Abstract:
A system and method manages the provisioning of an client device connected to a service distribution network, such as an interactive television service-providing network. Provisioning is managed by a provisioning manager that knows the specific provisioning data to collect and where the data is located and is to be forwarded. The provisioning manager thus acts as an intelligent provisioning data traffic manager by performing as a central collection and dissemination point for the provisioning data and directing provisioning data flows between a billing system, IP data network, server complex and/or other network systems.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    The present application is related to U.S. patent application entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING THE PROVISIONING OF CLIENT DEVICES CONNECTED TO AN INTERACTIVE TV NETWORK”, Ser. No. 09/671,329, filed Sep. 26, 2000, to Donlan, et al., and U.S. patent application entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVISIONING CLIENT DEVICES CONNECTED TO AN INTERACTIVE TV NETWORK”, Ser. No. ______, filed concurrently herewith to Donlan, et al., which are incorporated herein by this reference. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for managing the provisioning of a telecommunication network and specifically to a method and apparatus for managing the provisioning of an interactive television (ITV) network and the associated ITV client devices connected thereto.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Implementation and operation of a communications service, whether it be a voice, video or data communications service, requires the interconnection of a plurality of networks, systems, devices and equipment, which may be geographically co-located or separated. Presently, each of these networks, systems, devices and equipment may need to be “provisioned” to enable the establishment of a communications connection path. In general, “provisioning” is the addition of a subscriber (e.g., a subscriber terminal device and/or network component) to, deletion of a subscriber from, or modification of a subscriber&#39;s services provided by a network, system, or other type of infrastructure providing entitled services. Provisioning permits the pertinent architecture to recognize and/or communicate with the subscriber.  
           [0004]    Some form of provisioning is necessary, whether the communications connection path connects a plurality of subscriber terminal devices (e.g., telephones, televisions, streaming media players, set-top box audio/video decoders, wireless device base station, etc.), as in a telephone, data or audio or video distribution network, or whether the path connects one or more subscriber terminal devices (e.g., work stations, personal computers, PDA, etc.) with one or more servers, as in a client-server computing network. In many operational situations, each of the interconnected plurality of networks, systems, devices and equipment may need to be provisioned independently and separately (either manually with human intervention or automatically), thereby resulting in potential time delays, inefficiencies, or errors in enabling the subscriber terminal to connect to and use the communications network services.  
           [0005]    As a type of communications network, an interactive television (ITV) network and subscriber terminal devices connected thereto are “provisioned” to enable the subscriber terminal devices to use ITV services via the ITV network. Subscriber terminal devices, which are ITV client devices connected to the ITV network, may include television sets, set-top audio/video decoder boxes, personal computers, and video recorders, among other video, audio and data devices. The convergence of television transmission networks, IP (i.e., Internet Protocol) data networks, and distributed client-server computing networks to implement an operational ITV network necessitates the interconnection of a plurality of networks, systems, devices and equipment, which may be geographically co-located or separated, as components of the ITV network as a whole. Presently, each of these component interconnected networks, systems, devices and equipment typically are independently and separately “provisioned” to enable the establishment of a communications connection path and the use of the ITV network by an ITV client device (i.e. subscriber terminal) for entitled ITV services.  
           [0006]    Accordingly, there exists a need for a method and apparatus for commonly (i.e. as a whole) managing the automatic provisioning of these interconnected component networks, systems, devices and equipment comprising the entire ITV network.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    The present invention provides a client-network provisioning manager for managing the provisioning of a telecommunication service network and a plurality of client devices connected to the network for using the telecommunication services. The teachings of the present invention are applicable to a broad variety of subscriber telecommunication services and/or pay-for-use services, including interactive television, cable television, telephone, video, audio, on-line databases, noninteractive television, radio, music video, video juke box, pay-for-view, video-on-demand, home-shopping, video conferences, telephone conferences, interfacing to imaging systems, automatic telephone call charge-backs (“900” numbers) and other telecommunication services. The teachings are also applicable to a variety of telecommunication systems, including multi-channel telecommunication services, single channel multi-service telecommunications, and single channel single service telecommunications. As will be appreciated from the foregoing, the user may be a subscriber or nonsubscriber.  
