JP2607043B2 - Phone list cleaning equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus for deleting invalid telephone numbers from a telephone number list included in a customer list such as so-called telemarketing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a variety of business operations using telephones, a telephone number list of a customer is extremely important information, and management that does not reduce the value of the information such as deleting unnecessary telephone numbers from the list. Must be performed at any time.
Of course, the customer information on the list also includes fluid information, such as when the registered phone number is no longer used, transferred to a different phone number,
Or the wrong phone number may have been registered. Such invalid telephone numbers must be removed from the list, and a process for replacing the transferred new telephone numbers with the old telephone numbers in the list is necessary.

In the past, some business was performed for each customer according to a telephone number list, and the list was deleted / updated while checking the response from each customer.

[0004]

The conventional method of deleting / updating a list along with the execution of a business according to a telephone number list may cause enormous waste or irrationalness depending on the contents of the actual business. In other words, performing an operation even for an invalid customer that needs to be deleted may cause wasteful expenses or inconvenience non-customers. In addition, for the transferred customer, the duties of the old telephone number place and the new telephone number place are performed twice, which wastes time and money.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a cleaning apparatus which can automatically delete a telephone number list in advance without performing actual work. Is to do. It is another object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device capable of efficiently or automatically rewriting and updating a telephone number list.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning apparatus for reading a telephone number list to be cleaned into a memory, and sequentially reading telephone numbers in the list stored in the memory. Calling means for sending a dial signal of the number to the public telephone line network, line monitoring means for monitoring a response on the line to the dial signal sending operation by the calling means, and after calling by the line monitoring means. Validity judging means for immediately disconnecting the line when the ringing tone is detected within a predetermined time and when the polarity inversion is detected before the detection of the ringing tone, and judging the called telephone number as a valid telephone number; , If neither the ringing tone nor the polarity reversal and busy tone is detected within a predetermined time after the call by the line monitoring means,
Disconnecting the line, invalidity determining means for determining the telephone number of the call as an invalid telephone number, and a list distinguishing the valid telephone number and the invalid telephone number according to the determination results of the validity determining means and the invalidity determining means. Output list creating means for creating.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, when a busy tone for a call is detected by the line monitoring means, the line is cut off and the telephone number of the call is set. Means is provided for instructing the calling means to repeat calling according to a predetermined procedure.

[0008] In the third invention, in addition to the configuration of the first invention, when a signal of the same frequency as the ringing tone is detected by the line monitoring means within a short predetermined time after calling, just
A second validity judging means for disconnecting the line and judging the called telephone number as a valid telephone number is provided.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the apparatus of the first, second or third aspect of the invention, wherein the line monitor means generates the ringing tone and the polarity inversion and the busy tone within a predetermined time after the call is originated. If neither is detected, the signal on the line is recorded on a predetermined medium in association with the invalid telephone number in the output list according to a predetermined schedule, and then the recording is performed.
A response recording means for cutting the line and a response reproducing means for reproducing and outputting a signal recorded by the response recording means for each invalid telephone number.

A cleaning device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is a means for reading a telephone number list to be cleaned into a memory, sequentially reading telephone numbers in the list stored in the memory, and transmitting a dial signal of the number to a public. Calling means for sending to the telephone network, line monitoring means for monitoring a response on the line to the dial signal sending operation by the calling means, and a ringing tone within a predetermined time after the calling by the line monitoring means. If detected, and if the polarity reversal is detected before the ringing is detected, disconnect the line immediately.
The validity judging means for judging the called telephone number as a valid telephone number, and neither the ringing tone nor the polarity reversal and the busy tone are detected within a predetermined time after the calling by the line monitoring means. Operates when a predetermined audio signal is transmitted on the line, and then disconnects the line after recognizing it.
A speech recognition means for disconnection, when said guidance message number transferred is detected by the voice recognition unit, a new phone enabled Phone numbers and determining transfer number recognition means in the message, number transferred by the speech recognition means If no guidance message is detected, invalidity determining means for determining the called telephone number as an invalid telephone number, and the validity according to the processing results of the validity determining means, the transfer number recognition means, and the invalidity determining means Output list creating means for creating a list that distinguishes between telephone numbers and the invalid telephone numbers.

