CA2101127C - Telephone call monitoring method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a complete picture of the calling pattern of calls placed to a destination entity, which permits the destination entity's routing plan to be adequately administered, a) information is collected about all call attempts to particular, specified dialed numbers even before they are switch routed, including even calls terminated before a network control point (NCP) returns instructions as to where to route the call and, if applicable, after they are rerouted and b) the collected information is periodically delivering as it becomes available, for use by the destination entity, without requiring the calls being monitored to have been terminated.
Thus, for example, information is collected about calls being held by the NCP in a queue even before the calls are NCP routed. The collected information also includes information for calls that were never routed, because they were terminated before routing, independent of whether they were placed in a queue. If applicable, additional information is collected about the rerouting of those calls that are rerouted.
Additionally, information is collected concerning the performance of a network control point, including information on queue performance and routing location selectionperformance.

Description

CA 02101127 1999-03-1~

. ...

TELEPHONE CALL MONITORING METHOD AND APPARATUS

Technical Field This invention relates to the monitoring of telephone calls and, more speeifically, to the aecumulating of information relating to telephone ealls destined for a single entity.
5 Background of the Invention For the network of an interexehange carrier to complete a call placed to a telephone number that requires translation, such as 800- and 900-type telephone numbers, at least two steps are required. The first step is the making of a deeision on how to route the call, i.e., determining an actual destin~tion to which the eall should be routed that is understandable 10 by the switches making up the network. This step is typically performed by a network control point (NCP) which communicates with the switches of the network via a signaling network, and is therefore called "NCP routing". The second step is the actual following by a switeh of the instruetions supplied by NCP. This is ealled "switeh routing".
One prior art telephone call monitoring system requires that a eall attempt--which 15 includes any complete attempt to plaee a call, i.e., all digits dialed, whether the call is suceessful or not--be switch routed before making available any information about a call.
Also, such a system does not provide information for those calls that could not be completed to a first loeation of the entity to which the call was plaeed, the so-ealled "destination entity", and for which the telephone network automatieally attempted to 20 complete the call to one or more subsequent locations aceording to instructions previously specified by the destination entity. Another prior art telephone call monitoring system only monitors a sampling of call attempts and delivers the information it colleets the next day or later.
From the information provided by sueh prior art systems, the destination entity 25 could only develop an incomplete and/or untimely pieture of the ealling pattern for the ealls placed to it. Unfortunately, such an ineomplete and/or untimely picture is insuffieient to permit the destination entity to adequately ~lmini~t~r its routing plan, i.e., the instructions given to the telephone network speeifying how to complete ealls placed to the destination entity's telephone numbers. This is espeeially true beeause the rapid dissemination of news 30 or advertising ean cause radieal ehanges in the ealling pattern of a destination entity in a short amount of time.

CA 02101127 1999-03-1~

- Summary of the Invention We have realized that the prior art approach to the monitoring of telephone calls, in which calls are monitored only after they are switch routed and only for the first attempted location, or in which only a sample of the calls are monitored and the collected 5 information delivered at a much later time, is unduly limiting and, in accordance with the principles of the invention, this limitation is overcome by a) collecting information about all call attempts to particular, specified dialed numbers even before they are switch routed, including even calls terrnin~te~ before the NCP returns instructions as to where to route the call and, if applicable, after they are rerouted and b) periodically delivering the collected 10 information as it becomes available, for use by the destination entity, without requiring the calls being monitored to have been termin~te-l Thus, for example, information is collected about calls being held by the NCP in a queue even before the calls are NCP routed.
Additionally, information may be collected for particular call attempts concerning the reason such attempts were not NCP routed. Thus, a complete picture of the calling pattern of calls 15 placed to the destination entity is timely made available and, advantageously, the routing plan can be adequately ~rlmini.~tered. The principles of the invention are embodied in a call data processor which collects the information about call attempts and delivers at least a portion of the collected information to each called destination entity independent of the call attempts for which the information is collected. By independent it is meant that there is no 20 fixed timing relationship between the call attempts and the delivery of the collected information and that the collected information is delivered over a communication path different than the communication paths of the call attempts that are monitored.
Furthermore, the call data processor may monitor multiple dialed numbers for each destination entity.
In one embodiment, each call arriving at a switch of an interexchange carrier (IXC) requests routing instructions from an NCP that is capable of supplying messages that indicate the underlying basis of its actions to the call data processor. If the NCP can route the call, it sends information about how it handled the call to the call data processor. If the NCP cannot return routing instructions to the switch, the NCP a) sends a message to the switch to terminate the call and b) sends at least one message to the call data processor, the message cont~ining the internal parameters employed by the NCP in making its decision not to route the call, thereby indicating the reason for its decision. Routing instructions might not be returned for reasons such as the caller abandons the call before the NCP can determine the instructions or it appears to the NCP that the selected location of the destination cannot complete the call.

~. ... .

'' -~ Information for switch unrouted calls is 1) combined with information for switch routed calls, 2) separated by ~lestin~ion entity, 3) sorted and selected based on destination entity-specified parameters and 4) supplied tothe destination entity in a predetermined format. In the event the IXC's switch 5 attempts to route the call to more than a single location, because the call could not be completed to the originally or any subsequently selected locations, the NCP
supplies to the call data processor, on an attempt-by-attempt basis, informationconcerning the disposition and nature of each aKempt. Each attempt subsequent to the original is reported to the destination entity as a redirected attempt, which 10 is distinguishable from an original attempt. Alternatively, the format may be that of a report which conveys in a single summary-type representation information about a plurality of call attempts.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention there is provided a method for use in monitoring call attempts processed by the network of an 15 interexchange carrier in which the switches of said network route said call attempts in response to received instructions, the method characterized by the steps of: collecting, at a call data processor of said interexchange carrier, information relating to call attempts placed to at least one destination entity, said collecting being performed for each respective one of said call attempts prior to 20 any routing of it by any of said switches; and periodically supplying to saiddestination entity information relating to call attempts placed to said at least one destination entity as it is collected without waiting for the termination of said call attempts, said supplying being independent of said call attempts for which said information is collected in said collecting step and said supplied information 25 including at least a portion of said information collected to said collecting step.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for use by a call data processor to monitor telephone calls placed by callers to destination entities over a telephone network, said telephone network having an associated network control point, said network control point 30 communicating with switches of said telephone network via the exchange of signaling messages of a predefined message set over a signaling network, the method comprising the steps of: receiving information from said network control point about the treatment given to telephone calls placed over said telephone network to said destination entities, said information being undeterminable solely . -3 -B

2 ~
-from any sign~ling messages suppliable to or from said network control point, orany combination thereof, without the use of data available only in said network control point; and supplying to said destination entities at least a portion of said information received from said network control point.
5 Brief Description of the Drawin~
In the drawing:
FIG.l shows an exemplary network for completing telephone calls and collecting information about calls, both those that could be routed and those that could not be routed, in accordance with the principles of the invention;
lo FIG.2 shows a flow chart of an exemplary process by which the calldata processor shown in FIG. 1 receives instructions from a destination entity as to how it should present call information to that destination entity;
FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of an exemplary process performed by the call data processor of FIG. 1 to obtain particular information it requires from the 5 support systems shown in FIG. l;
FIG.4 shows a flow chart of an exemplary process by which the call data filter shown in FIG. 1 collects information from the CCS network shown in FIG. 1 to send to the call data processor of FIG. l;
FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of an exemplary process performed 20 independently by each of the support systems shown in FIG. l;
FIG.6 shows a flow chart of an exemplary process by which one of the NCPs shown in FIG. 1 collects information from the CCS network of FIG. 1 and builds call data records to send to the call data processor of FIG. l;
FIG. 7 shows a flow chart of an exemplary process, performed by 25 the call data processor of FIG. 1, for constructing traffic summary records;
FIG. 8 shows a flow chart of an exemplary message distributor process performed by the call data processor of FIG. l;
FIGS.9 and 9A, when connected together, show a flow chart of an exemplary process, contiml~lly performed by the call data processor of FIG.l, for 30 constructing sequence surnmary records;

-3a--CA 02101127 1999-03-1~

~ FIG. 10 shows a flow chart of an exemplary process for determining how long a queued call remained in the queue;
FIGs. 11 and 1 lA, when connected together, show a flow chart of an exemplary process, continually performed by the call data processor of FIG. 1, for constructing queue 5 summary records;
FIG. 12 shows a flow chart of an exemplary process, continually performed by thecall data processor of FIG. 1, for constructing lost-calls summary records;
FIG. 13 shows a flow chart of an exemplary process by which either the call datafilter or one of the NCPs of FIG. 1 generate call records for calls in which the NCP
10 processing the call supplies to the IXC network shown in FIG. 1 a list of multiple, alternate, routing numbers to which the IXC network should attempt to complete the call; and FIG. 14 shows, in simplified block diagram form, an exemplary call data processor, in accordance with the principles of the invention.
Detailed Description FIG. 1 shows exemplary network 100 for completing telephone calls and collectinginformation about calls, both those that could be routed and those that could not be routed, in accordance with the principles of the invention. A caller at telephone station 101 may seek to call any location of any destination entity in network 100. A destination entity is a telephone subscriber that can have one or more locations at which it can receive telephone 20 calls and one or more locations at which it may receive information about the telephone calls that it receives. Each location typically corresponds to a regional office of the destination entity, the locations being geographically separated. Typical destination entities include large airlines, which take reservations at a variety of different locations, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which provides tax processing and information at a variety 25 of different locations. One or more telephone numbers, which are assigned to a destination entity, may be associated with each location of a destination entity that receives telephone calls. Furthermore, one or more locations of a destination entity may have the same telephone number, at the option of the destination entity. The destination entity may also assign each location a mnemonic name.
Destination entities shown in network 100 include customer A 103, customer B 105, customer C 107, and customer D 109. Customers A and B each have only a single location at which they receive all calls placed to them, locations103-1 and location 109-1, respectively. Customers B and C have more than one locationat which they receive calls, namely, locations 105-1 and 105-2 for customer Blaclc-Freeman-Jortan-Kaish-Sher~y-Smila~-Tamlcin-Wang-W~ 1-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 21~011~7 B a~ A~ 107-2 and 107-3 for Cu-D.~ r C Each ~e~ 3l;n-~ entity telepbooo depicoed rcpresents a group of agcnts. e.g., 50 agents per group, each agent havin8 bii~ own; ~o ~ e tel~hr~nG line at which caUs are completed. F~lh~ " ~,.,c!~Cl~r A 103 receives information about its calls at twO diffc-~-t te~in~
5 t~ n~l- 104 1 and 1a4 2. Terrninsl~ 104-1 and 1042 may be geogr~rhi~9lly separated. It is noted that thc ~-.-- ncl- of the destination cntities are shown as bcing di~ co~nc~tc~l to call data p,~csso~ 123. Such co~ r~ arc typically implc ~ ~ as paclcet data con~cc~ , such as X.2S, o~cr a pac~et data n~ t~ o.~
(not shown). ~l~e~ vely~ such co~n~ ;on~ may bc as~ Lonou~ co~nccl;o~c 10 routed, in whole or in part, through IXC nct~ 113 ovcr ~ l ~,""" "~j~AI;
paths than thosc uscd for thc call ~ t~
Thc caller at tclcphonG stadon 101 may, for e~cample, wish to buy airline dclcets at half pricc. Assumc that CY.t~ A 103""i~r-.~r B lOS, ~i~"t~ r C 107, and c ~ D 109, arc each, for cxamplc, major airlin~ of~ng half pricc dclccts lS during an airlinc in~ ~ farc war. The caller sclccts a cus~mcr to call and dial~ a digit string, i~ d;~g a pl~~ A numbcr, such as an 800 typc ~.~b,~, that hasbccn c~ by the s~l~ customcr.
Local e~ ~, camcr aEC) 111 lCce~-s thc caL, in acco~ ncc with typical t~ ph~ c call p ~cs~ g p.~cd~ in thc Unitet Statcs, and .~cG~J; ~s, 20 from thc dialed digit stnng, that thc callcr's call is to bc complctcd by an h~ . camer. Ac~o.din~ , LEC 111 forward~ thc call to an ori~ g switch in i~ cllangc carricr (IXC) llCt~ J~l~ 113 of the i~-c~ g~ carrier ~cc;~:~ by thc c ,tr,.~r bcing callcd. LEC 111 also d~, .- n~s thc app-op,;atc ln~ 'h3~l~gl~ ca~icr f~om thc dialed digit string In ordcr to route thC caL IXC nctwor~ 113 !'A ~ a qucry l~lUe,.~ g routing i~l~u~;liO~U for thc call to cc~ n channd siersling. (CCS) nclwwl~ 115.
CCS nctwaric 115 routcs thc qucry to eithcr networlc control point (NCP) 117 or netw~lc c~~ point (NCP) 119, whichever is a~ .~t~, bascd on the ~,lcphsnc ~ the customer that was dialed at ~ h~n~ stadon 101. Networlc control 30 points, wbich a~e well Icnown in the art, .. ~ and update data bases, e.g., databasa 118 and 120, with which t-h-ey are ~c~ ~ Ihey also p,occss qucries for il~fo,~ ;o~ fT~m their ~C5C!~ ~d data bases NCP 117 is a ~;u,-~ntly dcployed NCP for which thc only typc of infr..~ thatcanbe~atL~conrc. rlgitsopc~;o~isthe;nrc". ~ thatcan 35 be ~,athc~d by ..-on;lo~;ng the s~ ing mcscagrs ~uppl;~ to and from NCP 117.
This iS b~a~J5C NCP 117 lacks thc c~p~bility necdcd to dh providc info,~ )n conc.-..;ng the analysis it perfonned to det~ ;nc the ~ q~ of each call Call data filter 121 monitors and selects the sign~ling messages communicated to or from NCP 117 that are of interest to customers 103, 105, 107, or 109. In contrast, NCP 119 is a new type of NCP that can perform all the functions of NCP 117 and, in addition, it has the ability to directly provide its call treatment analysis information over an additional communications path directly to call data processor 123. Such call treatment analysis information includes a) information about the states of queues maintained NCP
119, b) the predictions NCP 119 makes concerning the availability of lines at a particular location of a destination entity to which a call may be routed successfully and c) the specific sequence of alternate locations that were evaluated as potential locations for completing the call.
In accordance with the principles ofthe invention, information about calls and call attempts is collected and stored by call data processor 123. The information collected about each call is grouped into one or more records, which are structured as tables. Such tables are shown and defined below. By way of introduction, Table 1shows a basic call record, which is used for calls the nature of which can be determined solely from the signaling messages communicated to and from an NCP. Table 2 shows an extended call record, which is a shorthand notation for the fields of a basic call record (Table 1) and an additional field. The extended call record is a component of the alternate location call record, shown in Table 3. An alternate location call record is generated when NCP 119 tries to complete a call to the first location it predicts is available form a predetermined sequence of alternate locations, the sequence having been previously defined by the destination entity. Tables 4 and 5 show queued and dequeued call records, respectively. These records are used to monitor the performance of queues inside NCP 119. A use of queues for the completion of calls to destination entities having multiple locations is described in United States Patent 4,953,204 entitled Multilocation Queuing for Telephone Calls issued on August 28, 1990 to Robert F.Cuschleg, Jr. et al. Table 6 shows a failed called record, which is generated when NCP
119 predicts a call can be completed to a particular location but, ultimately, the call can not be completed as predicted.
If a query requesting call routing is forwarded to NCP 117, the signaling messages between CCS network 115 and NCP 117 are copied by call data filter 121.Call data filter 121 discards messages which are not of interest to any of customers 103, 105, 107, or 109. Call data filter 121 collects all messages concerning the call until NCP 117 either returns routing instructions for the call or the call is terminated without routing instructions. The call may be terminated by either IXC network 113 or by NCP

