Systems and methods for adjusting carrier quality metrics for intrinsic impariments
View Patent ↗An Internet protocol (IP) telephony system terminates calls to certain groups of telephone numbers via multiple different telephony carriers. The IP telephony system will discontinue using a telephony carrier to terminate calls if the quality provided by the carrier falls below a threshold level. The IP telephony system includes a quality monitoring unit that determines when a particular group of telephone numbers are intrinsically impaired, such that no carrier could provide high quality when terminating calls to those numbers. In these circumstances, the IP telephony system adjusts the quality threshold to which a carrier's quality is compared when completing calls to the impaired numbers to account for the intrinsic impairment of the telephone numbers.
1. A method of identifying a telephony carrier that is providing an unacceptable level of call quality when terminating calls to a group of telephone numbers, comprising:
determining a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via a first telephony carrier for a first period of time;
determining a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via a second telephony carrier for a second period of time;
determining a threshold level of acceptable quality for calls placed to the group of telephone numbers based on the determined quality of the telephone calls placed via the first and second telephony carriers; and
identifying a telephony carrier as providing an unacceptable level of quality if a quality of calls placed to the group of telephone numbers by that carrier falls below the determined threshold level.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying step comprises:
determining a quality of telephone calls that a predetermined telephony carrier places to the group of telephone numbers for a third period of time; and
identifying the predetermined telephony carrier as providing an unacceptable level of call quality if the quality of the telephone calls during the third period of time is below the determined threshold level.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining a threshold level of acceptable call quality for calls placed to the group of telephone numbers comprises:
determining which of the first and second carriers provided the best quality; and
using the quality provided by the carrier providing the best quality to determine the threshold level of acceptable quality for calls placed to the group of telephone numbers.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining a threshold level of acceptable quality for calls placed to the group of telephone numbers comprises:
conducting a statistical analysis of call quality data to determine the highest call quality that was provided by the first and second carriers for calls placed to the group of telephone numbers over the first and second periods of time; and
determining the threshold level of acceptable quality for calls placed to the group of telephone numbers based on the determined highest call quality.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining the quality of telephone calls placed to the group of telephone numbers via the first telephony carrier comprises measuring a quality of multiple telephone calls placed to the group of telephone numbers via the first telephony carrier over the first period of time and conducting a statistical analysis of the measured quality of those calls.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via a third telephony carrier for a third period of time, and wherein the step of determining a threshold level of acceptable quality for calls placed to the group of telephone numbers is also based on the determined quality of the telephone calls placed via the third carrier.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the duration of the first period of time is approximately equal to the duration of the second period of time.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second periods of time cover the same days of the week and have approximately the same duration.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via the first telephony carrier for the first time period comprises determining an average quality for the telephone calls that were placed to the group of telephone numbers via the first telephony carrier over the first time period, and wherein the step of determining a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via the second telephony carrier for the second time period comprises determining an average quality for the telephone calls that were placed to the group of telephone numbers via the second telephony carrier over the second time period.
10. A system for identifying a telephony carrier that is providing an unacceptable level of call quality when terminating calls to a group of telephone numbers, comprising:
means for determining a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via a first telephony carrier for a first period of time;
means for determining a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via a second telephony carrier for a second period of time;
means for determining a threshold level of acceptable quality for calls placed to the group of telephone numbers based on the determined quality of the telephone calls placed via the first and second telephony carriers; and
means for identifying a telephony carrier as providing an unacceptable level of quality if a quality of calls placed to the group of telephone numbers by that carrier falls below the determined threshold level.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the means for determining a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via the first telephony carrier for the first time period determines an average quality for the telephone calls that were placed to the group of telephone numbers via the first telephony carrier over the first time period, and wherein the means for determining a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via the second telephony carrier for the second time period determines an average quality for the telephone calls that were placed to the group of telephone numbers via the second telephony carrier over the second time period.
12. A system for identifying a telephony carrier that is providing an unacceptable level of call quality when terminating calls to a group of telephone numbers, comprising:
a call quality measuring unit that is configured to determine a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via a first telephony carrier for a first period of time and a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via a second telephony carrier for a second period of time;
a threshold quality setting unit that is configured to determine a threshold level of acceptable quality for calls placed to the group of telephone numbers based on the determined quality of the telephone calls placed via the first and second telephony carriers; and
a quality alert unit that is configured to identify a telephony carrier as providing an unacceptable level of quality if a quality of calls placed to the group of telephone numbers by that carrier falls below the determined threshold level.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the call quality measuring unit is also configured to determine a quality of telephone calls that a predetermined telephony carrier places to the group of telephone numbers for a third period of time, and wherein the quality alert unit is also configured to identify the predetermined telephony carrier as providing an unacceptable level of call quality if the quality of the telephone calls during the third period of time is below the determined threshold level.
14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the threshold quality setting unit is configured to determine which of the first and second carriers provided the best quality, and wherein the quality provided by the carrier providing the best quality is used to determine the threshold level of acceptable quality for calls placed to the group of telephone numbers.
15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the threshold quality setting unit is configured to conduct a statistical analysis of call quality data to determine the highest call quality that was provided by the first and second carriers for calls placed to the group of telephone numbers over the first and second periods of time, and wherein the threshold level of acceptable quality for calls placed to the group of telephone numbers is based on the determined highest call quality.
16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the call quality measuring unit measures a quality of multiple telephone calls placed to the group of telephone numbers via the first telephony carrier over the first period of time and conducts a statistical analysis of the measured quality of those calls.
17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the call quality measuring unit is also configured to determine a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via a third telephony carrier for a third period of time, and wherein the threshold quality setting unit determines the level of acceptable quality for calls placed to the group of telephone numbers based on the determined quality of the telephone calls placed via the third carrier.
18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the call quality measuring unit determines a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via a first and second telephony carriers using data from calls placed to the group of telephone numbers by the first and second carriers over first and second periods of time of approximately equal duration.
19. The system of claim 12 , wherein the call quality measuring unit determines a quality of telephone calls that are placed to the group of telephone numbers via a first and second telephony carriers using data from calls placed to the group of telephone numbers by the first and second carriers over first and second periods of time that include the same days of the week and that have approximately equal duration.
20. The system of claim 12 , wherein the call quality measuring unit determines an average quality for the telephone calls that were placed to the group of telephone numbers via the first telephony carrier over the first time period and an average quality for the telephone calls that were placed to the group of telephone numbers via the second telephony carrier over the second time period.