| 摘要 |
An inventive technique includes receiving via a switch a request from a caller desiring an information assistance service, determining based on one or more criteria whether the information assistance service should be provided, and if it is determined that the information assistance service should not be provided, generating a response to the caller to that effect. The criteria may include whether the caller has bad debts or has satisfied bad debts, whether there is a history of chronic bill disputes, whether there has been abuse of service operators, and how much time has elapsed since a restriction on providing information assistance has been imposed. In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the method includes building an automatic number identification (ANI) restriction table to keep track of calling numbers and restrictions associated with those numbers and based on satisfaction of at least one criterion. The decision to restrict service is then based on searching the ANI restriction table for the calling number. If it is determined that the information assistance service should be provided, a database may be searched for a telephone number associated with the caller's request.
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