[0011]

According to the subscriber line interface of the public telephone network, the response on the line to the outgoing call is one of the following. (A) Ring tone: a signal notifying that the called party is being called. (B) Busy tone: a signal notifying that the called party is busy with another party or that a line for calling the called party cannot be secured in the public telephone network. (C) Interruption of loop current due to polarity reversal: a signal notifying that the called party has turned off the receiver. (D) Signals other than the above without polarity reversal In the subscriber line interface, polarity reversal always occurs when the called party goes off-hook. Is detected, one of the following applies. (D1) Talkie transmission due to number error: recorded voice transmitted from the exchange when an unused telephone number is used. A guidance voice such as "This phone number is not used". (D2) Talkie transmission due to number transfer: recorded voice transmitted from the exchange when the telephone number is changed due to an address change or the like. "The phone number has changed.
The new number is ** ". (D3) Special information tone: a signal for notifying a state that the international automatic exchange is not talking or calling. (D4) Non-charged called party call: No polarity reversal occurs for a number call for which a telephone charge is not charged, such as NTT 133 or toll free.

In the cleaning device according to the first aspect of the invention, calls are made to the telephone numbers in the telephone number list one after another, and the response to the call is the ringing sound of (a) and before the ringing sound is generated. polarity reversal of (c) is when it is detected, were
The line is immediately disconnected, the telephone number is determined as a valid telephone number, and the telephone number is entered in the output list.

In the second invention, when the busy tone of (b) is detected, the line is disconnected, and it is impossible to distinguish whether the called party is busy or the line cannot be secured. Will be recalled according to an appropriate schedule.

The second validity judging means in the third invention does not discriminate the ringing tone of (a) from its frequency and the intermittent pattern and accurately detects the ringing tone, but detects a signal having the same frequency as the ringing tone. If so, consider it a ringtone. Since this determination is performed in a very short time, the frequency of determining the valid number and disconnecting the line before the ringing of the other party's telephone becomes high. As a result, the other party is less bothered by the call bell.

In the cleaning device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, if the response to the call is a signal other than the ringing tone and the busy tone without polarity reversal of (d), the signal on the line is recorded for a predetermined time. Keep it. Then the operator intervenes,
The recorded contents are reproduced to check whether or not there is a talkie recording due to the number transfer in (d2). If there is a recording of the number transfer, the corresponding telephone number will be replaced with a new telephone number and become a valid telephone number.

In the cleaning apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the contents of the talk key performed by the operator in the fourth aspect are automatically analyzed by the voice recognition means, and the new telephone number is automatically assigned to the effective number by the transfer number recognition means. Process as

[0017]

FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of an embodiment including the first, second and fourth inventions. This cleaning device has a hardware configuration centered on a personal computer. That is, a multi-input / output port 3 is connected to a processor system comprising a CPU 1 and a memory 2.
Controls the connection of the public telephone line network to a personal computer comprising a combination of a floppy disk device 4, a hard disk device 5, a display device 6, a keyboard 7, and a mouse 8 through the server, and discriminates the response of the line to a call. A line control unit 9 including a signal discriminating circuit, an A / D converter 10 for digitally recording an audio signal on the line, a D / A converter 11 for reproducing a digitally recorded signal, and an audio signal. Output unit 1
2 are connected.

A list of telephone numbers to be cleaned is provided in a predetermined format recorded on a floppy disk. The disk is set in the floppy disk device 4 and a cleaning instruction is given by designating a list name from the keyboard 7. Then, the CPU 1 reads the specified telephone number list from the floppy disk, stores it in the memory 2, and starts the cleaning process shown in the flowchart of FIG.

