Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
210271~
--1--
SEMI-AUTOMATED OPERATOR ASSISTANCE
TELECOMMUNICATION CALLS
This is a division of co-pending Canadian Patent Application Serial No. 2,020,240 which
was filed on June 29, 1990.
Technical Field
This invention relates to the processing of operator assistance telecommunications calls.
5 Problem
In the present mode for operating the public telephone network, toll and assistance
operators are still required for a large class of these calls. For example, toll and assistance
operators are required for processing calls such as station-to-station (station) collect calls;
person-to-person (person) calls including sent paid, collect, and calling card calls; and bill-to-
10 third party calls. Also, at the request of public telephone customers, operators are required toprovide time and charges information at the conclusion of these processed calls.
Customer-dialed operator assistance calls are usually referred to as zero plus (0+) calls
because the customers dial zero (signifying an operator assistance type call) plus a directory
number. Operator calls that have no customer-dialed directory number are usually referred to
15 as zero minus (0- or 00-) calls because customers do not dial further after having dialed one or
two zeroes to get the intervention of an operator. A major expense in setting up operator
assistance calls is the cost of the time of the operators whose services are required. In the past,
the cost for setting up 0+ and 0- calls has been sharply reduced through the introduction of
systems such as the Traffic Services Position System (TSPS) No. 1, and the Operator Services
20 Position System (OSPS), both manufactured by AT&T Network Systems, which require that
operators only be connected to a call during the call setup time and that operators may be
recalled when needed for such operations as collecting an overtime charge on a coin call,
notifying a customer of the elapsed time and charges for a call, or in response to an originating
customer flash because of, for example, poor Llans,llission or a poor connection. All of these
25 conditions are detected by timing or in response to calling customer signals.Even with these systems, for calls such as person and collect calls, there remains
a substantial amount of recoverable time during which an operator must attend the call
but is not actively servicing the call. This interval, for example, occurs from the
time that a customer on a person sent paid call has given the identity of the
30 telephone number and individual to whom he or she wants to talk and the time that
the called telephone is answered. Arrangements to elimin~te such intervals
2102714
require that operators be readily disconnected and reconnected to calls.
Later arrangements reduce operator work time for collect calls and
person-to-person calls (which include person-collect, person-paid, person calling card
and person bill to third number). An example of such an arrangement is the more
efficient call handling (MECH) process wherein a first operator is connected to the
call after the completion of customer dialing and, for a class of calls, this operator is
disconnected from the call after determining the class of charge (COC) including the
billing method and any required billing data; subsequently, a second operator who may
or may not be the same as the first operator is connected to the cal in response to the
answer signal of the called customer. Such an arrangement reduces the operator work
time on the call by making it unnecessary for an operator to be connected to the call
during the call setup time and ringing interval and if the call is not answered, the
second operator is not required at all.
In the MECH arrangement, the first operator may record the name of
the calling party for a collect call, the name of the called party on a person call, and
both names for a person collect call. Subsequently, when the second operator is
attached to the call, the COC and previously entered name is displayed at the
operator position of the second operator. Thus the second operator is ready to talk to
the called party immediately upon being connected to the call without first having to
ascertain from the calling party, the calling party's name or the name of the requested
called party in a person call. Further, such an arrangement eliminates the need for
the second operator to warn the called party that this is an operator assistance call
and that the operator needs to ascertain information before talking further to the
called party.
Although the MECH arrangement reduces operator work time on calls,
there is a need to further reduce the amount of operator work time required to
process the handling of such operator assistance calls, such as person, collect and bill
to third party calls.
Another major expense in handling operator assistance calls is the cost of
delivering time and charges information to a public telephone customer at the
conclusion of a call. In the prior art, an operator delivers time and charges
information responsive to a verbal request from the customer at the beginning of a
call. The operator calls the customer's public telephone after his or her call is
completed, and verbally relays the time and charges information.
3 2102714
A problem with the prior art method of delivering time and charges
inform~tion is that opc~àtor wor~ time is used in delivenng the information.
