JP2002171335A - Communication equipment, caller information display method therefor and recording medium recording caller information display program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To freely select a caller and to respond after confirming information displayed in order based on the priority previously registered by a user when plural incoming calls are simultaneously received. SOLUTION: This equipment is provided with an incoming call managing part 11 for deciding the priority order based on the registered priority 72 of respective incoming calls by detecting the caller identification information of each of incoming calls and referring to a registered telephone number table 61, a display control part 12 for reporting a caller under call incoming to the user on the basis of the decided priority order and a response processing part 13 for responding to the incoming call corresponding to the operation of a response request by the user and the display control part 12 is provided with a means for accepting the designation of a caller as a response target corresponding to the selecting operation of the user and a means for switching the indication into state of displaying only the caller decided with the highest priority order, state of displaying the list of callers under call incoming and state of displaying only the caller as a response target selected by the user.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to communication via a telephone line or the like, and more particularly, to a communication apparatus which appropriately displays caller information upon receiving a call and responds to the call, a method for displaying the caller information, and caller information. The present invention relates to a recording medium on which a display program is recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A caller telephone number display service has been conventionally known as a service provided by telephone companies to telephone subscribers. The caller telephone number display service is for notifying caller identification information such as a telephone number from a communication network (network) to a receiving terminal device such as a telephone and displaying the same.

[0003] Conventionally, various devices and application software utilizing such a caller identification information notification service have been used, and for example, those which display detailed information such as the caller's name when receiving an incoming call. Etc. This is because, in advance, detailed information such as the name of the caller corresponding to the caller's telephone number is registered in a receiving terminal device (telephone, mobile phone, personal computer, etc.), and the caller side of the network is registered. Incoming call to the terminal device,
When the caller identification information (such as a telephone number) is notified from the network, the terminal device retrieves and displays detailed caller information on the caller from the storage circuit of the terminal device based on the caller identification information. is there.

[0004] Such applications include, for example,
It is applied to a terminal device such as a personal computer, a telephone, a mobile phone, etc., and controls the operation of each part of the terminal device by reading a computer program recorded in hardware or in a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, or another recording medium. Can be performed. The caller information can be shown to the user by a method such as a pop-up display on a display screen of a personal computer, for example. For example, there is a communication device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-284771.

[0005] With this, the user of the terminal device can immediately refer to detailed information related to the caller when a call is received from the network.

Conventional techniques for controlling an incoming call from the outside based on the telephone number of the caller include, for example, JP-A-7-2642 shown in a block diagram of FIG.
There is a telephone exchange disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 97-97. JP-A-7-
According to Japanese Patent Publication No. 264297, in a telephone exchange that relays communication between an extension telephone and an external communication line, the priority of each caller who receives the call is set in advance for each extension telephone. When a plurality of external lines arrive at the telephone exchange at the same time, the caller with the highest priority is determined according to the caller's priority order for each pre-registered extension, and the incoming call is determined as the call destination. Techniques for connecting to telephones have been proposed.

In the telephone exchange shown in FIG. 12, caller telephone number decoding means 101 for decoding a telephone number as caller identification information notified from the network, and caller telephone number storage means for storing the decoded telephone number. 102,
Priority storage unit 103 for each extension that stores the priority of the telephone number of the caller for each extension, and the priority of the caller telephone number for the extension registered in advance when the extension telephone goes off-hook when receiving a call to a plurality of external lines And connection outside line determining means 104 for determining an outside line to be connected in accordance with

[0008]

However, the above-mentioned conventional apparatus for controlling an incoming call from the outside corresponding to the sender has the following problems.

First, in the conventional device, the user can confirm all the callers who are receiving the call, freely select the caller to respond, and control the response to the incoming call from each caller. It did not have functions such as specifying details.

Second, in the conventional device, even when a plurality of incoming calls are received simultaneously, only one telephone number or the like can be displayed, and a plurality of telephone numbers (or information on the caller) can be displayed. Did not have the function to display.

Further, the telephone exchange disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-264297 is a system in which, when a plurality of incoming calls are received at the same time, an incoming call to be answered is automatically selected by the telephone exchange. It does not have the function of selecting or confirming the caller on the part of the caller. Further, when a plurality of incoming calls are received, only the caller having the highest registered priority is detected, and there is no function for confirming the order of the callers having the second or higher priority.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art and, when a plurality of incoming calls are received from a communication network, display a result of performing a sorting process according to a priority registered in advance and respond to a caller. It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication device which realizes a function of selecting a user and greatly improves operability, a caller information display method thereof, and a recording medium recording a caller information display program.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a communication apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a registered telephone number table for registering priorities of individual callers in advance in association with caller identification information; Incoming call management means for receiving incoming calls via a network, detecting caller identification information of each incoming call, and referring to the registered telephone number table to determine a priority order based on the registered priority of each incoming call; and Display control means for displaying information on each of the callers based on the determined priority, and response processing means for responding to the incoming call in response to a user's response request operation. And

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the registered telephone number table includes, in addition to the caller identification information and the data of the priority, caller information which is various kinds of information designated in advance by each caller. The display control means is registered in the registered telephone number table corresponding to each of the callers,
The sender information is notified to a user.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the communication apparatus, the communication network is a telephone line, the caller identification information is a telephone number of a telephone of the caller, and the call information includes information of a caller's name. It is characterized by including.

A communication apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the display control means includes means for accepting designation of a caller to be responded to in response to a user's selection operation.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the communication device, the display control means includes means for displaying only the caller whose highest priority is determined, means for displaying a list of all callers, It is characterized by comprising means for displaying only the caller of the response target selected by the user, and means for switching the display in response to the operation of the user.

A communication apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the display control means includes means for displaying information of a caller who is currently receiving a call.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the communication apparatus, the incoming call management means includes means for recording a history of incoming calls from each caller up to the present time, and the display control means records the incoming call history in the incoming call history. Means for displaying the information of the transmitted caller.

The communication apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the incoming call management means includes means for determining the priority based on the incoming call history of each of the callers.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the communication apparatus according to the first aspect, the incoming call management means includes a setting of a criterion for judging the priority order for each date and time at the time of the judgment.

A communication device according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is provided with a telephone connected thereto, wherein the incoming call management means manages an incoming call to the telephone, and the display control means determines a caller who has received the telephone. It is characterized in that a designation of a caller shown to a user and responding to the telephone is accepted, and the response processing unit connects the incoming call to the telephone.

[0023] The communication apparatus according to the eleventh aspect of the present invention is provided with a plurality of telephones connected to each other.
For each of the telephones, a priority setting for each of the callers is provided, and the incoming call management means receives an incoming call via an external communication network, refers to the registered telephone number table, and Determining the priority of each of the telephones based on the registered priority, the display control means,
The caller information is displayed for each of the telephone sets based on the priority determined for the telephone set.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for displaying caller information, comprising the steps of: receiving incoming calls via an external communication network, detecting caller identification information of each of the incoming calls; Referring to a registered telephone number table registered in advance in correspondence with the caller identification information, and determining the priority of each incoming call based on the registered priority; and determining the information on each of the callers. And a step of responding to the incoming call in response to a user's operation of a response request.

A caller information display method according to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the communication network is a telephone line and the caller identification information is a telephone number of a telephone of the caller.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for displaying caller information according to the present invention, wherein the registered telephone number table contains, in addition to the caller identification information and the priority data, various kinds of information designated in advance by each caller. Registering caller information and notifying a user of the caller information registered in the registered telephone number table corresponding to each caller.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for displaying caller information according to the present invention, further comprising a step of accepting a designation of a caller to be responded to in response to a user's selecting operation.

[0028] According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a caller information display method comprising the steps of displaying only a caller whose highest priority is determined, displaying a list of callers who are receiving a call, And a step of switching the display in response to the operation of the user.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, a recording medium storing a computer readable caller information display program accepts an incoming call via an external communication network by controlling a computer and transmits each of the incoming calls. Detecting the caller identification information, and referring to a registered telephone number table registered in advance in which the priority of each caller is associated with the caller identification information, and giving priority to each incoming call based on the registered priority. Determining a ranking;
Displaying information on each of the callers based on the determined priority; and responding to the incoming call in response to a user's response request operation.