First, one telephone number data is picked up according to a predetermined order from the telephone number list, passed to the line control unit 9 and given a calling instruction (step 10).
0). As a result, a dial signal of the telephone number is sent to the public telephone line network, and a calling operation is performed (step 101). After waiting for an appropriate time (corresponding to the time until the operation of the local exchange) in the next step 102, the signal discrimination circuit of the line control unit 9 monitors the response of the line to the signal in the processing of step 103 and thereafter.

If a busy tone is detected first for a call of a certain telephone number, the line is immediately disconnected (step 104), and the called telephone number is entered in a recall matrix (step 104). 105), returning to the first step 100;

When the polarity reversal of the line is first detected for a call of a certain telephone number (this is the case where the called party goes off-hook simultaneously with the call), steps 103 → 106 → 1
The process proceeds from 07 to 108, immediately disconnecting the line and writing the called telephone number in the valid telephone number list. Thereafter, the process returns to the first step 100.

If a ringing tone is first detected for a call of a certain telephone number (this is the most ordinary response), the processing proceeds in steps 103 → 106 → 109 → 107 → 108, and immediately as described above. Disconnect the line and enter the called phone number in the list of available phone numbers.
Return to 00.

If no busy tone, polarity reversal or ringing tone is detected for a call of a certain telephone number, step 103 → 1
The processing proceeds from 06 to 109 to 110, and a routine for recording an audio signal on the line is executed. In this recording routine, a time schedule is set so that a signal on the line is recorded only for a predetermined time after a predetermined time has elapsed after activation. The audio signal on the line is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 10 and recorded on the hard disk drive 5. When recording for a certain period of time is completed, the line is disconnected (step 111), and the called telephone number is entered in the invalid telephone number list (step 1).
12). In the invalid telephone number list created in step 112, a recorded data pointer indicating the position of the data recorded in the hard disk device 5 in step 110 is written in association with the corresponding telephone number. Thereafter, the process returns to the first step 100.

As described above, the telephone numbers in the telephone number list are successively called, and the response to the call is the ringing tone of (a) and (c) before the occurrence of the ringing tone. Is detected, the telephone number is determined to be a valid telephone number and entered in the valid telephone number list. If the response to the outgoing call is a signal other than the ringing tone and busy tone described in (d) above, the telephone number is determined to be an invalid telephone number and is entered in the invalid telephone number list. At the same time, the signal on the line is recorded for a predetermined time and associated with a telephone number.

By the way, the telephone number for which the busy tone is detected in step 103 is entered in a re-calling queue, and the number is set at an appropriate time after step 100.
Handle so that it can be called by. However, if the busy tone detection is repeated for outgoing calls of the same telephone number, this fact is added to the re-call matrix and the busy tone is detected even if the number of outgoing calls reaches a certain number. If so, the telephone number is deleted from the re-calling queue and entered in the busy telephone number list.

The valid telephone number list, the invalid telephone number list, and the busy telephone number list correspond to the aforementioned output list. These lists are sequentially displayed on the display device 6 during the execution of the cleaning process. When the processing for all telephone numbers in the input list is completed, including the re-calling queue, the display device 6 or the like notifies the user of the completion. At this stage, the output list can be output to the floppy disk device 4 in a predetermined format. The valid telephone number list in the output list contains only telephone numbers for which a calling operation has been normally performed in response to a call, and other telephone numbers have been deleted.

When the operator designates an arbitrary telephone number with a cursor and gives a reproduction command while looking at the invalid telephone number list displayed on the display device 6 during or after the execution of the above-mentioned cleaning processing, the step is performed. 1
The content recorded at 10 is reproduced as follows. As described above, a recording data pointer is added to the invalid telephone number list, and when a certain telephone number in the list is designated, the corresponding recording data in the hard disk device 5 is read out according to the corresponding pointer, and D / A converter 1
The signal is converted into an analog signal at step 1 and output from the audio output unit 12 as audio. The operator listens to this and checks whether or not the above-mentioned “talky by number transfer” was recorded.
When the "talkie by number transfer" has been recorded, the new telephone number of the transfer destination is heard from the guidance voice, and the new telephone number and the update command are inputted by the keyboard 7. Then, the new telephone number is added to the valid telephone number list, and the fact that the telephone number is updated is added to the invalid telephone number list.