-- 117 without routing instructions ever having been received by IXC network 113.
If routing instructions are not returned for the call, then call data filter 121supplies to call data processor 123 a basic call record for the call. A limited functionality, prior art call data processor is shown and described in United States Patent No. 4,788,718 entitled Call Data Collection and modification of Received Call Distribution issued on November 29, 1988 to Sandra D. McNabb and Richard S. Yien.
Table 1 shows the fields that make up a basic call record and an explanation of the types of values that can be stored in those fields. Exemplarv information included in the basic call record for a call for which routing instructions are not returned includes 1) the caller dialed number in the DIAL_ID field, 2) the automatic number identification (ANI), i.e., the telephone number of the calling station (or the carrier or country if the call originated outside of the North American numbering plan), in the Call_ORIG field and 3) a predetermined code indicating the reason for not routing the call in the TREAT_ID field.
TABLE 1 - Basic call Record (BASIC_CR) DIAL_ID Dialed Number Identifier - Indicator of caller-dialed digits.
CALL_ORIG Call origin - Redirection indicator of caller's ANI.
TREAT_ID Treatment Identifier - Routing telephone number, code for unrouted disposition, or announcement number.

If routing instructions are returned for the call, call data filter 121 suppliesto call data processor 123 a basic call record in which the values of the fields are the same as for the unrouted call except that the routing telephone number (RTN), i.e., the number of the telephone station to which NCP 117 will attempt to route the call, is supplied as the value of TREAT_ID in place of the code indicating the reason for not routing the call.
If the call was routed, it is possible that NCP 117 supplied to IXC network 113 more than one potential location of the destination entity to which the callcould be routed. If the call could not be routed to the first supplied (original) location, then IXC network 113 attempts to route the call to one of the other (subsequent) locations. Each time a subsequent location is attempted a message so indicating is transmitted from IXC network 113 to NCP 117. For each such received message, call datafilter 121 builds anadditional basic call record. Each additional Blac~ rn~c~L~-Jcn~ian-~Caiih-Sherry-Smil~~ T~ol~in.Wang.Wri~c~u~n 1-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 21011~
,_ badc c ll ~ca~d for a call has thc same values for its ficlds as thc basic call record built ~ the call was or ~ns11y routed, c~cccpt that in placc of thc ANI a code inticat~ng ~ o~ou is 5~ ;rd as thc valuc of the CAULJL_ORIG Seld.
If a qucry .~.,~ 5 call routing for a call is forwarded to NCP 119, S rathcr than to NCP 117, NCP 119 scnds din~ to call data ~)~cs~r 123 . t leastone call rccord for thc call if it is of intercst to . ny of ~ ,, 103, lOS, 107, or 109. Thc typc of call record scnt and thc info~mation co-~t~ rA thcrcin ~ i on thc nature of thc call . nd thc current call status at thc time thc call record is sent.
IIo~ r, the sct of onc or morc such call records for an individual call always 10 i~cl~ldc~ at least the same fields and informadon as in a basic call record.

TABLE 2 - F~te~lcd Call Record (EXT CR) BASIC_CR Basic Call Rccort - As ~l~fined ~ iuu~l~ in Tablc 1.
lS QID Queuc rden~;~ r - Idcndty of a full qucuc, if any, on whicb thc call w_ bArrcd from being placed.

TABLI~ 3 - Altematc 1 ~c~fi~ Call Record (ALOC_CR) EXT_CR F~t~ n~ Call Record - As define~ p~.,.iously in Tablc 2.
SEQID Se~l~,e~ nl;~r - Idcndty of the particular sequence of 91~ "Dt;~_g used to routc thc call (i.c., thc last in a scrics of possiblc s~.,c~ c~).
LOC CNT ~C91io Count-Tot~ of -9~ DI;~C ~ "Q
attcmptcd, of which at most onc wa predicted to bc availablc.
30 SEQCNT Scquence Count - Total .~ of seq~nr,~,Q ~ pt~
in thc scncs of possibb s~.,c l~s 3S If a call was un~utcd, an e~ dcd call record is sent i~chlJ;~g a codc in~l;c~ g a reason for not routing thc call in thc TREAT 11) ficld, in _ccordance with thc ~ iples of the in~enlion. If a call was routed, an c~ n~l~d call record is sent inr~ g the routing (~lapho~c l~,..l.ht. in the TREAT IO field. If NCP 119 evaluatcd a s~ucy~cc of 1~q~tionc of a destinqtic!n entity in ~t~ ;ning to which40 locqtinn to CO~ kt~ the call, then the type of record sent by NCP 119 is called an Blaclc-Freeman-Jordan-Kai~She~y-Smilan-Taml~in-Wang-W~l~n-on 1-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 .,"
alte~e locadon call reco~, in acco.~c with an aspec~t of thc invendon. Tablc 3 show~ tbe ficld~ that malce up an altcmate locadon call rcc~ and an a~planadon of thc type~ of valucs that can be stored in those fielts Thc EXT CR design2uion u a shorthand fcr the fields shown and ~kfine~ in the c ~e~dt~ call record shown and5 defined in Table 2. The pu~yOSC of these fields is to repart, in acco ~ cc with an aspect of the in~ 'nt;GI, irrO~ ;o~ about steps talcen by NCP 119 in S~ 8 one among seveml possible l~l~;on~ to which the call can be compbted.
If NCP 119 places the call in a queue until it y C~li,b that the call can be co ui~lc t~ to a locq~ n of the desdnadon endty, a queued caU rocord is snppli~ for 10 the call when it is inidally placcd in the queue and a ~ .cd call record is ~.rppli~
for the call wben the call is ~1<q~e~l~ i.e., when it exits the queue. in ~"CO ~ G
with an aspect of the in~c.llion. Table 4 shows the Sclds that malce up a queued call record and an explanadon of the types of value~ that can bc sto~ed in those fields.
Table S shows thc fields that make up a dequeued call record ant an c-yl~nA~io~ of lS the types of ~alues that can be stored in those field~ The pu~pose of these recor~s is to report information about queuc p~ru.~nce, in ac~ e with the pnnciples of thc ~,c. ~o~
The queued call record that is sent whe~ a call enten a queue i~''hl~lC5 the ~ ..h~ of calls cu~ n in that queue. If muldple queues are . ~ ~ for a 20 des~ endty, e.g, one queue for each locadon of the desdnadon endty. the queued call record idc~ rs the pardcular queue into which the call has been placed by the ~alue stored in the QID field. If a queue for a ~ A endty ha~ing more than one queue o._.nûws, NCP 119 may pno.idc al-~o~ h~ g of the call, such as ~y."-nq~ it to a curtesy a~n~ e-~ ~ rather than to n actual in~ cA
2S Aca~ ;oA endty. Another type of such al~or~ handling is to place the call un anothc~ one of thc queue~ for that desdnadon endty. For an alternately hg~ulleA call, NCP 119 se~ to call data l,.occssor 123 an c-t~ ~d~A call record (Table 2) that conta~ u- iulicui~ of the queuc-overflow, in ~nce with an aspect of thc invendo~ ~e ba~c call record ~ ble 1) which u i~~ A ~ p rt of such an 30 e~ d call ~c~d, contsin~ in its TREA'r_ID field a value i~d;~P~; ~g the altc~n~tc hon~ling that is p~.idci for that same c 11.

Blac~ uL~a Jcrdan-PCa1ih-Shcr~y-Smi~m-Tacn~in-Wang-Wi~inson 1-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 , TABLE 4 - Queued Call Rccord (QCR) DLAL 10 Dialed N~ be. Idc~ c~ - In(~ t of caller-dialed digi~
S CALL_ORIG Call Origin - Rc L~lion in/~ Qr or caller's ANI.
Q_ID Qucuc TAC~ , - Idcndty of thc queue on which thc call has been placed.
NUM_INQ Numbcr of Calls in Queuc - N~b~ of calls ~ul~r,~
waidng in dlis qucue.
CALL_ID Call Tdcn~ r - Transacdon ~.. h~ of d~is calL
lS TABLE S - Dc~lucuod Call Record (DQCR) TREAT_~ T~ n~ r~ - Roudng t~lcphnQc ~ , codc for t u~)ut~l ~iclKis;~ (in~ g callcr-~h~A~ or dD~e-out), or ~nnn~-Q~ ."~ r CALL_ID Call TClc~ r - Tl~ 9C!;O-~ n~ of this calL
Qll) Qucuc T l~ - Idcndty of thc qucue f~om which thc call has becn lCu~

If NCP 119 p~ ,b that thc call can bc complctcd to a loc~;o~ of the - ~Ic~;Q~l;nQ cndty, but thc IXC nctworlc 113 is unablc to complcte the call to that locadon, the IXC networlc scnds a ~ cag~ so indicadng baclc to NCP 119. In rcsponsc to thc .~ from IXC nctwarlc 113, NCP 119 sends a failed call record 30 d~ to call data ~ ccss~r 123, in accordancc with an aspect of the ~ ,n~on.
Table 6 sho~ thc ficlds that malcc up a failed call rccord and an e~planadon of the typc~ d ~aluc~ that can bc storcd in thosc Selds. The pu.~sc of the failed call record h 110 I ~ tinfo~ ;n~ about thc accuracy of the pre~irtir~n~ made by NCP
119, in ~nce witb an aspcct of the invcndon.
3S It is possiblc that NCP 119 supplics to IXC n~,t~ 113 more than onc potcr.l;~l loc~tirJn for any pardcular dc~l;nA~ cndty to which thc call might becon~ple~ If IXC n~tw~ 113 could not route thc call to thc first svpF~
nql) l~cq~ion, it ~ m~ls to route thc call to onc of thc othcr sopplieA
(subs~~ n~) loc?ti~ns Each timc a subsc~lue~ locadon is att~npted, IXC n~twol~
113 ~ncmitS a m~scag~ so indir~ting to NCP 119. In n ;~n~, to each such mPsC,ag~ NCP 119 fills a basic call record inrlir~ting .~don in thc CALL ORIG

CA 02101127 1999-03-1~

field and supplies the record directly to call data processor 123, in accordance with an aspect of the invention. The purpose of having multiple records is to report information about all the attempts by IXC network 113 to complete the call, in accordance with the principles of the invention.

