GB2375457A

GB2375457A - Dial plan for a telephone network which includes classes of service

Info

Publication number: GB2375457A
Application number: GB0111297A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Hamish Allen; Chrisistopher Ge Paulson-Ellis
Original assignee: 3Com Corp
Current assignee: 3Com Corp
Priority date: 2001-05-09
Filing date: 2001-05-09
Publication date: 2002-11-13
Also published as: GB0111297D0

Abstract

A telephone network 10 comprises a plurality of telephones 11 connected together and controlled by a telephone controller 13. The controller controls access of the telephones to at least one type of telephone line 14-16 selected from the following: an internal telephone line; a public service telephone network line; and a tied line. The telephone controller controls access in accordance with a dial plan which includes classes of service. Entries in the dial plan, relating to classes of service or line types, may comprise a descriptive word and the plan may be stored in tabular form.

Description

A TELEPHONE NETWORK AND A DIAL PLAN THEREFOR BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a telephone network and a dial plan for the network. t A dial plan is a numbering plan usable with a telephone network such as a PBX (private branch exchange) or a computer network which includes telephony, which passes the call signals in accordance with the desired destination by a predetermined route specified in the plan As a simple example, it is well known that with a PBX system, for a user to dial to an outside line it is necessary to dial a"9"before dialling the telephone number desired (at least in the UK and US, other numbers are used in some other countries). A dial plan will strip the initial"9"before dialling the number on an outside line. Also, it is common for the dial plan to route the outside call by the cheapest route and to do so then additional digits may have to be added to the number dialled by the user or some of the digits changed. To do this, the dial plan specifies how to manipulate digits dialled on (for an outgoing call) or received by (for an incoming call) a device in a PBX system, in order to route the call correctly Current best-of-breed dial plans, such as the NBX R2 0 dial plan of 3Com Corporation, (NBX is network branch exchange, that is a PBX (Private Branch eXchange) running on a computer network. ) are based on separate tables of elements which interrelate to specify, for a given dialled prefix, the route that the call is to take, and any translation (altering of dialled digits) required on that number.

Such dial plans are well known in the field and each manufacturer of telephone exchange equipment will have such a dial plan for use by the installer or local network manager to run the telephone network as desired by the user.

In the set up and use of a telephone network there is also a concept referred to as "Class of Service". For ease of understanding, a simple example of Class of Service would provide in a telephone network various classes of user which may have different access capabilities Thus there may be three defined classes, a first one of which has access to all outside destinations including International destinations, a second one of which has access to local and national numbers only, and a third which has access to local numbers only Thus different telephones on the network can be of different defined classes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a dial plan for a telephone network which includes Classes of Service As well as simplifying the process of producing a dial plan and a separate class of service scheme, it is possible to simplify the application of them The proposed combination of dial plan and Class of Service reduces the complexity of these tables, unifies the concepts of dial plan and Class of Service, and in doing so increases the flexibility of the system Preferably the dial plan includes at least one entry relating to a Class of Service, each said entry comprising a word which describes the Class of Service Preferably the dial plan includes at least one entry relating to a type of telephone line involved, said type of telephone line being selected from the following, an internal telephone line ; a public service telephone network line, a tied line ; and in which each said entry comprises a word or letters which describe the type of telephone line.

Preferably the dial plan includes at least one entry relating to a number of lines to be left free in respect of the each type of telephone line, each said entry comprising a number.

Preferably the dial plan includes at least one entry relating to any pre-translation of the numbers which are necessary, each said entry comprising at least one number.

Preferably the dial plan includes at least one entry describing a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply.

The period may include a defined set of hours and/or a defined set of days.

Preferably the dial plan includes at least one set of associated entries, each set comprising at least two entries selected from the following entries :an entry relating to a Class of Service, said entry comprising a word which describes the Class of Service; an entry relating to a type of telephone line involved, said type of telephone line being selected from the following; an internal telephone line; a public service telephone network line; a tied line ; and in which each said entry comprises a word or letters relating to the name of the type of telephone line; an entry relating to the number of lines to be left free in respect of each type of service telephone line, said entry comprising a number; an entry relating to any pre-translation of the numbers which are necessary, said entry comprising at least one number; an entry describing a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply, the period including a defined set of hours;

an entry relating to a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply, the period including a defined set of a defined set of days Preferably the dial plan includes a plurality of associated sets of entries, each of said plurality of associated sets of entries including a common entry relating to a Class of Service, each said set of entries including at least two entries selected from the following entries :an entry relating to a type of telephone line involved, said type of telephone line being selected from the following ; an internal telephone line; a public service telephone network line; a tied line, and in which each said entry comprises a word or letters describing the type of telephone line, an entry relating to the number of lines to be left free in respect of each type of service telephone line, said entry comprising a number, an entry relating to any pre-translation of the numbers which are necessary, said entry comprising at least one number, an entry describing a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply, the period including a defined set of hours ; an entry describing a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply, the period including a defined set of days According to another aspect, the present invention provides a telephone network comprising a plurality of telephones connected together an controlled by a telephone controller, said network controller controlling access of said telephones to at least one type of telephone line selected from the following, an internal telephone line ; a public service telephone network line ; a tied line,

said telephone controller controlling said access in accordance with a dial plan which includes Classes of Service.

According to another aspect, the present invention provides a telephone network comprising a plurality of telephones connected together an controlled by a telephone controller, said network controller controlling access of said telephones to at least one type of telephone line selected from the following ; an internal telephone line; a public service telephone network line ; a tied line; said telephone controller controlling said access in accordance with a dial plan including at least one set of associated entries, each set comprising at least two entries selected from the following entries :an entry relating to a Class of Service, said entry comprising a word describing the Class of Service ; an entry relating to a type of telephone line involved, said type of telephone line being selected from the following; an internal telephone line; a public service telephone network line ; a tied line ; and in which each said entry comprises a word or letters relating to the name of the type of telephone line ; an entry relating to the number of lines to be left free in respect of each type of service telephone line, said entry comprising a number; an entry relating to any pre-translation of the numbers which are necessary, said entry comprising at least one number; an entry describing a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply, the period including a defined set of hours ; an entry describing a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply, the period including a defined set of days.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings which is a diagram showing a typical telephone network to which the invention is applied f DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to Figure 1 there is shown a telephone network in the form of a NBX network The telephone network 10 includes a plurality of telephones 11 A-lID connected via a computer local area network 12 to a telephone controller 13 The local area network also includes hubs, switches 21 and workstations 22 as is well known The telephone controller 13 is connected to at least one type of telephone line such as one or more public service telephone network lines 14,15 (indicated as MCI and AT & T) and a tied line 16 connected to a remote facility such as a different branch of the organisation Whilst we have indicated a single line for MCI and for AT & T, there will usually be multiple lines Furthermore, there may only be provided lines to a single PSTN, access to other PSTNs being provided via the first PSTN The telephone controller 13 controls access of said telephones to each other and to the lines 14,15 in accordance with a network dial plan as is well known. This plan can be used to give preference to some users of the system and/or cause the network to minimise call charges by using particular PSTNs in preference to others The dial plan will normally be provided by the supplier of the telecoms equipment and is tailored to the particular circumstance by the telecoms manager via his own workstation 22M As this may not be a large part of the telecom manager's workload, it is therefore desirable that setting up and amending the details of the dial plan should be easy to understand and to amend. As is clear from the introduction to the specification, this has not been the case in the past.

We now refer to the details of a dial plan and set out a typical set of entries for routing a call from a US NBX using a prior art NBX R2. 0 dial plan :

Example 1

Table Create 1 Internal / Id Entry Digits Min Max Class Prio Route / -- ----- ------------ --- --- ------------- ---- ----TableEntry Create 1 12 91 9 12 LongDistance 0 1 / Route Entry destinationExtension / ----- ----- --------- ---------DestinationRouteEntry Create 1 1 *0001 DestinationRouteEntry Create 1 2 *0002 / Route Entry Operld Operation Value / ----- ----- ------ --------- ----DestinationRouteOperation Create 1 1 1 stripLead 1 Example 1A below is equivalent to Example 1 above and sets out the new combined dial plan and Class of Service plan in accordance with the preferred example of the present invention.

Example 1A.-

internal Service name Reserve Prefix Prefix Active period d lines replacement MCI, BELL'29 1Sun-Sat, 0-24 Device Service name Renumbering Maximum Privilege pool prefix lines set pst tu BELL 16 incoming MCI *101 7 incommg tlim~1 BELL 4 incoming tlim 2 MCI 4 incoming (for the purposes of this example,'BELL'customers are able to use the'MCI'carrier by prefixing'* 101'onto their dialled number)

In fact, the Example 1 and 1A are not equivalent : the new dial plan of Example 1A is much more expressive. Not only is it clearer at-a-glance how this type of call is to be routed, but also more configuration information is stored in the tables. For instance, the'Active period'rule replaces the need for separate'timed routes', and the incoming dial plan (called'privilege set'in this unified model) for each device pool is specified in the same table entry as its outgoing properties. In addition, concepts are expressed which cannot be formulated using the current dial plan-how the lines should be split between two different carriers on the same physical connection, and the number of lines which should be reserved for other users of the same service.

The whole concept of an'external prefix'is also greatly simplified, leading to a much more coherent model, especially for'key lines'. Consider the following example of a prior dial plan: Example 2 (prior art):

ExternalSettings 9 750 500 /Id Entry Digits Mm Max Class Prlo Route /---------------------------TableEntry Create 1 12 91 9 12 LongDistance 0 1 TableEntry Create 1 14 911 3 3 Emergency 0 2 TableEntry Create 1 20 9911 4 4 Emergency 0 1 compared with the new combined dial plan and Class of Service plan:

Example 2A.

internal Service name Reserved Prefix Prefix Active period lines replacement BELL, MCI, AT & T E 9 911 Sun-Sat, 0-24 BELL, MCI, AT & T E 911 Sun-Sat 0-24 MCI, BELL 2 9 1 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Both of these examples specify that users can dial'911'or'9911'for an emergency call, and'91'to prefix a long-distance call. The prior dial plan of Example 2, however, requires an extra route (route 2 in the Example 2 above) to achieve this, whilst the new dial plan of Example 2A expresses it rather more naturally Where this clarity comes into its own, however, is when key lines are used Keylines are lines where a user has a specific key to connect directly to a particular device capable of making a call. When a user presses a button for a key line, toll restrictions are still handled by the dial plan, in the current system of Example 2, this is facilitated using an'external prefix' (the first argument to ExternalSettings) which is omitted from the front of any rule on that route for the purpose of matching However, the route's operations (e g stripLead) are not taken into account, which gives rise to the following anomoly any user who can obtain a key line can dial'11'regardless of whether or not he has LongDistance Class of Service, because the'911'rule is matched This never poses a problem in a dial plan for North America, for which there are no area codes starting with a'1', but it is likely to create problems in some other countries The new dial plan of Example 2A circumvents the problem neatly because the prefix to be matched for a key line is always the part to the right of the colon.

There are other benefits to the new dial plan of Example 2A, which are not necessarily precluded by the design of the prior dial plan of Example 2, but have been implemented in such a way as to be limiting. There are currently fixed boundaries to classes of service (Emergency, LongDistance etc. ) This limits the granularity of control over the system: for instance, it is not possible to differentiate between different mobile phone providers, in order to allow some users to call certain networks and not others, without abusing the given system Class of Service categorisations. For the same reason, it is not possible to segregate users into groups so that each group can only use a subset of the overall devices to make the same class of call (for the purpose of load balancing). Not only is this possible under the new dial plan of Example 2A, it can also be made to happen invisibly, which would not be possible with the prior dial plan of Example 2 even in the absence of hard-coded boundaries.

Lastly, time boundaries are not fixed, so it would be possible, for instance, for different employees to take lunch at different times. 'Active periods'specify the timing for both Class of Service and route selection in an intuitive synthesis.

Further to the simplification and functional extension of the prior dial plan of Example 2, the new dial plan of Example 2A also lends itself to the use of nested lists of rules in the privilege set to create a most coherent user interface, easy for the administrator rather than just the reseller to customise.

Each telephone user is associated with a particular Class of Service in the usual way, except that instead of being part of a'user group', he is associated with a particular 'privilege set'.

Privilege Sets A privilege set has an identifier by which the user is associated with it (c. f'Default User Group', 'Super User Group'), an ordered list of service access rules.

A service access rule is a rule by which a call may be resolved. Each rule contains a prefix which is compared with that of the call being dialled. The following is an example of a service access rule ordered list. The example given is based on a network at a company facility in Andover, Mass. USA which is connected to the PSTN (public service telephone network) telephone services of Bell, MCI, AT & T, and has a tied line to another of the company's facilities in Edinburgh, Scotland, this line being referred to as TI-EDINBURGH in the table below : Table 1 -

outgoing Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period BELL, MCI, AT & 1 E 9 911 Sun-Sat, 0-24 INTERNAL 0. 2 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Tl-EDINBURGH 1 1 Sun-Sat, 0-24 BELL 2 9' (01, 1) Sun-Sat, 0-24 MCI, BELL 2 9 1 Sun-Sat, 0-24 AT & T 1 9 01 Mon-Fri, 9-17 AT & T 1 1 01 44 131 624 80 Sun-Sat, 0-24 NB Service name. is shorthand for Service name BELL. MCI, AT & T BELL MCI AT & T

When the user in Andover makes a call, the system attempts to resolve it using the first rule it can (the rule nearest the top of the list), on the basis of its prefix, the current time-of-day/day-of-week, and the number of lines still available for the service (services are explained below) While the user is still dialling, there is often ambiguity between which of the rules will eventually resolve the call (for example, if the user dials a'9'in the case above) Therefore, the system does not seize a line until either A single rule remains which can resolve the call (for example, if the user starts dialling'94'in the case above, or the user starts dialling'91'and there are two or fewer available MCI lines remaining).

There is nothing to distinguish between two or more remaining rules (for example, if the user dials'1'in the case above, and both services have lines remaining). In this case, the system tries to seize the line described by the rule nearest the top of

the list (i. e., the'Tl-EDINBURGH'rule in the case above).

Once a line has been siezed, the rest of the digits are sent'overlapped'as they arrive. Therefore there is no longer the need for the administrator to specify a minimum/maximum number of digits If all the rules are exhausted, the user is told either'all lines busy' (if the call would have been permissible but for the lack of available lines) or'not allowed' (if the call could not be matched on the basis of prefix or active period) To give an explanation of the example above: the first rule states that a call to 911 can be made using any of the three services named'BELL','MCI'and'AT & T', at any time, with no lines spared. The'prefix replacement'column specifies what the digits to the left of the colon in the'prefix'column should be replaced with. The second rule is for calls starting with the digit'2' (internal calls for 3Com NBX Andover). These require no prefix replacement and take the'INTERNAL'route.

In order to simplify configuration for the administrator, nesting of service access rule lists is allowed. Therefore, a sublist containing the first two rules might be given the name'BASIC'and this name included in other rule lists, rather than writing out the rules again in full.

The third rule specifies a tie line to Edinburgh. For the purposes of this example, the system is configured so that users in Andover can dial Edinburgh extensions (which start with the digit'1') directly, rather than having to prefix them with an access code. If the'Tl-EDINBURGH'service can provide no free lines, the backup route is via the PSTN with AT & T, after appropriate renumbering (in Edinburgh our NBX phones have extensions lj < y, for which our direct inward dial numbers are +44 131624 80xy).

The other three rules specify the preferred service (in this case, mapping directly to carrier) for three different types of call: local ('BELL'), long distance ('MCI') and international ('AT & T'). Note that if no'MCI'lines are available, a long distance call can be routed via'BELL', but that it has been decreed that local and international calls can only go through'BELL'and'AT & T'services, respectively. Evidently if certain carriers are better than others for particular types of call at different times of day, it would be easy to change the dial plan to reflect this.

The'reserved lines'column specifies how many lines are to be left available to other users of this service. The value in the reserved lines column can be used in two ways to reserve capacity for incoming calls, or to reserve capacity for outgoing calls for users with greater privileges (whose privilege sets would reference a rule list in which an entry for the same service would have a smaller value in the reserved lines column) To achieve the latter effect without the former, it is necessary to dedicate separate channels (or separate devices) to incoming calls and to outgoing calls (which is likely in a system using direct inward dial). The special value'E'denotes a rule for making an emergency call; it is marked in this column because it should be possible for a system setting to allow current calls to be terminated if there are no free lines to make an emergency call (equivalent to a negative'reserved lines'value) Services and call paths The first column in the service access rule is an identifier which maps to an entry in the system-wide'call path'ordered list, which specifies routes :

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set pstnti BELL) 6 mconung MCI *101 8 mcommg AT & T *202 6 mconung tl1m 1 BELL 4 mconung thm2 MCI 4 meommg Local INTERNAL 100 tietlTI-EDINBURGH 30mcommg

In the prior NBX system, each device capable of being a party in a call (phone, TLIM port, TEP channel, H. 323 gateway) is uniquely addressable by MAC address or by a combination of MAC address and virtual device number. Therefore groups of devices are addressed by something akin to a line pool. When configuring each device, instead of choosing a line pool, instead the administrator would choose a'device pool'In the example above, a TLIM card port would be placed in pool'tlim ~1'or 'tlim2'.

So, to follow the example through: let's say the user is dialling'9 1 313 234 5678'.

After the first'91', a service access rule has been matched, and in accordance with the dial plan the system looks for a path for'MCI'. It finds one in'pstn ~ tl', checks to see that there are at least three free lines available, seizes one of the devices and dials , * 101 l' (i. e. the number to be dialled on an outside line to access MCI) As the user continues to dial, the system sends the rest of the digits'313 234 5678'. If there had not been enough available lines on the TEP card, it would have tried for one of the devices in the'tlim~2'group.

Incoming calls In order to route calls coming in from an outside line, each device pool is associated with a privilege set. Let us examine what the service access rule list of such a privilege set might look like for the Edinburgh end of the Tl tie line :

Incommg Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period INTERNAL 0 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Now when the user in Andover dials'144', assuming that there is Tl bandwidth available, the call comes in to the TEP device in question and is routed in the same way as any other internal call in Edinburgh (it is as if a user associated with the 'incoming'Class of Service has dialled that extension). If we were to add the rule:

incoming Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period BT 0 9 (999) g Sun-Sat, 0-24 to the same privilege set, and the rule :

outgoing Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period T1-EDINBURGH 1 9 0144 90 Sun-Satm, 0-24 to the Andover privilege set (before the entry for international calls via AT & T), then calls for the UK would be routed through the Tl tie line and be made using the UK PSTN BT service from Edinburgh This approach assumes that a device presents called party information. Therefore for a TLIM, the forwarding extension may still have to be configured in the usual way Distributed NBXs

The service access rule/call path paradigm also fits well with multiple NBosses facilitating pure VoIP (Voice over internet protocol) calls over a WAN (wide area network). For instance, if there is a WAN link from Andover to Marlborough (a further company facility in Marlborough, USA which is part of the company WAN)

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set mari~nbx WAN-MARLBORO 20 mcoming This necessitates a new type of telephone controller 13) which is addressed by IP, not MAC/VDN (Each device, by virtue of being communicable with on an ethernet network, has a MAC (Media Access Control) address-but as it is sometimes required to subaddress entities beyond a single network address, may also have a VDN (Virtual Device Number). Basically MACIVDN is a unique identifier for each device or system entity) In this configuration the telephone controller 13 must also be associated with a line pool so that internal calls can be made

Device pool NBoss local localhost marl-nbx marlnbx. pdd. 3com. com

The following entry would be added to service access rule lists if, for example, , for example, Marlborough had local extensions in the'3xx'series :

outgoing Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period WAN-MARLBORO 1 3 Sun-Sat, 0-24

Marlborough would have an equivalent entry for the Andover NBX, to allow incoming calls to be routed with a privilege set such as'incoming'-

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privuegeset aandover nbx WAN-ANDOVER 0incommg Key mode operation In key mode, telephone buttons are directly mapped to specific lines. When a user presses one of these buttons, this chooses a route for the outgoing call. This leaves the Class of Service to be determined by the privilege set, which is done by crossreferencing from the call path. For instance, if an AT & T line is mapped to a telephone

button and placed in the device pool'tlim3 key' ;

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines | Privilege set thm~3~key AT & T 0 Now the user in Andover can make calls according to his'AT & T'service privileges.

Only the non-renumbered part of the prefix (the digit string to the right of the colon) is matched : in the example above, (Table 1) the user can dial'911'or numbers beginning with'01'. The third'AT & T'rule in the privilege set has no effect because there are no digits to be matched.

There is no privilege set associated with this device pool, since the routing of incoming calls is fixed for these lines. There are also no available lines (maximum lines is 0), because this is a pool of key lines, which should not be made generally

available. It is probably best for hybrid systems to keep key lines in completely separate device pools, although it is possible to make key lines generally available as routes by setting'maximum lines'greater than zero, and assigning a privilege set for the routing of calls from non-key lines.

If there is a'renumbering prefix'set, it is dialled prior to the rest of the number, as usual. For example, a pool of Bell key lines might be set up like this:

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set tttm3keyBELL"0 MC ! *101 0 AT & T *202 () Now, if a user selects his key line and dials, say, '1 313 234 5678', the actual digits outpulsed will be'*101 1 313 234 5678' In the example above, for the'pstn tl'device pool, lines available for BELL : MCI : AT & T are split in a 16.8. 6 ratio, but the administrator might wish to make any of the lines available for any of the services (i. e. , a maximum lines entry of'30'for each of them) The 9 most common dial plan usage scenarios Except in a few cases, the service access rule lists given are that of the'singular' privilege set, which would be associated both with users and devices. This improves the brevity of the examples, but in reality users and devices would likely be given different privilege sets (generally, devices would have quite unrestricted privileges, as it would be assumed that they are connected to a trusted entity-either another NBX, which would already have performed Class of Service, or the PSTN, which is expected to present genuine called party information)

Scenario 1; Linking 2 NCPs with a Tl Scenario: A company operates in Andover Mass. and has a small San Francisco site Each site has its own NCP, which are linked using a Tl tie trunk Expected behaviour Users in a site want to be able to call users on the other site by dialling a 3-digit extension. The Andover site is assigned the lxx extensions, while the San Francisco site is given the 2xx extensions.

* On the Andover NCP :

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set sf~tie~trunk T1-SANFRANCISCO 30 singular local INTERNAL 100 singular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period INTERNAL 0 1 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Tl-SANFRANCISO 2. 2 Sun-Sat, 0-24 . On the San Francisco NCP

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set an~tie truckTl-ANDOVER 30 singular local INTERNAL 100 singular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period INTERNAL 0 : 2 Sun-Sat, 0-24 T1-ANDOVER 2 1 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Scenario 2: Linking 3 NCPs with 2 Tl Scenario. A company has sites in Andover, San Francisco and Chicago. Each site has its own NCP. The San Francisco NCP is linked with the Chicago NCP using a Tl tie trunk, and the Chicago NCP is linked to the Andover NCP using another T 1 tie trunk.

Expected behaviour Users in a site want to be able to call users on another site by dialling 8 followed by a 3-digit site code and a 3-digit extension. Andover is assigned office code 100, Chicago 200, San Francisco 300.

(The 3-digit extensions for each site are assumed to start with a 1).

t 'On the Andover NCP

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set ch~tie~trunk T1-CHICAGO 30 singular local INTERNAL 100 singular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period INTERNAL 0 1 Sun-Sat. 0-24 INTERNAL 0 8100 1 Sun-Sat, 0-24 T1-CHICAGO 2 8200 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Tl-CHICAGO 2M Sun-Sat, 0-24 0 On the Chicago NCP

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set anUe trunk Tl-ANDOVER 30'smgular st~tie~trunk T1-SANFRANCISCO 30 singular local INTERNAL 100 singular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period INTERNAL 0 1 Sun-SaL, 0-24 T1-ANDOVER 2 8100 Sun-Sat, 0-24 INTERNAL"08200 1"Sun-Sat, 0-24 Tl-SANFRANCISCO 2 8300 Sun-Sat, 0-24 . On the San Francisco NCP

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set ch tiejrunkTI-CHICAGO 30 smgular local INTERNAL 100

ngular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period INTERNAL 0. 1 Sun-Sat, 0-24 T1-CHICAGO 2 .8100 Sun-Sat, 0-24 T1-CHICAGO 2 .8200 Sun-Sat, 0-24 INTERNAL 0 8300 1 Sun-Sat, 0-24

Scenario 4 : Part-time admin assistant Scenario : A company operates in Andover and has a small San Francisco site. Each site has its own NCP, which are linked using a Tl tie trunk. San Francisco site has a part-time admin assistant who works 9AM to 5PM (Pacific time) on Mon., Wed. , Fri.

Andover site has a full time admin assistant from 9AM to 5PM (Eastern time).

Expected behaviour : calls to San Francisco site should go to admin assistant in San Francisco when there is one, otherwise it goes to Andover admin assistant between 9AM to 5PM Eastern. When no admin assistant is available, calls to San Francisco site should go to San Francisco auto-attendant.

(The TLIMcard-telephone line interface module card-an analog line card-is assumed to forward all calls to'100', the attendant's phone).

* On the Andover NCP:

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set tlim ~1 BELL 4 SIngular local INTERNAL 100 I singular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period INTERNAL 0 100 Mon-Frt, 9-17 INTERNAL 0 100 5 Sun-Sat, 0-24 * On the San Francisco NCP

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set an~the trunkTl-ANDOVER 30 smgular

thm~1 BELL 4 singular local INTERNAL 100 j singular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period INTERNAL 100 Mon, Wed, Fn, 9-17 T1-ANDOVER 0 100 Mon-Fri, 6-14 INTERNAL 0 100: 5 Sun-Sat, 0-24

Scenario 5: Customising toll restrictions Scenario : A company is located in Chicago, where many 7-digit phone numbers are long distance. For Class of Service screening to work properly, these 7-digit phone numbers need to be flagged as'long distance'

t Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set ttiml BELL 4 mcommg local INTERNAL 100 (partial) Rule list for users allowed to make long distance calls:

I long- dIstance Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period BELL 1 9 Sun-Sat, 0-24 (partial) Rule list for users not allowed to make long distance calls:

no~long~distance Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period BELL 2 9.' (01, 1, 755) Sun-Sat, 0-24 Scenario 6 Least cost routine Scenario : A company has sites in Andover, San Francisco, and Chicago. Each site has

its own NCP. The San Francisco NCP is linked with the Chicago NCP using a Tl tie trunk, and the Chicago NCP is linked to the Andover NCP using another Tl tie trunk All NCPs are connected to their local CO using a Tl.

Expected behaviour: When placing a long distance call from on site to a phone number that is local to another site, a Tl tie trunk should be used to avoid toll charges.

See above, 'Linking 3 NCPs with 2 Tl', adding the following rules :

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set pstn~t1 BELL 30 Singular Andover :

singular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period Tl-CHICAGO 0 91415 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Tl-CHICAGO 0 91312Sun-Sat, 0-24 BELL 9-Sun-Sat0-24 Chicago :

singular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period T1-ANDOVER 0 91978 Sun-Sat, 0-24 T1-SANFRANCISCO 0 91415 Sun-Sat, 0-24 BELL 0 9 Sun-Sat, 0-24

San Francisco :

I smgular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period T 1-CHICAGO 0 91978 Sun-Sat, 0-24 T1-CHICAGO 0 91312 Sun-Sat, 0-24 BELL 0 9 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Scenario 7: Alternate long distance carriers Scenario A company has a deal with an alternate long distance carrier for long distance calls to New Jersey during business hours Expected behaviour: All calls to New Jersey (area codes 201,609, 732,908, 973) during business hours should be routed through the alternate carrier. During all other time periods, and for all other destinations, calls should use the default long distance carrier.

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set thmlBELL"4smgular I ingular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period BELL 1 9 : 1010888 Mon-Fn, 9-18 BELL 1 9. Sun-Sat, 0-24 Scenario 8: Linking 2 NCPs with H. 323 Scenario : A company operates in Andover and has a small San Francisco site. Each site has its own NCP, which are linked using an H. 323 gateway at each site.

Expected behaviour: Users in a site want to be able to call users on the other site by dialling a 3-digit extension. The Andover site is assigned the 1xx extensions, while the San Francisco site is given the 2xx extensions.

. On the Andover NCP :

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set b323 H323 2 singular local INTERNAL 100 singular Service name Reserved lines Prefix prefix replacement Active period INTERNAL 0 1 Sun-Sat, 0-24 H323 2 2 h323.ca.nbx.3com.com&num; Sun-Sat, 0-24 . On the San Francisco NCP:

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set 11323 H323 2 smgular local INTERNAL 100 singular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period INTERNAL :2 Sun-Sat, 0-24 H323 2 1 h323. ma. nbx.3com com&num; Sun-Sat, 0-24

Scenario 9: Alternate route selection Scenario'A company operates in Andover and has a small San Francisco site Each site has its own NCP, which are linked using an H 323 gateway at each site The company also wants a very reliable (99 999%) alternate route to the other site in case the H 323 gateway is down San Francisco site phone number is 415777000, Andover site phone number is 9786660000 Expected behaviour When a user places a call, the NCP should automatically select a TLIM to reach the other site if the H 323 gateway is not available See above, 'Linking 2 NCPs with H 323', adding the following rules Both

Deive pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set pstn 11 BELL 3 0 smgular . On the Andover NCP (after the H323 rule)

singular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period BELL 0 2 14157770000 Sun-Sat, 0-24

* On the San Francisco NCP (after the H323 rule)

singular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period BELL 0 2 19786660000 Sun-Sat, 0-24

Scenario 10 : Dialling by IP address

Scenario-Some users in a company call other people that are using an H. 323 terminal or gateway. These calls are not frequent enough to warrant a modification to the dial plan.

Expected behaviour : Users want to be able to dial'80'and then key in the remote H. 323 device IP address, or enter'80'followed by the remote H. 323 device URL in their speed dial.

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set h323 H323 12 smgular singular Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period H323 0 80 Sun-Sat, 0-24 This document presents an equivalent to the default North American dial plan in the format of the new dial plan/Class of Service combined.

Tables Privilege sets :

Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix replacement Active period default internal INTERNAL 0 : (0-6) @ Sun-Sat, 0-24 CARRIER E :911 Sun-Sat, 0-24 CARRIER E 9 : 911 Sun-Sat, 0-24 CARRIER 0 9 :! (0, 1, 411, *) Sun-Sat, 0-24 CARRIER"09 : 101Sun-Sat, 0-24 CARRIER 9-1 ! (900,976) Mon-Fri, 9-17 CARRIER 0 9:18(00,88,77) Sun-Sat, 0-24 super internal INTERNAL 0 (0-7) Sun-Sat, 0-24 CARRIER E : 911 Sun-Sat, 0-24 CARRIER E 9.911 Sun-Sat, 0-24 CARRIER 9 (01, 1-3, 5-9, *) Sun-Sat, 0-24 CARRIER 0 94Sun-Sat, 0-24 Incoming INTERNAL 0 :(0-5) Sun-Sat, 0-24 sample DID INTERNAL 0 978749(0-9):(0-5) Sun-Sat, 0-24 Call paths:

Device pool Service name Renumbering prefix Maximum lines Privilege set outside lines CARRIER 23 incoming Local INTERNAL 100 Devices :

Device pool Devices outside~lines 00:e0 : bb: 00 : 20: 78-1 OO : eO : bb: 00 : 20 :7a-2 OO : eO : bb: 00 : 20:7c-3 OO : eO : bb: 00 : 20 : 83-22 OO : eO : bb: 00 : 20 : 85-23

Hosts-

Device pool Nboss Loeat Localhost Explanation

I The first table specifies four different privilege sets. The first two of these (default internal and super internal) are designed to mimic the functionality of the'internal' table in the sample North American R2.0 dial plan, for users in the two standard Class of Service groups (privilege sets are the alternative to Class of Service groups in the unified model). The third is equivalent to the'incoming'dial plan table, and the fourth performs the job of the sample Tl DID pretranslator.

Service name Reserved lines Prefix Prefix renumbering Active period

* default internal

INTERNAL 0 : (0-6) Sun-Sat, 0-24 Table 1, Entries 1-11 CARRIER E : 911 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Table 1, Entry 18 CARRIER E 9.911 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Table 1, Entry 24 CARRIER 0 9 '(0,1,411,*) Sun-Sat, 0-24 Table 1, Entries 12-16, 25-26 1CARRIER 10 19 101 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Table 1, Entry 17 CARRIER 0 9 1'(900,976) Mon-Fri, 9-17 Table 1, Entries 22-23 CARRIER'09 18 (00, 88, 77) Sun-Sat, 0-24 Table 1, Entries 19-21 # super internal

INTERNAL 0 :(0-7) Sun-Sat, 0-24 Table 1, Entries 1-12 CARRIER E @911 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Table 1, Entry 18 CARRIER E 9:911 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Table 1, Entry 24 CARRIER"09 (01. 1-3,5-9, *') Sun-Sat, 0-24 Table 1, Entries 13-17,19-23, 26 CARRIER 0 9 4'(11) Sun-Sat, 0-24 Table 1, Entry 25

* incoming

INTERNAL 0 (0-5) Sun-Sat, 0-24 Table 2

* sample DID

INTERNAL 0 978749 (0-9) (0-5) 1 Sun-Sat, 0-24 Pretranslator 1 The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing examples

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A dial plan for a telephone network which includes Classes of Service.
2. A dial plan as claimed in claim 1 including at least one entry relating to a Class of Service, each said entry comprising a word which describes the Class of Service.
3. A dial plan as claimed in claim 1 or 2 including at least one entry relating to a type of telephone line involved, said type of telephone line being selected from the following ; an internal telephone line ; a public service telephone network line; a tied line; and in which each said entry comprises a word or letters which describe the type of telephone line.
4. A dial plan as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 including at least one entry relating to a number of lines to be left free in respect of the each type of telephone line, each said entry comprising a number.
5 A dial plan as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 including at least one entry relating to any pre-translation of the numbers which are necessary, each said entry comprising at least one number.
6. A dial plan as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 including at least one entry describing a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply.
7. A dial plan as claimed in claim 6 in which the period includes a defined set of hours.

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8 A dial plan as claimed in claim 6 or 7 in which the period includes a defined set of days.
9 A dial plan as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 in which the plan is in tabular form.

I
10 A dial plan as claimed in claim 1 including at least one set of associated entries, each set comprising at least two entries selected from the following entries- an entry relating to a Class of Service, said entry comprising a word which describes the Class of Service, an entry relating to a type of telephone line involved, said type of telephone line being selected from the following, an internal telephone line, a public service telephone network line, a tied line, and in which each said entry comprises a word or letters relating to the name of the type of telephone line, an entry relating to the number of lines to be left free in respect of each type of service telephone line, said entry comprising a number, an entry relating to any pre-translation of the numbers which are necessary, said entry comprising at least one number, an entry describing a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply, the period including a defined set of hours, an entry relating to a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply, the period including a defined set of a defined set of days
11 A dial plan as claimed in claim 10 including a plurality of associated sets of entries, each of said plurality of associated sets of entries including a common entry relating to a Class of Service, each said set of entries including at least two entries selected from the following entries-

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an entry relating to a type of telephone line involved, said type of telephone line being selected from the following; an internal telephone line; a public service telephone network line ; a tied line; and in which each said entry comprises a word or letters describing the type of telephone line; an entry relating to the number of lines to be left free in respect of each type of service telephone line, said entry comprising a number; an entry relating to any pre-translation of the numbers which are necessary, said entry comprising at least one number; an entry describing a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply, the period including a defined set of hours; an entry describing a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply, the period including a defined set of days.
12. A telephone network comprising a plurality of telephones connected together an controlled by a telephone controller, said network controller controlling access of said telephones to at least one type of telephone line selected from the following ; an internal telephone line; a public service telephone network line; a tied line; said telephone controller controlling said access in accordance with a dial plan which includes Classes of Service.
13. A telephone network comprising a plurality of telephones connected together an controlled by a telephone controller, said network controller controlling access of said telephones to at least one type of telephone line selected from the following ; an internal telephone line; a public service telephone network line; a tied line;

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said telephone controller controlling said access in accordance with a dial plan including at least one set of associated entries, each set comprising at least two entries selected from the following entries.an entry relating to a Class of Service, said entry comprising a word describing the Class of Service; an entry relating to a type of telephone line involved, said type of telephone line being selected from the following; an internal telephone line; a public service telephone network line; a tied line; and in which each said entry comprises a word or letters relating to the name of the type of telephone line; an entry relating to the number of lines to be left free in respect of each type of service telephone line, said entry comprising a number; an entry relating to any pre-translation of the numbers which are necessary, said entry comprising at least one number; an entry describing a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply, the period including a defined set of hours; an entry describing a period of time to which the relevant set of entries apply, the period including a defined set of days.