Customer activation system
Contents
1. RT POENI e EE 1 UNASSIGNED TELEPHONE NUMBER INVENTORY E STATUS United States Patent 9 Patent Number 4 958 368 Parker 4 Date of Patent Sep 18 1990 54 CUSTOMER ACTIVATION SYSTEM 4 672 377 6 1987 Murphy et al 340 825 34 4 748 655 5 1988 Thrower et al 379 60 75 Inventor Terry S Parker Spring Tex Primary Examiner Robert Lev 73 Assignee Mobilnet Incorporated Attorney Agent or Firm John A Odozynski Houston Tex 5 n cT 21 Appl No 265 183 57 fos Customer Activation System including method 2 Filed Oct 31 1988 and apparatus for expeditiously providing a cellular H04M 1 57 mobile radiotelephone CMR customer access to CMR 52 379 91 379 58 service The system includes a regional processor pro 379 59 grammed to 58 Field of Search 379 59 60 58 63 accept information identifying the CMR customer 379 91 455 33 34 Obtain a credit check of the CMR customer assign telephone number to customer and 56 References Cited insert and activate the telephone number in a cellular U S PATENT DOCUMENTS switch 4 616 108 10 1986 Yamaguchi et al 379 63 4 640 986 2 1987 Yotsutani et al 379 60 42 Claims 1 Drawing Sheet PEN2. Status Agent Valid Retail Sales Telephone Number File Agent ID Block Range Call Restrictions Feature Packages Market Identifier ESN Deny Status ESN Deny Rate Stamp ESN Deny Code Customer Information File Social Security Number Name Address Street City State Zip Summary Billing Agent ID Celsec Code Service Area Salesperson ID 4 958 368 9 Taxes Mobile Telephone Number ESN Contact Telephone Number Credit Card Number Account Number Date Timestamp Features packages Coverage Service Class Status Flags Market Identifier File Switch Name Switch Type Logon Name Logon Password Telenet Address Phone Number Backup Phone Number Line Connection Type Line Discipline Product Inventory File Agent ID Date of Transaction ESN Product Code Product Delivered from HQ Agent File Agent ID Full Agent Name Agent Address Agent Phone Number Agent Password Agent Restrictions Salesperson ID Salesperson Password Salesperson Name Salesperson Restrictions Log File Roamer Datafile Roamer Mobile Number Date Timestamp Out Date Stamp Agent ID Market Identifier OPERATION OF CAS With the prerequisite understanding of the CAS com bined hardware and software architecture in hand it is now possible to elaborate on the precise manner in which CAS permits a CMR customer to expeditiously gain access to CMR service Activation of a CMR cus tomer under control of the subject CAS proceeds
3. the customer It reads the Available Telephone Number File and based upon the Agent ID the area code and the switch ID removes the telephone number from the inactive list and assigns it to the customer It returns the assigned MID to the VoiceNet Requestor and writes the MID to the Customer Information Record This function also logs all status changes Files Accessed Customer Information File Unassigned Telephone Number File Agent File Switch File Log File Called By VoiceNet Requestor b Switch Update Function Functionality The Switch Update Function is responsible for insert ing the customer s newly assigned MID into the appro priate switch database It is activated by the VoiceNet Requestor which causes the Switch Update Function to read the Customer Information Record for the new MID The Switch Update Function then accesses the Switch Information File for the proper command struc 4 958 368 7 ture to complete a switch access Based on the indicated command structure it then formats a valid input com mand stream for inserting the MID into the switch database and awaits a valid reply Depending upon the reply returned from the switch this server either re turns a completion to the VoiceNet Requestor or writes to a pending file for later switch update It also logs ail events and status changes Finally this server also updates the Customer Information Record with the status changes Files Accessed C
4. CMR system to which the CMR customer has subscribed and the available features of that CMR system and 2 Suggests new features that the CMR customer may purchase 24 Customer Activation System for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 23 wherein the regional processor is programmed to generate the Welcome letter either in either a batch mode or in an on line mode 25 A method utilizing a processor for providing a customer expeditious access to Cellular Mobile Radio telephone CMR service the method comprising the Steps a entering an Agent ID and a PIN b entering through a data entry means that is cou pled to the processor a symbol that indicates to the processor that a new transaction is to begin c entering through the data entry means the ESN associated with CMR equipment the customer intends to use 4 958 368 17 d entering through the data entry means data iden tifying the customer e entering through the data entry means a Rate Plan that the customer has selected and f entering through the data entry means an area code and a three digit exchange corresponding to the CMR system to which the customer intends to subscribe 26 A method for providing a customer expeditious access to CMR service as defined in claim 25 wherein during the course of any one or more of Step a through Step f the processor establishes a connection to a Cu
5. as follows Initially a selling agent gains access or logs on to CAS by dialing on a data entry device such as telephone 20 a predetermined telephone access num ber Telephone 20 may be a standard telephone set However in the preferred embodiment telephone 20 should be capable of generating DTMF signals for the entry of data on the CAS regional processor Upon access to the CAS the agent is then greeted with a verbal message welcoming him to CAS After log on CAS provides a voice prompt that guides the agent through the preliminary stage of the transaction Initially the voice prompt requests that the 10 15 20 25 30 35 10 agent enter his Agent ID After entering his Agent ID the agent can inquire into an existing transaction by entering a Transaction Code or he can indicate a desire to talk to a Customer Service Representative CSR In order to enter a new transaction the agent must additionally enter his Personal Identification Number PIN However in order to inquire into an existing transaction the agent need enter only a valid Transac tion Code In order to talk to a CSR at any time during a transaction the agent need only press a predetermined key for example 0 on the telephone keypad If the agent enters his Agent ID CAS responds with a voice prompt that requests the agent to enter his PIN CAS compares the Agent ID to the PIN If a match is found to exist between the Agent ID