           [0008]    The provisioning manager of the present invention communicates with the individual provisioning methods/apparatus of each of the network components for the purpose of effectuating the overall provisioning of the client devices with the necessary network components in a coordinated, common, and automated manner. By knowing the specific provisioning data to collect, where the data is found and is to be forwarded, the provisioning manager acts as an intelligent provisioning data manager by performing as a central collection and dissemination point for the provisioning data, directing provisioning data flows between the provisioning methods/apparatus of the individual network components. As such a central point, the provisioning manager makes the automatic provisioning process more efficient. In one configuration the provisioning manager insures that dependent transactions (of each request/response transaction which are typically handled independently) are made in the correct sequence. For example, a “user-suspend” request is not issued until the related “subscriber-suspend” request has completed successfully.  
           [0009]    Although the present invention is described as a central collection and dissemination point, the methods and apparatus described may be implemented as an independent unit coupled to the network, or may be distributed throughout the network.  
           [0010]    The provisioning manager includes a user interface for use by customer support representative personnel, as well as application programming interfaces (“API(s)”), protocol and signal interfaces to the individual provisioning methods/apparatus of the respective network components. The type of information managed by the provisioning manager includes, but is not limited to, data related to: IP provisioning of the client device for IP communication with the network; centralized provisioning from controlled data centers; support for self-provisioning of capabilities delivered to the client device; subscribers&#39; services enrollment and entitlement; installation of the client device; and the provisioning process flow.  
           [0011]    Message communications transactions between the provisioning manager and the provisioning systems of the other network components, e.g., the billing system, the various servers, the IP data network, and such other network components forming the ITV network, are conducted via appropriate protocol and signal interfaces and APIs defined for each respective network component provisioning system. The message communications transactions are stored in a provisioning manager database.  
           [0012]    The teachings of the present invention are particularly applicable to an interactive television (ITV) network having an ITV provisioning manager. The ITV network comprises a plurality of component interconnected networks, systems, devices and equipment. The component interconnected networks, systems, devices and equipment (the “ITV network component(s)”) include, but are not limited to, analog or digital television transmission networks, IP (i.e. internet protocol) data networks, distributed client-server computer networks, subscriber management billing systems, and one or more ITV client devices, which may be geographically co-located or separated. ITV client devices include, but are not limited to, set-top video/audio converter decoder boxes, television receivers, video/audio recorders or players, data modems and computers which can process video, audio or data signals for transmission, storage, visual display or sound emission.  
           [0013]    In one configuration, operators/providers of the ITV services are different business entities separate, distinct and independent from each of the ITV network component operators/providers.  
           [0014]    In one configuration, one or more of the ITV network components has its own independent, respective provisioning methods or apparatus particular to that component&#39;s function in the ITV network. Such methods or apparatus may represent only a fractional part of the overall provisioning functions necessary to provision the ITV client devices and/or the ITV network as a whole.  
           [0015]    The above-described operation is exemplary, and the individual provisioning and intercommunication of messages between the provisioning manager and the other network components may be conducted in alternative orders of occurrence without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Moreover, the above description of configurations and/or embodiments of the present invention is neither exhaustive nor limiting. As will be appreciated, the features of the present invention can be combined in a variety of other ways, which are within the spirit and scope of the present invention.  
           [0016]    BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
           [0017]    The present invention is described in detail with regards to the following figures, in which like elements are referred to with like numerals, and in which:  
           [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram of an ITV Network according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
           [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 depicts a configuration of an ITV client device.  
