MXPA00011007A - Call information output in a telecommunication network - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of providing information relating to a telephone call, in a GSM cellular radio telephone network, to a data storage system (10). The method comprises receiving caller identity information at a Mobile Switching Centre (1) of the network during a call set-up procedure between a mobile station (4) and the MSC (1) and storing the information at least temporarily at the MSC (1). An incoming call alert message is sent by the MSC (1) to a called device (5). In the event that the called device (5) answers or otherwise accepts the incoming call alert, a call answer message is sent to the MSC (1). In response to receipt of the call answer message, at least the received and stored caller identity information is output from the MSC (1) to the data storage system (10).

Description

DEPARTURE OF CALL INFORMATION IN A TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for sending call information in a telecommunications network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In telecommunications networks such as fixed access networks and cellular radio networks there is usually a need to register call information in at least one exchange in the network. This information can include the identity of a caller (number A), the identity of the party receiving the call (number B) and the duration of a call. In cellular radio networks, the registered information may also include the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) Identity Module (SIM) used with the calling mobile phone, and the Identity Code of the Equipment. International Mobile (IMEI) of the calling phone itself. The IMSI and EMEI codes are commonly sent by a mobile phone to the cellular network during the connection establishment phase. For a given call, a record stored in a PBX is normally sent to a billing system centralized network at the end of the call. For a long time, this registry has been denominated as a "Toll Ticket" (TT, Tariff Ticket) although nowadays the term "Cali Data Record" has been used (CDR, Record of Call Data). 5,506,893 discloses a telecommunications network in which a CDR is sent from a switching center to an external billing system upon termination of the call.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing information related to a telecommunications call, in a telecommunications network, to a data storage system, the method consists of: Receive the identity information of the caller in a central office of the network during a connection establishment procedure between a caller device and the central one, and store the information at least temporarily in the exchange; Send an incoming call alert message to a device that receives the call; Before receiving a call answering message in the exchange, or in direct response to receiving a call answering message, send from the central to the data storage system a Cali Data Record (Call Data Record) containing at least the information received from the identity of the caller.

The methods of the present invention consist of sending the call information at a very early stage in a call, that is, immediately after the call is answered or during the connection establishment phase. This makes possible, for example, real-time billing and fraud detection before or during a call. In certain embodiments of the present invention, the telecommunications network consists of a cellular telephone radio network and the call is made from a cellular telephone radio device. The exchange from which the call information is output is then the Mobile Switching Center (MSC, Mobile Switching Center). The information may include at least the telephone number of the subscriber, the IMEI code, the IMSI code or the number B. In other embodiments of the present invention, the telecommunications network consists of a fixed access network in which the telephone device is It connects with the plant through land lines. The information sent by the central office preferably includes the caller's telephone number (number A) and the number that receives the call (number B).

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided for providing information related to a telecommunications call, in a telecommunications network, to a data storage system, the apparatus consists of: the first receiving means for receiving identity information of the caller in a network exchange during a connection establishment procedure between a caller device and the exchange, and to store the information at least temporarily in the exchange; the transmitting means for transmitting an alert message of the incoming call to a device that will receive the call; the second receiving means for receiving, in the event that the device receiving the call responds or otherwise accepts the alert of the incoming call, a reply message of the call sent to the exchange; and the means of output to send, before, or in response to, the reception of the call answer message, from the exchange to the data storage system, a Cali Data Record, containing when minus the information received from the identity of the caller. Preferably, the first and second receiving means, the transmission means and the output means are provided as an integrated part of the network's central. Where the network consists of a cellular radio network, the exchange is a Mobile Switching Center (MSC, Mobile Switching Center) The MSC can be contained within a housing that is physically separated from an external billing system arranged to receive the Cali Data Record, sent by the MSC Most preferably, a plurality of MSCs are arranged to provide the CDRs sent to a common external billing system In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, a telecommunications network is provided having a plurality of interconnected exchanges for routing calls in the network, and a common billing system coupled to each of the exchanges, each exchange consisting of: the first receiving means for receiving the identity information of the caller during a connection establishment procedure between a calling device and the exchange, and to store the information mation at least temporarily in the plant; the transmitting means for transmitting an incoming call alert message to a device receiving the call or to a device receiving the call through one or more other exchanges; the second receiving means for receiving, in the event that the receiving device answers or otherwise accepts the incoming call alert, a call reply message sent to the exchange; and the means of output to send, before or in response to the reception of the call answering message, from the exchange to a data storage system, a Cali Data Record, containing at least the information received from the identity of the caller.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how it can be carried out, reference will now be made, by means of examples, to the attached drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows as a schematic a network telecommunications that includes a cell phone radio network; Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating the method of operation of the telecommunications network of Figure 1; Figure 3 illustrates an external billing system shared by a number of Mobile Switching Center (Mobile Switching Center) of a cellular radio network.

