Telecommunications service control point with digit collection logic
View Patent ↗A service control point comprising a processing system coupled to an interface. The processing system is configured to process a first message to generate a second message containing instructions to a communication device to collect digits from a caller, and process a third message with the collected digits to generate a fourth message with call handling information for a call. The interface is configured to receive the first message from the communication device, transmit the second message for the communication device, receive the third message from the communication device and transmit the fourth message for the communication device.
1. A Service Control Point (SCP), comprising:
a processing system in the SCP configured to process a query from a communication device responsive to a call attempt from a caller to generate an instruction to collect caller information from the caller, and process the caller information collected from the caller to generate call routing information for completing the call attempt to a destination; and
an interface in the SCP configured to receive the query from the communication device, transmit the instruction to the communication device, receive the caller information from the communication device, and transmit the call routing information to the communication device.
2. The SCP of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is configured to validate the caller information collected from the caller.
3. The SCP of claim 2 , wherein the caller information comprises digits collected from the caller.
4. The SCP of claim 3 , wherein the processing system is configured to validate the digits based on a type of the digits.
5. The SCP of claim 3 , wherein the processing system is configured to validate the digits based on a length of the digits.
6. The SCP of claim 3 , wherein the processing system is configured to validate the digits by comparing the digits to individual digit streams defined in the SCP.
7. The SCP of claim 3 , wherein the processing system is configured to validate the digits based on an inter-digit time.
8. The SCP of claim 2 , wherein the interface system is configured to re-transmit the instruction to the communication device if the processing system determines that the caller information collected from the caller is invalid.
9. The SCP of claim 1 , wherein the instruction includes a prompt to play to the caller.
10. The SCP of claim 9 , wherein the instruction includes a time-out interval for the communication device if the caller fails to enter the caller information responsive to the prompt.
11. The SCP of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is configured to record the caller information in a call detail record.
12. A method of operating a Service Control Point (SCP), the method comprising the steps of:
receiving a query from a communication device into the SCP responsive to a call attempt from a caller;
in the SCP, processing the query to generate an instruction to collect caller information from the caller;
transmitting the instruction from the SCP to collect the caller information to the communication device;
receiving the caller information from the communication device into the SCP,;
in the SCP, processing the caller information to generate call routing information for completing the call attempt to a destination; and
transmitting the call routing information from the SCP to the communication device.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising the step of validating the caller information collected from the caller.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the caller information comprises digits collected from the caller.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the step of validating the digits collected from the caller comprises:
validating the digits based on a type of the digits.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the step of validating the digits collected from the caller comprises:
validating the digits based on a length of the digits.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the step of validating the digits collected from the caller comprises:
validating the digits by comparing the digits to individual digit streams defined in the SCP.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the step of validating the digits collected from the caller comprises:
validating the digits based on an inter-digit time.
19. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
re-transmitting the instruction to the communication device if the caller information is invalid.
20. The method of claim 12 , wherein the instruction includes a prompt to play to the caller.
21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the instruction includes a time-out interval for the communication device if the caller fails to enter the caller information responsive to the prompt.
22. The method of claim 12 , further comprising the step of:
recording the caller information in a call detail record.
23. A communication system, comprising:
a communication device configured to receive a call attempt from a caller and transmit a query; and
a Service Control Point (SCP) configured to receive the query, process the query to generate an instruction to collect caller information from the caller, and transmit the instruction to the communication device;
the communication device configured to receive the instruction, collect the caller information from the caller responsive to the instruction, and transmit the caller information to the SCP;
the SCP configured to process the caller information to generate call routing information for completing the call attempt to a destination, and transmit the call routing information to the communication device;
the communication device configured to complete the call attempt to the destination responsive to the call routing information.
24. The communication system of claim 23 , wherein the SCP is configured to validate the caller information collected from the caller.
25. The communication system of claim 23 , wherein the communication device comprises a switch.
26. The communication system of claim 23 , wherein caller information comprises digits.