Technique for selecting a profile to use to service a call
View Patent ↗A telephone call may have more than one identifier, e.g., a billing telephone number and a caller's telephone number, within its signaling stream. Each identifier may have an associated call servicing profile. The invention determines which of several call profiles associated with identifiers within the call signaling stream should be used to service the call. The invention involves reading the identifiers, retrieving the profiles associated with the identifiers, if they exist, and selecting one of the profiles to use based on data in the profiles and a profile priority scheme. The invention may be realized in relation to an information assistance service.
1. A method for selecting a profile to use in servicing a call, the method comprising:
receiving a signaling stream associated with the call, the signaling stream including at least first and second identifiers, the first identifier containing data concerning an account to which the call is to be billed;
maintaining first and second profiles identifiable by the first and second identifiers, respectively, the first profile comprising one or more preferences unrelated to billing and second data indicating whether the first profile or the second profile is to be used to provide one or more services during the call;
retrieving the first profile based on the first identifier; and
based on the second data, determining whether to use the first profile or the second profile to provide one or more services during the call.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second data precludes the use of the second profile.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second data allows the use of the second profile.
4. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising:
selecting the first profile to provide one or more services during the call if the second identifier is the same as the first identifier.
5. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising:
selecting the first profile to provide one or more services during the call if the second identifier differs from the first identifier, but no second profile exists.
6. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising:
selecting the second profile to provide one or more services during the call if the second identifier differs from the first identifier and the second profile exists.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the signaling stream is formatted in accordance with an SS7 protocol.
8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the content of the call is formatted according to a VoIP protocol and the signaling stream is formatted according to a session initiation protocol (SIP).
9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein an information assistance service provides one or more services during the call.
10. A system for selecting a profile to use in servicing a call, comprising:
an interface configured to:
receive a signaling stream associated with the call, the signaling stream including at least first and second identifiers, the first identifier containing data concerning an account to which the call is to be billed;
a database configured to:
maintain first and second profiles identifiable by the first and second identifiers, respectively, the first profile comprising one or more preferences unrelated to billing and second data indicating whether the first profile or the second profile is to be used to provide one or more services during the call; and
a processor configured to:
retrieve the first profile based on the first identifier; and
based on the second data, determine whether to use the first profile or the second profile to provide one or more services during the call.
11. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the second data precludes the use of the second profile.
12. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the second data allows the use of the second profile.
13. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
select the first profile to provide one or more services during the call if the second identifier is the same as the first identifier.
14. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
select the first profile to provide one or more services during the call if the second identifier differs from the first identifier, but no second profile exists.
15. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
select the second profile to provide one or more services during the call if the second identifier differs from the first identifier and the second profile exists.
16. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the signaling stream is formatted in accordance with an SS7 protocol.
17. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the content of the call is formatted according to a VoIP protocol and the signaling stream is formatted according to a session initiation protocol (SIP).
18. The system according to claim 10 , wherein an information assistance service provides one or more services during the call.
19. A method for selecting a profile to use in servicing a call, the method comprising:
receiving at least first and second identifiers during a call;
maintaining a first profile associated with the first identifier, the first profile comprising billing information and at least one first preference unrelated to billing, and a second profile associated with the second identifier, the second profile comprising one or more second preferences;
retrieving the first profile based on the first identifier;
receiving a request for one or more services;
based on data in the first profile, selecting the first profile or the second profile for providing the one or more requested services during the call; and
providing the one or more requested services in accordance with the selected first or second profile.
20. The system according to claim 19 , wherein the at least one first preference includes at least one preference selected from a group consisting of: a preferred mode of delivery of information, a preferred restaurant, a preferred dining time, one or more dietary requirements, past logged activity, and a service subscription.
21. The system according to claim 19 , wherein the one or more second preferences include at least one preference selected from a group consisting of: a preferred mode of delivery of information, a preferred restaurant, a preferred dining time, one or more dietary requirements, past logged activity, and a service subscription.