Systems and methods of mitigating phantom call traffic

1. A computing device for mitigating phantom call traffic in a communications system, the computing device coupled to a communications exchange and comprising:

a processor;

a memory; and

a call routing application maintained in the memory and executed by the processor to mitigate phantom call traffic, the call routing application including computer-executable instructions for:

importing a local calling area database into the computing device;

receiving a call via an ingress trunk group in connection with the communications exchange, the call originating from an originating carrier and having corresponding ingress signaling information including a charge number, a calling number and a called number;

determining a jurisdiction of the call in real-time based on the charge number, the called number and the local calling area database, the jurisdiction being one of local, intra-LATA or inter-LATA;

determining an egress trunk group, the egress trunk group being one of a local egress trunk group or an access egress trunk group;

determining egress signaling information based on the jurisdiction of the call;

delivering the call and the egress signaling information from the communications exchange to a local exchange via the egress trunk group; and

providing at least a portion of the egress signaling information for inclusion in a call detail record.

2. The computing device of claim 1 :

wherein the computer-executable instructions for determining the jurisdiction of the call in real-time further comprise:

determining the jurisdiction of the call to be local, and

determining, based on the ingress trunk group, a jurisdictional information parameter (JIP) corresponding to the originating carrier;

wherein the computer-executable instructions for determining the egress trunk group further comprise determining the local egress trunk group;

wherein the computer-executable instructions for determining the egress signaling information further comprise including the charge number, the calling number, the called number, the JIP, and an LRN (Local Routing Number) corresponding to the originating carrier in the egress signaling information; and

wherein the computer-executable instructions for providing the at least the portion of the egress signaling information for inclusion in the call detail record further comprise providing the LRN and an operating company code (OCN) corresponding to the originating carrier for inclusion in the call detail record.

3. The computing device of claim 1 :

wherein the computer-executable instructions for determining the jurisdiction of the call in real-time further comprise:

determining the jurisdiction of the call to be inter-LATA, and

determining, based on the ingress trunk group, a carrier identification code (CIC) of the originating carrier;

wherein the computer-executable instructions for determining the egress trunk group further comprise determining the access egress trunk group;

wherein the computer-executable instructions for determining the egress signaling information further comprise including the charge number, the calling number, the called number, and the CIC of the originating carrier in the egress signaling information; and

wherein the computer-executable instructions for providing the at least the portion of the egress signaling information for inclusion in the call detail record further comprise providing the charge number, the calling number, the called number, and the CIC of the originating carrier for inclusion in the call detail record.

4. The computing device of claim 3 , wherein the computer-executable instructions for determining the jurisdiction of the call to be inter-LATA further comprise at least one of:

determining both the charge number and the calling number of the call to be invalid,

determining the charge number to be invalid and the calling number of the call to be non-local, or

determining the ingress signaling information includes a filled carrier identification code field.

5. The computing device of claim 1 :

wherein the computer-executable instructions for determining the jurisdiction of the call in real-time further comprise:

determining the jurisdiction of the call to be intra-LATA, and

determining, based on the ingress trunk group, a jurisdictional information parameter (JIP) corresponding to the originating carrier;

wherein the computer-executable instructions for determining the egress signaling information further comprise, in the egress signaling information, including the charge number, the calling number, the called number, the JIP, and an LRN (Local Routing Number) corresponding to the originating carrier and excluding any carrier identification code (CIC); and

wherein the computer-executable instructions for providing the at least the portion of the egress signaling information for inclusion in the call detail record further comprise providing the LRN as an originating LRN and a CIC field set to all zeroes for inclusion in the call detail record.

6. The computing device of claim 5 , wherein the computer-executable instructions for determining the egress trunk group further comprise determining the one of the local egress trunk group or the access egress trunk group based on a customer preference, and determining the local egress trunk group when no customer preference is available.

7. The computing device of claim 1 , further comprising computer-executable instructions for:

obtaining a customer preference to receive only calls having a first type of jurisdiction at the local exchange, wherein the first type is one of: local, intra-LATA or inter-LATA; and

for a particular call having a type of jurisdiction different than the first type, at least one of: releasing the particular call back to an originating carrier of the particular call, or re-routing the particular call.

8. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions for determining the egress trunk group further comprise determining the egress trunk group to be the local egress trunk group for a first call having a jurisdiction of local or intra-LATA, and determining the egress trunk group to be the access egress trunk group for a second call having a jurisdiction of inter-LATA.

9. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the originating carrier is one of: a particular local exchange, an inter-exchange carrier (IXC) exchange, or a tandem exchange.

10. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein only one type of egress trunk group is coupled between the communications exchange and the local exchange, the one type selected from local or access.

11. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the local egress trunk group or the access egress trunk group is a SIP trunk group and a SIP invite header corresponding to the SIP trunk group includes at least the portion of the egress signaling information.

12. The computing device of claim 11 , further comprising computer-executable instructions for delivering the SIP invite header to the local exchange based on a customer preference.

13. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the call comprises at least one of a voice or a data call.

14. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the call is originated by an end-user using any communications access technology.

15. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the communications exchange is a private packet network backbone exchange (PPNBE).

