WO1999007130A1

WO1999007130A1 - Method for processing and/or querying line-relevant data of a subscriber line

Info

Publication number: WO1999007130A1
Application number: PCT/DE1998/001957
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ralf Holynski
Original assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
Priority date: 1997-08-01
Filing date: 1998-07-13
Publication date: 1999-02-11

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for querying and processing line-relevant data of a subscriber's line of a telecommunications network (TEN), according to which method the line-relevant data are stored in a subscription data base (TDR) assigned to the switching system (TVM) of the telecommunications network. The user enters instructions at a terminal (ITE) of a freely accessible data network (IPN), for example the Internet, which instructions are then transmitted via a connection in the data network (IPN) to a processor (IPP) allocated to the switching system. The line-relevant data of the subscription data base (TDR) are then processed or queried by the processor (IPP) in accordance with said instructions. The invention also relates to a telecommunications network (TEN) in which the line-relevant data of the subscriber lines (TEL) are stored in a subscription data base (TDR) assigned to the switching system (TVM) of the telecommunications network. Said telecommunications network comprises a processor (IPP) assigned to the switching system (TVM) which is accessible via a freely accessible data network (IPN) and equipped to process or query line-relevant data of the subscription data base (TDR) in accordance with instructions entered by a user at a terminal (ITE) of the data network (IPN).

Description

description

Process for processing and / or querying the connection-related data of a subscriber connection

The present invention relates to a method for a user to process and / or query the connection-related data of a subscriber connection of a telecommunications network, in which the connection-related data are stored in a subscriber data register assigned to the switching of the telecommunications network. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a telecommunication network in which the connection-related data of the subscriber connections are stored in a subscriber data register assigned to the switching of the telecommunication network.

Subscriber lines of a telecommunications network are marked with a number of other attributes and functions in addition to their phone number, e.g. the name and address of the subscriber, but also features regarding services of the telecommunications network such as call forwarding or a mailbox. The configuration of these features of a particular connection is carried out by the operator of the telecommunications network; for some features there is also the possibility for the subscriber, ie the user of the subscriber connection under consideration, to change this from the terminal. Such features, such as call forwarding, call waiting, a mailbox, etc., are activated or deactivated at all on the one hand, and on the other hand, depending on the type of the characteristic, after activation by the operator or the subscriber, certain properties have to be set or actions have to be carried out. While no additional information or actions are required after activating the call waiting, the call forwarding is still defined by specifying the call number, a mailbox, however, should be queried at certain times. The charges incurred on the connection are one typical example of connection-related data which may not be changed by the subscriber himself, but whose query by the subscriber can be informative for the subscriber.

The telecommunications networks dealt with here can be of any kind; This also includes private telecommunications networks such as a company-owned telephone system or radio networks such as the GSM network. The connection-related data are kept in a telecommunications network in a subscriber data register, which is set up as a storage center or decentrally on a plurality of memories, e.g. one register memory for each switching, can be divided and that is available for the services of the telecommunications network.

Only the operator of the telecommunications network is allowed to manipulate all data of a subscriber line without restrictions. For some features, there is also the possibility that the subscriber can control them himself via a special input from the terminal, for example with the help of a numerical code, e.g. activate a call diversion and then enter the destination number of the call diversion. A call e.g. However, an overview of fees by the participant is currently not feasible. Even where access to individual features is possible, the type of access, often due to the restricted operating options of the telecommunication terminals, is often unclear and difficult to remember.

For many of the features mentioned, it has so far not been possible to change or query them from any location, for example to activate call forwarding or to call up a mailbox while the user is traveling. It is also often desirable to set the configuration of a number of subscriber lines, for example a company, at the same time if necessary, in order to achieve a similar configuration or to be able to implement coordinated configurations of the connections.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to enable the subscriber to query and edit a subscriber line from as large a number of locations as possible, the access to the line-related data being to take place directly at the exchange, instead of via the subscriber line. It is a further task to enable the subscriber-related data to be queried or edited as extensively as possible by the subscriber

Pages e.g. appropriate access rights can be granted by the operator of the telecommunications network. In addition, the configuration of this data should be made easier or more manageable for the participant.

These tasks are solved on the basis of a method of the type described in the introduction by means of a method in which, according to the invention, instructions entered by the user on a terminal of a freely accessible data network to a processor assigned to the exchange via a connection established between the terminal and the processor on the data network are transmitted and the processor carries out the processing and / or query of the connection-related data of the subscriber data register in accordance with these instructions.

