Patent ID: 7664245

Claim:
A digital phone order management (DPOM) system comprising: a customer order entry module for receiving a customer order comprising customer ordering information for digital phone service from a customer of a cable system operator; a user interface, wherein the user interface is configured to: provide access to the DPOM system to a customer service representative (CSR) user via a CSR user access device, wherein the CSR user access device is configured to: obtain the customer order information from the customer order entry module; process the order; and submit the CSR processed order and the customer order information to an order management module, wherein the order management module is configured to: receive the CSR processed order and the customer order information from the CSR user access device; and associate a customer order status indicative of a submitted status with the CSR processed order and the customer ordering information; provide access to the DPOM system to a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) user via a CLEC user access device, wherein the CLEC access device is configured to: determine whether the CSR processed order having the customer order status submitted is pending; acquire the CSR processed order from the order management module when the CSR processed order having the customer order status submitted is pending; acknowledge acquisition of the CSR processed order to the order management module; change the customer order status from the submitted status to a customer order status indicative of a CLEC processing status of the CSR processed order and report the changed status to the order management module; validate the CLEC processed order; change the customer order status from the CLEC processing status to a customer order status indicative of a validated status when the CLEC processed order is validated and report the changed status to the order management module; and change the customer order status from the CLEC processing status to a customer order status indicative of a not validated status when the CLEC processed order is not validated and report the changed status to the order management module; and provide access to the DPOM system to an installation technician user via an installation technician user access device, wherein the technician user access device is configured to: determine whether the CLEC processed order having the status of CLEC validated is pending; and issue an instruction to provision the customer according to the validated CLEC processed order when the CLEC processed order having the status of CLEC validated is pending.