AUTOMATIC TERMINATION PATH CONFIGURATION
There is provided herein a system and method for automatic configuration of data routings for use with electronic data such as phone calls, faxes, etc. In the preferred embodiment, when more than one carrier might potentially terminate the transmission, the carriers are ordered based on some screening criterion (e.g., transmission price). Data transmissions are then assigned to the carriers based on the sorting order, with the second place and lower carriers (e.g., the higher priced carriers) not being selected unless the first carrier cannot complete the transaction. The switch instructions necessary to implement this scheme are generated automatically.
1 . A method of configuring a signal path between a customer entry point and a termination destination, comprising the steps of:
a. selecting a carrier that can provide access to said termination destination;
b. determining a routing for a signal path between said customer entry point and a carrier exit point accessible by said selected carrier, wherein said signal path passes through at least one switching device;
c. encoding at least a portion of said routing in machine readable form, thereby producing machine readable routing information;
d. within a computer program, using said machine readable routing information to create a plurality of electronic switching instructions for use with each of said at least one switching devices;
e. automatically programming each of said at least one switching devices through which said routing passes according to at least one of said plurality of switching instructions, thereby creating said signal path between said customer entry point and said carrier exit point;
f. receiving a voice transmission from a customer via said customer entry point;
g. transmit a signal representative of said voice transmission from said customer entry point to said carrier exit point via said created signal path; and
h. provide said signal representative of said transmitted voice transmission to said selected carrier at said carrier exit point for termination at said predetermined termination destination.
2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
i. obtaining said predetermined termination destination from the customer;
j. selecting a carrier that can provide access to said termination destination; and
k. determining a routing for a signal path between a customer entry point accessible by the customer and a carrier exit point accessible by said selected carrier, wherein said signal path passes through at least one electronic switching device.
3 . The method of claim 2 further comprising:
l. activating a computer program;
m. entering said routing structure into said computer program; and
n. within said computer program, translating said routing structure into a plurality of switch instructions.
4 . The method of claim 3 further comprising:
o. electronically communicating at least a portion of said plurality of switch instructions from said computer program to each of said at least one electronic switching devices in said signal path to in order to implement said routing;
p. receiving said voice transmission from said customer via said customer entry point;
q. transmitting said voice transmission from said customer entry point to said carrier exit point via said implemented routing according to said transmitted plurality of switch instructions; and,
r. providing said transmitted voice transmission to said selected carrier at said carrier exit point.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein said voice transmission is selected from a group consisting of an audio transmission, a video transmission, a fax transmission, and a data transmission.
6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein step (j) comprises the steps of:
(j 1 ) selecting a carrier that can provide access to said termination destination, and,
(j 2 ) negotiating a rate structure with said selected carrier, and, wherein claim 2 further comprises the step of:
(s) using at least said negotiated rate structure to determine a charge for said transmission of step (f), and,
(t) assessing said charge against said customer.
7 . The method of claim 4 , wherein step (q) comprises the steps of:
(q 1 ) compressing said voice transmission to produce a compressed signal,
(q 2 ) transmitting said compressed signal from said customer entry point to said carrier exit point via said implemented routing according to said transmitted plurality of switch instructions,
(q 3 ) expanding said transmitted compressed signal to produce an expanded voice transmission, and,
wherein step (r) comprises the step of:
(r 1 ) providing said expanded voice signal to said selected carrier at said carrier exit point.
8 . An apparatus configured to obtain a signal path between a customer entry point and a termination destination, the apparatus comprising a computer based controller configured to:
select a carrier that can provide access to said termination destination;
determine a routing for a signal path between said customer entry point and a carrier exit point accessible by said selected carrier, wherein said signal path passes through at least one switching device;
encode at least a portion of said routing in machine readable form, to provide machine readable routing information;
within a computer program loaded on the controller, use said machine readable routing information to create a plurality of electronic switching instructions for use with each of said at least one switching devices;
automatically program each of said at least one switching devices through which said routing passes according to at least one of said plurality of switching instructions, thereby creating said signal path between said customer entry point and said carrier exit point;
receive a voice transmission from a customer via said customer entry point;
transmit a signal representative of said voice transmission from said customer entry point to said carrier exit point via said created signal path; and
provide said signal representative of said transmitted voice transmission to said selected carrier at said carrier exit point for termination at said predetermined termination destination.
9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , in which the computer based controller is further configured to:
obtain said predetermined termination destination from the customer;
select a carrier that can provide access to said termination destination; and
determine a routing for a signal path between a customer entry point accessible by the customer and a carrier exit point accessible by said selected carrier, wherein said signal path passes through at least one electronic switching device.
10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , in which the computer based controller is further configured to:
activate said computer program;
enter said routing structure into said computer program; and
within said computer program, translate said routing structure into the plurality of switch instructions.
11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , in which the computer based controller is further configured to:
electronically communicate at least a portion of said plurality of switch instructions from said computer program to each of said at least one electronic switching devices in said signal path to in order to implement said routing;
receive said voice transmission from said customer via said customer entry point;
transmit said voice transmission from said customer entry point to said carrier exit point via said implemented routing according to said transmitted plurality of switch instructions; and,
provide said transmitted voice transmission to said selected carrier at said carrier exit point.
12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein said voice transmission is selected from a group consisting of an audio transmission, a video transmission, a fax transmission, and a data transmission.
13 . The apparatus of claim 11 , in which the computer based controller is further configured to:
select a carrier that can provide access to said termination destination; negotiate a rate structure with said selected carrier;
use at least said negotiated rate structure to determine a charge for said transmission; and
assess said charge against said customer.
14 . The apparatus of claim 11 , in which the computer based controller is further configured to:
compress said voice transmission to produce a compressed signal,
transmit said compressed signal from said customer entry point to said carrier exit point via said implemented routing according to said transmitted plurality of switch instructions,
expand said transmitted compressed signal to produce an expanded voice transmission; and
provide said expanded voice signal to said selected carrier at said carrier exit point.
15 . A system comprising:
a computer based controller configured to:
select a carrier that can provide access to a termination destination;
determine a routing for a signal path between a customer entry point and a carrier exit point accessible by said selected carrier, wherein said signal path passes through at least one switching device;
encode at least a portion of said routing in machine readable form, to provide machine readable routing information;
within a computer program loaded on the controller, use said machine readable routing information to create a plurality of electronic switching instructions for use with each of said at least one switching devices; and
automatically program each of said at least one switching devices through which said routing passes according to at least one of said plurality of switching instructions, thereby creating said signal path between said customer entry point and said carrier exit point.
16 . The system of claim 17 further comprising:
a switching module in communication with a customer entry point controller, and a carrier exit point controller; and
a central database provided by a computer based controller communicating with the computer based switching system.
17 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising a computer based charge module communicating with the customer entry point controller, the charge module providing cost data to a customer.
18 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising a computer based cost module communicating with the central database, the cost module providing cost data to said central database.
19 . The system of claim 18 , in which the computer based controller is further configured to:
receive a voice transmission from a customer via said customer entry point;
transmit a signal representative of said voice transmission from said customer entry point to said carrier exit point via said created signal path; and
provide said signal representative of said transmitted voice transmission to said selected carrier at said carrier exit point for termination at said predetermined termination destination.
20 . The system of claim 18 , in which the computer based controller is further configured to:
obtain said predetermined termination destination from the customer;
select a carrier that can provide access to said termination destination; and
determine a routing for a signal path between a customer entry point accessible by the customer and a carrier exit point accessible by said selected carrier, wherein said signal path passes through at least one electronic switching device.