Intelligent network telephone call processing is now quite common. For example, when an "800" or "toll free" number is dialed, the call can be routed to a regular telephone number, and the charge for that call is billed to the called number. In order to process the call, a database is queried to determine or define the actual destination for the call. Routing or other handling of the call can thus can involve not only the dialed number, but also various other factors, such as the location where the call originated, information indicating the history of the caller, the day of the week or the time of day that the call is being made, and so on. An example of network based intelligent call routing is contained in U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,860 issued to R. P. Weber on Mar. 4, 1980. Many details of the intelligent network and the features offered in it are set forth in special Report SR-NPL-001623, issued by Bellcore in June 1990 and entitled "Advanced Intelligent Network Release 1 Network and Operations Plan". Other information relating to the intelligent network may be found in the Q.1200 series of recommendations prepared by the International Telecommunications Union Telecommunications Standards Sector (ITU-TSS, formerly known as CCITT), and in an article entitled "AT&T's Global Intelligent Network Architecture" by Kettler et al. in the AT&T Technical Journal, September/October 1992, at page 30.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds