JP2005167940A - Switching system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a switching system which provides various information concerning a called person to a calling person and various information concerning the calling person to the called person before starting a call. <P>SOLUTION: A switching system 1 is provided with a database 12 storing address data 13 in which a name, a telephone number, an IP address and an at-home status of a registered user are registered, schedule data 15 in which a schedule for each user is registered, and personal address data 14 recording a name and a telephone number of a calling destination, a disclosure level set for each destination, and a message for each destination respectively for each user. A portal management portion 11 acquires the at-home status, schedule, message of a called person according to the disclosure level, portal screen data for displaying the information is generated to be returned to a communication terminal. When a connection request of a telephone line is received from the communication terminal, a line control portion 16 connects a telephone line possessed by the calling person or the called person. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an exchange system that presents various information about a called party to a calling party and various information about the calling party to a called party before starting a call.

  In recent years, with the spread of broadband lines such as ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) and FTTH (Fiber To The Home) in general homes, IP telephones using the Internet or dedicated IP (Internet Protocol) lines instead of public telephone lines Service is drawing attention. This IP telephone service is for constructing a telephone line based on IP used on the Internet, but the convenience of the telephone itself is the same as that of the conventional telephone.

  In addition, there is CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) as a technology for integrating telephones and faxes into computer systems (for example, Patent Document 1), and it is widely used for call center operations such as support centers and customer consultation rooms that respond to customers by telephone. Yes. Recently, systems linked with customer databases are increasing, and it is now possible to provide accurate support while referring to customer profiles, past response history, purchase history, and the like.

  By the way, even if the conventional telephone is changed to the IP telephone, the problem peculiar to the telephone service that the convenience of the called party is not taken into consideration still remains.

  There is no system for notifying the calling party of the convenience of the called party, and the calling party makes a call without knowing the situation of the called party. If the caller is in a situation where the call can be answered, there is no problem, but if the caller is not available, it will naturally not be possible to complete the request, but it will have to be repeated and wasted time. It will be. Even if the called party's telephone has an answering machine function, the caller only leaves a message unilaterally, not all the requirements.

Also, if it is not desirable for the called party to answer the call, the called party will be unilaterally called for the convenience of the calling party, causing discomfort. It might be.
Special table 2002-505555 gazette

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is an exchange that presents various information about the called party to the calling party and various information about the calling party to the called party before starting the call. The purpose is to provide a system.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a switching system for connecting a telephone line between specific telephones, and records the name, telephone number, IP address, and home status of a user registered in the switching system. Address data, schedule data in which the schedule for each user is recorded, the name of the other party, the telephone number, and how much the user's own information is disclosed for each destination. A database for storing a disclosure level to be shown and personal address data in which messages addressed to each of the destinations are recorded for each user, and a caller recorded as the destination of the call selects one of the users When the telephone number of the user who is the callee and the name of the caller are transmitted from the communication terminal owned by the caller, Obtaining the disclosure level set for the calling party with reference to the database, obtaining any or all of the status, schedule, and message of the called party according to the disclosure level; Portal management means for generating portal screen data for displaying information and returning the portal screen data to the communication terminal owned by the caller; and after returning the portal screen data, the caller Line control means is provided for connecting a telephone line to a telephone owned by the calling party and the called party when a telephone line connection request is received from the communication terminal owned by the terminal.

  According to the present invention, since the caller can know the status of the callee before making a call and does not make a wasteful call, the waste of time and the generation of a wasteful call charge are reduced. be able to. In addition, since it is possible to leave a message for the other party without making a call, convenience is improved over the conventional telephone.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the exchange system 1 in this embodiment includes a communication server 2 and a control server 3. In addition, a PC terminal 4 and a telephone 5 are installed in each user's house and are connected to the Internet 6 as an IP telephone network 6.

  The communication server 2 includes a portal management unit 11 and a database 12. The portal management unit 11 collects information such as the name of the caller or callee or the status of being at home according to the information disclosure level set in advance, and displays a screen (portal screen) for presenting the information. It has a function of generating an HTML file and transmitting the HTML file to the PC terminal 4 owned by the calling party or the called party. The transfer of the HTML file is performed in accordance with HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) rules.

