JP7478056B2 - Telephone System - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a telephone system.

Telephone systems that are used in offices and the like include a main unit connected to a public telephone network and multiple telephones connected to the main unit, with the main unit connecting between outside lines and internal lines, and between internal lines themselves. It is known that such telephone systems have a function called proxy answering, which allows a call to be answered by operating another telephone that is not receiving a call while one telephone is receiving a call (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2010-34975 A

In such a telephone system, for example, if multiple telephones are placed in one room and one or more telephones receive an incoming call, it may not be possible to determine which telephone is receiving the call just by listening to the ringtone. In such cases, it is also difficult to determine whether a person near the telephone receiving the call can answer the call. Therefore, even if there is a user who is able to answer a call intended for someone else, it can be difficult to determine whether or not to answer on their behalf.

The present invention was made in consideration of these points, and aims to enable users to quickly perform appropriate proxy responses to incoming calls in a telephone system.

In a first aspect of the present invention, a telephone system is provided that includes a plurality of telephones each assigned to one of a plurality of groups, and a main device that connects telephone lines between the plurality of telephones, the main device having an operation reception unit that receives a proxy response operation from a first telephone included in the plurality of telephones, an extraction unit that extracts a receiving telephone that has been in a waiting state since the main device sent an incoming call notification from among the plurality of telephones in response to the operation reception unit receiving the proxy response operation, an identification unit that identifies, for each group, the possibility that the telephone included in one of the receiving groups to which the receiving telephone is assigned will answer an incoming call in the one group, and a communication processing unit that transmits receiving group information based on the possibility of answering for each group identified by the identification unit to the first telephone, and the first telephone has a first display unit that displays the receiving group information received from the main device.

The determination unit may determine the possibility of a response from the incoming call group based on whether the telephone included in the incoming call group is in use.

The identification unit may identify the possibility of a response from the incoming call group based on presence information indicating whether or not a user using the telephone included in the incoming call group is present.

The main device may further include a determination unit that determines the priority of the incoming call group based on the possibility of a response for each group identified by the identification unit, and the communication processing unit may transmit the incoming call group information in which the information indicating the incoming call group is assigned the priority determined by the determination unit.

The communication processing unit may transmit the incoming call group information including a group of the incoming call groups that is higher than a predetermined priority level, or a predetermined number of groups from the top of the priority level.

The first telephone may further include a response reception unit that receives a group selected by a user to respond on behalf of the incoming call group included in the incoming call group information displayed on the first display unit, and a first communication unit that transmits a notification to the main device requesting a response on behalf of the incoming call telephone included in the selected group in response to the response reception unit receiving the group selected by the user.

The present invention has the effect of enabling users to quickly respond to incoming calls in an appropriate manner in a telephone system.

1 shows an example of the configuration of a telephone system 10 according to the present embodiment. 2 shows an example of the configuration of a first telephone 21 according to the present embodiment. 1 shows an example of an operation flow of the telephone system 10 according to the present embodiment. 13 shows an example of the possibility of a response from a group receiving a call identified by the identification unit 143 according to the present embodiment. 11 shows an example of incoming call group information generated by the main unit 100 according to the present embodiment.

<Configuration Example of Telephone System 10>
1 shows an example of the configuration of a telephone system 10 according to this embodiment. The telephone system 10 is installed, for example, in a company office and is used by employees who are present at the company. In this embodiment, such employees who use the telephone system 10 are called users. The telephone system 10 is a system that allows a user who wishes to answer a call on behalf of another user to confirm information based on the telephone that is receiving a call and information based on the possibility of answering the call within a group that includes the telephone that is receiving a call. The telephone system 10 includes a plurality of telephones 20 and a main unit 100.

The plurality of telephones 20 are connected to the main unit 100. Each of the plurality of telephones 20 is assigned to one of the plurality of groups. It is desirable that the plurality of groups are set in advance based on the affiliation of the user of the telephone 20, the location where the telephone 20 is installed, etc.

For example, if employees from multiple departments use the telephone system 10, they are divided into groups corresponding to the multiple departments. Alternatively or in addition, if seats are arranged in groups in a single room, the groups divided by the seating arrangement may be used as multiple groups. One or more telephones 20 are assigned to each of these groups. Figure 1 shows an example in which three telephones 20 are assigned to group A and two telephones 20 are assigned to group B.

