FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention concerns a method of optimizing the use of a switched network, and more particularly a telephone network in an urban centre

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

In an urban centre, particularly one divided into a number of different cities, users located in the suburbs do not have access to a listing in the 41 1 directory ofthe urban centre, neither in the white or yellow pages of the same urban centre, unless they have a place of business in the urban centre itself This entails additional costs, as the user must pay for an extra business line, and must rent some space in order for the line to be installed This may also oblige the user to incur further costs, such as a receptionist to answer the phone, or obtain options such as call forward to transfer any calls to the main place of business located in the suburbs

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide for a method, in a switched network. whereby a user located outside of a geographical area may be contacted by specifying an address in the geographical area In accordance with the invention. this object is achieved with a method for optimizing the use of a switched network comprising assigning addresses to a first group of users within a geographical area, assigning addresses to a second group of users outside ofthe geographical area, interconnecting together all the users of the first and second groups through switching means, whereby one of the users may contact another user by specifying the address ofthe other user, thus opening a communication between the users, the improvement comprising the additional steps of assigning another address to a primary user in the first group of users,

redirecting any communication directed to the other address ofthe primary user to a secondary user in the second group of users, whereby the secondary user in the second group of users may be contacted by specifying the other address ofthe primary user in the first group of users The method preferably entails the additional step of publishing, in electronic or paper form, a directory of all the users in the first group, such that the other address ofthe primary user refers to the secondary user

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a method for optimizing the use of a switched network, such as a telephone network Establishing a switched network generally entails the steps of assigning addresses to a first group of users within a geographical area, assigning addresses to a second group of users outside ofthe geographical area and interconnecting together all the users ofthe first and second groups through switching means, whereby one of the users may contact another user by specifying the address of the other user, thus opening a communication between the users The improvement in the method comprises the additional steps of assigning another address to a primary user in the first group of users and redirecting any communication directed to the other address of the primary user to a secondary user in the second group of users such that the secondary user in the second group of users may be contacted by specifying the other address of the primary user in the first group of users

Thus, a secondary user outside of the geographical area is be listed in the directory ofthe first group of users, as the other address ofthe pπmary user refers to the secondary user

In accordance with the preferred embodiment ofthe invention, a suburban user (the "secondary user") wishing to obtain such a listing may approach an urban user (the "primary user"), such as a hospital or a public utility, that already subscribes to a number of telephone lines. On one of the existing lines, the primary user asks the telephone utility to program one or more additional phone numbers This technology is known per se, and allows, for example, a user to have two or more separate phone numbers for the same telephone line When one or the other numbers is dialled, the user can distinguish between the two phone

numbers by the signature of each ring.

For example, user A has an existing phone line whose number is 555-1234. User A asks the phone utility to program an additional number, say 555-1235. The telephone utility assigns, for example, the first number a ring signature of long-long-long and the second number a signature of long-short-short. Thus, user A, simply by listening to the ring signature, can determine which number is being called. There can be more than one additional number per line, up to a limit determined by the telephone utility

Once the additional number or numbers are assigned, the primary user asks the telephone utility that, on one or more ofthe additional numbers, a "call forward" command be placed to the phone number ofthe secondary user located in the given suburb The "call forward" command exists already and is in use, for example, for a subscriber having a place of business in a city wishing to have all calls to that place of business transferred to the subscriber's home outside of business hours The existing forwarding command is activated and deactivated by the subscriber from the handset The command that is proposed would be "hard-wired" at the telephone central, so that the primary user would not be able to interfere with the operation ofthe command

Since the call forward command is placed on one or more ofthe additional numbers ofthe primary user, there is no need to have different ring signatures for those numbers, as they never ring at the primary user's phones The primary user's telephone number is indexed as such in the 41 1 index which is continually updated and in the hard-copy directory ofthe urban centre, generally published once a year. For the additional numbers, the name that would appear is that ofthe secondary user's Thus, a person wishing to call the secondary user, but who does not know the phone number in the suburb or even the name ofthe suburb would be able to dial 41 1 and ask the operator ofthe urban centre or look in the directory ofthe urban centre The number given to that person is that of the additional line of the primary user Once dialled, the call is automatically transferred to the secondary user's telephone line in the suburb

The advantages for the secondary user are clear an entry into the directory of an urban centre, without having to pay the substantial investment required to have a dedicated line in the urban centre. The secondary user would pay a rental fee to the primary user that is at least the cost of having the service installed on the telephone line plus a monthly fee, thus helping the primary user lower its telecommunication costs Furthermore, if the

primary user is a charitable organization, the secondary user would be able to obtain a receipt for income tax purposes.

If, for example, the secondary user is further removed from the urban centre and long distance charges apply, the call forward option could be to an "800" or "888" toll-free number, so that the caller, if from or around the urban centre, would not incur long distance charges. Additionally, the call forward option could be a voice mail system, with a number of options, such as leaving a message or having the call redirected to yet another number.

In another preferred embodiment ofthe invention, the secondary user is also located in the same geographical area as the primary user, thereby utilizing the residual lines ofthe primary user.

Although the present invention has been explained hereinabove by way of a preferred embodiment thereof, it should be pointed out that any modifications to this preferred embodiment within the scope of the appended claims is not deemed to alter or change the nature and scope ofthe present invention