Data correction system for communications network

Claim 2

A billing data analyzer for use in a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the billing data analyzer comprising: an input for billing data collected with respect to billable aspects of communication instances in said communications network, said billing data having been initially rejected as unbillable by validating means associated with said network, means for assessing the type of invalidity arising in the billing data, and means for dealing with the billing data accordingly by attempting to correct it into billable data, said means for dealing with the billing data comprising means for applying default values, means for applying amended values, and means for appending data to files in a temporary data store.

Claim 3

A billing data analyzer according to claim 1, wherein said means for dealing with the billing data further comprises means for dispatching unbillable data to a sump, for subsequent management analysis.

Claim 4

A billing data analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the means for dealing with the billing data selects how to deal with data on the basis of the reason for its having been invalidated.

Claim 5

A billing data analyzer according to claim 1, wherein each of the files to which billing data can be appended is associated with a respective error pattern, and all billing data appended to a file can be corrected in a similar manner, for instance by updating specified reference data associated with the invalidity.

Claim 6

A billing data analyzer according to claim 1, which is provided with a second input, for receiving billing data which has been rejected as unbillable by validating means associated with pricing and charging means on the basis of incorrect data associated with pricing and charging.

Claim 7

A billing data analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the analyzer includes a second input for billing data rejected as unbillable by validating means on the basis of decode anomalies.

Claim 8

A billing data analyzer according to claim 1, comprising an expert system, including a rulebase and a casebase.

Claim 9

A data analyzer, for use in a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the data analyzer comprising: an input for data collected with respect to said communications network, said data having been rejected by validating means associated with said network, means for assessing the type of invalidity arising in the data, and means for dealing with the data accordingly, said means for dealing with the data comprising means for applying default values, means for applying amended values, and means for appending data to files in a temporary data store, said analyzer being in two parts, there being provided a part incorporating an expert system, for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for any of a variety of reasons, including incorrect routing data, and there being provided a part for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for at least one reason not included in the variety of reasons, wherein the second of the two parts receives data which has been sorted according to associated billable entity, while the first part receives data which has not been so sorted.

Claim 10

A data analyzer, for use in a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the data analyzer comprising: an input for data collected with respect to said communications network, said data having been rejected by validating means associated with said network, means for assessing the type of invalidity arising in the data, and means for dealing with the data accordingly, said means for dealing with the data comprising means for applying default values, means for applying amended values, and means for appending data to files in a temporary data store, said analyzer being in two parts, there being provided a part incorporating an expert system, for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for any of a variety of reasons, including incorrect routing data, and there being provided a part for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for at least one reason not included in the variety of reasons, wherein the second of the two parts receives data which has been sorted according to associated billable entity, while the first part receives data which has not been so sorted.

Claim 11

A billing data analyzing method for use in a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the billing data analyzing method comprising: collecting billing data with respect to billable aspects of communications instances in said communications network, said billing data having been initially rejected as unbillable by validating means associated with said network, assessing the type of invalidity arising in the billing data, and dealing with the billing data accordingly by attempting to correct it into billable data by applying default values, amended values, and appending data to files in a temporary data store.

Claim 12

A billing data analyzing method for use in a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the billing data analyzing method comprising: collecting billing data with respect to billable aspects of communications instances in said communications network, said billing data having been initially rejected as unbillable by validating means associated with said network, assessing the type of invalidity arising in the billing data, and dealing with the billing data accordingly by attempting to correct it into billable data by applying default values, amended values, and appending data to files in a temporary data store.

Claim 13

A billing data analyzing method as in claim 9 wherein said dealing-with-the-data step further comprises dispatching unbillable data to a sump, for subsequent management analysis.

Claim 14

A billing data analyzing method as in claim 9 wherein the dealing-with-the-data step includes selecting how to deal with unbillable data on the basis of the reason for its having been invalidated.

Claim 15

A billing data analyzing method as in claim 9 wherein each of the files to which billing data can be appended is associated with a respective error pattern, and all billing data appended to a file can be corrected in a similar manner, for instance by updating specified reference data associated with the invalidity.

