CALL PATTERNS IN A COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

摘要

In a communications network, call records are generated by a plurality of originators (CLI#1, CLI#2, CLI#3) making calls to a service provider (180). The call records are stored in a database (145) which forms part of the billing function (140) of the network. The call records for the service provider (180) are collated and sent to the service provider for processing. The service provider is provided with a system for analysing the call records to establish the number of lost callers, rather than the number of lost calls. This is possible since the call records include the CLI information of the originators. This information, gathered over a predetermined period of time, allows the service provider (180) to estimate the number of answering stations (170) necessary to optimise call answering and minimise the number of lost callers.