Furrherrnore, telephone networlc voice f~cilitiçs are ~c~ cd for the operator to make
the call to the customer's public phone. Thus, the prior art method incurs both the
5 expense of operator work time, and the expense of using voice network facilities.
Prior art systems, such as the TSPS No. I, and OSPS, rquire that
operators may be recalled when needed for such operations as notifying a customer
of the elapsed time and charges for a call, reduce operator work ~rne in the setting up
of O~aLOr ~Csist~nre calls, but do not reduce operator work time or the use of
10 network facilities for the delivery of time and chargcs information. Although MECH
reduccs the op~dLor work time r~uired to set up the call by making it nnnecess~
for an opel ator to be connccted to the call during thc call setup time and ringing
inte~val, it does not reduce the expenses incu~red for dclivcring time and charges
infoml~tion
Thus, another problem with prior art op~d~or assict~nce ~y~cms is that
there is no ~ti~r~ rnethod of inexpensively delivering time and charges
information to public telephone ~ c~o~ for O~dLUl ~Csi~t~nce calls.
Solution
The above problems are solved and an advance is made in the art in
20 accordance with a new method and apparatus of our invention featuring the use of an
mrl~ry int~lligent telc~ n~nir~tionc station (int~ ent phone) for collecting
and tr~ncmit*ng call data to an o~dtor ~Cc;c~nre for ini*~*ng the setting up a call
without the intcrven*on of an operator and for autom~*~ ~lly receiving data from a
cc~nnc~:l awit~hiQg system after a call has been t~rnin~t~ and without an
25 intervention of an o~o~. For collect, person, and bill to third party calls, a calling
tbac3c) p~ entas ;~ ;rn idCnLi~ lg the class of charge tCOC) into the
int~lli~t phonc. Ihc phone then sends the call i~len*fir~t*Qn ih~l~ion to an
Op~X ~C~r5~ system as part of a sign~ling mcss~e to set up the call. By
llt*li~ g the COC ;~.f~ ;on, connccl,ons for collect, pe~son and bill to third party
30 calls are set up ~i~ u~ thc intervention of an opera~or. Latcr, whcn the operator
~s~ist~nce system seizes an O~dtur position to ser ricc the call after the call has
becn answered by thc called or fo. w~u~l party, the call data is alltom~*c~lly displaycd
for the o~.ator. Advantageously, neither an operator nor telcphone network
lCSou~ccs are r~ui~;l to gather COC inforrn~*o~, thus si nific~ntly reducing
35 opcrator work timc and nclw~k resourcc usage. After the o~ator assistance call is
tennin~te~l, the operator ~ nce system that p~cesse~l the call sends a message
4 2102714
in~ ing time and charges inforrnaion for the call to the intelligent phone for
displaying of that information. Advantageously, time and charges information aredelivered to the customer without using operator work time or telephone network
facilities to place a call.
S In the exemplary embodiment CClTT (Int~n~tion~l Consultative
Committee for Telephone and Telegraph) standard Layer 3 (Q.93 1) call control
messages defined for message acsoci~t~ user-to-user information (MA-UUI) carry
user-to-user infolL~.âtion elemcnts (UUEs) to a ~fECH program process for collect,
person-to-person, and bill to third party calls. A back party places a call by entering
10 COC information (such a~s person or station call, collect or bill to third party call and
the called party name and number) into an enh~ncc~l user inte~ce payphone, whichsends the i~ ation to the MECH prûcess as a MA-UUI çle-nent of a Q.93 1
SEI UP mcssage. The MECH process sets-up the call to the fo~ i party bas~d on
the inform~rion received in the UUIE. The MECH process waits until a called party
15 answers the call and then activates a "-ecl~lni~rn to seize an operator position, with
the call i,lfc~ tion displayed at the position. Advantageously, an Op~àtO~ is not
cd to gather call i.~. " ,~tion thus, o~ alur work time is cignifif~ntly reduced.