  Further, the database 12 stores address data 13, a plurality of personal address data 14 prepared for each registered user, and a plurality of schedule data 15 prepared for each registered user.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the address data 13 is a data table having items of name, password, telephone number, IP address, home status, false home status, personal address data, and schedule data. And the home status, and the association with personal address data 14 and schedule data 15 prepared for each user is recorded (details will be described later). In the items of home status and false home status, home, outing, long-term absence, busy, bathing, sleeping, etc. are registered in advance. The home status registration method is not particularly limited, but the user may input and transmit it to the PC terminal 4, or the user's current location from a device such as a mobile phone that can automatically acquire location information. It may be transmitted to the communication server 2 to determine presence / absence based on the position information and register it.

  The IP address may be a global IP address. However, when the IP address is temporarily assigned, the IP address item of the address data 13 is periodically set to ADSL modem 8 (or PC The IP address is notified from the terminal 4) to the communication server 2, and is updated as needed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the personal address data 14 is a data table having items of name, telephone number, disclosure level, message, and reverse message. On the other hand, a disclosure level indicating how much his / her information is disclosed and a message for each are recorded (details will be described later). In the reverse message item, a message from the other party to the user is recorded. Each information other than the reverse message is registered in advance by the user.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the schedule data 15 is a data table having items of start time, end time, action contents, contact information, and remarks, and records a user's schedule, contact information during action, and the like. (Details will be described later). Each item value is registered in advance by the user.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of the correspondence between the disclosure level and the disclosed content in the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the disclosure level is set in six stages from A to F. In FIG. 5, “◯” indicates that the information is disclosed, and “×”. The part indicates that the information is not disclosed. Further, a portion indicated by “Δ” indicates that the information is disclosed with a condition.

  For example, for a user who is set to the disclosure level A in the personal address data 14, all information of the nomination, at-home status, message, schedule is disclosed, and for a user who is set to the disclosure level D The name and message will be disclosed, but false information will be disclosed for the home status.

  Further, the control server 3 includes a line control unit 16, and this line control unit 16 has a function of connecting a line of a designated telephone 5 (IP telephone adapter 7) based on an instruction from the communication server 2. . The line connection is performed in accordance with SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) rules.

  The PC terminal 4 is a computer including a display device such as a display and an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and has a function of requesting a portal screen from the communication server 2 using a communication application such as a Web browser. . Further, the PC terminal 4 stores address book data in which names and telephone numbers of friends and acquaintances are recorded in an auxiliary storage device (not shown).

  FIG. 1 shows an IP telephone in-home system constructed based on ADSL. The PC terminal 4 and the telephone 5 are connected to the Internet 6 (public telephone line) via the IP telephone adapter 7, the ADSL modem 8, and the splitter 9. Although it is connected to the Internet 6) using a network, it is not particularly limited to the configuration of this home system. In this embodiment, the telephone 5 may be a normal telephone 5 for making a call on a public telephone line, but a telephone 5 having the functions of each device may be used.

  The IP telephone adapter 7 is an adapter device that controls connection of an IP telephone line in accordance with the SIP protocol and performs mutual conversion between an IP packet and an analog voice signal. The IP telephone adapter 7 shown in FIG. 1 is a broadband router integrated type.

  The ADSL modem 8 is a signal conversion device that is required when connecting a computer to an ADSL line, and has an IP address assigned in advance. The splitter 9 is a device that separates a voice signal and a data signal when performing data communication by ADSL using a public telephone line network. Is performed with a normal audio signal.

  Next, processing until a telephone line is connected will be described based on the sequence diagram of FIG. A situation where the user A calls the user B will be described as an example.

  First, when the user A who is the calling party selects the user B who is the other party (calling party) to call from the address book data displayed on the display (step S01), the PC terminal 4a The name and telephone number of the called party are acquired from the address book data, and an access code request including the name and telephone number of the called party and the name and password of the calling party is transmitted to the communication server 2 (step S02). ). This access code is, for example, the URL of an HTML file for displaying a portal screen, and is address information for accessing the communication server 2. Using this address information, the caller's portal screen data generated by the portal management unit 11 based on the information recorded in the database 12 can be used as, for example, a browser executed on the caller's PC terminal 4. Get by application.

  Upon receiving the access code request from the PC terminal 4a, the portal management unit 11 of the communication server 2 refers to the item of the personal address data 14 of the address data 13 based on the name and telephone number of the called party, and receives the incoming call. The file name of the person's personal address data 14 is acquired. Next, the portal management unit 11 acquires the disclosure level of the caller recorded in the personal address data 14 having the acquired file name. If the caller is not recorded in the personal address data 14 or the disclosure level is not recorded, the disclosure level is “F”.