16. A method of mitigating phantom local call traffic comprising, at a tandem exchange:

importing a local calling area database;

receiving a call via an ingress trunk group, the call including ingress signaling information including a charge number, a calling number, and a called number corresponding to a local exchange;

determining, in real-time, a jurisdiction of the call to be local based on the charge number, the called number, and the local calling area database;

determining, based on the ingress trunk group, a jurisdictional information parameter (JIP) corresponding to an originating carrier of the call;

including the charge number, the calling number, the called number, the JIP and an LRN corresponding to the originating carrier in egress signaling information; and

delivering the call and the egress signaling information from the tandem exchange to the local exchange via a local egress trunk group.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising providing an operating company code (OCN) corresponding to the originating carrier, the charge number, the calling number, the called number, the JIP and the LRN for inclusion in a call detail record.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein determining the jurisdiction of the call to be local comprises determining the calling number of the ingress signaling information is invalid and the charge number of the ingress signaling information is local and valid.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein receiving the call comprises receiving at least one of a voice or a data call originated by a user via any communications access technology.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the tandem exchange is a private packet network backbone exchange (PPNBE).

21. A method of mitigating phantom inter-LATA call traffic, comprising, at a tandem exchange:

importing a local calling area database;

receiving a call via an ingress trunk group, the call including ingress signaling information including a charge number, a calling number, and a called number corresponding to a local exchange;

determining, in real-time, a jurisdiction of the call to be inter-LATA based on the charge number, the called number, and the local calling area database;

determining, based on the ingress trunk group, a carrier identification code (CIC) corresponding to an originating carrier of the call;

including the charge number, the calling number, the called number, and the CIC corresponding to the originating carrier in egress signaling information; and

delivering the call and the egress signaling information from the tandem exchange to the local exchange via an access egress trunk group.

22. The method of claim 21 , further comprising providing the charge number, the calling number, the called number, and the CIC corresponding to the originating carrier for inclusion in a call detail record.

23. The method of claim 21 , further comprising suppressing the CIC in the egress signaling information based on a customer preference.

24. The method of claim 21 , wherein determining the jurisdiction of the call to be inter-LATA comprises determining one of:

determining the ingress signaling information includes a missing or invalid CIC;

determining the ingress signaling information includes a CIC corresponding to a different originating carrier than the originating carrier corresponding to the ingress trunk group; or

determining the ingress signaling information includes a CIC that matches the CIC corresponding to the originating carrier that was determined based on the ingress trunk group.

25. The method of claim 21 , wherein receiving the call comprises receiving at least one of a voice or a data call originated by a user via any communications access technology.

26. The method of claim 21 , wherein the tandem exchange is a private packet network backbone exchange (PPNBE).

27. A method of mitigating phantom intra-LATA call traffic comprising, at a tandem exchange:

importing a local calling area database;

receiving a call via an ingress trunk group, the call including ingress signaling information including a charge number, a calling number, and a called number corresponding to a local exchange;

determining, in real-time, a jurisdiction of the call to be intra-LATA based on the charge number, the called number, and the local calling area database;

determining the ingress signaling information includes a filled carrier identification code (CIC) field, and further:

determining, based on the ingress trunk group, a carrier identification code (CIC) corresponding to an originating carrier of the call;

including the charge number, the calling number, the called number, and the CIC corresponding to the originating carrier in egress signaling information;

delivering the call and the egress signaling information to the local exchange via an access egress trunk group; and

providing the charge number, the calling number, the called number, and the CIC corresponding to the originating carrier for inclusion in a call detail record; and

determining the ingress signaling information excludes any CIC, and further:

determining, based on the ingress trunk group, a jurisdictional information parameter (JIP) corresponding to the originating carrier;

including the charge number, the calling number, the called number, the JIP and an LRN corresponding to the originating carrier in the egress signaling information;

delivering the call and the egress signaling information to the local exchange via a local egress trunk group; and

providing an operating company code (OCN) corresponding to the originating carrier, the charge number, the calling number, the called number, the JIP and the LRN as an originating LRN for inclusion in an EMI call detail record.

28. The method of claim 27 , wherein receiving the call comprises receiving at least one of a voice or a data call originated by a user via any communications access technology.

29. The method of claim 27 , wherein the tandem exchange is a private packet network backbone exchange (PPNBE).

30. A system for mitigating phantom call traffic, comprising:

means for importing at least a portion of a local calling area database;

means for receiving a call via an ingress trunk group, the call including ingress signaling information including a charge number, a calling number, and a called number corresponding to a local exchange;

means for determining, in real-time, a jurisdiction of the call based on the charge number, the called number, and the local calling area database, wherein the call is locally jurisdictionalized when the ingress signaling information excludes any carrier identification code (CIC) and the call is toll-jurisdictionalized when the ingress signaling information includes a valid or an invalid CIC;

means for determining, based on the ingress trunk group for a locally jurisdictionalized call, a jurisdictional information parameter (JIP) corresponding to an originating carrier of the call;

means for including, for the locally jurisdictionalized call, the charge number, the calling number, the called number, the JIP and an LRN corresponding to the originating carrier in egress signaling information;

means for determining, based on the ingress trunk group for a toll-jurisdictionalized call, a carrier identification code (CIC) corresponding to the originating carrier of the call;

means for including, for the toll-jurisdictionalized call, the charge number, the calling number, the called number, and the CIC corresponding to the originating carrier in the egress signaling information;

means for determining an egress trunk group; and

means for delivering the call and the egress signaling information to the local exchange via the egress trunk group.