Patent Grant
7333810
The present invention relates to a method, system and apparatus for provisioning services in a telecommunications network such as a wireless telecommunications services, or the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to provisioning new subscribers, or new services for existing subscribers, within a telecommunications network.
Provisioning a new subscriber on a telecommunications network requires that the subscriber be allocated network resources (ports, bandwidth, voice mail boxes, a telephone number, etc.) and granted permission to access and use the network and/or service.
Provisioning a new subscriber can be an expensive undertaking for a telecommunications carrier and an inconvenient process to the new subscriber. For example, to activate traditional telephone service, a subscriber needs to visit a service center or call the telephone carrier from an already established line to request the service, provide billing and credit information, select optional telephone services like call forwarding or call waiting, and find out what the assigned telephone number for the new line will be. The carrier needs to operate service and/or call-centers and have agents to collect and manually enter this subscriber information into their systems. In all likelihood, activities by several different employees will be required to actually provision the service.
For a wireless system, such as a PCS or cellular phone, the process of provisioning a new subscriber is even more complicated. A new subscriber first purchases the cellular phone, typically at a service kiosk or sales outlet. At this time, the vendor has to collect billing and credit information and the wireless telephone is programmed with its telephone number and service features. The serial number, EIN or other identifier of the wireless telephone is programmed into the wireless network to allow that particular telephone to access the network.
A number of different innovations attempting to improve the process of provisioning new telephony services are known.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,191 (Gerszberg) describes a method of downloading provisioning parameters into a wireless telephone set. The method uses dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) tones transmitted from the base station to program in authorization codes and/or to activate new features. While this system could reduce some of the cost of provisioning, it is limited in practice to provisioning services and features which are already programmed into the wireless telephone set.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,505 (Norman, et al.) teaches a method to reduce a carrier's cost by programming a sequence of provisioning questions into the wireless telephone set itself. Upon activation, the telephone set prompts the subscriber for information based upon the programming. The wireless telephone then transmits the subscriber's answers to the wireless base station. While this method may obviate some of the costs of activation, the carrier's ability to change or update its activation methods rapidly is lost since the software to implement the process is preprogrammed into telephones already out in the market.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,073 (Sammarco) describes a wireless telephone set that is operable in two modes: an operations mode and a setup mode. During setup mode, a user can enter authentication information into the phone set that will enable the telephone to be used in operations mode. Again, this method restricts the carrier's ability to change its activation methods as the activation prompts and processes are pre-programmed and stored in the phones themselves.
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) has published IS-683 (also known as PN-3889), a standard to allow over-the-air service provisioning (OTASP). OTASP works by temporarily provisioning a wireless telephone set to allow a subscriber to call a customer service center where long-term provisioning can be obtained. IS-683 allows carriers to centralize their operations, but still requires agent involvement in the activation process as the process merely mimics the connected land-line process.
Each of the above prior art techniques suffers from disadvantages in the efficiency, flexibility and/or cost of implementing the technique. It is therefore desired to have a system, apparatus and method to provision telecommunications services in a more efficient, flexible, simple (to the end user) and/or cost effective manner.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel system, apparatus and method for provisioning services in a telecommunications network which obviates or mitigates at least some of the above-identified disadvantages of the prior art.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a telecommunication system, comprising of at least one base station connected to a telecommunication network, a plurality of subscriber stations each cooperating with the base station to establish a connection between a user device operably connected to the subscriber station and the telecommunication network. The base station is also connected with a subscriber database to maintain the subscriber records that contain provisioning information for services, features and account information, and an interactive response system operable to create and modify a subscriber record in the subscriber database in response to input received over the connection from a subscriber using the user device to select services, features and account information for the subscriber station.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a telecommunications system operable to download program code from the base station to the subscriber stations. The program code can update existing code or provide new features to the subscriber station.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for configuring a subscriber record representing services, features and account information for a subscriber station in a telecommunication system, comprising the steps of:
Preferably, the interactive response session can configure service for more than one phone line upon a call.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing technical support to the user, comprising the steps of:
One aspect of the present invention relates to a wireless local loop system that can provision services or features to a user by having the subscriber station automatically communicate with the base station to set up an IVR-based activation call. During the activation call session, the subscriber can set up his or her services and options. Also during the activation call session, transmission reception information can be transmitted between the subscriber station and the base station and this transception information can be used to provide technical assistance to the user via the outputs of the IVR system.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:
a shows a flowchart of a method for connecting a subscriber to a network, with reference to a subscriber station, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
b shows a flowchart of a method for connecting a subscriber to a network with reference to a base station, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
a shows a flowchart of a method for connecting a subscriber to a network, with reference to a subscriber station, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
b shows a flowchart of a method for connecting a subscriber to a network, with reference to a base station, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
Referring now to
While the following discussion concentrates on a wireless (radio-based) local loop telecommunications system, the present invention can be utilized with other advanced local loop telecommunications systems, such as those employing DSL over PSTN land lines or cable modem (CATV) links and such systems are not intended to be excluded from the scope of the invention.
