JP2007324925A - Ip telephone system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an IP telephone system whose usability is improved so that a number of pieces of information can be displayed to users. <P>SOLUTION: The IP telephone sets 11 to 1n and a PC terminal are incorporated and thereby the IP telephone system server 3 can find two IP addresses, an IP address corresponding to a telephone number of the IP telephone set, and an IP address of an incorporated PC terminal. Accordingly, the same SIP message as an SIP message transmitted from the IP telephone system server 3 to the IP telephone set becomes possible to be transmitted also to the PC terminal. Consequently, the PC terminal can obtain the same pieces of information as those displayed on the IP telephone sets, and further a display unit of the PC terminal can be utilized as an external display unit of the IP telephone set. As a result, many more pieces of information than those on the IP telephone sets can be displayed on the PC display, thus permitting user-friendliness to be improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an IP telephone system used for an extension telephone system in an office.

  A system that realizes a voice call via an IP (Internet Protocol) network is known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). This type of system is called an IP telephone system or VoIP (Voice over IP). Since IP is a general-purpose communication protocol for computer-to-computer communication, the use of an IP telephone system can flexibly construct a function for cooperation with a computer. In recent years, an IP telephone and a computer are connected to an intra-office LAN (Local Area Network) and operated in cooperation with each other.

By the way, the IP telephone includes a display unit (such as a liquid crystal display) for displaying various information as in the case of an existing digital telephone. However, the display unit provided in the IP telephone is generally small, and the amount of information that can be displayed at one time is limited. For example, in an office IP telephone system, a plurality of incoming calls can be received at the same time. However, only information on one incoming call (partner number, name, etc.) is displayed on the telephone due to a screen size limitation. Should the response Therefore from which incoming first, the user is often confused judgment.
JP 2004-328525 A JP 2002-305595 A

In the existing telephone system, the amount of information that can be displayed is limited due to restrictions on the screen size of the telephone terminal, and it is not easy to use such as being unable to determine which incoming call should be answered when there are multiple incoming calls.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an IP telephone system that can display a large amount of information to a user and is improved in usability.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, a plurality of IP telephones, a plurality of information processing terminals respectively associated with these IP telephones, and call control between the IP telephones based on SIP messages are performed. In the telephone system including the server device to perform, the server device associates the IP address of the information processing terminal related to each IP telephone, and the IP address of the information processing terminal related to the destination IP telephone To the information processing terminal associated with the destination IP telephone set to the acquisition IP address to the information processing terminal associated with the destination IP telephone set. Transmitting information based on the information processing terminal, the information processing terminal includes a display unit and the received S A determination unit configured to determine status of the destination IP phone based on the P message, telephone system, characterized in that the determined state and a display control means for displaying on said display portion is provided.

  By taking such means, the SIP message having the same content as the SIP message transmitted from the server device to the destination IP telephone is also transmitted to the information processing terminal associated with the destination IP telephone. As a result, the information processing terminal can process the same information as the IP telephone, and can obtain the same information displayed on the display unit of the IP telephone. By displaying this information on the display unit of the information processing terminal, it is possible to relax a restriction on the screen size and display a great amount of information. For this reason, user convenience is dramatically improved.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an IP telephone system that can display a lot of information to a user and is improved in usability.

  FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an IP telephone system according to the present invention. This system is a system in which a plurality of IP telephones 11 to 1n, a plurality of personal computer (PC) terminals 21 to 2n, and an IP telephone system server 3 are connected via a LAN / IP network. The IP telephone system server 3 performs call control in response to a call connection request between IP telephones 11 to 1n or from an external telephone from a public network (not shown).