For example, when a call comes in to one telephone 20, the user of the telephone 20 that received the call, or a user belonging to the group to which the telephone 20 that received the call is assigned, picks up the receiver of the telephone 20 and starts the conversation. Here, the telephone system 10 has a function where, when a call comes in to a telephone 20, a user belonging to another group can answer the call on behalf of the caller using a telephone 20 that is not receiving the call. In this embodiment, a user who wishes to answer the call on behalf of another user is called a proxy responder or user. Also, the telephone 20 among the multiple telephones 20 that is operated by the proxy responder is called the first telephone 21.

Although such a proxy responder can tell from the ringtone that there is an incoming call on a telephone 20 in a group other than the group to which he or she belongs, there are cases where the proxy responder cannot determine which group the call is coming from the ringtone alone. Also, there are cases where the proxy responder cannot easily determine whether the user of the telephone 20 receiving the incoming call is available to answer the call. Furthermore, when multiple telephones 20 receive an incoming call, it is difficult to determine which telephone 20 to answer the call on behalf of.

The main unit 100 according to this embodiment transmits information about the group to which the telephone 20 receiving the incoming call is assigned and information indicating the possibility that a user in the group will answer the telephone 20 receiving the incoming call to the telephone 20 operated by the proxy responder. The main unit 100 includes an interface unit 110, a communication processing unit 120, a main memory unit 130, and a main control unit 140.

The interface unit 110 is connected to a telephone line installed by a telephone company or the like. Explanation of external telephone lines (hereinafter referred to as "outside lines") will be omitted.

The communication processing unit 120 switches the call path and transmits and receives various information between the multiple telephones 20. For example, if the calling telephone 20 is the second telephone and the called telephone 20 is the third telephone, the communication processing unit 120 receives the telephone number of the third telephone from the second telephone. The communication processing unit 120 sends an incoming call notification to the third telephone corresponding to the received telephone number. When the communication processing unit 120 receives a response from the third telephone that sent the incoming call notification, it connects the call path between the second telephone and the third telephone.

The main memory unit 130 stores the extension numbers assigned to the multiple telephones 20. The main memory unit 130 also stores information about groups to which the multiple telephones 20 are assigned, in association with the telephones 20. The group information is, for example, the name of the group. When the user who uses the telephones 20 is predetermined, the main memory unit 130 may store the extension numbers in association with specific information for identifying the user. The specific information is, for example, the name of the user. The main memory unit 130 may also store the telephone number of the telephone 20 in association with telephone information for identifying the telephone 20. The telephone information is the name of the telephone 20, the name of the room or place in which the telephone 20 is located, etc. In addition, a number for performing a specific operation may be preregistered in the main memory unit 130 as a "special number".

The main memory unit 130 stores setting values, thresholds, parameters, etc. that the main device 100 uses for control operations. When the CPU or the like operates as at least a part of the main control unit 140, the main memory unit 130 may store information about a program executed by the CPU or the like. The main memory unit 130 may also store various information including a database that is referenced when the program is executed.

The main control unit 140 controls the interface unit 110 and the communication processing unit 120 by executing a program stored in the main memory unit 130, and connects the telephone line connected to the interface unit 110 to the telephone set 20. The main control unit 140 also controls the communication processing unit 120 to connect the telephone sets connected to the main device 100 to each other. The main control unit 140 has, for example, a CPU.

The main control unit 140 controls the communication processing unit 120 to, for example, when there is an incoming call from an outside line to a telephone 20 belonging to group A, send an incoming call notification to the telephone 20 in group A, and then connect a call path between the outside line and the first telephone 21 in response to the proxy response operation accepted by the first telephone 21 belonging to group B. The main control unit 140 has an operation acceptance unit 141, an extraction unit 142, an identification unit 143, and a determination unit 144, and executes such a proxy response function.

The operation reception unit 141 receives a proxy response operation from a first telephone 21 included in the plurality of telephones 20. The operation reception unit 141 receives a proxy response operation transmitted from the first telephone 21, for example, in response to an input by a proxy responder operating the first telephone 21 to respond on behalf of the call.

