Abstract:
A method, system and apparatus for location relevant directory assistance through a PSTN. The method can include receiving a directory assistance request from a calling party over the PSTN and retrieving an address for the calling party from the PSTN. Location relevant directory information can be identified based upon the retrieved address. Subsequently, the directory assistance request can be handled using the identified location relevant directory information. The method further can include the steps of prompting the calling party with the identified location relevant directory information. In response, a selection from the calling party from among the identified location relevant directory information can be received from the calling party. Consequently, the responding step can be performed using the selection. Alternatively, the responding step can be performed without location restriction if the calling party does not select from among the identified location relevant directory information.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Statement of the Technical Field  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to delivering directory assistance services to a telephone subscriber, and more particularly to providing location relevant directory assistance services in a public switched telephone network (PSTN).  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     The intelligent network of today bears little semblance to the PSTN of old. In fact, the term “intelligence” has little to do with the operation of the conventional PSTN. Rather, the conventional PSTN of old incorporates a massive complex of switching matrices and transport trunks that, through the electronic equivalent of “brute force”, forge the interconnections necessary to call completion. More particularly, for decades for every call processed the PSTN relied upon each successive switch to route a voice signal to the next. Still, the modern volume of calls processed within the conventional PSTN demands a faster, more streamlined approach to call routing.  
         [0005]     To overcome the elements of the brute force aspect of the conventional PSTN, physically separate signaling networks have been grafted upon the transport and switching PSTN elements to oversee call set-up and billing. These “out-of-band” adjuncts speed routing data and commands directly to the switches involved, establishing all the necessary links prior to the actual transmission of a call. Consequently, with “out-of-band” signaling the PSTN has become “conscious” of the operations it is to perform prior to their execution. As a result, the PSTN has become a more flexible beast, capable even of substantial logic.  
         [0006]     The development of the “out-of-band” protocol, Signaling System 7 (SS7), has led to the widespread deployment of intelligent network technology. In SS7, signaling links transmit routing packets between switches. Consequently, specialized SS7 Signaling Transfer Points (STPs) appeared to shepherd routing messages from local switches onto a high-capacity packet switches for distribution to other switches, STPs and call-related databases, such as the Line Information Database (LIDB), the Local Number Portability (LNP) database, the Toll Free Calling database and other databases containing additional call routing instructions. And, so, the agility of high-speed computer networking began exerting control over the raw power of the PSTN.  
         [0007]     The marriage of convenience between SS7 and the PSTN soon produced the Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN)—an architecture where centralized databases control call processing. Logic ported via STPs to select switches now have become widely distributed throughout the network. AIN-capable switches also have begun to function as interactive signaling-platforms. Equipped with resident software triggers, AIN capable switches now can halt a call in progress long enough to query Service Control Points (SCPs)—databases containing service logic and subscriber information—which can provide instruction as to how to route, monitor, or terminate the call. The PSTN of today now effectively includes long-term memory as well as intelligence. Accordingly, the modern local exchange carrier holds the means to deploy such advanced telecommunications features such as telephone number portability, wireless roaming, call waiting and a host of other subscriber options.  
         [0008]     The LIDB is a database configured for coupling to the PSTN through an SCP. The LIDB typically includes amorphous records arranged to store information regarding telephone callers, such as the name of the caller, the address of the caller, billing information for the caller, and the like. By storing invariable information regarding the caller, such as the name, address and billing method, many intelligent telephonic services can be provided over the PSTN through a simple query to the LIDB. In this regard, several local exchange carriers have deployed independent LIDB access services to facilitate the deployment of intelligent telephonic services which can exploit the invariant information stored within the LIDB.  
         [0009]     Despite the wealth of information associated with a telephone caller stored in the LIDB, the LIDB seems to remain an untapped resource suitable only for advanced telephony billing applications. Accordingly, many conventional inconveniences remain prevalent in the world of the call center. For instance, in a directory assistance system, generally a calling party can be prompted for a preferred locale prior to conducting a lookup for a specified party. The specified locale can be used to limit the lookup to particular numbers falling within the specified locale. Of course, in many cases the caller will not know off-hand a suitable locale for limiting the locale. Moreover, in select circumstances, multiple phone numbers may exist for a lookup and a geographically proximate phone number may be preferred.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     The present invention addresses the deficiencies of the art in respect to providing geographically precise directory assistance and provides a novel and non-obvious method, system and apparatus for location relevant directory assistance through the PSTN. In accordance with the present invention, a method for providing location relevant directory assistance in a PSTN can include receiving a directory assistance request from a calling party over the PSTN and retrieving an address for the calling party from the PSTN. Location relevant directory information can be identified based upon the retrieved address. Subsequently, the directory assistance request can be handled using the identified location relevant directory information.  