           [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram of provisioning message interfaces of the ITV Provisioning manager device of FIG. 1;  
           [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 is a data schema for data storage  228   
           [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 depicts the signal flows for a delete subscriber transaction;  
           [0023]    [0023]FIG. 6 depicts the signal flows for a suspend subscriber transaction; and  
           [0024]    [0024]FIG. 7 depicts the signal flows for a reactivate subscriber transaction; 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     The ITV Network  
       [0025]    [0025]FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram of an ITV Network  100  according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the ITV Network comprises a plurality of interconnected networks, systems, devices and equipment, which may be geographically co-located or separated. For the purposes of discussion, these interconnected networks, systems, devices and equipment are referred to collectively as “ITV Network Components” and individually as an “ITV Network Component”. Each ITV Network Component may include its own respective provisioning system, method or apparatus; and, for the purposes of discussion, reference to an ITV Network Component includes reference to its respective provisioning system, method or apparatus.  
         [0026]    The ITV Provisioning manager  104 , via one or more communications link(s)  108 , interconnects and communicates with ITV Network Components including, but not limited to, at least one IP provisioning system  110 , at least one subscriber management billing system  114 , at least one service server infrastructure  118   a - c , customer service center  122 , head end in the sky (HITS)  126 , one or more head ends  130   a - c , and network operations  134 , and other required additional ITV Network Components (not shown) comprising the ITV Network  100 .  
         [0027]    Each of the service server infrastructures  118   a - c  includes or is connected to a plurality of application, content, and/or control servers. The servers provide or control the provision of selected services to a subscriber. Examples of such servers include an e-mail server  138  to send and receive e-mail, an address book server  142  to enter and retrieve address information from the subscriber&#39;s personal records, a calendar server  146  to enter and retrieve calendar or scheduling information from the subscriber&#39;s calendaring records, a search server  150  to perform network-related searches, a registration server  154  to register new subscribers in the corresponding server infrastructure, a web server  158  to provide connection to the internet  162 , and other servers  166  providing any number of other services (e.g., a home page server, chat server, and messaging server).  
         [0028]    The service server infrastructures are each assigned to serve a number of subscribers having selected common attributes. In one configuration, the service server infrastructures each serve subscribers from a unique geographical area.  
         [0029]    Each of the head ends  130   a - c  is connected to a distribution network  171  including various feeders  170  and branches  174  and connections to subscriber locations or nodes  178 . At each subscriber location or node  178 , an ITV client device is located.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 2 shows the hardware configuration of the typical ITV client device. The ITV client device is typically a set-top box (or stb)  700  connected to a television  704 . Set-top box  700  typically includes a modem  708 , memory  712 , and processor  716 .  
         [0031]    As will be appreciated, an ITV client device can access a number of services. For example, the subscriber can access through device  178  programming material for the subscriber&#39;s television  704 . The material is transmitted by the HITS  126  via satellite  182  to a head end  130   a - c  and via feeder  170  and branch  174  to the subscriber&#39;s client device or set-top box  300 . The subscriber can also access the services provided by the service server infrastructure. The services are accessed via branch  174 , feeder  170 , and link  108 .  
         [0032]    The numbering of ITV Components  104 - 166  is not intended to be a limitation on the number of additional ITV Components comprising the ITV Network  100 ; and the preferred embodiment of the present invention contemplates any number of ITV Network Components comprising the ITV Network  100 .  
         [0033]    Link(s)  108 , feeder(s)  170  and branch(es)  174  may include any combination of one or more wired or wireless, electrical or optical connections or telecommunications data networks, whether packet or circuit switched, global, national, regional, wide-area, local area, or in-home networks, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Similarly, the IP provisioning system can provision any IP data network that may be implemented on any combination of one or more wired or wireless, electrical or optical connections or telecommunications data networks, whether packet or circuit switched, global, national, regional, wide-area, local area, or in-home networks.  
       The ITV Provisioning Manager  
       [0034]    [0034]FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram of an ITV Provisioning manager device  104 . The ITV Provisioning manager device  104  includes a controller  204  (which includes processor  207  and memory  208 ), an IP provisioning system message interface (server)  212 , a service delivery infrastructure message interface (server)  224 , a billing system message interface (server)  220 , a pre-registration server interface (server)  216  (through which the pre-registration server communicates with the ITV Provisioning manager  104 ), data storage interface  226 , a communication interface (not shown) with a customer support representative  207  in the customer service center  122  (FIG. 1), and an ITV provisioning data storage  228 . As will be appreciated, an “interface” is a connection between two systems through which information is exchanged.  