After the call is terrnin~t~d, the MECH process sends the time and
charges inform~tion for the call to the back party's enh~nce~l user interface phone as
20 part of a UUIE of a Q.931 SEIIJP meS~ge. Responsive to rcceipt of this message,
the ~nh~n~cA user int~f~ce phone rejects the call setup request, and displays the time
and charges i~r,.."~l;on for the back party. Thus, time and charges inform~tion is
delivered to the back part,v without a call being est~bli~h~ Advantageously, an
o~ ~tor is not ~ ;l to deliver tirne and charges infol,. ation.
In a~:eu~ CC with one aspect of the e~empl~ry emwim~nt~ the
int~lligent phone, an enh-n~ user int~rf~-~e payphone, i~ a~,b with a back party to
ga~hcall ;.~f~ n by asking the back party questio~ via a display screen. The
enh~n~ed u~ in~ f~ payphone ~.r"llls e~Tor Ch~cL ;i-g on the ,.~. "\~tion
ente~d by the baclc party. The payphone is e luiy~cd to use MA-UUI sign~ling~ and
30 is co.~n~ e~3 to a central office telephone switching system via an integrated services
digital nclwulk (ISDN) basic rate int~rfaçe (BRI), thus providing an illte~dted voice
and data co..-n-l nil ~tion facility. A networ~ connection is est~blichc~ only after
ih~. . n~tion required to initi~te~ a call is vcrificd. The enh~nce~ user int~f~ce
payphone then places the i--fo, .,~tion in the UUIE of a Q.931 SETUP mcssage and35 sends it to the ~ECH process. Advantageously, the enhanccd uscr int~ fare phone
elimin~tes the nced to usc networ~ facilities prior to reccipt of vesified call
~5~ 2102714
information.
In accordance with on aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of sending call
data from a switching system to a telecommunications station, colllpli~ g the steps of: responsive to a
termination of a call between the switching system and the station, forming a call message at the
switching system, the message comprising data pertaining to the terminated call; sending the message to
the station over a sign~lling link for producing a humanly sensible indication of the data at the station.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for
sending call data from a switching system to a telecommunications station, colllpli~h1g: a switching
network, connectable to the station; and control means, operable under the control of a switching
system program process, for controlling a: formation of a call message at the switching system,
comprising time and charges data associated with the call after a termination of the call; and a
transmission of the message through the network to the station for controlling a display of the time and
charges data at the station and a rejection of subsequent call setup operations between the network and
the station.
Brief Description of the Drawin s
The present invention, taken in conjunction with the invention described in co-pending Canadian
Patent Application Serial No. 2,020,240 which was filed on June 29, 1990, will be described in detail
hereinbelow with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an operator assistance switching system for processing operator
assistance calls in accordance with the methods of Figs. 2-8; and
Figs. 2-8 are data layouts and flow diagrams of methods of processing operator assistance calls in
accordance with the invention.
Detailed Description
Fig. 1 is an architectural diagram of a system illustrating one embodiment of the present
invention. The system comprises an "enhanced" public telephone 150, compli~ g a handset 151, a credit
card reader 152, a coin slot 153, a display screen 154, a keyboard 155, a coin return slot 157, and a
control processor 158, comprising a data store 159, a central processing unit (CPU) 160, and a program
161 for controlling the operations of the CPU 160. The public phone is equipped with an International
Consultative Committee for Telephone and Telegraph (CCITT) Integrated Services Digital Network
(ISDN) Basic Rate Interface (BRI), as described in CCITT Red Book Fascicle III.5 Series 1
Recommendation, and has the capability of handling standard Q.931 interface, as described in CCITT
Red Book Fascicle VI.9 Recommendations Q.931. The public phone 150 uses CCITT standard message
associated user-to-user information (MA-UUI) sign~lling, and is connected to a switching system 101 via
an ISDN BRI 162.
