JPH07154488A - Telephone conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a telephone conference system capable of recognizing the state of a terminal with no response, and collectiitg a scheduled participant who can attend a conference again as the telephone conference system which holds the conference via an electronic private branch exchange. CONSTITUTION:This system comprises in such a way that a scheduled participant monitoring registration part 11 which accepts the registration of monitoring of the terminal T1 of the scheduled participant from whom no response is issued in the terminals (T1+T2) of telephone conference scheduled participants, a scheduled participant monitoring part 12 which monitors the state of the terminal T1 with no response, and a scheduled participant collection control part 13 which collects the participant again when the terminal T1 with no response can attend the conference are provided at the electronic private branch exchange, and a scheduled participant state monitoring table 21 on which the state of the terminal T1 is recorded, and a scheduled participant waiting queue table 22 which queues the state when the terminal T1 with no response can attend the telephone conference as a queue table are provided at a memory device 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone conference system for conducting a conference by connecting a plurality of telephone terminals via a private branch exchange.

[0002] As one of the services of a private branch electronic exchange,
Conference calls have been put to practical use. This is because multiple terminals can talk at the same time via the private branch exchange.
Each conference participant can easily hold a conference while staying in their own seat.

In a telephone conference using such a private branch exchange, if the number of participants in the conference becomes large, there are some who cannot respond to a call from a conference convener due to absentness or busyness. Therefore, there is a conference call system that allows prospective participants who have not responded to the call from the convener to easily join the conference when they are ready to participate in the conference. Is required.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 is a block diagram for explaining a conventional example. In the figure, 10 is a central control unit, 20 is a storage unit, 30
Is a network and 31 is a conference trunk. Also, T
M is the terminal of the convener, T1 is the terminal of the prospective participant who does not respond to the convocation of the meeting from the terminal TM, and T2 is the terminal of the participant who responded to the convocation.

In the figure, when conducting a telephone conference, the convener calls the terminal T1 + T2 of the conference participants from the terminal TM. Here, although the terminal T2 responds to the call and participates in the conference call, the terminal T1 does not respond and does not participate in the conference call (the broken line indicates a state in which there is no response and the terminal T1 is not connected. There may be a plurality of T2s.

In this way, the terminal TM of the conference convener and the terminal T2 responding to the conference are connected via the conference trunk 31, and the simultaneous call becomes possible to conduct the conference call.

[0007]

In the above-mentioned conventional example, the convener is from the terminal TM to the terminal T of the prospective participant of the conference.
1 + T2 is called, and from the terminal T2 that receives a response, at any time,
I am in a conference call. If there is a terminal T1 that does not respond to the call, the start of the conference call is delayed or the conference call is started as it is, and the unresponsive terminal T1 is recalled during the conference. Therefore, when there is an unresponsive terminal T1, it may be necessary to interrupt the conference and call the terminal T1 repeatedly, which hinders the smooth progress of the conference call.

The present invention is intended to realize a telephone conference system which enables the prospective participant who is not responding to recognize the state of the terminal and can re-invite prospective participants who have become able to participate in the conference. .

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a central control unit that controls the exchange process of the private branch exchange, 20 is a storage device in which the exchange process program, station data, etc. are written, 30
Is a network that connects designated terminals under the control of the central controller 10.

In the present invention, the central control unit 10 has a prospective participant monitoring registration unit 11 for accepting registration of monitoring of the terminal T1 of a prospective participant of the conference, which is one of the terminals T1 + T2 of prospective conference participants, and a non-responder. Scheduled participant monitoring unit 12 that monitors the state of the terminal T1 of the scheduled participant and the prospective participant who reconvenes when the terminal T1 of the unresponsive participant T1 becomes ready to participate in the conference call. The convocation control unit 13 is provided, and the prospective participant state monitoring table 21 that records the state of the terminal T1 of the prospective non-responder in the storage device 20 and the terminal T1 of the prospective non-responder can participate in the conference call. The problem is solved by providing the waiting-for-participant waiting queue table 22 for queuing such a state as a queue table.

[0011]

Operation: The convener of the conference call dials the special number of the conference + the extension number of the prospective participant (T1 + T2) from the terminal TM. According to the response of the prospective participant, the terminal T2 of the prospective participant who responded among the prospective participants is connected and is in a state of participating in the conference call. On the other hand, when there is a participant who is not responding due to busy or absence, the extension number and its status of the terminal T1 are registered in the participant status monitoring table 21 by the participant monitoring registration unit 11. To do.

