Policy support for call control

The need for policies to control calls is justified by the changing face of communications. It is argued that call control requires distinctive capabilities in a policy system. A specialised policy language called APPEL (ACCENT Project Policy Environment/Language) has therefore been developed for this purpose. However, the policy language is cleanly separated into a core plus specialisations for various application domains. The paper describes both the foundation and the call control ontologies. Sample policy examples are provided to illustrate use for call control. The paper also presents the policy system architecture in which the policy language is interpreted. The components of the policy system are described, particularly the policy server and the policy wizard.