WO1998053414A1

WO1998053414A1 - Electronic rearrangement statusing system

Info

Publication number: WO1998053414A1
Application number: PCT/US1998/010349
Authority: WO
Inventors: William David Brogdon; Joseph Brian Thompson; James E. White, Jr.
Original assignee: Bear Creek Technologies, Inc.
Priority date: 1997-05-21
Filing date: 1998-05-21
Publication date: 1998-11-26

Abstract

An electronic statusing network allows for intercommunication among multiple distinct enterprise computer systems of different busineses to facilitate the making of enhancements to facilities used by customer businesses with the least interruption to customer use of such facilities. An electronic rearrangement statusing computer system (10) is provided which may include a firewall (28), an intra-system network connection (26), a communications server (20), a rearrangement applications system (22), and a database server (24). The electronic rearrangement statusing computer system (10) may be connected, via a connectionless internetwork (12), such as the Internet, to rearrangement control business systems (14), customer interface business systems (16) and customer systems (18). The rearrangement control business systems (14) comprise enterprise customer systems of respective businesses having control over the enhancement of facilities used by the customers. The customer interface business systems (16) comprise enterprise computer systems of respective businesses having direct customer responsibility.

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

ELECTRONIC REARRANGEMENT STATUSING SYSTEM

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for facilitating facility and circuit rearrangements.

2. Background Information

Telephony and other network communications systems facilitate communications between equipment such as telephones, facsimile machine, burglar alarms, computers, etc. via a switched or dedicated network. Lines and switches are connected together to form a switched or dedicated network.

A telephone company will frequently need to replace, repair, rearrange, or otherwise enhance facilities forming part of the dedicated or ,switched network. Such facilities may comprise, for example, routers, central office switches, analog, digital, ISDN, or other types of lines, telephony server application programming interfaces (TSAPI) , and telephone equipment, such as voice mail systems or telephones.

One business typically controls rearrangements of the facilities associated with a particular switched network, while another business uses such facilities to provide services to its customers. If a network facility is changed (i.e., "rearranged"), the business (for example, a regional carrier) notifies the business offering the service (for example, a common carrier) that a rearrangement is about to occur, which will cause a lapse in the service provided to the customer.

By way of example, a bundle of twisted copper pairs may be replaced with a fiber optic cable. In order to make this replacement, the regional carrier will notify the common carrier before deactivating the facilities (i.e., the twisted pairs) which are critical to the service being provided to the common carrier's customer. In a typical rearrangement notification procedure, the rearrangement control business may receive a rearrangement request. A representative of the rearrangement control business will then screen the request to determine if a release will be required. The control business may prepare a circuit release notification form, including certain information critical to the release request, such as information identifying the requester, the facility or circuit identification information, the date of release, the duration of release (window), and the estimated down time.

The request is then forwarded to the customer coordinator, which may be another business such as a common carrier. The customer coordinator will negotiate the release with the end user. The customer coordinator will then provide the requester with a response to the release request, indicating whether or not there are any release problems.

For example, the date and time of the release may be inappropriate to either the customer coordinator or to the customer/end user, and a new date and time may need to be negotiated.

If there are no problems with the release request, the customer coordinator will notify the requester accordingly. The circuit controller/requester will then arrange for the release and will accordingly cut the customer's service at the appropriate time and for the appropriate duration (window) .

If the work is not completed within the requested window, the requester's representative must notify the customer coordinator that an extension is needed, or that the work associated with the release cannot be performed. The customer coordinator will then contact the customer and request an extension of the release, or another release date and time.

Once a rearrangement is completed, the circuit controller business will then perform testing to ensure reliability of the rearranged circuit or facility, and accordingly notify the customer coordinator that the rearrangement is completed. The customer coordinator will then report the completion of the rearrangement to the customer.

The circuit/facility rearrangement notification procedure described above is a typical procedure used by regional carriers when performing rearrangements that require notification to a common carrier. Many (if not all) of the communications among the circuit controller, the customer coordinator, and the customer are performed manually, and thus are labor- intensive. In addition, such communications are typically performed using long distance voice telephone calls or facsimiles, thus incurring significant long distance charges. The typical circuit/facility rearrangement notification procedure also requires the gathering and maintenance of paper files and logs. Each circuit rearrangement may require a minimum of four separate contacts of individuals. In order to obtain the status of the request, an in-person communication must be initiated, requiring some type of personal verification, e.g., using a long distance voice communication or facsimile. These aspects of a typical circuit/facility rearrangement notification procedure can result in significant financial outlays for support staff.

