Autonomous expert system for directly maintaining remote telephone switching systems

摘要

An autonomous expert system for directly maintaining remote computer systems by directly accessing the remote computer systems, diagnosing, and clearing fault conditions on those computer systems. The expert system performs those functions by first accessing a fault report from a centralized service reporting center, establishing a data connection to the computer system reporting the fault, invoking diagnostic routines on the computer system to gather data about the reported fault, analyzing the data, and, if appropriate, clearing the reported fault from the computer system. If the fault cannot be cleared, the expert system recommends maintenance procedures and replacement parts for a technician who the expert system dispatches to the remote computer. The recommendations are based on field experience stored in rules and databases maintained by the expert system. When the remote computer system is controlling a customr switching system (PBX), the expert system only invokes testing procedures in the computer system which do not disrupt stable telephone calls. The expert system access the PBX via the public telephone network.