Patent ID: 7881904

Claim:
A method of quantifying a determination of an operational health of a Telephone Network Switch (TNS), the method being performed by a processor executing computer program instructions, the method comprising: 1) the processor receiving feedback-values, both numerical and non-numerical, relating to the operational health of the TNS from a specific window of time of operation of the TNS, said feedback-values being associated with parameters selected from the group consisting of: (a) internal switch-performance-diagnostics and dial-delay, (b) capacity-utilization of the TNS, (c) preventative-maintenance-routine performance, and (d) demand-maintenance required based on user complaints relating to TNS hardware or software defects; 2) the processor converting all non-numerical feedback-values into a numerical value indicative of the feedback-value; 3) the processor assigning a weight to the numerical value for each feedback-value to reflect a relative importance of the feedback-value in determining the operational health of the TNS; and, 4) the processor calculating an operational-health-value, based on the numerical value for each feedback-value and the assigned weight for each feedback-value, wherein the operational-health-value accounts for at least 80% of an accurate prediction of the operational health of the TNS; 5) wherein the total assigned weight to the feedback-values in each preferred-parameter are in the following ranges: (a) 40-60% for the internal switch-performance-diagnostics and dial-delay, (b) 5-25% for the capacity-utilization of the TNS, (c) up to 20% for the preventative-maintenance-routine performance, and (d) 15-35% for the demand-maintenance required based on user complaints relating to TNS hardware or software defects 6) and wherein the sum of the total assigned weights does not exceed 100%.