Method and apparatus for provisioning a public switched telephone network

Claim 1

In an administration system for a public switched telephone network (PSTN) including an attendant station for receiving service requests and collecting customer information, credit verification means, Service Order Processing (SOP) means for creating and distributing service orders for processing by downstream processing systems including Service Order Analysis and Control (SOAC) means, Computer System for MainFrame Operations (COSMOS) means, switch means (SWITCH), Loop Facility Assignment and Control System (LFACS) means, an improved method of providing service implementation comprising the steps of: providing Adjunct Processor (AP) means having storage means for storing data including Living Unit (LU) data, network facility data and Telephone Number (TN) data; storing in said AP means the LU data corresponding to the network facility data as provisioned data; maintaining the provisioned data in said AP means without altering the network facility data when a disconnect request is received by the attendant station; receiving at said attendant station a request for service; determining the reason for said request and customer information including customer name and service address; checking credit worthiness of the customer; using said customer information to determine from said AP means the facility and services available; selecting a TN from said AP means; recapping service request with customer; determining whether the service request is eligible for handling by said AP means; if not eligible, issuing a Service Order for processing by the downstream processing systems; if eligible, preforming the following steps: initiating processing by said AP means, wherein a new service request for a LU is assigned the provisioned data which has been maintained by said AP means for the LU even when the disconnect request has been previously initiated by the LU; determining in said AP means whether Work and Force Administration (WFA) action is necessary, and when the WFA action is necessary, preparing and dispatching a message to the WFA; determining in said AP means whether a Memory Administration System (MAS) is involved and, when the MAS is involved, creating a Translation Packet (TP) and sending said TP to said MAS; creating a Recent Change (RC) message in response to said TP and dispatching said RC message to said switch means; updating said data in said AP means in response to confirmation of completion of said WFA action and the switch translation; generating and dispatching a completion message from said AP means to said SOP means; and preparing a completed service order for distribution and distributing same.