In response to the operation reception unit 141 receiving a proxy response operation, the extraction unit 142 extracts, from among the multiple telephones 20, telephones receiving a call that have been in a state of waiting for a response since the main unit 100 sent an incoming call notification. The extraction unit 142, for example, extracts telephones receiving a call from among the multiple telephones 20. The extraction unit 142 may extract all telephones receiving a call from among the multiple telephones 20 within a predetermined area. For example, the extraction unit 142 extracts all telephones receiving a call from among the multiple telephones 20 located in one room.

The identification unit 143 identifies the incoming call group to which the incoming call telephone extracted by the extraction unit 142 is assigned. The identification unit 143 identifies the incoming call group based on information stored in the main memory unit 130, for example.

Then, the identification unit 143 identifies the possibility that a telephone 20 included in one of the incoming call groups will respond to an incoming call within the one group. For example, when a telephone 20 in group A is extracted by the extraction unit 142 as a telephone having an incoming call, the identification unit 143 identifies group A as the incoming call group. The identification unit 143 then identifies the possibility that a telephone 20 included in group A will respond to an incoming call. The unit of the possibility of response is, for example, a percentage. The identification unit 143 identifies the possibility that a telephone 20 will respond to an incoming call for each group included in the incoming call group. A specific example of the identification unit 143 identifying the possibility of response for a group having an incoming call will be described later.

The determination unit 144 determines the priority of the incoming call group based on the possibility of response for each group identified by the identification unit 143. For example, the determination unit 144 increases the priority of an incoming call group with a small value for the possibility of response. In other words, the determination unit 144 increases the priority of an incoming call group with a lower possibility of responding to an incoming call, and makes the incoming call telephone of the incoming call group a more appropriate telephone 20 when a substitute responder responds.

The main control unit 140 controls the communication processing unit 120 to transmit incoming call group information based on the possibility of response for each group identified by the identification unit 143 to the first telephone 21. The communication processing unit 120 transmits, for example, the possibility of the incoming call group responding to the incoming call to the first telephone 21 as incoming call group information. In addition, the communication processing unit 120 may transmit, as incoming call group information, information indicating the incoming call group with a priority determined by the determination unit 144.

<Configuration example of first telephone 21>
2 shows an example of the configuration of the first telephone 21 according to this embodiment. The basic configuration of the first telephone 21 and the normal call operation of a user using the first telephone 21 are known technologies, so detailed explanations will be omitted. The first telephone 21 is an example of a telephone 20 included in a plurality of telephones 20, and the configuration of the other telephones 20 may be similar to the configuration of the first telephone 21 shown in FIG. 2. The first telephone 21 has a first input unit 210, a first voice processing unit 220, a first communication unit 230, a first control unit 240, a first storage unit 250, and a first display unit 260.

The first input unit 210 accepts input of a telephone number and the like from a user. The first input unit 210 also accepts an operation to respond on behalf of a user while another telephone 20 is receiving an incoming call. The first input unit 210 includes, for example, a button, a touch panel, and the like. The first input unit 210 is provided with, for example, a proxy response key for responding on behalf of a user.

The first voice processing unit 220 acquires the user's voice and converts it into an electrical signal. The first voice processing unit 220 also converts the electrical signal received from the connected telephone 20 into voice. The first voice processing unit 220 may be formed so as to be separable from the main body of the first telephone 21, or alternatively, may be formed integrally with the main body of the first telephone 21.

The first communication unit 230 communicates with the communication processing unit 120 of the main unit 100, and transmits and receives electrical signals, including voice signals, to and from other telephone sets 20 via the main unit 100. The first communication unit 230 also transmits the telephone number received by the first input unit 210 to the communication processing unit 120.

The first control unit 240 executes a program stored in the first storage unit 250 to control the first input unit 210, the first voice processing unit 220, the first communication unit 230, the first storage unit 250, and the first display unit 260, causing the first telephone 21 to function as a telephone. The first control unit 240 is, for example, a CPU.

The first storage unit 250 stores setting values, thresholds, parameters, etc. that the first control unit 240 uses for control operations. When a computer such as a CPU operates as the first control unit 240, the first storage unit 250 may store information about the OS (Operating System) and programs that function as the first control unit 240. The first storage unit 250 may also store various information including a database that is referenced when the program is executed.