A freely accessible data network is understood here as a network which can also be used by persons or companies who are not involved in the operation or maintenance of the telecommunications network or who have been commissioned to do so by the network operator. In addition to the Internet, this also includes, for example, networks that can be implemented as part of a public telecommunications network. Such a freely accessible data network can also result from a local area network (LAN) or the combination of a number of local area networks. It is important for the invention lengthy of the type of devices involved in the network and the way in which they are connected to one another, for example PCs via modem connections or mainframe computers which are connected to the data network. An example of this is the Internet, which has emerged from the amalgamation of different networks with a wide variety of computers involved.

The solution of the connection of the exchange _. A freely accessible data network enables the user to adapt his connection according to his personal requirements regardless of where he is and without using the telecommunications network. In addition, the user can now set up a comfortable user interface due to the much higher flexibility of a computer. The subscriber inputs for configuring a subscriber line are no longer bound to the subscriber line concerned.

It is also now possible to query or configure services or subscriber data installed on a telecommunications network, even if no corresponding option is provided for them in the telecommunications network from the subscriber terminal itself.

In an embodiment of the invention favorable for data protection, a certain amount of data from the data present in the subscriber data register, e.g. part of the data of a subscriber line, released.

It is also favorable for data protection if, depending on the type of access, Z; B. Initial configuration, query or change, specific amounts of data are released.

It is also advantageous if the processing or query is only permitted after the user has entered an access authorization, for example a transaction number. There- This prevents unauthorized access to the connection data by third parties.

It is also advantageous for the user if, depending on the type of access authorization entered, specific amounts of data are released.

In another variant, which is beneficial to the ease of use of the user, the processor sends messages and / or information requested by the operator to the user terminal via the connection.

It is furthermore extremely advantageous for data security if the instructions, messages and data are transmitted in a secure protocol between the user terminal and the processor.

A further embodiment of the invention results in a labor saving in the case of the joint care of several connections by the connection-related data of a number of subscriber connections being processed in parallel.

In another variant, the implementation of the invention is simplified if the connection established on the data network is implemented in whole or in part within a telecommunications network.

It is particularly advantageous here if the connection established on the data network is implemented in whole or in part within the telecommunications network, the subscriber line data of which are processed.

It is furthermore advantageous in terms of security, especially against input errors, when the original data record is retained in the subscriber data register and the changes are made to a copy of the data record generated by the processor are checked, except for a command given by the user via the connection established on the data network, the changed data record for its validity with regard to conditions specified by the operator of the telecommunications network and, if the result of the test is positive, transferred to the subscriber data register, otherwise it is discarded.

Another advantageous and user-friendly variant is if, in addition to the connection-related data, other information obtainable from a subscriber connection, e.g. an electronic message that is transmitted to the user terminal via the data network.

It is expedient for the transmission of information of any kind if the information, insofar as it is analog, is digitally coded for transmission and decoded in the user terminal.

The above tasks are further solved on the basis of a telecommunication network of the type described at the beginning by means of a telecommunication network which, according to the invention, has a processor assigned to the exchange, which has access via a freely accessible data network and is set up to do so, according to a user input on a terminal of the data network and to execute the processing and / or query of connection-related data of the subscriber data register for instructions transmitted to it.

This solution makes data accessible regardless of the services of the telecommunications network. The connection to an existing data network such as the Internet gives the user access to the configuration of his subscriber connections from any computer location which is connected to this computer network; in the case of the Internet, for example, this means worldwide access. It is advantageous and simple to implement if the telecommunications network has devices, for example modem devices, which are provided for establishing connections to a data network, so that the freely accessible data network can be implemented in whole or in part on it.

In a variant that is particularly advantageous for reasons of the security of the telecommunications network, the processor is designed as a firewall computer.

It is furthermore advantageous and convenient for the user if the processor is equipped to provide not only the connection-related data but also other information obtainable from a subscriber connection, e.g. to transmit an electronic message to the user terminal via the data network.

The invention is explained below with further advantages on the basis of an exemplary embodiment, the configuration of telephone connections of a public, analog telephone network via the Internet, with the aid of the attached FIG. 1, which represents a schematic overview of this telephone network.

FIG. 1 shows an analog telephone network TEN to which terminals, which can be, for example, telephone or fax machines, are connected; three terminals TEL to TEL "are shown by way of example in FIG. 1. A switch TVM is set up to establish the connections between these terminals of the telephone network TEN. The switch TVM essentially has a switch matrix TMX, which establishes the links between the connection points of the telecommunications network , a subscriber data register TDR and a control processor TSR. The task of the control processor TSR is to control the matrix TMX. For this purpose, the control processor TSR on the one hand interprets telecommunication signals, for example dialing signals coming from the subscribers TEL-TEL "and received and decoded via the matrix TMX, and uses others- the data stored in the TDR register. The data contained in the subscriber data register TDR include, among other things, the connection-related data, the basic subscriber data and the configurations of connections with regard to telecommunications services, such as those mentioned above.

