Class of call discriminating trunk circuit

Claim 2

A communication system comprising subscriber stations, first means for billing individual ones of said stations for a first class of call established by said communication system, second means for billing individual ones of said stations for a second class of call established by said communication system, a trunk circuit adapted for connection to a calling one of said stations for both said first and second classes of calls, and means in said trunk circuit responsive to coded signals from said calling station for selecting one of said first and second billing systems in accordance with the class of call defined by the coded signals received.

Claim 3

A communication system having a first switching exchange, a second switching exchange, first subscriber billing means in the first exchange, means located in the first and second exchanges cooperating to form a second subscriber billing means, and means interconnecting the first and second exchanges, said interconnecting means comprising means for distinguishing between at least two classes of calls in accordance with digits dialed by a calling subscriber and means operated by said distinguishing means for selecting different ones of the first and second billing means for subscriber billing of different classes of calls.

Claim 4

A communication system having a first switching exchange, a second switching exchange, first subscriber billing means in the first exchange, means located in the first and second exchanges cooperating to form a second subscriber billing means, and means interconnecting the first and second exchanges, said interconnecting means comprising means for distinguishing between at least two classes of calls in accordance with digits dialed by a calling subscriber and means operated by said distinguishing means for selecting different ones of the first and second billing means for subscriber billing of different classes of calls.

Claim 5

A telephone system having subscriber stations, a first switching exchange for serving calls originated from the stations, first means accessible by the first exchange for processing station billing information, a second switching exchange, second means accessible by the second exchange for processing station billing information, a trunk circuit for interconnecting the first and second exchanges in response to a call from one of the stations, and means accessible by said first exchange for communicating station identification information to the second processing means, wherein said trunk circuit comprises means for translating call digits outpulsed to the second exchange from a calling station to distinguish between a first class of call and a second class of call, means responsive to the translating means for selecting the first processing means for a call of the first class, and means responsive to the translating means for controlling the communicating means for a call of the second class.

Claim 6

A telephone system having subscriber stations, a first switching exchange for serving calls originated from the stations, first means accessible by the first exchange for processing station billing information, a second switching exchange, second means accessible by the second exchange for processing station billing information, a trunk circuit for interconnecting the first and second exchanges in response to a call from one of the stations, and means accessible by said first exchange for communicating station identification information to the second processing means, wherein said trunk circuit comprises means for translating call digits outpulsed to the second exchange from a calling station to distinguish between a first class of call and a second class of call, means responsive to the translating means for selecting the first processing means for a call of the first class, and means responsive to the translating means for controlling the communicating means for a call of the second class.

Claim 7

The invention of claim 3 wherein said translating means comprises means for storing an indication of the class of call from the calling station, and said trunk circuit further comprises means responsive to said storing means and to the receipt of a supervisory signal from said second exchange for operating said controlling means for a call of the second class.

Claim 8

The invention of claim 3 wherein said selecting means comprises means for transmitting a supervisory signal from the second exchange to the first processing means for a call of the first class.

Claim 9

The invention of claim 3 wherein said translating means comprises counter means for identifying the digit number of each of a prescribed number of said digits outpulsed to the second exchange, means for examining successive ones of the prescribed number of digits for predetermined values dependent on the digit numbers to ascertain the class of call, and means for storing an indication of the class of call.

Claim 10

The invention of claim 3 wherein said selecting means comprises means responsive to said translating means for connecting the second exchange to the first processing means for a call of the first class, and said controlling means comprises means responsive to said translating means for connecting the second processing means to the communicating means for a call of the second class.

Claim 11

The invention of claim 7 wherein said selecting means comprises means for transmitting supervisory signals from said second exchange to the first processing means for calls of a first class, and means for interrupting the transmission of the supervisory signals to the first exchange for calls of a second class.