The switching system (switch) 101 is a SESS~ switch, extensively described in AT&T Technical
Journal, Vol. 64, No. 6, part 2, pp. 1305-1564, July/August 1985, which also serves as an Operator
Services Position System (OSPS) as described in N.X. DeLessio et al.: "An Integrated Operator Services
2102714
-- 6 --
~p~hility for the 5ESS Switching System", International Switching
S~ '84, (Florence), Session 22C, Paper 3, pp. 1-5, May 1984. The change
cd in the ~witchillg system to implement the present invention is the addition
of a program in the control 110 of the switch for executing the tasks deseribed in the
S flow charts of FIGS. 4-7. The switch 101 comprises a control 110 for controlling the
switch. The control 110, in turn, cbmrnces a central processing unit 108, a
program la6 for controlling the operations of the central pr~cessing unit, and a data
store 107 for storing call data. rhe program 1~6 COmrl~eS switching processes 113
to handle the switching of calls, an ~ dLOI services position system (OSPS)
10 proeess 114 to handle operator ac~i~t~nce calls, and the more efficient call h~n~ling
(MECH) proeess 115 to more effi~iently handle o~ato~ ~Ccist~nt~e calls. The
switeh also conlI~ri~es a loeal data base system 116 for storing data sueh as: (1)
customer lines connected to the system, sueh as the Q.931 e.~ p~ customer
line 162, (2) intereonnecting r.elwo,~ç 132, (3) trunks, sueh as trunk 133 eonneeted
15 to the system, and (4) data about operator positions eonn~-rt~ to the system, A
transaetion recorder 122is used for reeording billing data. The switeh also
eomprises a voiee and data switehing network 112 whieh ean be used for
tr~n~mitting data among control unit 110 int~o~ecting data network 118 and
operator access facility 126, and for transmitting voice among trunks eoming into the
20 system, such as trunk 133tointen~on.~ ing n~,lwo~L 132, customer lines sueh as
custorner line 162 and operator aeeess fa~~ es sueh as OpC~atOl aeeess facility 126.
The i~t~,.wl~neel-~g nclwol~ 132 whieh may inelude one or more swi~hing systems
is used for accesc;llg the called cnst~omer station 146 from switeh 101. O~l~torposition 124, c~nn~ to the voiee and data switchmg n-,lwol~ 112 by o~ ator
25 access facility 126, c~omIsri~s a video t~min~l for displaying data obtained ~om
control 110, localdatabase system 116, andremote database system 120. While a
typical sy~m would ha~re many operator p~s;n~nc ~tt~c~ for clarity, only one is
shown hci~ ~te data base systcm 120 is conn~ct~ to voice and data
~w;t~ g n~h~ul~ 112 via ~rltc.~v.-nc~-';ng data network 118. Voice and data
30 ~wilching nc~woll~ 112 is c~rn~tçsl tO control unit 110 via a control conncc~on 111.
Intc~o~n~nng data nclwû~ 118 and remote data base systcm 120 are used for
obtaining data about the c~lling or called te~nin~l and~or called station when this
data is not ava~lable in the local data base system 116.
In this spc~ ific c~bodi~nt of the present inven~ion, a calling (back)
35 party makes a call from the public tclephone 150 by ent~nng call i-~Lion on the
keyboard 155, lci,~hai~e to a request from a menu on the display scrcen 154. The
2102714
back party complet~s the cal!ing procedure by pressing the send button 157 on the
keyboard 155. The çnh~n~el pubLie phone 150 then format~s the call information
into a user-to-user inf ;~tion element (UUE) of a Q.931 SETUP message, places
the UUIE into a SETUP m~s~ge~ and sends the message to the voice and data
S switching network 112 of the switehing system 101, which routes the call to the
OSPS process 114. The OSPS proeess 114 opens the UU~E to validate the caLl
information and handle any error eonditions, and sends the information to the MECH
process 115. The MECH proeess 115 uses the ~Ifo~ation provided in the UUE to
set up a connection to a called (fc,.wi ~) party stadon 146. Once a connecdon to the
10 fol wa,d party stadon 146 is set up via tmnk 133 and interconneeting network 132 to
forward party stadon 146, and an answer from the fol w~d party station 146 is
~lete~ted in the voice and data switching network 112 and relayed via eontrol
conneetion 111 to control 110, eontrol 110 then ihlfol l s the MECH process 115 and
causes a conneedon to be set up. The ~ECH process 115 alerts the OSPS
15 proeess 114 that an operator should be queued, and an operator position is conn~
to the call. The connecdon is among the back party stadon 150, the fo. w~.i party
station 146 and an u~c ator position, similar to ope a~or posidon 124, connected via
its own o~ator aeeess facility, similar to o~.ator access facility 126. Data
describing the call is then displayed on the o~ to~'s t~rmin~l to permit the operator
20 to further control the call by ~ign~ling requests for ehanges in the call eoniguradon
to the control 110.