In a present embodiment, each subscriber station 24 is not intended to be used as a mobile device and is instead used at a fixed location, generally within a subscriber's premises. However, it is also contemplated that the present invention can be applicable, with appropriate modifications, to nomadic (moved between uses) and/or mobile (moved during use) subscriber stations.
Referring now to
As shown in
Also, in the present embodiment, subscriber station 24 contains four telephony ports 120, with only one being shown in
Radio link 36, which can be divided into various communications channels, can be established between a base station 40 and one or more of a plurality of subscriber stations 24. In a present embodiment, radio link 36 is a synchronized wireless link, employing a slotted frame structure similar to that described in the channel definition documents of the 3GPP organization, and available at their web site www.3gpp.org and from various other sources.
Utilizing one or more communication channels, radio link 36 allows information to be transferred between base station 40 and respective subscriber stations 24, as needed. In a present embodiment, the radio-communication multiple access technique employed over radio link 36 is wideband CDMA, however, other types of techniques, such as GSM, FDMA, OFDM, or TDMA are also within the scope of the invention. In the present embodiment, communications over radio link 36 are achieved via packets. The particular implementation/type of packet communication employed is not particularly limited, and can include IP (with TCP, UDP and/or RTP) and/or modifications thereof, ATM or any other implementations as will occur to those of skill in the art.
System 20 can have additional base stations 40, as desired, and communications between multiple base stations 40 and subscriber stations 24 can be managed using known handoff techniques. Other known wireless architectures can be employed. For example, base station 40 can be multi-sectored, each sector being defined by directional antennas, and each sector comprising a different reception footprint, thus allowing reuse of available radio spectrum between sectors serviced from a single base station 40.
Returning now to
Subscriber database 48 can consists of any commonly known database system that can be employed to store provisioning information for services, features and account information in subscriber records. Subscriber database 48 is capable of providing database services to one or more of a plurality of base stations 40. An example of a known database system would be a Sun Microsystems E450 computer running Oracle 8i database software. Other database configurations will be apparent to those of skill in the art. Database services are provided using known methods and protocols, such as LDAP or XML Other protocols are within the scope of the invention.
Code server 52 consists of a computer operable to contain and propagate program code changes and/or additions in system 20. Code server 52 is capable of propagating code changes and/or new code to one or more of a plurality of base stations 40. Code is transmitted to base station 40 over backhaul network 56. An example of a code server 52 is a Sun Microsystems Ultra Sparc 5 computer, although other code server 52 configurations will be apparent to those of skill in the art.
It is contemplated that a single subscriber database 48 and/or code server 52 can serve multiple base stations 40 in system 20, or that subscriber database 48 and/or code server 52 can be replicated and/or distributed within system 20 as desired.
Backhaul network 56 interconnects base station 40 with subscriber database 48, code server 52 and IVR system 44 in any suitable manner. Backhaul network 56 can interface and interconnect to the PSTN via a PSTN gateway (not shown) and/or to a packet switched data network, such as the Internet (not shown) via an appropriate router. Depending upon the amount of data traffic to be transferred, backhaul network 56 can comprise one or more T1, T3, E1, E3, OC3, microwave, satellite or other suitable telecommunication links connected by one or more routers or other types of networking equipment, as will occur to those of skill in the art.
