Obtaining information about a called telecommunications party

[0002] This invention relates to providing information about telecommunications customers to other telecommunications customers.

[0003] Problem:

[0004] As the telephone monopoly for local service is being challenged, requirements have grown for various types of number portability arrangements for telecommunications customers, such as telephone and cellular wireless station customers. In order to allow competitors to enter the field, it is important that telephone customers not be required to change telephone numbers, i.e., be able to “port” their telephone numbers, in order to switch telephone providers; a telephone number is a valuable asset because it is known by many people, and changes in telephone numbers are, therefore, costly to the party whose telephone number is being changed.

[0005] Along with the requirement for number portability in moving from one service provider to another, there has begun to be pressure for number portability as telephone customers move geographically. Initially, number portability is likely to be restricted to movements within a local area transport area, (LATA), but eventually, it is likely that there will be a requirement for number portability for customers who move outside their present LATA.

[0006] In the case of wireless customers, many such customers subscribe to roamer service, which permits these customers to move outside their basic service area, and still receive service, both incoming and outgoing. If the calling party were required to pay some, or all of the charges for a call to such a roamer, the calling party would be interested in knowing whether higher charges are likely to be incurred.

[0007] A problem which has resulted, and is likely to further result from these moves, is that the caller is no longer sure of where the called party is to be found, and consequently, that the charges are likely to be for a call to that party.

[0008] Solution:

[0009] The above problem is solved, and an advance is made over the teachings of the prior art in accordance with our invention, wherein the caller who dials a land-based telephone number or a wireless number, can receive information about the called party. If necessary, in response to receipt of a call by a serving switching system, a query is made of a database to provide information, and that information is then returned to the caller in a display, or announcement. Advantageously, the display, or announcement, can provide information to the caller which can help the caller decide whether or not to make the call, and possibly, whether to limit the length of the conversation if the caller decides to make the call.

[0010] Note that there are many diverse services which provide a called party with information about the calling party. The most common is calling line identification, which provides the identity of a caller to a called party in a display on the called party's telephone. The identity of the calling party has also been used by businesses to call up a display concerning the account activity of the caller, based on the calling line identification. In one application of this type of arrangement, a caller to a real estate company who fails to inhibit his/her calling line identification, triggers a query of a proprietary database which provides the real estate agent with information about such matters as the caller's mortgage amount and status. None of these services, however, provide a calling party with information about the called party.

[0011] In accordance with one preferred embodiment, the caller is provided with sufficient information to determine whether the call is a local or a toll call. This arrangement minimizes intrusions on the privacy of the called party, and provides information needed by the caller to help determine the decision as to whether a call should be completed. While this arrangement is probably adequate for the Continental United States, wherein toll calls typically have a standard charge that is almost independent, or entirely independent of the distance between calling and called parties, in other countries, or in International Networks for places like Europe, additional information to identify a charge rate can also be provided. For example, in European systems, a pulse metering rate required by the telephone network in order to charge the call, can fully inform the caller of charges to be incurred on the call.

[0012] In accordance with another feature of Applicant's invention, the called party's name and/or location, (useful for locating cellular subscriber roamers), can also be provided; in the case of cellular roamers, the location can be the location wherein the roamer was most recently registered, or preferably, the present location, as determined by available techniques for locating a wireless station within a few hundred meters, can be provided to the caller. This type of service can be useful even if number portability is not offered in an area identified by a called land-based, or wireless telephone number.

[0013] In accordance with another feature of this invention, when more detailed information is provided to the caller, the called party has options for suppressing the reporting of such information to callers. The called party can suppress such information for all incoming calls either on a permanent basis, or on the basis of a dialed request, (with the option of a dialed deletion of the request); or can selectively provide the information to a pre-assigned group of telephone numbers, or deny the information to a pre-assigned group of telephone numbers, (screening). Advantageously, those telephone customers who do not wish to provide such information are not required to do so, but other telephone customers will have their information available to callers.

[0014] A service which will soon be introduced, for example, flexible alerting, allows a call to a “pilot” directory number to be completed to one of several telephone stations, such as a business location telephone, a cellular telephone, and a home telephone. For called customers who will have this type of service, according to the principles of this invention, the caller can be provided with the requested information concerning all possible terminating numbers before allowing the call to be completed, and/or with the information concerning the number that actually answers the call after the call has been completed.

[0015] In accordance with another feature of this invention, the information can be provided to the caller on every call; on calls which the caller dials a prefix; on “no” calls; on a predefined list of numbers, or on all numbers except such a predefined list; or on a switchable on-off basis under the control of the caller; the selection is made based on the class of service of the caller. Correspondingly, the telephone operating company would either charge a flat rate, a rate per use, or nothing, in case the caller did not wish to use the service.

[0016] In accordance with another feature of Applicants' invention, the called party can control the information to be provided to the caller. This control can be complete, (no information supplied), or selective, (certain information denied); can be for all callers, for selected callers, or for all but selected callers, the caller being identified by a calling number identification; can be turned off or on by the called party.

[0017] In accordance with another feature of the invention, if the caller wishes to have detailed information, and the operating company provides such information, then the information would be provided in response to specific requests keyed by the caller. Advantageously, this allows the caller to receive specific information for some, but not all calls.

[0018] FIG. 1 is a block diagram, illustrating the operation of Applicants' invention; and

[0019] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram, illustrating the method of the invention.

