JPH05110678A - Message exchange system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the efficiency and the immediacy of a message and an added message by storing message transmission and each identification information of a transmission destination subscriber, storing the message and the added message from the transmission destination subscriber, informing it to a caller subscriber after the end of transmission of all messages and sending the additional message. CONSTITUTION:A control means 5 controls each means to implement the following operation. That is, a connection information storage means 2 receives and stores each identification information of a message transmission subscriber and a message destination subscriber and a message storage means 3 stores the message and the identification information of the message sender subscriber. A message transmission means 4 reads sequentially the message stored in the means 3 and sends it to the message destination subscriber and stores the additional message from the message destination subscriber to the means 2. After the message transmission to all the message destination subscribers is finished, the end of the message transmission is informed to the message subscriber to send the additional message to the destination. Thus, the efficiency and the immediacy of the message and the additional message are improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a message exchange system for accumulating voice messages and exchanging messages among a plurality of subscribers.

[0002] In recent years, a message service has been generally available for exchanging voice messages (hereinafter referred to as "messages") between arbitrary subscribers including public telephones. In the above message service, an arbitrary subscriber (first subscriber) accesses a message service center (hereinafter simply referred to as a center) equipped with a voice storage device, and stores a message using an arbitrary password. Then, the second subscriber, who has been informed of the password in advance by the first subscriber, can access the center and then send the password to hear the previous message stored.

At this time, when the second subscriber who listens to the message wants to convey a new message (hereinafter referred to as an additional message) to the first subscriber, such as a message that he / she has heard the message. When the first subscriber who expects to have an additional message accesses the voice storage device of the center again using the same password, the additional message of the second subscriber is heard. You can

In the above description, the number of subscribers who can hear the message of the first subscriber is not limited to one, but in the conventional message service, not only the message sending subscriber but also the other party of the message can access the center from himself. Therefore, if the message sender wants to convey a message to a large number of parties, it is necessary to notify all the message parties in advance of the message accumulation schedule and allow all the message parties to access the center.

In this case, if it is necessary to confirm whether or not the message partner hears the message, the message sending subscriber accesses the center again after an appropriate time after sending the message, and There is no other way than to confirm by additional message.

Therefore, when there are a plurality of parties to whom a message is to be sent and it is necessary to urgently check the additional messages from all the parties, the message sending subscriber will access the center many times, and the user It is inconvenient for us.

Therefore, the message from the message sending subscriber is automatically sent to a plurality of message sending subscribers, and when the sending to all message sending subscribers is completed, the message sending is sent to the message sending subscribers. It is desired to develop a message exchange system that notifies the end and transmits an additional message of a message destination subscriber.

[0008]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a conventional message service. Since the subscriber 51 (hereinafter referred to as subscriber A) receives the message service, he dials the message service number and enters the incoming trunk (ICT) 36 of the voice storage device 31 installed at the message service center via the exchange 50. Connected.

When there is an incoming call to the incoming trunk 36, the processor (CP) 35 detects this and connects the incoming trunk 36 to the voice response unit (ARU) 38 through the interface unit (INTU) 37. The processor 35 controls the voice response unit 38 to send a voice announcement prompting the subscriber A to input the service type (message registration, message listening, message deletion, etc.), and the input trunk 36. Connect to a voice conversion unit (VCV) 39.

Subscriber A sends information corresponding to "message registration" as a service type using a publicly known method such as push button and dial (hereinafter, information from the subscriber is the same method except voice). Then, the processor 35 detects this and detects the audio disk unit (DKU).
Secure an area for storing messages within 33.

The processor 35 is then a voice response unit.
38 Sends a voice announcement prompting subscriber A to send a password and message. When the subscriber A sends the password and the message, the analog voice of the message is digitally encoded in the voice conversion unit 39 and is stored in the voice disk unit 33 together with the password via the voice data transfer channel (VCH) 40.

When the subscriber A finishes storing the message, the subscriber A goes on-hook, and the connection with the voice storage device 31 is cut off. Subscriber A
In order to listen to the message, the subscriber 52 (hereinafter referred to as subscriber B) dials the center and enters the information corresponding to the "message listening" as the service type.
Reference numeral 35 connects the subscriber B to the voice disk unit 33 via the voice conversion unit 39 and the voice data transfer channel 40.

Here, when the subscriber B sends a password according to the voice announcement prompting the password input from the voice response unit 38, the message having the password, that is, the message accumulated by the subscriber A is transmitted from the voice disk unit 33. Is output.

The output message is a voice conversion unit.
At 39, the digitally encoded voice is converted into analog voice and sent to the subscriber B. After the message is sent, when the subscriber B sends an additional message in accordance with the voice announcement sent from the voice response unit 38, the additional message is digitally encoded in the voice conversion unit 39, and then the same password area of the voice disk unit 33. Accumulated in.

