Customer control of intelligent network services

The authors describe the evolution of network services customer control, concentrating on the impact that the intelligent network (IN) is exerting on the customer control telecommunications phenomenon. They trace the evolution of the methods of control over network services from the original telephone company operators through modern sophisticated terminal interactions with the IN. They also examine the nature of the control structures, detailing the advances that are occurring as customers control not only the parameters associated with a service, but also the very operation of the service itself. They also contrast the changing nature of local control structures and distributed control architectures. They indicate at the next layer of customer control that could develop in the 1990s and beyond.<>