[0030]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a communication device according to the present embodiment includes a control unit 10 for controlling the operation of each unit of the communication device, a communication unit 20 for connecting to an external communication line for communication, and a user. A display unit 40 for displaying information, an operation unit 50 for a user to operate the communication device, and a storage unit 60 for storing various data used by the communication device are provided. In the communication device according to the present embodiment, telephone 30 that receives an incoming call from the outside is connected to communication unit 20.

The communication unit 20 has a network interface for connecting to a communication network such as an external telephone line. In FIG.
n (n = 1, 2,...). As a communication network to which the communication unit 20 connects, an analog telephone network of a telephone company, a digital network such as ISDN, or the like can be used.

The communication unit 20 is connected to the network line Ln (n
Has a function of detecting and exchanging incoming calls from 1, 2,... In addition, when the detected incoming call is further notified of the caller identification information such as the caller telephone number, a function of detecting the caller identification information is provided. Further, the communication unit 20 is connected to a telephone 30 for making a call via a network.

The control unit 10 includes an incoming call management unit 11, a display control unit 12, and a response processing unit 13.

The incoming call management section 11 receives an incoming call from the outside and determines the order in which the caller information is displayed. The order in which the caller information is displayed is determined according to the priority registered for each caller.

The display control unit 12 displays the caller information of the incoming caller on the screen of the display unit 40 to show it to the user.
In addition, the display is switched according to a user operation from the operation unit 50. The display can be switched by displaying a list of incoming callers as shown in the example of FIG.
As shown in the example, switching is performed such as displaying only one caller.

Here, when only one caller is displayed, for example, a caller with the highest priority set or a caller selected by the user as a response target is displayed. . Here, the user's operation of selecting a caller can be freely selected by the user from among the callers displayed in a list, as shown in the example of FIG. 9, for example. Further, the display control unit 12 detects a caller's selection operation, and switches the display by a method such as reverse display so that the selection can be recognized.

The response processing unit 13 responds to an incoming call from a caller in response to a user operation. When there are a plurality of incoming calls at the same time, a response is made to the caller with the highest priority set or the caller selected by the user to respond.

For this reason, the control unit 10 controls the reading and writing of the registered caller-related information information and the priority information from the storage unit 60 and the input from input devices such as a mouse, a keyboard and input buttons. Is received or a response request is received.

The storage unit 60 stores, for each caller telephone number 71, a priority 72 given to the caller,
A registered telephone number table 61 (FIG. 4) for pre-registering caller information such as name 73-1, address 73-2, purchase history 73-3, etc., which is optional additional information. Based on the telephone number 71, the incoming telephone number table 62 (FIG. 5) stored based on the incoming call order, and the priority setting of the registered telephone number table 61, the priority of the information of each caller in the incoming telephone number table 62 is changed. A display telephone number table 63 (FIG. 6) is provided, which is a result sorted in ascending order, and stores the information of each caller in the display order. The storage unit 60 includes a semiconductor circuit, a magnetic disk, and the like.
Various recording media for storing information can be used.

The information recorded in the registered telephone number table 61 includes, besides the caller telephone number 71 and its priority 72,
The information may be freely recorded. For example, as shown in the example of FIG. 4, the name 73-1 (also, name, name, company name, etc.) of the caller can be recorded, and this can be displayed at the time of an incoming call, which is convenient. Further, in the example of FIG.
3-3 is recorded, and this information can be used, for example, for customer management at a personal computer dealer.