It is contemplated that, with the present invention, a subscriber station 24 can be sold to a new subscriber without requiring provisioning for the services to that subscriber to be performed at the time of sale. This allows, for example, a subscriber station 24 to be purchased by a new subscriber from a mass marketing outlet, or department store, or ordered online and delivered by a parcel delivery service, etc.
In accordance with a present embodiment of the invention, a method of provisioning a subscriber to system 20 will now be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in
Referring now to
The method advances to step 304 where subscriber station 24 transmits a message announcing its presence to any base station 40 that can service it via a predefined channel of radio link 36. The announcement message contains the serial number, or other unique identifier, of subscriber station 24. The actual method of acquiring base station 40 to service subscriber station 24 and the predefined channel structure employed to transmit the announcement is not particularly limited and, in a present embodiment of the invention, uses a system such as that taught in the above-mentioned 3GPP system and its RACH channel. Other methods for subscriber station 24 to announce its presence to base station 40 will occur to those of skill in the art.
The method advances to step 308 where subscriber station 24 checks to see if it receives an appropriate response from base station 40 within a predetermined time out period. If no appropriate response is received before the predetermined time out period elapses, the method advances to step 316 where appropriate remedial steps can be taken.
If an appropriate response is received, the process proceeds to step 312 where service configuration for the subscriber begins. The method for subscriber configuration is described in more detail with reference to
At step 316, subscriber station 24 checks to see if a predetermined maximum number of connection attempts have occurred since its initialization (at step 300). If the predetermined maximum number of connection attempts have occurred, the method moves to step 320.
At step 320, attempts to connect subscriber station 24 to base station 40 have failed and the method ends. It is contemplated that subscriber station 24 would indicate this failure to the subscriber by triggering a visual display in LEDs 132. It is also contemplated that the method of indicating a connection failure in step 320 can be by means of an audio signal in subscriber station 24. It is contemplated that another alternative is for subscriber station 24 to ring telephony device 28 and play a prerecorded message (stored in storage unit 116) upon pickup of telephony device 28.
If, at step 320 it is determined that a predetermined number of connection attempts have not occurred, the method returns to step 304. Subscriber station 24 will retransmit a message announcing its presence to any base station 40 that can service it via a predefined channel of radio link 36. It is presently contemplated that known techniques of improving transmission characteristics can be used after a preselected number of connection attempts have failed to increase the likelihood of the message to be properly received by the base station 40. An example of a known technique of improving transmission characteristics would be to increase the transmission power of the signal and this power increase can be employed, for example, after four failed connection attempts. Other examples of improved transmission characteristics include changing modulation schemes (e.g.,—from 16-QAM to QPSK) increasing the redundancy provided by error correcting codes (e.g., from a ⅔ code rate to a ¼ code rate), etc.
Referring now to
The method advances to step 364. If an announcement message is received at base station 24, the method moves to step 368 and the service configuration process is initiated. If no announcement message is received, the method returns to step 360 and the monitoring process continues.
It is contemplated that aspects of the method, as described in
The method advances to step 404 where base station 40 queries subscriber database 48 via backhaul network 56 with the serial number, or other unique identifier received in the subscriber station's announcement message. If the serial number already exists within the records of subscriber database 48 (indicating that this is not a new subscriber), the method advances to step 408 where base station 40 retrieves the subscriber's profile information from subscriber database 48's records via backhaul network 56 and the method continues at step 440.
If the serial number does not exist within the records of subscriber database 48 (indicating a new subscriber), then the method advances to step 412 where base station 40 opens a channel on radio link 36 which can be a bi-directional channel or which can be a downlink-only channel, in this latter case uplink communication from subscriber station 24 being accomplished with the previously discussed predefined channel, RACH or other channel.
