The document discusses the origins and development of Intelligent Networks, which began in the 1970s with AT&T implementing centralized freephone and caller ID services using a database. In the 1980s, Ameritech proposed and Bellcore developed the concept of a centralized "Feature Node" to more flexibly implement new services independent of dedicated phone network equipment. International standards bodies began defining an Intelligent Network architecture in the late 1980s to rapidly introduce new services and establish vendor-independent interface standards.