         [0011]     In a preferred aspect of the invention, the method further can include the steps of prompting the calling party with the identified location relevant directory information. In response, a selection from the calling party from among the identified location relevant directory information can be received from the calling party. Consequently, the responding step can be performed using the selection. Alternatively, the responding step can be performed without location restriction if the calling party does not select from among the identified location relevant directory information.  
         [0012]     A system for providing location relevant directory assistance in a PSTN can include a telephone subscriber database disposed in a switch in the PSTN and a name resolution adapter disposed in the PSTN and coupled to the telephone subscriber database. A directory assistance system further can be disposed externally to the PSTN and communicatively linked to the name resolution adapter over a data communications network. Moreover, a location listing processor can be disposed in the directory assitance system. Notably, the telephone subscriber database can be a LIDB. Also, an interactive voice response system can be disposed in the directory assistance system and configured for interaction with calling parties.  
         [0013]     Additional aspects of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The aspects of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. The embodiments illustrated herein are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown, wherein:  
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a process for providing location relevant directory assistance through a PSTN according to the inventive arrangements;  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of a system for providing location relevant directory assistance utilizing identifying information acquired within the PSTN; and,  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart illustrating a process for providing location relevant directory assistance in the system of  FIG. 2 .  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]     The present invention is a method, system and apparatus for location relevant directory assistance. In accordance with the present invention, the location of a calling party can be determined in the PSTN. Using the location of the calling party, lookup requests can be constrained to phone numbers associated with the location of the calling party. In this regard, the lookup requests can be constrained to a specific locale, or to locales within proximity to the locale of the calling party. In this way, more pertinent, relevant information can be provided to the calling party as part of a directory assistance request by relying upon known and accessible locale information disposed within the PSTN.  
         [0019]     In further illustration,  FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a process for providing location relevant directory assistance through a PSTN according to the inventive arrangements. Specifically, a caller  130  can be coupled telephonically to a directory assistance system  140  by way of the PSTN  110 . The directory assistance system  140  can be configured to process lookup requests for callers and to provide telephone numbers in response to the lookup requests. Preferably, the lookup requests and responses can be provided audibly through the operation of an interactive voice response system  145 , although the invention is not so limited to the precise arrangement shown in  FIG. 1  to include the interactive voice response system  145 . Finally, the directory assistance system  140  can include a location listing processor configured to constrain lookup operations in the directory assistance system based upon address information.  
         [0020]     In operation, as the caller  130  initiates the telephone call in the PSTN  110 , a name resolution adapter  180  disposed within the PSTN  110  can capture caller identifying data  190  for the telephone used by the caller  130  in order to identify the caller  130 . Using the caller identifying data  190 , the name resolution adapter  180  can produce specific identification data for the caller  130 , for instance a name, address, phone number, credit card number, or account number, to name a few. In this regard, the name resolution adapter  180  can query one or more databases disposed within the PSTN  110 , including a LIDB, to obtain the specific identification data based upon the caller identifying data  190 .  
         [0021]     When the specific identification data has been acquired, the specific information can be encapsulated in a caller information message  170  and provided to an enterprise application  160  associated with the directory assistance system  140  over the data communications network  120 . Concurrently, the call between the caller  130  and the directory assistance system  140  can be established over the PSTN  110 . Importantly, using the caller information  170 , a call address  155  can be determined and provided to the location listing processor  150 . The location listing processor  150  in turn can constrain any lookup requested by the caller  130  to phone numbers at addresses in proximity to the locale indicated by the caller address  150 .  
         [0022]     To further illustrate the preferred embodiments of the present invention,  FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of a system for providing location relevant directory assistance using identifying information acquired within the PSTN. As shown in FIG.  2 , a system for providing location relevant directory assistance using identifying information acquired within a PSTN can include one or more telephonic switches  230  coupled to one another within a PSTN  200 . Each of the switches  230  can be communicatively linked to a service switching point (SSP)  220  coupled to an out-of-band signaling network comprised of a multiplicity of signal transfer points (STP)  210 . Each STP  210  can be cross-connected to other ones of the STPs  210  in the PSTN so as to form an inter-network of switched communications links to support out-of-band signaling as is well-known in the art.  
