
`national
`telephone network to the communication
`switching system of the destination country of the call,
`the originating country code is then inserted in either
`the calling party number or the destination number
`depending on subscriber’s terminating arrangement and
`finally, the originating country code is delivered to the
`international toll-free subscriber before the call is com-
`pleted. Once received by the subscriber, the originating
`country information can be used to tailor customized
`services for the foreign caller such as directing calls to
`attendants fluent in caller’s language, or mapping the
`originating country code to the country name for dis-
`play to attendants.
`
`1
`
`WORLD ZONE 1
`
` INTEREXCHANGE
`_
`-
`
`CARRIER NETWORK
`"PA "2% xxxx
`
`SSS-TlT-XXXX
`NATIONAL NETWORK
`
`CAR DILS
`ACCESS coon l
`SUBSCRIBER men
`
`
`
`1 12
`
`1
`
`
`
`ADJUNCT ‘
`PROCESSOR
`
`
`
`-
`
`YMAX EXHIBIT 1024
`
`000001
`
`YMAX CORP. V. FOCAL IP
`|PR2016-01258
`
`YMAX EXHIBIT 1024
`YMAX CORP. V. FOCAL IP
`IPR2016-01258
`
`000001
`
`

`

`S.U
`
`mm
`
`mu
`
`__4_.m____M_
`
`5,333,185
`
`000002
`
`
`
`
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`
`
`_1
`
`_ s
`
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`
`II%\3582.525%_xxxqulmmmN:
`
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`
`xxxxuxxzuéz£6352SE5
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`moz<zoxszE
`
`
`
`.N.SE
`
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`
`000002
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`July 26, 1994
`
`Sheet 2 of 4
`
`5,333,185
`
`CPR INDICATES THAT SUBSCRIBER HAS
`SWITCHED EGRESS ARRANGEMENT
`
`201
`
`FIG' 2
`
`208
`
`
`
`
`
`AP TRANSLATES NETWORK ROUTING
`NUMBER INTO DESTINATION NUMBER
`NPA-NXXX-XCCC
`
`
`
`AP SENDS NPA—Nxx-xccc
`209
`AND AM! TO lSC/ACP
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`210
`
`
`
`
`
`ISC/ACP ROUTES CALL
`TO TERMINATING
`TOLL SWITCH
`
`TOLL SWITCH
`
`
`
`
`
`
`ROUTES CALL
`
`
`
`AND FORWARDS
`
`NXX-XCCC TO
`
`
`
`LEC SWITCH
`
`
`
`202
`
`IS
`CCS7-NI AVAILABLE
`?
`
`no
`
`203
`
`YES
`
`AP TRANSLATES NETWORK ROUTING
`NUMBER INTO DESTINATION NUMBER
`NPA—NXXX—XXXX
`
`204
`
`AP SENDS T0 ISC/ACP
`NPA-XXX-XXXX AND
`
`ANI=CCC-—OOO-OOOO
`
`205
`
`ISC/ACP SETS CPN=CCC-ODO-—OOOO
`
`206
`
`ISC/ACP ROUTES CALL TO
`TERMINATING TOLL SWITCH
`WITH CPN
`
`2“
`
`207
`
`
`
`TOLL SWITCH FORWARDS
`
`CCS7 ISUP IAM
`
`TO LEC SWITCH WITH
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`LEC SWITCH ROUTES
`CALL TO PBX ALONG WITH
`0.931 SETUP MESSAGE
`
`215
`
`21s
`
`213
`
`
`
`
`000003
`
`212
`
`
`
`DOES
`SUBSCRIBER
`NO
`
`
`
`
`?
