Remote telephony service management
View Patent ↗The present invention provides a system and method enabling telephony service subscribers to activate, deactivate, make service changes, and access call-related information from telephony services provided by a telephony service provider. According to one aspect, the service management system of the present invention interacts with subscriber terminals connected to a public data network. The service management system receives requests from subscriber terminals and converts the requests into a format compatible with terminal emulation programs, such as the Telnet protocol, running on end office switches. Using the converted request information, the requested service changes are made or the requested call-related information is collected by the end office switches with little or no intervention by service provider personnel.
1. A method of controlling telephony services in an end office switch serving a plurality of service subscribers, comprising:
a) receiving a request to manage the telephony services from a requesting service subscriber;
b) establishing a communication session with the end office switch with a terminal emulation format compatible with the end office switch in response to receiving the request;
c) receiving from the end office switch an interactive list of telephony services available to the requesting service subscriber;
d) sending for display at a subscriber terminal the interactive list of telephony services available to the requesting service subscriber;
e) receiving a requested service change in the form of service change input made to the interactive list of telephony services by the requesting service subscriber;
f) converting the service change input into the terminal emulation format to provide a converted service change input;
g) transmitting the converted service change input to the end office switch, thereby to effect the requested service change;
h) receiving a confirmation message that the requested service change has been effected;
i) sending the confirmation message to the requesting service subscriber; and
j) terminating the communication session with the end office switch after the requested service change has been effected and the confirmation message has been sent.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending a subscriber identification request for display at the subscriber terminal;
receiving a response to the subscriber identification request including subscriber authentication data; and
validating the subscriber authentication data.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein validating the subscriber authentication data further comprises:
comparing the subscriber authentication data with a service profile for the requesting service subscriber; and
if the subscriber authentication data matches at least a part of the service profile, enabling the requesting service subscriber to view and make service change requests to the service profile for the requesting service subscriber.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the interactive list of telephony services is based, at least in part, on the service profile.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the service profile for the requesting service subscriber includes privilege level information.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the interactive list of telephony services is displayed on the subscriber terminal in a visual format.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the interactive list of telephony services further comprises a hypertext markup language (HTML) compatible page.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the service change input is converted into a Telnet-compatible format utilized by the end office switch.
9. A telephony service management system for controlling telephony services in an end office switch serving a plurality of service subscribers, comprising:
a) a first interface disposed to communicate with a subscriber terminal;
b) a second interface disposed to communicate with the end office switch;
c) a control system, associated with the first interface and the second interface, adapted to:
i) receive a request to manage the telephony services from a requesting service subscriber;
ii) establish a communication session with the end office switch with a terminal emulation format compatible with the end office switch in response to receiving the request;
iii) receive from the end office switch an interactive list of telephony services available to the requesting service subscriber;
iv) send for display at the subscriber terminal the interactive list of telephony services available to the requesting service subscriber;
v) receive a requested service change in the form of service change input made to the interactive list of telephony services by the requesting service subscriber;
vi) convert the service change input into the terminal emulation format to provide a converted service change input;
vii) transmit the converted service change input to the end office switch, thereby to effect the requested service change;
viii) receive a confirmation message that the requested service change has been effected;
ix) send the confirmation message to the requesting service subscriber; and
x) terminate the communication session with the end office switch after the requested service change has been effected and the confirmation message has been sent.
10. The telephony service management system of claim 9 , wherein the control system is further adapted to:
send a subscriber identification request for display at the subscriber terminal;
receive a response to the subscriber identification request including subscriber authentication data; and
validate the subscriber authentication data.
11. The telephony service management system of claim 10 , wherein validating the subscriber authentication data further comprises:
comparing the subscriber authentication data with a service profile for the requesting service subscriber; and
if the subscriber authentication data matches at least a part of the service profile, permit the requesting service subscriber to view and make service change requests to the service profile for the requesting service subscriber.
12. The telephony service management system of claim 11 , wherein the interactive list of telephony services is based, at least in part, on the service profile.
13. The telephony service management system of claim 12 , wherein the service profile for the requesting service subscriber includes privilege level information.
14. The telephony service management system of claim 13 , wherein the subscriber terminal is connected to a public access data network.
15. The telephony service management system of claim 14 , wherein the interactive list of telephony services is displayed on the subscriber terminal in a visual format.
16. The telephony service management system of claim 15 , wherein the interactive list of telephony services further comprises a hypertext markup language (HTML) compatible page.
17. The telephony service management system of claim 16 , wherein the service change input is converted into a Telnet-compatible format utilized by the end office switch.