Gateway Caller ID Number Mapping for Billing Integrity
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Solution Overview
Problem
In telecommunications systems, controlling the external-facing telephone number for caller identification can conflict with billing and fraud protection features, particularly when substituting a customized number for the original number.
Innovation Solution
A gateway device in a VOIP communications system uses a mapping between non-account and account phone numbers to insert the account phone number into a header of the message, allowing automatic number identification to function without interfering with caller identification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a customized external-facing number is substituted for the original telephone number in caller identification, then the recipient sees a recognizable or useful number (such as a 1-800 number), but billing processing and fraud protection features that require access to the original number are interfered with
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the telephone number information into two distinct parts: the original account-related number and the customized non-account number. The gateway device maintains both numbers separately, using the original number for billing and fraud protection while presenting the customized number for caller identification. This segmentation allows each number to serve its specific purpose without interfering with the other.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway device acts as an intermediary between the telecommunications provider and the recipient. It receives the original account-related number from the provider, maps it to a customized non-account number, and presents the customized number to the recipient. Simultaneously, it maintains the mapping relationship to allow retrieval of the original number when needed for billing or fraud protection, thus mediating between the conflicting requirements.
2Ease of operation
If the original telephone number is replaced with a customized number in call message information, then caller identification is improved, but access to the non-customized number for system features is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device creates a mapping relationship that essentially copies the association between the original account-related number and the customized non-account number. This mapping table stores both numbers and their correspondence, allowing the system to work with the customized number while preserving access to the original number through the mapping copy. The original number is not lost but rather preserved in the mapping structure.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for improving caller identification in telecommunications services based on general-purpose networks are described. A gateway device may process invitation messages sent from a telephone via a private branch exchange, in which the private branch exchange has replaced the number of the telephone with a customized number. The gateway device may determine that the customized number is mapped to an account-related number, and insert that number into a field of the invitation messages that is examined by a telecommunications provider and associated trunking services for account-related purposes.