THE INTELLIGENT NETWORK - CHANGING THE FACE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

With the 1984 divestiture of the Bell Operating Companies from AT&T, the newly formed Regional Operating Companies embarked upon a program to deploy an infrastructure for new service offerings-an infrastructure called the "Intelligent Network." This network is changing the face of telecommunications by allowing new services to be deployed quickly and with ubiquity and service uniformity. The first services on these new regional Intelligent Networks were Data Base 800 (free phone) Service and Calling Card Service, and today, these regional networks are handling millions of 800 number and Calling Card calls per day. This paper traces the realization of the Intelligent Network concept, first in the former Bell System in the early 1980's, and subsequently in the Regional Operating Companies, post divestiture. It describes the history of common channel signaling and the introduction of 800 Service, Calling Card Service and Private Virtual Network Service. It introduces the family of network nodes and operations systems that are the major players in the Intelligent Network and suggests their potential application for a wealth of new voice, data, and video services. Finally, it describes the next generation of the Intelligent Network, called the Advanced Intelligent Network, which through its service creation capabilities holds out a promise for rapid service development and a cornucopia of new customized services.