`
`LEC SWITCH
`
`ROUTES THE
`
`LEC SWITCH ROUTES
`CALL TO THE
`
`THE CALL TO THE
`EXTENSION ASSIGNED
`
`
`PBX AND OUTPULSES
`TO THAT SPECIFIC
`
`XCCC DIGITS
`COUNTRY CODE
`
`
`
`
`PBX DISTRIBUTES CALL BASED ON COUNTRY CODE
`217,]
`
`000003
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`July 26, 1994
`
`Sheet 3 of 4
`
`5,333,185
`
`FIG. 3
`
`CPR INDICATES THAT THE SUBSCRIBER
`HAS DIRECT EGRESS ARRANGEMENTS
`
`AP FORMULATES ROUTING
`NUMBER IN THE FORMAT
`SSS-TTI-XXXX
`
`,
`
`301
`
`302
`
`
`AP FORWARDS sss-m-xxxx
`AND ccc-ooo-oooo
`T0 lSC/ACP
`
`
`AP SENDS sss-m-xccc
`T0 ISC/ACP
`
`
`ISC/ACP SETS CPN=CCC-ODO-OOOO
`
`
`
`ISC/ACP ROUTES CALL AND FORWARDS
`CPN TO TERMINATING TOLL SWITCH
`
`
`
`
`
`PBX USES COUNTRY CODE T0 DISTRIBUTE
`CALLS TO APPROPRIATE ATTENDANTS
`
`308
`
`CHILD 312
`
`000004
`
`
`
`
`
`TOLL SWITCH ROUTES CALL TO
`
`TOLL SWITCH ROUTES CALL AND
`PBX AND PASSES THE CCC-OOO-OOOO
`FORWARDS XCCC CODE T0 PBX
`IN THE 0.931 SETUP MESSAGE
`
`TO THE PBX
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`ISC/ACP ROUTE CALL TO
`TERMINATING TOLL SWITCH
`
`USING SSS CODE
`
`
`
`000004
`
`

`

`Sheet 4 of 4
`
`5,333,185
`
`US. Patent
`
`July 26, 1994
`
`FIG. 4
`
`CPR PARTIAL RECORD LAYOUT
`
`CUSTOMER
`RECORD
`ID
`
`SET???
`
`SERVICE
`FEATURE
`INDICATOR
`
`
`
`IDENTIFICATION
`
`AUTOMATIC
`NUMBER
`
`' 401
`
`402
`
`403
`
`404
`
`000005
`
`000005
`
`

`

`1
`
`5,333,185
`
`
`
`SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING CALLING PARTY
`INFORMATION FOR INTERNATIONAL
`COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD
`
`This invention relates to a system for processing call-
`ing party information relating to international telephone
`service, and more particularly to a system enabling
`automatic identification and delivery of information
`specifying the originating country of an incoming inter-
`national call.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`The explosive growth in international long distance
`telecommunications, coupled with the adoption and
`implementation of national and international signaling
`standards, such as Common Channel Signaling 7 Net-
`work Interconnect (CCS7 NI), Primary Rate Interface
`(PR1) and Basic Rate Interface (BRI) of Integrated
`Services Digital Network (ISDN), have provided the
`impetus for the creation of a wide variety of sophisti-
`, cated international communications services offered by
`IntereXchange Carriers (IXC). These services include
`database-queried toll-free international calling which
`allows subscribers to be reached by customers beyond
`their national borders, usually at no cost to the caller
`except for a possible local access fee in a limited number
`of countries.
`While toll-free subscribers in the United States have
`become accustomed to a variety of information for-
`warding features (such as calling party number for-
`warding), these features have not heretofore been avail-
`able in the international arena. Thus, in contrast to the
`domestic market,
`international
`toll-free subscribers
`have not been able to receive background information
`regarding calls originating outside of areas that use the
`North American Numbering Plan. This background
`information could, for example allow the subscriber to
`distinguish between the needs of different callers and
`offer personalized services based upon the country or
`location of call origination.
`One attempt to provide international toll-free sub-
`scribers with caller location information, involves the
`use of the Originating Country Information (OCI)
`which is part of the billing data exchanged between
`switching points at call setup time for some interna-
`tional calls. Unfortunately,
`this approach limits the
`scope of OCI usage to routing and billing functions
`exclusively. More importantly, this method lacks the
`required flexibility needed to permit OCI processing in
`any standard fashion to enable delivery of that informa-
`tion to the international toll-free subscriber. Thus, at the
`present time, international toll-free subscribers cannot
`target specific international market segments or tailor
`customized services for their foreign callers. This defi-
`ciency takes a special significance when one considers
`cultural and language barrier issues, as well as currency
`and measurement scale differences between calling and
`called parties located in different countries.