The first display unit 260 displays notifications of incoming calls from other telephones 20, incoming call history, etc. The first display unit 260 may display the input content accepted by the first input unit 210. The first display unit 260 may also display information such as the time. For example, if the first input unit 210 is formed of a touch panel, it is desirable that the first display unit 260 is a common part with the first input unit 210.

When the first display unit 260 receives incoming call group information from the communication processing unit 120 of the main unit 100, it displays the incoming call group information received from the main unit 100. This allows, for example, a proxy responder using the first telephone 21 to check the information on incoming call groups and the possibility of each group answering the call before using the first telephone 21 to perform a proxy response operation.

In addition, when multiple groups receive simultaneous incoming calls, the proxy responder can check the incoming group information and then select a group to respond to on behalf of the group. In this case, the first input unit 210 functions as a response acceptance unit that accepts a group selected by the user to respond on behalf of the group receiving incoming calls included in the incoming group information displayed on the first display unit 260. In addition, in response to the response acceptance unit accepting the group selected by the user, the first communication unit 230 transmits a notification to the communication processing unit 120 of the main unit 100 requesting a response on behalf of the telephone receiving incoming calls included in the selected group.

As described above, the telephone system 10 according to this embodiment displays incoming call group information on the first display unit 260 of the first telephone 21 when the proxy responder inputs an operation to respond on behalf of the first telephone 21. The operation of this telephone system 10 will be described next.

<Example of Operation Flow of Telephone System 10>
Fig. 3 shows an example of an operation flow of the telephone system 10 according to this embodiment. The telephone system 10 executes the operation flow shown in Fig. 3 to have the proxy responder respond on behalf of the call. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the multiple telephones 20 arranged in one room are assigned to one of eight groups from group A to group H. The first telephone 21 is assigned to group B, and an example in which the proxy responder responds on behalf of the call using the first telephone 21 will be described. Note that the multiple telephones 20 may also be arranged in other rooms and assigned to groups other than group A to group H.

First, assume that an incoming call is received at one of the multiple telephones 20 (S50). Figure 3 shows an example of an incoming call from an outside line to group G. Then, the proxy responder who hears the ringtone inputs an operation to respond on behalf of the first telephone 21 (S51). The proxy responder, for example, operates a proxy response key provided in the first input unit 210. The proxy responder may also input a predetermined special number.

Next, the first control unit 240 controls the first communication unit 230 to notify the main unit 100 that a proxy response operation has been performed (S52). The first communication unit 230, for example, transmits an electrical signal requesting incoming call group information to the main unit 100 as a notification of the proxy response operation. The communication processing unit 120 of the main unit 100 receives such a notification of the proxy response operation, and the operation acceptance unit 141 accepts the proxy response operation.

Next, the main unit 100 generates incoming call group information. First, the extraction unit 142 extracts incoming call telephones that are still waiting for a response from among the multiple telephones 20 (S53). For example, if the telephones 20 in groups A, C, D, E, and G are all receiving incoming calls, the extraction unit 142 extracts the telephones 20 in the five groups that are receiving incoming calls.

Then, the identification unit 143 identifies the incoming call group to which the incoming call telephone is assigned. For example, the identification unit 143 identifies group A, group C, group D, group E, and group G as the incoming call groups. Then, for each group, the identification unit 143 identifies the possibility that the telephones 20 in the group will answer the incoming call within the group (S54).

<An example of the possibility of answering a group call>
4 shows an example of the possibility of a response of an incoming call group identified by the identification unit 143 according to the present embodiment. In the example of FIG. 4, an example is shown in which five telephones 20, telephone A1 to telephone A5, are assigned to group A. Similarly, an example is shown in which five telephones 20, telephone C1 to telephone C5, four telephones 20, telephone D1 to telephone D4, five telephones 20, telephone E1 to telephone E5, and three telephones 20, telephone G1 to telephone G3, are assigned to group C.

The example in FIG. 4 shows a state in which groups A, C, D, E, and G are receiving calls from outside lines. In FIG. 4, telephones C2 and G3 are in use. In other words, the example in FIG. 4 shows an example in which the extraction unit 142 has extracted telephones C2 and G3 as telephones in use. An in-use telephone is a telephone that has a call path connected to another telephone 20 or an outside line.

