Method and article of
manufacture for establishing local payphone calls through
long distance carrier switches
Abstract
A method and system for establishing a local call from
a payphone by a customer through long distance carrier
switches. The payphone customer dials a long distance
provider primary intralata carrier (PIC) code followed by
a number sequence. The local call is routed to a long
distance provider switch using the long distance provider
PIC code. The payphone call is then routed to a voice
response unit (VRU) using the number sequence. The VRU
prompts the payphone customer to select local calling
from the VRU menu, enter a destination number, and to
enter their long distance calling card information. The
system then verifies that the customer's calling card
account is active and connects the call.
Primary Examiner: Tsang; Fan Assistant Examiner: Escalante; Ovidio
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for a user to establish a local call from a
payphone comprising:
manually entering a primary intralata carrier code
followed by a number sequence, the number sequence
indicating that a long distance provider should route the
call to a voice response unit;
recognizing that the local call is to be routed to the
long distance provider;
identifying the long distance provider corresponding to
said primary intralata code;
routing the local call to the long distance provider
based on said primary intralata carrier code;
receiving the primary intralata carrier code and the
number sequence at the long distance provider;
routing the call to a voice response unit based on the
number sequence;
prompting the user to select local calling from a voice
response unit menu;
prompting the user to enter a destination number and
calling call account identification information;
routing said calling card account identification
information to a data access point for verification;
determining whether a customer calling card account
corresponding to said calling card account identification
information is active; and
at least one of routing the local call using said
destination number to a destination device if in step it
is determined that said calling card account is active,
and terminating the local call if it is determined that
said calling card account is not active.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said number sequence is
00.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the long distance
provider is a long distance provider switch.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the long distance
provider is a telephone company tandem switch.
5.The method of claim 1, wherein the call is routed to a
local telephone company network.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising beginning a
billing cycle by the data access point upon connection
the local call.
7. A system for a user to establish a local call from a
payphone comprising:
means for receiving the local call;
means for routing the local call using a primary
intralata carrier code based on a manually entered
primary intralata carrier code followed by a number
sequence, the number sequence indicating that a long
distance provider should route the call to a voice
response unit;
means for routing the local call to a voice response unit
based on the number sequence;
means for prompting said customer to enter a destination
number and calling card account identification
information;
means for verifying said calling card account
identification information; and
means for at least one of routing the local call using
said destination number to a destination device if in
step it is determined that said calling card account is
active, and terminating the local call if it is
determined that said calling card account is not active.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein said number sequence is
00.
9. The system of claim 7, further comprising:
means for routing the local call to a destination device
upon verification of said calling card account
information.
10. The system of claim 7, further comprising:
means for terminating the local call.
11. The system of claim 7, further comprising:
means for beginning a billing cycle by a data access
point upon connection of the local call.
12. The system of claim 7, wherein said means for
verifying said calling card account identification
information, comprises:
means for sending a query to a data access point; means
for verifying said calling card account identification
information; and
means for responding to said query by said data access
point.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to
telecommunications, and more particularly to a method for
establishing cost effective local calls.
2. Related Art
Although competition has brought many advances and new
telecommunications services, limited options are
available to place a local call from a public payphone.
Consumers have two ways of placing local calls using a
payphone. The consumer may use the traditional method of
paying the telephone company payphone charge by inserting
money into the payphone. Alternatively, the consumer may
dial a toll free number and use their calling card to
bill the local call to their home account.
The traditional method for making a local call using a
public payphone is the consumer inserts the charge for
the call into the payphone. When placing local calls from
a payphone by inserting the charge for the call directly
into the phone, the consumer must have the exact change,
i.e., 35 cents, charged by the payphone provider for
placing the call. If the consumer dials the wrong number,
the consumer may not receive credit for the call. If the
call is of short duration, the consumer pays a high
charge for a local call (often more expensive than a long
distance call).