FlG. 2 is a flow ~ m of an enh~n~c~ publie phone program process
(eoin stadon process) whieh handles the co!l~tion and sen-ling of eall info~malion.
The p-occss which is controlled within the public tele~honc 150 is inacdve while the
25 c~oin station is idle (block 202). The process begins when a back party enters a
fo, w~d par~ nu~b~ on thc l~c,~l~&'d of thc phone (ac~on block 204). The processthen chec~cs for errors in the fc~ ~VA- d party nu~- (test 206). If there are errors, an
err~ h~nflting pfY~ is invoked which does the following: (1) the pr~cc~dure
dct~ nrs wL.,lhcr the baclc party has been re-p.o~ t~t to enter the information a
30 ~ ;llllllll nnm~,l of times (test 210); (2) if threshold has not bcen rç~che~, the
process rc-p~om~ts the back par~y for the info~ aLion (acdon bloclc 212); however, if
the thrcshold has bcen Ir~ch~l the back party is connecte~ to an operator (action
block 214) and the process returns to its idle state (block 202). Otherwise, if no error
occl~rred in entering the fOl~a.d party nulll~r, the p~oce~5 checks for the class of
35 chargc (COC) entered by the back party (action block 208). If the call is a person call
(test 216), the çnh~n~ed phone process thcn waits to receivc thc fo- ~ l party name
21~27~
(action block 218); if the call is collect (test 222), the process waits to receive the
back party name (action block 224); if the call is a credit call charge call (test 228),
the pro~ess waits for a cIedit card number (action block 230); finally, if the call is a
third party call (test 232), the process waits to receive the third parry number to be
S billed (action block 234). If any errors occur in the tests or reception of any data
(test 220 and test 226), the call is h~nrllefl by the pr~cedure described above.After the COC is entered, the process then waits to receive any coins
that need to be deposited (action block 236), and chec3cs whether the required coin
deposit, if any, is s~ti~fi~l (test 238). If the deposit is not s~tisfi~l, the error
10 tre~tment procedure, described above, is invoked; otherwise, the process next checks
whether the back party wants to be informed of ime and charges illfol~Lion afterthe call (test 240). If so, the call record is m~rlc~d, i.e., a special octet is formed to
in~lir~te that irne and charges informaion are requested (action block 242). Finally,
the process uses the informaion provided by the back party together with a self
15 generated unique coin station identifier (used for verification of proper im~ and
charges information delivery) to form a UUE (of a Q.931 SETUP message) to be
sent to the MECH p~}cess in the sv~itcl~ing system (action block 244), and the coin
station returns to idle (bloc3t 2~2).
The Q.931 protocol limits the m~u~ length of the UUE of a
20 SEIIJP message to 131 octets, 128 of which may contain UUI and the rem~in~e-
used for a meS~ header. FIG. 3 is a rli~gTam illustrating the structure of the UUE
in the present invention. The 3 octets of the m~s~gc header contain call controlih~ t;on (CCI), comp icinp a UUIE ID 304, the length of the UUI 306, and a
p~ocol Aiu~, ;.. ~;n~ 308. The s~i~c e . .l~l;. . .- n~ of the present invention uses
25 121 of the possiblc 128 octets ~.~.~;ning for UUI. The UUI conLains a unique coin
station i~ tifi~ 31Q which id~ ;l;&s the call, a forward party nurnber 312, the COC
314, tho fw ~ i par~ narne 316, a third party narne 318, a bac~c party name 320, a
creditc~u~b~ 322, a deposit amount 324, a coin station number 326, and one
octet to signify a requc~t for time and charges info. ~ ion 328. The lG ll'il);
30 possible seven octets 330 are unuscd.