Another embodiment of the cleaning process executed by the CPU 1 is shown in the flowchart of FIG. This embodiment includes the first, third, and fourth inventions described above.

As shown in FIG. 3, when one telephone number data is first picked up from a telephone number list in a predetermined order and a call instruction is given, a dial signal of the telephone number is transmitted and a call operation is performed. (300 → 301). Next, the timer T1 for a set time of about 10 seconds is triggered, and the timer T1 is checked for time-up (302 → 3).
03).

Until the timer T1 expires, it waits until any received signal is detected from the line (30).
4). When a received signal is detected, it is checked whether it is a polarity inversion signal or a signal of a specific frequency (305, 306).
The signal of the specific frequency here is a signal of the same frequency as the ring tone. Since the busy tone is the same frequency as the ring tone,
When a ringing tone or busy tone is received after calling, step 3
It is determined to be YES in 06.

Incidentally, step 1 in FIG.
In the determination at steps 03 and 109 and the determination at steps 311 and 312 in FIG. 3 described below, the busy tone and the ringing tone are not discriminated only by the frequency but by analyzing each intermittent pattern. Midtone and ringtone are detected accurately. However, in step 306, if the frequency of the received signal is a specific frequency, this is regarded as a ringing tone (or busy tone) in a very short time.

If YES is determined in step 305 or 306, the line is immediately disconnected, the called telephone number is entered in the valid telephone number list, and the first step 300 is executed.
(318 → 319). That is, if the signal received after the call is the same frequency as the ringing tone (busy tone), this is regarded as a ringing tone within a very short determination time, and the telephone number is set as the effective number. This increases the frequency of determining the valid number and disconnecting the line before the other party's telephone rings. As a result, the other party is less bothered by the call bell.

If there is a received signal but NO is determined in either step 305 or 306, or if the timer T1 times out without a received signal,
Proceeding to step 307 → 308, the timer T2 for about 5 seconds is triggered, and the timer T2 is checked for time-up. Until the timer T2 expires, the presence or absence of a received signal on the line is checked (309), and if there is a received signal, it is determined whether the signal is a polarity reversal signal, a ringing tone or a busy tone (310, 311; 312). If a polarity inversion signal or a ringing tone is detected, the line is disconnected, the called telephone number is entered in the valid telephone number list, and the process returns to the first step 300 (318 → 319). If a busy tone is detected, the line is disconnected, the telephone number is entered in the busy list, and the process returns to the first step 300 (313 → 31).
4). The busy tone in this case is a case where the number of digits of the telephone number is insufficient, and therefore, no recall is performed.

If there is a received signal, but the signal is not a polarity reversal signal, a ringing tone, or a busy tone, the same recording routine as in the previous embodiment is executed, and then the line is cut off. Write the telephone number in the invalid telephone number list (315 → 316 → 317). If the timer T2 times out without detecting a received signal, the line is disconnected and its telephone number is entered in the error list (320 → 321).

In the fifth invention, recognition of "talkie by number transfer" is performed in real time by a voice recognition device. That is, if neither the ringing tone nor the polarity reversal and the busy tone are detected within a predetermined time after the calling of a certain telephone number, a signal on the line is input to the voice recognition device, and "number transfer" is performed. Automatically detects whether or not the voice of "talkies by" is sent to the line, and if it is "talkies by number transfer", automatically recognizes the new phone number in the message and Automatically fill in the list of valid phone numbers.

The function of the line controller 9 and its associated circuit portion can be expanded so as to be compatible with a plurality of lines, and the cleaning process can be performed in parallel using a plurality of lines.

