Other

At Comm Corporation

Ac IP Software Institute LLC

John T Boatwright

Charles E Boatwright

A method and apparatus for reducing the vulnerability of the telecommunications system to unauthorized use that is easy to implement and that can reduce the instances of unauthorized access even during periods when telecommunications personnel are not able to give attention to the traffic on the system. The telecommunications system collects statistics of each user's pattern of telecommunications usage. Typically, these statistics will be in the form of, say, the average number of calls per day or the average number of calls per day on given days of the week. It may also include the mean busy hour for the given days of the week. Moreover, daily averages may be taken not only for all calls but also for all calls of a particular type, e.g., of all international calls. These statistics are taken for a reference period, such as the preceding thirty days, and the corresponding quantity for the current day is also computed. If the current statistics are not excessive as compared with the reference statistics, then access to a communications resource&#x2014;e.g., an outgoing trunk line&#x2014;is granted to the call without any supplemental access restrictions. But if a predetermined deviation is detected between the current statistics and the reference statistics, then a supplemental restriction is placed upon the call.

Call security system

A method and apparatus for reducing the vulnerability of the telecommunications system to unauthorized use that is easy to implement and that can reduce the instances of unauthorized access even during periods when telecommunications personnel are not able to give attention to the traffic on the system. The telecommunications system collects statistics of each user's pattern of telecommunications usage. Typically, these statistics will be in the form of, say, the average number of calls per day or the average number of calls per day on given days of the week. It may also include the mean busy hour for the given days of the week. Moreover, daily averages may be taken not only for all calls but also for all calls of a particular type, e.g., of all international calls. These statistics are taken for a reference period, such as the preceding thirty days, and the corresponding quantity for the current day is also computed. If the current statistics are not excessive as compared with the reference statistics, then access to a communications resource&mdash;e.g., an outgoing trunk line&mdash;is granted to the call without any supplemental access restrictions. But if a predetermined deviation is detected between the current statistics and the reference statistics, then a supplemental restriction is placed upon the call.

Call security system which detects fraud by examination of call history

An access-control module (,) is used in connection with a conventional private branch exchange (,) to control direct inward service access (DISA), by which callers calling in on one trunk are afforded access to an outgoing trunk or other destination within the PBX environment. The access-control module (,) is simply plugged into an existing extension, and the PBX (,) initially directs to that extension all calls from the incoming trunk. The access-control module (,) receives the users' authorization code and desired destination and then signals the PBX in the normal manner to transfer the call to an outgoing trunk or other destination within the PBX environment if the incoming call meets certain criteria imposed by the access-control module (,). Specifically, the access-control module (,) compares the current level of traffic for the user with that user's historical norms and either denies access to the outgoing line or requests further identification if deviation from the norms exceeds predetermined limits.

A call-disposition analyzer (10) for determining whether calls placed by way of a private branch exchange (PBX) (12) have been completed employs current sensors (22) to monitor the trunk lines (16) that the PBX (12) uses. It thereby records the telephone numbers dialed over the trunk lines (16). It also detects supervisory and voice signals on the trunk lines (12) so as to determine of the call's disposition--i.e., typically, so as to determine whether the call went through successfully. It stores in a memory (60) the call-disposition estimate and tags it with the telephone number that was dialed to make the call. Subsequently, when the PBX (12) transmits a station-message data record (SMDR) for that call, the call-disposition analyzer (10) scans the record for a sequence of digits that match or nearly match any of the telephone numbers that it has stored, and it either forwards that SMDR to a call-accounting system (20) or withholds the SMDR in accordance with the call-disposition estimate tagged with the telephone number that matches or nearly matches a sequence in the SMDR. The call-disposition analyzer thus does not require information concerning the specific internal arrangement of the SMDR format that the PBX employs.

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Hopkinton, NH, United States of America

John T Boatwright