Alternatively, the consumer may dial a toll free number
and use their calling card to bill the local call to
their home account. A calling card is a card with a
number that allows residential customers to place a long
distance call from a phone other than their home phone
and bill the call to their home account by providing the
calling card number. When placing local calls from a
payphone by using a calling card, the consumer must dial
a toll free number. Upon a prompt, such as a chime, the
consumer enters their 14 digit calling card number. Upon
a second prompt such as a double beep, the consumer dials
their destination number. The call is processed and
billed by the long distance provider. Surcharges for
using the calling card apply.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a method and system for
establishing local payphone calls through a long distance
provider network without using a toll free number. In
order to initiate a local call through a long distance
provider network, rather than dialing a toll free number
to access the long distance carrier, the consumer enters
a long distance provider primary intralata carrier (PIC)
code followed by a number sequence. The call is routed to
a long distance provider switch using the long distance
provider PIC code.
The call is received by a long distance provider switch.
The number sequence indicates that the call should be
handled by a voice response unit (VRU). The long distance
provider switch routes the call to the VRU which prompts
the payphone customer to select a service from a menu.
The customer selects local calling by entering the
appropriate response into the keypad of the telephone.
The VRU then prompts the customer for a destination
number and a calling card number.
The long distance provider switch receives the
destination number and calling card number. The calling
card number is verified by querying a data access point
(DAP). If the calling card number is valid, the call is
terminated to the destination number.
The system comprises a payphone which is used to initiate
the call and a destination phone which receives the call.
Both the payphone and the destination phone are connected
to a telephone company central office switch which
provides switching functionality to telephones, private
branch exchanges (PBXs), and to other switches. The
telephone company central office switch is connected to a
telephone company tandem switch which tandems the call to
the long distance provider switch. The long distance
provider switch is connected to the VRU to provide the
consumer with a menu interface for selecting local
calling and the DAP to respond to queries to verify the
calling card number.
Further features and advantages of the invention, as well
as the structure and operation of various embodiments of
the invention, are described in detail below with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally
indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or
structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an
element first appears is indicated by the digit(s) to the
left of the two rightmost digits in the corresponding
reference number. The present invention will be described
with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a local payphone
calling environment according to one embodiment of the
present invention;
FIG. 2 is a flow diagram representing establishing a
local payphone call through a long distance provider
switch according to one embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 3 is a flow diagram representing routing a local
payphone call to a long distance provider network
according to one embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram representing terminating a local
payphone call according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 1.0
Overview
The present invention allows customers to establish local
calls from a payphone by dialing a primary intralata
carrier (PIC) code and a number sequence. The PIC code is
not recognized as a telephone call but rather alerts the
local telephone company that a customer wishes to place a
local call using their long distance provider. The PIC
code is received by a long distance provider switch and
the long distance provider switch processes the call.
The number sequence following the PIC code indicates to
the long distance provider switch that the call is to be
processed by a voice response unit (VRU). The VRU prompts
the customer for additional information. The VRU first
prompts the caller for the customer's service selection.
After the customer selects to place a local call, the VRU
prompts the customer for a destination number (which is
the telephone number of the called party) and a calling
card number.
When the customer enters the needed information, the long
distance provider switch 108 routes the call back to the
local telephone company for termination to the
destination number.
2.0 Terminology
Provided below is a brief description of the terminology
used within this document. Additional description is
provided in the following sections along with exemplary
implementations and embodiments. However, the present
invention is not limited to the exemplary implementations
and embodiments provided.
A "telephone company payphone" is any equipment
that can be used to initiate a call via a
telecommunications network and accept a form of payment
from the caller at the time the call is made.
"Destination phone" is any equipment that can
accept a call from a telecommunications network.
A "telephone company central office switch" is
a switch, also referred to as an exchange, that is the
local area switch that provides access and termination to
telecommunications network customers. A telephone company
central office switch would be the first switch to
process an incoming call from a customer. A
"telephone company tandem switch" is a switch
that tandems a call between switches in a
telecommunications network. A "long distance
provider switch" is a switch in a long distance
provider's telecommunications network.
A "voice response unit" is a unit that provides
interactive voice response services within a
telecommunications network. A voice response unit need
not respond to a caller's voice but may accept dialed
digit selections into a keypad or other method of
entering a selection.
A "data access point" is a component within a
telecommunications network that stores data. The data
access point responds to queries sent by a switch using
the stored data.