Further, in the configuration of each part of the communication apparatus according to the present embodiment, in addition to the above description, the communication network may be a computer network using an information communication line such as a LAN or WAN, or may be used to communicate with the other party. The telephone 30 may be used as a voice input / output device such as a microphone, a speaker, or a headset, or the notified caller identification information may be transmitted using an IP.
It is similarly possible to use an address or a computer name.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The user sets the registered telephone number table 61 in advance.
, The telephone number of the caller and its priority are registered. In addition to the essential data, caller information such as the caller's name can be registered in the registered telephone number table 61, and can be referred to when receiving a call. In the example of FIG. 4 of the present embodiment, as the sender information, the sender's name 73-1, the sender's address 73-2, and the purchase history 73-3 of the personal computer purchased by the sender so far are recorded. are doing.

Here, the priority data to be registered in the registered telephone number table 61 can be designated using numerical values (eg, 1 to 99) as shown in the example of FIG. In this case, the same priority may be given to a plurality of callers (and a plurality of caller telephone numbers 71). If the incoming calls from the callers with the same priority are overlapped, the incoming call management unit 11 determines the incoming call order and the order of registration in the registered telephone number table 61 based on a predetermined method. Does that ranking.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a display process when a plurality of incoming calls are received by the communication apparatus according to the present embodiment.

In an initial state in which an incoming call has not yet been accepted, the incoming telephone number table 62 and the display telephone number table 63 are blank.

First, when the communication unit 20 detects an incoming call from the network (step 201), it subsequently receives and detects the caller telephone number 71 from the network line (step 202). Here, it is assumed that the incoming call is received from the network line L1.

If the caller identification information is not detected, the display process is terminated without executing step 204 and thereafter (step 203). In this case, regarding the incoming call,
It is possible to perform processing such as displaying that the caller identification information is not included, or simply perform the transfer of the incoming call to the telephone 30 without changing the display on the display unit 40. It is.

When the caller telephone number 71 is detected, the communication section 20 transmits the caller telephone number 71 to the control section 10.
Tell The control unit 10 then stores the notified caller telephone numbers 71 in the order
(Step 204).

The control unit 10 controls the incoming telephone number table 62
Using the caller telephone number 71 registered in the telephone number 71 as a search key, the registered telephone number table 61 is searched.
2 is detected (step 205).

That is, when the caller telephone number 71 is registered in the registered telephone number table 61,
The caller's priority 72 and other caller information (name 7
3-1 and address 73-2) (step 20).
6, 207).

The display order of the caller is determined based on the read priority 72 (step 209),
The priority 72 read out to the row of the corresponding display order of the display telephone number table 63 and the name 73 of other callers
Caller information such as 1 and address 73-2 is registered (step 210).

Finally, the control section 10 displays information on the caller having the highest priority display order registered in the display telephone number table on the display section 40 (step 211). FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example of caller information in which the display priority of the highest priority has been determined. In the example of FIG. 7, the display area of the caller's telephone number 41, its name 43-1 and the priority 42 is shown, a list display button 44 for instructing execution of a list display, and A response button 45 for instructing the response of the user is displayed.

Subsequently, when an incoming call from another network line L2 is received, the processing from step 201 to step 211 is repeated in the same manner, and the incoming call is registered in the display telephone number table.

In step 205, when a caller telephone number matching the registered telephone number table 61 is not found (step 208), for example, the caller is displayed in the lowest order. After setting the lowest priority (for example, “99”), a method of performing the processing of step 209 and the subsequent steps can be considered. Further, in this case, since the caller information such as the name and address corresponding to the caller telephone number is not registered, the display telephone number table is set to, for example, blank in the display 210 in step 210, or a display indicating that no registration is made. Register In the display telephone number table 63 of FIG. 6, the data of the unregistered caller based on this processing method is No. 3 is displayed. Further, this process may be similarly performed even when the caller identification information is not found in the incoming call in step 203.

In step 209, if the caller telephone numbers 71 having the same priority are already registered in the display telephone number table, for example, (if necessary,
The display order can be determined by, for example, reading out the incoming call order registered in the incoming telephone number table 62) and treating the caller telephone number that arrives earlier as a higher priority. Display phone number table 63 in FIG.
, The display order of the callers having the same priority “1” is determined by using these ranking methods and the like. 1 and No. 2 is displayed.

