SIGNALING MESSAGE ROUTING NODE FOR RELIEVING THE LOADING OF A DATABASE FOR PREPAID CALLS IN THE CONTEXT OF UNLIMITED PREPAID CALLING PLANS

摘要

Methods, systems, and computer program products for offloading prepaid credit status queries from prepaid credit status databases for unlimited- plan prepaid in-network calls is provided. According to one aspect, the subject matter described herein includes a method that includes intercepting, at a signaling message routing node, a prepaid status query associated with a call originated by a calling subscriber and directed to a called subscriber. The signaling node then determines whether the calling subscriber is associated with an unlimited calling plan, unlimited text messaging plan, unlimited multimedia messaging plan, or a combination of plans based on the intercepted prepaid status query. The node also determines whether the call is an in- network call based on the intercepted prepaid status query, where an in- network call includes a call between a calling subscriber and a called subscriber belonging to the same network. In response to determining that the call is an in-network call associated with a calling party associated with an unlimited calling, text messaging, or multimedia messaging plan, the signaling node generates a prepaid status response instructing the query originator to connect the call. Alternatively, in response to determining that the call is not an in-network call associated with a calling party associated with an unlimited calling, text messaging, or multimedia messaging plan, the signaling node forwards the prepaid status query to the intended destination prepaid status database.