WO2002043407A2

WO2002043407A2 - Methods and system for customer management communications in a telecommunications network

Info

Publication number: WO2002043407A2
Application number: PCT/IB2001/002191
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kenneth Rains; John Verlinden; Jim Mills
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2000-11-21
Filing date: 2001-11-20
Publication date: 2002-05-30
Also published as: AU2002223933A1; WO2002043407A3

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of managing wireless customers. The method may include the step of placing flag codes in subscriber data for one or more customers at a first node. Afterplacing flag codes, the method may interrogate the first node to receive a first set of subscriber data for a first customer. Th e method may then receive a call request from the first customer.After receiving the call request, the method may determine if t he first set of subscriber data contains a first flag code. The method may then interrogate a second node for routing instructions for the first customer.

Description

METHODS AND SYSTEM FOR CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATIONS IN A TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to telecommunications and more particularly to methods and systems for customer management in a telecommunications network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Mobile communications systems have developed because there has been a need to allow people to move away from fixed telephone terminals without losing their ability to be reached. These mobile communications systems require customers to have the ability to move from location to location without service interruption. Customers, however, are not the only entities that require special functionality within a communications system.

Service providers experience various types of customer management problems within their networks. These problems can be things like toll fraud, non-paying customers, and other types of problems involving the customer or the customers service. To handle these problems, service providers establish various customer offices, such as customer service offices and fraud management offices. In addition, service providers have established mechanisms to directly deal with any problems in their system.

These mechanisms, such as Operator Determined Barring and Operator Specific Barring, are limited to the service provider's home network area. In general, Operator Determined Barring and Operator Specific Barring are not efficient solutions for issues such as fraud management even when available in the home network. Both of the services provide a limited number of destinations for calls to be routed to and these are generally reserved for customer service type operations. Operator Controlled Number Translation (OCNT) can be invoked in the home network as well as when roaming, in fact, will be invoked unless suppressed. Once a customer travels outside the home network area, the mechanisms in place to handle fraud in the home network area, for instance, no longer work. Thus, network providers have few ways to prevent activities like fraud from occurring in a roaming area.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method of managing wireless customers. The method may include the step of placing flag codes in subscriber data for one or more customers at a first node. After placing flag codes, the method may interrogate the first node to receive a first set of subscriber data for a first customer. The method may then receive a call request from the first customer. After receiving a call request, the method may determine if the first set of subscriber data contains a first flag code. The method may then interrogate a second node for routing instructions for the first customer. The present invention also provides a system for managing wireless customers. The system includes a first node, the first node having subscriber data with flag codes for one or more customers, the first node being located in a first network. The system may also include a second node, the second node being located in the first network and being configured to contain special routing for the one or more customers with flag codes. The system may further include a third node in communication with the first node and the second node, the third node being located in a second network and being configured to interrogate the first node and the second node to determine the proper routing instructions for the one or more customers.

The present invention may further provide a method of managing wireless customers. The method includes the steps of placing flag codes in subscriber data for one or more customers at a home location register for a first set of subscriber data for a first customer, receiving a call request from the first customer at a mobile switching center, determining if the first set of subscriber data contains a first flag code, and interrogating a service control point for routing instructions for the first customer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGURE 1 is a schematic diagram of a telecommunications network of the present invention; and

FIGURE 2 is a signaling sequence diagram depicting the operation of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates, generally, to a telecommunications system, and more particularly to a telecommunications system involving intelligent networks. The present invention can be used in a network setting where two networks both operate under the Customized Application for Mobile Enhanced Logic standard (CAMEL). CAMEL is an intelligent network standard for the global system for mobile communication (GSM), but is also supported by 3 GPP. CAMEL enables a wider range of services including, but not limited to, virtual private networks, personal number and location-based services, and the ability of networks to offer more forms of prepaid wireless services.