The identification unit 143 identifies the possibility of a response from such an incoming call group for each group. The identification unit 143 identifies the possibility of a response from an incoming call group based on, for example, whether or not a telephone set 20 included in the incoming call group is in use. For example, if a user of a telephone set 20 is in a call with a user of another telephone set 20, it is considered that the possibility of interrupting the call to answer the call is low even if a telephone set 20 in the same group receives an incoming call. Therefore, the identification unit 143 lowers the possibility of a response from the incoming call group the more telephone sets 20 included in the incoming call group that are in use.

The identification unit 143 may also identify the possibility of a response from the incoming call group based on presence information indicating whether or not a user using a telephone 20 included in the incoming call group is present. For example, if the user of the telephone 20 is absent, it is considered that the possibility of responding to the incoming call is low. Therefore, the identification unit 143 lowers the possibility of a response from the incoming call group as the number of telephones 20 whose users are absent among the telephones 20 included in the incoming call group increases.

The user presence information is, for example, the detection result of a human presence sensor that detects the presence of a person using infrared rays, ultrasound, visible light, etc. In this case, it is preferable that the human presence sensor is provided in the telephone 20, and it is more preferable that the detection result is supplied from the telephone 20 to the main control unit 140 via the communication processing unit 120.

The presence information may also be the result of analyzing an image captured by an imaging device that captures an image of the user. In this case, one or more imaging devices may be installed in the room in which the telephone system 10 is installed, or may be installed in the telephone set 20. The imaging device may be connected to the main unit 100, or alternatively, may be connected to the telephone set 20. The main control unit 140 may further have an analysis unit that analyzes the image captured by the imaging device to determine whether or not the user is present. In FIG. 4, a telephone set 20 in which a user is present is set to "present," and a telephone set 20 in which a user is not present is set to "absent." Here, a telephone set 20 in which a specific user is not present may be set to "absent."

The identification unit 143 according to this embodiment identifies the possibility of a response from the group receiving the incoming call in response to the information on whether the telephone 20 is in use or not and the presence information. For example, of the five telephones 20 in group A, one telephone 20 is unused and has a user present, so the identification unit 143 determines that there is a possibility that one of the five telephones 20 in group A will respond to the incoming call from group A, and identifies the possibility of a response as 20%.

Furthermore, of the five telephones 20 in group C, two are unused and have users present, so the identification unit 143 determines that there is a possibility that two of the five telephones 20 in group C will answer an incoming call from group C, and identifies the possibility of an answer as 40%. Similarly, the identification unit 143 identifies the possibility of an answer from group D as 75%, the possibility of an answer from group E as 100%, and the possibility of an answer from group G as 0%.

Next, the determination unit 144 determines the priority of the incoming call groups based on the likelihood of a response for each identified group (S55). The determination unit 144 determines the order of priority, for example, from the smallest value of the likelihood of a response. The example in FIG. 4 shows the result of the determination unit 144 determining the priority of the incoming call groups in the order of group G, group A, group C, group D, and group E.

Next, the main control unit 140 controls the communication processing unit 120 to transmit the information in which the incoming call group is assigned the priority determined by the determination unit 144 to the first telephone 21 as incoming call group information (S56). As a result, the first communication unit 230 of the first telephone 21 receives the incoming call group information.

Next, the first control unit 240 causes the first display unit 260 to display the incoming call group information received from the main device 100 (S57). The first display unit 260 may display the incoming call group information in a table format, or may display the incoming call group information for each incoming call group. The first display unit 260 may also display the incoming call group information in which the incoming call groups are sorted in ascending or descending order of priority, ascending or descending order of the response probability value, etc.

This allows the proxy responder to check which group's telephone 20 is receiving the call. Even if there are multiple telephones receiving a call, the corresponding group is displayed on the first display unit 260, so the proxy responder can check the group that is receiving the call. And since the proxy responder can also check information based on the possibility that the group receiving the call will answer, the proxy responder can answer the call to a more appropriate telephone by selecting a group receiving a call with a higher priority.

In this case, the first input unit 210, which functions as a response reception unit, receives the group selected by the proxy responder to respond to the call from among the incoming call groups included in the incoming call group information displayed on the first display unit 260 (S58). In the example of FIG. 4, for example, it is assumed that the proxy responder selects group G, which has the highest priority.

In response to the response receiving unit accepting the group G selected as the proxy responder, the first communication unit 230 sends a notification to the communication processing unit 120 of the main device 100 requesting a proxy response to the incoming call to the selected group G (S59).