`To remedy this limitation, consideration is being
`given to utilization of the ISDN User Part (ISUP) sig-
`naling standard that has been adopted by the CCITT, to
`transmit before call completion, OCI or more specifi-
`cally, Calling Line Identity (CLI) information between
`switching points. CLI information is comprised of an
`Originating Country Code (OCC) which is a one to
`three digit number assigned to each country by CCITT,
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`65
`
`2
`a trunk code (similar to the area code in the North
`American Dialing Plan) and a calling party national
`telephone number. CLI information can be passed be-
`tween international and local exchange carrier digital
`switches only over international trunks rigidly adhering
`to stringent CCITT7 signaling standards that define
`protocolsfor the transmission of supervisory and out—
`of-band signaling information. Thus, even though fu-
`ture deployment of CCS7/ISUP or CCITT7/ISUP-
`compliant switching and transmission systems in calling
`and called parties’ countries will theoretically allow the
`called party to receive the CCITT-defined country
`code and the national telephone number of the calling
`party, a practical solution to the problem of OCI deliv-
`ery to the international toll-free subscriber is not at hand
`in the foreseeable future. This conclusion stems from
`the fact that global implementation of the ISUP stan-
`dards requires significant, costly and time-consuming
`enhancements to the switching and transmission sys-
`tems of the worldwide telecommunications network.
`Furthermore, the practical implications of the strictness
`and stringency of the ISUP standards minimize the
`benefits of their full scale long-term implementation.
`The ISUP standards, for example, do not allow the
`international telecommunications network to forward
`only the Originating Country Code (OCC) portion of
`the CLI. Hence, until full CLI information can be for-
`warded from one country to another, no CLI informa-
`tion will be sent. The need for our invention takes
`greater importance when it is realized that partial imple-
`mentation of the ISUP standards is unavailing since the
`presence of any non-ISUP compliant switches or non-
`CCITT7 compliant trunks in an international call path
`will prevent CLI forwarding.
`Even if the ISUP standards are globally imple-
`mented, the problem of OCI delivery will still persist,
`because the ISUP standards specify a privacy option
`that enables the caller to prevent the display to the
`called party of his/her CLI information. Thus, the exer-
`cise of the privacy option by the caller prevents the
`calling party from receiving not only the calling party
`number, but also the OCC in the CLI, since only full
`CLI forwarding is allowed by the standards. Hence,
`even in the event of the future implementation of the
`ISUP standards, the problem of circumventing the un-
`desirable side effects of the strictness of the standards
`still needs to be addressed.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`In accordance with the present invention, a system is
`disclosed for identifying, forwarding and delivering to a
`called party,
`information regarding the originating
`country of a toll-free international call. The system does
`not depend on CLI availability nor does it require ISUP
`implementation. However, it takes advantage of ISUP
`signaling capability when available, in the destination
`country of the call. According to the invention, OCI
`forwarding to the toll-free subscriber involves three
`separate processes, namely,
`the identification of the
`originating country of the call, the formatting of the
`OCI, and, finally, the delivery of the originating coun-
`try information to the subscriber.
`The identification prooess is initiated by a foreign
`caller placing an international toll-free call which is
`recognized as an outbound international call by the
`calling party national telephone network based on the
`number dialed. The caller’s national telephone network
`
`
`
`000006
`
`000006
`
`

`

`
`
`3
`then routes the call to its International Switching Cen-
`ter (ISC) also called an international gateway switch.
`As the point of exit for all international calls, the calling
`party ISC processes the call by converting the number
`dialed by the caller into billing and routing data to be
`forwarded to the called party ISC. The billing and
`routing data typically contains a code identifying the
`specific international toll-free subscriber to whom the
`call is destined. Embedded also in the billing and rout-
`ing data is the CCITT-defined Originating Country
`Code (OCC) or equivalent information.
`Upon receiving the billing and routing data from the
`calling party ISC,
`the called party ISC, sometimes
`called ISC Action Point or ISC/ACP, launches a query
`on its signaling network to locate the Adjunct Proces-
`sor (AP) containing the database that stores the Call
`Processing Record (CPR) for the particular subscriber
`associated with the call. The ISC/ACP, then forwards
`the billing and routing data to the AP, which extracts
`the Originating Country Code (OCC) from the billing
`and routing data, thereby completing the OCI identifi-
`cation process.