Claim 12

In a telephone system including a first exchange having bulk-billing and subscriber identification apparatus and a second exchange having access to itemized subscriber billing apparatus, the improvement comprising a trunk circuit for interconnecting the first and second exchanges for calls of a first class to be billed by the bulk-billing apparatus and calls of a second class to be billed by the itemized billing apparatus, said trunk circuit comprising, means for distinguishing between said first and second class calls in accordance with digits dialed by a calling subscriber, means for transmitting supervisory signals received from the second exchange to the bulk-billing apparatus for operation thereof in the event of placement of a first class call, and means responsive to a supervisory signal from the second exchange for controlling the outpulsing of subscriber identification information to the second exchange for processing in the itemized billing apparatus in the event of placement of a second class call.

Claim 13

In a telephone system including a first exchange having bulk-billing and subscriber identification apparatus and a second exchange having access to itemized subscriber billing apparatus, the improvement comprising a trunk circuit for interconnecting the first and second exchanges for calls of a first class to be billed by the bulk-billing apparatus and calls of a second class to be billed by the itemized billing apparatus, said trunk circuit comprising, means for distinguishing between said first and second class calls in accordance with digits dialed by a calling subscriber, means for transmitting supervisory signals received from the second exchange to the bulk-billing apparatus for operation thereof in the event of placement of a first class call, and means responsive to a supervisory signal from the second exchange for controlling the outpulsing of subscriber identification information to the second exchange for processing in the itemized billing apparatus in the event of placement of a second class call.

Claim 14

The invention set forth in claim 9 wherein said distinguishing means comprises means for detecting a prescribed sequence of said digits defining a special assistance type call.

Claim 15

The invention set forth in claim 10 wherein said controlling means comprises means operated by said detecting means for interrupting the transmission of said supervisory signal to the bulk-billing apparatus in the event of a special assistance call, and means enabled by said detecting means and responsive to a receipt of said supervisory signal for operating the identification apparatus to outpulse a calling subscriber's number to the second exchange.

Claim 16

In a telephone system having a first switching exchange for serving stations connected thereto, first billing means and station identification apparatus in the first exchange, a second switching exchange having access to second billing means, trunk means interconnecting the first and second exchanges and accessible by said first exchange on receipt of a preliminary digit from a calling one of the stations, the improvement including trunk circuitry in the trunk means comprising means for detecting a prescribed sequence of digits outpulsed to the second exchange from the calling station defining a predetermined class of call, means operated by said detecting means for storing an indication of receipt of said prescribed sequence of digits, means enabled by said storing means when operated and responsive to a signal from said second exchange for activating the identification apparatus to outpulse station identifying information to the second exchange for processing by the second billing means, and means enabled by said storing means when nonoperated for steering supervisory signals from said second exchange to the first billing means for activation thereof.

Claim 17

In a telephone system having a first switching exchange for serving stations connected thereto, first billing means and station identification apparatus in the first exchange, a second switching exchange having access to second billing means, trunk means interconnecting the first and second exchanges and accessible by said first exchange on receipt of a preliminary digit from a calling one of the stations, the improvement including trunk circuitry in the trunk means comprising means for detecting a prescribed sequence of digits outpulsed to the second exchange from the calling station defining a predetermined class of call, means operated by said detecting means for storing an indication of receipt of said prescribed sequence of digits, means enabled by said storing means when operated and responsive to a signal from said second exchange for activating the identification apparatus to outpulse station identifying information to the second exchange for processing by the second billing means, and means enabled by said storing means when nonoperated for steering supervisory signals from said second exchange to the first billing means for activation thereof.

Claim 18

For use in a telephone system having subscribers, first means for billing subscribers for calls of a first class and second means for billing subscribers for calls of a second class, trunk means connectable to a calling one of said subscribers and comprising means for distinguishing between the two classes of calls on the basis of digits dialed by the calling subscriber, and means operated by said distinguishing means for selecting the first and second billing means for respective first and second class calls.