[0020] FIG. 1 is a block diagram, illustrating the operation of Applicant's invention. A land based caller 1, calls a land based telephone station 2. The caller is connected to an originating switch 5, having a processor 17 to control its actions, and the called party is served by terminating switch 6. The originating and terminating switches are interconnected by the Public Switched Telephone Network 10, (in special cases, the originating and terminating switch may be the same, or may be directly connected by trunks). If the caller wishes to make a query, the originating switch sends the data message from its access port 18, via the data network 21, to database 22, . . . , 23. The data network 21 is a Common Channel Signaling Network, (CCS7), used for signaling between switches, and between switches and telecommunications databases. With number portability, a properly enhanced originating switch 5, knows the particular database in which the sought information is to be found, or receives information from that database which will steer another request to the correct database. Alternatively, a request can be sent to the terminating switch 6, which will then respond with the desired information. The query can go switch-to-switch or, with suitable enhancements of the database, can go via the database.

[0021] The desired called party information can be on the same database that is used for routing the call, or it can be on a different database. The latter database can be identified by the database used for routing or by the terminating switch.

[0022] More generally, the Public Switched Telephone Network also has access to the data network. An intermediate switch in the connection between a caller and a called party, or the candidate terminating switch, may be the source of the query. For example, in some cases a call may be routed initially to the switch that serves the NPA-NXX code of the called party, and it may be that switch which recognizes that the called party has been ported to another switch, and that the data for the called party resides in a database 22, . . . ,23.

[0023] At any rate, the desired information is returned from one of the databases 22, . . . 23, via data network 21, to the originating switch 5, which then converts the information received in the returned data message into an announcement, or a voice band message for activating a display, or in the case of an Integrated Services Digital Network, (ISDN), telephone sends a data message over the D-channel to activate a display in the ISDN telephone. Responsive to this message, the calling customer then requests that the telephone connection be completed, or optionally, simply does not hang up, and permits the call to be completed. The caller may also be a wireless caller, such as caller 11, served by mobile switching center 15; similarly, the called party can be a wireless station, such as station 12 served by mobile switching center 16. The mobile switching centers are interconnected by the public switched telephone network 10, and also have access to data network 21.

[0024] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram, illustrating the operation of Applicant's invention. A caller dials a called number, (Action Block 201). Test 203 is used to determine whether the caller has requested called number information. The service provider may elect to provide this feature to all callers served by the service provider. The test can be based on a class of service of the caller, whereby: the caller always requests this information; a prefix dialed by the caller as an indication of a request for the called number information; a switchable toggle for the service, under the control of the caller; the information is to be requested for all calls to a specified group of telephone numbers, or for all calls except those to a specified group; or some more specialized class of service requesting called number information for selected, or all but selected, types of calls, for example, for all calls except those made using speed calling. If the customer has not requested called number information, then the call can be established as in the prior art, (Action Block 205). If the customer has requested called number information, then the appropriate database to provide this called number information is accessed, (Action Block 207). This database can be accessed via the Common Channel Signaling Network, directly from the originating switch, or from an intermediate switch of a connection to the called customer, or from the terminating switch connected to the called customer. In some cases, a first database is accessed, and the first database indicates another database must be queried; if so, the other database is queried either by sending a message directly from the first database to the second database, or by sending a message back to the querying switch, which in turn, issues another query for the called customer data.

[0025] Test 208 is used to determine whether the called party has authorized the database to provide the requested information to the caller. The called party can specify: that the information is to be provided only to a specified group of callers, or to all except a specified group; that only selected portions are to be reported, or that all but selected portions are to be reported; that information is to be provided or suppressed, based on a dialed indication by the called party. If such authorization has not been provided or has been denied, Action Blocks 209 and 213 are bypassed, and Test 215, described hereinafter, is entered. If the called party has not been denied access to this information, the called number information is then returned to the originating switch, which returns either a data message for display at the calling customer's station, or converts the data returned from the database into an announcement, (Action Block 209). Test 211 is then used to determine whether the caller requests extended information, i.e., information for example, beyond the basic location information provided to the caller. If so, Test 212 determines whether the called party has authorized the database to provide this additional information. If the result of Test 212 is negative, Test 215 is entered. If the result of Test 212 is positive, then Action Block 213 is executed. In Action Block 213, the caller can request extended information by dialing a special prefix; if the caller has requested the extended information, then a dialogue is established with the database that contains the extended information for the called customer. The most simple type of dialogue is one in which prompting announcements are provided to the caller, and the caller responds by keying a Dual-tone Multi-frequency (DTMF) response, or by saying a word, or words that are then recognized using speech recognition. The originating switch converts between messages to the database and announcements to the caller, and between DTMF or voice signals from the caller and messages to the database.

[0026] After the dialogue with the extended database has been completed, or in response to a negative result of Test 211, Test 215 is performed to determine whether the caller has requested call completion. The request for call completion is performed most readily through the dialing of a DTMF signal. If the caller has requested completion of the call, the call is completed, (Action Block 217); otherwise, the call is abandoned, (Action Block 219).

[0027] For flexible alerting type calls, wherein a plurality of called telephone stations are alerted, the caller can make a decision to complete the call, (Test 215), if the caller receives information about all numbers to be alerted. If the caller waits until the first called station answers, it is too late, (using present technology switching systems), to abandon the call, but at least the caller has information to make a decision on whether the call should be brief.

[0028] The above is a description of one preferred embodiment of Applicant's invention. Many other embodiments can be derived by those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is only limited by the attached claims.