Next, a process in which the user selects a caller and responds will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a response process when the communication device according to the present embodiment receives a plurality of incoming calls.

First, as shown in the example of FIG. 7, when the caller of the highest priority display order is displayed on the display unit 40 and the user makes a list display request from the operation unit 50, (Step 301), the display control unit 12 of the control unit 10 detects this, reads out all the caller information registered in the display telephone number table 63, and displays the list on the display unit 40 in order of priority. (Step 302). FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a list display of caller information according to the present embodiment. The operation of the list display request by the user can be instructed by, for example, clicking the list display button 44 in the display example of FIG. 7 with a mouse cursor.

Further, when the user makes a selection request for the caller shown in the list display of FIG. 8 from the operation unit 50 (step 303), the display control unit 12 of the control unit 10
Detects this, and switches the display so that the sender's column can be recognized as being selected by using a method such as inverting the designated sender information as shown in the example of FIG. (Step 304). In addition, the operation of the selection request by the user can be instructed by, for example, clicking the column of the sender to be selected from the list of senders shown in the display example of FIG. 8 with a mouse cursor. .

Further, if the user makes a response request from the operation unit 50 (step 305), the control unit 10
The response control unit 13 detects this and connects to the incoming call of the caller selected by the user (or, if no selection operation has been performed, the caller of the highest display order) (step 30).
Perform 6). The operation of the response request by the user is, for example,
The response button 45 in the display example of FIG. 7 can be instructed by a method such as clicking with a mouse cursor.

The application request may include a response request to the selected sender at the time of operation of the sender's selection request in step 303, and may adopt a method of starting the response process. . In this case, when the user operates the selection request from the operation unit 50 in step 303, the display control unit 12 of the control unit 10 detects the selection request and the response processing unit 13
Recognizes this as a response request to the selected sender and performs the connection process.

When the communication is completed, the communication unit 20 notifies the control unit 10 of the communication end (step 30).
7). As a result, the control unit 10 deletes the caller information corresponding to the caller telephone number of the corresponding incoming call from the incoming telephone number table 62 and the display telephone number table 63, and updates the display on the display unit 40 (step 308). At the end of this communication, if an incoming call from a caller who has not responded remains in the incoming telephone number table 62 or the like, the user returns to the processing of step 301 and thereafter again to select and respond to the caller. be able to.

Also, in the display examples of FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 of the present embodiment, the caller's telephone number 71 and the caller's name 73
Although -1 is displayed, the display of the caller information is not limited to this format. For example, the information of the address 73-2 and the purchase history 73-3 is displayed at the same time, or another window is displayed. May be displayed. Alternatively, only the caller's name 73-1 may be displayed, and the caller's telephone number 71 and priority 72 may not be displayed.

As described above, according to the communication apparatus of the present embodiment, when a plurality of incoming calls are received from an outside line, the information is rearranged in the order based on the priority registered by the user in advance, and information on each of the callers is obtained. Can be displayed. Further, after confirming the sender information displayed in the order based on the priority, the user can freely select the sender and respond.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the second embodiment of the present invention, a function of recording a history of incoming calls is newly provided, so that not only the caller who is currently receiving a call as in the first embodiment, A list of all callers who have arrived so far is displayed based on the specified priority.

The operation of the response processing unit 13 of the present embodiment when selecting and responding to a series of displayed callers is the same as in the first embodiment if the caller is receiving a call. If the caller is connected to the incoming call and responds to the incoming call, and if the caller is not the caller of the incoming call history, the call from the user to the caller is re-established (by telephone) or registered in the answering machine. Data reproduction and the like are possible.

As a result, it is possible to respond to a caller who has received a call while the user is absent or the like by referring to the detailed information of each caller. In addition, information of each caller who has received the call can be displayed in a list based on a preset priority setting.