6. claim 9 wherein the regional processor is programmed to allocate a suffix to the NPA NXX so as to formulate a cellular telephone number and is programmed to acti vate the cellular telephone number so formulated in a cellular switch 11 A Customer Activation System as defined in claim 10 wherein the data entry means is a telephone set that is coupled to the regional processor and that is capable of transmitting to the regional processor DTMF signals 12 In a Customer Activation System that includes a processor programmed to i accept information identi fying a CMR customer ii obtain a credit report re lated to the CMR customer and iii validate CMR equipment intended to be used by the customer means for accepting number data corresponding to the NPA NXX of a cellular system to which the CMR customer intends to subscribe and means for formulating an MID 13 In a Customer Activation System as defined in claim 12 means for inserting and activating the MID in a cellu lar switch associated with the cellular system to which the customer intends to subscribe 14 A method for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service the method compris ing the steps entering information in a regional processor that identifies the CMR customer b performing through facilities available to the regional processor a credit check of the CMR customer c assigning a telephone number to the CMR cus tomer and
7. entered CAS prompts the agent to enter information that identifies the customer In a pre ferred embodiment this information is supplied in the form of the customer s social security number SSN When the customer s SSN has been entered CAS issues or voice prompt that repeats the SSN and allows the agent an opportunity to correct the SSN in the event that it has not been entered correctly Upon the accurate entry of a customer s SSN CAS enters the CREDIT SWITCH 5 database see below and returns with a voice prompt that includes expanded identifying information such as the customer s last name first name and address CAS then prompts the agent to indicate whether or not the expanded informa tion is correct If incorrect the agent may then either re try or access a CSR If the re try is incorrect the agent is automatically connected to a CSR If the re try is correct CAS through CICC Server then commis sions a credit service bureau to perform a credit check and issue a credit report In a preferred embodiment the CICC Server com missions the credit report through a credit service bu reau known as CREDIT SWITCH This service is available from Magnum Communications Limited hav ing an office at 380 Interstate North Parkway Atlanta Ga 30339 In general CREDIT SWITCH sM provides access to data collected by selected consumer credit reporting agencies Briefly CAS through CICC Server transmits requests for credit repo
8. that provides ex panded information derived from the social security number If the expanded information is accurate the processor then obtains a credit report relating to the customer In a preferred embodiment the processor commissions a credit report from a credit service bu reau If the credit report results in approval the agent then enters via the data entry device number data corresponding to the NPA NXX of the CMR system to which the customer desires to subscribe The regional processor then appends 4 digit suffix to the NPA NXX so as to formulate the customer s CMR telephone number or MID The regional processor then inserts and activates the MID in an associated cellular switch In addition CAS then formats a billing record related to the newly activated customer and enters the billing record on a billing processor BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is a block diagram of the subject Customer Activation System depicting the CAS regional proces sor as well as i the mechanism by which data may be entered on the regional processor and ii the various databases and other processors with which the regional processor interacts in order to achieve customer activa tion FIG 2 is a diagram of the CAS software architecture FIG 2 conveys conceptually the manner in which data may be entered on the regional processor via a Voi 4 958 368 3 ceNet Requestor The VoiceNet Requestor through numerous software Server
9. DING ORDER BILLING DATA iO CC s 40 gt SWITCH TEL ACTIVATION 50 ESN 8 INVENTORY PRODUCT RE ORDER CREDIT CARD DATA US Patent Sep 18 1990 4 958 368 P Ses 40 ESN 8 SWITCH TEL ACTIVATION 50 ESN amp INVENTORY PRODUCT RE ORDER 1 60 PENDING BILLING ORDER ACTIVATION ea eek ce BILLING DATA STATUS UNASSIGNED TELE PHONE NUMBER INVENTORY CREDIT CHECK DATA SERVICE CREDIT CARD DATA REPORTS ON LINE SYSTEM SI S5 bp ta Ec OP ce t M us AGENT CUSTOMER RATE TELEPHONE PLAN NUMBER CRE DIT FIG 2 4 958 368 1 CUSTOMER ACTIVATION SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the provision of cellular mobile radiotelephone CMR service and more partic ularly to a system encompassing both a method and apparatus that in a preferred embodiment includes a regional processor for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION CMR service is one of the most rapidly growing telecommunication services currently offered See for example Surging Price Insensitive Demand Over Next Two Years and Strong Five Year Picture Fore cast for Cellular Industry Association Which Sees Ca pacity Concerns Validated TELECOMMUNICA
10. ET available from Input Output Computer Ser vices Inc IOCS 400 Totten Pond Road Waltham Mass 02254 In general permits access to a wide array 20 25 30 35 45 55 60 65 4 of databases from DTMF telephones Once telephone contact is established with the processor in which the database resides a caller may use the telephone keypad to enter or retrieve data in response to prompts instruc tions that are voiced to the caller through the operation of the VOICE NET software The precise method by which this functionality is arrived at is described in the document entitled VOICE NET amp Operations Manual hereby incorporated by reference and avail able from IOCS at the above address and will there fore not be further discussed in this Description In addition the document entitled VOICE NET amp Tan dem Software Architecture provides specific informa tion related to the use of VOICE NET products in a Tandem based environment In addition to the kernel software CAS comprises complementary software designed to perform the func tions and provide the software interfaces included in CAS as described herein The generation of such ap plication specific software is easily realized by pro grammers who are possessed of ordinary skill in the art and who have been equipped with the understanding of the operation of CAS as set forth below in this Descrip tion The document entitled VO
