Shared Trunk SIP Identification for Customer-Specific Call Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Network services providers face challenges in accurately identifying communications originating from specific customers when third-party telephony services obfuscate customer information, leading to inefficient use of dedicated trunks and IP addresses.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a customer-specific origination identifier within the SIP header of VoIP calls, allowing network services providers to identify and provide services to customers using shared trunk groups and SBC IP addresses by inserting a unique identifier into the SIP INVITE message.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If dedicated trunk or trunk group is allocated to each customer, then customer identification accuracy is improved, but network resource utilization deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the identification function from the physical trunk resources. Instead of dedicating entire trunks to individual customers, the system inserts customer-specific origination identifiers (such as SIP headers or CLI tags) into the communication stream. This allows multiple customers to share the same physical trunk while maintaining accurate identification through embedded metadata, thereby improving resource utilization without sacrificing identification accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism (origination identifier insertion point) between the third-party service provider and the network services provider. This intermediary adds customer-specific identification information to the communication stream without requiring dedicated physical resources. The identifier acts as a mediator that carries customer identity information through shared trunks, enabling accurate customer identification while allowing multiple customers to share the same network infrastructure.
2Measurement precision
If unique IP address is assigned to each customer's SBC, then customer identification accuracy is improved, but device complexity and resource allocation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the customer identification function from the IP address layer and places it at the application layer through SIP headers or other message-level identifiers. Instead of relying on unique IP addresses to identify customers, the system embeds customer-specific origination identifiers directly in the SIP INVITE messages. This separation allows multiple customers to share the same SBC IP address while maintaining accurate identification through the extracted and embedded identifier field.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the SBC and trunk group universal resources that can serve multiple customers simultaneously. By using shared IP addresses and shared trunks with embedded origination identifiers, the same network infrastructure can handle communications from multiple customers. The origination identifier mechanism provides the differentiating information needed to maintain customer-specific service provisioning while allowing universal resource sharing.
3Loss of energy
If third-party service is used for cost reduction, then operational cost is improved, but customer information visibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by inserting the customer-specific origination identifier at the point where the third-party service provider initiates the call. The identifier is embedded in the SIP INVITE message before the call traverses the network services provider's infrastructure. This preliminary insertion ensures that customer identification information is preserved and visible throughout the entire call flow, even though the calling number itself may be obfuscated by the third-party service.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided to provision a customer-specific identifier in cloud-based communications systems so that when a communication arrives at the network services provider, it is identified as being associated with the customer, even when the customer information would otherwise not be available. In examples, when a customer orders communication services from the network services provider (or associates the communication services with a third-party Internet telephony service), the network services provider provides the customer a unique identifier that is provisioned into that customer's instance of the third-party Internet telephony service. When the customer makes a call using the third-party Internet telephony service, the identifier is inserted into the communication (e.g., in a SIP header). The identifier is extracted when the communication is received at the network services provider and used to identify the customer so that appropriate services, service levels, etc. can be applied to the call.