The intelligent network in France

The introduction of an intelligent network (IN) architecture in France by France Telecom is described. Two main technical issues of present IN architecture are discussed: the programming interface to be used for service creation and the control-resource interface such as the SSP/SCP interface. The long-term evolution of IN, including the application to networks other than public switched telephone networks (PSTN) and the development of operating systems to handle IN-supported services, is outlined. Major technical problems in implementing a global IN architecture are also discussed