Service creation in an intelligent network

The authors present their view of a service creation environment for an intelligent network. They emphasize the desirability of application oriented languages (AOLs) or language constructs as a way to increase productivity for both creating and maintaining services. The user interface and support tools should have knowledge of the structure of the language and software organization to help manage the software and to help identify and address service interactions. It is noted that decision graphs are one type of AOL already in use in the industry. They are well-suited for routing service applications; however, new service requirements may exceed their capabilities. A finite state machine AOL that has the power to interact with decision graphs, together with support tools and environment, can meet those expanding needs