FIGS. 1 7 are flow diagrams of the rnethod of one e~ of thc
present invendon, star~ng at the point after the Q.931 SETUP me~ge has been sentby tne back pany stadon. These figures depict the operation of an operator
~scic~n~e process, C~ c;ng the OSPS process 114, and the MECH process 115.
35 Calls that are treated in a~ lance with the prin~iples of this invention are called
modified MECH calls Other calls are given ~ n~ t by "standard practices"
2102714
signifying tre~tm~nt in accordance with the normal practices for operator ~ssic~nce
calls of this type as desc~ibed, for example, in the Bell Svstem Technical Joumal,
(B.S.T.J.), vol. 58, no. 6, part 1, July/August 1979, and B.S.T.J., vol. 49, no. 10,
Decemhçr 1970, pp~ 2417-2709, especially pp. 2625-2683.
The process waits for a SETUP message to arrive at the switching ~-
system (action block 402), opening the UU~ of a message once it arrives (action
block 404). It next checks for a customer for a customer request for operator (OPR)
t~nce (test 406), routing the call to an operator (treating call as 0-) if an OPR
~Cci5t~nce signal is discovered (action block 416). Otherwise, the process checks
10 whether the UUIE is valid under the protocol (test 408). If the UUIE is valid, the
process then checks whether the UUIE contains a valid forward party number (action
block 410), otherwise, the call is treated as a 0- call and routed to an operator (action
block 416).
If the fo- wanl party number co~t~inÇ~ in the UUIE is invalid, the call is
treated as a 0- call (action block 416). If the number is valid, then the call is a 0+
call; if not, the call must be sent to an operator in accordance with 0- call handling
procedures, and the process then checks if the call is collect, person-to-person, or bill
to third party call (test 414). The process places related call i.~l~tion for these
types of calls into fields to be used by the o~.ator (action block 418).
For the call is a 0+ call, the process next checks whether the class of
charge for the call has been ente~d (test 420). If not, the call is routed to an operator
(action bloek 422), otherwise the p~cess next checks whcther the call is a coin
deposit call (test 424); if so, the process cheeks if the deposit has been c~ficfiefl
(test 426). It routes the call to an o~ o~ if the dcposit is l-nc~ (action block25 422), othcrwise, it sends the infi~ A~;on c~nt~ine~l in thc UUIE to the mc-~1ifi~d
MECH ~.~occss, and ~u~,~ the modified MECH proccss to perform billing
v~ la~i~n chec3cs for the ca~l and then sends the call to the fol w~-l party (action
blocl~ 4~8).
Billing~lr~ lstil)n checks arc p~rol~od in CO~ n~e with standard
30 practices to sce if the calling c~ e~ is entitled to place this type of call to the
called station. For e~mrle, a collcct call to a coin phone is not usually allowc~
For the case of a person call that is to be billed to a third party, this in-~ludes
verifying WhC~ ' the third party accepts such billing or wishcs to bc called, and, if
neceS~. r. calling that third party to vcrify a~ ulce of the billing. The modified
35 MECH process sends a call to a fo~ w~d party by outpulsing the call to thc telephone
central officc connccted ~o the fo.w~i party. Thc back party is left to ~onitol thc
2102714
- 10-
progress of the calL This "outpulsing" can be done over t~lking trunks or via
separate COLL~OI1 ch~nnel signaling f~ ties~ It is the back party who detects busy
or no answer and initi~tes a disconnect for those cases. The operator ~Ssict~n~esystem monitors the connc~,~on ~o detect the return of answer supervision.
