Abstract: Disclosed is a mechanism to control telecommunication connections via digital switching networks like the ISDN. Frequently observed scenarios are a caller who is connected to an answering machine, although he intended to talk to a human individual, or where a node is shared by more than one individual and the caller wants to talk to a definite person likewise. Subscriber information is interchanged between a calling device and a called device before setting up the connection which is utilized to inform the caller about the device type at the called side or to inform the called side about the desired person. In the ISDN, a called device sends an ALERTING message to a switching center before accepting the connection. The switching center forwards a part of that message to the calling device which includes the so-called USER—USER Information Element (UUIE). In that USER—USER IE, an information like “UNDER THE CALLED NUMBER AN ANSWERING MACHINE IS BECOMING ACTIVE” can be coded.

Abstract: A description is given of an electronic auction machine, which reacts to changing sales conditions with appropriately adjusted machine prices. For existing automatic vending machines restocking is based upon very vague experience figures and in particular customary fluctuations in sales are not taken into consideration. With the proposed machine, using a computer current market data are recorded (31) and using these data the current market situation is automatically assessed (32,34). A corresponding updated machine price (33,35) is then displayed.

Abstract: In a process and a system for automatic, computer-system-supported optimization and the search for a state x dependent on at least one parameter P, for which f(x) as a measure of the quality of x assumes an extremum, an initial solution, i.e. a state x, is found as an initial state and a further state y different from x is found by means of an elementary change in an individual parameter P from x. If the result of a comparison of the target function values f(x) and f(y) is that f(y) is poorer than f(x) by more than a threshold value T, y is rejected, x is retained and a fresh adjacent state of x is found. If f(y) is at least as great as f(x)-T, there is a transition to state y. The threshold T is successively reduced to zero.