         [0035]    The controller memory  208  includes a workflow engine (“WE”)  205  and one or more queues  209  containing one or more transactions  210 . The WE  205  performs the service-order workflow instantiation and state management. If the ITV provisioning manager  104  determines that an ITV network component is unavailable during the provisioning process, the manager  104  will suspend or queue the transactions(s) in queue  209  for transmission at a later time. Likewise if the ITV provisioning manager  104  is unavailable, other ITV network components will queue the transactions for transmission at a later time.  
         [0036]    Each of the interfaces  212 ,  216 ,  220 ,  224 , and  226  include an interface adapter (“IA”)  224  that communicates directly with elements such as applications or database servers. Each IA translates tasks into the syntax understood by the element and oversees the execution of operations. In interfaces  212 ,  220 , and  216 , the IA  224   b ,  224   a , and  224   d  further communicate directly with the external application programs. Each IA in these interfaces identifies the business events that require mediation to downstream or upstream components identified as part of the service delivery and management architecture for a service provider. The IA  224   a,b,d  uses the WE  205  to access data storage  228  for a sub-selection of events in order to determine the full impact of an event on a subscriber profile, such as in cases where the message from the billing system  114  does not provide complete service impact scope. For example, the IA  224   a,b,d  receives a request from an external computational component. The IA handles the header (protocol) fields, places the information in the request in the appropriate syntax), validates the request according to predefined criteria, and provides a suitable request or work order to the WE  205  to provide selected information from data storage  228 . The WE  205  then executes the work order according to predetermined instructions for the particular transaction type and retrieves the necessary information from data storage  228 . The WE then sends the information to the appropriate IA&#39;s for each computational component requiring notification of the transaction. The IA then assembles the information in the appropriate order and syntax and adds the pertinent header (protocol) fields to the information and sends the message to the appropriate external computational component or set of computational components for further processing.  
         [0037]    Error processing can be handled by the IA and WE in any number of techniques known to those in the art. In one configuration, each of the components backs-up to a log file both a successful receipt of a transaction from an external system or another internal component and a successful send of a transaction to an external system or an internal component to enable roll-back and re-start at a prior step. When the IA becomes unavailable, external systems re-try their requests until the IA becomes available while the WE queues the response in queue  209  until the IA becomes available. This is done because the manager  104  may have already sent back a success response to the billing system. When the IA becomes available, the external system will resend the request if it has not received a reply. The IA will treat a request as a new request and validate it according to standard rules. When the WE becomes unavailable, all transmissions to an IA are continued from the point of entry of the IA request/response to the WE; all transmissions from an IA will continue from the back-up log when the IA request/response entered the WE; and all transmission to an IA will continue back from the last step in the back-up log done in WE for that workflow. When the IA communicating to data storage  228  becomes unavailable, all transactions will be failed and the external systems will be notified.  
         [0038]    Typically, users are initially configured by the ITV provisioning manager  104  based on account and site registration information provided to it by customer service center  122  (FIG. 1). The IA&#39;s in each interface then receive the transaction and coordinate with WE to update the database of each service provider (e.g., billing system  114 , IP provisioning system  110 , and customer service center  122 ).  
         [0039]    The above components are coupled together through control, address and data buses  206 . In one configuration, the various links  108  each represent a socket-based synchronous connection.  
         [0040]    The various message interfaces  212 ,  216 ,  220 , and  224  may be a single interface type or a plurality of interface types, each of which communicates messages to an ITV Network Component  110 ,  117 ,  114 , and  118 , respectively, (FIG. 1) using one or more signal types, protocols and APIs (application programming interfaces) appropriate to the appropriate ITV Network Component. The ITV Provisioning manager  104  in its entirety, or its various components, e.g., the controller  204 , message interfaces  212 ,  216 ,  220 , and  224 , or data storage  228 , may be implemented as independent units connected to the ITV Network  100 , or may be distributed throughout the ITV Network  100 , manifested in whole or in part, as a plurality of devices or as constituent parts of other ITV Network Components  104 - 166 . For example and without limiting any location alternatives, the ITV Provisioning manager  104 , in whole or in part, may be located in a cable TV system headend (e.g., headend  130 , a telephone central office, a satellite up-link center (e.g, HITS  126 ), a broadcast studio, a server complex (e.g., service server infrastructure  118 ), and/or a data center (e.g., billing system  114  and/or customer service center  122 ).  