`The formatting process of our invention involves
`placing the Originating Country Code in parts of the
`routing and signaling message routinely processed by
`signaling or switching systems of the Interexchange
`Carrier, Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) and/or sub-
`scriber’s premises equipment. The following tasks are
`performed in a sequential manner in this process. The
`AP queries the database containing the Call Processing
`Record (CPR) to receive instructions on how to pro-
`cess the call. Information retrieved in the CPR by the
`database indicates to the AP the type of egress arrange-
`ment in use for the Subscriber’s Premises Equipment
`(SPE). Egress arrangements typically fall into two dis-
`tinct categories, namely, dedicated and switched egress
`arrangements. In the dedicated egress category,
`the
`SPE is directly connected to the Interexchange Carrier
`network via ISDN or non-ISDN dedicated trunks.
`
`5,333,185
`
`4
`The delivery process allows communication of the
`OCI to the subscriber’s premises equipment. If ISDN
`signaling services are available,
`the terminating toll
`switch or the central office switch forwards the CPN
`parameter to the subscriber using the interworking fea-
`tures of ISUP and ISDN PRI or BRI signaling standard
`protocol. Alternatively, terminating switches can map
`the originating country code to the country’s name and
`deliver either one or both, to subscribers with an ISDN
`connection. For non-ISDN customers,
`the country
`code is forwarded to the subscriber in the destination
`number, using a standard signaling protocol such as the
`ground start/loop start protocol.
`Once the Originating Country Information (OCI) is
`received by the SPE or station set, it can be used by the
`subscriber to tailor customized services for the foreign
`caller. Personalized services that can be offered include,
`for example, connecting callers from a given country to
`specialized attendants fluent in caller’s native language
`and familiar with his/her currency. In addition, a sub-
`scriber’s PBX can map the originating country code to
`the country’s name for display to attendants, if this
`function is not already performed in the network. In the
`case of data calls as opposed to voice calls, traffic can be
`directed to specialized processors capable of recogniz-
`ing special characters such as_ Kanji, Chinese, Korean,
`Arabic, Greek, Hebrew and Cyrillic, to name a few.
`Furthermore, subscribers can perform traffic pattern
`analysis to determine distribution of calls by countries
`of origin. Other miscellaneous services such as billing,
`facsimile applications, and security services can also be
`offered. Finally,
`immediately after the call
`is termi-
`nated, the terminating toll switch sends a CCS7 message
`to the ISC/ACP indicating that the Originating Coun-
`try Information was successfully delivered in order for
`the ISC/ACP to bill the subscriber for the service.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`65
`
`The present invention is more readily understood
`in the switched egress arrangement, the 40 after reading the following detailed description in con-
`Conversely,
`SPE is connected to the Local Exchange Carrier (LEC)
`junction with the drawing in which:
`network via either trunks supporting or not supporting
`FIG. 1 shows in block diagram form a configuration
`for an international
`telecommunications network de-
`ISDN standards or ordinary (POTS) telephone lines.
`The type of egress arrangement and availability of
`signed to deliver originating country information to an
`international toll-free subscriber in accordance with our
`ISDN signaling services dictate the course of the OCI
`formatting process.
`invention;
`If ISDN signaling services are available to the sub-
`FIGS. 2 and 3 represent flow diagrams of call pro-
`scriber, the AP formulates a destination number and an
`cessing instructions executed by the database system,
`Automatic Number Identification (ANI) parameter in
`the ISC/ACP and other system components of FIG. 1
`which it inserts the Originating Country Code (OCC).
`for routing calls within an international telecommunica-
`The AP then forwards the ANI parameter and the
`tions network and for delivering originating country
`information to the subscriber in accordance with our
`destination number to the ISC/ACP which copies the
`invention; and
`value of the ANI into the Calling Party Number (CPN)
`parameter of the Initial Address Message (1AM), which
`FIG. 4 is a layout of some of the fields in the Call
`is described in more detail below. The ISC/ACP then
`Processing Record which is the collective set of infor-
`uses the destination number to forward the CPN param-
`mation (routines, tables options, active/inactive flags,
`eter in the ISUP IAM, to the IXC terminating toll
`fields) that provides input data for the adjunct processor
`switch and to route the call to the same switch.
`to formulate call handling and routing instructions for
`For non-ISDN subscribers, the AP inserts the Origi-
`calls destined to a particular subscriber.