In addition, the manual aspects of the conventional circuit/facility rearrangement notification procedure will frequently result in miscommunications, unnecessary repeated field visits, and a reduced rate of successful and timely rearrangements. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is provided to improve upon circuit/facility rearrangement notification procedures. In order to achieve this end, an automated electronic statusing system is provide.

An object of the present invention is to provide such an electronic statusing system that will reduce overhead expenses associated with circuit and facility rearrangements . A further object of the present invention is to provide a central electronic rearrangement statusing system which will facilitate the execution of rearrangement notification procedures involving different parties, including rearrangement control businesses, customer interfacing businesses, and customers.

It is an object of the present invention to provide such a central electronic rearrangement statusing system which will facilitate on-line release activities associated with a rearrangement notification procedure; the availability of real time status information regarding pending releases; and the tracking, analysis, and reporting of rearrangement information, such as the committed date and time window, and rearrangement activity on a per-customer basis. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention are further described in the detailed description which follows, with reference to the drawings by way of non-limiting exemplary embodiments of the present invention, wherein like reference numerals represent similar parts of the present invention throughout the several views and wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a rearrangement notification communication system; and Fig. 2 is a functional diagram illustrating the various communications and transfers of information among the various types of systems illustrated in Fig. 1, including the rearrangement control business system, an electronic rearrangement statusing system, a customer interfacing business system, and a customer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, Fig.

1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a rearrangement notification communications system 8. The illustrated communications system 8 includes an electronic rearrangement statusing system 10, a connectionless internetwork 12, and various rearrangement notification procedure participant systems.

The participant systems may include one or more rearrangement control business systems 14, one or more customer interfacing business systems 16, and one or more customer systems 18. A rearrangement control business system 14 comprises a computer system controlled by a business (e.g., a regional carrier) which handles circuit and facility rearrangements. A customer interfacing business system 16 comprises a computer system of a common carrier. A customer system 18 comprises a computer system of a customer of the customer interfacing business. All interfacing with the customer is typically handled by the customer interfacing business.

The electronic rearrangement statusing system 10 is a common independent system which provides for on-line rearrangement notification transactions, the gathering and accessing of real- time status information concerning pending releases, and the tracking of rearrangement information for analysis and reporting. The information provided or maintained within electronic rearrangement statusing system may be accessed by customer interfacing business system 16, rearrangement control business system 14, and (optionally) customer system 18 via a connectionless internetwork 12 (comprising, for example, the Internet) .

Electronic rearrangement statusing system 10 may comprise, among other elements, a communications server 20 connected to a rearrangement applications system 22, a database server 24, an internal bus or network connection 26, and a firewall 28. The firewall is placed between the internal bus/network connection 26 and connectionless internetwork 12.

The rearrangement control business system 14 comprises a browser 30 and a computer system 32. Computer interfacing business system 16 also comprises a browser 34 and a computer system 36. Each customer system 18 may similarly comprise a browser 38 and a computer system 40. The browser of each of systems 14,

16, and 18 may be connected to connectionless network 12.

It is noted, however, that computer system 18 may not be provided with any browser, and thus may not be connected to electronic rearrangement statusing system via connectionless network 12. Instead, all communication between customer system 18 and electronic rearrangement statusing system 10 may be directed through customer interfacing business system 16, to allow the customer interfacing business to serve as the sole interface between the customer and all circuit and facility management activity.

In a connectionless internetwork, an end node transmits data in packets, each packet being accompanied by the address to which it should be delivered and being independently routed. The connectionless network service type is defined by Radia Perlman in "Interconnections:

Bridges and Routers, ' Addison-Wesley Publishing Company

(1992), the content of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Connectionless network 12 may comprise the Internet.

In this regard, Web browsers 30, 34, and 38 may comprise commonly used Web browsers, such as NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR or

MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER. Communications server 20 performs functions related to interfacing the rearrangement applications system 22 with connectionless network 12. Rearrangement application system 22 comprises rearrangement applications for providing online release transactions, providing real-time on-line access to status information regarding pending releases, including rearrangement requests, go/no-go statuses, cut time and day notifications, and completion notifications. Rearrangement application system 22 may further be provided with a mechanism for providing a different set of information and/or a different interface for each different type of system accessing the electronic rearrangement statusing system 10 via connectionless internetwork 12. For example, customer system 18 may be provided with access to only limited information concerning its particular resources, while the customer interfacing business system 16 may be provided with more overreaching information concerning all of the circuits and facilities being used to provide services to its customers .