Claim 19

For use in a telephone system having subscribers, first means for billing subscribers for calls of a first class and second means for billing subscribers for calls of a second class, trunk means connectable to a calling one of said subscribers and comprising means for distinguishing between the two classes of calls on the basis of digits dialed by the calling subscriber, and means operated by said distinguishing means for selecting the first and second billing means for respective first and second class calls.

Claim 20

The invention of claim 13 wherein said distinguishing means comprises means for translating prescribed ones of the digits and means operated in response to a detection of a predetermined sequence of the digits by said translating means for effecting said selection of said first and second billing means.

Claim 21

A trunk circuit for use in a telephone system comprising subscriber stations, a first switching exchange for serving the stations and having access to first station billing means and a second switching exchange having access to second billing means including station identification means, said trunk circuit being operable for interconnecting the first and second exchanges and comprising means for translating call digits dialed by a calling one of the subscribers to distinguish between a first class of call and a second class of call, means for selecting the first billing means in the event of placement of a first class of call, and means for communicating information from the identification means to the second billing means in the event of placement of a second class of call.

Claim 22

A trunk circuit for use in a telephone system comprising subscriber stations, a first switching exchange for serving the stations and having access to first station billing means and a second switching exchange having access to second billing means including station identification means, said trunk circuit being operable for interconnecting the first and second exchanges and comprising means for translating call digits dialed by a calling one of the subscribers to distinguish between a first class of call and a second class of call, means for selecting the first billing means in the event of placement of a first class of call, and means for communicating information from the identification means to the second billing means in the event of placement of a second class of call.

Claim 23

The invention of claim 15 wherein said translating means comprises means for detecting a prescribed sequence of said digits in predetermined digit positions defining a special assistance class of call.

Claim 24

The invention of claim 15 wherein said station identification means is located in the first exchange and said selecting means comprises means operated by said translating means for transmitting a signal from said second exchange to said first billing means to activate the first billing means during a first class of call, and said communicating means includes means responsive to said translating means and to said signal for activating the station identification means during a second class of call.

Claim 25

The invention of claim 17 wherein said trunk circuit further comprises alternating current coupling means for providing for the transmission of conversational signals between said first and second exchanges and said transmitting means comprises means operated during a first class of call for bypassing said alternating current coupling means to provide a transmission path for said supervisory signals.

Claim 26

A trunk circuit for use in a telephone system having a first switching exchange for serving subscribers connected thereto and including subscriber bulk-billing means and subscriber identification apparatus, a second switching exchange having access to itemized customer billing means, and a tandem exchange for routing calls from said first exchange to said second exchange, said trunk circuit being operable for interconnecting the first and tandem exchanges and comprising means for detecting a prescribed sequence of digits outpulsed to the tandem exchange from a calling subscriber, means enabled by said detecting means upon a receipt of said prescribed sequence of digits to respond to a signal from said second exchange for activating the identification apparatus, thereby to outpulse information identifying the calling subscriber to the second exchange for processing by the itemized billing means, and means controlled by said detecting means in the absence of detecting said prescribed sequence for transmitting signals from said second exchange to the bulk-billing means for activation thereof.

Claim 27

A trunk circuit for use in a telephone system having a first switching exchange for serving subscribers connected thereto and including subscriber bulk-billing means and subscriber identification apparatus, a second switching exchange having access to itemized customer billing means, and a tandem exchange for routing calls from said first exchange to said second exchange, said trunk circuit being operable for interconnecting the first and tandem exchanges and comprising means for detecting a prescribed sequence of digits outpulsed to the tandem exchange from a calling subscriber, means enabled by said detecting means upon a receipt of said prescribed sequence of digits to respond to a signal from said second exchange for activating the identification apparatus, thereby to outpulse information identifying the calling subscriber to the second exchange for processing by the itemized billing means, and means controlled by said detecting means in the absence of detecting said prescribed sequence for transmitting signals from said second exchange to the bulk-billing means for activation thereof.