[0037]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, an invalid telephone is used without performing any actual work (some interaction with a customer) based on a telephone number list to be cleaned. Numbers can be automatically and efficiently deleted. In other words, by executing a business even for an invalid customer that needs to be deleted, it is possible to eliminate inconveniences such as wasteful expenses and inconvenience to non-customers. Further, according to the fourth and fifth aspects, the rewriting and updating of the telephone number list can be performed efficiently or completely automatically with the intervention of an operator. Therefore, the inconvenience of wasting the relocated customer in both the old telephone number area and the new telephone number area and wasting time and money can be solved.
In particular, in the present invention,
When sound or polarity reversal is detected,
Since the line is cut, strays to the partner (customer) being investigated
It is possible to minimize the confusion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a hardware configuration of a telephone number list cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an outline of a main part of a cleaning process in the apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of a main part of a cleaning process according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 Memory 3 Multi-input / output port 4 Floppy disk device 5 Hard disk device 6 Display device 7 Keyboard 8 Mouse 9 Line control unit 10 A / D converter 11 D / A converter 12 Audio output unit

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A means for reading a list of telephone numbers to be cleaned into a memory, and sequentially reading telephone numbers in the list stored in the memory, and sending a dial signal of the number to a public telephone line network. Calling means; line monitoring means for monitoring a response on the line to a dial signal sending operation by the calling means; and a ringing tone detected within a predetermined time after the calling by the line monitoring means; If the polarity reversal is detected before the sound is detected, the line is immediately disconnected, and the validity determining means for determining the telephone number of the call as a valid telephone number; and within a predetermined time after the call by the line monitoring means, If neither of the ring tone and the polarity reversal and busy signal was detected, invalid determination means disconnects the line, determines that invalid telephone number the telephone number to call Output list creating means for creating a list that distinguishes the valid telephone numbers and the invalid telephone numbers according to the determination results of the validity determining means and the invalidity determining means, and cleaning the telephone number list. apparatus. 2. When a busy tone for an outgoing call is detected by the line monitoring means, the line is cut off and a call is made to the calling means according to a predetermined procedure for the called telephone number. The telephone number list cleaning device according to claim 1, further comprising means for instructing the telephone number list to be repeated. 3. If a signal of the same frequency as the ringing tone is detected by the line monitoring means within a short predetermined time immediately after the call, the line is immediately disconnected, and the called telephone number is determined to be a valid telephone number. 2. The telephone number list cleaning device according to claim 1, further comprising a second validity determination unit that performs the second validity determination unit. 4. When the line monitoring means does not detect any of the ringing tone and the polarity inversion and the busy tone within a predetermined time after calling, the signal on the line is output according to a predetermined schedule. Response recording means for recording on a predetermined medium in association with the invalid telephone number in the list and then disconnecting the line, and response reproduction for reproducing and outputting the signal recorded by the response recording means for each invalid telephone number 4. A telephone number list cleaning device according to claim 1, further comprising: means. 5. A means for reading a telephone number list to be subjected to cleaning processing into a memory, and sequentially reading telephone numbers in the list stored in the memory, and sending a dial signal of the number to a public telephone line network. Calling means; line monitoring means for monitoring a response on the line to a dial signal sending operation by the calling means; and a ringing tone detected within a predetermined time after the calling by the line monitoring means; If the polarity reversal is detected before the sound is detected, the line is immediately disconnected, and the validity determining means for determining the telephone number of the call as a valid telephone number; and within a predetermined time after the call by the line monitoring means, the ring tone and the polarity reversal and none of the busy tone work if not detected, times from recognizes it if predetermined audio signal on the line is sent A speech recognition means for cutting the, if guidance message number transferred is detected by the speech recognition means, and new phone number valid telephone number and determines transfer number recognition means in the message, as numbered by the speech recognition means If a transfer guidance message is not detected, invalidity determination means for determining the telephone number that has been called as an invalid telephone number, and the validity determination means, the transfer number recognition means, and the invalidity determination means A telephone number list cleaning device, comprising: output list creation means for creating a list that distinguishes valid telephone numbers from the invalid telephone numbers.