TABLE 6 - Failed Call Record (FAIL_CR) BASIC_CR Basic Call Record - As defined previously in Table 1.
FAIL_ID Failure Identifier - An indicator of the cause or type of failure.
Q_ID Queue Identifier - Identity of the queue, if any, that the call left when routed.
SEQ_ID Sequence Identifier - Identity of the particular sequence of alternatives, if any, that was used to route the call (i.e., the last in a series of possible sequences).
The foregoing illustrates how call data processor 123 receives information about15 individual telephone calls. Call data processor 123 does not, however, transmit the information to the tlestin~tion entities exactly as received. Rather, in accordance with an aspect of the invention, call data processor 123 performs additional functions of tr~n.~l ~ting, filtering and forn~tting the information. The purpose of tr~n~l~ting is to ensure that individual elements of information, as transmitted, are intelligible to the destination entity.
For example, IXC network 113 may employ an internal or proprietary scheme for representing dialed telephone numbers or routing telephone numbers. If such numbers appear in the received call records, then call data processor 123 must translate them into external or nonproprietary numbers that the destination entities will recognize. The purpose of filtering is to select information that the individual destination entities have requested to be transmitted, and to discard any received information not so requested. An example is that a destination entity might have specified, as an option, that it wishes to have transmitted information about failed or redirected calls, but not about other calls. The purpose of forrn~tting is to present the transmitted information in a desired arrangement.
It is noted that the transmitting of the information is "independent" of the 30 call attempts for which the information is collected. By "independent" it is meant that there is no fixed timing relationship between the call attempts and the Blaclc-F~man-J~xdan-Kdsh-She ry-smilan-Tamlcin-wang-~lll~nsoQ 1-~1-1-1-1-1-1-1 - 21011~
~W_ trans~ of thc co1lectrA info.. ~ n and that the cc~ .. r~.. ,t;n.~ is dcl;~c~ over a cc ~ n~ ~ication path dirr~ nl from the con~ ;n~ paths of thc call attempt~ for which inrO~ is I~CC;~o~
Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and the f~,.,g~,ng des~,;plion illn~te the S ilLfo.~ / that call data p,occssor 123 l~CC;~5 about individual t~kpkol-c calls Tablcs 7, 8, 9, 10, sup~a, are CAC~ 1arY outputs developed by call data p,~css~r123. l~es~ hereinbelow are the ~ esses by which call data p,~css~r 123 dc~clopi the outputs that it l~ n:ls to ~s~;n~;o-~ enddes 103, lOS, 107 and 109. It is noted that a) the nccesc~ ~ t~nsl~;ons are pc. rv~ cd l)~do ~ by p,occss~,s 10 shown in FIGs. 3, S, 7, 9, 9A, 10, 11, llA and 12, b) the necessary filt~ing iS
pc r.,....~ ,~c~ by p,~cesscs shown in ~IGs 2, 4, 6, 8 and 13, and c) the n~;c5~ fo~natting is pc- fo~ i p~do~ ntly by the process shown in ~:IG 8.
rnr~ ;OI- n~-~5fc ~ for the tra;nslation 1~ A is providcd to call data p~Jccss~Dl 123 by support system 12S, ~ C~ 5~d witb NCP 117, and ~..~.~, lS system 127, associated with NCP 119. Eacb ;...pp~l system se~cs a~ a gat ~ ~ to its l~pc~e NCP. An adjunct p.oc~ssing system, such u call data proccssor 123, that wishes to send data to an NCP, should do so via a s ~r~, l system. Such a ~.:."..~n~ ig desirable to p~otect the NCPs in ~ nctwori f~om u._.loa~s or int.... ..~sions that might interferc with tbcir ~tCCS~ of ~lGpho ~ calls.
FIG. 2 sbows a flow chart of an ~A.,".~lary l~lwcss by which call data ~n~ccss~r 123 .~cc;~cs ins~ n~, i.c., the options desired, f~om a deslinalion entiq as to how it sbould present call information to that ~s~ ;o~ cndty. Call data p.occsso~ 123 and tbc ~ ;n~l;o~ cnddes co~n n ~nicate by eY~ h~ng~ng m~ssag~s in a p~ Snc~ fo~mat. Dc.~lo~ n~ and use of a .~s~gc folmat is well known in the 2S art. The p.~c~ is entered in stcp 201, when one of the ~C~I;ns~;n~ endtics under~es to specify the format in which it should receive call info~
In stcp 203, call data p~ccssor 123 ~~ s ~om the desdnadon entity at lc~ a~# o~ thc oG1Cph~ ~ s that a caller must dial in order to reach that des~ cn~ty. It also l~C~cs a spc;~fi~s~;oA of thc opdons that the ~Cs~instion 30 endty wisha to cmploy for icpolling in~fonnatdon cr~ g calls placed to each such lOCC;~ t~lcph~nc n~n~r. The optdons in~ 3~c which rccords call data pl~ccss~r 123 should present and how to format those records that are p.cse~
Call data p.occ~r 123 can idcntify each ~ ;n~l;on endty by thc point at which the ~es~instion cndty ~ccesscs call data p~ocess~r 123. Th~ f~l." cach ~Ic~l;n~l;on 35 entity can bc limitcd to modifying the options for only thosc dialed ~~v .~ which arc ~sigr~ to it. In step 205, call data plocessor 123 tr~n~l~tcs thc options rcccived from each de~l;n~;on cntity into data flags suitalble for su~ atC~S 125 (FIG. 1) Blacl~-F~eman-Jortan-Kaish-Shc~y-Smilan-Tamlcin-Wang-WIll~son 1 -3- 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 21011~ 7 and 127 as wcll as for call data filtcr 121. Th~ , the p ocess is e~ited via stcp 207.
FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of an e~ proccs5 ~,- fo~ d by call data p~C5501 123 to obtain particular i--fo~ it ~ ,5 from support s~ it~,~s S 12S and 127. Support s~jt,~ 12S and 127 ~ceep timely the i..fo....~ that they malce available to call data ~ocessor 123. Thc proce~ is ente~ed, via step 301, at a srh~~ ~ timc, e.g., 8:00 p.m. cach c~ening. Such entry may be triggered by call data p,~essor 123 rcceiving an in~al timing ~bL~u~
In step 303, call data p.~e~s~r 123 sends to s.~ systems 12S and 10 127 both a) thc dialed ~ , and b) their associated data flags. Thc data flagswerc d~ lo~d, ~om thc d~ entdty ~"~,li~A opti~ by the process shown in ~;IG. 2. ~ step 30S, call data p~Jcess~ 123 gcts fhm S~ l ~st~s 12S and 127 1) dialed ~vQ~l~r tr~n~lqtinn~, 2) altcrnatc sc~v ncc translations, 3) qucucn ~- rl~fion~, ant 4) lc~;o-~ transladon~
lS Trsnclstions are ~al~p;~s from thc in~ n91 reprcs ntsti~n used by anNCP into a Ieprcse~ fi~ ~ndaUe-by thc destinrdon en~iti~s Dialcd ~v ~
t~A ~ arc a m~rpino f~om a dialet l~ ~. idc-q~;fi-~ into thc c~ ;ng . ~ ~r dialed by thc caller, which is co .l ~h~ 2e by thc de~ ;o~ entity. A
dialed n ~ icle~.l;fi.~r may bc dthcr thc same .~ h.~ as thc ..~c~ dialed by the20 caLcr at t~ ~ o~t station 101 or a I~A~ A~ that is ~ fir~lly created for usc in thc CCS nctwo~ 115. Such a Isansla~d L.~b~ might bc 7~Cc;fi~lly created wherc, for e~camplc, thc caller a~ ~kphonc station 101 is locatct in a forcign COu~
that docs not cmploy thc Nonh Amcrican N~ Plan (NANP~ for t~lcphone linc . - ~ An alternatc sc~ rc translation is a rnapping f om a L~bcr that 25 ic~ t;~rs a particular ;.~ nG in thc NCP 119 that spc~;fi~ how NC~ 119 should implemrn~ a y~ g- altcrnatc sGq-,cn~e to a label co~ d;n~g to the same inforTnadon that is co~.~hcns~blc by thc dcstination cntity. A qucuc tr~nCl~tion is a mappi~ ~m a ~ that id~ s a particular queuc in thc NCP 119 to a label for tbo ql~euc that i~ cG".~ ,hc~siblc by thc ~ n~ n cndty. A locstir~ ~ trgncl9~ion 30 is a mapping ~om a routing Icl~ho~ ~r to a labcl for thc .." nbr~ that isco-up.~ hc~siblc by thc Aci ~;n v;~n cndty. Somc or all. of thc t~q~ q~ t~fo~ "~;on that is cGu.p~hcnsiblc by thc ~,~ I;on entity rnay bc h thc fo~m of ..~n~ ~oni~SA ~-p~ l system is loaded with thc translation iAf.,~ o~ by pc.~ cl of dther thc ~cs~;nq~;o~ entities or the IXC The ~ppO.l ~st~s, in tum, 35 make the il~....~ti~n available to thc NCPs and, in stcp 30S, to call data p.ocesso~
123. Ncxt, in step 307, call data ploccssor 123 suppli~s the data flags and the just ob~vin~ dialed ~n~ identifiers to call data filta 121. The~art~, thc proccss Blsclc-Freeman-Jo tan-Kaish-She~r-Smilan-Tamldn-Wang-Wil~nson 1-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 exits ~rh stcp 309.
FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of an e~ s-~ l~s~ by which a call data filter, ~ch a~ caU data filter 121, co~ information from CCS netwQdc llS and builds basic call recort~ (Table 1) to send to call data processor 123. The process u S entered, in step 401, when a call data filter detec~ a CCS ,~ g~!, bound for its associated NCP. The~r ~, in step 403, the ~t~ct~ sag~ is copied into call data filter 121, and in step 405 call data filter 121 builds a call record by ~.~n re~ ,g info~ st;Qn from the "~Scage into co ~~,ponA g fields of thc call record.
Next, conAihnn~sl branch point 407 tests to ~t tX . ~ G if the call record is 10 co-.~ t~, i.e., has the call data filter received the final CCS .~-css~, fQr the call. If the test result in step 407 u NO, a~Aihonsl information is l~ul.~l to complete the call record. The adAihons~ inft~ s~;nn is a~railable, if no en~ occur, i~om ~sequcnt CCS ~gQg~ Tli~fu~, control retum- to s,tep 403. If, ho. ~._., the result in step 407 is YES, control passes to step 409.
CQnA:l:o~nl b~ch point 409 te ts to d~ ~-- ne if the dialet ~
U~q~;fi~"~ DIAL_ID, of the CCS .- ~ is listet in call data filter 121. As noted,dialed ~ idr~ - ;, werc p..,~o~ su~ Al to call data filter 121 by call data p~ccssor 123 in step 307 of the y~6~ shown in FI~. 3. If listcd, they in-l;~ , that thc dialet t~ pho-~e ...~ hcr c~ g t~o the dialet ~ bcr idr~l;r~ may be 20 one about which one or more destination entities w. nts to receive i~-f - ---A ion, as ~1< t~ d in step 203 of the pNXCSS shown in FIG. 2. If the test result in step 409 is YES, control passes to con~ branch point 411, which tests to ~l<te~ ;ne if the ~g~91 ~ pl data flag cc"-~ g to th~e dialed . ..~ ~ t;r t of thc CCS ~ s~ ~g ~- is set. The Qe~ ' of the t. ta flags rep~esent the options selected by 2S the ~s~ ;o~ entity . s to the types of i~f~ n it wishes to recd~e about its calls. For example, a setting of a par~icular one of the data flags may mean that the destinad~ end~y ~hes to receive information only for .~,~t~d calls, not for origin~} c ll ~ The data flag is set or cleared in the most recent ~ for the cum~ DI~ of step 30 7 of the p,~cess shown in FIC. 3. If the test result in 30 step 411 ~ YES, control passcs to step 413, in which the completed call record is sent to call data p-Qcc5sO 123. The p~cess is then exited ~ria step 415. If the test result in step 409 is NO, or the test result in step 411 is NO, control passes to step 417, in which call data filter 121 drops the call record. The p.ocess then exits in stcp 413.