  Next, the portal management unit 11 acquires the home status, schedule data 15 and message according to the acquired disclosure level, creates an HTML file for displaying the portal screen, generates an access code, and generates a PC terminal. Reply to 4a (step S03).

  For example, when the calling party is “Suzuki ...” and the called party is “Ando ...”, the personal address data 14 of “Ando ...” includes “Suzuki ...”. On the other hand, since the disclosure level is recorded as “A”, the message is acquired from the personal address data 14 (here, a voice file called message.wav) and recorded in the schedule data 15 of “Ando ...”. An action schedule is acquired.

  When receiving the access code from the communication server 2, the PC terminal 4a transmits a request message of an HTML file (portal screen data) for displaying the portal screen using the access code as a transmission destination (step S04).

  When receiving the portal screen data request message from the PC terminal 4a, the portal management unit 11 of the communication server 2 returns the portal screen data to the PC terminal 4a (step S05).

  When receiving the portal screen data, the PC terminal 4a displays the portal screen on the display (step S06). FIG. 7 is a portal screen displayed on the PC terminal 4a when the calling party is “Suzuki ...” and the called party is “Ando ...”. 7A shows the name of the called party, and FIG. 7B shows the home status. In this example of the screen, “going out” is displayed as the home status.

  Further, FIG. 7C shows that there is a message from the caller “Ando ...” to the caller “Suzuki ...”. For example, as shown in FIG. When a message is directly recorded in the message item of the personal address data 14 such as “I will contact you after 3 o'clock”, the message is displayed in FIG. If the file name of the recorded file is recorded, selecting “Click here” in FIG. 7 will display the contents of the file in which the previously acquired message is recorded, or if it is an audio file Audio may be played back.

  Further, FIG. 7D shows the action schedule of the caller “Ando ...”, and the underlined part in FIG. 7E is a mobile phone call as a contact person while out. The number is shown to be linked, and selecting that link automatically initiates a call to the mobile phone carried by the called party. Similarly, the telephone number is linked to “Kimura's house” at the bottom of FIG. 7D. However, for example, when the disclosure level is “B”, the link is not performed.

  Further, in FIG. 7F, a call button for sending a request for telephone line connection is displayed. When a call is made to the called party, the caller selects a call button of the telephone 5 mark, so that a line connection request is transmitted from the PC terminal 4 to the communication server 2.

  FIG. 7G also shows a link to a screen for inputting a message from the calling party to the called party. For example, even if the called party is absent and a call is made, a request is made. If the message cannot be completed, a screen for inputting the message to the called party is displayed by selecting the input form shown in FIG. 7 (g), and the input message is uploaded to the communication server 2 and personal address data is displayed. It is recorded in the item of 14 reverse messages. “Message1.wav” recorded in the reverse message item of the personal address data 14 shown in FIG. 3 has a message from the calling party “Suzuki ...” to the called party “Ando ...”. Is shown.

  In the portal screen shown in FIG. 7, the caller “Ando ...” is absent, and it can be seen that the user A who is the caller cannot fulfill the request even if he places a call. Assuming that user B who is the user is at home, when user A selects the call button in FIG. 7 (f) and inputs the line connection (step S07), the PC terminal 4a receives the caller's name and telephone number. A request for line connection including is transmitted (step S08).

  Upon receiving a line connection request from the PC terminal 4a, the portal management unit 11 of the communication server 2 instructs the control server 3 to connect the line (step S09). At this time, the portal management unit 11 acquires the IP address assigned to the caller from the address data 13 from the address data 13 and transmits it to the control server 3 together with a line connection instruction.

  When receiving a line connection instruction from the communication server 2, the line control unit 16 of the control server 3 issues a call (call request) to the caller's IP telephone adapter 7a based on the received IP address. It performs (step S10).

  When the user A picks up the handset of the telephone 5a that started ringing and puts it in the off-hook state, the IP telephone adapter 7a returns a response (call success) indicating that the telephone 5a has gone off-hook (step S11).

  When the line control unit 16 of the control server 3 receives the call success message from the IP telephone adapter 7a, it notifies the communication server 2 that the instructed line has been connected (step S12). Further, the line control unit 16 may send a ring tone or a message indicating that the other party is being called to the IP telephone adapter 7a.

  Next, the portal management unit 11 of the communication server 2 acquires the message from the caller if it is recorded in the reverse message item of the personal address data 14 of the called party, and displays HTML for displaying the portal screen. After creating the file, an access code is generated and transmitted to the PC terminal 4b owned by the user B who is the called party (step S13). The normal PC terminal 4 is in an access code reception standby state.