  The system shown in FIG. 1 performs various controls related to voice calls, particularly using SIP. When the IP telephones 11 to 1n operate, the IP telephone system using the IP address and telephone number of each IP telephone is used. Register with server 3. The IP telephone system server 3 associates the IP address and telephone number of each IP telephone and manages them in the database unit DB. Further, each of the IP telephones 11 to 1n is associated with the PC terminals 21 to 2n on a one-to-one basis using a known technique.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the external appearance of the IP telephones 11 to 1n. The IP telephones 11 to 1n include a display unit 4 using liquid crystal or the like and can display their own state. The display unit 4 displays the other party's telephone number, name, etc., for example, when the IP telephone is in a state of receiving or talking. Information for performing these displays is included in a message for notifying an incoming call or a message for notifying a response of the other party. These various notification messages are called SIP messages, and include a request message and a response message corresponding to the request message. In addition, the IP telephones 11 to 1 n include a function button unit 5 and a dial button unit 6.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the IP telephone system server 3 of FIG. 3, the IP telephone system server 3 includes an interface unit (I / F) 31 connected to the IP network of FIG. 1, a display unit 32, an input / output unit 33, a control unit 34, and a database unit DB. Prepare. Among these, the database unit DB stores the management table 35a in a dedicated storage area.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the management table 35a of FIG. This table is a table for managing the telephone numbers (extension numbers) of the IP telephones 11 to 1n in association with the user name, the IP address of the corresponding IP telephone, and the IP address of the related PC terminal. For example, the IP address of the IP telephone having the extension number 1111 is “192.168.1.aaa”, and the user name is Yamada. The IP address of the PC terminal that operates in association with this IP telephone is “192.168.1.ppp”.

  In order to associate the user name and the IP address of the telephone with the extension number, a login processing procedure defined in SIP is used. The user of the IP telephone inputs user identification information (ID, password) from the IP telephone when starting to use the telephone (at the start of work every morning). This operation is called a login operation, and by performing this process, the user can use the telephone as his own telephone.

  There is also a predetermined processing sequence for associating an IP telephone and a PC terminal. In order to associate the IP telephone with the PC terminal, the telephone number of the IP telephone and the IP address of the linked PC terminal are registered in the IP telephone system server 3 using a SIP REGISTER message or the like.

  By the way, in FIG. 3, the control part 34 is provided with the acquisition process part 34a and the transmission process part 34b as a process function concerning this invention. When receiving the SIP message (INVITE) for requesting an incoming call, the acquisition processing unit 34a acquires from the management table 35a the IP address of the PC terminal related to the destination IP telephone included in the INVITE message. For example, when an INVITE message requesting an incoming call to Mr. Yamada's IP telephone (FIG. 4) is received, the IP address “192.168.1.ppp” is acquired.

  The transmission processing unit 34b also sends a SIP message including the same information as the SIP message to be transmitted to the destination IP telephone to the IP address acquired by the acquisition processing unit 34a. For example, the INVITE message is only transferred to the IP telephone having the extension number 1111 in the SIP processing procedure. In this embodiment, the same INVITE message is also transmitted to the PC terminal having the IP address “192.168.1.ppp”. .

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the PC terminals 21 to 2n of FIG. 5, the PC terminals 21 to 2n include an interface unit (I / F) 41 connected to the IP network of FIG. 1, a display unit 42, an input / output unit 43, a main control unit 44, a storage unit 45, Is provided.
In FIG. 5, the main control unit 44 includes a determination processing unit 44a and a display control unit 44b as processing functions according to the present invention. The determination processing unit 44a determines the state of the related IP telephone based on the SIP message received from the IP telephone system server 3. The display control unit 44b displays the state determined by the determination processing unit 44a on the display unit 42.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a call processing sequence based on SIP. When a call origination operation is performed at IP phone A with IP phone B as the destination, the INVITE message transmitted from IP phone A reaches IP phone B via IP phone system server 3. This INVITE message includes information such as the telephone number and user name of the telephone A that is the transmission source. In response to this, the IP telephone set B rings and a Ringing message is returned to the IP telephone set A via the server 3. When a response operation is performed, a 200 OK message is returned from IP telephone B to IP telephone A via server 3, and a peer-to-peer call is started between IP telephones A and B.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a call processing sequence in this embodiment. According to this embodiment, in addition to the IP address of the IP telephone B, the IP telephone system server 3 can also know the IP address of the PC terminal (referred to as the PC terminal 21) associated with the IP telephone B. Based on this, the IP telephone system server 3 transmits an INVITE message including the same information transferred to the IP telephone B to the PC terminal 21 as well. This INVITE message includes information such as the number and name of the caller (IP telephone A), and the extension number of the caller IP telephone A is displayed on the IP telephone B display unit 4 as the destination, for example. If "1234", the contents of FIG. 8 are displayed corresponding to the table of FIG.