FIG. S shows a flow chart of an c~ pl~ ~ process ~-ro.. ~d indc~cnd&ntl~r by each of Su~ l S~r~ 125 and 127. nle p..ce es shown is p~r,....~1, essent~ y~ bc~cen the operations shown in steps 303 and 30S of the Bla~ Freeman-Jordan-Kaish-Sh~~y-Smilan-Taml~n-Wan~-W~ 1-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 - :~il)1127 . . .
- ~0~ SbO~I iQ FIG. 3. When either support system 12S or 127 ~ C5 dialed .. ~d d~a flags ~m call data p.~css~r 123, thc ~.lp~.L system so ~cc~,.)g ente~ thc l..~c~s in step SOl.
L~ step S03, the Supp~i l system ~ce;~c5 a batch of dialed n~k~ and S their ~c~ data flags f~om call data ~..xcss~r 123. I~l step SOS, the support system trandates thc dialed n~ into dialed ~ h~ ide~t;~";" DIAL_ID.
Again, a dialed n~bcr and its co~s~nd;-~g dialed n~ con~ t~ a dialed n yn~ tr~n~ls~ion As noted above, thc dialed ~ is the n,~mbc, actually dialed by the C~ at t~l~pho~c stadon 101 and the dialed n~ id~ -- is 10 either the samc r.u,ll~r as the dialed n U ~ or it is a tran lated n nb~,~ that is created for usc in the CCS n~ llS. In step S07, the ~ system ~ic._s the routing ~ o~e u.~.s which NCPs 117 or 119 may use when ~outing calls for the cG~ ~n~ 5 dialed nu.~,bc~r idc~ ant whicb may appear in ~e TREAT ID field of a call rccord ~ables 1 and S). The ~ppO.l system also l~h;~_ lS a label value for each Icl~pht~nc call, which is stored in thc TREAT_LABL fidd, for each roudng t~l~h~nc nu~. Tbc label and c?.~n~:~\d routing ~ phn~lC
....nh~- togethermalce up a 1~AI;O~ translation.
Ne~, CQ~ ;Oncl b~anch point S09 tests ~ .i~ ne if a call data filter is being used for this dialcd . ~ e~ . If the test result in step S09 is YES, 20 control passes to step Sll. In step Sll, the s,,,~ ~ sends tbc ~ct~ nr~
~1cJ~ l;nn cntity location t~s~ ,s-tiQn~, as well as tbeir co,.~n~ g dialed n~
tr~nC'~ti~n~ baclc to caU data p,occssor 123. Th~, tbe p,~ess exits via step S13.
If the test result in stcp 509 is NO, ie., a caU data filter is not in use, 25 control passes to step 515, in whicb tbe ~up~l system sends dialed number dC~ " and tbcir c~ on~ling data flags to NCP 119. Next, in step 517, tbe S~pp~n~ s~tem SCDdS ~l~gt~ SC~1-J~ C i~le-~ltifi.,.~ and labels, as well s queueidenti~ ~d la~el~, to call data pnocess~ 123. Cont~l is then l~n~f", .~d tO StCpSl 1, and the ~JCcss cor~1;n~s as described above.
FIG. 6 shows a aow chart of an eA~.,.plary ~es5 by which . n NCP, such as NCP 119, c~ fv~ ;u~ om CCS networic 11S and builds call data ~co~s to send to call data p~cess~r 123. The p,occss is ente~d, in step 601 whcnNCP 119 ~e;~/cs a mescage from CCS nctwûll~, 1 lS to begin p~5s;~g a ncw calL
Cc!n~ on~l b~anch point 602 tests to ~t~ nc if thc dialcd nu~c~
35 ~ nl;L,r, DIAL ID, of thc call bcing p~occs~ is listed in NCP 119. As noted, dialed n~ ~r idcntifi~s wcrc previously supplied to NCP 119 by support system 127. If the tcst rcsult in step 602 is NO, control passcs to stcp 613, via which thc Blaclc-F~Jordan-Kaish-Sheny-Smilan-Tamlci~-Wang-Willdnsoo 1-~ 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 ...~
- proce~ i~ e~cited. ~ thc test result in stcp 602 is YES. control p~scs to c branch point 603, which tcsts to dc t~ C if the ~l~rm~ qucue data flag co~res~ g to thc dialed n~ iclenl;~ of the caU being p~css~ is set. The setting of the flag in~ira~ns ~ h~lh~ a ~lc l;n~ n endty rcquestcd that inr~ bc S ~ to it about queued caUs and calls for which NCP 119 cvaluaus a 5cq~ rc of ~lt~ms~e locadon!- for compledng the caU. Thc flag is sct in thc mostrecent ;t.".~t;oA of step SlS of the process shown in FIG. S. If the test result in stcp 603 is NO, control passes to step 621, in which NCP 119 builds and sends an e t"--dcd caU record for thc caU to call data ~occss~ 123. The process thcn exits 10 via step 613.
If the test result in stcp 603 is YES, control passcs to co~ n91 branch point 604, which tcsts to ~t~ c if, as a rcsult of thc roudng plan stored for thc de~ ;o~ endty for which the caU is bound, NCP 119 should place the call in a queue. If the test result in stcp 604 is YES, control passcs to step 60S, in which a lS queued call record is sent to call data p~xess~ 123. Ne~, in step 607, in responsc to a ~i-----l--~ such as a) a timc limit e~p;~s, b) thc NCP p.~ s that a loca~ion is now available to which it can completc the caLl, or c) the callcr at ~c~h~ r station 101 hangs up, ~h~~b, abardonin~ thc caL~. the call i~ f~om the queue. In step 609, N~P 119 sends a ~k~u~.~od call rccord, corres~ e to the queued call 20 reco~, to call data p,~ccsso~ 123.
Co~ o~ql branch point 611 then tests to ~h..~ C if a FAIL ~ &g' is recdved &om IXC networic 113 within a ~ ~ period of time. A FAlL
~S~g!, would be ,~t~ ~ by IXC networlc 113 if it is unable to complete the ~C~11J~ caL~ If the test result in step 611 is NO, ie. the call was s~,cccs~r~llly 25 completed, the p~ss is exited via step 613. If the test result in step 611 is YES, control passes to step 61S, in which NCP 119 au~!l;C'5 a failed call record to call data proces~ 123. Ihe p~ ss is then exited via step 613.
~ the test result in step 604 is NO, i.e., the call may not be queued, co~ditio~l b~ch p~t 617 tests to ~ if there c~cists more than onc possible 30 locad~ to wbich the call may be completed. To do so, NCP 119 evaluates the possiblc ~ A~ to ~tte--- :nc if any arc availablc to route thc call to. If thc test result in step 617 is YES, control passes to stcp 619, in which NCP 119 sends an5~lteSrl~t~ til~n call record to call data pnxcss~r 123. Next, control passes toCon~litiQn~l branch point 611 and the plOCCS5 p ~CCC~Is as ~les~i~ abovc. If the test 35 result in step 617is NO, i.e., there was only a singlc loc~:o~ to which the call could have been co~lct~l, control passes to stcp 621, in which NCP 119 sends an c~c.-dc i call record for the call to call data ~ ccss~r 123. lhe ~l~C~5 then cxits Blac~-F~ce man-Jord~m-~aish-Sherry-Srnilq" Ta m ~il- W ang- Wi~ on 1-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 - 21~1127 ._ ~u ~tep 613.
FIG. 13 shows a flow chart of an cxemplary p.~ ccss by which cither call data filt~ 121 or NCP 119 generates call records for call~ in which thc NCP
p,~ce~ g the call s ~ppli~ to IXC nctworlc 113 a list of multiple"~lt~te, roudng5 n~ to which ~CC nct~ 113 should ~ttc~pt to complcte the call. I~C
nclwu.l~ 113 z~ t- to complete ~he call to the roudng ,.-~-n~.~ supplie~ in the order in which they are listed. Call data filtcr 121 enten the process in step 6Sl aftcr it scnds a call rccord to call data p.~ocess~r 123 in stcp 413 of the process shown in FIG. 4. Similarly, NCP 119 enters the process in stcp 651 after it sends a call record 10 to call data filter 123 in step 609 or 621 of the p~ccss shown in ~:IG. 6.
C4~ nl branch point 653 tens to ~k br~-~ e if thc CCS routing ~C5el~ "Q~9~ with the call record just sent CQ~ "~ muldple roudng ~
If the test result in stcp 653 is NO, i.e., only a single routing ~ wu ~-,ppli~,thc p.~ ccs~ exits via step 65S. If the test result in step 6S3 is YES, control passes to lS co.~ ncl branch point 6S4, which tests to ~ c if the data flag for r~l~c~calls cc~ on-~ g to thc dialed n~bcr idc~ r of the CCS .--~seage is set. The se~ing~ of the data flags represent the opdons se!~ by the ~s~i~C~:o~ endty as to the types of infonnadon it wishes to receive about its calls. For example, the setdng of the data flag for l_L~t~l calls for a desdnadon endty may mean that thc 20 ~lea~ ;O ~ endty wishes to receive info~madon for ledi~d caLts. Ihe data flag is set or clea~ed in the most recent itcradon for the cu~ent DLAL ID of step 307 of thc process shown in FIG. 3. If the test result in step 6S4 is NO, the process cxits via stcp 6S5. If the test result in step 6S4 is YES, a copy of the call record is saved in step 657. Ncxt, in stcp 659, a cloclc is set to the ~ -- amount of dme that thc 25 call rccord will be saved. Such a ...~.;...~J-.. P ~9~ of time is typically one minutc.
Thc cloclc is startod to count down the timc set. Control thcn passcs to stcp 661.
ConA;t;Ollal branch point 661 tcsts to ~ct~-.- ;nc if a CCS l~clion messa~ is ~~cd f~om IXC nctwo,l~ 113. ~cr~ of a l~lion n~ss~ge indicateJ that IXC nctworlt 113 could not complcte thc call to the routing ll.,~bcr to 30 which it ju~ attcmpted to co~nylet~ thc call and that, ~h~.cfo~, it is ~ p!;ng to complcte the call to the next routing ~ nb~r~ if any, on the list. If the tcst rcsult in step 661 is YES, control passes to step 663, in which a basic call rccord having a tiUn indicator storcd in its CALL ORIG ficld. Control then passes baclc to step 559.
If the test result in step 661 is NO, control passcs to con-~ branch point 6~7, which tests to rletc~nine if the time on thc cloc~ has e~i,e~ If thc tcst result in stcp 667 is NO, control passes back to stcp 661. If the tcst result in step 667 Blaclc-Freeman-Jardan Kaish-Sha~y-Smila~Tamlci~Wan~-Will~son 1-~1-1-1-1-1-1-1 ,..,~
u YES, control pa~ to stcp 669, in which the cloclc i~ St~y~ Control then pssse~ ~ step 671, and the saved call recort is ~o~ Thw~tw, the process e~uts ~ria step 65~.
The processes shown, in flow chart form, ~ FIGs. 7, 9, 10, 11 snd 12 all S ru co vo ~ly~ d~ c~ cou incalldatsplY)cessl~l 123 (E;IG.
1). Whcn~,~w a call record is ~~e;~l at call dsts p~xcss~x 123, each of the shown .)CCS~CS bC~Q~, sctive to proccss the ~cd~ call record.
~ ;IG. 7 shows a flow chart of an c ~ ,.occss, co, ~ lly ~.f~""cd by call data ~,occssor 123, for con;.hu,,~ir.~ trafSc ;~ records.
10 Table 7 shows the fields that malce up a trafSc summary record and the types of values that can be stored in those Selds. Açco~ , the process is entered in step- 701 (FIG. 7) when call data p,~ccss~r 123 is started. Thc ~ ccss shown restarts ~-,O~ lly. A typical period length is threc .~ In step 70S, a csll reco~d is r~xc;~l f~m dthcr N(~P 119 or call dats Sltcr 121. The call recor~ are ,.~pp~
lS from a) NCP 119 in steps 60S, 607, 609, 61S, 619 and 621 of the process shown in FIG. 6, b~ from call data filter 121 in step 413 of the proce~ shown in FIG. 4, and c) from dther NCP 119 or call data filter 121 in stcp 663 of thc p,~tcess shown in FIG.
13.
r4n-~;t;o~l branch point 707 tests to ~c~ c if the call record 20 ncc~ l in step 70S is a qucued call record (Tablc 4). If thc tcst result in step 707 is YES, control passes to step 709, in which thc qucued call record is saved. Queued call records are sa~ed only for a SE~fi~A timc. Thc time ~fi~ iS the ...~
time that it is e,~ that a callcr would remain on hold before t ...~;t~Al;ng a call.
An ,-~-"~ value of the s~;~r~ time is 30 .~:n it~s Th~r~ ~ control passes 2S baclc to step 70S.