If the call is not a coin, the process checks the COC to ~et~mine
whether the call is collect or person-to-person (test 430); if no~, the call inform~tion
for the call is sent to the modified MECH process, along with instrucdons to perform
bil}ing v~lid~tion checks and send the call to the fol v~ party (acion block 428).
Finally, if the call is a collect or person-to-person call, the process checks the UUIE
10 to detc~ne whether the required names have been entered (test 432); if not~ the
process i~llllS the rn~lifi~ MECH process that the names have not been entered
(action bloc~ 434), and ~lrwms the standard instruction procedures (a~ion
block 428). ~f the names have been entered. the standard instrucion procedures are
p~,~rOl~o~ (action bloc~ 428). Subsequent actions are described with respect to the
15 flow chart FIG. S starring with test 502.
FIG. 5 ~les~rib--s the process of detecting an answer ~om the forwa~l
party and the actions ~fol~llcd imm~Ai~tely thc~earh.. Test 502 checks whether
answer supe2~ision is received, i.e., wL~cr the ful w~.l party answers. If not,
test 504 is ~LrO~ A to test whether the back party has requested OPR ~Csict~ncc- If
20 the back parry has requested OPR ~c~st~nr,c, then the fol ~ l corln~tic~n, i.e., the
col~nc~on to the fo ~ party is l.,l~as~ and an o~or position is connc~d to
the bac3c party to recci~e further i~L~. e~ons (action block 506). The back party and
o~ator are fully conn~ted to allow the calling cl~ctQm~ to talk to and hear the
o~-a~ol at the o~. position where the call history is displayed to the o~rdtor.
25 If the baclc party docs not request OPR ~ict~nf~., a test is made to check whether
the bacl~ party dis~s (test 508). If the bac~ party ~ n.~ ., tne call is torn
do~ on bloclc 510). This a~ion would be p~ro~ed if the bac3c party decides
that ~f~ . ~ parq is not arls~ ~g or if the bacic party hears busy or overflow
tone. l~ thc b2~ parq does not rli~n ~ supcrvisory ~ it~. ~g of the call for
30 answer is ~j.. -~A (test 502, previously r1iscllcse~). If answer supervision is
reccived as ~c~c~,~1 in test 502 and an OPR is available (test 516), then actions are
~r~ ..cd in accordance with FIG. 7. If an OPR posi~ion is not available, thc
connectiQn is ~n~ngel1 so that both the baclc and the f~ d parties arc muted
(action block 512), i.e., that neither calling nor callcd parq can hear the other. The
35 call is then placcd on a high priority queue for an operator position wiL~out giving
audible tone to either the back or the f~ wanl party in order to avoid confusion
2102714
11 -
taction block 514). There may be several such queues in an operator ~Ccict~nce
system, for queuing different types of modified MECH calls. Next~ the actions
described in FIG. 6 are pe-ro-~ed starting with test 602.
FIG. 6 describes the actions pe.rolLucd until an operator position can be
S connecte~l to the call. Test 602 determines whether the MECH queue (i.e, the queue
in which the call was entered in action block 514) is expected to introduce a delay
that exceeLc a specified thresholL If so, an annollnt~em~nt is played to both the back
and the fo. w~d parties (action block 6a4). The annol~ln~em~nt might say: "Pleace
hold, an operator will be conneeted ~lol-lptly." If the back party disconneets, as
10 det~-lTnine~ by test 606, then an operator position is seized (action bloek 608) so that
the operator may talk to the fol ward party to explain what happened. The ~ .~r
position and the forward party are fully conn~tesl to allow them to talk to eachother.
If the back party diseonneets before an announcement is played, as
15 ~et~nin~d by test 610, then the call is torn down (aetion bloek 612). If the baek
party does not diseonneet, with or without the annonneem~-nt, then a test is made to
see whether the fo~ w~d party has ~i~conn~ted (test 614). If so, an operator position
is seized and a eonnec~ion is set up with the baek party ~aetion block 616). The back
party and the operator are fully connecteSl Requests for OP~ ~Csict~nce by the baek
20 party are ignored, if received, prior to a fo~ party ~licconnect or pnor to the
aetions to be ~ ss~ below with respeet to FIG. 7, starting with aetion bloek 702,
beeause the eall is already on a high pliclil~ queue for an o~.a~r.