Claim 16

A billing data analyzing method as in claim 9 which also receives unbillable billing data which has been rejected by validating means associated with pricing and charging on the basis of incorrect data associated with pricing and charging.

Claim 17

A billing data analyzing method as in claim 9 further comprising accepting billing data rejected by validating means on the basis of decode anomalies and using such further data to assist in attempted billing data correction.

Claim 18

A billing data analyzing method as in claim 9 using an expert system, including a rule base and a casebase.

Claim 19

A data analyzing method for use in a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the data analyzing method comprising: collecting data with respect to said communications network, said data having been rejected by validating means associated with said network, assessing the type of invalidity arising in the data, and dealing with the data accordingly by attempting to correct it by applying default values, amended values, and appending data to files in a temporary data store; and wherein the invalidated data is analyzed in two ways, there being provided: a first way using an expert system, for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for any of a variety of reasons, including incorrect routing data, and there being a second way for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for at least one reason not included in the variety of reasons, wherein the second of the two ways uses data which has been sorted according to associated billable entity, while the first way uses data which has not been so sorted.

Claim 20

A data analyzing method for use in a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the data analyzing method comprising: collecting data with respect to said communications network, said data having been rejected by validating means associated with said network, assessing the type of invalidity arising in the data, and dealing with the data accordingly by attempting to correct it by applying default values, amended values, and appending data to files in a temporary data store; and wherein the invalidated data is analyzed in two ways, there being provided: a first way using an expert system, for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for any of a variety of reasons, including incorrect routing data, and there being a second way for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for at least one reason not included in the variety of reasons, wherein the second of the two ways uses data which has been sorted according to associated billable entity, while the first way uses data which has not been so sorted.

Claim 21

A billing data analyzer, for use in a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the billing data analyzer comprising: an input for billing data collected with respect to billable aspects of communication instances in said communications network, said billing data having been rejected by validating means associated with said network, means for accessing the type of invalidity arising in the billing data, and means for dealing with the billing data accordingly, said means for dealing with the billing data comprising any one or more of the following: means for applying default values; means for applying amended values; and means for appending data to files in a temporary data store.

Claim 22

A billing data analyzer, for use in a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the billing data analyzer comprising: an input for billing data collected with respect to billable aspects of communication instances in said communications network, said billing data having been rejected by validating means associated with said network, means for accessing the type of invalidity arising in the billing data, and means for dealing with the billing data accordingly, said means for dealing with the billing data comprising any one or more of the following: means for applying default values; means for applying amended values; and means for appending data to files in a temporary data store.

Claim 23

A billing data analyzer as in claim 17 wherein said means for dealing with the billing data further comprises means for dispatching unbillable data to a sump, for subsequent management analysis.

Claim 24

A billing data analyzer as in claim 17 wherein the means for dealing with the billing data selects how to deal with unbillable data on the basis of the reason for its having been invalidated.

Claim 25

A billing data analyzer as in claim 17 wherein each of the files to which billing data can be appended is associated with a respective error pattern, and all billing data appended to a file can be corrected in a similar manner, for instance by updating specified reference data associated with the invalidity.

Claim 26

A billing data analyzer as in claim 17 which is provided with a second input, for receiving unbillable billing data which has been rejected by validating means associated with pricing and charging means on the basis of incorrect data associated with pricing and charging.

Claim 27

A billing data analyzer as in claim 17 wherein the analyzer includes a second input for unbillable billing data rejected by validating means on the basis of decode anomalies.

Claim 28

A billing data analyzer as in claim 17 comprising an expert system, including a rulebase and a casebase.

Claim 29

A data analyzer, for use in a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the data analyzer comprising: an input for data collected with respect to said communications network, said data having been rejected by validating means associated with said network, means for accessing the type of invalidity arising in the data, and means for dealing with the data accordingly, said means for dealing with the data comprising any one or more of the following: means for applying default values; means for applying amended values; and means for appending data to files in a temporary data store; and wherein said analyzer is in two parts, there being provided: a first part incorporating an expert system, for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for any of a variety of reasons, including incorrect routing data, and a second part for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for at least one reason not included in the variety of reasons, wherein the second of the two parts receives data which has been sorted according to associated billable entity, while the first part receives data which has not been so sorted.