Blaclc-F=n-Jordan-Kaish-She~y-Smilan-Tamlcin-Wa~qg-Will~in~ 1-~1-1-1-1-1-1-1 210il27 TABLE 7 - Traffic Summary Recort T_STA~ rlmc stamp - Chronol~drql intenral tbat tbc data co~rers.
5 DATA_PER Data Penod - Length of time that tbc dau covcrs.
DIAL_NUM Dialed Numb~ - Caller-dialed digits CQ~n~'' tO calls in this record (or s~o~ate if unavailable).
TREAT LABL T,c~ nl Label - Label forrouting t~lepho~c r....~l~,r, u~UOut~ ~ po~ihnn or t~ g Pnm~
~0 ORIG LABL Ongin Label - Rc~li.~lioa label or callcr's area codc or cou~ labeL
CALL_CNT Call Count - N~ of calls that had thc samc dialcd ~,r, ~I~A~ , and origin, for the chronological iat~l,al.
~S FAIL CNT Failure Count - Number of calls that (a) had thc samc dialed n~mkr~ h~t ...~t, and ongin, for thc cl~ lsl~
intcn~al, and (b) were routcd to a location p~li,t~ to be available but later found to bc unavailablc.

If thc test rcsult in stcp 707 is NO, control passes to step 711, in which call data ploecss~x 123 tcsts to ~ nC if thc ~ xl call record is a ~lequ~
call ~ecord (Tablc S). If thc test rcsult in stcp 711 is YES, control passes to 25 CQ~ branch point 713, which tests to d~ te-~ G if thcrc can bc found a queued call rocord that has thc same CALL ID as the ~<~lu~ .~1 call record. If the test result in step 713 i~ NO, control passcs to step 71S, in which the dcq~le~lcA call record is d~pp~ Ihe~r, control passes baclc to step 70S. If the test result in step 713 isYES, Lo., there is a queued call record that has the samc CALL ID as the dcqu~ u~
30 call recard, control passes to step 717. If thc test result in stcp 711 is NO, inAit'~tirlg that the received call record in step 705 is neithcr a queued call record nor a dc.lu~ucd call record, control passes to step 717 di.~;~.
In step 717, the value of the s~ e DIAL ID field of the l~CC;~ call record is ~n~l~t~ to its equivalent sl~cc;~ DIAL NUM, and in step 719, call data3S ~ccss~r 123 tr~nCl~tes TREAT ID to TREAT LABL These steps are based on the dialed ~ tr~nsl~tione and ~ on tranel~ ne that call data p,occ~sor 123 received in step 305 of the plocess shown in FIG. 3. Next, in step 72Q call data Blaclc-F~eeman-Jordan-Raish-She~y-Smilan-Tamldn-W~g-Wilkinson 1-3-1-1-1-1-I-1-1 S~101~27 ymc~ 123 t~anslatcs CALL_ORIG to ORIG_LABL. lhis step is n~c~cc~ ~ if, far cxample, the call ~ nsS~ outside the Nor~ ~ ;c~ N~ ng Plan and the ylo~ y code used by IXC nct~.J.l~ 113 to indicate the CO~~ of ongin mus~ be ll~nCl;~t~ to a non-y~u~J~iclary ~esigrs~inn for that CO~ t~. Next, c4~ ;n~ branch 5 point 721 tests to ~lc~ nc if there is a tra~c s - . - -~ record that already exists for the current penod that hu the same DIAL NUM, TREAT LABL and ORIG_LABL as the call record being p . ce ~s~d If the test result in step 721 is NO, control passes to step 723, in which a traffic summary record is created having the same values for DIAL_NUM, TREAT_LABL and ORIG_LABL as the call record 10 being p.~lccssl~ The FAIL CNT and CALL CNT fields of the new traffic a ~ record are set to zero. Control then passes to step 72S. If the test result in stcp 721 is NO, control passes to step 72S &~
~ ,'onA;I;n~cl branch poin~ 72S tests to dGbe :i~e if the call record being pn~cesse~l is a failed call record. If the test result in step 72S is YES, control passes 15 to step 727, in which the FAIL_CNT field of the traffic summary record is inc~e -~ ~t~ Control then passes to step 731. If the te~t result in step 72S is NO, i.e., the current call rccord is not a failed call rccard, control passes to step 729 in which the value of the CALL CNT field of the tr~ffic summary record is inc.~ ~ Control then passes to step 731.
CC~ oncl branch pûint 731 tests to ~et~ . ~e if the current penod has e.~l...~ If the test result in stcp 731 is NO, control passes baclc to step 705. If thc test result in step 731 is YES, control passes to step 733 in wbich access to thc traffic s ~ records d~ lo~cd for the i~ y ~.~ccd; ~g period is made available to a messag~ ~ihll~ p.~lccss in caU data ~ cess~x 123. Such a process is shown 2S in FIG. 8 and descnbed heseinbelow. Ihc~t~, control passes baclc to step 705.FIGa 9 and 9A, when cQnn~ct~ , show a flow chart of an c~ P~ ~ , c~t;n~ ly ~ fo ~d by caU data p.occss~r 123 (FIG. 1), for co~trucdn~ sequence ~ record~ Tbe sc~l~.< ~rG s- - ~ rcco~ shown and de~et in Tablc 8, are con~l"..,t d using the altemate l~c o ~ io ~ call record shown 30 in Table 3 and the failed caU record shown in Table 6. The l,.u.,css is cntered in step 901 (FIG. 9) when call data p~ccs5lx 123 is started. The pn~cess shown restarts peri~icslly. Again, thc typical pedod is threc ~ 5 In step 90S, a call record is ~ce;~xl from NCP 119. The call records are supplied from NCP 119 in steps 619 and 61S of ~IG. 6. ~onf1;l;on~l branch 35 point 907 tests to ~ t~ nc if the call record l~ce;~,d in stcp 90S is an alternate loc~-;on call record or a failed call rccord. If thc tcst rcsult in stcp 907 is NO, control passes bac~ to step 905. If the tcst result in step 9~7 is YES, control passcs to step Blac~ xo~lLn-Jordan-ECaiih-Sh~tTy-S m Ubul~raD~bin- W ang- W~ cnn 1-3-1 1 1 1 1-1-1 .. .
- 909, hl vvhich call data ~,wcssor 123 translates ~e value of the SEQID ficld of the rocav~ call rocord into a value that can be sto~d in the SEQ LABL field of dle sequa~ =y rcco~ Ihe ~ g for d~ transladon was ~.~,.;o..sl~ d by S~ system 127, in step S17 of FIG. S. Control then passcs to step 911.

Blac~c-Freemaa-Jarda~ Sbc~Ty-Smilan-Taml~Wang~ nso~ 1-~'1-1-1-1-1-1-1 - 210112~

TABLE 8 - Sc~ c SummaIy Record T_ST~ Timc stamp - Ch.~r~l~gical interval that the data covcrs S DATA_PER Data Penod - Lcngth of timc that thc data covcrs.
SEQLABL Sc~l.lc~rc Labcl - Label that iclcnl;~cs a particular u~ ~c of ~lt~ e ta~ n~
NSEQATT Nu~ll~. of S~ ence~ Attcmptcd - For calls that had this ~ C-.CC as thc last onc, the a~r of s~ e~
attempted, on a~_.ag~" over the cL~nc'cgical int~aL
NLOC_ATT Nu~ of ~~~;o~ pt~-Porcallsthathadthis sc~u~ cc as thc last onc, thc n~cr of l~ nQ Al~e~.pt~
in all s~ue~ 5 attemptcd, on average, over the cl~ r~l intenral.
lS SEQTOT Scq.,~-~rc Tot. l - N~ of call~ in thc cb,. I~l~r9 intcrval for which this s ~ re was the last onc ~ t~
SEQLOC Sc~lucncc to Location - Subtotal of SEQTOT i~ g only thc calls actually ~outed to a l~-l:o~ in this Sl~u~. n"G~
SEQOVR Sc~lucn~c to o"c~nu~. - Subtotal of SEQTOT I~cluA;~
only thc calls routed to an o~erflow location not in thiis ~ r~
SEQANN Sc~u~ to ~nno ~ ~cc ~ - Subtot. l of SEQTOT ;~c~ g only the calls sent to . n A~no- nc~ bcc~ e aU the ~ ;on~ were .~.~.,t~;l to be unavailable.
2S SEQUNRTE SC~ nrC Ul~u~,d - Subtotal of SEQTOT inrl~ g only the calls not routed to any location nor sent to an ann~v~
SEQFA~ SC~Uen~C Failures - Number of calls found. dunng the chono-logical interval, to have been routed to a locs~t;n-~ in this ~lu~ ~ce which, conl~u~ to ~e-~ Q, was unavailable.
CorlrlitionAl branch point 9l l tests to ~ G if a S~uC.lCC ;~ r 35 record exists that has the same value for its SEQLABL field for the current time period as thc ~Ancl~cl value. If the test result is NO, control passes to step 913, in Blaclc-Freeman-Jordan-Kaislt-Shc~Ty-Smilan-T~-Wang~ in~ 1-~1-1-1-1-1-1-1 .",.
which tb~ rc~ltut& translatcd SEQLABL field valuc from the caU rccord is placed in a no~ soqucDce su~ record for thc tilrtc penod. Ncxt, in stcp 913, aU thc ficld~ af th~ new soqucncc summuy record crcated in ~tcp 913, cxccpt thc T STAMP, DATA PER and SEQLABL ficlt~ arc ini~isl;7~ to zero. Control thcn S passcs to CQnf~ branch point 917. If thc tcst rcsult in StCp 91 1 iS YES, i.c., a sc~ . ccd summary record cxists that has thc samc valuc in its SEQ_LABL field asthc h~ d SEQID field of thc caU record for thc currcnt timc pcriod, control passcs di~~ to step 917.
Con~;tion9l branch point 917 tests to ~1~ te- - - - nc if thc just rcceived call10 record is a failed call record (Table 6). If thc test rcsult 917 is YES, control passes to step 919 in which thc SEQFAIL ficld of thc sc~ue~ce summar~r record is inc,c ~ t~ -~ Control thcn passcs to con l:l:o~nl branch point 921, which tests to c if thc current period has eYp~ If thc tcst nsult in stcp 921 is NO, control passcs baclc to stcp 90S. If thc test nsult in stcp 921 is YES, control passcs lS to stcp 925. In step 92S, all thc se~ c~lrc 5V " '~ ~ feCOrdS afC madc availablc by call data p~occss~ 123 to its .--~ g!, distnbutor proccss shown in FIG. 8 and ~e~d h~bclow. t',nn~l then passcs baclc to stcp 9û5.
If thc test result in step 917 is NO, i.c., thc just ,~ ~ call record is an 91~e na~ call record (Tablc 3), control passe~ to stcp 927, in which 20 NSEQAIT is sct cqual to NSEQAIT+SEQCNT, NLOC_AlT is sct equal to NLOC_AIT+LOC_CNT and SEQTOT is ir..,~cnted. Dunng thc period, NSEQATT acc~ ~19~ s the total ~ .-..h,~ of altanate 3~ lel~ c5 that NCP 119 usedto select routing ~ h";~ f0 caL~ NLOC ATT accumub~es thc total nulllbe~ of loc~ that NCP 119 cvaluated f0 the calL The accumulated totals are con~~~d 2S to a pcr call h~ g~. at the end of the period. Sce step 813 of FIG. 8 descril~
hc~inbclow. Co~ branch point 929 tcsts to ~1~ t~ . .--;ne if the value stored in the TRE~T ID field u a routing t~l~h~ ~e ~ , i.e., was the call actually routed to a p~l~ telephone ~ ~. If the test result m step 929 is YES, cont~ol passes to condldonal branch point 931, which tests to ~t~ c if the value sto~ed in the 30 LOC_ID field ;~;r~s that NCP 119 has predicted that the loc~h~ to which ~he call was routed is available. If the test result in step 931is YES, control passes to step 933, in which the value of the SEQLOC field of the SC.luGr~e S~ AJ~ record is i~ l Control then passes to step 921 and the p~ccss p~.)cccds as ~les~i~ as abovc. If the test result in step 931is NO, control passes to step 935 in which SEQOVR is i~lc.~ ns,~d Again, control then pas~es to step 921 and the pi~ccss pn~ec~s as ~ ri~ above.

