IN service improvement by call party handling

The intelligent network (IN) has been introduced to allow flexible call handling. In its most simple form, the dialed destination number is replaced (e.g. for toll free service). More sophisticated services make use of announcements, user interaction and connections to several destinations in sequence before/after answer (e.g. for calling card service). These possibilities are supported by the ITU-T defined Capability Set 1 (CS-1). In the successor CS-2 one of the main improvements is the ability to control all parties of a call in a much more flexible way. This call party handling (CPH) allows the IN based realization of well-known features like conferences and the introduction of newly designed features like secure answering. For Siemens' switching system EWSD which may act as the service switching point (SSP) of the IN, a CPH platform has been realized and is being extended.