11. ICE NET 8 Applica tions Generator VN 2 User s Manual is calculated to provide whatever assistance may be desired in this re gard That document is hereby incorporated by refer ence It is useful to note however that VOICE NET 8 software incorporates a feature referred to as a VoiceNet Requestor The VoiceNet Requestor oper ates as a software gateway between the kernel and the linking software that is written to inter alia transfer information between the kernel and databases that may be either external or internal to the CAS regional pro cessor 10 The linking software is implemented the form of a number of Servers that are described be low II CAS MAIN SYSTEM The CAS Main System includes a number of software modules referred to as Servers that perform the functions and require the interfaces set forth below AGENT VALIDATION SERVER Functionality The Agent Validation Server accesses the Agent File See below in Data Structures to determine the correctness of the agent logon and password This server also updates the last logged on timestamps and the Log File with all pertinent information regarding valid and invalid access attempts A logged on times tamp indicating date and time is generated by CAS each time an agent attempts to access C S This server also generates the Transaction Code to be logged main tained and used by the remainder of CAS Files Accessed Agent File Log F
12. TIONS REPORTS Aug 15 1988 pp 22 23 The technology underlying CMR service is exhaustively documented and well within the understanding of those possessed of ordinary skill in the art of CMR communi cations Accordingly a rigorous description of CMR technology will not be undertaken here and the reader will be referred to the following representative publica tions the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference Bernard Joseph 1987 The Cellular Connection Men docino Calif Quantum Publishing Gibson Stephen W 1987 Cellular Mobile Radiotele phones Edgelwood Cliffs Prentice Hail The projected growth of the CMR industry is rivaled only by the degree of competition engendered among those who provide CMR equipment or CMR service to the burgeoning customer population As a result the prudent provider of CMR equipment or service contin ually searches for ways to achieve a competitive advan tage in the market place by identifying approaches that will allow him to enhance the quality of equipment or service he might make available to prospective custom ers This invention is directed to a specific aspect of the provision of CMR service that has heretofore repre sented something of an obstacle rather than an attrac tion in the marketing of CMR service the cumbersome and time consuming process that must be endured in order for a CMR customer who has decided to sub scribe to CMR service to be provided with th
13. a local cellular system are able to access that system s processor 10 via data entry devices 20 coupled to the local telephone exchange In a preferred embodiment devices 20 represent standard telephone sets capable of transmitting information not only in voice form but also in the form of DTMF signals that originate from the telephone keypad Because the processor is regional access by telephones 20 will not in general involve interexchange carriage and telecommunications charges associated with the use of CAS will be mini mized In addition to the hardware described above proces sor 10 incorporates several software components de scribed in detail below that permit the processor to be programmably coupled to and exchange information with a remote credit reporting service bureau 30 a local cellular switch 40 an inventory maintenance sys tem 50 and a billing processor 60 In addition the re gional processor may contain internally resident data bases necessary or useful in the customer activation process FIG 2 depicts many of the internally resident databases utilized by CAS The CAS software includes the following three ele mental components 1 The VOICE NET System II The CAS Main System and IIT Data Structures FIG 2 generally depicts the software architecture of the CAS I SYSTEM One of the elemental components of the CAS soft ware is the software product referred to a VOICE N
14. and his PIN CAS considers the agent qualified to enter a Transac tion Code If the Agent ID and the PIN do not match CAS responds with a voice prompt that indicates that the Agent ID and PIN do not match The agent is then prompted either to re enter his Agent ID and his PIN to seek access to CSR If the agent chooses to re enter and a match is again not obtained CAS auto matically connects the agent to a CSR When the Agent ID and agent PIN have been entered correctly CAS prompts the agent to select a transaction Specifically the agent is prompted to enter a prede termined key for example the pound key if the transaction to be entered is a new transaction Once the pound key has been pressed CAS responds with a voice prompt that announces the Transaction Code In order to have the Transaction Code voice prompt repeated the agent is prompted to enter a 1 To continue with the transaction the agent is prompted to enter a 2 If the agent is seeking to inquire into an existing trans action he must enter the Transaction Code that identi fies the transaction CAS will then reach the regional 45 50 55 60 65 processor s database for the matching Transaction Code If a matching transaction cannot be found or if a matching transaction is missing data CAS responds with an appropriate voice prompt s Specifically if CAS locates the Transaction Code in the regional processor database