A "primary intralata carrier (PIC) code" is a
code used by a local telephone company to identify a
particular long distance provider. A long distance
provider is a telecommunications service provider that
provides long distance telecommunications services or
could be made capable of providing long distance
telecommunications services. A "number
sequence" is a sequence of numbers that follow the
PIC code and indicate to the long distance provider
switch that the call should be routed to a VRU. A
"destination number" is the automatic number
identification (ANI) of a line that terminates to a
device, such as a telephone, that can accept the call.
"Calling card account identification
information" is information that identifies a
customer's calling card account used for billing calls
when the customer is calling away from their home or
office. An example of calling card account identification
information is a calling card number that identifies a
customer's calling card account.
A "local telephone company network" comprises
switches and termination equipment within a localized
area. A "long distance provider network"
comprises a plurality of switches that are located
throughout a large geographic area to process long
distance telephone calls.
"Long distance calls" are calls that do not
originate and terminate within a geographic area within
the serving area of one local telephone company that is
defined as a local calling region by the local telephone
company. "Local calls" originate and terminate
within the serving area of one local telephone company or
within a geographic area within the serving area of one
local telephone company that is defined as a local
calling region by the local telephone company.
3.0 Example Environment
FIG. 1 a block diagram of a local payphone calling
environment 100. The local payphone calling environment
comprises a payphone 102, a telephone company central
office switch 104 and a telephone company tandem switch
106 within local telephone company network 122, a long
distance provider switch 108, a voice response unit,
(VRU) 114, and a data access point (DAP) 116 within long
distance provider network 120, and a destination phone
118.
Payphone 102 is connected to telephone company central
office switch 104 to allow payphone calls initiated by a
customer to be routed to local telephone company network
122. Telephone company central office switch 104 is
connected to telephone company tandem switch 106 to
tandem calls from local telephone company network 122 to
long distance provider network 120.
Telephone company tandem switch 106 is connected to long
distance provider switch 108 to route the call to the
long distance provider network 120. Long distance
provider switch 108 is connected to VRU 114 to obtain
information from a customer through an interactive menu.
DAP 116 is connected to long distance provider switch 108
to respond to queries for information from long distance
provider switch 108.
Destination phone 118 is connected to telephone company
central office switch 104 to receive the call from long
distance provider network 120 via the local telephone
company network 106.
Long distance provider switch 108 includes inbound trunk
group 110 and outbound trunk group 112. Inbound trunk
group 110 receives the call from the telephone company
tandem switch 106 and outbound trunk group 112 returns
the call to the telephone company tandem switch 106.
Local payphone calling environment 100 will be described
further with respect to an exemplary call. A customer
initiates the exemplary call using payphone 102. Payphone
102 may be a local telephone company payphone such as
those found in local airports and other public places.
Payphone 102 is not limited to telephone equipment.
Payphone 102 may be any equipment that can be used to
initiate a call. For example, payphone 102 may include
but is not limited to a telephone, a mobile telephone
(also referred to as a wireless telephone), a personal
computer or any other equipment that can be used to
initiate a call via a telecommunications network. In
addition to having call initiation capabilities, payphone
102 has the capability to allow the customer to pay for
the call at the time the call is made. For example,
payphone 102 may accept money such as coins and/or
dollars, a calling card, a credit card, a magnetic swipe
card or another intelligent card or device that can be
used to pay for a call. Therefore, payphone 102 is any
device such as a mobile telephone, a personal computer or
any other equipment that can be used to initiate a call
and that can accept payment at the time the call is made.
The call initiated by the customer routes from payphone
102 to local telephone company network 122. A local
telephone company network 122 comprises switches and
termination equipment within a localized area. An example
of a local telephone company network 122 is a local
telephone operating company network such as Bell
Atlantic. Local telephone company network 122 is not
limited to processing calls between telephones, but may
process any voice or data transmission that can be
transmitted on a telecommunications network.
The equipment within local telephone company network 122
that receives the call is telephone company central
office switch 104. A switch, also referred to as an
exchange, is a component of a telecommunications network
that has switching capability and can switch calls to
other components within a telecommunications network. For
example, a switch in Washington D.C. may receive calls
from Maryland and Virginia and switch the calls to
customers in Washington D.C. Telephone company central
office switch 104 is the first switch accessed during
call initiation and last switch to process the call when
the call is terminated to destination phone 118.