When the subscriber A listens to the additional message from the subscriber B, the subscriber A can listen to the additional message by performing the same operation as the subscriber B. When the subscriber A deletes the message and additional message stored in the voice disk unit 33, the message deletion and the additional message are deleted by designating "message deletion" as the service type and turning on the password. If the subscriber does not erase the message, the voice accumulating device 31 automatically erases the message after a certain period of time has elapsed after message accumulation.

As described above, in the prior art, all access to the voice storage device 31 is made from the subscriber side. Therefore, even when the message originator wants to convey the message to a plurality of parties, the message party It is necessary to access the voice storage device 31 more.

[0017]

Since all the conventional message services are configured to access the voice storage device from the subscriber side, if the message is transmitted to a plurality of parties by the conventional technique, the message is not transmitted. The caller had to request all message partners to listen to the message in advance, and the message caller also had to access the voice storage device when confirming the message listening of the message partner.

In particular, when there are many message partners and it is necessary to urgently check the comments of the message partner, the message sending subscriber accumulates the voice at the time when all the message partners have finished listening to the message. The device must be accessed, and in some cases, access may be repeated many times, which is inevitable for the user.

It is an object of the present invention to accumulate a message of a caller, automatically transmit the message to a plurality of subscribers, and then return the message from a destination subscriber to the caller.

[0020]

FIG. 1 is a basic block diagram of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a message exchange device for accumulating voice messages and exchanging messages between a plurality of subscribers, 2 to 5 are means provided in the message exchange device 1, and 2 is a message sending subscriber. Connection information storage means 3 for receiving and storing the subscriber identification information and the identification information of one or more message transmission destination subscribers is added by the message from the message transmission subscriber and the message transmission destination subscriber. Message accumulating means 4 for accumulating additional messages is a message sending means for connecting to the message destination subscriber and sending the message, and connecting to the message sending subscriber and sending the additional message.

Reference numeral 5 stores the message from the message sending subscriber in the message storing means 3 and sequentially sends the message to one or more message sending subscribers, and stores the additional message sent from the message sending subscriber. The connection information storage means 2 and the message accumulating means 3 are stored in the means 3 and, after the message transmission to all the message destination subscribers is completed, the message transmission subscriber is notified of the completion of the message transmission and the additional message is transmitted. And a control means for controlling the message sending means 4.

When the message is sent to a plurality of message sending subscribers, the control means 5 sends the additional message from the message sending subscriber who has sent the message first to the message sending subscriber. It is also possible to control to send out in addition to the message.

[0023]

Operation: A message sending subscriber (not shown) wishing to send a voice message accesses the message exchange device 1 shown in FIG.
Own subscriber identification information and message destination subscriber (not shown)
The identification information of is transmitted. The identification information of the message transmission subscriber and the message transmission destination subscriber is received and stored in the connection information storage means 2 under the control of the control means 5.

Next, when the message sending subscriber sends a message by voice, this message is stored in the message storage means 3 under the control of the control means 5. At that time, the identification information of the message originating subscriber is attached to the message.

When the accumulation of the messages is completed, the control means 5 controls the message sending means 4 to sequentially connect the message transmission destination subscribers stored in the connection information storage means 2 and the message transmission destination subscribers When responding, the message stored in the message storage means 3 is read and sent to the message destination subscriber. At this time, when there is a new message (additional message) such as message confirmation contact or message comment from the message destination subscriber, the control means 5 controls it to be stored in the same area as the message.

Thereafter, the same operation is repeated for each message transmission destination subscriber, and when the transmission of the message to all the message transmission destination subscribers is completed, the control means 5 causes the message transmission subscriber stored in the connection information storage means 2. The message sending means 4 connects to the message sending subscriber by using the identification information of 1), and when the message sending subscriber responds, it notifies that the sending of the message has been completed.
At this time, if an additional message from the message transmission destination subscriber is stored in the message storage means 3, this additional message is sent out.

As a result, the message sending subscriber can know that the transmission of the message to all the message partners has been completed, and can also listen to the additional message from the message sending destination subscriber. In the above, only the message from the message sending subscriber is sent to the message sending subscriber, but when sending messages by sequentially connecting to a plurality of message sending subscribers, The control means 5 can also transmit to each message transmission destination subscriber a message from the message transmission subscriber and an additional message from the message transmission destination subscriber to which the message has been transmitted before. In this case, the message will be circulated.

As described above, according to the present invention, if the message sending subscriber stores the message in the message storage means 3, the message is automatically transmitted to one or more message destination subscribers, and the entire message is transmitted. When the message transmission to the former subscriber is completed, the message originator is notified that the message transmission is completed and the additional message of the message destination subscriber is transmitted. Extremely efficient.

