Self-healing inter-carrier network switch
A vendor evaluator system enables real-time or near real-time efficiencies of an inter-carrier switch. At a nominal periodic rate (e.g., every fifteen minutes or less), the vendor evaluator system updates a performance map of vendor exchanges to which calls may be routed from the switch. Specifically, in real-time or in near real-time, an updated performance score is generated for each vendor exchange and/or for each NPA-NXX code that is connected to the switch based on a weighted average of post dial delay, average call hold time, and attempt-seizure ratio. The score is compared against performance thresholds to determine whether or not the respective exchange and/or code should be included in a pool of acceptably-performing, candidate vendor exchanges from which a particular exchange is selected to service a call. Such techniques prevent poorly performing vendors from servicing calls routed by the inter-carrier network switch in real time or near real-time.
1. A method for delivering calls based on vendor performance, the method comprising:
determining, for each vendor exchange of a plurality of vendor exchanges connected to a private packet network backbone exchange (PPNBE), a respective performance score based on post-dial delay, attempt-seizure ratio, and average call hold time of a set of calls routed by the PPNBE to the each vendor exchange during a time period occurring immediately prior to an initiation of an execution of the method;
comparing each respective performance score to one or more thresholds, and determining whether or not the each respective performance score is acceptable based on the comparison;
when the each respective performance score is determined to be acceptable, including the corresponding vendor exchange in a pool of candidate vendor exchanges from which a terminating or forwarding exchange to service a call is obtained;
when the each respective performance score is determined to be unacceptable, excluding the corresponding vendor exchange from the pool of candidate vendor exchanges; and
providing the pool of candidate vendor exchanges to the PPNBE for use in routing calls.
2. The method of 1 , wherein a duration of the time period is configurable.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the respective performance score for the each vendor exchange based on the post-dial delay, the attempt-seizure ratio, and the average call hold time comprises determining the respective performance score based on a weighted average of the post-dial delay, the attempt-seizure ratio, and the average call hold time;
the respective weighting of the post-dial delay is heavier than the respective weighting of the attempt-seizure ratio; and
the respective weighting of the post-dial delay is heavier than the respective weighting of the average call hold time.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the respective performance score for the each vendor exchange based on the weighted average of the post-dial delay, the attempt-seizure ratio, and the average call hold time comprises evaluating an expression:
score v =(1/$PDD* a )+($ACHT* b )+($ASR* c ),
wherein:
v corresponds to the each vendor exchange,
score v is indicative of the respective performance score of the each vendor exchange,
$PDD is indicative of a value indicative of the post-dial delay of the each vendor exchange during the time period,
$ACHT is indicative of a value indicative of the average call hold time of the each vendor exchange during the time period, and
$ASR is indicative of a value indicative of the attempt-seizure ratio of the each vendor exchange during the time period.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein a, b, and c are constant values.
6. The method of claim 3 , further comprising modifying at least one of the respective weightings corresponding to the post-dial delay, the attempt-seizure ratio, and the average call hold time.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of vendor exchanges is identified by a respective one or more NPA-NXX codes, and wherein determining the respective performance score for the each vendor exchange comprises determining a respective performance score for at least some of the one or more NPA-NXX codes of each vendor exchange included in the at least one of the plurality of vendor exchanges identified by the respective one or more NPA-NXX codes.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of calls is a first set of calls, and wherein the method further comprises automatically updating the pool of candidate vendor exchanges based on a second set of calls routed by the PPNBE to be serviced by the each vendor exchange during a subsequent time period.
9. A system for delivering calls based on real-time or near real-time vendor performance, the system comprising:
a vendor evaluator configured to update, at a particular time, a respective performance score for each vendor exchange included in a plurality of vendor exchanges connected to an inter-carrier switch, the updated, respective performance score for the each vendor exchange based on at least one of post-dial delay, attempt seizure ratio, or average call hold time of a set of calls that have been routed from the inter-carrier switch to the each vendor exchange during a time interval ending at the particular time, and the time interval having a duration of fifteen minutes or less; and
a vendor performance map storing the respective performance scores for the plurality of vendor exchanges and used by a call router to determine a particular vendor exchange for routing a call received at the inter-carrier switch.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the time interval has a duration of five minutes or less.
11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the time interval is a periodic time interval, and the vendor evaluator updates the respective performance scores for the plurality of vendor exchanges at an expiration of each periodic time interval.