         [0041]    The controller  204  stores provisioning message communications transactions in one or more database(s) contained in data storage  228 . Data storage  228  may include semiconductor memory, as well as magnetic, electrical or optical mass storage devices or combinations thereof, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In one configuration, data storage  228  is an “ORACLE”™ data-store that serves as the source of current information for all customer account and service profiles required for service activation/deactivation. IA  224   e  in the data storage interface  226  is typically configured to invoke Structured Query Language (SQL) statements against the data storage  228  to maintain current subscriber device and service profile information.  
         [0042]    All provisioning transactions are preferably synchronous, but multiple, independent transactions may be in progress at any one time. Request documents typically consists of a single provisioning transaction and may contain attributes and multiple data elements. A response document typically contains result (status) information, and, if applicable, requested data for the transaction in the request document. Document fragments can be provided for each transaction type. For example, XML documents can be made of elements. Each element can have one or more attributes (metadata) associated with it and can contain either data or other elements.  
         [0043]    In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 shows a diagram of a database schema of the database stored on data storage device  228  of FIG. 2. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the database schema includes the following entities: subscriber profile  300 , subscriber status type  304 , subscriber external keys  308 , subscriber profile properties  312 , subscriber address  316 , subscriber address external keys  320 , subscriber address properties  324 , subscriber address status  328 , subscriber device (the set-top box)  332 , subscriber device properties  336 , subscriber device external keys  340 , device status  342 , device type  334 , subscriber services  344 , subscriber service properties  348 , subscriber service external keys  352 , service status type  354 , service type  358 , property type  362 , subscriber login properties  366 , subscriber login  370 , login status type  374 , subscriber login external key  378 , and external key type  382 .  
         [0044]    The one or more provisioning message interface(s)  212 ,  216 ,  220 , and  224  may be implemented using proprietary protocols specially developed for the present invention, or industry-standard protocols widely known in the art, including, but not limited, to any combinations of XML (i.e., extended mark-up language), LDAP (i.e., Light-Weight Directory Protocol), SQL (i.e. Structured Query Language), WTVP (i.e., Web TV Protocol), HTTP (i.e., hypertext transport protocol), HTML (i.e., hypertext markup language), DLLs (i.e., dynamic link libraries), ODBC (i.e., Open Database Connectivity), RDBMS (i.e., remote data base management system), RDO (i.e., Remote Data Objects), ADO (i.e., Active-X Data Objects), and COBRA (i.e. Common Object Resource Broker Architecture). [BRIAN: WHAT IS API 2.3? IS IT A PROPRIETARY ARCHITECTURE/PROTOCOL?] 
         [0045]    In preferred embodiment, the IA  224   a  in interface  220  supports the AP12.3 notification architecture, uses a ServiceBroker™ Message Formatter/Parser based adapter to format and interpret messages, and uses the Synchronous Listener and Sockets Sender (Pure Sockets) protocols; the IA  224   b  in interface  212  supports shell and pearl script architectures, uses the ServiceBroker™ Message Formatter/Parser based adapter to format and interpret messages, and uses the Synchronous (TCP Socket) protocol; the IA  224   c  in interface  216  uses the ServiceBroker™ Message Formatter/Parser based adapter to format and interpret XML messages and the synchronous HTTP protocol; the IA  224   d  in interface  224  uses the ServiceBroker™ Message Formatter/Parser based adapter to formal and interpret XML messages and the synchronous HTTP protocol; and the IA  224   e  in interface  226  is configured to invoke Structured Query Language (SQL) statements against the data storage  228 , is configured using ServiceBroker™ Call Invocation Framework over an Oracle™ SQL protocol to format and interpret calls, and uses the synchronous Oracle™ Context protocol.  