It should be noted at this point that a connection of a terminal to the telecommunications network is generally understood to mean the technical implementation of a connection option, of whatever type. While with an analog telephone network usually connection lines have to be laid to the terminals, for example a radio network has no such lines, but each has transmitting and receiving devices. The lines in FIG. 1 from the terminals TEL-TEL "to the telecommunications network TEN are to be understood symbolically in this sense. In any case, however, the connections are managed in the switching center TVM and are equipped with connection features depending on the type of the associated terminal.

The TVM telephone exchange generally consists of several exchanges; however, the architecture of the mediation is irrelevant to the invention. The exchanges can each have their own control processors TSR, for example, or be centrally coordinated. In particular, the connection data can be stored centrally in a data memory provided for this purpose or decentrally, for example in the switching center assigned to the subscriber connection. Furthermore, it is possible that, for example, the functions of the subscriber data register TDR are taken over by the control processor TSR or else by the matrix TMX, that the matrix TMX is set up to access the connection data of the register TDR directly, or that the control processor TSR is under Inclusion of the matrix TMX as a switching system with or without its own subscriber data register are formed. In this sense, the components TMX, TSR and TDR shown in FIG. 1 are each intended to represent the entirety of the corresponding radio represent international switching components of the telephone network TEN.

The operator of the telephone network sets the subscriber data, for example, from a terminal computer QTE, which, although not part of the TVM exchange, is nevertheless connected to the control processor TSR via a specially provided connection QPP and with this, for example, via the so-called Q interface, one of which European standards institute for telecommunications (ETSI) standardized software protocol, communicates. Another possibility is, for example, the input of the subscriber data directly via an input console of the control processor TSR, for example by means of the MML ( ^x man-machine language ') standard of the International Telecommunications Association (ITU). The subscribers of the telephone network, ie the users of the terminals TEL-TEL ", can only access these processing methods of the connection configuration in exceptional cases.

The invention now provides for the possibility of processing the connection-related data by the user of a subscriber line, who will also be referred to below briefly as a subscriber, by connecting the control processor TSR to the Internet IPN via a network processor IPP. The network processor IPP acts on the part of the switching center TVM as the contact person for the subscriber via the Internet IPN and thus takes over the functions of an Internet server. For this purpose, it is equipped with the appropriate server software. The network processor IPP can now be addressed from any computer ITE on the Internet IPN, provided that this computer ITE uses a terminal protocol that can be operated by the server software of the network processor IPP. The network processor IPP and its connection to the Internet IPN is expediently designed in such a way that several subscribers can establish a connection to it at the same time and possibly with different terminal protocols. In principle, the control processor TSR can be designed such that it takes over the functions of the network processor IPP. However, this is usually avoided for security reasons. To protect the control processor TSR against unauthorized access from the Internet, the network processor IPP is usually set up as a firewall computer that is independent of the control processor TSR. Firewall computers or ^λ firewall computers' are a well-known concept for securing computer networks. Here, the firewall computer IPP takes over all the functions of an Internet server for the subscriber when configuring a subscriber line and thus relieves the control processor TSR of these tasks. If a subscriber wants to configure a subscriber line, he logs on from his ITE terminal via the Internet IPN to the firewall computer IPP, which now serves, for example, as a server for the ITE user terminal. The firewall computer IPP obtains the subscriber data that are currently being processed from the subscriber data register TDR via the control processor TSR and, if necessary, returns changed data to the latter. The data traffic between the control processor TSR and the firewall computer IPP is limited to this data; the data is processed for the participant in the firewall computer IPP. For the subscriber who connects his ITE from his terminal computer connected to the Internet

Terminal TEL configured, of course, no difference can be seen whether he carries out the connection configuration at the exchange or the control processor directly or via a firewall computer.

The subscriber can now set the connection configuration of the terminal TEL he is using from any access ITE of the Internet IPN. The user terminal ITE is, for example, a PC which is connected to the Internet via a modem by means of a dial-up connection and is equipped with Internet software, for example the terminal program TelNet; in a special case, the user terminal can also ches terminal, which is supplied directly by the network processor IPP of the exchange. For the user terminal ITE, the network processor IPP now functions as a server for the connection configuration.

After the subscriber has now established a connection to the exchange, or to the exchange assigned to his subscriber line, he logs on to the processor IPP for querying and / or processing connection configurations and gives his authorization for this. Access to the subscriber data is secured, for example, with a transaction number or by a user ID with a password. This authorization is issued by the operator of the telecommunications network and is primarily used to protect the connection configuration against arbitrary access by third parties. Several authorization identifiers can also be assigned to a user. An example of this is a hierarchy from an identifier that only allows the configuration to be queried, to an identifier that allows all connection data to be changed. Another option is an initial configuration identifier, which is unique

Setting a connection allows, but changes later are no longer permitted. In an extension, an authorization identifier can be assigned that enables the simultaneous processing of a group of subscriber lines in one processing operation. This is e.g. For configuring a number of connections belonging to a company or a private telephone system, this is an advantage, since it makes it much easier to set up connections that belong to the same type or are coordinated with one another.