`nating Country Code (OCC) in the non-exchange por-
`tion of the destination number that it forms. In addition,
`the AP formulates an ANI using the OCC. However,
`the ANI in this case is not used for OCI delivery pur-
`poses. The AP then forwards the destination number to
`the ISC/ACP which uses it to route the call to the IXC
`terminating toll switch. At this stage, the OCC is either
`formatted in the CPN parameter or embedded in the
`non-exchange portion of the destination number.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`FIG. 1 illustrates our system for utilizing an intema-
`tional network arrangement to deliver originating coun-
`try information to a toll-free subscriber. The term “sub-
`scriber” generally refers to an entity that requested the
`international toll-free service from its national IXC, and
`ordinarily pays for the call. The international network
`in FIG. ] spans at least two countries: for example, a
`
`000007
`
`
`
`000007
`
`

`

`
`
`5,333,185
`
`5
`destination country in World Zone I which includes all
`the countries served by the North American Dialing
`Plan and an originating country located outside of
`World Zone 1. The set of originating and destination
`countries chosen for FIG. 1 does not preclude our in-
`vention frOm being applicable to different sets of origi-
`nating and destination countries. In FIG. 1, station set
`102 located in the originating country, is shown con-
`nected to the telephone network 104 of that country.
`Network 104 is served by the International Switching
`Center (ISC) 105 which is the point of egress for all
`outbound international calls from the originating coun-
`try. FIG. 1 also discloses International Switching Cen-
`ter Action Point (ISC/ACP) 110 located in the destina-
`tion country in World Zone 1. ISC/ACP 110 performs
`two primary functions, namely, it operates as the point
`of entry for all international traffic to be switched on
`interexchange carrier network 112 and it serves as the
`access point to the Common Channel Signaling net-
`work for international calls. US. Pat. No. 4,611,094
`issued on Sep. 9, 1986 to R. L. Asmuth, et a1. provides
`a general description of ISC/ACP 110. The Common
`Channel Signaling network mentioned above is a packet
`switching network used to exchange call handling mes-
`sages between processor-driven switching systems ac-
`cording to a specific protocol such as CCS7 or CCS7
`ISUP. The signaling network is composed of a plurality
`of interconnected nodes. However, for the sake of sim-
`plicity, the signaling network is represented in FIG. 1
`by a single Signal Transfer Point (STP) 106. The fea-
`tures and functionality of an STP are described in the
`book “Engineering and Operations in the Bell System”,
`Second Edition, published by AT&T Bell Laboratories,
`at pages 292 through 294. In addition, a detailed de-
`scription of CCS7 ISDN User Part standards can be
`found in ANSI document Tl.1 13-1988 or the BellCore
`document TA-NWT-OOO394 titled “Switching Systems
`Requirements for Interexchange Carrier Interconnec-
`tion Using the ISDN User Part”.
`The configuration in FIG. 1 also shows adjunct pro-
`cessor 108 connected to STP 106. Adjunct processor
`108 consists of a computer system with disk storage
`which receives routing data from the signaling net-
`work. AP 108 runs standard database management sys-
`tem software to retrieve and process call handling in-
`structions for a specific subscriber based on a set of
`stored parameters. Collectively, these parameters are
`kn'0wn as a Call Processing Record (CPR), such as
`CPR 109 of FIG. 1. AP 108 may be implemented as a
`Network Control Point (NCP) which is a processor-
`controlled centralized data base facility performing all
`the functions described above. The operation of an
`NCP is described, for example, in the D. Sheinbein, et
`al., article on pp. 1737-1744 of Bell System Technical
`Journal (BSTJ), September, 1982, Volume 61, No. 7,
`Part 3. Finally, FIG. 1 depicts various carrier switches
`such as toll switch 124, toll switch 114, and LEC switch
`116. These switches are software-driven, processor-
`controlled telephone systems designed to route calls
`either from one switch to another or to subscriber prem-
`ises equipment such as PBX 130, PBX 126 or telephone
`set 132. A well-known LEC switch is the AT&T No.
`SESS which is described in AT&T Technical Journal,
`Vol. 64, No. 6, part 2, pp. 1305-1564, July/August,
`1985. A toll switch may be implemented using the
`AT&T No. 4ESS, whose features and functionality are
`explained in great detail in Bell System Technical Journal
`(BSTJ), Vol. 56, No. 7, pp. 1015-1320, September, 1977.
