Method for controlling announcements and interactive responses in an exchange
View Patent ↗The provision of subscriber service features is one of the tasks of exchanges in classic TDM networks. This includes e.g., announcements and interactive responses. According to the prior art, these announcements and interactive responses are either provided by peripheral devices of the exchange which are equipped with the appropriate function or by external announcement and interactive response systems. The latter are provided either in TDM networks with proprietary interfaces or in packet networks with standardized interfaces. The invention solves the problem of providing the service for classic TDM networks by providing that the known packet-based method for controlling an external system for providing announcements and interactive responses is transferred to an exchange located in the classical TDM network. In particular, this enables the protocol used to control the external announcement and interactive response system, which was originally standardized as a signalling protocol for controlling a media gateway, to be used.
1. A method for controlling announcements and interactive responses in a TDM-based exchange having peripheral devices, comprising:
providing the peripheral devices with at least one of virtual announcement ports and interactive response ports, the virtual ports not terminating any trunk or subscriber line and not having any hardware for trunk or line termination;
modeling at least one function complex on an external hardware platform, wherein the external hardware platform receives announcement and interactive response functionality;
controlling the external hardware platform via a packet-based control interface, which exists between the peripheral devices and the external hardware platform, by at least one of the peripheral devices with virtual announcement and interactive response ports; and
looping into a setup of a connection another interface via which a TDM data stream carrying the announcements and interactive responses is transferred,
wherein the TDM data stream carrying the announcements and interactive responses is transferred between the external hardware platform and the TDM-based exchange.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one function complex is implemented as at least one of an external announcement and interactive voice response system and as a media gateway between packet-based and TDM-based networks.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the packet-based control interface supports a MGCP or H.248 protocol.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the another interface is implemented as a PCM interface to a further peripheral device.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the external hardware platform is controlled like a packet-based IVR system and a separate media gateway between packet network and TDM networks.