Telephone company central office switch 104 provides
switching functionality to telephones, private branch
exchanges (PBXs), and to other switches.
Telephone company central office switch 104 resides in a
central office. A central office is a building or other
facility owned by a local telephone company. A central
office is a local telephone company facility where
subscribers' lines are joined to switching equipment for
connecting other subscribers to each other, locally and
long distance. The term central office may be the same as
the overseas term "public exchange." A central
office may house several switches, such as telephone
company central office switch 104 and telephone company
tandem switch 106.
Telephone company central office switch 104 is connected
to telephone company tandem switch 106. Telephone company
tandem switch 106 is also a switch that has switching
functionality. Telephone company tandem switch 106 allows
a call to be routed via a telecommunications network to
other exchanges. Telephone company tandem switch 106
provides access from a local telephone company central
office switch 104 to long distance provider network 120.
Telephone company tandem switch 106 tandems a call
between the telephone company central office switch 104
and the long distance provider switch 108.
Telephone company tandem switch 106 is used to reduce the
amount of network needed by the local telephone company.
For example, a local telephone company may have a large
number of telephone company central office switches 104
within a particular metropolitan area, such as Maryland,
Virginia, and Washington D.C. A telephone company tandem
switch 106 would interconnect to the telephone company
central office switches 104. The telephone company tandem
switch 106 would also interconnect to multiple long
distance provider switches 108 in order to provide
service to multiple long distance providers. Thus, the
telephone company tandem switch 106 reduces the number of
connections between multiple telephone company central
office switches 104 and multiple long distance provider
switches 108.
In one alternate embodiment of the present invention,
telephone company central office switch 104 and telephone
company tandem switch 106 are the same switch. In a non
Metropolitan area a tandem switch may not be needed to
interface with multiple telephone company switches 104 as
traffic volumes may not justify multiple telephone
company switches 104. The present invention may include
any combination of switches within local telephone
company network 122 needed to process the call.
Telephone company tandem switch 106 tandems the call to
long distance provider network 122. Long distance
provider network 122 comprises a plurality of switches
that are located throughout a large geographic area to
process long distance telephone calls. For example, a
national long distance provider network 122 has switches
throughout the nation.
The call is received from telephone company tandem switch
106 by long distance provider switch 108. Long distance
provider switch 108 is a switch with switching
functionality that is in long distance provider network
122. Long distance provider switch 108 processes long
distance calls received from telephone company tandem
switch 106. Long distance calls are calls that do not
originate and terminate within the serving area of one
local telephone company. For example, long distance
provider switch 108 located in Washington, D.C. may
receive calls from telephone company tandem switch 106
and switch the calls to locations outside local telephone
company network 122 such as New York, Pennsylvania, and
Florida.
In the present invention, long distance provider switch
108 is receiving local calls. Local calls are calls that
either originated and terminate within the serving area
of one local telephone company or within a geographic
area within the serving area of one local telephone
company that is defined as a local calling region by the
local telephone company. Long distance provider switch
108 is receiving the local call so the long distance
provider can determine that the customer wishes to place
a local call and properly bill the customer.
In one alternate embodiment of the present invention,
rather than using a single long distance provider switch
108, multiple long distance provider switches 108 may be
used to process the call. The present invention may
include any combination of switches within long distance
provider network 120 needed to process the call.
Switches such as telephone company central office switch
104, telephone company tandem switch 106, and long
distance provider switch 108 may be implemented using
switches manufactured by a number of switch manufacturers
such as DMS 250 switches manufactured by Nortel.
In order to determine that the call is a local call
rather than a long distance call, long distance provider
switch 108 routes the call to voice response unit (VRU)
114. VRU is used to provide interactive voice response
services which are enhanced services offered by long
distance providers. VRUs allow consumers access to
enhanced services such as specialized products and
features associated with calling cards. Exemplary
features associated with callings cards that require VRU
processing include speed dial, reorigination, direct
connect, messenger service, conference calling, news
flash, and accounting codes.