15. apparatus is a telephone set 32 A Customer Activation System for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 30 wherein the data identifying the customer is a social security number SSN and wherein the processor is operable to access a database so as to associate a name with the SSN 33 A Customer Activation System for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 32 wherein the processor is operable to associate an address with the SSN 34 A Customer Activation System CAS for acti vating a cellular mobile radiotelephone cus tomer on a cellular switch the System comprising means for accepting information identifying the CMR customer so as to enable a credit report to be obtained 45 50 55 65 18 means for obtaining a credit report related to the CMR customer means for formulating an MID to be assigned to the CMR customer and means for inserting and activating the assigned MID on a cellular switch 35 A CAS for activating a CMR customer on a cellu lar switch as defined in claim 34 wherein said means all include a processor 36 A CAS for activating a CMR customer on a cellu lar switch as defined in claim 35 wherein the processor is a regional processor substantially dedicated to use with an associated cellular system and physically lo cated within the geographical area covered by that system 37 CAS for acti
16. at service Conventionally once a CMR customer has pur chased his equipment and desires to be activated on the cellular system of his choice the following procedure is encountered customer is initially required to com plete a paper form with information that includes his name address nearest relative and so forth The selling agent might then transmit this information via for example facsimile to a customer service representative CSR The CSR then attempts to obtain a credit report relating to the customer Here a significant delay may be encountered because of the CSR s backlog of active credit report requests or because of the backlog that may exist at the credit reporting service It is not uncommon for the delay at this juncture to approach one to two hours After the credit report has been received the CSR then conveys to the agent via telephone or facsimile the results of the credit report and based on the credit report the amount of the deposit required from that customer Different deposit requirements will be ex acted on different customers depending largely on the 10 25 30 45 55 60 65 2 customers credit ratings The agent must then convey to the CSR the customer s agreement to pay the re quired deposit amount At this point the CSR would access a centralized processor in order to activate the customer in a cellu lar switch and to generate a billing record The central ized pr
17. ate Plan If after the second attempt the Rate Plan is deter mined to be invalid as entered CAS automatically di verts the agent to a CSR However upon successful entry of a valid Rate Plan CAS begins a procedure that is calculated to result in a telephone number MID verification and a switch activation This procedure begins when CAS prompts the agent to enter an area code NPA and a 3 digit exchange NXX These six numbers NPA NXX identify the cellular system to which the customer is subscribing CAS affords the agent an opportunity to correct this data in the event that it is incorrectly entered Once the NPA NXX number data is correctly entered CAS examines the number data to determine whether the entered numbers are valid numbers in the cellular sys tem CAS is then serving If the NPA NXX numbers are locally invalid CAS provides a corresponding announcement to the agent If the NPA NXX numbers are valid CAS announces that a mobile telephone num ber MID is being processed This processing is done by the TNA Server described above The TNA Server allocates the last four digits of the MID and then acti vates the cellular switch Once the MID has been as signed CAS prompts the agent with a message indicat ing that the switch has been activated and reveals the assigned MID At this point the agent may end the calling session by pressing the key 2 If during an attempt to assign an MID the call to the cellular s
18. but determines that the transaction is missing some data instructions will be sent back to the agent indicating the steps that need to be taken as a result of the inadequacy of the transaction data On the other hand if the Transaction Code simply cannot be found the agent is prompted to re enter the Transaction Code If upon re entry CAS remains un able to find a matching Transaction Code the Transac tion Incomplete File is read in order to determine whether a match resides there If the Transaction Code is found in the Transaction Incomplete File CAS iden tifies the additional data that is needed to complete the transaction Should the transaction prove to be one that is pending that is one that has not been successfully completed CAS sends instructions to the agent speci fying the point at which the transaction entry process is to resume In order to continue with the entry of a new transac tion which occurs when the agent enters a 2 CAS prompts the agent to enter the ESN of the CMR trans ceiver the customer has acquired Upon the entry of the ESN by the agent CAS through the ESN Server see above examines the data base to determine the status of the ESN The ESN Server determines whether the ESN is already active or whether it is inactive If the ESN is already active CAS 4 958 368 11 responds with an appropriate voice prompt and auto matically connects the agent with a CSR When a new valid ESN has been
19. d inserting and activating through the facilities of the regional processor the telephone number in a cellular switch 15 A method for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 14 wherein the method comprises the further step of prior to at least Step c entering an ESN in the regional processor and determining whether the ESN is valid or invalid 16 A method for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 14 where the information identifying the CMR customer is a social security number 17 A method for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 16 wherein the data identifying the CMR customer is en 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 16 tered through a telephone set coupled to the regional processor and capable of transmitting to the regional processor DTMF signals 18 A method for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 14 wherein Step c includes the substeps c 1 entering into the regional processor an area code and a 3 digit exchange c 2 determining whether the area code and c 3 if the area code and 3 digit exchange are valid allocating a 4 digit suffix required to complete the telephone number 19 Customer Activation System for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service the System comprising a a regional processor p