         [0046]    In operation, the controller  204  communicates through the message interface(s), via the communications link(s)  108 , with an ITV Network Component  104 - 166 , data messages containing provisioning-related information including, but not limited to, customer order registration code(s), ITV client device unit address(es), IP address(es), medium access control or MAC address(es), billing system identification number(s), server registration assignment(s), and the like.  
       The Provisioning Process  
       [0047]    Generally, the ITV provisioning manager  104  provides an intelligent service activation flow through by interfacing with operational support systems and business support systems (collectively referred to as “service providers”) and the elements, applications and service components that provide the final service to the subscriber and the management of the subscriber&#39;s service. The provisioning process for adding a new subscriber (e.g., the create subscriber, create account, create site, etc. commands) is discussed in U.S. patent application entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING THE PROVISIONING OF CLIENT DEVICES CONNECTED TO AN INTERACTIVE TV NETWORK”, Ser. No. 09/671,329 filed Sep. 26, 2000.  
         [0048]    Once a subscriber has completed registration or provisioning, the subscriber is provided with a user interface (not shown) that allows the subscriber to register for new or additional instances of services (e.g., update or modify subscriber, update site, update Stb, add/delete/modify user, etc. commands). This transaction is forwarded to the OA corresponding to the IP provisioning system interface  212 . The IA coordinates with WE to notify all upstream systems that have registered to be notified of the occurrences of those events. The modification of a subscriber&#39;s services, either by the customer service center  122  or subscriber himself, is discussed in U.S. patent application entitled “Method and Apparatus for Provisioning Client Devices Connected to an Interactive TV Network”, Ser. No. ______, filed concurrently herewith.  
         [0049]    The present application will discuss the procedures for deleting, suspending, and/or reactivating an existing or former subscriber. These transactions are typically referred to as the delete subscriber, suspend subscriber, and activate subscriber commands or transactions. The transaction is commenced typically through the customer service center  122  (a “top down” transaction).  
         [0050]    In the processes described below, there are a number of interface definitions and restrictions. All data “values” passed into the manager  104  remain in the case in which it was passed. Case changes are not performed by the manager  104 . The initial four byte position in the message string indicates the length of the transaction, from the first pipe up to and including the newline character at the end. Position parameters “action” and “type” must appear at the beginning of each string. The first position field includes a value specifying an action (e.g., delete, update, create and add) and the second field a value specifying the type of object (e.g., subscriber, site, ITV client device, and user) on which the action is to be performed. The remaining provisioning data information appears as &lt;name&gt;=&lt;value&gt; pairs, where &lt;name&gt; is the field name and &lt;value&gt; is the value of the field name for the transaction. Parameters passed in a message to the manager  104 , but not configured, as one of the valid parameters for a specific transaction type will be ignored by the application. Parameter propagation to work orders is explicit rather than implicit. All parameters, names, and values are case insensitive. Values are converted to uppercase when inserted into the data storage  228 .  
       Delete Subscriber Transaction  
       [0051]    Referring to FIG. 5, the procedures for the delete subscriber transaction in accordance with a preferred embodiment is discussed. The transaction can be initiated by a customer service representative  207  (FIG. 3) in response to the subscriber&#39;s request or by a request from billing system  114  due, for example, to nonpayment of a bill and the like. In the former case, the customer service representative enters the subscriber identification data and retrieves subscriber data from a support tool in the billing system  114 . The representative enters the identification key for the subscriber and generates a delete subscriber request  600  (which specifies the billing system subscriber account number and subscriber id). Alternatively, the representative could initiate the transaction using a customer service tool integrated directly with the manager  104  rather than by way of the billing system.  
         [0052]    When the delete subscriber request  600  is received by the ITV provisioning manager  104 , the IA in the billing system interface  220  first determines whether the transaction is valid by first verifying the message&#39;s use of the correct parameter size, the proper type, the proper value range, the proper format, and the proper field condition, and, if the foregoing are verified, determining if the subscriber identification parameters have a match in data storage  228 . If the message is valid and a match exists, a work order is created within the IA for the delete subscriber request  600  and the work order information is updated in data storage  228  by an update subscriber command  604  conveyed via IA  224   e  in the data storage interface  226 .  