At step 414, base station 40 checks over radio link 36 to see if the program code on subscriber station 24 is up-to-date and complete for the basic services provided by system 20. According to the present embodiment of the invention, the code on subscriber station 24 can be checked according to any established criteria, such as according to the code's version number, time stamp, and/or library modules present on the file system or in memory of subscriber station 24. If base station 40 determines that code needs to be added or modified, for example by comparing the appropriate criteria to tables in code server 52, the method advances to step 416. If not, the method advances to step 420.
While the flowchart of
In step 416, base station 40 transmits code updates, patches and/or new code to subscriber station 24 over radio link 36. In the present embodiment, the code for subscriber station 24 is provided by code server 52 via backhaul network 56. Examples of code that may be transferred include, but are not particularly limited to, new audio codecs and filters, software patches, firmware upgrades, audio recordings and prompts, and new telephony features. It is contemplated that, if desired, code can be temporarily cached in base station 40's storage unit 216 to reduce network traffic across backhaul network 56. The preferred protocol for data transfer between base station 40 and subscriber station 24 is Internet Protocol (IP), but other suitable protocols are also within the scope of the invention. The integrity of the transferred code can be verified using error detection and/or correction mechanisms that are well known to those of skill in the art, such as CRC's. Once the code has been successfully transmitted and validated, the method advances to step 420.
In step 420, IVR system 44 initiates a call to the new subscriber over radio link 36. Subscriber station 24 transmits a ring signal to telephony device 28, which will commonly be a telephone. Once the receiver on the telephone is picked up, the method advances to step 424. It is contemplated that, if the user does not answer the telephony device 28 within a predetermined time, the call will be aborted and will be re-attempted by base station 40 after a predetermined period of time elapsed.
In step 424, an IVR session is initiated between telephony device 28 and IVR system 44. Questions and/or instructions are transmitted from a programmed script in IVR system 44 to telephony device 28 and subscriber responses, in the form of DTMF tones generated on telephony device 28, are transmitted back to IVR system 44. Using these subscriber responses, IVR system 44 is able to generate a subscriber record for the new subscriber. The type of questions asked by IVR system 44 are not particularly limited, and can include, by way of example, topics such as credit card numbers, mailing address, and desired subscription features.
As an example of an IVR session, IVR system 44 can first greet the user and announce the identity of the network, i.e. “Welcome to the ACME Communications Network”. Then the session will prompt the user for account setup information such as the user's name and the mailing address and/or billing information. One possible script could have the user first input their credit card number which would then be validated (at step 428). After the card number has been validated, the user would be prompted to see if they wished to use the same billing address as on the credit card. Once the account set up information has been obtained, the IVR session will proceed to configure subscription features, such as the number of different lines the user wishes to subscribe to, to select the telephone numbers for those lines, to select the desired services and features for each of those lines, etc.
The different types of subscription features that can be configured are not particularly limited and can include one or more of a plurality of the following options: voice quality service levels; data rate service levels; ringer tone selection; ringer volume control; time-of-day ringer volume control; voice mail; call waiting; call display; personal caller line identity (CLID); CLID suppression; telephone number selection; selection of public or private telephone listing; call forwarding; and many others. For example, IVR system 44 can provide the following, “To select Call Waiting as a feature, press ‘1’ now”, followed by, “To select Call Display, press ‘1’ now”. Other options or scripts are within the scope of the invention. Another example would be IVR system 44 playing a variety of musical ‘ringer tones’, after which, the user could select his or her preferred ringer tone.
It is also contemplated that the IVR system 44 can provide assistance with new subscribers setting up their hardware or configuring their services, as described below with reference to
IVR system 44 can use either a linear or branching progression of its messages. For example, the user could press the ‘*’ key to return to the beginning of the “Feature Selection menu” or press the ‘#’ key to exit the menu and finish the call. It is further contemplated that IVR system 44 can redirect calls to a human service agent if desired or required. When the program on IVR system 44 is complete, the method advances to step 428, after providing a suitable message to the user indicating, for example, that the configuration process has been successfully completed.