Next, in the third embodiment of the present invention, the history of incoming calls (or calls) for each caller is recorded, and the display priority is determined based on only the set priority. Instead, the determination is also made by referring to the history data of each sender.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the display telephone number table 63a according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 10, the display telephone number table 63a according to the present embodiment includes:
Historical data such as the waiting time for each caller's response, the total number of incoming calls so far, and the date and time of the previous call are shown.

The history data such as the number of incoming calls and the previous communication date and time should be recorded in the registered telephone number table 61 and the like by the incoming call management unit 11 by a method such as updating each time an incoming call or call is made. Can be. The data of the waiting time is stored in the incoming telephone number table 6 by the incoming call management unit 11 or the like.
For example, a method of recording the arrival time of each caller for the second and the like, the display control unit 12 referring to this, calculating the waiting time until the display time, and displaying the calculated time is possible.

Also, by referring to these history data, the priority of each caller to be displayed can be controlled. For example, a caller with a long waiting time is given priority regardless of the priority setting. It is possible to perform control such as a display method, a caller with a long waiting time or a caller with a large number of incoming calls (conversely, a small number of calls) in the same priority order. For example, in the example of FIG. 10, the caller having the highest priority has its priority set to the lowest because it has not yet been registered, but since the caller has the longest response than other callers, , (Although the priority setting is low), the display priority of the highest priority is determined.

Further, for example, in a trader who accepts a telephone reservation for a ticket, by using the communication device of the present embodiment, the telephone that has sold the ticket is used in order to prevent the ticket from being sold twice to the buyer who has sold the ticket. It is possible to record a number or the like in the history and perform processing such as not accepting an incoming call from the same purchaser (or from the same telephone) (or setting the priority to the lowest).

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. As described in the first embodiment, the information recorded in the registered telephone number table 61 may be freely set by the user. For example, the date and time when each customer purchases a personal computer or the like, It is possible to record detailed information such as the purchase price and the maintenance request date. The information to be displayed may be freely designated by the user from the stored information and displayed.

Further, the detailed information of these callers may be obtained by using the data of the registered telephone number table 61 stored in the storage unit 60 as in the first embodiment, or by the control unit 10. It is also possible for the user to access an external database to search and display the acquired information.

That is, in the present embodiment, the detailed information of the incoming caller is searched for and displayed by accessing an external customer management database or the like. In addition, the search for the information of the incoming caller is performed by first searching the registered telephone number table 61 for information identifying the caller such as the caller's name and customer number from the telephone number, and using the information such as the name. Searching from an external database is also possible.

Further, the priority order is determined not only based on the preset priority but also based on the value recorded in the external database as described in the third embodiment. Alternatively, the determination may be made. Thus, for example, it is possible to easily determine the priority order to be displayed based on the latest information updated in real time such as the transaction amount so far.

Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the communication device according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a telephone 30 is connected to a communication unit 20, and a user controls an incoming call received by the telephone 20 using this communication device. Was to choose. However, the communication device of the present invention is not limited to a configuration configured as a device separate from the telephone 20, and the function of the communication device of the present invention can be provided inside the telephone. In this embodiment, for example, the telephone 30 shown in FIG. 1 can be configured as a voice input / output device such as a microphone, a speaker, or a headset. As described above, the function of the communication device of the present invention is applied to, for example, a general home telephone,
The information of the caller can be rearranged and displayed based on the priority order provided inside the HS machine or the like.

Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the communication device according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, one telephone 30 is connected, but a plurality of telephones 30 may be connected.

When a plurality of telephones 30 are connected, it is also possible to individually set the priority of each caller and the caller information in the registered telephone number table 61 for each telephone 30 to be received. is there. That is, in the present embodiment, the display of the caller information is processed based on the setting of each telephone 30, and the priority of each received call is determined based on the priority set for each telephone 30. Then, based on the priority of each telephone 30, a list of caller information of each incoming call (for example, each telephone 30
Side) and processes the caller's selection and response at each of the telephones 30.

For example, when receiving maintenance of a sold product by telephone, a person in charge of the maintenance of the product sold to each customer (the telephone 30) is set in the registered telephone number table 61 in advance, so that each customer can be maintained. Can be efficiently connected to the person in charge of the inquiry from.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a registered telephone number table according to the present embodiment. In the example of FIG. 11, the designation of a telephone set (A, B, C, etc.) that accepts a call from the caller is recorded for each caller.