20. e and the air time rate can be expected to vary according to the Rate Plan applied to the specific cus tomer For example a Basic Rate Plan might indicate a monthly access charge of Y month and an air time charge of Y cents minute An Economy Rate Plan might specify a monthly access charge of X month where X is less than Y and an air time charge of Z cents minute where Z is greater than Y Under the Economy Rate Plan a customer who believes he will 10 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 12 require only a limited amount of air time will prefer to be charged a lower access charge but will be willing to assume a higher air time rate Beyond these rate plans a Discount Rate Plan may be made available to customers who agree to long term service contracts and Reseller and Bulk Purchase Rate Plans might similarly be of fered Most often cellular service providers will offer on the order of two to ten rate plans tailored to the needs of their customers However it should be apparent from the above that the number of rate plans offered by a service provider is in large part a function of that service provider s creativity in satisfying the needs of his customers In any event for the purposes of this Description it need be understood only that the Rate Plan may be identified by an N digit code that is entered on CAS and ulti mately determines the customer s monthly bill The agent is permitted two attempts to enter a R
21. hieved only at the ex pense of exposure to the catastrophic failure that might occur in the event that the centralized processor experi ences a failure In addition the distributed regional processor approach allows the regional processors to be interconnected so that the effects of the failure of one regional processor can be mitigated at least to the extent that the regional processor s workload may be handed off to another regional processor In addition CAS has been described above as being primarily accessible to selling agents through data entry devices realized in the form of DTMF telephone sets It is clear that the invention contemplates operation with other forms of data entry devices including but not limited to computer terminals However DTMF tele phone are attractive not only because of their perva siveness and moderate cost but also because of their ability both to transmit DTMF data to the CAS proces sor and to receive the voice prompts generated by CAS I claim 1 A Customer Activation System for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service the System comprising a regional processor programmed to a accept information identifying the tomer b obtain a credit check of the CMR customer c assign a telephone number to the CMR customer and d insert and activate the telephone number in a cellular switch 2 A Customer Activation System as defined in claim 1 further co
22. ilable to the customer CAS will also maintain a product inventory database to ensure prompt and auto matic replenishment of vendor stock As an added ad vantage CAS aiso enables a Customer Service Repre sentative to monitor and modify transactions online 10 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 ensuring that the customer receives quick and accurate service Accordingly although there has been disclosed and described what at present is deemed to be a preferred embodiment of a Customer Activation System for auto matically and expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service it will be obvious to those hav ing ordinary skill in the art that various modifications can be made to that System without departure from the concept of the invention or the scope of the appended claims In particular although the subject CAS has been described as based on a regional processor generally dedicated to a local cellular system the inventive con cept described herein is susceptible to use as well in a system that relies on a centralized processor that may be accessed by a number of cellular systems that desire to provide features inherent to CAS However it is under stood that a centralized CAS would likely require a processor configuration of enlarged scope The central ized approach might be expected to lessen the total hardware acquisition cost but the diminution in hard ware expense would likely be ac
23. ile Called By VoiceNet Requestor PREVIOUS TRANSACTION SERVER The Previous Transaction Server responds to the entry of a Transaction Code by first searching the pend ing transaction queues for any partial or completed 4 958 368 5 transactions and by then responding either to the Voi ceNet Requestor or to a Customer Service Representa tive through a customer service information subsystem with the status of the transaction corresponding to the Transaction Code ESN VALIDATION SERVER The Electronic Serial Number ESN Validation Server checks the local database for the status of the input ESN if active then invalid and then accesses the PVS subsystem to determine whether the ESN is lo cated there PVS refers to the Positive Validation Sys tem available from GTE Data Services Incorporated Tampa Fla If the answer to both these inquires is NO then CAS approves the ESN entered by the agent Functionality The ESN Server first validates the ESN entered by the agent against the local database for active ESNs It then validates against the PVS database to determine whether the ESN is active or inactive elsewhere on the system If the ESN proves to be valid on the system the ESN Validation Server writes the ESN to the Cus tomer Record and to the Valid ESN Database Called By VoiceNet Requestor CUSTOMER INFORMATION AND CREDIT CHECK CICC SERVER The CICC Server comprises a a Customer Informa tion Funct
24. ion and b a Credit Check Function This server initially determines whether a business or an individual is being activated If a business is being acti vated then the server receives the business name from VOICE NET amp starts the Customer Identification Record calls for a credit check rating fills in the Cus tomer Information Record with the information re 5 20 25 30 35 turned and then replies to the VoiceNet Requestor If 49 an individual is being activated then the steps described above similarly occur except that additional informa tion is received via the VoiceNet Requestor and the credit information history is researched a Customer Information Function Functionality The Customer Information Function creates the Cus tomer Information Record in the Customer Information File by using the initial data elements for example the customer s social security number passed to it from the VoiceNet Requestor It then initiates a transaction or a read to an outside source database based upon the input customer social security number Upon return from the outside source the Customer Information Function provides expanded information that may in the complete customer name and address Once the Customer Information Function has gained the expanded information it will write the information to the Customer Information Record and pass the cus tomer name and address back to the VoiceNet Re questo