In step 428, IVR system 44 transmits the new user profile information via backhaul network 56 to subscriber database 48, which updates its records. It is contemplated that the timing of this step is not particularly limited and can occur later in the method or simultaneously with the responses being entered in step 424. It is further contemplated that subscriber database 48 could validate the data received, such as checking area codes and addresses, or performing credit card authorization checks. Other types of data validation are within the scope of the invention.
The method advances to step 432, where subscriber database 48 checks to see if the new user profile is complete and all service configuration data has been successfully gathered. If the profile is complete and the service configuration data is correct, the method then advances to step 436. If either condition is not met, the method returns to step 424 to continue the IVR session. It is contemplated that, upon returning to step 420 IVR system 44 will ask questions specifically directed to completing the missing or incorrect user profile information rather than restarting the IVR session from the beginning.
Once the configuration process is determined at step 432 to be complete, at step 436 IVR system 44 terminates its call with telephony device 28 and the method advances to step 440.
In step 440, base station 40 is now ready to receive or accept transmissions from subscriber station 24 in accordance with the service provider's rules set for the subscriber's record and the method of service configuration is now complete.
While the embodiments discussed above relate to a presently preferred method for provisioning a subscriber, it is contemplated that variations in the order of steps and the specific steps and processes for provisioning a subscriber will occur to those of skill in the art and that such variations do not depart from the scope of the present invention.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a method of connecting a subscriber station 24 to base station 40 will now be discussed with reference to the flowcharts shown in
Specifically, referring now to
The method advances to step 504 where subscriber station 24 monitors a predefined channel or channels of one or more detected base stations 40 for welcome messages. The actual method of monitoring a predefined channel, or channels, for welcome messages is not particularly limited and, in a present embodiment of the invention, a software process, running on microprocessor-assembly 112 of subscriber station 24 will listen, after start up, for announcement messages transmitted on an appropriate channel.
The method advances to step 508 where a check is performed to determine if a welcome message is received at subscriber station 24. If a message has been received, the method moves to step 512. If no welcome message has been received, the method returns to step 504 and the monitoring process continues.
At step 512, subscriber station 24 opens a channel over radio link 36 with base station 40 and transmits an announcement message in response to the welcome message from the base station. In its response message, subscriber station 24 provides its serial number or another unique identifier.
The method then moves to step 516 and the service configuration process, as described in
Referring now to
The method advances to step 564. If base station 40 receives an appropriate response from subscriber station 24 within a predetermined period of time, the method advances to step 568. If not, the method returns to step 560.
At step 568, a communications channel is established with subscriber station 24 over radio link 36. The service configuration process begins, as described by the method described in
One advantage provided by the method of
A method in accordance with another embodiment of the invention is shown in the flow-chart of
The method advances to step 604 where, at a selected point during the IVR session, an IVR transception instruction is played, indicating that the tranception assistance process will now commence.
The method then advances to step 608 where subscriber station 24 and the base station 40 measure the quality of the transception signal. Suitable means of measuring transception quality are known and any suitable metric for transception-quality can be used. For example, signal-to-noise ratio, emitted and/or received power level, bit error rate, frame error rate or combinations thereof in the uplink and/or the downlink of radio link 36 can be used.
The method advances to step 612 where the metrics determined by the subscriber station 24 in step 608 are transmitted to base station 40 via radio link 36, and from base station 40 are further transmitted to IVR system 44 along with the metrics determined by base station 40.
The method advances to step 616 where IVR system 44 compares the metrics against thresholds and if the metrics meet or exceed the appropriate threshold then the method advances to step 620. If the metrics taken are below a specified threshold then the method returns to step 604.
For example, the IVR instruction to the user of subscriber station 24 in step 604 could say, “We are presently receiving you at a level of four on a scale of one to ten. A performance improvement will be obtained if you can move your subscriber station to a location where a higher reception level can be achieved. Improvements can typically be obtained when the subscriber station is placed in a higher location, nearer to a window and/or away from large metal objects. Please reposition your subscriber station, press the ‘#’ key and your reception level will be measured again or press ‘*’ to complete this process”.