         [0023]     One or more switchless nodes each referred to as an SCP  240  can be communicatively linked to the out-of-band signaling network via one of the STPs  210  as is well-known in the art and embodied within the SS 7  signaling network. The SCP  240  can be coupled to one or more databases  260 A,  260 B,  260   n  which can be configured to store invariant data such as the name, address and billing information for callers. For example, the databases  260 A,  260 B,  260   n  can include a local number portability (LNP) database, a LIDB, or any other such database which can be accessed within an SCP  240 .  
         [0024]     Notably, as is well-known in the art, the information stored within the databases  260 A,  260 B,  260   n  can be stored in amorphous records in nothing more than a flat file database, an object database or a relational database. In any event, through the communicative linkages between the SCP  240 , the STP  210  and the databases  260 A,  260 B,  260   n,  transaction capabilities application part (TCAP) messages can be processed in the SCP  240  to access the invariant data in the databases  260 A,  260 B,  260   n.  In this way, calls processed through the switch  230  can access logic in the SCP  240  and data in the databases  260 A,  260 B,  260   n  through the SSP  220 .  
         [0025]     Notably, a name resolution adapter  250  can be coupled to the out-of-band network comprised of inter-connected STPs  210  to access data and logic through the SCP  240  through an exchange of messages such as TCAP messages. The name resolution adapter  250  can include a gateway node  250  having both an interface to the PSTN  200  and also an interface to a data communications network  270  such as an Internet Protocol driven network. In this way, data received through the PSTN  200 , and more particularly from accessing the databases  260 A,  260 B,  260   n  in the PSTN  200  can be passed within IP packets to an enterprise application  280  over the data communications network  270 . Also, as the enterprise application  280  can be coupled to a switch  230  within the PSTN  200  through an associated adapter, data disposed within the databases  260 A,  260 B,  260   n  regarding an incoming call can be processed within the enterprise application  280 .  
         [0026]     In operation, the name resolution adapter  250  can monitor calls placed to a switch  230  to which the enterprise application  280  has been coupled. As calls are received in the switch  230 , the name resolution adapter  250  can receive respective TCAP messages from the STP  210  coupled to the switch  230 . Using the TCAP messages, the name resolution adapter  250  can create additional TCAP messages to query the LIDB  260 B to identify the callers. For each TCAP message querying the LIDB  260 B, the LIDB  260 B can return the identity of the caller, for instance the caller&#39;s name, or other identification such as caller&#39;s address. Once the name resolution adapter  250  has received the identity of the caller from the LIDB  260 B, the name resolution adapter  250  can transmit the identity to the enterprise application  280  over the data communications network  270 . The enterprise application  280  subsequently can correlate the caller identity received from the name resolution adapter  250  with a corresponding call received through the switch  230 .  
         [0027]     In a preferred aspect of the present invention, location listing logic  290  can be coupled to the enterprise application  280 . The location listing logic  290  can be configured to resolve the location of a caller based upon location information disposed within the identity information provided by the name resolution adapter  250 . In further illustration,  FIG. 3  is a flow chart illustrating a process for delivering location relevant directory assistance in the system of  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , beginning in block  310 , an incoming call can be detected in the PSTN and processed in the directory assistance system. In this regard, the incoming call can be processed in a switch in the PSTN in block  320  concurrently with the connection of the incoming call to the called party in block  340 .  
         [0028]     Specifically, within the PSTN, in block  320  caller information can be determined for the incoming call through a query to one or more databases in the PSTN. The caller information can include location information for the incoming call such as an address of the telephone subscriber associated with the telephone number originating the incoming call. In block  330 , the caller information can be passed to the called party over a data communications network. By comparison, within the directory assistance system in block  350  a directory assistance request can be received and in block  360 , the caller information received from the PSTN can be parsed to extract the address of the calling party.  
         [0029]     In block  370 , locations relevant to the address can be determined through a suitable query to a data store of locations, including locations proximate to or associated with the address. As such, in block  380  the caller can be prompted to select zero or more of the determined locations in processing the directory assistance request. In decision block  390 , if the caller does not choose to limit the directory assistance request in response to the prompt, the directory assistance request can be processed normally without restriction in block  400 . Otherwise, in block  410  the directory assistance request can be processed utilizing the selected locations. For instance, only those phone numbers associated with addresses within the selected locations may be presented to the caller.  
         [0030]     The present invention can be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. An implementation of the method and system of the present invention can be realized in a centralized fashion in one computer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system, or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein, is suited to perform the functions described herein.  
         [0031]     A typical combination of hardware and software could be a general purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein. The present invention can also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which, when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods.  
         [0032]     Computer program or application in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form. Significantly, this invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and accordingly, reference should be had to the following claims, rather than to the foregoing specification, as indicating the scope of the invention.