The cost savings from streamlined deployment of CAMEL could be passed on in the form of lower rates to subscribers. Generally, CAMEL is a set of standards that provide a new protocol between service control points and service switching points. Thus, for two networks to operate on the CAMEL standard, the service control points and the service switching points must be equipped with the CAMEL protocol and the home location register must support the CAMEL OCSI keys. CAMEL provides the operator with a signaling framework to allow the roaming intelligent network subscriber to query the home service control point database for information regarding his or her subscription.

One of the main uses of the present invention is to take advantage of the CAMEL network for fraud management purposes. It is intended that, regardless of which number that the flagged subscriber dials, the call is instead routed to the specified location provider by the service provider. Referring to FIGURE 1, a network with both a visitor network 115 and a home network 105 is shown generally as 100. Within the home network 105, there exists a home location register 140 and a service control point 150. The home location register 140 operates as a subscription database for operators in a GSM network.

When someone buys a subscription from one of the GSM operators, that person will be registered in the home location register of that operator. The home location register contains subscriber information such as supplementary services and authentication parameters. Furthermore, there will be information about the location of the mobile station, i.e., in which mobile station control area the mobile station resides presently. This information changes as the mobile station moves around. The mobile station will continuously send location information to its home location register, thus providing means to receive a call.

The service control point 150 operates as a database which contains a subscriber's intelligent network capabilities. The service control point 150 can contain information for subscribers that have CAMEL capable or intelligent network capable mobile stations, i.e., cell phones, PDA's, and the like. Additionally, the service control point 150 can contain routing information for customers needing particular attention from the service provider.

Also depicted in FIGURE 1 is a visiting network 115. The visiting network 115 may include mobile switching center 125. A visitor location register 130 may be communicably linked to the mobile switching center 125. The visitor location register may be a database to store information received from the home location register 140 concerning a customer's capabilities. A signaling switching point 145 may also be communicably linked to the mobile switching center 125. The signaling switching point 145 can receive and process subscriber routing instructions from the signaling control point 150 in the home network. The functioning of the system described above relies largely on internal communications between the mobile switching center 125, and the visiting location register 130 and signaling switching point 145. These internal operations can be described by referring to FIGURE 1. Once the mobile station 120 enters a new visiting network 115, the mobile station 120 contacts the mobile switching center 125 for the visiting network 115. The mobile switching center 125 may then interrogate the home location register 140 for the mobile station 120. The home location register 140 can then transfer the subscriber data to the mobile switching center 125. Included in the subscriber data may be a flag code. The flag code may be an Originating CAMEL Service Information code (OCSI code). The OCSI code acts as a trigger, alerting the mobile switching center 125 that the mobile station 120 has special routing requirements. The subscriber data concerning CAMEL operations of, and OCSI codes for, the mobile station 120 can be stored at the signaling switching point 145. Such CAMEL operations and OCSI codes are not acted upon by the mobile switching center 125 until a call is placed by the mobile station 120. Referring now to FIGURE 2, a signaling sequence diagram of the present invention is depicted. As shown in FIGURE 2, a mobile station 200 is activated in or enters a visiting network. The mobile station 200 signals the mobile switching center 205, as depicted by 225. Once the mobile switching center 205 receives the signal that the mobile station 200 has been activated or entered the visiting network, the mobile switching center 205 interrogates the home location register 220 to retrieve the customer data for the mobile station 200, as shown by 230.

The home location register 220 then returns the subscriber information for the mobile station back to the mobile switching center 205, as depicted in 235. The subscriber information may contain all the information about the operations of the particular subscriber which would normally be transmitted. Also included in the subscriber information may be a flag code. The flag code may be an Operating CAMEL Service Information category (OCSI). The flag code may include a category for customers with special routing instructions.