         [0053]    A delete subscriber response message  608  is returned to the customer service center  122 , providing pass information or, when the message is invalid and/or no match is found, fail information.  
         [0054]    The provisioning manager  104  next forwards a delete (unprovision) account message  612  and delete stb  616  to the IP provisioning system  110 . After verifying the contents of the messages, the IP provisioning system  110  updates its data base (not shown) in response to the messages.  
         [0055]    The manager  104  next forwards a delete subscriber message  620  to the pre-registration server  117 . After verifying the contents of the message, the server  117  forwards a delete subscriber and household message  624  containing the subscriber identification information to the corresponding service server infrastructure  118  serving the subscriber. The infrastructure  118  verifies the contents of the message, and, if properly verified, a server in the infrastructure  118  further initiates transactions with external service providers (e-mail server  138 , address book server  142 , calendar server  146 , etc.) to delete access to those services by users associated with the subscriber&#39;s account. Each service responds with a completion message. When all completion messages are successfully received, the server in the infrastructure  118  updates the infrastructure database (not shown) by marking the subscriber as deleted. The infrastructure  118  then forwards a success message  628  to the pre-registration server  117  acknowledging receipt of the message and removal of the subscriber and associated users from all appropriate databases of service providers.  
         [0056]    The server  117  forwards a delete subscriber response message  632  to the provisioning manager  104  and further provides an indication whether the success message  628  was verified (pass or fail information).  
         [0057]    Upon receipt of the message, the manager  104  matches the response against the message  620  originally sent and forwards an update subscriber message  636  to data storage via interface  226 . In response, the users associated with the subscriber are marked as having been deleted. In one configuration, the manager  104  then returns a “success” message (not shown) to the customer service center  122  and/or billing system  114 .  
       Suspend Subscriber Transaction  
       [0058]    Referring to FIG. 6, the procedures for the suspend subscriber transaction will now be discussed. The transaction is initiated by a customer service representative in response to the subscriber&#39;s request, by a request from billing system  114  due, for example, to nonpayment of a bill, by ______, and the like. When the customer service representative initiates the transaction, the customer service representative retrieves the set-top box identification data for the subscriber from the billing system subscriber support tool. The representative enters the set-top box identification information for the subscriber&#39;s set-top box(es) and generates an update stb request  400 . When the billing system initiates the transaction, the billing system automatically generates and forwards the update stb request  400 .  
         [0059]    When the update stb request  400  is received by the ITV provisioning manager  104 , the IA in the customer support interface  224  first determines whether the transaction is valid by verifying the message&#39;s use of the correct parameter size, the proper type, the proper value range, the proper format, and the proper field condition, and, when the foregoing criteria are valid, determines whether there is a match for the set-top box identification parameters (stb key) in data storage  228  for this subscriber. If the message is valid and a match exists, a work order is created within the IA for the update stb request  400  and the work order information is updated in data storage  228  by an update stb message  404  conveyed via IA  224   e  in the data storage interface  226 .  
         [0060]    An update stb response message  408  is returned to the customer service center  122  (and/or billing system), providing pass information or, when the message is invalid and/or no match is found, fail information.  
         [0061]    The provisioning manager  104  next forwards a modify (suspend) subscriber message  412  to the pre-registration server  117 . The modify (suspend) subscriber message  412  includes the subscriber identification data. After verifying the contents of the messages, the pre-registration server  117  updates its data base (not shown) in response to the messages and forwards a modify subscriber and household message  416  containing the subscriber identification information to the corresponding service server infrastructure  118  serving the subscriber. The infrastructure  118  verifies the contents of the message, and, if properly verified, a server in the infrastructure  118  further initiates transactions with external service providers (e-mail, calendar, etc.) to suspend access to those services by users associated with the subscriber&#39;s account. Each service responds with a completion message. When all completion messages are successfully received, the server updates the infrastructure database (not shown) by marking the subscriber as suspended. The infrastructure  118  then forwards a success message  420  to the pre-registration server  117  acknowledging receipt of the message and suspension of the subscriber and associated users from all appropriate databases of service providers.  
