JP2000092248A - Lcr device impartially selecting telephone company offering least telephone charge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow the least cost routing(LCR) device to impartially select a telephone company offering the least cost on behalf of the users' standpoint without selecting only a specific telephone company by allowing an independent company whose stockholder includes no telephone company to collect charge information of every telephone company and to prepare information required for selecting a telephone company offering the least cost for a server. SOLUTION: A company whose stockholder includes no telephone company collects charge information of every telephone company. Then a server prepares information required to select a telephone company offering the least cost. A line adaptor section 11 in the server device replies an incoming call from a telephone set incorporating a least cost routing(LCR) device and receives a caller telephone number from a line and a telephone set manufacturer code and a model code from the telephone set. The information is sent to a central control section 12 and stored in a storage section 13. The storage section 13 stores charge information of every telephone company corresponding to the caller telephone number. Then the control section 12 retrieves the corresponding charge information of every telephone company by using the received caller telephone number and the line adaptor section 11 transmits the information to the telephone set.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to telephone-related equipment. This telephone-related device can select the cheapest telephone company based on the built-in charge information, time information, and the like at the time of calling and automatically add a necessary additional dial.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional LCR (Least Cost)
Routing (automatic selection of the lowest telephone charge) device is provided by each telephone company. LCR devices are roughly classified into two types according to their shapes. Box type and built-in telephone type.

The box type is called an adapter and is used by connecting to a telephone, a PBX device, a facsimile device, or the like. If you apply to a telephone company such as DDI, JT, TWJ, TTNet, etc., you can rent it free of charge. For example, the DDI adapter compares NTT and DDI call charges and
When I is cheap, 0077 is automatically added.

[0004] The built-in telephone type has the LCR function built in the telephone, so that it is not necessary to install another device. DDI,
Telephone companies such as JT and TWJ outsource to telephone manufacturers, and the telephone manufacturers
Incorporate CR function. The telephone company pays the commission to the telephone manufacturer. The charge table required for LCR selection is prepared by each telephone company, and downloaded from the telephone company center to each telephone.

[0005] For both the box type and the built-in telephone type, each telephone company prepares fee data necessary for LCR selection. The telephone company has its own call volume (ie its sales)
LCR system is provided to increase the number of products. Therefore, there are problems such as unfairness, inability to change the telephone company, and not always choosing the lowest price.

[0006] Telephone charges are determined by distance and talk time. Even if the distance is the same, the charge goes up in a stepwise manner for the talk time. As a result, company A is cheaper for short-time calls, but company B is cheaper for long-time calls. For example, comparing company A for 9 seconds and 1 yen and company B for 3 minutes and 9 yen, company A is cheaper until 81 seconds, but company B becomes cheaper after 54 seconds. It is impossible to predict the actual talk time before making a call.
Predict how many minutes the call will take, calculate the call cost, and choose which phone company is cheaper. Company A, which sets short-time calls cheaply, assumes a short talk time (for example, one minute), and company B, which becomes more advantageous as the call time becomes longer, compares charges in three minutes. As a result of each telephone company trying to compare rates at a call time that is advantageous to the company and trying to increase the volume of calls at the company, there arises a problem that LCR rates are not always fair.

In the case of a built-in telephone, the built-in LC
The R device cannot be changed to another company's LCR device.
For example, a person who purchases a telephone with a built-in LCR device must use JT. JT dislikes TWJ
If you want to use, you have to buy a new phone.

[0008] A series of new entrants, telephone companies (DDI, JT, TWJ) which have conventionally provided LCR equipment are no longer at the lowest prices. For domestic long-distance calls, KDD is the lowest price. DDI is αLCR, JT is Super LC
R and TWJ are called MyLCR and built-in phone type LC
We have offered R, but our telephone charges are no longer the lowest. If you call it LCR, you have to choose your competitor's KDD instead of your own. So the three companies are LC
The name of R was changed to a device that chose the company instead of the cheapest telephone company (it was no longer an LCR device). ΑALFA5 for DDI, Super ACR for JT, MyA for TWJ
CR. These devices are not devices for automatically selecting the lowest-priced telephone company, but for selecting their own company even if the fee is high.