Once the mobile switching center 205 receives the subscriber data, it stores the data in the visitor location register. The OCSI categories can be checked by the service switching point. After the customer places a call, as depicted by 240, the mobile service switching center 205 determines if the customer has a flag code in his OCSI categories. If the customer has the flag code, the mobile service switching center 205 triggers the service switching point which, in turn, interrogates a service control point 215, as depicted by 245, to request routing instructions for the customer. The service control point 215 may then send the routing instructions for the customer to the service switching point, as in 250. The service switching point then directs the mobile switching center 205 to route the call to the proper destination, as depicted by 255.

The destinations that the call will be routed to may be determined by the database contained with the signaling control point 215. The advantage of using the CAMEL network in this instance is that the calls can be routed directly to the management offices appropriate for handling the particular customer problems or needs. For example, a customer suspected of fraud may be directly routed to the fraud management office by the signaling control point 215. Thus, even when a subscriber is roaming in a visiting network, the home network can still control and monitor for fraud purposes the use of the mobile station, such as a mobile phone, PDA or the like.

It will be appreciated that while the home location register 140 and the service control point 150 of FIGURE 1 are depicted as separate databases, it is contemplated • that they can be combined into a single database. It will also be appreciated that each subscriber may be assigned a unique destination number that is stored in the service control point. This provides the desired flexibility for the operator's management services.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method of managing wireless customers comprising the steps of: placing flag codes in subscriber data for one or more customers at a first node; interrogating the first node to receive a first set of subscriber data for a first customer; receiving a call request from the first customer; determining if the first set subscriber data contains a first flag code; and interrogating a third node for routing instructions for the first customer.

2. The method of Claim 1 wherein the first node is a home location register.

3. The method of Claim 1 wherein the second node is a mobile switching center.

4. The method of Claim 3 wherein the mobile switching center includes a service switching point.

5. The method of Claim 4 wherein the mobile switching center includes a visitor location register.

6. The method of Claim 1 wherein the third node is a service control point.

7. The method of Claim 1 wherein the step of interrogating a third node further includes the step of receiving at the second node the routing instructions for the first customer.

8. The method of Claim 1 wherein the step of interrogating a first node further includes the step of receiving at the second node the first set of subscriber data for the first customer.

9. The method of Claim 1 wherein the flag code is an operating CAMEL service information category.

10. A system for managing wireless customers comprising: a first node, the first node having subscriber data with flag codes for one or more customers, the first node being located in a first network; a second node, the second database being located in the first network and being configured to contain special routing for the one or more customers with flag codes; and a third node in communication with the first node and the second node, the third node being located in a second network and being configured to interrogate the first node and the second node to determine the proper routing instructions for the one or more customers.

11. The system of Claim 8 wherein the first node is a home location register.

12. The system of Claim 8 wherein the second node is a service control point.

13. The system of Claim 8 wherein the third node is a mobile switching center.

14. The system of Claim 13 wherein the mobile switching center includes a visitor location register.

15. The system of Claim 13 wherein the mobile switching center includes a service switching point.

16. The system of Claim 8 wherein the first network is a home network.

17. The system of Claim 8 wherein the second network is a visiting network.

18. The system of Claim 8 wherein the flag code is an operating CAMEL service information category.

19. A method of managing wireless customers comprising the steps of: placing flag codes in subscriber data for one or more customers at a home location register; interrogating the home location register for a first set of subscriber data for a first customer; receiving a call request from the first customer at a mobile switching center; determining if the first set of subscriber data contains a first flag code; and interrogating a service control point for routing instructions for the first customer.

20. The method of Claim 19 wherein the flag code is an operating CAMEL service information category.

21. The method of Claim 19 wherein the step of interrogating the home location register further includes the step of receiving at the mobile switching center the first set of subscriber data for the first customer.

22. The method of Claim 19 wherein the step of interrogating the service control point further includes the step of receiving at the mobile switching center the routing instructions for the first customer.

23. The method of Claim 19 wherein the home location register and the service control point database are located within a home network.

24. The method of Claim 19 wherein the mobile switching center is located within a visiting network.

5. The method of Claim 19 wherein the mobile switching center includes a service switching point.