Telephony services optimization through calling plan analysis
View Patent ↗Embodiments of the present invention provide optimization of telephone services through telephone calling plan/card analysis. The least expensive rate is found for telephone calls at any given time and/or date, either through static pre-entry of data, or through dynamic querying of rates via a web-based look-up table, and places calls according to an optimized calling plan. Specifically, in a typical embodiment, an outgoing/target telephone number for an intended telephone call is captured, and a corresponding destination geographic region is identified. Based on the geographic region, a calling plan resulting in a lowest price for the telephone call is identified. This is typically accomplished by consulting at least one table (e.g., call information table) that associates (among other things) calling plans and/or calling cards with geographic regions. Once a calling plan and/or calling card is identified/selected, a corresponding set of dialing instructions will be obtained from the table and used to make/place the telephone call.
1. A method for optimizing telephony services, comprising:
capturing an outgoing telephone number from an intended telephone call;
identifying a geographic region to which the intended telephone call is being placed;
requesting bids from service providers that have capabilities for implementing the destination number to the identified geographic region;
receiving the bids from the service providers;
selecting one service provider from the service providers based on the bids; and
implementing the intended telephone call with the selected one service provider.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein one service provider is selected based on a price contained in each of the received bids.
3. The method of claim 1 , the geographic location being identified based on a country code or an area code associated with the outgoing telephone number.
4. The method of claim 1 , the outgoing telephone number being captured using at least one of the following: logic associated with a telephone from which the intended telephone call is made; a device implemented between the telephone and a telephone service provider that is supporting the intended telephone call, or logic associated with a telephone service provider that is supporting the intended telephone call.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein parameters of the request for bids comprise at least one of a volume discount and a graduated discount based an anticipated duration of the call.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the parameters of the request for the bids also contain pre-purchased calling plan information.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the pre-purchased calling plan is identified based upon at least one of the following: a set of user preferences, a cost for the intended telephone call, historical telephone call information; or an account balance associated with a user of the calling plan.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a service solution provider provides a computer infrastructure that performs the method for one or more consumers.
9. A system for optimizing telephony services, comprising:
a bus;
a processor coupled to the bus; and
a memory medium coupled to the bus, the memory medium comprising instructions to:
capture an outgoing telephone number from an intended telephone call;
identify a geographic region to which the intended telephone call is being placed;
request bids from service providers that have capabilities for implementing the destination number to the identified geographic region;
receive the bids from the service providers;
select one service provider from the service providers based on the bids; and
implement the intended telephone call with the selected one service provider.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein one service provider is selected based on a price contained in each of the received bids.
11. The system of claim 9 , the geographic location being identified based on a country code or an area code associated with the outgoing telephone number.
12. The system of claim 9 , the outgoing telephone number being captured using at least one of the following: logic associated with a telephone from which the intended telephone call is made; a device implemented between the telephone and a telephone service provider that is supporting the intended telephone call, or logic associated with a telephone service provider that is supporting the intended telephone call.
13. The system of claim 9 , wherein parameters of the request for the bids comprise at least one of a volume discount and a graduated discount based on an anticipated duration of the call.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the parameters of the request for the bids also contain pre-purchased calling plan information.
15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the pre-purchased calling plan is identified based upon at least one of the following: a set of user preferences, a cost for the intended telephone call, historical telephone call information; or an account balance associated with a user of the calling plan.
16. A computer program product for optimizing telephony services, the computer program product comprising a computer readable hardware storage device, and program instructions stored on the computer readable hardware storage device, to:
capture an outgoing telephone number from an intended telephone call;
identify a geographic region to which the intended telephone call is being placed;
request bids from service providers that have capabilities for implementing the destination number to the identified geographic region;
receive the bids from the service providers;
select one service provider from the service providers based on the bids; and
implement the intended telephone call with the selected one service provider.
17. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the one service provider is selected based on a price contained in each of the received bids.
18. The computer program product of claim 16 , the geographic location being identified based on a country code or an area code associated with the outgoing telephone number.
19. The computer program product of claim 18 , the outgoing telephone number being captured using at least one of the following: the outgoing telephone number being captured using at least one of the following: logic associated with a telephone from which the intended telephone call is made; a device implemented between the telephone and a telephone service provider that is supporting the intended telephone call, or logic associated with a telephone service provider that is supporting the intended telephone call.
20. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein parameters of the request for the bid comprise at least one of a volume discount and a graduated discount based on an anticipated duration of the call.