Inter-Switch Voicemail Analysis Tool

Abstract

A method for analyzing ISVM signaling messages that includes copying, to a message file, messages being transmitted through a signaling link, extracting ISVM messages from the message file that meet at least one trouble criterion, storing the extracted messages in an error report file, and generating an error report from the error report file. The error report lists the extracted messages. Examples of the trouble criterion include messages referencing a designated directory number, messages reporting an error, messages having a signaling point code and a destination point code that are equal, query messages having no matching responses, and unit data service messages.

1 . A method for analyzing inter-switch voicemail signaling messages comprising:
 copying, to a message file, messages being transmitted through a signaling link;   extracting, from the message file, inter-switch voicemail signaling messages that meet at least one trouble criterion;   storing the extracted messages in an error report file; and   generating an error report from the error report file, wherein the error report lists the extracted messages.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one trouble criterion requires at least one of messages referencing a designated directory number, messages reporting an error, messages having a signaling point code and a destination point code that are equal, query messages having no matching responses, and unit data service messages. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one trouble criterion requires messages referencing a designated directory number, and
 wherein extracting inter-switch voicemail signaling messages comprises extracting copies of messages that reference the designated directory number.   
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one trouble criterion requires messages reporting an error, and
 wherein extracting inter-switch voicemail signaling messages comprises extracting unit data response messages having a returned error.   
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one trouble criterion requires messages having a signaling point code and a destination point code that are equal, and
 wherein extracting inter-switch voicemail signaling messages comprises extracting unit data query messages having a signaling point code and a destination point code that are equal.   
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 :
 wherein the at least one trouble criterion requires query messages having no matching responses,   wherein extracting inter-switch voicemail signaling messages comprises:
 extracting, from the message file, unit data messages that are query messages, 
 storing the extracted unit data query messages in a table, 
 extracting, from the message file, unit data messages that are response messages, 
 deleting, from the table, extracted unit data query messages that have a transaction identifier matching a transaction identifier of the extracted unit data response messages, and 
 extracting unit data query messages that remain in the table, 
   wherein the messages being transmitted through the signaling link are copied to the message file for a period of time,   wherein the extracted unit data query messages and the extracted unit data response messages exclude messages that appear within one of a beginning portion of the period and an ending portion of the period,   wherein the inter-switch voicemail signaling messages conform to a signaling protocol,   wherein the signaling protocol defines a maximum query response time, and   wherein the beginning portion and the ending portion are at least as long as the maximum query response time.   
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 :
 wherein the at least one trouble criterion requires unit data service messages, and   wherein extracting inter-switch voicemail signaling messages comprises:
 identifying, in the message file, unit data service messages, and 
 extracting the unit data service messages and their diagnostic errors. 
   
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the signaling link is one of a link between a voicemail end office and a plurality of voicemail platforms, a link between a voicemail end office and a signal transfer point, and a link between a signal transfer point and a plurality of end offices. 
   
   
       9 . A method for analyzing inter-switch voicemail signaling messages comprising:
 copying, to a first file, messages being transmitted through a signaling link;   extracting, from the first file, messages that are unit data messages, wherein the unit data messages are one of the following: query messages, response messages, and other messages that are neither query nor response messages;   storing the query messages in a second file;   ignoring the other messages;   deleting, from the second file, query messages that have a transaction identifier matching a transaction identifier of the response messages;   storing, in an error report file, query messages that remain in the second file; and   generating an error report from the error report file.   
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the error report lists the query messages that remain in the second file, and wherein the query messages that remain in the second file are query messages having no corresponding response messages. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 9 ,
 wherein the messages being transmitted through the signaling link are copied to the first file for a period of time,   wherein the extracted unit data messages exclude messages that appear within one of a beginning portion of the period and an ending portion of the period,   wherein the inter-switch voicemail signaling messages conform to a signaling protocol,   wherein the signaling protocol defines a maximum query response time, wherein the beginning portion and the ending portion are at least as long as the maximum query response time,   wherein the signaling protocol is signaling system 7, wherein the beginning portion is about four seconds, and   wherein the ending portion is about four seconds.   
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising storing, in the error report file, at least one of response messages that contain returned errors and query messages that have a destination point code and a signaling point code that are equal. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising
 extracting, from the first file, messages that reference a designated directory number, and   storing the messages that reference the designated directory number in the error report file.   
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising
 extracting, from the first file, messages that are unit data service messages,   extracting diagnostic errors of the unit data service messages, and   storing the unit data service messages and their diagnostic errors in the error report file.   
   
   
       15 . A system for analyzing inter-switch voicemail messages comprising:
 a link monitoring component adapted to capture transaction capability application part (TCAP) messages being transmitted through a signaling system 7 link of a public switched telephone network; and   a message processor in communication with the link monitoring component, wherein the message processor is adapted to extract TCAP messages that meet at least one trouble criterion and to generate an error report listing the extracted messages.   
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one trouble criterion requires at least one of messages referencing a designated directory number, messages reporting an error, messages having a signaling point code and a destination point code that are equal, query messages having no matching responses, and unit data service messages. 
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one trouble criterion requires messages referencing a designated directory number, and wherein the message processor is adapted to extract messages that reference the designated directory number. 
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one trouble criterion requires messages reporting an error, and wherein the message processor is adapted to extract unit data messages that are response messages and that have a returned error. 
   
   
       19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one trouble criterion requires messages having a signaling point code and a destination point code that are equal, and wherein the message processor is adapted to extract unit data query messages having a signaling point code and a destination point code that are equal. 
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 15 ,
 wherein the at least one trouble criterion requires query messages having no matching responses,   wherein the message processor is adapted to:
 extract unit data messages that are query messages, 
 store the extracted unit data query messages in a table, 
 extract unit data messages that are response messages, 
 delete, from the table, extracted unit data query messages that have a transaction identifier matching a transaction identifier of the extracted unit data response messages, and 
 include, in the error report, the unit data query messages that remain in the table, 
   wherein the link monitoring component is adapted to capture TCAP messages for a period of time,   wherein the message processor is adapted to ignore messages that appear within one of a beginning portion of the period and an ending portion of the period,   wherein the inter-switch voicemail signaling messages conform to a signaling protocol,   wherein the signaling protocol defines a maximum query response time, and   wherein the beginning portion and the ending portion are at least as long as the maximum query response time.