Unified IVR Protocol Interface for Multi-Network Charging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing IVR systems are limited to operating in single telecommunications networks and charging systems, restricting their reuse across diverse networks and charging environments, which increases costs for service providers due to the need for multiple network technologies and charging systems.
Innovation Solution
An interactive voice response call control system that interfaces with multiple telecommunications networks, including wireline, CDMA, GSM, and VoIP, using a protocol interface to convert control messages into a common set, and includes online and offline charging interfaces to support real-time and batch processing, allowing seamless operation across different networks and charging systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If an IVR system is designed to work with a single network protocol and charging system, then the system design is simple and easier to implement, but the system cannot be reused across multiple networks and charging environments, increasing deployment costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a protocol conversion module as an intermediary component that translates between diverse network protocols (ISUP, SIP, H.248, etc.) and a unified internal protocol. This mediator layer enables the IVR system to interface with multiple networks without requiring separate IVR instances for each network, thus improving adaptability while managing complexity through standardized translation mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The IVR system is designed with universal interfaces that can handle multiple network types (wireline, wireless, VoIP) and charging systems (online, offline) through a common architecture. The system provides multi-functional capability to serve diverse networks using a single unified platform, reducing the need for multiple specialized systems.
2Adaptability or versatility
If an IVR system supports multiple charging systems (online and offline), then the system becomes more versatile for different service providers, but the system complexity increases making it harder to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The charging functionality is segmented into separate, independently configurable modules for online charging and offline charging. Each charging module can be enabled or disabled based on the specific network requirements, allowing the system to maintain versatility while simplifying operations by only activating the necessary charging type for each deployment scenario.
3Reliability
If separate IVR systems are deployed for each network technology, then each system can be optimized for its specific network, but the total cost for service providers increases due to multiple deployments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple network-specific IVR systems into a single unified IVR platform that can handle multiple network protocols simultaneously. By consolidating wireline, wireless, and VoIP IVR functionalities into one system with protocol conversion capabilities, the solution reduces the total number of IVR systems from multiple network-specific instances to a single multi-functional platform.
Data Source
AI summary
An interactive voice response system (102) includes a protocol interface (134) that is adapted to communicate with a plurality of divergent telecommunications networks for voice communications (104, 106, 108, 110). These networks are, for example, a wireline telecommunications network, a CDMA network, a GSM network, and a voice over IP network. A controller (136) is coupled to the protocol interface to receive a plurality of common call control messages from, and to supply a plurality of common call control messages to, the protocol interface. The protocol interface converts control messages from each one of the plurality of divergent telecommunications networks into the plurality of common call control messages for the controller. The controller generates and receives the common call control messages to cause a prompt and collect interaction with a caller that is using a device that is coupled to one of the networks. The common call control messages generated by the controller are converted by the protocol interface into control messages that are appropriate for the particular network that is to receive the control message. That is, the common call control messages are converted to the network's protocol.