Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc.

Verizon Services Corporation

Charles H Eppert, Iii

Robert D Farris

Barry Paul Pershan

Michael G Pilkerton

Raymond F Albers

Daniel C Michaelis

Christine W Huff

Dale Lee Bartholomew

Thomas A Nolting

Jay C Lodsun

Walter Pomykacz

Christine Huff

In a public switched telephone network, interoffice call attempts to or from a line under surveillance generate a variety of query, response and release messages between the offices, as part of the normal procedures for setting up and tearing down the calls to and from the line. To insure that all calls under surveillance generate signaling messages, terminating, dialing and release triggers are set with respect to the target's line. As a result, the end office serving that line sends queries to a database on the signing network, receives response messages, and sends release report messages. A site processor compiles data from the signaling messages and forms a call detail record (CDR) for each call attempt relating to the target under surveillance. A central file server further processes the CDRs and supplies composite data regarding the target's calls through a data network connection to one or more law enforcement agencies.

Monitor network with advanced intelligent network (AIN) for electronic surveillance

A lawfully authorized electronic surveillance operation requires reporting of detailed call data for a variety of calls associated with the subject of the surveillance. For at least some specified calls to or from the subject, the invention provides profile data in a switching office serving the subject that causes the office to generate accounting messages for each call, essentially in the same manner as for billing, regardless of whether the calls are billable. Accounting records formed from the messages are uploaded to a server system, for processing and formatting as necessary for delivery to the law enforcement agency. The surveillance could entirely rely on these accounting records for the data reporting. In the preferred embodiments, however, the surveillance also involves monitoring of common channel signaling messages to accumulate call detail records for surveillance purposes, with respect to many calls associated with the subject. The preferred embodiment utilizes a special CLASS code set against the subject's profile in the serving end office. The CLASS code in the profile causes that office to produce the accounting messages for each of the subject's calls processed through the office that does not involve a monitored form of interoffice signaling.

Call detail reporting for lawful surveillance

Following the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), the FBI developed a standard set of communication services and interfaces. for lawfully authorized electronic surveillance, for both call data recording and content recording. Existing public switched telephone networks use a variety of switches. Not all of the switches in use are capable of performing the routines required by the CALEA standards. In accord with the invention, Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) and/or Local Number Portability (LNP) functionality controls routing and billing of incoming and outgoing calls for the surveillance target. The routing is handled in such a manner that calls to and from the target are directed to a regional switching office which performs those functions for switches in the region which lack that capability. Through this arrangement call detail records (CDRs) regarding the target are accumulated and transferred to a law enforcement authority. If the surveillance of a particular target also requires monitoring of the content of the target's calls, the calls are routed through a switch or an Intelligent Peripheral (IP) having the requisite surveillance capability.

Advanced intelligent network (AIN) functionality for electronic surveillance

Telephone network surveillance is provided for targeting subscriber terminals that receive service through an office lacking a switch with surveillance capability. A foreign exchange line is relied upon to connect the target's line to an office having that capability. Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) functionality controls routing and billing of incoming and outgoing calls, so that the telephone network operations appear completely normal during the surveillance. In the office normally serving the target's line, a terminating attempt trigger causes that office to obtain instructions from a service control point (SCP), to route the call to the foreign exchange line terminated in the office with the surveillance capability. The instructions also prevent billing of the redirection through the surveillance office to either the called party or the calling party. An off-hook delay trigger set against the foreign exchange line in the surveillance office causes that office to obtain instructions from the SCP, to facilitate billing for the call as if initiated from the target's normal telephone line connection.

Electronic surveillance in a public switched telephone network

Following the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), the FBI developed a standard set of communication services and interfaces for lawfully authorized electronic surveillance. For telephone communications, the current industry implementation of compliance with this standard involves deploying certain interface equipment in end office switches of the telephone network. However, the requisite surveillance functionality often resides in a certain limited number of offices. Where the target under surveillance receives service out of an office lacking the surveillance capability, the network routes the call through an office having the requisite capability. For this purpose, the invention relies on intelligent network processing, particularly variations on such processing normally used to implement local number portability. The control node supplying the routing information for local number portability also supplies routing information for surveillance related calls, in order to route calls to and from the target location through an office having the surveillance interfaces in a manner that is entirely hidden from the target and anyone communicating with the target.

Growing community of inventors

Fairfax Station, VA, United States of America

Charles H Eppert, Iii