[0009] Introduction of a priority connection is under consideration. When the priority connection is started, the customer does not need to turn the additional dial each time a call is made if the telephone company used by the customer is registered in advance in NTT. It seems that if you register the cheapest telephone company in each area such as city, suburbs, and international, you do not need an LCR device. However, telephone charges are determined by distance, call time zone (day of the week, time), and call time. A during daytime
Company B is cheaper, but Company B may be cheaper at midnight. Priority connection does not allow you to register different telephone companies for different time zones. If the telephone company cuts the price and the cheapest telephone company changes, the registration must be changed in priority connection. Registration changes are charged. Above all, it is very troublesome to research and calculate which telephone company is cheaper at every price cut.

[0010] Conventional LCR devices have been provided by telephone companies. The LCR provided by the telephone company aims to increase the sales of the company and is not always fair to users. There is a demand for an LCR device that does not involve the capital of a telephone company and makes a fair decision from the standpoint of a user.

[0011] The telephone company selection determination table used in the conventional LCR device stores the determination result of which telephone company is cheaper by using the upper digits of the destination telephone number as keys. In this structure, the size of the table increases, and the time and cost for downloading the table increase.

[0012] The telephone charge is determined by the distance, the talk time zone, and the length of the talk time. Even at the same distance, Company A is the cheapest in the daytime hours, but Company B may be cheaper in the late night hours.
Choosing the cheapest telephone company in every distance segment and every call time will increase the number of telephone companies used. When bills are received from each telephone company, the number of bills increases, which causes a problem that payment becomes complicated and management of telephone charges as a whole becomes troublesome.

[0013] It is expensive to incorporate an LCR function in a telephone. 100% buy LCR built-in phones
It does not mean that you subscribe. For this reason, if a certain amount of compensation is paid per phone to the phone manufacturer as a price for incorporating the LCR function, the upfront investment is increased and the business cannot be promoted without large capital.

When the telephone charge is changed, the charge data of the LCR built in the telephone must be rewritten. Since the fact of the charge change is not known on the phone side,
A call is made from the server device of the CR company to all the LCR built-in telephones to download. In the prior art, L
When the CR built-in telephone receives an incoming call, there is no way to distinguish between a call for download from the server device and a normal telephone call. Therefore, it was not possible to receive the call automatically, and a human had to respond. Relying on human response can reduce response rates,
There were problems such as being unable to download at midnight.

[0015]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a company independent of a telephone company provides an LCR device and telephone charge data, so that the company can be truly positioned from a user's standpoint without being biased to a specific telephone company. It aims to provide a way to select a fair and lowest priced telephone company. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of downloading a table in a short time by simplifying the structure of a charge determination table. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for effectively using a cheap telephone company without unnecessarily increasing the number of bills by enabling the number of telephone companies to be used to be limited.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the LCR device of the present invention, an independent company that does not own the telephone company collects the charge information of all telephone companies, and obtains the distance, the call time zone, and the call time. Prepare the information necessary for selecting the cheapest telephone company in the server using the length of time, the frequency of calls per month, the degree of concentration on a specific call destination, etc. as a parameter, and transfer it to the LCR device built in the telephone as necessary Thus, when calling each telephone, the lowest telephone company is selected and the necessary additional dial is added.

The LCR apparatus of the present invention collects the charge information of each telephone company and distributes the information by communication, a telephone number dialed by the user at the time of calling upon receiving the distribution of information from the server, and telephone charge information; An LCR device with a built-in automatic telephone is used to select the cheapest telephone company based on time information and the like, and to provide necessary additional dialing.

The server device of the present invention collects information necessary for selecting the cheapest telephone company in a compact form and stores it in a form that can be downloaded in a short time. When a call is received from a telephone having a built-in LCR device, the telephone number information of the telephone line to which the telephone is connected is obtained, and the fee information corresponding to the telephone number is selected. Download your billing information and record your phone number.