Bl~ Freeman-J~rdan-Kaish-Sher~y-Smila~Tam~n-Wa~g-W~ 1-~1-1-1-1-1-1-1 - 2~) 1127 ., .
If the test result in step 929 is NO, i.e., thc call wu not routed. control p~sc~ to c~nAitional branch point 937, which tests to d~ e if thc valuc stored in thc TR~AT_ID field i~ 5 th_t the caller w~ co~ne~t~:l to an A~.O....~ ~C~
facility. If the test rcsult in step 937 is YES, control passes to step 939, in which thc S v~luc of the SEQANN field of the sc~l~,cnl~e summary rccord is illc~
Control then passes to step 921 and thc process p.u~s a~ dcscnbcd above. If thc test rcsult in stcp 937 is NO, control passes to step 941, in which the value of the SEQUNRTE field is in~ cnt~ Control then passes to step 921 and the process plocccds as ~Ics~ bcA above.
~IG. 10 shows a flow chart of an c~c- ~ process for dcb~ ;ning how long a qucucd call ~ .-~ined in thc queuc. Thc pi~e~ is cntcrcd in step 1001, when call data ~l~essor 123 is startcd. The ~ wess dct ~.~ s thc lengdl of thc period betwccn l~cep~ of a queued call rcco~ (Tablc 4) and its co ~,~A l;r~
~lc~u~ e~l call record (Tablc S).
lS In stcp 1003 a call rccord is l~ ~ Ncxt, cQ~ r' branch point 1005 tcsts to ~ ":l-r if thc ~ ,~ call recard is a queucd call raard. If thc tcst rcsult in stcp 1005 is YES, control passcs to stcp 1007, in wbich a cloclc for thc caL~, i.c., a cloclc id~ lc by thc CALL Il) ficld of thc~ qucued call rccord, is started Control thcn passcs baclc to step 1001.
If the test result in step lOOS is NO, co~ b~nch point 1009 tests to dcte ~ nc if the Iwe;~ed call reeord is a d~ ,e~l~ eall record. If the test result in step 1009 is NO, control passes baelc to step 1003. If the test result in step 1009 is YES, cont~ol passes to step 1011.
onq~ branch point 1011 tests to d~te~:nG if there is a clock 2S running that is idc~ i by the CALL ~ field of the ~ u~lcd call reeord. If thetest result in step 1011 is YES, a variable, TIME_INQ, is ~c~ ~ with the e~ call recard and is set to the value of the cloelc ide~ l by the CALL_~
field of d~ ~ ~ eall record, in step 1013. Cont~ol then passes bae~ to step 1003. I~tbe test~esultin step 1011 is NO, eontrol passa bael~to step 1003 di~
FIG. 11 shows a flow chart of an ~ ~plary pl~CCSS, co~l:n~qlly pe-fo~ by call data l,.ocess~r 123 (~;IG. 1), for co~~ ing queue s ~
~co~s. The qucue ~ n~ ~ records, shown and IdefineA in Tablc 9, are cor.;.~- ct~d using all of the typcs of call records except for the basic call recor~ The p. Jcess is entered in step 1101 (FIG. 11) when call data p.ocess~r 123 is started. The plocess 35 shown restarts perio~ir~lly. Again, a typical period is three .. ;~- ,t,~ 5 BL~clc-Freeman-Jc~ She~y-Smilan-Tamlcin-Wang-W~ nson 1-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 21011~7 ..
Ill step 1 lOS, a call record is received from dther NCP 119 or call data filtcr 12I. NCP 119 ~,ppli~5 call records in steps 60S, 609, 61S, 619 and 621 of the ~cc~ shown in FIG. 6. Call data filter 121 S'~PF~ call records in step 413 of the process shown in FIG. 4.
S Next, CQnt~ nq1 branch point 1107 tests to .~ nr if the call record received in step 1 lOS is a basic call record (Table 1). If the test result in step 1107 is YES, control passes back to stcp 1 lOS. If the tcst result in step 1107 is NO, in step 1109, call data p.~csso~ 123 t~ n~g the Q_~ field of the call record to a c~~ onA;r.g QLABL value, which is a field in the queued summary record. The 10 l1A.~ iS pl~ ~ rO~ by using the queue tr~n~ nQ that call data p.~lce~ 123 roce;~o~ in step S17 of the process shown in FIG. S.
Ne~ct, co~ ;on~l branch point 1111 tests to ~hÇ~ c if for thc cuTrent period there exists a queued ~ n~2r~ record having the same valuc in its QLABL
ficlt as thc valuc of thc t~n~ A Qll) fielt. If thc tcst rcsult in step 1111 is YES, i~
lS contrt~l passes to stcp 1117. If thc test result in step 1111 is NO, control passcs to step 1113 in which call data proccss~ 123 creates, for thc current period, a newqucuc summary record that has thc value of thc ~ansl~d QD~ ficlt as its valuc ofQLABL Thw~sftw~, in stcp lllS, all thc statistlcal ficlds of thc new queue summ~ry record, QN OVR, QN IN, QN OUT, QN RTE, QN TIME, QN_ABAN, QN UNRTE, QN FAIL, QN HEID, Q% SERV, QT RTE, QT ONHOLD, QT ABAN, arc ;n;~ edtO _crD. Control thcn passcs tQStCP 1117.
~ n1 branch point 1117 test~ to ~t~ nc if thc 1V~ ca~
- recort is a failet call recard (Tablc 6). If thc test result in step 1117 is YES, control passes to step 1119, in which thc valuc of the QN FA~ statistical field of thc qucue 25 s-- ~---~ ~ record is i~ ~cntod. Control thcn passes tQ StCP 1121. If thc test result in StCP 1117 iS NO, control passes to cond;t;~ol branch point 1123, which tests to ~let~ ~ if thc ~ d call record is eithcr an e~ ~ (Table 2) or an q1ternqte (Tabl~ 3) loca~o~ call rccord. If thc tcst result in step 1123 is YES, control passes to step 1125, iD which thc ~alue of the QN OVR 5~ Dl Scld of thc queuc s" ~ q 30 rccord i~ ir v ~ted. Control then passes to step 1121.
If the test result in step 1123 is NO, control passcs to c4~ ;0~l branch point 1127, which tests to ~ct~ ;ne if the rcceived call record is a queucd callrecord (Table 4). If the test result in step 1127 is YES, control passcs to step 1130, in which the valuc of thc QN ~LD s~tictir~ql field of the queue s~ r~ is set 35 equal to NUM INQ of the queued call record. Also, the value of the QN IN
ct~qtictic~l field of the queue su'~.. ~r~ record is in,~ nt~d If the test result in step 1127 is NO, the received call record is a dequc~ed call record (Tablc 5). Control Blaclc-Frecman-Jo~a Kaish-Shc~Ty-Smilan-Tamldn-Wa~g-Wil~nsoQ 1-3-1-1-1-1-1~

.~
theref~~ passe~ to stcp 1129, in which thc value of statistical field QN_OUT is LG~ted and that of QN_HE~D is dc~ ~ Control thcn passes to step 1 131.
(~, n-l;l;m-~l branch point 1131 tests tO ~ e if thc valuc of S TlME_INQ for thc ~lc~..e~e;1 call record, which was c~ in step 1013 of thc pl~CCSS shown in FIG. 10, is less than a ~c b~ ; n~l acccptablc ~ ~ting time in thc queue, e.g., 30 s~Con~C. If the test result in step 1131 is YES, control passes to stcp 1133, in which the value of Q9~o_SERV statistical field of thc queue s ~ ...n~ record is il~ n~ Control then passcs to step 113S. If thc tcst rcsult in stcp 1131 is10 NO, control passcs to step 113S ~li.~;~.
C4nA;I;on~l branch point 113S tests to ~c~..- ;n~ if the valuc stored in the TREAT_II) Seld of the dc~lu<~,cA caU record is a ~kp~ to which the call can be routed. If thc tcst rcsult in step 113S is YES, control passcs to step 1136, in which thc valuc of thc QN_RTE statistical Seld of thc queuc summary record islS inc.~ d and the value of thc QT_RTE Seld is increased by thc valuc of the timcr ~ssc~ ~1 with thc ~C.~ C,A~ call record, TIME_INQ. Control then passcs to step 1121. If thc test result in step 113Sis NO, control passe~ to stcp 1137, which tests to A~ t if thc valuc stored in thc TREAT_II) field of thc A,~l"~ ~,cA call record indicates that the call timed out, i.e., the call c-c~<~A~. the ...~ time that an 20 NCP will allow a call to rcmain in the qucuc without bcing d.~p~ If thc test result in step 1137 i~ YES, control passc~ to step 1139, in which thc valuc of the QN TIME ~ r~l ficld of thc queuc summary rccord is i~c~nted. Con~ol thcn passcs to stcp 1121. If thc tcst rcsult in step 1137is NO, control passcs to step 1141.
Co--A~ n~l bn~ch point 1141 tcsts to ~l~r~ C if thc valuc of the TREAT ID field of thc d~-lue~l~ call rccord indicata that thc callcr a~r~ ~lone~ the caL~ If thctest~esultinstep 1141 isYES,thcvalucoftheQN ABANst~ti~t~
field of th~ qucue summary record is in .~ .~nted and thc valuc of thc QT ABAN
field ~ ~easod by thc value of the timcr associatcd with the ~4u~,.,cd call reco~d, TI~ INQ. Cont~ol then passcs ta step 1121. If the test result in stcp 1141 is NO, control passes to step 1143 in which thc valuc of thc QN UNRTE s~ r~l field of thc queuc summa~y record is in~ Control then passcs to stcp 1121.
C~ n~1 branch point 1121 tests to ~ c if thc current period has CAP;I~ If thc tcst result in step 1121 is NO, control passcs baclc to step 1105.
If the test result in step 1121 is YES, control passcs to step 1140, in which all of the queued summary records arc made available by call data p~ r 123 to its m~Ssa~ distributor l)r~ess shown in FIG. 8 and ~es~iW k.~einbcl.,~

Blaclc r~ Jordan~Kaish-Sheny-Smilpr Taml~in-Wa~g-Willci~son 1-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 - PIG. 12 shows a flow chart of an e~cemplary process CQ~;n clly pe.f~ A by call data ~ ccssor 123 (FIG. 1), for cor.~cl;c~, lost-calls, reoords. Thc lost-calls summary records, shown and dcfined in Tablc lQ arc cors~., ~ using all of the types of call roco~ lhe proce~ is entered in stcp 1201 S (FIG. 12) whcn call data p~s~. 123 is started. The p~ shown rcstar~
c~lly. Again, a typical period is threc . ~: ~ n~ ~ In step 1203, the call record is lOCCi~ from dther NCP 119 or call data filter 121. NCP 119 ~ 5 call records in step 60S, 609, 615, and 621 of the proccss shown in FIG. 6, as noted above. Call data filter 121 su~lirs call records in step 413 of the process shown in PIG. 4, again, 10 as noted above. NCP 119 and call data filter 123 also supply call records in step 663 of the l~,occss shown in FIG. 13.
Next, c~n~ anch point 1205 tests to ACt~U " Ae if the call record recehred in step 1203 is a queued call record (Table 4). ~ the test result in step 120S
is YES, control passes to step 1207, in which the qucued call reco~ saved. The 15 queued call records are saved only for ~cc~ d time. As noted, in CQ '~'<~-I;o ' with step 709 of FIG. 7, queued call reco~ arc sa~ed only f~ a ~ ~ timc. Thc time s~ A is the . -~ time that a caller woult ~emun on hold beforc t~-.--:no~
a calt. Again, an e~ lo ~ ~alue of the S~ fi~ ti~c is 30 .-. ~ ~t~s lhe.~te., control passes baelc to step 1203.
If the test result in step 120S is NO, eontrol passes to step 1209, in which caU data p~ess~r 123 tests to d~ & if the l~cc.~ eaU reeord is a dc~u~uc;l caU record (Table S). If the test result in step 1209 is YES, control passes to cQ~ cl braneh point 1211, whieh tests to d~ e if there ean be found a queued eaU reeord that has the same CALL ID as the d~u~ eaU ~eeo~ If the 2S test result in step 1211 is NO, eontrol passes to step 1213, in whieh the dc.l.le~l~ call reeord is d~ppo~ T~ft~r, eontrol passes bae~ to step 1203. If the test result instep 1211 is YES, ie., there is a queued eall reeoq~ that has the same CALL ID as the deguaod call recos~, eontrol passes to step 121S. If the test result in step 1209 is NO, i~dn~ that the reccived eall reeord in step 1203 is nd~er a queued call 30 ~cord n~ a ~ - ~ call record, control passes to step 121S di~.
Step 121S tests to ~lct~ ;ne if the r~ce;~od call record has a FAIL Il) field, i.e., is thc call record a failed call record (Table 6), or is the value of the TREAT II) field an in.l;~ .- that the call was un~ou~ If the test result in step1215 is NO, control passes to step 1213, in which the call record is ~l-~pcd.
35 The~altcr, control passes baclc to step 1203.