Next, a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in each of the above embodiments of the present invention, in the communication device of the present invention, various criteria can be adopted for the method of determining the priority of each caller.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the criterion used for determining the priority order is switched in accordance with the date / time and time zone in which the determination is made.

For example, when a large number of incoming calls are expected during the daytime on weekdays, etc., the priority order is determined and the callers are rearranged and displayed. In), it is conceivable to perform processing such as simply accepting incoming calls in the order of incoming calls.

The embodiments of the present invention described above can be implemented in various combinations.

In the communication apparatus according to each of the above-described embodiments, the functions of the incoming call management unit 11, the display control unit 12, the response processing unit 13 and the like in the control unit 10 and other functions can be realized by hardware. Of course, the present invention can be realized by loading a computer program having each function into the memory of the computer processing device. This computer program is stored on a magnetic disk, semiconductor memory, or other recording medium 90. Then, the functions described above are realized by being loaded from the recording medium into the computer processing device and controlling the operation of the computer processing device.

In this case, for example, a computer processing device such as a personal computer can be used. In addition, while each application software is displayed in a window on the display unit 40 of a CRT or a liquid crystal display, the user's operation is performed by using a mouse. The above-mentioned caller information display program can be executed by using a commercially available operation system (OS) of a type that receives and executes processing from the operation unit 50 that is an input device such as a keyboard or an input device.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments and examples, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above embodiments and examples, and various modifications may be made within the scope of the technical idea. Modifications can be made.

[0090]

As described above, according to the communication apparatus of the present invention, the following effects can be achieved.

First, in the communication apparatus of the present invention, when a plurality of incoming calls are received from an outside line, the information is rearranged in the order based on the priority registered in advance by the user, and information on each of the callers is displayed. be able to.

Second, in the communication device of the present invention, the user can confirm the caller information displayed in the order based on the priority, and can freely select the caller to respond. .

Thus, in the communication device of the present invention,
The operability of the incoming call response when receiving a plurality of incoming calls can be significantly improved as compared with the conventional communication device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a display process when the communication device according to the first embodiment of the present invention receives a plurality of incoming calls.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a response process when the communication device according to the first embodiment of the present invention receives a plurality of incoming calls.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a registered telephone number table according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an incoming telephone number table according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a display telephone number table according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example of caller information in which the highest priority display order is determined according to the first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a list display of caller information according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation of selecting a caller according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an incoming telephone number table according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a registered telephone number table according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a conventional device for controlling an incoming call from the outside based on a priority order preset for each sender.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Control part 11 Incoming-call management part 12 Display control part 13 Response processing part 20 Communication part 30 Telephone 40 Display part 41 Display of caller telephone number 42 Display of priority 43-1 Name display 44 List display button 45 Response button 50 Operation Unit 60 Storage unit 61 Registered telephone number table 62 Incoming telephone number table 63 Display telephone number table 71 Caller telephone number 72 Priority 73-1 Name 73-2 Address 73-3 Purchase history 74 Reception 90 Recording medium

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Saori Kawaguchi 1-403 Kosugi-cho, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa F-term in NEC Telecom System Corporation (reference) 5K036 BB01 DD33 DD48 EE01 JJ04 JJ13 KK06 KK09 KK14 LL04

Claims (21)