[0029]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a message accumulation form diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same reference numerals are used for the same target parts as in FIG.
3 is a voice disk unit (D
KU), 4 is a message sending unit (SN) that realizes message sending means.
D), 5 is a processor (CP) that realizes control means, 6
Is an incoming trunk (ICT), 7 is an interface unit (INTU), 8 is a voice response unit (ARU),
Reference numerals 9 and 12 are voice conversion units (VCV), 10 and 11 are voice data transfer channels (VCH), and 13 is an outgoing trunk (OG).
T), 14 is a main memory (MM), 15 is a bus, 20 is a switch of a public communication network, 21 is a message sending subscriber, and 22 _{-1 to} 22 _-n are message sending subscribers.

In FIG. 2, the message sending subscriber 21 dials a message service number to send a message by voice to a plurality of message sending subscribers 22 _{-1 to} 22 _-n. It is connected via 20 to one of the incoming trunks 6 of the message exchange device 1 installed at the message service center.

When the incoming trunk 6 receives an incoming call, the processor 5
Detects this and interfaces the incoming trunk 6
It is connected to the voice response unit 8 via the unit 7. The processor 5 controls the voice response unit 8 via the bus 15 to send a voice announcement prompting the message sending subscriber 21 to input the service type (message transmission, message listening, message deletion, etc.), and The incoming trunk 6 is connected to the connection information storage unit 2.

When the message sending subscriber 21 sends out information corresponding to "message transmission" as the service type, the processor 5 detects this via the connection information storage unit 2 and controls the voice response unit 8 again to send a message. The calling subscriber's telephone number,
A voice announcement prompting the input of the number of message destination subscribers and the telephone number of each message destination subscriber is transmitted.

When the message sending subscriber 21 inputs the telephone number, the number of message sending subscribers and the telephone number of each message sending subscriber by a predetermined method, these information are received in the connection information storage unit 2. Stored.

When the storage of the above information is completed, the processor 5 creates an area in the voice disk unit 3 for accumulating a message from the message sending subscriber 21 and additional messages from the message sending subscribers 22 _{-1 to} 22 _-n. Secure and prompt via voice response unit 8 to send a message.

When the message sending subscriber 21 sends a voice message,
The voice is input to the voice conversion unit 9 via the connection information storage unit 2, digitally encoded, and then sent to the voice disk unit 3 via the voice data transfer channel 10.
Processor 5 is a voice data transfer channel via bus 15.
10 and the audio disk unit 3 are controlled so that the message is stored in the audio disk unit 3.

At this time, the processor 5 stores the telephone number of the message sending subscriber 21 in the voice disk unit 3 at the same time, and obtains the date and time information from the clock unit (not shown) to receive the reception time (month and day information if necessary). (Include)).

When the accumulation of the messages is completed, the voice response unit 8 sends a voice announcement to the effect that the voice response unit 8 will start under the control of the processor 5, and the message sending subscriber 21 who has heard this will disconnect the connection.

Next, the processor 5 connects the voice disk unit 3 and the message sending unit 4 via the voice data transfer channel 11 and the voice converting unit 12, and the message transmission destination subscriber stored in the connection information storage unit 2 is connected. First subscriber 22 _-1
The telephone number is read out and sent to the message sending unit 4 via the bus 15 and the main storage unit 14, and the message sending unit 4 is connected to one of the outgoing trunks 13 via the interface unit 7.

When the message sending unit 4 sends the previously received telephone number of the message destination subscriber 22 _-1 through the outgoing trunk 13, the exchange 20 sends the outgoing trunk 13 to the message destination subscriber 22 _-1.
Connect to.

When the message destination subscriber 22 _-1 responds, the processor 5 detects it via the outgoing trunk 13 and stores the response time in the voice disk unit 3 in the same manner as described above, and at the same time, the voice disk unit 3 The message stored in the above is read out. At this time, the digitally encoded message voice read out is converted into analog voice in the voice conversion unit 12, and is transmitted to the message destination subscriber 22 _-1 via the message sending section 4, the interface unit 7 and the outgoing trunk 13. It

Message destination subscriber 22 _-1 who has heard this message
When a comment is issued, such as a notification that the user has heard the message, this comment is digitally encoded in the voice conversion unit 12 and stored in the voice disk unit 3 as an additional message.

FIG. 3 shows the inside of the audio disc unit 3.
It is a figure which shows the Example of a message storage form. As shown in Figure 3
In addition, for one message transmission, the area of the message sending subscriber 21
As message storage area 3a, telephone number storage area 3b and
Attached time storage area 3c is secured, and each message destination is subscribed
As an area for each person, for example, a message destination subscriber 22_-1Against
Add additional message storage area 3d_-1, Phone number storage area 3e_-1Over
And response time storage area 3f _-1Is secured. Destination of each message
The area for each subscriber is the message sent by the subscriber.
The number (n) of destination subscribers is secured.