The features and services above require interface between
VRU 114 and the caller. The interface is typically
provided via selection using a keypad after hearing a
menu of choices. However the interface may be provided by
any means telecommunications network equipment can
interface with a caller such as by voice recognition or
screen sensors reading a customer touching a screen. In
the present invention, VRU 114 allows the customer to
select to place a local call and bill it to a calling
card account. Using many current VRUs, the customer
listens to a recorded menu and enters a number on the
keypad of payphone 102 corresponding to a selection of
placing a local call provided in the menu. The VRU 114
accepts, processes and notifies long distance provider
switch 108 of the customers selection.
VRU 114 may be implemented using a network audio server
and an automated call processor. Network audio servers
are specialized computers equipped with telephony ports
which provide audio responses and collect caller input
via dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) signals and voice
recognition based on commands provided by the automated
call processor. Automated call processors are high
performance personal or midrange computers that perform
intelligent application processing to determine which
services to provide. The automated call processor of VRU
114 may be implemented with personal computers or other
midrange computers such as the RISC 6000 manufactured by
IBM. The automated call processor communicates with the
network audio server via a LAN/WAN and/or routers.
After being notified by VRU 114 that the caller selected
to place a local call billed to their calling card, long
distance provider switch 108 sends a query to DAP 116 to.
verify that the customer's calling card is valid. DAP 116
is, connected to long distance provider switch 108. DAP
116 is a facility that receives requests for information
from switches such long distance provider switch 108,
processes the request, and returns the requested
information to long distance provider switch 108. In
addition to determining whether the calling card is
valid, DAP 116 may respond to queries with information
needed to process the call through the telecommunications
network. For example, long distance provider switch 108
may send a query to DAP 116 to receive information of
which trunk group should be used as outbound trunk group
112. Billing centers which process billing for long
distance, telephone calls are also connected to DAP 116
to retrieve information regarding long distance provider
switch 108 or calls processed by long distance provider
switch 108 in order to properly bill customers. DAP 116
may be implemented using a personal computer or any other
computing system such as a RISC 6000 manufactured by IBM.
Destination phone 118 is any equipment that can receive a
call from a telecommunications network. Destination phone
118 may be a telephone, a mobile phone (also referred to
as a wireless phone), a personal computer or any other
equipment that can receive a call via a
telecommunications network.
Within long distance provider switch 108 are inbound
trunk group 110 and outbound trunk group 112. Telephone
call comes into a switch on a transmission line referred
to as the originating port or trunk. The originating port
is one of many transmission lines coming into the switch
from the same location of origin. The group of ports is
the inbound trunk group 110. After processing an incoming
call the switch transmits the call to a destination
location which may be another switch, a local exchange
carrier switch or a private exchange private branch
exchange. When a call is transmitted over a transmission
line referred to as the terminating port or trunk.
Similar to the originating ports terminating port is one
of a group of ports going from the switch to the same
destination. The group of ports is the outbound trunk
group 112.
Alternatively, inbound trunk group 110 and outbound trunk
group 112 may be the same trunk group. In this alternate
embodiment, the trunk group is bidirectional and receives
inbound traffic from the originating port and sends
outbound traffic to the terminating port.
4.0 Establishing Local Payphones Through Long Distance
Carrier Switches
FIG. 2 is a flow diagram representing a method for
establishing a local pay phone call through a long
distance carrier switch. In step 204 a payphone customer
enters a Primary Intralata Carrier (PIC) code followed by
a number sequence. A PIC code is used by a local
telephone company to identify a particular long distance
provider.
PIC codes originated when customers first began choosing
long distance providers other than AT&T. Because
local telephone companies had to handle multiple long
distance providers, local telephone companies needed to
be able to identify which long distance carrier was to
receive a call. Initially, local telephone companies
relied on PIC codes to identify which long distance
carrier was to receive a call. Customers were required to
dial a PIC code if they wanted to use a long distance
carrier other than AT&T. From a home phone, a
non-AT&T customer would dial a PIC code and then
enter the number they wished to call and their call would
be sent to the long distance provider corresponding to
the PIC code. Subsequently, local telephone company
networks have been enhanced to route the call to a
customer's long distance provider using the customer's
originating automatic number identification (ANI) which
is the telephone number of the telephone that initiated
the telephone call.