25. mprising data entry means for entering an ESN 3 Customer Activation System as defined in claim 2 wherein the regional processor is programmed to determine whether an ESN entered by the data entry means is a valid ESN or an invalid ESN 4 A Customer Activation System as defined in claim 1 further comprising data entry means for entering in formation identifying the CMR customer 5 A Customer Activation System as defined in claim 4 wherein the regional processor is programmed to provide a verbal prompt the contents of which prompt depend on the information identifying the CMR cus tomer 4 958 368 15 6 A Customer Activation System as defined in claim 5 wherein the regional processor is programmed so that if the verbal prompt is correct the regional processor undertakes a credit check of the CMR customer 7 Customer Activation System as defined in claim 6 further comprising data entry means for entering an ESN 8 A Customer Activation System as defined in claim 7 wherein the regional processor is programmed to determine whether the ESN entered by the data entry means is a valid ESN or an invalid ESN 9 A Customer Activation System as defined in claim 8 wherein the regional processor is programmed to accept number data corresponding to a specific NPA NXX provided that 1 the ESN is valid 2 the verbal prompt is correct and 3 the credit check results in approval 10 A Customer Activation System as defined in
26. ocessor would need be connected to all relevant cellular switches and to a billing processor As it may well be apprehended the accumulated time required to achieve customer activation can approach if not ex ceed three hours The subject invention however is directed to a sys tem for performing the same and additional functions in approximately 15 minutes and does so with signifi cant conservation of both the agents and the CSRs labor As a matter of fact the involvement of the CSR can be nearly eliminated and the CSR would be called on to intervene in only the unusual rather than the routine customer activation SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION above and other objects advantages and capa bilities are achieved by a Customer Activation System CAS including a method and apparatus for expedi tiously providing a cellular mobile radiotelephone CMR customer access to CMR service The system includes a regional processor programmed to a accept information identifying the CMR cus tomer b obtain a credit check of the CMR customer c assign a telephone number to the CMR customer and d insert and activate the telephone number in a cellular switch Specifically once a selling agent has been permitted to log on to the System the agent enters through a data entry device coupled to the regional processor the customer s social security number The regional proces sor responds with a voice prompt
27. point the customer has been activated on the relevant cellular switch and interaction between the agent and CAS at least with respect to that particular customer s activation has been concluded However CAS now proceeds to enter the customer s Billing Record on a main billing processor The func tion is accomplished through Billing System Update Server described above In practice the Billing System Update Server extracts information from a Customer Information File and make that information available to an external billing system such as the Cellular Account Management System CAMS available from Data Services Incorporated Tampa Fla 33602 Trans fer of data between the regional processor and CAMS occurs over a dedicated line at the X 25 protocol From the above Description it may be appreciated that the Customer Activation System has been designed to activate the switch that adds a new customer to the system and into the main billing system CAS is de signed to provide the new customer with virtually in stantaneous access to his newly acquired mobile tele phone thereby eliminating the extended processing time between the purchase of the mobile telephone and the actual use of the telephone In order to achieve this result CAS relies on automated method of entering customer information customer credit checking tele phone number assignment switch insertion and activa tion of the new number and billing activation of
28. r for validation It will also log all necessary changes in status along with each access to the outside information source The Customer Information Function formats a re quest to a credit service bureau and based upon the return answer returns a validation code to the Voi ceNet requestor It also logs all accesses to the outside 45 50 65 6 credit validation source for billing reconciliation pur poses Files Accessed Customer Information File Log Files Called By VoiceNet Requestor b Credit Check Function Credit Check Function reads the Customer In formation Record and formats a request to a credit service bureau Based upon the answer returned by the service bureau a validation code is received by the VoiceNet Requestor The Credit Check Function also logs all accesses to the credit service bureau for billing reconciliation purposes Files Accessed Customer Information File Log Files Called By VoiceNet Requestor RATE PLAN SERVER The Rate Plan Server accepts a Rate Plan that is entered by an agent validates it against the Rate Plan Database and writes this information to the Customer Record Rate Plan Server then returns a confirmation to the VoiceNet Requestor TELEPHONE NUMBER ASSIGNMENT TNA AND SWITCH UPDATE SERVER a Telephone Number Assignment Function Functionality The Telephone Number Assignment Function deter mines the cellular telephone number MID assigned to