`
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`The components in FIG. 1 constitute the hardware
`and software platform on which the operational fea-
`tures of our invention are built. Thus, in the course of
`the disclosure of this invention, a high level explanation
`of their functionality or internal architecture is pro-
`vided for the purpose of a comprehensive and thorough
`description of our invention. However, persons skilled
`in the art will understand that the specific embodiment
`in FIG. 1 can be altered in numerous ways and never-
`theless be used to implement our invention.
`As mentioned above, Call Processing Record (CPR)
`109 in FIG. 1 consists of a set of information which
`includes routines and subroutines logic, table options,
`fields and active/inactive flags. For simplicity purposes,
`a subset of the fields most relevant to our invention is
`provided in FIG. 4. Customer Record Identification
`401 uniquely identifies a subscriber within the database
`system. As its name indicates, service type field 402
`points to the type of service requested by the subscriber.
`For an AT&T subscriber, service type 402 will indicate
`whether the subscriber requested any of the following
`services, namely, Advanced 800, Inbound International
`800, Outbound International 800, MEGACOM 800, or
`AT&T 800 READYLINE. Service Feature Indicator
`field 403 is used to determine any special features re-
`quested by the subscriber, such as Calling Party Num-
`ber delivery, Dialed Number Identification Services,
`etc. ANI 404 provides a field included in the billing
`instructions passed by the adjunct processor to the ISC-
`/ACP. In prior art systems, this field is ordinarily popu-
`lated by the adjunct processor with the calling party
`number for domestic toll-free calls or the country code
`for international toll-free calls.
`
`I. Originating Country Code Identification And
`Formatting
`With continued reference to FIG. 1., a caller outside
`of World Zone 1, at telephone set 102, dials an intema-
`tional toll-free number destined to a called party in
`World Zone 1. The dialed number identifies the call to
`originating country national network 104, as a toll-free
`international call. The dialed number typically consists
`of a) a toll-free access code assigned by the national
`telephone regulating body, b) a certain number of digits
`identifying the international
`IntereXchange Carrier
`(IXC) such as AT&T, selected by the called party or
`subscriber, and c) five to seven digits specifying the
`particular subscriber to whom the call is destined. As
`for all outbound international communications services,
`the call placed by the calling party is automatically
`forwarded by originating country national network 104
`to ISC 105, which screens the call for validity and pro-
`cesses it by converting the dialed number received from
`the caller to a network routing number. The latter num-
`ber consists of a three-digit code whose purpose is to
`alert ISC/ACP 110 in the destination country that the
`incoming call is an international toll-free call. In addi-
`tion, the network routing number forwarded by ISC
`105 contains a five-digit code identifying the subscriber
`in the destination country and a three-digit code speci-
`fying the originating country of the call, typically used
`only for billing and routing purposes. ISC/ACP 110
`forwards the network routing number, including the
`originating country code,
`to Signal Transfer Point
`(STP) 106 which uses the five-digit subscriber code to
`locate the appropriate adjunct processor such as AP
`108. Referring still to FIG. 1, AP 108 extracts the three-
`digit originating country code from the network rout-
`
`
`
`000008
`
`000008
`
`

`

`
`
`5,333,185
`
`7
`ing number forwarded by ISC/ACP 110. In addition,
`AP 108 queries its database to retrieve the particular
`Call Processing Record such as (CPR) 109 matching
`the subscriber’s five-digit code.
`As mentioned above in our description of the fields in
`FIG. 4, Service Indicator Feature 403 in CPR 109 indi-
`cates to AP 108 the features requested by the subscriber
`and the type of egress arrangements in place for the
`subscriber’s premises equipment. Based on these param-
`eters and the originating country of the call, AP 108
`then devises routing and billing instructions to be for-
`warded to ISC/ACP 110. The formulation of the billing
`instructions consists of populating the CPR Automatic
`Number Identification (ANI) field 404 of FIG. 4 with
`the three digit originating country code and zeros in the
`format CCC-000-0000, where “CCC” represents the
`originating country code. If the originating country
`code is a one-digit or two-digit number, the CCC por-
`tion of AN] 404 may contain leading zeros. The billing
`instructions also contain generic commands directing
`ISC/ACP 110 to create an accounting or billing record
`for the call based on the rates fixed for the country
`indicated in the originating country code. The routing
`instructions by contrast are ordinarily comprised of
`either an NPA-NXX-XXXX number from the North
`American Dialing Plan or an Interexchange Carrier’s
`internal routing number, sometimes called an Action
`Point Number (APN), used to route the call from IXC
`network 112 directly to the subscriber’s premises equip-
`ment. The choice of one of these routing methods and
`the manner in which the originating country informa-
`tion and the call are ultimately routed to the intema-
`tional toll-free service subscriber, depends on how the
`subscriber’s premises equipment (such as PBX 130 or
`station set 132) is connected to IXC 112.