It is contemplated that IVR system 44 plays the transception instructions in sequence, so that a first transception instruction, describing the process, is played the first time the method advances to step 604, and another transception instruction, such as the example given above, is played the second time the method advances to step 604, and so forth.
At step 620, IVR system 44 transmits a new message to subscriber station 24 indicating that the process has been completed.
As will be apparent to those of skill in the art, additional enhancements can be added to the methods of
It is further contemplated, that as a security measure, a user with an incomplete subscriber profile could still be allowed to call designated numbers, such as for emergency 911 calls, a “test” line to verify unit functionality, or to a customer help line.
It is further contemplated that, as a security measure, when assigning IP addresses in step 400, the assigned IP address can be restricted to limit access to specified destination addresses and that this IP address may be changed to an unrestricted IP address only upon successful completion of the provisioning process.
It is also contemplated that the method of assigning an IP address used by code server 52 could be adaptive to the configuration of the subscriber's data device, in accordance with the standards defined in IP version 6.
It is further contemplated that the creation or updating of a subscriber profile could be completed over the course of more than one IVR session, if the IVR session was terminated prematurely for any reason.
It is further contemplated that during the course of the IVR session, a user would be able to change input methods between a telephony device 28, such as a telephone, and an appropriate data device 32, such as a personal computer or personal digital assistant (PDA), to perform some portion of the service creation process. For example, service creation could begin using an IVR session over a telephone, with the user providing responses via DTMF tones. When the user has entered his or her credit card number, the user could have the option to complete his or her user profile, using a connected personal computer that can open an internet browser to an appropriate URL address, which contains one or more HTML-based forms.
It is further contemplated that the data device 32 used could be a personal computer or PDA for the entirety of the service creation process. The user would attach his or her appropriately configured data device 32 to subscriber station 24 via data port 120. The user would then open an internet browser to an appropriate URL address, which contains one or more HTML-based forms that would collect necessary information, including his or her credit card number.
It is also contemplated that the functionality of subscriber station 24 and telephony device 28 could be combined into a hybrid unit that would be a “smart” phone.
It is contemplated that the method described in
It is further contemplated that the updating of code, described at step 414 and 416 of
It is further contemplated that the updating of code, described at step 414 and 416 could occur for an existing subscriber with a valid subscriber profile and record. For example, code could be downloaded to subscriber station 24 as part of a system-wide service upgrade.
It is further contemplated that if a user does not pick up the phone at step 420, subscriber station 24 could be programmed to play a message on telephony device 28 the next time a user does pick up the phone. This message could provide instructions on how to reconnect with the IVR session, such as by dialing a predetermined number. Other reconstruction instructions are within the scope of the invention.
It is further contemplated that a user can also access IVR system 44 at a later point in order to alter his or her user profile, to add/remove services or to change the billing address or method. For example, a user who had declined gold voice service could later choose to subscribe to that particular service. Other service alterations are within the scope of the invention.
It is further contemplated that IVR system 44 could be augmented by being connected to a call center with live operators. Alternatively, IVR system 44 could be replaced with live operators in a call center.
It is further contemplated that the subscriber features offered during step 424 could extend beyond traditional phone features. For example, users could select their data transfer rates or configure firewall protection for their data device 32. Another example would be to download software for an appropriately configured data device 32 (such as the latest version of an internet browser). Other subscriber features are within the scope of the invention.
It is further contemplated that the method described in step 7 could be adapted to provide assistance in configuring data services over data device 32.
It is further contemplated that the methods of service creation, as described in
It is further contemplated that the ‘listening’ processes used in base station 40 and/or in subscriber station 24 of the system to hear announcement and welcome messages could be event-driven processes rather than active and continuous processes.
It is further contemplated that system 20 could use a combination of the method described in
The above-described embodiments of the invention are intended to be examples of the present invention and alterations and modifications may be effected thereto, by those of skill in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined solely by the claims appended hereto.
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| 2346158 | May 2001 | CA | national |
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| PCT/CA02/00602 | 4/25/2002 | WO | 00 | 4/30/2004 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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| WO02/089511 | 11/7/2002 | WO | A |
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