Blaclc Frocman-Jordan ~aish-She~y-Smilan-Tamlcin-Wang-Will~nson 1 -3- 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 21~112~
.,.
}f the tcst result in step 1215 is YES, contml passes to CC~ A1 branc~ point 1217, which tests to ~1r~ e if the valuc of thc call record's CALL_ORIG field is a tialablc ~ek~hone ~.,....h., ~ a~ g that thc l,~b~ is a that is valit to bc a t~ k~c line accQ~ to the North ~ iC'A~
S N~ g Plan, i.e., toa it cu.,~ d to a callable, ~ ;c ~ g ide~ rel;on (ANI) ~ . If ~e test result in step 1217 is NO, cont~ol passes to step 1213, in which thc call recort is J~u~ a~, control passes baclc to step 1203.
If the test result in step 1217 is YES, control passcs to step 1219 in 10 which the value of the spcc:~c DIAL ID field of thc l~ce.~ caU rccord is tr-A-n~ls~e~
to iu cqu~ivalent spc~;~c DIAL_NUM. Ne~ct, CQ.~ Al branch point 1221 tests to - ~ t~, .. inc if a lost-calls s~ record al~eady e~cits that has the samc value in its DIAL_NUM field as ~e value of the DIAL NUM ficld of the just received caU
rccord. If thc tcst rcsult in step 1221 is NO, control passcs to step 1223 whichlS creatcs a new lost-calls summa~y record and placcs in its DLAL NUM field the value of thc DIAL NUM field of thc l~;~cd caU record. Control thcn passes to stcp 1227. If thc test rcsult in step 1221 is YES, control passcs di~ to step 1227.
~,'Qn~ ongl branch point 1225 tcsts to ~t~ C if thc ANI in thc CALL_ORIG
Seld of the lUC~;~ call record is already listed in thc lost ANI list of the lost-calls 20 ~ record. If the test result in step 122S is NO, control passes to step 1227, in which the ANI from the CALL ORIG Seld of the ~ a eall rcco~ is ..l~n~c~l to the LOST_ANI list in the lost-caUs ~ record. If the test result in step 1225is YES, control passes to cond~ nsl branch point 1229 which tests to ~ ne if the current penûd has eApU~l. If the test result in step 1229is NO, control passes back 2S to step 1203. If the test result in step 1229 is YES, control passes to step 1231 in which access to the lost-calls s-~ A~ records is made available to a n~ssa~e distribut~x l,.oecs~ in eaU data p.~ccssor 123. Such a p~ccss is shown in FIG. 8 and dcscd~od ~in below. Th~ r, control passes baclc to step 1203.

Blac~ r.~ J~ sh-Sbe~y-S~Ta~-W~s-~
21011~27 -TABLE 9 - Queuc Summary Record T_ST~ r,mc stamp - Clh~ r~l in~.~ that thc data co~re~.
S DATA_PER Data Penod - Length of timc that thc data covers.
Q LABL Queue Label - Label that iAG ~ s a particular queuc.
QN_OVR Queuc O~ llu~ - N~ of caUs that could not be placed on this queuc in thc ~,h,orlcl~rsl intenal bccn~ thc qucuc was fuU.
10 QN_IN Queuc In - N~ of caUs that werc placed on this queuc in the Clh~. ~l~r91 intenaL
QN_OUT Qucue Out - N~k~ of calls that left this qucuc in thc cl~. r ~l~gical i~ aL
QN_RTE Routed from Queuc - Subtotal of QN OUT in- U~Ai~g only lS the caUs actually routed to a l~t;o~ on leaving thi~ queue.
QN_TIME Queuc rlmed Out - Subto~-s-l of QN_OUT i~ Ch~ g only thc calls tnat left the queue during the clh-~ological interval because a time-limit c ~
QN_ABAN Queuc Abandons - S~ Pl of QN_OUT ir. l., 1 ~g only the calls that left the queue during the chrDnological intcrval ~CD'~ the caller abardQn~
QN_UNRT~ Queue U~uv~t~l - Subtotal of QN_OUT i ~rlu~ g only thc calls not routed to any lc~tion, nor timed out, nor abandQn~
2S QN_PA~ Queue Failures - Nu-ll~ of calls ~at left this qucue and and were fouDd. dunng the chronological interval. to have been routed to a location which, co~t~ ~ to ~.3;~ , was unavailable.
QN HELD Held in Queuc - N~r of calls held in this queue at ~he end of the ch~r ~logical inter~ral.

Blac~-F~x~lan-Jonr~m-l~aish-Sherry-S mil~q Ta m ~in- W ang- Wil~in~n 1-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 - 2101i2'7 .,.
~ TABLE 9 - ~ cil Q9~_SERV Servicc Lcvcl in Qucuc - Thc pc.~cn~ of qucucd calls that left thc qucuc and werc routcd to a locadon ~nthin a S ~cc;~c~ timc (e.g., 30 secnnAs).
QT_RTE Qucued r~mc for Routed Calls - The h-._.. ~ timc ~ct ccn entering and e~citing this qucuc, for calls that exited during the chronological interval.
QT_ONHOLD Queued Timc for Calls on Hold - Thc h~ig~, time bct~.cen ent~ng this queuc and thc end of the chl~ lolcgi~ ~l interval, for calls thcn in thc queuc.
QT_ABAN Qucuet Time for Abantoned Calls - The ~e.~e timc ~t~ e~cn ente~ing thi~ qucuc and abar~ ng, for calls that abandoncd dunng thc clh. - ~logical inter~al.

TABLE 10 - Lost Calls Summa~y Rocord T STA~ Timestamp-CL. ol~ ic~ lthatthcdatacovers.
DATA PER Data Period - Length of time that thc data covers DIAL NUM Dialed N~ - Caller dialed digits co~ to caL~
in this ~cord (o~r surrogatc if unavailablc).
2S LOST ANI Lost Callcrs' ANI - A list of thc ANI~ for calls which, fo~ this dialed ~ ~r, werc ~.n~.~t~i, aba~
timcd out, or otherwise failed duling thc cl~
int~aL

F~G. 8 shows a flow chart of an ~Ac~ lary m~s~a8e ~lic~ribt~r l.~occss pc.r,llllod by call data ~.occsso~ 123 at the cQn~ o~ of a pcriod. The m~c~sgc Aictributl~r plUCCSS can tal~e no more timc to complcte it~ r ~ than thc lcngd of 35 onc pcriod. Acco~dingly, the pn~ccss is cntcrcd in stcp 801 at thc co~ of thc A; g pcriod of thc pl~ccss for conah~cling tra~c summary record~ shown in FIG. 7. In step 803, thc mcscage (~iaTibut~r ploccss~r gcts the next summary rccord from those that were gc.1cl~tcd in thc ~l~ce~ g pcnod after which thcy werc madc Blaclc-preeman-J~rdan-Kaish-she~ smi~ wang-w~on 1-3-l-l-l-l-l-l-l . . , availa~ ~ thc .- -~agc ~ ibut~ p.OCCS5. Thc p~Cl:S~ shown in FIGs 7, 9 and 9A, 11 ant llA, ant 12, c-~c t~ in call data plY~SSIX 123, generate summary callrecords ant malcc them available to the .nCsca~ s~ib~t~ ~ CCSS~l in steps 733, 92S, 1140 ant 1231, .cs~;~rely.
Co~J~ branch poin~ 805 test~ to ~t t~ C if the summary reco¢d is a queue summary record. If the test result in step 805 is YES, the s~;C~irs for the queue i~ d in the queue summary rccort are co---~ut~ cc~inely, in step 807, the ~.~e~ ge of queucd calls that left the queue and were routed to a loc~ i~n within the p.~d~te~ ;nc~ time is co-..~ d by dividing Q%_SERV, which has been 10 accllm~ n~ the n ~ be~ of calls so cQ-..~pkt~, by QN_OUT, which is the total ;c~ of calls that left the queue in any manner and multiplying by 100 to obtain a ,.t. The time waiting in queue, for routed calls from the particular queuc, Qr_RTE, is co-.~l?ut~ by di~nding the acc~mul~ted time c~,~ stored in the QT_RTE Seld by thc ~ of caL~ that wcre routcd from the queue, stored in the 15 QN_RTE field. The timc that aba ~ calls spent ~. ~t;ng in the par~cular queue, QT_ABAN, is t~d by ~ g the aeeumulatcd time cu"~ stored in the QT_ABAN field by the ~ ~ of ealls that were ahndoned, stored in the QN_ABAN field. Also, the average time a eall i~s held in the queue, for the p~.e~ ~e peAod, is CO~Up.J~ as the quotient of QT_ONHOLD, the sum of the 20 times of the lu~g eloeks, and QN HE~D, the .-----~ of ealls that were placed on hold. The l..n~g eloclcs are those eloeks that were started in step 1007 of the pl~CC5S shown in FIG. 10 and for whieh a A~c~ eu~ eaU reeord (Table 5) has not bcen received yet, so that the eloek time is stiU ll~Cl~,aS~ng Th~ .~t~r, eontrol passes to step 809.
If the test result in step 80S is NO, eont~ol passes to c~nAiti~n9l branch point 811, whieh tests to ~ct~ r if the summa~y reea~ is a sequenee su-.~
reco~ If the test re~lt in step 811 is YES, eontrol passes to step 813, in whieh the valu~ af thc NSEQATT field of the S~Uc~rb SU~/ reeord is set equal to NSEQ~lT/SEQTOT and the value of the NLOC ATI field is set equal to 30 NLOC_ATT/SEQTar in step 923. As Acfined in Table 8, these values rcp,ex~
the avcrage ç-~ , of se~.,cnccs that NCP 119 used to select a routing nul,lbc~ for calls ~ ccss~ during the i~ tely pl~Cc~ g pcriod and the a~ numbcr of s that NCP 119 evaluated for thosc samc caL~ Th~,~,~te~, control passes to step 809. If the test result in stcp 805 is NO, control passes to step 809 di~tl~.
In step 809, a countC~ variable, n, is initi~-1i7ctl to onc. Next, con~lition~l branch point 814 tests to dctc,ll~inc if thc n-th ~c;,~;n~ entiq is entitle~ to the infCi~ d~ ' in thc s~ y rccord. A dtjl;n~;o~ entity is cn~itl~ to a ~