`
`II. Originating Country Information Delivery
`
`Two common methods are typically used to connect
`a PBX or telephone set to interexchange carrier net-
`work 112, namely, a switched egress arrangement and a
`dedicated egress connection. In a switched egress ar-
`rangement, a PBX, such as PBX 126 is connected to the
`Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) switching network 116,
`through dedicated facilities such as high speed private
`lines 117. A switched egress arrangement also covers
`' the familiar configuration of a telephone set such as set
`132 connected via ordinary telephone (POTS) lines
`such as link 118 to Local Exchange Carrier switch 116.
`AT&T 800 READYLINE service and AT&T CLAS-
`SIC 800 service are well-known examples of switched
`egress arrangements with single lines and dedicated
`lines, respectively. By contrast, PBX 130 configured in
`a dedicated egress arrangement, is connected via dedi-
`cated private line 127 to toll switch 124. AT&T
`MEGACOM 800 service is a good example of a toll-
`free service using a dedicated egress arrangement.
`FIG. 2 illustrates a method for delivering Originating
`Country Information (OCI) to a switched egress sub-
`scriber in accordance with our invention. The call pro-
`cessing and originating country information formatting
`steps are performed by AP 108 and ISC/ACP 110 of
`FIG. 1, while the switching steps and originating coun-
`try information delivery steps are effectuated by the
`other components of interexchange carrier network 112
`in FIG. 1 and the LEC network represented in FIG. 1
`for simplicity purposes by LEC switch 116. With refer-
`ence to FIG. 2, the process begins in step 201, in which
`the contents of service type field 402 in Call Processing
`
`8
`Record (CPR) 109 is used in AP 108 to determine that
`the subscriber has a switched egress arrangement based
`on the features provisioned for the subscriber. By way
`of example, if service type field 402 indicates that the
`subscriber has 800 READYLINE type of service, AP
`108 then determines that the subscriber has a switched
`egress arrangement. Information in Service Feature
`Indicator field 403 of CPR 109, in step 202, also deter-
`mines for AP 108 whether CCS7-NI services are of-
`fered by the LEC switch to which the SPE is con-
`nected. CCS7-NI availability is determined based on
`whether or not a switched egress subscriber requested
`the calling party number delivery feature. Availability
`or lack of CCS7-NI triggers two separate OCI delivery
`methods, using different signaling protocols.
`In the first method, where CCS7-NI is not available
`(meaning the switched egress subscriber did not request
`calling party number delivery), AP 108,
`in step 208,
`translates the network routing information received
`from STP 106 into a destination number of the form
`NPA-NXX-XCCC, where CCC represents the origi-
`nating country code of the caller. This scheme of for-
`mulating a destination number is advantageous because
`the standard format of a destination number can b used
`to transport the originating country code which would
`not otherwise be available for delivery to the sub-
`scriber. AP 108 proceeds in step 209 to forward the
`NPA-NXX-XCCC number and ANI 404 to ISC/ACP
`110. The latter, in step 210, routes the call to terminat-
`ing toll switch 114, which in turn routes it to the LEC
`switch in step 211, after removing the NPA portion of
`the destination number. The LEC switch, in step 212,
`performs a test to determine whether the subscriber’s
`premises equipment is a PBX with Direct Inward Dial-
`ing (DID) service or a regular station set. This test is
`conducted by a table lookup in the LEC switch com-
`paring specific exchange numbers with trunk subgroup
`numbers. If the subscriber does not 'have a PBX with
`DID, terminating LEC switch 116, using a standard
`signaling protocol, routes the call to subscriber’s tele-
`phone set 132 with the extension XCCC. If the sub-
`scriber is served by an advanced Local Exchange Car-
`rier (LEC) switch, such as the AT&T SESS switch, the
`call can be forwarded to another set in th