When the communication processing unit 120 receives a request for proxy response, the main control unit 140 of the main unit 100 connects the call path between the first telephone 21 and the outside line (S60). As a result, the proxy responder can use the first telephone 21 in response to the ringtone to talk to the caller who made the call to group G, which has a higher priority. In this way, the proxy responder can easily respond to the call without having to look around to check the phone that is ringing after the ringtone is heard, or check whether anyone in the group is absent.

In the telephone system 10 of this embodiment described above, an example has been described in which the communication processing unit 120 of the main unit 100 transmits information in which a priority is assigned to the incoming call group to the first telephone 21 as incoming call group information, but this is not limited to this. The communication processing unit 120 may transmit information in which a possibility of response is assigned to the incoming call group to the first telephone 21 as incoming call group information, or may transmit information in which a possibility of response and a priority are assigned to the incoming call group as incoming call group information.

In addition to these, the communication processing unit 120 may transmit incoming call group information in which the multiple groups included in the incoming call group are arranged in order of priority determined by the determination unit 144. The communication processing unit 120 may also transmit the incoming call group information as tabular information. Tabular information is a data format that can be handled by spreadsheet software, databases, etc. Tabular information is a data format in which data is divided into multiple fields and separated by delimiters such as commas, such as CSV format. As an example, the communication processing unit 120 transmits the tabular information shown in FIG. 4.

<Example of incoming call group information>
Alternatively, the communication processing unit 120 may transmit information in a table format as shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 5 shows an example of incoming call group information generated by the main unit 100 according to this embodiment. The tabular information shown in Fig. 5 is information in which the incoming call groups are assigned a response possibility and a priority, and rearranged in order of priority. By the main unit 100 transmitting such incoming call group information to the first telephone 21, the first telephone 21 can display the incoming call group information in a table format similar to that of Fig. 5 on the first display unit 260. This allows the proxy responder to easily grasp the information on the incoming call groups and the priority.

Note that the incoming call group information shown in FIG. 5 is an example and is not limited to this. For example, the incoming call group information may include the incoming call group name and priority, but may not include information on the possibility of a response. Also, the incoming call group information may include the incoming call group name and the possibility of a response, but may not include information on the priority. Also, the incoming call group information may not be arranged in order of priority.

The incoming call group information may also be information including groups of incoming call groups with a higher priority than a predetermined priority, or a predetermined number of groups from the top priority. The incoming call group information is, for example, information on groups G, A, and C with a priority higher than 3 in the example of FIG. 5. This can reduce the amount of data sent and received between the main unit 100 and the first telephone 21, and can also improve the visibility of the proxy responder to simplify the response operation.

The incoming call group information may also be provided with caller information. The caller information may be, for example, the name of a department, the name of a user, the name of a company, the name of a group company, or a nickname. In this case, it is desirable that the caller information is stored in the main memory unit 130 of the main unit 100 in association with the telephone number of the telephone set 20. This allows the communication processing unit 120 to transmit incoming call group information to which the caller information read from the main memory unit is attached to the incoming call group. This allows the proxy responder to confirm the party to be answered before answering on their behalf.

In addition, the incoming call group information may be provided with information about a special number for responding on behalf of the call. In this way, when the response receiving unit receives the group selected by the proxy responder to respond on behalf of the call, the first communication unit 230 can transmit the corresponding special number to the main unit 100, allowing the proxy responder to respond quickly.

The above description has been given of an example in which the main unit 100 according to the present embodiment identifies the possibility of a response from the incoming call group based on information on whether the telephone 20 is in use or not and on the presence information, but the present invention is not limited to this. The identification unit 143 may identify the possibility of a response using only information on whether the telephone 20 is in use or not, or alternatively, may identify the possibility of a response using only the presence information.

In addition, in this embodiment, the presence information is described as using the detection results of a human presence sensor, the analysis results of an image captured by an imaging device, etc., but is not limited to this. The presence information may be determined based on whether or not the user has answered an incoming call in the past. For example, if the user of telephone 20 has never answered an incoming call, the user may be determined to be absent. Also, if the rate at which the user of telephone 20 has answered multiple past incoming calls is below a threshold, the user may be determined to be absent.