FIG. 7 ~ies~iks the aetions ~roll.lul by the opcrator for a m~ifi~
MECH eall in the present invention. The operator position is seized, and the billing
25 typc, thc conn~;on sutus, and thc ÇG~va~ and bac~wa~d numbcrs, i.e., thc called
and calling ~v~ , are displaycd (action block 701). If thc ap~u~iate names have
becn cntcrcd by thc baclc party whilc placing the call, these arc also displayed.
Test 702 checlcs wl~ thcsc names are displayed. If so, the opcfdtur signals for a
CO~ ~I;o-~ ~L~G 1I the called party is fully connected and the calling party is muted
30 to prevent llnAIIII10l ;-~c~l t~n~mission of a m~ss~ge from the calling party (action
block 703). If not, thc opc.ator signals to set up a split connec!;on, thc called party is
alerted by thc o~dtor that there is an i.~ o.~;ng call, and thc calling party is queried
to obtain thc ~oy~iatc name(s) (action block 704). This is thc info "~l;on needed
by the O~atO~ to find out if a called party is willing to acccpt charges for a collect
35 call, or to find out if the ap~ ";ate individual has answercd a person-~person call,
and, if not, to ask for that ayp~vt,~iate individual. In either case, the o~latùr seeks to
2102714
- 12-
get an acce~ ce of the eall from the called party. If the operator is satisfied that the
con~ition~ for setting up the eall have been met (positive output of test 705), then the
O~.dtOl position signals to be released from the call and the calling and calledparties are connecte~l in a full talking state (aetion bloek 706). If the operator fails to
S get an aeceptanee of the eall (negative output of test 705), then the operator signals
to release the Çw w&d eonnection (the conneetion to the called party) and confers
fur~er with the calling party via a full talking state eonnection (action block 708).
FIG. 8 is flow diagram of the aetions taken by the coin station process
when a baek party requests time and charges ihlf~tion. The eoin station process
10 is idle (block 802) until a Q.931 SETUP message is received from a switehing
system (aetion bloek 804). The proeess eheeks whether the SETUP message
eon~i~s a UUIE (test 806). If it does not, the process ignores the SETUP mç~s~gewithout displaying any info~ on (aetion bloek 808). Otherwise, the process
"opens" the UUIE (aetion bloek 810) and verifies if the UU~E has a unique coin
15 station ide~ e( (UCSI) (310 in FIG. 3), that m~tehes the UCSI generated for the
last outgoing eall (test 812). This UCSI verifies that the il~l~ation in the UUE is
~s~-ed with the baek party. If the UCSI does not mateh (test 812), the process
ignores the SEIIJP n~ss~gc without displaying any infUl" ation (ac~ion block 808).
If, on the other hand, if the UCSI m~t~es that generated for the last outgoing call,
20 the p~eess sends a Q.931 REL COMP eo.,~ ;on mcssage to the modified MECH
pr~eess (action bloek 816) to t~ Ate the eall and displays the time and charges
ihlfo...-~l;on on the display scr~en of the phone (action block 818). The coin station
process then retu~ns to idlc (block 802).
Although the present invention is 1es~ibed using the principles of
25 ISDN, other ct)llllll~ln~ on faci1itie5 could be used. For ~-Y~mple, the sending of
call da~-~m the s~o~ to the u~or ~c~i~t~nce system could be accompli~hed
using ~ da~ ~nC ni~cion over a conventional analog line during the initial call
.Fr-o~
~ - It i~ to ~e ~ od that the above~cscri~cd procedures are merely
30 illl-,/-, l;~c of the princi~les of thc invention and many v~ri~ti~ nc may bc devised by
those skilled in the art wilhout departing f~m the scope of the invention.