Detailed description of the modalities Figure 1 shows a telecommunications network consisting of a cellular network radio network Global Systems for Mobile Communications (GSM, Global System for Mobile Communications) and a fixed access network. The first consists of a Mobile Switching Center, (MSC, Mobile Switching Center) 1, a series of Base Station Controllers (BSC, Base Station Controllers) 2 only one of which is shown in Figure 1, and a series of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS, Base Transceiver Stations) 3 again only one of which is shown in the figure. The MSC, the BSC and the BTS provide functionality as defined in the standards of the relevant European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI, European Institute of Standards for Telecommunications). In the GSM network, mobile stations such as those indicated with the reference number 4 communicate with a BTS 3 over the air interface. The user data and signaling messages are coupled between the BTS 3 and the MSC 1 via the BSC 2. The MSC 1 acts as a central of the GSM network, routing calls between a mobile station 4 and a station receiving the call , or caller. In the example of Figure 1, the destination of a call from the mobile station 4 is a landline telephone 5 belonging to a subscriber of a fixed access network 6. A call can be routed through different intermediate exchanges (for example, in the case of an international call) and can also pass through several exchanges of the fixed access network, although for purposes of clarity these exchanges are not shown in Figure 1. In the same sense, it will be appreciated that a call can be routed through several MSC 1 en route from the mobile station 4 to the fixed line teone 5. The mobile station 4 is provided with a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM, Subscriber Identity Module) 7 which contains a solid state memory arranged to store a unique code of International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI, International Mobile Subscriber Identity). The mobile station 4 has a solid state memory arranged to store a second unique code known as an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) code. The form of these two codes is defined in the relevant GSM standard. When a user of the mobile terminal 4 places a call for the fixed line teone 5 by dialing the number B of this teone, at least the IMSI code and the teone number (number A) assigned to the mobile terminal 4 are transmitted to a device input / output 8 of the MSC 1 in the signaling channel of the GSM network (the IMEI code may or not be sent at this stage). In response to the call request, the MSC 1 first verifies the right of the mobile terminal 4 to use the services of the GSM network based on the number A and the IMSI code (for example, using a database of the subscribers of the GSM network). Assuming that the mobile terminal 4 receives authorization from the MSC 1 to place the call, the MSC 1 transmits an incoming call request from an output / output device 9 to the fixed line telephone 5 through the fixed access telephony network. A signaling protocol is used, such as Signaling System 7 (SS7, Signaling System 7) to retransmit the request between the MSC 1 and the different exchanges. When the request reaches the landline phone 5, the phone rings in the normal way. If the call is answered on the land line telephone 5, then a call answering message is returned to the fixed access network 6, either by the telephone 5 or by some intermediate device, for example, a hub. The answering message of the call is also transmitted back to the input / output device 9 .sic. of the MSC 1 of the GSM network again using the SS7 signaling protocol. Connected to the MSC 1 of the GSM network is a device called the input / output group or system of external billing 10. This may be a personal computer (PC), workstation, data storage device or the like, which records calls related to information switched by the MSC 1. The information registered by the external billing system 10 allows to the operator of the GSM network to charge the subscribers, track calls and identify calls made from "illegal" equipment. The latter is achieved using the transmitted IMSI code and also the IMEI code (if it is transmitted). When the MSC 1 receives the call reply message from the land line telephone 5, the MSC 1 provides a traffic channel (ie, voice or data) to the mobile station 4 allowing the mobile subscriber to communicate with the mobile station 4. the landline phone. In addition, the reception of the call answering message causes the MSC 1 to send the external billing system 10, through an input / output device 11, the number A of the caller, the IMSI code, the number B of the party that receives the call and the time the call starts. This data is in the form of a partial Charging Data Record (CDR), and is recorded in the external billing system 10. When the call is terminated by one of the parties at the end of the call, the MSC receives a call termination message, and send a call termination time to the group device input / output 10 to complete the partial CDR. Figure 2 is a flow diagram illustrating the method of operation of the network of Figure 1, and refers in particular to the output of the CDR to the external billing system 10. The external billing system is physically separated from the MSC (1) which is usually contained within a single large accommodation. By transferring the partial CDR, upon receipt of the call answering message from subscriber B, to the external billing system, the network operator may have access to the register at an early stage in a call for purposes already established in the above. The external billing system is usually shared by an MSC 1 number in the GSM network. This is illustrated in Figure 3. One skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications can be made to the above-described embodiment without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the exchange from which the CDR is sent can be a central of a fixed access network instead of the cellular radio network. In another modification, the partial CDR is sent from the exchange to the external billing system during the connection establishment phase, that is, before a reply message from the call is received at the exchange from subscriber B. The CDR provided to the external billing system may include additional information such as the identity of the MSC, and the identity of the originating / terminating cell (Cell Global Identity, Global Cell Identity) in the GSM network.

Claims (9)

1. A method for providing information related to a telecommunication call, in a telecommunication network, to a data storage system, the method consists of: receiving the identity information of the caller in a central of the network during a procedure for establishing connection between a calling device and the central one, and store the information at least temporarily in the exchange; send an incoming call alert message to a device that receives the call; before receiving a call answering message at the exchange, or in direct response to receiving a call answering message, send a Cali Data Record from the exchange to the data storage system. ) containing at least the identity information of the caller received and stored.

The method according to claim 1, wherein the telecommunications network consists of a cellular radio network and the call is made from a cellular telephone radio device.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the cellular radio network is a GSM network, and the exchange from which the Cali Data Record is sent is a Mobile Switching Center, the method consists of sending from the Mobile Switching Center, at least one subscriber telephone number, the IMEI code or the IMSI code.

The method according to claim 1, wherein the telecommunication network consists of a fixed access network in which the telephone device is coupled to the exchange through wired lines, the method is to send from the exchange when minus the caller's telephone number (number A).

5. The method according to any of the preceding claims and which consists of sending the data record of the call to an external billing system.

6. An apparatus for providing information related to a telecommunications call, in a telecommunications network, to a data storage system (10), the apparatus consists of: the first receiving means (8) for receiving identity information of the caller in a central (1) of the network during a connection establishment procedure between a calling device (4) and the central (1), and to store the information at least temporarily in the plant (1); the transmitting means (9) for transmitting an alert message of the incoming call to a device receives the call (5); the second receiving means (9) to receive, in the event that the device receiving the call (5) responds or otherwise accepts the alert of the incoming call, a reply message of the call sent to the exchange (1 ); and the output means (11) for sending, before, or in response to, the reception of the call answering message, from the exchange (1) to the data storage system (10), a Cali Data Record, (Call Data Record) containing at least the information received from the identity of the caller received and stored.

The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the first and second receiving means (8, 9), the transmitting means (9) and the output means (11) is provided as an integrated part of the central of the network (1), and the data storage system (10) is physically separated from the central (1).

8. The apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, the network consists of a cellular radio network and the central (1) being a Mobile Switching Center, (MSC Mobile Switching Center) of the cellular network.

9. A telecommunications network having a plurality of interconnected exchanges for routing calls in the network, and a billing system coupled to each of the exchanges, each exchange consisting of: the first receiving means (8) for receiving identity information of the caller during a connection establishment procedure between a calling device (4) and the central one (1), and to store the information at least temporarily in the exchange (1); the transmitting means (9) for transmitting an alert message of the incoming call to a device receiving the call (5) or to a device receiving the call (5) through one or more other exchanges (1); the second receiving means (9) to receive, in the event that the device receiving the call (5) answers or otherwise accepts the alert of the incoming call, a reply message of the call sent to the exchange (l) ); and the output means (11) for sending before, or in response to the reception of the call answering message, from the exchange (1) to the data storage system (10), a Cali Data Record, (Registration Call Data) containing at least the identity information of the caller received and stored.