Apparatus and method for management of policies on the usage of telecommunications services

Abstract

This invention allows enterprises to achieve specific objectives in the management and enforcement of policies related to the use of telecommunications services. It was conceived for use in connection with traditional telephone networks that carry voice, facsimile or voice-band-data (VBD) traffic, though it is not necessarily limited to such networks. It involves measurement of the properties of traffic on a communications channel, and the use of such knowledge in combination with various ancillary properties of telecommunications service usage to guide the conditional performance of prescribed actions based on user-defined policies. The measured traffic properties include classification of the type of traffic, where the set of possible classes include zero or more classes selected from a group of general categories comprising Voice, Facsimile, Voice-Band-Data, DTMF, Audible Network Signaling, Facsimile Handshaking, Voice-Band-Data Handshaking, Silence and Unknown. The ancillary properties may include network control parameters such as the apparent on-hook and off-hook state of the communications channel, the calling number, the called number, the side of the channel that originated the call, the side of the channel that is the dominant source of traffic for the call, the elapsed time since a call starts, and the time or day. The prescribed actions may include imposition of a recorded voice message, blockage of traffic on the communications channel, forced call termination through intervention with network signaling, direct notification of security personnel, generation of alarms, generation of call detail records, or other actions. The prescribed actions may also involve selecting or configuring a downstream telecommunications service for carriage of traffic with the observed traffic properties.