As described above, the message transmission destination subscriber 22 _-1
When the additional message is accumulated, the end of the accumulation is notified from the voice response unit 8 and the message transmission destination subscriber 22 _-1 disconnects.
The processor 5 similarly sends messages to the following message destination subscribers 22 _{-2 to} 22 _-n and accumulates additional messages.

When sending a message to the message sending subscriber 22 _-2 , not only the message of the message sending subscriber 21 but also the additional message of the message sending subscriber 22 _-1 is sent. This is easily possible under the control of the processor 5. Therefore, whether or not to perform so-called message circulation to send the additional message of the message transmission destination subscriber that is transmitted earlier to the message transmission destination subscriber to which the message will be transmitted later depends on the service form in advance. It is also possible to
It is also possible to allow the message sending subscriber to select either one each time.

When the transmission of the message to the last message transmission destination subscriber 22 _-n is completed, the processor 5 reads the telephone number of the message transmission subscriber 21 stored in the connection information storage unit 2 and performs the message transmission unit in the same manner as described above. 4 and outgoing trunk 13 to the exchange 20.

When the message sending subscriber 21 responds by being connected to the message sending subscriber 21 by the exchange 20, the processor 5 sends from the voice response unit 8 that the sending of the message has been completed and the additional message sent from the message sending subscriber. The voice disk unit 3 and then the message destination subscriber 22 _{-1 to} 22
_-The additional messages of _n are sequentially read and transmitted.

When the transmission of the additional message of all the message transmission destination subscribers 22 _{-1 to} 22 _-n is completed, the end of the transmission of the additional message is notified via the voice response unit 8, and the message transmission subscriber 21 is disconnected. When the disconnection of the message sending subscriber 21 is detected, the processor 5
Deletes the message, the additional message, the telephone number, etc. stored in the audio disc unit 3. The response times of the message transmission destination subscribers 22 _{-1 to} 22 _-n are transmitted to the message transmission subscriber 21 as necessary, or recorded as a transmission record in an appropriate device (not shown).

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, FIGS. 2 and 3 merely show one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is shown in these drawings. It goes without saying that it is not limited to the content.

For example, in FIG. 2, the incoming trunk 6 and the connection information storage unit 2, and the message sending unit 4 and the outgoing trunk 13 are configured separately, but they are merged or connected to each other. The effect of the present invention does not change even if a part not shown in the drawing, such as a receiver for receiving information transmitted from the message sending subscriber 22 by a push button or the like is separated from the connection information storage part 2.

Further, not only the number of components shown in FIG. 2 but also a plurality of components are provided as needed, and the configuration of the bus 15 is not limited to the configuration shown.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention,
After the message exchange device accumulates the messages of the message sending subscribers and automatically sends them to one or more message sending subscribers, the message sending subscribers are notified of the end of sending and the message sent from the sending subscribers. Therefore, the message sending subscriber can perform message transmission extremely efficiently, and can quickly obtain the additional message from each message transmission destination subscriber.

That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to make a message with less labor and time as compared with the case where a message having the same content is individually transmitted to a large number of parties, and the efficiency of the message sending subscriber is significantly improved. Therefore, it greatly contributes to improving the serviceability and expanding the range of use of the message service.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a message accumulation mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Message Exchange Device 2 Connection Information Storage Means 3 Message Accumulation Means 4 Message Sending Means 5 Control Means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A message exchange device (1) for accumulating a voice message to exchange a message between a plurality of subscribers, wherein identification information of the subscriber from the message originating subscriber and one or more message destination subscribers are provided. Connection information storage means (2) for receiving and storing identification information of the message, and message storage means for storing a message from the message sending subscriber and an additional message added by the message sending subscriber.
(3), connection to the message destination subscriber and transmission of the message,
A message sending means (4) for connecting to the message sending subscriber and sending the additional message; and a message storing means (3) for sending a message from the message sending subscriber.
Are stored in the message storage means (3) and are sequentially sent to one or more message sending subscribers, and additional messages sent from the message sending subscribers are stored in the message storing means (3) and sent to all message sending subscribers. The connection information storage means (2), the message storage means (3), and the message sending means (4) so that the message sending subscriber is notified of the end of message sending and the additional message is sent after the end.
A message exchange system characterized by comprising control means (5) for controlling the. 2. When the control means (5) sends a message to a plurality of message transmission destination subscribers, the additional message from the message transmission destination subscriber to which the message was transmitted first is the message. 2. The message exchange system according to claim 1, wherein the message is controlled to be transmitted in addition to the message from the calling subscriber.