System and method of communication in an IP multimedia subsystem network
A system and method of communication in an IMS network is disclosed. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a call processing server having a controller element that receives from a terminal device a calling ID for establishing communications with a called party, submits to a telephone number mapping (ENUM) server a query corresponding to the calling ID, receives from the ENUM server a plurality of communication identifiers retrieved from a Naming Authority Pointer record according to a grade of service (GoS) of the called party, and selects according to the GoS of the called party a communication identifier from the plurality of communication identifiers to establish communications with the called party. Additional embodiments are disclosed.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a system comprising a processor, a plurality of communication identifiers for an end user of a communication network;
receiving, by the system, a selection of a grade of service from a communication device of the end user; and
retrieving, by the system, presence information from a presence server subscribed to by the end user;
wherein the grade of service corresponds to a subset of the plurality of communication identifiers, the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers being temporally variable,
wherein each of the communication identifiers corresponds to a different communication device comprising an end point in the communication network, and
wherein at a given time the end user is accessible by equipment of another party via the network in accordance with the grade of service and the presence information.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising presenting an offer of grades of service via a communication device of the end user, wherein the selection of the grade of service is received in response to the offer.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein, in accordance with the selection, the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers varies automatically with a time of day, a range of dates, a day of the week, or a combination thereof.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers varies dynamically in accordance with an instruction provided by equipment of the end user.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selection comprises a time schedule provided by equipment of the end user, and wherein the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers varies according to the time schedule.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
selecting one of the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers and the corresponding communication device to direct a call to the end user, the selecting in accordance with the presence information and the time schedule; and
selecting an alternate one of the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers and a corresponding alternate communication device to direct the call, in accordance with the presence information or the time schedule indicating that the end user is not available via the selected one of the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating a database record associated with the end user to record the selection of the grade of service and the presence information.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of communication identifiers are received at a provisioning system from a terminal device of the end user, the provisioning system coupled to the presence server.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising querying, by the system, a home subscriber server to retrieve a location of the terminal device.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected grade of service corresponds to all the communication identifiers associated with the end user.
11. A server comprising:
a memory to store instructions; and
a processor coupled to the memory, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, the processor performs operations comprising:
receiving a plurality of communication identifiers for an end user of a communication network;
receiving a selection of a grade of service from equipment of the end user; and
retrieving presence information from a presence server subscribed to by the end user,
wherein the selected grade of service corresponds to a subset of the plurality of communication identifiers,
wherein, in accordance with the selection, the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers varies according to a predetermined time schedule, according to an instruction provided by equipment of the end user, or a combination thereof, and
wherein at a given time the end user is accessible by equipment of another party via the network in accordance with the selected grade of service and the presence information.
12. The server of claim 11 , wherein the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers varies automatically with a time of day, a range of dates, a day of the week, or a combination thereof.
13. The server of claim 11 , wherein each of the plurality of communication identifiers corresponds to a different communication device comprising an end point in the communication network.
14. The server of claim 11 , wherein the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers varies dynamically in accordance with instructions provided by the equipment of the end user.
15. The server of claim 11 , wherein the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers varies according to a time schedule provided by the equipment of the end user.
16. A tangible computer-readable storage device comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving a plurality of communication identifiers for an end user of a communication network;
presenting an offer of grades of service via equipment of the end user;
receiving a selection of a grade of service from the equipment of the end user in response to the offer; and
retrieving presence information from a presence server subscribed to by the end user,
wherein the selected grade of service corresponds to a subset of the plurality of communication identifiers,
wherein, in accordance with the selection, the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers varies with time, and
wherein at a given time the end user is accessible by equipment of another party via the network in accordance with the selected grade of service and the presence information.
17. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 16 , wherein each of the plurality of communication identifiers corresponds to a different communication device comprising an end point in the communication network.
18. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 16 , wherein the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers varies according to a predetermined time schedule, according to an instruction provided by equipment of the end user.
19. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 16 , wherein the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers varies automatically with a time of day, a range of dates, a day of the week, or a combination thereof.
20. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 16 , wherein the subset of the plurality of communication identifiers varies dynamically in accordance with instructions provided by the equipment of the end user.