Claim 30

A data analyzer, for use in a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the data analyzer comprising: an input for data collected with respect to said communications network, said data having been rejected by validating means associated with said network, means for accessing the type of invalidity arising in the data, and means for dealing with the data accordingly, said means for dealing with the data comprising any one or more of the following: means for applying default values; means for applying amended values; and means for appending data to files in a temporary data store; and wherein said analyzer is in two parts, there being provided: a first part incorporating an expert system, for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for any of a variety of reasons, including incorrect routing data, and a second part for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for at least one reason not included in the variety of reasons, wherein the second of the two parts receives data which has been sorted according to associated billable entity, while the first part receives data which has not been so sorted.

Claim 31

A billing data analyzing method for use in a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the billing data analyzing method comprising: collecting billing data with respect to billable aspects of communication instances in said communications network, said billing data having been initially rejected as unbillable by validating means associated with said network, assessing the type of invalidity arising in the billing data, and dealing with the billing data accordingly by attempting to correct it by applying any one or more of the following: default values, amended values; and appended data to files in a temporary data store.

Claim 32

A billing data analyzing method for use in a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the billing data analyzing method comprising: collecting billing data with respect to billable aspects of communication instances in said communications network, said billing data having been initially rejected as unbillable by validating means associated with said network, assessing the type of invalidity arising in the billing data, and dealing with the billing data accordingly by attempting to correct it by applying any one or more of the following: default values, amended values; and appended data to files in a temporary data store.

Claim 33

A billing data analyzing method as in claim 25 wherein said dealing-with-the-data step further comprises dispatching unbillable data to a sump, for subsequent management analysis.

Claim 34

A billing data analyzing method as in claim 25 wherein the dealing-with-the-data step includes selecting how to deal with billing data on the basis of the reason for its having been invalidated.

Claim 35

A billing data analyzing method as in claim 25 wherein each of the files to which billing data can be appended is associated with a respective error pattern, and all billing data appended to a file can be corrected in a similar manner, for instance by updating specified reference data associated with the invalidity.

Claim 36

A billing data analyzing method as in claim 25 which also receives billing data which has been initially rejected as unbillable by validating means associated with pricing and charging on the basis of incorrect data associated with pricing and charging.

Claim 37

A billing data analyzing method as in claim 25 further comprising accepting billing data rejected by validating means on the basis of decode anomalies and using such further data to assist in attempted data correction.

Claim 38

A billing data analyzing method as in claim 25 using an expert system, including a rulebase and a casebase.

Claim 39

A data analyzing method for use in a a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the data analyzing method comprising: collecting data with respect to said communications network, said data having been rejected by validating means associated with said network, assessing the type of invalidity arising in the data, and dealing with the data accordingly by attempting to correct it by applying any one or more of the following: default values, amended values; and appended data to files in a temporary data store; and wherein the invalidated data is analyzed in two ways, there being provided a first way using an expert system, for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for any of a variety of reasons, including incorrect routing data, and a second way for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for at least one reason not included in the variety of reasons, wherein the second of the two ways uses data which has been stored according to associated billable entity, while the first way uses data which has not been so sorted.

Claim 40

A data analyzing method for use in a a communications network, which network is connected to one or more other networks, the data analyzing method comprising: collecting data with respect to said communications network, said data having been rejected by validating means associated with said network, assessing the type of invalidity arising in the data, and dealing with the data accordingly by attempting to correct it by applying any one or more of the following: default values, amended values; and appended data to files in a temporary data store; and wherein the invalidated data is analyzed in two ways, there being provided a first way using an expert system, for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for any of a variety of reasons, including incorrect routing data, and a second way for analyzing data which might have been invalidated for at least one reason not included in the variety of reasons, wherein the second of the two ways uses data which has been stored according to associated billable entity, while the first way uses data which has not been so sorted.