29. rogrammed to 1 accept information identifying the CMR customer 2 Obtain a credit report of the CMR customer 3 assign a telephone number to the CMR customer 4 insert and activate the telephone number in a cellular switch and b means for making available to the regional proces sor an ESN and information identifying the CMR customer 20 A Customer Activation System for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 19 wherein said means includes a tele phone set that is coupled to and capable of transmitting DTMF information to the regional processor said DTMF information identifying the CMR customer 21 A Customer Activation System for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 20 wherein the regional processor is programmed to format a record based on information related to the CMR customer and to access a billing processor in order to insert into the billing processor the formatted record 22 A Customer Activation System for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 20 wherein the regional processor is programmed to generate a Welcome letter addressed to the CMR customer 23 A Customer Activation System for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 22 wherein the Welcome letter 1 Outlines services purchased by the CMR cus tomer the available features of a
30. rts to a re motely located CREDIT SWITCH sM computer The request may be transmitted via either a synchronous or an asynchronous communications link originating at one end at the CAS regional processor CREDIT SWITCH sm then retrieves a credit report from a credit bureau selected by CAS and reformats the report into a single uniform format irrespective of the credit reporting service that had been selected by CAS The credit report is scored according to parameters estab lished by CAS and the analyzed report is returned to the regional processor When CAS has obtained the credit report it estab lishes based on the reported score the amount of deposit the customer will be required to place in order to obtain CMR service CAS then responds with a voice prompt that specifies the amount of the deposit and additionally requests the agent to indicate whether the deposit will be paid in cash or by check When the deposit amount and method of payment have been de termined CAS prompts the agent to enter an N digit code corresponding to a Rate Plan In general the Rate Plan plan establishes a formula by which the CMR service provider determines the manner in which a particular customer is to be billed A CMR customer s monthly bill will include a monthly flat access charge and a charge that corresponds to the accumulated air time the customer logs during the rele vant monthly billing period Both the monthly access charg
31. s then interacts with various internally maintained and external databases as well as a local cellular switch DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT For a better understanding of the subject invention reference is made to the following Description and appended Claims in conjunction with the above described Drawings Referring now to the FIG 1 depicted therein is the keystone of the subject Customer Activation System the CAS regional processor 10 In a preferred embodi ment processor 10 may be realized by a Tandem model CLX computer available from Tandem Computers 19191 Vallco Parkway Cupertino Calif 95014 In this form the regional processor is equipped with dual pro cessors dual 8 Mbyte RAMs and two mirrored 400 Mbyte disc drives The processor and memory redun dancy provides the regional processor substantial fault tolerance and therefore markedly enhances not only its reliability but the reliability of the entire CAS as well In addition the regional processor offers four synchro nous communications ports and four multifunction ports processor is regional the sense that it is a dedicated component of a CAS associated more or less exclusively with a particular cellular system The re gional processor can be expected to be physically lo cated within the geographical area covered by that system That is each CAS will comprise its own dedi cated regional processor Accordingly selling agents of
32. stomer Service Representative 27 A Customer Activation System for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service th System comprising a processor accessible by a selling agent via a data entry apparatus wherein the processor is operable to a accept an ESN entered through the data entry apparatus associated with CMR equipment that the CMR customer intends to use b accept data entered through the data entry appa ratus identifying the CMR customer c obtain a credit check of the CMR customer and d insert and activate in a cellular switch an MID to be used by the CMR customer 28 A Customer Activation System for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 27 wherein the processor is operable to deliver verbal prompts to the selling agent 29 A Customer Activation System for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 28 wherein the verbal prompts are audible prompts 30 A Customer Activation System for expeditiously providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 28 wherein the processor is operable to accept DTMF data originating with the data entry apparatus and delivered to the processor over a commu nications network 31 A Customer Activation System for expeditiously 5 15 20 25 30 35 40 providing a CMR customer access to CMR service as defined in claim 30 wherein the data entry
33. stomer and for obtaining a credit report on the customer 41 Apparatus as defined in claim 40 wherein the third software means includes means for determining a de posit to be required of the customer 42 Apparatus as defined in claim 41 further compris ing fourth software means for generating a billing record to be entered on a billing processor wherein said billing record is generated after the credit report has been obtained and after the MID has been assigned and inserted and activated on a cellular switch