However, when a customer is initiating a call from a
device that is not on a line that is automatically billed
to their home account, the customer's originating ANI is
not useful in determining the customer's long distance
provider. For example, the telephone number of a payphone
in an airport does not indicate the long distance
provider of customers using the payphone. As a result,
other methods have been used for customers to access
their long distance providers from payphones. For
example, a customer may dial a toll free number and use
their calling card. Although the customer is not charged
for the toll free call, the owner of the toll free
number, in this case the long distance provider, is
charged for the call. The customer must pay a surcharge
for use of the calling card.
In the present invention, the customer dials a PIC code.
The PIC code is not recognized by the local telephone
company network 122 as a call. Therefore, neither the
customer nor the owner of the PIC code (i.e. the long
distance provider) is charged for the call. However, the
PIC code identifies the customer's long distance provider
and allows the customer access to services provided by
their long distance provider, such as local calling, from
a phone other than their home phone. In addition, a
customer could dial the PIC code from their home phone in
order to place a local call and could be charged on their
monthly bill for the local call by their long distance
service provider rather than by their local telephone
company. Similar to early competition for providing long
distance services when PIC codes allowed for
identification of a customer's long distance service
provider, early competition in providing local services
is possible because PIC codes again allow for
identification of a customer's provider.
In step 206 the call is routed to a long distance
provider switch 108 using the PIC code.
In step 208 the call is routed to VRU 114 using the
number sequence. When the call is received by the long
distance provider switch 108, the long distance provider
switch 108 obtains the service that the customer would
like to use. Long distance providers offer many services
such as dial 1, speed dial, reorigination, direct
connect, messenger service, conference calling, news
flash, and accounting codes. Therefore, when a call is
received by long distance provider switch 108, long
distance provider switch 108 obtains information
indicating which of the many services offered the
customer would like to use. For some services, such as
dial 1, the long distance provider switch 108 can
determine the service based on information received in
the messages used to transmit the call. For other
services, the caller enters the selection in response to
a message played by a VRU 114. Alternatively, the caller
may provide the selection by responding verbally to a VRU
114 or by identifying the selection using another
telecommunications device that can accept caller
selections, e.g. a screen that accepts touch response by
a user.
In the present invention, the long distance provider
switch 108 obtains information indicating that the
customer would like to place a local call. Following
entry of the PIC code, the customer dials a number
sequence, 00, which indicates to the long distance
provider switch 108 that the call should be processed by
VRU 114. The caller then enters the selection in response
to messages provided by VRU 114. Alternatively,the
customer's wish to access the long distance provider's
local calling service could be communicated to the long
distance provider switch 108 by receiving a customer's
touch selection on the screen of a phone or, if the
telephone can only send local calls, the telephone could
send a signal that the customer selects local calling.
In step 210 the customer is prompted to select local
calling from the menu played by the VRU 114.
In step 212 the customer is prompted to enter a
destination number and calling card information. Because
the destination number is a local number, the format is
NXX-XXXX. NXX is the central office code. The central
office code (also referred to as end office code) is part
of the national numbering plan which identifies a central
office and is associated with a particular telephone
company central office switch 104. The central office
code is a 3-digit identification under which up to 10,000
station numbers are subgrouped. Exchange area boundaries
are associated with the central office code that
generally have billing significance. Note that as central
office codes are associated with a telephone company
central office switch multiple central office codes may
be served by a central office (and by a telephone company
central office switch). As will be described with more
detail with respect to FIG. 4, the central office code
will be used by the telephone company tandem switch 106
to route the call to the appropriate telephone company
central office switch 104.
In step 214 it is determined whether the customer's
calling card account is active. The customer's calling
card number is verified by the long distance provider
switch 108 sending a query to the DAP 116. The DAP 116
stores active calling card accounts for the long distance
provider's customers. The DAP 116 determines whether the
calling card number entered by the customer is the same
as a calling card number corresponding to an active
calling card account. The DAP 116 responds to the long
distance provider switch that the calling card account is
valid if the DAP 116 has a stored calling card number
that matches the entered calling card number and the
stored calling card number corresponds to an active
account. If the DAP 116 cannot verify the calling card
number, the calling card is not valid.