  When receiving the access code from the communication server 2, the PC terminal 4b transmits a request message of an HTML file (portal screen data) for displaying the portal screen, using the access code as a transmission destination (step S14).

  Upon receiving the portal screen data request message from the PC terminal 4b, the portal management unit 11 of the communication server 2 returns the portal screen data to the PC terminal 4b (step S15).

  When receiving the portal screen data, the PC terminal 4b displays the portal screen on the display (step S16).

  Next, the portal management unit 11 of the communication server 2 instructs the control server 3 to connect the line (step S17). At this time, the portal management unit 11 acquires the IP address assigned to the called party from the address data 13 from the address data 13 and transmits it to the control server 3 together with a line connection instruction.

  When receiving a line connection instruction from the communication server 2, the line control unit 16 of the control server 3 issues a call (call request) to the caller's IP telephone adapter 7 based on the received IP address. This is performed (step S18).

  When the user B picks up the handset of the telephone 5b that has begun to ring and puts it in the off-hook state, the IP telephone adapter 7b returns a response (call success) indicating that the telephone is off-hook (step S19). Before user B goes off-hook, he / she looks at the portal screen related to user A displayed in step S16 and selects whether or not to receive an incoming call when the caller is the other party who does not want to answer the call. it can.

  When the line control unit 16 of the control server 3 receives the call success message from the IP telephone adapter 7b, it connects the lines of the IP telephone adapter 7a and the IP telephone adapter 7b (step S20). In this way, the calling party can grasp the situation of the called party, and the telephone line is connected after grasping the situation, so that an efficient call is possible.

  Further, while the lines of the IP telephone adapter 7a and the IP telephone adapter 7b are connected, a so-called “Peer to Peer” state is established, and the PC terminal 4a and the PC terminal 4b can perform direct communication. The “shooter” shown in the lower left part of the portal screen in FIG. 7 is prepared for directly exchanging files between the PC terminals 4 when in the “Peer to Peer” state. The PC terminal 4 performs file transfer by dragging and dropping the file onto the container-like icon of the part.

  When the other party is on the phone, the line control unit 16 notifies the IP phone adapter 7 that the call is in progress, and the IP phone adapter 7 makes a sound during the call to the phone 5. Let it sound.

  Further, for example, when the PC terminal 4 is turned off and the PC terminal 4 is not in a state where it can receive the access code transmitted from the communication server 2 and a situation of no response occurs, steps S14 to S16 are performed. This process is omitted.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the disclosure level is divided into six stages A to F, but the disclosure level may be divided by, for example, a friend, acquaintance, customer, family, or the like.

  In this embodiment, an example is shown in which a telephone line is connected by the IP telephone network 6, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a telephone line may be connected by a public telephone line network. . In this case, line connection control is performed by a line switch such as PBX (Private Branch eXchange).

It is a figure which shows the structure of an exchange system. It is a figure which shows address data. It is a figure which shows personal address data. It is a figure which shows schedule data. It is a table | surface which shows a response | compatibility with a disclosure level and disclosure content. It is a sequence diagram showing processing until a telephone line is connected. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a portal screen.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Switching system 2 Communication server 3 Control server 4 PC terminal 5 Telephone 6 Internet (IP telephone network)
7 IP phone adapter 8 ADSL modem 9 Splitter 11 Portal management unit 12 Database 13 Address data 14 Personal address data 15 Schedule data 16 Line control unit

Claims (1)

An exchange system for connecting a telephone line between specific telephones,
Address data in which the name, telephone number, IP address, and home status of the user registered in the exchange system are recorded;
Schedule data in which a schedule for each user is recorded;
The name of the other party, the telephone number, the disclosure level indicating how much the user's own information is disclosed and the message addressed to each destination are set for each user. Recorded personal address data,
A database for storing
The caller recorded as the call partner selects one of the users, and the telephone number of the user who is the callee and the name of the caller are transmitted from the communication terminal owned by the caller. When
The disclosure level set for the calling party is acquired with reference to the database, and any or all of the caller's home status, schedule, and message are acquired according to the disclosure level, and Portal management means for generating portal screen data for displaying information and returning the portal screen data to the communication terminal owned by the caller;
After receiving the portal screen data, if a telephone line connection request is received from the communication terminal owned by the calling party, connect the telephone line to the telephone owned by the calling party and the called party. A line control means for
An exchange system comprising:

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