The telephone built-in LCR device of the present invention, when connected (installed) to a telephone line, automatically calls and connects to a server device. Receive download of your own line telephone number and corresponding fee information. When making a call, the destination telephone number dialed by the user is analyzed without sending it to the line,
Price information, time information (day, time, holiday weekday distinction),
Select the cheapest telephone company based on individual information specified by the user. The additional dial corresponding to the selected telephone company is transmitted to the line, and the destination telephone number is transmitted.

The LCR determination table of the present invention is based on transmitting an additional dial for selecting a telephone company when determining which of NTT and one telephone company is cheaper. It has a structure that describes only the condition when no is sent. When the charge of the telephone company requiring the additional dial is cheaper in most distance divisions and call time zones than in NTT, the size of the LCR determination table of the present invention becomes smaller.

The LCR determination table according to the present invention uses only two telephone companies and only three telephone companies. . And prepare various. Restricting the number of telephone companies does not always result in the lowest price, but the telephone bill is cheaper than when only one telephone company is used, and the number of bills does not increase too much.

A method for disseminating the LCR function of the present invention is as follows.
By establishing a joint venture with a phone manufacturer, the phone manufacturer first puts LCR on the phone at its own expense.
Built-in function. When the LCR function is launched and revenue such as call charges rises, the manufacturer will recover the investment by receiving an appropriate profit distribution. LCR companies can promote their business with less upfront investment.

The telephone of the present invention has a function of receiving a caller's telephone number, and compares the caller's telephone number sent at the time of an incoming call with a telephone number of a server device stored in advance. If the telephone numbers match, the call is not a normal call but a call for rewriting internal data, and an automatic answer is made without ringing the bell. If the telephone numbers do not match, the call is regarded as a normal call, and the bell rings without an automatic answer.

[0024]

The server device of the present invention accepts a call from a telephone having a built-in LCR device. The caller's telephone number is received using the caller's telephone number notification function. It also receives the manufacturer name and model code of the telephone with built-in LCR device. Using the telephone number, it is determined which MA (unit fee area) the charge information is required, and the telephone number and the charge information are downloaded in a compressed form. After the download is completed, a list of the telephone numbers, manufacturer names, and model codes of the received telephones is printed out.

The LCR device with a built-in telephone according to the present invention automatically calls again as needed after the end of the initial download to obtain new charge information.

[0026]

An embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
5 is an example of a functional block diagram of a server device using the present invention. FIG. 2 is an example of a functional block diagram of a telephone with a built-in LCR device using the present invention. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are examples of a fee determination table using the present invention. Note that, of the functions constituting the server device and the telephone, functions not related to the present invention are omitted in FIGS.

In the embodiment shown in FIG.
Is composed of a line handling unit 11, a central control unit 12, a storage unit 13, an output unit 14, and an input unit 15. The incoming call from the telephone with built-in LCR device is answered by the line corresponding unit 11, and the telephone number of the calling party transmitted from the line and the telephone maker code and model code transmitted from the telephone are received. These pieces of information are transmitted to the central control unit 12 and stored in the storage unit 13. The storage unit 13 stores telephone company telephone charge information corresponding to the caller telephone number. Using the received caller telephone number as a key, corresponding telephone company telephone charge information is searched, information necessary for LCR determination is extracted from the storage unit 13, and transmitted from the line corresponding unit 11 to the telephone. The caller telephone number, telephone maker code, and model code stored in the storage unit 13 are periodically output from the output unit 14 and used for telemarketing, maker customer management, and the like. If there is a change in the telephone charge information such as a revision of the telephone charge, the new charge information is input from the input unit 15 and stored in the storage unit 13.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the telephone 2 with the built-in LCR device includes a line handling unit 21, a central control unit 22,
3. It is composed of a clock unit 24. When installed on a line for the first time after a new purchase, the central control unit 22 of the telephone 2 dials a predetermined telephone number via the line corresponding unit,
A call is made to the server device 1. When the server device 1 responds, the line corresponding unit 21 transmits the telephone code and the model code stored in advance. The telephone charge information sent from the server device 1 is received and stored in the storage unit 23. Telephone number and clock section 24 dialed by the user
The central control unit 22 searches the telephone charge information stored in the storage unit 23 on the basis of the day of the week, time, and weekday holiday information read from, and determines the telephone company to be used. A dial and a destination telephone number necessary for using the determined line of the telephone company are transmitted from the line corresponding unit 21. Even if the supply of the external power to the telephone 2 is temporarily stopped, the telephone charge information in the storage unit 23 is stored. When the line connection is made, the same processing as after the new purchase is performed.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the charge determination table is divided into a table 31 using two telephone companies, a table 32 using three telephone companies, and a case using N telephone companies. The selection of two companies, the selection of three companies, and the selection of N companies are determined according to the user's request, and the corresponding charge determination table is used.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 4 has a structure indicating the upper digits of the telephone number. When the destination telephone number dialed by the user matches the telephone number in this table, one of the companies is selected as the telephone company. If the destination telephone number does not match the telephone number in this table, the other telephone company is selected.