If in step 214 the customer's calling card account is
active the call processing flow proceeds to step 216. If
in step 214 the customer's calling card account is
determined not to be active the call processing flow
proceeds to step 216.
In step 216 the call is terminated.
In step 218 the call is routed using the destination
number to the destination phone 218.
FIG. 3 is a flow diagram representing routing a local
payphone call to a long distance provider network 120 as
in step 206 in more detail. In step 304 the PIC code
followed by the number sequence is routed to the
telephone company central office switch 104. The PIC code
and number sequence dialed by the customer using payphone
102 are routed from payphone 102 to the telephone company
central office switch 104.
In step 306 the telephone company central office switch
104 recognizes that the call should be routed to a long
distance provider network 120. When the customer dials a
PIC code followed by a number sequence of 00, the PIC
code identifies that the call should be routed to a long
distance provider network 120.
In step 308 the call is routed to the telephone company
tandem switch 106. Telephone company tandem switch 106
provides interface between multiple telephone company
central office switches 104 and multiple long distance
provider networks 120. The telephone company tandem
switch 106 tandems the call to long distance provider
switch 108.
In step 310 the telephone company tandem switch 106
detects the long distance provider network 120
represented by the PIC code and routes the call to the
long distance provider network 120. Similar to the
telephone company central office switch 104, the
telephone company tandem switch 106 identifies that the
call should be sent to a long distance provider network
120 using the PIC code. In addition, each PIC code
corresponds to a particular long distance provider.
Therefore, the telephone company tandem switch 106 can
determine which long distance provider network 120 should
receive the call. The telephone company tandem switch
will have identifier for long distance provider switches
108 that have been chosen by each of the long distance
providers to receive calls from the local telephone
company. The telephone company tandem switch routes the
call to the appropriate long distance provider switch 108
using the PIC code and preestablished agreements with the
long distance provider of the long distance provider
switch 108 that should receive the call.
In step 312, a VRU 114 within the long distance provider
network 120 prompts the customer to enter a destination
number and a calling card number. The destination number
is the number of the terminating line. The terminating
line may be a phone line into the home of a party that
will receive the call. The terminating line may be a line
connected to a personal computer in an office building
that receives the call. The destination number is the
number dialed or otherwise entered to connect to a
particular called party or called equipment.
The calling card number identifies the customer's home
(or business) account that will be billed for the call.
The customer will be billed for the call made using the
calling card on their monthly bill.
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram representing terminating a local
payphone call as in step 218.
In step 404 the destination number is routed from the
long distance provider switch 108 to the telephone
company tandem switch 106. Because the customer selected
local calling in response to prompts played by VRU 114,
the call is routed back to the originating telephone
company tandem switch 106 for 7 digit dialing only.
In step 406 the telephone company tandem switch 106
recognizes that the destination number is a local call.
The destination number is in 7-digit NXX-XXXX format
rather than 10-digit long distance format 1+(AAA)
NXX-XXXX, where AAA is the area code. The telephone
company tandem switch 106 can identify that the call is
in 7-digit format and treat it as a local call.
In step 408 the telephone company tandem switch 106
routes the call to the telephone company central office
switch 104 serving the central office code of the
destination number. The NXX of the 7-digit local call
format for destination numbers identifies a particular
central office and a particular telephone company central
office switch 104 within the central office. The call is
routed to the telephone company central office switch
104.
In step 410 the ring cycle is applied to the destination
phone 118 at the termination of the telephone line
corresponding to the destination number thereby causing
the destination phone to ring. When the destination phone
118 is connected, e.g. a party lifts the receiver
answering the call, the billing cycle for the call
begins. The payphone customer is charged for the local
call in their monthly billing statement from their long
distance service provider.
While various embodiments of the present invention have
been described above, it should be understood that they
have been presented by way of example only, not
limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present
invention should not be limited by any of the above
described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined
only in accordance with the following claims and their
equivalents.
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