Rearrangement application system 22 may be also provided with a mechanism for tracking various rearrangement release information, and for producing reports of the same. All of the information gathered and provided by electronic rearrangement statusing system 10 may be provided in a database, accessible by database server 24. Rearrangement application system 22 may be further provided with a mechanism for keeping track of information on a per-customer basis, so that the history of any rearrangement activity pertaining to a particular customer can be tracked. Similarly, information may be tracked and reported for each customer interfacing business.

Fig. 2 is a functional diagram illustrating the communications (i.e., electronic transactions) between various entities of the system illustrated in Fig. 1. In the process illustrated in Fig. 2, there are various communications among rearrangement control business system 14, electronic rearrangement statusing system 10, customer interfacing business system 16, and customer system 18.

The process initially starts with a rearrangement request 50, which may be initiated internal to the rearrangement control business. Upon receiving a rearrangement request, the rearrangement control business system 14 will send a circuit/facility release notification 52 to electronic rearrangement statusing system 10. Electronic rearrangement statusing system 10 will then forward a release notification 54 to customer interfacing business system 16.

Customer interfacing business system 16 will then send a release negotiation communication 56 to customer system 18. A return response 58 is then communicated back to customer interfacing business system 16. A release response 60 is then forwarded back to electronic rearrangement statusing system 10, and a corresponding release response 62 is relayed to rearrangement control business system 14.

If there is a problem with a release request and the status of a release response is thus a "no go" status, a modified notification 64 is then forwarded from rearrangement control business system 14 to electronic rearrangement statusing system 10, which forwards modified notification 66 to customer interfacing business system 16. A release negotiation 56 is again forwarded to customer system 18 at that point.

Once the status of the release response is a "go" status, received as a result of a successful release negotiation indication at 58, the control business will execute the rearrangement at 68.

If any delays or problems are encountered with the execution of the rearrangement, a delay or problem indication 70 is forwarded to electronic rearrangement statusing system 10, which forwards a delay or problem indication 72 to customer interfacing business system 16. On the other hand, if there are no delays or problems, a rearrangement complete notice 74 is forwarded from rearrangement control business 14 to electronic rearrangement statusing system 10, which sends a rearrangement complete notice 76 to customer interfacing business system 16. Customer interfacing business 16 then sends a final report 78 to customer system 18.

Since a connectionless internetwork 12 is relatively open and unsecure, steps should be taken to prevent unauthorized access to any information being communicated among the various entities in the communications system 8 illustrated in Fig. 1. Security precautions can be provided in layers to protect the network resources of any one or more of the illustrated entities. By way of example, some such security precautions will be discussed herein with respect to the electronic rearrangement statusing system 10.

Initially, to maintain the integrity of the electronic rearrangement statusing system 10 with respect to connectionless internetwork 12, a commercially available firewall 28 may be provided. In addition, communications server 20 may limit all access to rearrangement application system 22 and to the database by, for example, authenticating users and denying access to unauthorized users. In addition, communications server 20 may limit access for even authenticated users to information related solely to their company. Such access can be restricted based upon log-in names and/or passwords. It can also be restricted based upon Internet protocol (IP) addresses and telephone numbers associated with log-in names when higher levels of security are required. Such supplemental security measures may be used to restrict supervisory rights since system administrators are generally given broader authority.

Moreover, to prevent unauthorized use of any data being transmitted among authorized entities in the communications system 8 illustrated in Fig. 1, any communications between a given browser 30, 34, and 38, and rearrangement applications 22 should be secured. Many encrypting systems and processes are known for providing such security. One example is the standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol which is supported by popular servers and browsers such as those provided by NETSCAPE and MICROSOFT.

A NETSCAPE communications server may be used as communications server 20, running on a WINDOWS NT platform and controlling an OBJECTSTORE database server. Communications server 20 may communicate with an Internet client through static HTML pages, dynamically generated HTML pages, JAVA and JAVA SCRIPT. The dynamically generated HTML pages are produced using common gateway interface (CGI) programs which operate based upon selections in HTML forms.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An electronic statusing network for intercommunication among multiple distinct enterprise computer systems of different businesses to facilitate the making of enhancements to facilities by customer businesses with the least interruption to customer use of said facilities, said network comprising: an electronic rearrangement statusing computer system comprising a firewall, an intra-system network connection, a communications server, a rearrangement applications systems, and a database server ; rearrangement control business systems each comprising an enterprise computer system of a respective business having control over the enhancement of facilities being used by a customer; customer interface business systems each comprising an enterprise computer system of a respective business having direct customer responsibility; customer systems each comprising an enterprise computer system of a respective customer business; and an internetwork for providing the communications connection among each of said electronic rearrangement statusing system, said rearrangement control business systems, and said customer interface business systems.