  Similarly, the display unit 42 of the PC terminal 21 displays the same content as FIG. 8 as shown in FIG. In this case, even when the user of the IP telephone B is using the PC terminal 21, it is possible to confirm the incoming call on the PC terminal 21 without confirming the display on the IP telephone B every time an incoming call is received. So convenient. Even when other application software runs on the PC terminal 21 and the screen displaying the incoming call is hidden behind the working screen, the incoming call display screen is displayed at the same time as the incoming call is generated. A pop-up may be displayed on the front.

  In an office telephone system, a single IP telephone is provided with a plurality of incoming buttons, and a plurality of incoming calls can be accepted simultaneously. However, even in this case, the display unit 4 on the IP telephone normally displays only information related to one incoming call due to its size limitation, and therefore the content displayed on the display unit relates to which incoming button. It is difficult to judge whether it is information.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, since the amount of information that can be displayed on the display unit 42 on the PC terminal is remarkably large, it can be displayed as shown in FIG. 10, and the situation for each incoming button is clearly displayed. It becomes possible. Therefore, the user can select the incoming call to be answered first after confirming the caller number and name.

In addition, display examples on the PC terminal in some situations will be described.
If you are already on a call, you may receive a new call. In this case, the display unit 4 of the IP telephone generally keeps displaying the other party's number, name, call time, etc. during the call. On the other hand, on the PC terminal, as shown in FIG. 10, it is possible to display the incoming call partner number / name and the like while displaying the state during the call.

  If the incoming button assigned on the IP phone is set to be shared with another phone, the button on the IP phone is lit, indicating that it is being used by another person. It is supposed to be displayed. In the display on the PC terminal, it is possible to clearly display the status of each button by displaying characters in use as shown in FIG. In addition, even if another incoming call occurs after putting the call on hold, or when another outgoing call is made, another incoming call is displayed with the information on the held call displayed on the PC terminal. Information on calls and new calls can be displayed.

  In this way, even when there are a plurality of calls on hold, information about each call is displayed on the PC terminal, so that when a call is re-answered to a hold call, another call is erroneously answered. Can prevent mistakes.

  If the incoming call button assigned on the IP phone is assigned a phone number that is shared with other IP phones, the call that you have placed on hold and the call that has been placed on hold by another person are distinguished. By separately displaying and displaying information on who has performed the hold operation and who is the other party of the call, the call on hold can be selected.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 12, the other party's telephone number or name is registered in the PC terminal in advance, and the contents of the received incoming message (such as INVITE message) are compared with the registered contents, and registered. When an incoming call is received from the other party, a display different from that used for a normal incoming call may be displayed. In addition, when a call is received from a registered partner, a sound may be generated from the PC terminal.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the IP telephones 11 to 1n and the PC terminal are linked to receive the same message as the message received by the IP telephone at the PC terminal. That is, by linking the IP telephones 11 to 1n and the PC terminal, the IP telephone system server 3 corresponds to the telephone number of the IP telephone and two IP addresses, that is, the IP address of the linked PC terminal Can know. Therefore, the same SIP message as the SIP message transmitted to the IP telephone can be transmitted from the IP telephone system server 3 to the PC terminal. Therefore, the PC terminal can obtain the same information as that displayed on the IP telephone, and the display part of the PC terminal can be used as the external display part of the IP telephone. In this way, much more information can be displayed on the PC terminal than the display information on the IP telephone, and user convenience can be improved. For example, even when multiple incoming calls occur at the same time, the information of all incoming calls can be referred to, so the IP phone user can identify the caller and determine who should respond with priority. It becomes possible to do.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment.