Btaclc-F~eman-Jordan-~aish-ShelTy-Smilan l-m~-Wang-Will~nson 1-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 - 2 ~ 1 2 7 reco~ , f~ e~camplc, it coA~in~ infoQmadon about a dialed ~ for ~ hnn~, calls ro~d to the dcsdnadon endty or about a queue in which such calls wcre held.
If the te$t ren~lt in step 814 is NO, control passes to step 821, desr~A below. If the test result in step 814 is YES, control passes to step 81S.
S C4nd ~;on~l branch point 815 tcsts to ~l~t~ .. ;ne if thc n-th destination endty has r~quested, as an opdon, to reccive summary reco~s of a given type. Thesetting of such an opdon was dc tY . n~A in step 203 of the pl~ccss shown in FIG 2.
A dc,~ endty may, for example, set an opdon to receive traffic summary reco~, bu~ not to rccdve othcr types of summary roco~ If the test result in step10 81S is YES, control passes to step 817, in which the informadon from thc summary rccord is placcd into a m~s~ag~ to be sent to the n-th ~~ A cndq. The.lt~, in stcp 819, thc .-~ . s for each desdnadon endq arc sorted and alTanged a~c~rAing to the ~.~tt~, ,..;n~A cnteria ~u~plirA by that destination endty. Control then passes to stcp 821. If thc test result in step 81S is NO, control passes to stcp lS 821 di~
C~ ;OA~1 branch point 821 tests to A< !~ C if n is equal to thc valuc of thc last dcstinadon endty. If the test result in stcp 821 is NO, the valuc of n is h~c.~ ~ in stcp 823, and control passes baclc to stcp 814. If thc test result in step 821 is YES, control passcs to step 82S.
Co~ ;l;o~l branch point 825 tcsts to ~ c if thc curTent penod has CAP;~ If tbe tcst result in step 825 is NO, control passes baclc to stcp 803. If the test rcsult in 825 h Y~S, control passes to step 827, in which thc ,n~gc~ that were dc~clo~d in step 817 are sent to their ~ e~ D~;O~ entiti~s Th~,cdlt~, cont~ol passcs baclc to stcp 803.
2S Tablcs 11, 12 and 13 show c~ P ,~ screcns of jnf~"",A1;o~ that can be supplicd to desdnation enddcs by call data ~l~cssor 123. Such i,~....A~ion wouldbc displayed on a tcrminal of a ~lestin~tion endty, e.g., te- ,,..~Al 104 1 of c,,.~ A
103. Table 11 shows a display of scveral r-~ plD ~ traffic s- -n... -- ~ records (Table 7). Tabk 12 sho~n a display of several c~ ls ~ c~sc ~ r rccor~s 30 (Table 8~. Table 13 shows a display of sel~~ fields from scveral c~ queue s ~ s (Table 9).

B~lc-P're~a~-Jorda~.-Kaish-Sh~y-Smila~-T.4mlcin-W.~.g-Will~ 1-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 ~,.,,, ~
T.~bl.~ 11 I TRAFFIC DATA

S ku.r.~,. Jul 21, 1992 FAI~.J
klm~ DIA~. N"~ TRE.AT ~AP.L~ ORIG LADL. CAL.L. CNT CNT ¦

13:00 800-555-1111 NewYork 908 45 800-555-2222 .~h~ca~ 410 55 0 R~D 20 0 ¦ Annc-21 609 5 0 I ~b~ndo~ 215 3 0 lS I 609 2 Blaclc-Fr~eman-Jordan-~aish-Sh~y-Smila~Tamlcin-Wang-Will~nson 1-~1-1-1-1-1-1-1 X~li2~
~..

Tabl-- 12 ALTSRNAT13 SEQUENC~: DATA

5 ku~ Jul 21, 1992 Routed Unroutcd Avg Attempt-~ ¦

k~ SEQ SEQ SEQ SEQ SEQ_ SEQ_ SEQ_ NSEQ_ NLOC
h~lm LABL TOT LOC OVR FAIL AN~tUNRTE ATS AT~

13:00 Prl~ury 125 64 36 5 10 10 1.00 4.2q P~kUrl 227 125 75 2 20 5 2.00 11.5~
!3~c~ r2 120 74 26 0 10 10 2.30 6.7q ~3:03 Prl~ry 145 83 36 6 10 10 1.00 3.8 8a~ rl 220 125 70 2 ~8 5 1.90 9.80 ~ackur2 105 60 35 0 10 ~ 2.51 4.30 Blac~-F~lx~llm-Jcn~1Ln-~Caiih-Shcr~y-Srn~m-Tam~in-WaDg-W~ 1-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 Tabl- 13 ¦ QUEUE DATA (OV~R~L.. REPORT) 1.

kuo~ Jul 21, 1992 Q%J
~imc Q LABL QN IN QN OUT QN OVR QN FAI~ QN HELD QT RTE SERq ¦13:00 NewYork10000 9000 50 2 500 00:28 75%
10 ¦ Chlcago 20000 19050 150 0 750 00:3S 66%¦
¦ FtWorth 8000 7500 40 1 600 00:29 82%¦

¦13:03 NowYork11000 8500 33 1 450 00:29 82%¦
¦ Chicago 19000 20040 90 0 400 00:20 87%
15 ¦ FtWorth 7700 7300 30 3 800 00:41 71%¦

FIG. 14 shows, in ~ bloclc ~liagP~ form, an esenlpl~ry of call data ~ ccss~ 123 (FIG. 1), in acco ~ ~ with thc ~: n ~;l,lrs of thc i~cD~oD. Ccntral ~ C~C~;n~ unit (CPU) 1401 is CQ~ r~ to storagc 1403. which 20 storcs ~,.Y,~ ~ ns and data to calTy out thc ~s~s dcscribcd abo~c, and to bus140S. Bus 140S, in turn, co~n~t~ central p.~ cc;~g unit (CPU) 1401 to each of a plurality of co~ n~ intcrfaccs (COM) 1407-1 through 1407-N, which need not bc ide~ 1 Each of c~~-------~lr~l;o~ interfaccs (COM) 1407-1 through 1407-N
is capablc of intcrfacing with at lcast onc of a) tDCe~ l locatcd at a ~e;.~ ;o~
CDdq, b~ a call da~ filtcr, c) an NCP such as NCP 119 (FIG. 1) or d) a support syste~ r~ intcrfaccs arc wcll lcnown irl the arl.
The forcgoing merely illustratcs the pnncipks of thc .n~c ~t;o~ It will thus bc ap~;atod that thosc sldlled in thc art will be able to dcvisc various ~n~ which, ~lthough not e~rpliritly described or shown hcrein, e~b~ the 30 principles of thc in~c.~t on and arc thus within its spirit and scopc.

Claims (26)

1. A method for use in monitoring call attempts processed by the network of an interexchange carrier in which the switches of said network route said call attempts in response to received instructions, the method characterized by the steps of:
collecting, at a call data processor of said interexchange carrier, information relating to call attempts placed to at least one destination entity,said collecting being performed for each respective one of said call attempts prior to any routing of it by any of said switches; and periodically supplying to said destination entity information relating to call attempts placed to said at least one destination entity as it is collected without waiting for the termination of said call attempts, said supplying being independent of said call attempts for which said information is collected in said collecting step and said supplied information including at least a portion of said information collected to said collecting step.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said information collected in said collecting step includes information about call attempts for which none of said switches of said network of said interexchange carrier was ever able to route to a location of said destination entity prior to their termination.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the information supplied in said supplying step pertains to at least one call attempt that has not terminated.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said information collected in said collecting step includes information about a particular call attempt that is held in a queue in said network of said interexchange carrier prior to having any routing performed for it.

5. The invention as defined in claim 1 further including the step of:
collecting information relating to calls placed to said destination entity that were rerouted to at least one alternate location of said destination entitybecause said network of said interexchange carrier was unable to complete them to a first location to which they were initially routed and wherein said information supplied in said step of supplying also includes at least a portion of said information collected about said rerouted calls.

6. The invention as defined in claim 5 further including the step of:
collecting information relating to calls placed to said destination entity that were completed to a first location of said destination entity to which theywere routed and wherein said information supplied in said step of supplying also includes at least a portion of said information collected about said calls completed to the first location which they were routed.

7. The invention as defined in claim 6 further including the step of:
arranging information collected in each of said collecting steps into a predetermined format and it is said arranged information that is supplied in said step of supplying.

8. The invention as defined in claim 7 wherein said destination entity specifies at least a portion of the characteristics of said predetermined format.

9. The invention as defined in claim 8 wherein said information supplied is selected according to predetermined criteria specified at least in part by said destination entity.

10. A method for use in monitoring calls placed over a network of an interexchange carrier to destination entities, at least one of said destination entities having more than one location at which it can receive calls, the methodbeing of the type in which information is collected about said calls and portions of said information relating to calls destined for particular destination entities are made available to those destination entities in a specified format,the improvement characterized by:
collecting information for those calls terminated before the performance of any network control point routing by said network of said interexchange carrier, and receiving from each respective on of said destination entities a specification of the format for making its portion of said information available.

11. The invention as defined in claim 10 wherein each format specification specifies the types of information that is made available to the destination entity from which said specification is received.

12. The invention as defined in claim 10 wherein said format specification specifies the appearance, as displayed, of the information that ismade available to the destination entity from which said specification is received.

13. The invention as defined in clam 10 wherein said information collected about said calls further includes information for calls that were heldin a queue by said interexchange carrier prior to having any routing performed by said interexchange carrier.

14. The invention as defined in claim 10 wherein said information collected about said calls further includes information about calls that were rerouted to at least one alternate location of said destination entity because said network of said interexchange carrier was unable to complete them to a first location to which they were initially routed.

15. A method for use in monitoring telephone calls placed to a destination entity via a network, the method comprising the steps of:
collecting information particularly relating to the queuing of a call in a network control point (NCP) of said network, said call having been (i) placed to said destination entity and (ii) having been held in a queue in said NCP
prior to having any routing performed for said call; and supplying to said destination entity at least a portion of said information collected about said queued call.

16. A method for use in monitoring telephone calls placed to destination entity via a network of an interexchange carrier, the method comprising the steps of:
collecting information relating to a call placed to said destination entity, said call having been held in a queue in a network control point of saidnetwork, said collecting being prior to having any routing performed for said call; and supplying to said destination entity at least a portion of said information collected about said queued call.

17. A method for use by a call data processor to monitor telephone calls placed by callers to destination entities over a telephone network, said telephone network having an associated network control point, said network control point communicating with switches of said telephone network via the exchange of signaling messages of a predefined message set over a signaling network, the method comprising the steps of:
receiving information from said network control point about the treatment given to telephone calls placed over said telephone network to said destination entities, said information being undeterminable solely from any signaling messages suppliable to or from said network control point, or any combination thereof, without the use of data available only in said network control point; and supplying to said destination entities at least a portion of said information received from said network control point.

18. The invention as defined in claim 17 wherein said received information includes information about calls that are held in a queue prior to having any routing performed.

19. The invention as defined in claim 17 wherein said received information includes information relating to calls for which said network control point considered and rejected at least one location of said destination entity because it believed that an attempt to route a call to such a location would fail.

20. The invention as defined in claim 17 wherein said received information includes information relating to the alternate handling of calls placed to said destination entities because queues in said network control point, each associated with said destination entities and into which said calls to their associated destination entities were to be temporarily placed, were full at a time when said calls were to be placed therein.

21. The invention as defined in claim 18 wherein said received information includes information relating to calls that said network control point predicted could be completed to a particular location of said destination entity but said telephone network was unable to so complete said calls.

22. The invention as defined in claim 19 wherein said received information includes information relating to calls that said network control point predicted could be completed to a particular location of said destination entity but said telephone network was unable to so complete said calls.

23. A method for use in supplying information about the treatment afforded calls placed over a network, said network employing at least one network control point for use in routing said calls, the method including a stepof collecting information by a call data processor about said calls, the improvement characterized by:

in said collecting step information relating to the call treatment analysis of said network control point is collected.

24. The invention as defined in clam 23 further including the step of supplying said call treatment analysis information to at least one of said destination entities.

25. The invention as defined in claim 23 wherein said call treatment analysis information is collected by said call data processor directly from saidnetwork control point.

26. The invention as defined in claim 23 wherein said call treatment analysis information includes at least one of the following types of information: queue state information, alternate location sequence information, information concerning calls that were predicted by said network control points to be completable to a particular location but could not be so completed. 27. A method for use in monitoring call attempts processed by the network of an interexchange carrier in which the switches of said network route said call attempts in response to received instructions, the method characterized by the steps of:
collecting, at a call data processor of said interexchange carrier, information relating to call attempts placed to at least one destination entity prior to any routing of said call attempts by any of said switches; and periodically supplying to said destination entity, information relating to call attempts placed to said at least one destination entity as it is collected without waiting for the termination of said call attempts, said supplied information including at least a portion of said information collected in said collecting step and being formatted to convey in a single summary representation information about a plurality of said call attempts.