[0031]

According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically select and use a cheap telephone service from among telephone services provided by various telephone companies and other companies. Special dialing may be required to get service, but it's all done automatically. Even if the charge of the telephone company changes and the combination of cheap telephone services changes, the charge determination table is automatically updated and reflected automatically. Even if a new telephone service company appears, the service will be added, and users will always be able to receive cheap telephone service. According to the present invention, the upfront investment of a company that provides the LCR function is small, and the LCR function can be widely spread. According to the present invention, the telephone
Automatically respond to incoming calls from company servers, improve the efficiency of rewriting data in the phone,
Rewriting can be done at midnight.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a server device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Line correspondence part 12 Central control part 13 Storage part 14 Output part 15 Input part

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a telephone with a built-in LCR device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

21 Line Corresponding Unit 22 Central Control Unit 23 Storage Unit 24 Clock Unit

FIG. 3 is a fee determination table according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

31 2 company selection table 32 3 company selection table 3NN N company selection table

FIG. 4 is a determination table of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

The numbers described in the table indicate the upper digits of the telephone number excluding 0.

Claims (8)

[Claims] A function of automatically transmitting and storing a telephone maker code and a model code stored in the telephone;
The server device has a function to acquire the caller number sent when an incoming call is received and to receive the telephone maker code and model code sent after answering the incoming call. Telephone and server device characterized by being able to know if it is installed in a telephone 2. A telephone for inviting a user to operate the LCR function can be effectively provided by providing a means for knowing in advance the telephone number of a customer who has newly purchased an LCR device built-in telephone. Telemarketing (3) By providing means for providing telephone charge information completely independent of the telephone company without putting in any capital of the telephone company, a fair low-priced telephone charge can be provided for users who are not biased to a specific telephone company. Telephones and telephone-related devices characterized by being selectable 4. A telephone and a telephone having all telephone charge information of major telephone companies and having means for comparing which telephone company has the lowest price so that the telephone company with the lowest price can be determined. Related equipment 5. An LCR apparatus comprising means for limiting the number of telephone companies to be used, so that the number of bills is not increased unnecessarily. 6. A method for reducing the size of the decision table and shortening the transmission time by providing a means for transmitting a decision table describing only the case where no additional dialing of the telephone company is selected as a basic mode and not adding a dial. LCR device characterized by the following: 7. A telephone company with a built-in telephone company automatic selection function is provided by establishing a company jointly with a telephone manufacturer and incorporating a function for automatically selecting a cheap telephone company for the telephone at its own expense. A method characterized by dissemination with upfront investment 8. Receiving a caller's telephone number sent at the time of an incoming call, collating it with a telephone number stored in advance,
Telephone characterized by having a means of knowing that data is being downloaded from a specific center before answering an incoming call, so that even if the user does not answer, the incoming call is automatically returned and the download is started.