1 is a system diagram showing an IP telephone system according to the present invention. The schematic diagram which shows the external appearance of the IP telephones 11-1n. The functional block diagram of the IP telephone system server 3 of FIG. The figure which shows the management table 35a of FIG. The block diagram which shows the PC terminals 21-2n of FIG. The figure which shows the calling process sequence based on SIP. The figure which shows the calling process sequence in embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of a display of the display part 4 of the IP telephone set B in the sequence of FIG. The figure which shows the example of a display in the display part 42 of a PC terminal. The figure which shows the example of a display in the display part 42 of a PC terminal. The figure which shows the example of a display in the display part 42 of a PC terminal. The figure which shows the example of a display in the display part 42 of a PC terminal.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11-1n ... IP telephone, 21-2n ... Personal computer (PC) terminal, 3 ... IP telephone system server, 4 ... Display part, 5 ... Function button part, 6 ... Dial button part, 31 ... Interface part (I / F) ), 32 ... Display unit, 33 ... Input / output unit, 34 ... Control unit, DB ... Database unit, 35a ... Management table, 34a ... Acquisition processing unit, 34b ... Transmission processing unit, 41 ... Interface unit (I / F), 42 ... Display unit, 43 ... Input / output unit, 44 ... Main control unit, 45 ... Storage unit, 44a ... Determination processing unit, 44b ... Display control unit

Claims (11)

A plurality of IP (Internet Protocol) telephones, a plurality of information processing terminals respectively associated with these IP telephones, and a server device that performs call control between the IP telephones based on SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) messages In the telephone system,
The server device
A management table in which IP addresses of information processing terminals associated with each IP phone are associated with each other;
Obtaining means for obtaining the IP address of the information processing terminal related to the destination IP telephone from the management table;
Transmission means for transmitting a SIP message including the same information as the SIP message to be transmitted to the destination IP telephone to an information processing terminal related to the destination IP telephone based on the acquired IP address;
The information processing terminal
A display unit;
Determining means for determining the state of the destination IP telephone based on the received SIP message;
A telephone system comprising: display control means for displaying the determined state on the display unit. The management table is a table that further associates the attribute information for each IP phone,
The acquisition means acquires attribute information of the source IP telephone from the management table,
The transmitting means transmits a SIP message including the acquired attribute information of the source IP telephone to the information processing terminal,
The display control means displays the attribute information of the caller IP phone included in the received SIP message on the display unit in association with the state of the callee IP phone. Phone system. The telephone system according to claim 2, wherein the attribute information includes at least one of a telephone number of an IP telephone and a user name of the IP telephone. When it is determined by the determining means that an incoming call has occurred,
The display control means displays attribute information of the source IP telephone included in the received SIP message on the display unit in association with an incoming button number of the destination IP telephone. Phone system as described in. When the incoming call is an incoming call from a partner registered in advance in the server device,
5. The telephone system according to claim 4, wherein the display control means displays the attribute information of the source IP telephone in a pop-up on the display unit. When the incoming call is an incoming call from a partner registered in advance in the server device,
5. The telephone system according to claim 4, wherein the display control means displays the attribute information of the caller IP telephone on the display unit in a color different from that of other IP telephones. When occurrence of a plurality of incoming calls is determined by the determining means,
The telephone system according to claim 2, wherein the display control means displays all the attribute information of the source IP telephone included in the received SIP message on the display unit. The plurality of IP telephones include a plurality of function buttons,
The display control unit displays the state on the display unit when the determination unit determines that there is a function button being used by an IP telephone other than the destination IP telephone. The telephone system according to 1. The plurality of IP telephones include a plurality of function buttons,
2. The display control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the determination unit determines that there is a function button being used in the destination IP telephone, the display control unit displays the state on the display unit. Phone system. The plurality of IP telephones include a plurality of function buttons,
The display control unit displays the state on the display unit when the determination unit determines that there is a function button on hold by an IP telephone other than the destination IP telephone. The telephone system according to 1. The plurality of IP telephones include a plurality of function buttons,
2. The display control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the determination unit determines that there is a function button on hold in the destination IP telephone, the display control unit displays the state on the display unit. Phone system.

Images