34. t available time It logs all events and status changes and then returns a confirmation to the VoiceNet Re questor Files Accessed Customer Information File Log File Billing Pending File 10 20 25 30 35 45 65 8 Protocols Used The Billing System Update Server emulates an IBM 3270 terminal for interface into the main billing com puter WELCOME LETTER SERVER Functionality The Welcome Letter Server generates a Welcome letter addressed to the customer The letter outlines the services purchased the available features of the system and suggested new features for customer purchase as well as restates all pertinent customer information for validation This letter can be generated both from an on line request at service initiation or in batch mode environment Files Accessed Customer Information File Log Files Agent File Switch File Product Files TELEPHONE NUMBER COMPARISON SERVER The Telephone Number Comparison Server per forms a daily check of selected telephone numbers ac tive on CAS against the respective cellular switch s database for validation and comparison DATA STRUCTURES The Files utilized by the CAS Main System include the information indicated below Switch Information File Switch Name Switch Type Name Switch Code Switch Command Switch Command Format String Expected Response Unassigned Telephone Number Inventory File Telephone Number Last Modified Timestamp
35. the new customer By way of reiteration CAS receives a call from a selling agent who inputs required data via a DTMF telephone and then responds to the system supplied voice prompts in order to properly complete the trans action CAS validates and processes the agent entered data and returns the results to the agent The next step involves the performance of a credit check The agent inputs the customer s social security number and CAS expands upon and uses that data to obtain an outside credit check CAS takes the validated data expands upon it through a call to an outside infor mation source e g CREDIT SWITCH 8 and re turns a name to the agent for validation If proper vali dation cannot take place the agent at this point may request assistance from a Customer Service Representa tive If credit is approved then CAS assigns a new mobile telephone number MID to the customer Next CAS inserts and activates that MID in the appropriate cellu lar switch and sends a confirmation notice to the agent and to the customer CAS then generates a billing re cord for entry into the mail billing computer system After the billing record is properly generated and in serted CAS generates a Welcome letter for mailing to the new customer This letter confirms the custom personal data the options selected for the new mobile telephone the rate schedules and taxes and information regarding new or additional services that are ava
36. ustomer Information File Switch Information File Log Files Number Activation Pending File Called By VoiceNet Requestor Protocols Used X 25 for access to the Switch CALL BACK SERVER Functionality The Call Back Server reads a pending file for all outstanding events and returns a call to the agent Once the call is initiated the agent will revalidate his Agent ID and password and he will then be passed the awaited information The server then logs all events and status changes Files Accessed Customer File Agent File Log Files Called By VoiceNet Requestor Note A Scheduler Process alerts the VoiceNet Re questor to check for outstanding call backs Upon de tection of outstanding call backs VoiceNet Requestor then calls the server BILLING SYSTEM UPDATE SERVER This server is activated by either the VoiceNet Re questor when the telephone number is activated con currently and silently or by a Customer Service Rep resentative when it is necessary to enter insertions inquiries and deletions on the billing system Functionality The Billing System Update Server is called after a valid MID has been assigned to a customer and inserted into the switch database or into a pending file This server reads the Customer Information Record and formats a new record to be inserted into the main billing system If the main billing system is unavailable it places the record in a pending file for insertion at the nex
37. vating a CMR customer on a cellu lar switch as defined in claim 35 and further comprising means for entering a billing record related to the CMR custom on a billing system 38 CAS for activating a CMR customer on a cellu lar switch as defined in claim 37 and further comprising means for validating equipment intended to be used by the CMR customer 39 Apparatus in the form of a software system for providing a cellular mobile radiotelephone CMR cus tomer access to CMR service the apparatus compris ing first software means for accepting data in the form of a social security number identifying the customer and for accepting data in the form of an ESN identifying CMR equipment which the customer intends to use and second software means called by the first software means for assigning the customer an MID and for inserting and activating that MID in a cellular switch 40 Apparatus in the form of a software system for providing a cellular mobile radiotelephone CMR cus tomer access to CMR service the apparatus compris ing first software means for accepting data identifying the customer and identifying CMR equipment which the customer intends to use second software means called by the first software means for assigning the customer an MID and for inserting and activating that MID in a cellular switch and third software means called by the first software means for expanding on the data identifying the cu
38. witch cannot be completed properly as may be indicated for example when the call is not re sponded to before the end of 20 second time period CAS announces that the assignment of an MID is delayed When this occurs CAS provides three op tions 1 The agent can repeat the transaction code and CAS will re try switch activation 2 The agent can later enter a Call Back using the existing Transaction Code or 3 The attempt to assign an MID can be placed in a Call Back queue and the agent will be called back when the transaction is completed If the agent selects the Call Back option the follow ing procedure will occur At the time CAS has been able to effect switch activation CAS will dial the agent s telephone number and the agent will be in formed that switch activation has been effected In an alternate embodiment the agent may be offered an opportunity to accept or deny the Transaction Code If the agent accepts the Transaction Code that is accepts the switch activation status CAS responds with a voice prompt that announces that the activation has been approved and that informs the agent what MID has 4 958 368 13 been assigned to the customer If the agent denies phone activation CAS similarly provides a voice prompt to that effect In the case of either acceptance or denial the agent may reach a CSR by pressing the key 0 may terminate the telephone call by pressing the key At this
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