[Claims] 1. A registered telephone number table for registering priorities of individual callers in advance in association with caller identification information, and accepting incoming calls via an external communication network, and receiving caller identification information of each of the incoming calls. Receiving management means for determining the priority based on the registered priority of each incoming call with reference to the registered telephone number table, and information on each of the callers based on the determined priority A communication device comprising: display control means for displaying; and response processing means for responding to the incoming call in response to a user's operation of a response request. 2. In the registered telephone number table, in addition to caller identification information and priority data, caller information, which is various kinds of information specified in advance for each caller, is registered. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device notifies a user of the caller information registered in the registered telephone number table corresponding to each of the callers. 3. The communication network as a telephone line, the caller identification information as a telephone number of a telephone set of the caller, and the call information includes information on the name of the caller. The communication device according to claim 1. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display control means includes means for receiving a designation of a caller to be responded to in response to a user's selection operation. The communication device as described. 5. The display control means includes means for displaying only the caller whose highest priority is determined, means for displaying a list of all callers, and transmission of a response target selected by the user. The communication device according to claim 4, further comprising: means for displaying only a user; and means for switching display in response to a user operation. 6. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein said display control means includes means for displaying information of a caller who is currently receiving a call. 7. The incoming call management means includes means for recording a history of incoming calls from each caller up to the present time, and the display control means displays information of the caller recorded in the incoming call history. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising means. 8. The communication apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said incoming call management means includes means for determining said priority based on a history of incoming calls of each of said callers. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the incoming call management means includes setting of a criterion for judging the priority order for each date and time at the time of the judgment. Communication device according to one. 10. A telephone connected to the telephone, wherein the incoming call management means manages an incoming call to the telephone, the display control means shows a caller who has received the telephone to a user, and responds to the telephone. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the response processing unit receives the designation of a caller to be performed, and causes the telephone to connect the incoming call. 11. A plurality of telephones connected to each other, the registered telephone number table includes a priority setting for each caller for each of the telephones, and the incoming call management means includes an external communication network. Receiving the incoming call, referring to the registered telephone number table, determining the priority of each of the telephones based on the registered priority of each of the incoming calls, the display control means, for each of the telephones, The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the information of the caller is displayed based on the priority determined for the telephone. 12. Receiving an incoming call via an external communication network, detecting caller identification information of each incoming call, and pre-registering the priority of each caller in association with the caller identification information. Referring to a registered telephone number table, determining the priority of each incoming call based on the registered priority, and displaying information on each of the callers based on the determined priority, A method for displaying caller information, comprising a step of responding to the incoming call in response to a user's operation of a response request. 13. The caller information display method according to claim 12, wherein the communication network is a telephone line, and the caller identification information is a telephone number of a telephone of the caller. 14. In the registered telephone number table, in addition to caller identification information and priority data, caller information, which is various kinds of information specified in advance for each caller, is registered. 14. The caller information display method according to claim 12, further comprising a step of notifying a user of the caller information registered in the registered telephone number table. 15. The caller information display according to claim 12, further comprising a step of receiving designation of a caller to be responded to in response to a user's selection operation. Method. 16. A step of displaying only a caller whose highest priority has been determined, a step of displaying a list of callers who are receiving a call, and displaying only a caller whose response is selected by the user. 16. The caller information display method according to claim 15, further comprising: a step; and a step of switching display in response to a user operation. 17. A step of receiving an incoming call via an external communication network by controlling a computer, detecting caller identification information of each incoming call, and assigning a priority of each caller to the caller identification information. Referring to a registered telephone number table registered in advance and determining the priority of each incoming call on the basis of the registered priority; and A computer-readable caller information display program, comprising a step of responding to the incoming call in response to a user's operation of a response request. 18. The computer-readable caller information display program according to claim 17, wherein the communication network is a telephone line, and the caller identification information is a telephone number of a telephone of the caller. Recording medium on which is recorded. 19. In the registered telephone number table, in addition to caller identification information and priority data, caller information, which is various kinds of information specified in advance for each caller, is registered. 19. The computer-readable caller information display program according to claim 17, further comprising a step of notifying a user of the caller information registered in the registered telephone number table. Recording medium on which is recorded. 20. A computer-readable computer according to claim 17, further comprising a step of receiving a designation of a caller to be answered in response to a user's selection operation. Recording medium on which a unique caller information display program is recorded. 21. A step of displaying only a caller whose highest priority has been determined, a step of displaying a list of callers who are receiving a call, and displaying only a caller whose response is selected by the user. 21. The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 20, further comprising: a step of switching a display in response to a user operation.