         [0062]    The server  117  forwards the modify subscriber (suspend) response message  424  to the provisioning manager  104  and further provides an indication whether the success message  420  was verified (pass or fail information).  
         [0063]    Upon receipt of the message, the manager  104  matches the response against the message  412  originally sent and forwards an update subscriber message  428  to data storage via interface  226 . In response, the users associated with the subscriber are marked as having been suspended. In one configuration, the manager  104  then returns a “success” message (not shown) to the customer service center  122  and/or billing system  114 .  
       Reactivate Subscriber Transaction  
       [0064]    Referring to FIG. 7, the procedures for the reactivate subscriber transaction will now be discussed. The transaction is initiated by a customer service representative in response to the subscriber&#39;s request, by a request from billing system  114  due, for example, to payment of an overdue bill, by ______, and the like. When the customer service representative initiates the transaction, the customer service representative retrieves the set-top box identification data for the subscriber from the billing system subscriber support tool. The representative enters the set-top box identification information for the subscriber&#39;s set-top box(es) and generates an update stb request  500 . When the billing system initiates the transaction, the billing system automatically generates and forwards the update stb request  500 .  
         [0065]    When the update stb request  500  is received by the ITV provisioning manager  104 , the IA in the customer support interface  224  first determines whether the transaction is valid by verifying the message&#39;s use of the correct parameter size, the proper type, the proper value range, the proper format, and the proper field condition, and, when the foregoing criteria are valid, determines whether there is a match for the set-top box identification parameters (stb key) in data storage  228  for this subscriber. If the message is valid and a match exists, a work order is created within the IA for the update stb request  500 , and the work order information is updated in data storage  228  by an update subscriber message  504  conveyed via IA  224   e  in the data storage interface  226 .  
         [0066]    An update stb response message  508  is returned to the customer service center  122  (and/or billing system), providing pass information or, when the message is invalid and/or no match is found, fail information.  
         [0067]    The provisioning manager  104  next forwards a modify (activate) subscriber message  512  to the pre-registration server  117 . The modify (activate) subscriber message  512  includes the subscriber identification data.  
         [0068]    After verifying the contents of the messages, the pre-registration server  117  updates its data base (not shown) in response to the messages, and forwards a modify subscriber and household message  516  containing the subscriber identification information to the corresponding service server infrastructure  118  serving the subscriber. The infrastructure  118  verifies the contents of the message, and, if properly verified, a server in the infrastructure  118  further initiates transactions with external service providers (e-mail server, calendar server, etc.) to activate access to those services by users associated with the subscriber&#39;s account. Each service responds with a completion message. When all completion messages are successfully received, the server updates the infrastructure database (not shown) by marking the subscriber as active. The infrastructure  118  then forwards a success message  520  to the pre-registration server  117  acknowledging receipt of the message and activation of the subscriber and associated users in all appropriate databases of service providers.  
         [0069]    The server  117  forwards the modify subscriber (activate) response message  524  to the provisioning manager  104  and further provides an indication whether the success message  520  was verified (pass or fail information).  
         [0070]    Upon receipt of the message, the manager  104  matches the response against the message  512  originally sent and forwards an update subscriber message  528  to data storage via interface  226 . In response, the users associated with the subscriber are marked as active. In one configuration, the manager  104  then returns a “success” message (not shown) to the customer service center  122  and/or billing system  114 .  
         [0071]    While this invention has been described in conjunction with the specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, preferred embodiments of the invention as set forth herein are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. By way of example, the ordering or sequence of the steps may be reversed or rearranged in an order other than that set forth above. Steps may be omitted from the provisioning process. ITV network components described above can be omitted or replaced by other ITV network components. Moreover, the teachings of the present invention are not limited to ITV networks but are extendible to any network offering good(s) or service(s) to subscribers or nonsubscribers. These and other changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.