12. The system of claim 9 , wherein a duration of the time interval is indicated by a user.
13. The system of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the plurality of the vendor exchanges is mapped to a respective one or more NPA-NXX codes, and wherein the vendor evaluator updates a respective performance score for at least one of the respective one or more NPA-NXX codes mapped to the at least one of the plurality of vendor exchanges.
14. The system of claim 9 ,
further including a respective indication of whether or not the each vendor exchange is an acceptably-performing candidate vendor exchange for accepting calls, the respective indication based on a comparison of the respective performance score of the each vendor exchange against one or more performance thresholds; and
wherein the call router routes calls only to vendor exchanges that are indicated as being acceptably-performing candidate vendor exchanges.
15. The system of claim 14 , wherein at least one of:
at least one of the one or more performance thresholds is configurable; or
each performance threshold of at least a subset of the one or more performance thresholds corresponds to a respective customer of the inter-carrier switch.
16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the respective performance score for the each vendor exchange is determined based on a weighted average of post-dial delay, attempt seizure ratio, and average call hold time of the set of calls that have been routed from the inter-carrier switch to the each vendor exchange during the time interval ending at the particular time.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the respective performance score for the each vendor exchange is determined based on an expression:
score v =(1/$PDD* a )+($ACHT* b )+($ASR* c ),
wherein:
v corresponds to the each vendor exchange,
score v is indicative of the respective performance score of the each vendor exchange,
$PDD is indicative of a value indicative of the post-dial delay of the each vendor exchange,
$ACHT is indicative of a value indicative of the average call hold time of the each vendor exchange,
$ASR is indicative of a value indicative of the attempt-seizure ratio of the particular each exchange, and
a>20*b and a>10*c.
18. The system of claim 9 , wherein historical call data records and immediate call data records are generated by the inter-carrier switch, and wherein the vendor evaluator determines the updates to the respective performance scores based on the immediate call data records.
19. The system of claim 9 , wherein historical call data records are generated by the inter-carrier switch, and wherein the vendor evaluator determines the updates to the respective performance scores based on the historical call data records.
20. The system of claim 9 , wherein the inter-carrier switch is a private packet network backbone exchange.
21. A system for delivering calls based on real-time or near real-time vendor performance, the system comprising:
an inter-carrier exchange connected to a plurality of vendor exchanges; and
a call router of the inter-carrier exchange that routes calls based on a vendor performance map storing respective performance scores for the plurality of vendor exchanges, wherein the respective performance scores are updated periodically every fifteen minutes or less based on calls that have been routed from the inter-carrier exchange to the plurality of vendor exchanges during an immediately preceding time period, and wherein a respective performance score for each vendor exchange included in the plurality of vendor exchanges is based on at least one of post-dial delay, attempt seizure ratio, or average call hold time of a set of calls that have been routed from the inter-carrier exchange to the each vendor exchange during the immediately preceding time period.
22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the system further includes:
an immediate call data record storage entity temporarily storing call data records of the calls that have been routed from the inter-carrier exchange to the plurality of vendor exchanges during the immediately preceding time period; and
a historical call data record storage entity.
23. The system of claim 21 , wherein the respective performance score for the each vendor exchange is determined based on an expression:
score v =(1/$PDD* a )+($ACHT* b )+($ASR* c ),
wherein:
v corresponds to the each vendor exchange,
score v is indicative of the respective performance score of the each vendor exchange,
$PDD is indicative of a value indicative of a post-dial delay of the each vendor exchange during the immediately preceding time period,
$ACHT is indicative of a value indicative of an average call hold time of the each vendor exchange during the immediately preceding time period,
$ASR is indicative of a value indicative of an attempt-seizure ratio of the particular each exchange during the immediately preceding time period, and
a, b, and c are constant values.
24. The system of claim 23 , wherein:
one or more vendor exchanges of the plurality of vendor exchanges is mapped to a respective plurality of NPA-NXX codes;
NPA-NXX corresponds to a respective one of the respective plurality of NPA-NXX codes; and
for each vendor exchange included in the one or more vendor exchanges mapped to the respective plurality of NPA-NXX codes, score v comprises score (v, NPA-NXX) .
25. The system of claim 21 , wherein the call router of the inter-carrier exchange routes calls based on a comparison of at least some of the respective performance scores against one or more performance thresholds.
26. The system of claim 25 , wherein the call router of the inter-carrier exchange routes calls further based on least-cost routing.
27. The system of claim 21 , wherein the inter-carrier exchange is a private packet network backbone exchange.