The telephone 20 may also be provided with a presence information input unit for inputting presence information. For example, if a user is present but unable to respond to an incoming call, the user himself/herself inputs absence information from the presence information input unit. This allows a group that includes a user who is too busy to respond to an incoming call to reduce the possibility of a response even if the user is present, and allows the value of the possibility of a response to be adjusted so that a user from another group can respond on their behalf.

In the telephone system 10 according to the present embodiment described above, when the main unit 100 is notified that a proxy response operation has been performed from the first telephone 21, the main unit 100 generates incoming call group information and transmits it to the first telephone 21. Here, the main unit 100 may update the incoming call group information after transmitting it to the first telephone 21, and transmit the updated incoming call group information to the first telephone 21.

For example, while a caller is selecting a call group to answer, another user may answer a call to that call group. Also, while a caller is selecting a call group to answer, the caller may cancel the call. Furthermore, the number of incoming calls may increase while a caller is selecting a call group to answer.

Then, the extraction unit 142 extracts the state of the telephones 20 belonging to the incoming call group after the communication processing unit 120 transmits the incoming call group information to the first telephone 21 (for example, S56 in the operation flow shown in FIG. 4). Then, if the extracted state has changed compared to the state extracted last time, the identification unit 143 and the determination unit 144 generate and update the incoming call group information corresponding to the state of the telephone 20 extracted this time. The operation of the identification unit 143 and the determination unit 144 in this case is the same as, for example, S54 and S55 in the operation flow shown in FIG. 4.

Then, the communication processing unit 120 transmits the updated incoming call group information to the first telephone 21. As a result, even if a change occurs in the state of a telephone 20 belonging to the incoming call group, the first display unit 260 of the first telephone 21 can display the incoming call group information based on the changed state. This allows the proxy responder to more appropriately select the incoming call group and answer the incoming call telephone.

Although the present invention has been described above using embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the invention. For example, all or part of the device can be configured by distributing or integrating functionally or physically in any unit. In addition, new embodiments resulting from any combination of multiple embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effect of the new embodiment resulting from the combination also has the effect of the original embodiment.

10 Telephone system 20 Telephone 21 First telephone 100 Main unit 110 Interface unit 120 Communication processing unit 130 Main memory unit 140 Main control unit 141 Operation reception unit 142 Extraction unit 143 Identification unit 144 Determination unit 210 First input unit 220 First voice processing unit 230 First communication unit 240 First control unit 250 First memory unit 260 First display unit

Claims (6)

A telephone system comprising: a plurality of telephone sets each assigned to one of a plurality of groups; and a main unit for connecting telephone lines between the plurality of telephone sets,
The main device is
an operation receiving unit that receives a proxy response operation from a first telephone included in the plurality of telephones;
an extraction unit that extracts, in response to the operation reception unit receiving the proxy response operation, a telephone set that is receiving a call and is in a waiting state for a response since the main unit transmitted an incoming call notification from among the plurality of telephone sets;
a determination unit that determines, for each incoming call group, a possibility that the telephone included in one of the incoming call groups to which the incoming call telephone is assigned will answer the incoming call in the one group;
a communication processing unit that transmits incoming call group information to the first telephone set based on the possibility of a response for each group identified by the identification unit,
The first telephone has a first display unit that displays the incoming call group information received from the main device.
Telephone system. The telephone system of claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines the possibility of a response from the incoming call group based on whether the telephone included in the incoming call group is in use. The telephone system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the identification unit identifies the possibility of a response from the incoming call group based on presence information indicating whether or not a user using the telephone included in the incoming call group is present. The main device is
The method further includes a determination unit that determines a priority of the incoming call group based on the possibility of a response for each group identified by the identification unit,
the communication processing unit transmits the incoming call group information in which the information indicating the incoming call group is assigned the priority determined by the determination unit.
A telephone system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The telephone system according to claim 4, wherein the communication processing unit transmits the incoming call group information including a group of the incoming call groups that is higher than a predetermined priority order, or a predetermined number of groups from the top of the priority order. The first telephone
a response receiving unit that receives a group selected by a user to respond on behalf of the incoming call group included in the incoming call group information displayed on the first display unit;
and a first communication unit that, in response to the response receiving unit accepting the group selected by the user, sends a notification to the main device requesting a proxy response for the telephone set that is receiving a call and that is included in the selected group.

Images