After authorization, the user can use the existing

Query the configuration for connection features in the form of a dialog with the operator and, if he is authorized to make a change, activate or delete these features and, if necessary, enter parameters. Examples of the connection features that can be configured in this way were already given in the introduction mentioned . The use of the Internet and the software already available for this makes it possible to design this dialog in a comfortable dialog interface, for example as a menu-oriented input and output, which makes it easier for the user to query or edit the connection configuration.

For data security reasons, the entire dialogue in the form of security-requiring orders is similar to the transactions in banking. If the subscriber has configured the connection according to his wishes or has requested the desired information, he closes the with a command

Dialog. The changed connection data are then checked by the exchange, namely in the firewall computer IPP and / or in the control processor TSR, with regard to their authorization and consistency with the other connection-related data and, if the result of the check is positive, transferred to the subscriber data register TDR. Of course, the subscriber has the option, instead, to discard the change in the connection data using another command and to leave the connection configuration in the original state.

In addition, other services that are linked to a connection can be queried when configuring. For example, the 'messagebox', which is an answering machine service set up by the telephone network, can be queried by the respective subscriber. Here, for example, electronic messages can be viewed directly - and answered if necessary; Acoustic messages must be coded accordingly for transmission over the Internet and, for example, be output on the user terminal using an audio card.

The embodiment shown above is of course to be seen as just one example among many possible ones - in particular, the invention is not restricted to analog telephone networks. Rather, the invention encompasses all Formations according to independent claims 1 and 14, which can be realized by a person skilled in the art.

Claims

claims

1. A method for processing and / or querying the connection-related data of a subscriber connection of a telecommunications network, in which the connection-related data are stored in a subscriber data register assigned to the switching of the telecommunications network, by a user, characterized in that one of the users on a terminal freely accessible data network, instructions entered are transmitted to a processor assigned to the exchange via a connection established between the terminal and the processor on the data network, and the processor carries out the processing and / or query of the connection-related data of the subscriber data register in accordance with these instructions.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a certain amount of data in the subscriber data register, e.g. part of the data of a subscriber line is released.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that depending on the type of access, e.g. Initial configuration, query or change, specific amounts of data are released.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the processing or query only after input of an access authorization, e.g. a transaction number that allows users.

5. The method according to claims 2 and 4, characterized in that specific amounts of data are released depending on the type of access authorization entered.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the processor sends messages and / or information queried by the exchange over the connection to the user terminal.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the transmission of instructions, messages and data between the user terminal and the processor takes place in a secure protocol.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the connection-related data of a number of subscriber connections are processed in parallel.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the connection established on the data network is realized in whole or in part within a telecommunications network.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the connection established on the data network in whole or in part within the telecommunications network, the subscriber line data are processed, is realized.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that when the data is processed, the original data record is retained in the subscriber data register and the changes are made to a copy of the data record generated by the processor, except for one on the the command given by the user to the data network connection established, the changed data record is checked for its validity with regard to conditions specified by the operator of the telecommunications network and, if the test result is positive, transferred to the subscriber data register, otherwise it is discarded.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that in addition to the connection-related data also other information obtainable from a subscriber connection, e.g. an electronic message that is transmitted to the user terminal via the data network.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that the information, insofar as it is of an analog type, is digitally coded for transmission and decoded in the user terminal.

14. Telecommunications network, in which the connection-related data of the subscriber connections (TEL-TEL ") are stored in a subscriber data register (TDR) assigned to the exchange (TVM) of the telecommunications network, characterized by a processor (IPP) assigned to the exchange (TVP), the one Has access via a freely accessible data network (IPN) and is set up to carry out the processing and / or query of connection-related data of the subscriber data register (TDR) according to instructions entered by a user on a terminal (ITE) of the data network (IPN) and transmitted to him .

15. Telecommunication network according to claim 14, characterized in that there are devices, e.g. Modem devices, which are provided for establishing connections of a data network, and that the freely accessible data network (IPN) can be realized in whole or in part on it.

16. Telecommunications network according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the processor (IPP) is designed as a firewall computer.

17. Telecommunications network according to one of claims 14 to

16, characterized in that the processor (IPP) is equipped to transmit not only the connection-related data but also other information obtainable from a subscriber connection, for example an electronic message, via the data network to the user terminal.