System and method for verifying subscriber data records in a telephone system

Abstract

A consistency verification tool performs a consistency check on subscriber data records stored in the cellular telephone system. One such consistency check analyzes subscriber data records in a home location register (HLR) and a billing system to determine the presence of duplicate records. Duplicate records can be stored in a duplicate record file for later analysis. During the duplicate record consistency analysis, the consistency verification tool creates a record list. The record list can be a linked list structure for storing main records and duplicate records in a manner that facilitates identifying families of duplicate records. The consistency verification tool can also perform inter-device consistency checks. For example, the subscriber data stored on the HLR can be compared to the subscriber data stored in the billing system to ensure that the two systems have consistent subscriber data.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 094,641 entitled “System and Method for Verifying Subscriber Data Records in a Telephone System” filed Mar. 12, 2002, which is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 094,614 entitled “System and Method for Ensuring Proper Billing in a Cellular Telephone System” filed Mar. 12, 2002, U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 094,640 entitled “System and Method for Managing CDR Information” filed on Mar. 12, 2002 which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,876,731 on Apr. 5, 2005, and U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 094,642 entitled “System and Method for Generating Computer Code to Facilitate Development of CDR Management Tools” filed on Mar. 12, 2002 which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,951,009 on Sep. 27, 2005, which are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates generally to the field of telephone switching equipment. More specifically, th...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a consistency verification tool for cellular telephone systems that checks for duplicate records and ensures consistent processing of subscriber data between different parts of the system. This helps prevent billing inconsistencies and ensures that the system operates correctly. The tool analyzes subscriber data records in a home location register and billing system and creates a record list to identify duplicate records. It can also compare main records and duplicate records in a linked-list structure or an array structure to identify inconsistent records. The tool can be used to verify consistency of subscriber records stored on both the source device and the target device in a cellular telephone system.

Problems solved by technology

A critical issue facing cellular telephone companies is ensuring appropriate subscriber billing.

Billing errors result in upset customers, and costly allocation of cellular telephone company resources to locate and fix problems leading to billing errors.

As a result, it is apparent that significant problems can arise if the subscriber data stored in the HLR and / or the billing system is inconsistent.

Such inconsistency can arise if, for example, there are duplicate subscriber records for a particular subscriber that indicate the subscriber subscribes to different and inconsistent services.

In addition, billing problems can occur if the data stored in the HLR differs from the subscriber data stored in the billing system for a particular subscriber.

Such use represents a lost revenue opportunity for the service provider.

In addition, this use by the non-paying subscriber represents a drain on resources that could be used by other subscribers.

This situation leads to complaints from subscribers who are billed for services they do not use.

In addition, expensive telephone company resources are required to track, locate and solve the problem.

A significant problem existing in current cellular telephone systems is that there is no convenient way to compare HLR subscriber data with billing data for consistency.

As a result, problems often go undetected unless a customer complains to the telephone company due to the improper billing (which many not happen, for example if the customer is being under-billed).

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