The prospective participant monitoring unit 12 monitors the state of the terminal T1 of the prospective participant who has not responded written in the prospective participant state monitoring table 21, and confirms that the conference participation is ready. If detected, the state of the terminal is written in the prospective participant waiting queue table 22, and the prospective participant invitation control unit 13 monitors the prospective participant waiting queue table 22 and participates in the first queue of the table. The prospective person's terminal T1 is recalled to participate in the conference call.

The conference participant registration table 25 stores the prospective participants T2 for each terminal TM of the conference call convener.
Among the terminals T1 of the prospective participants who have not responded, the prospective participant status notification unit 14 changes the terminal T3 of the prospective participants who has become able to participate in the conference to the terminal T2 of the conference participants who have already participated in the conference call. Notice.

Further, only when there is a request from the terminal TM of the convener of the conference, the prospective participant status notification activation unit 15 activates the prospective participant status notification unit 14, and the prospective participant registration table 25.
T2 of prospective participants in the conference
It is also possible to notify the conference participant T3.

[0015]

2 and 3 are block diagrams (1) and (2) for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 2 shows only the parts relating to the central control unit 10 and the network 30 in the embodiment. The contents of the storage device 20 are shown in FIG.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the prospective participant registration unit 11 described in the principle diagram of FIG. 1 is used as the conference call registration acceptance unit 11A, the non-responding prospective participant registration unit 11B, and the automatic absence registration unit 11C. The prospective attendee convocation control unit 13 includes a prospective participant invitation button control unit 13A and a prospective participant convocation unit 13.
This is an example configured from B.

A maintenance console (shown as a console in the figure) 16 is connected to the central control unit 10, and an announcement machine (shown as ANM) 40 is connected to the network 30.

The terminal of the convener is TM, the terminal of the prospective participant who did not respond to the convocation is T1, and the terminal of the prospective participant who has responded to the convocation and is in a state of participating in the conference call. The terminal is shown as T2, and the terminal of a prospective participant who has not responded to the meeting invitation but has become ready to participate in the meeting is shown as T3.

FIG. 3 shows the contents of the storage device 20, 21 is a prospective participant status monitoring table, 22A and 22B are prospective participant waiting queue tables, 23 is an absence registration table, 24 is a terminal status display table, and 25 is a conference. Participant registration table, 26 is a status notification type registration table.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart (1) of the embodiment of the present invention. The operation of registering the unresponsive participant T1 of the embodiment in the participant status monitoring table 21 will be described with reference to the flowchart.

Step (hereinafter referred to as ST) 1; When a convener (hereinafter referred to as a convener A) calls a conference call, dials the conference call special number + extension number from the terminal TM. As a result, the telephone conference registration reception unit
1A registers the start of the conference call and the terminal T of the prospective participant
Call (= T1 + T2 + T3).

ST2: It is determined whether or not the conference participant has responded, and when responding, the responding terminal T2 is connected to a conference trunk (not shown) and is in a state of participating in the telephone conference. ST3: If the prospective participant does not respond, it is determined whether or not the state of the terminal T1 of the prospective participant who is not responding is busy. If yes, the process proceeds to ST5.

ST4: In ST3, if the reason for the non-response is non-response (call-out), the terminal T1 of the prospective participant of the non-response is given.
Is registered in the absence registration table 23 by the automatic absence registration unit 11C, and an absence status display flag is set.

ST5: The non-responding participant registration unit 11B adds the extension number of the terminal TM of the convener A and the unresponsible participant (referred to as a subscriber B in the figure) to the prospective participant status monitoring table 21. The extension number of the terminal T1 and the reason for the non-response are written.

ST6: The lamp of the conference call incoming display button of the terminal (here, a multifunctional telephone) T1 of the non-responding prospective participant is turned on. ST7: Terminal T of the caller from the announcement machine 40
A message indicating that the conference call service has been registered is sent to M.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts (2) and (3) of the embodiment of the present invention, in which the prospective participant state monitoring table 21 is monitored, and the prospective participant who has not responded at first calls. The operation of calling the terminal T3 of the prospective participant who has become able to participate in the conference will be described with reference to a flowchart.

ST1; When the status monitoring request of the terminal T1 of the non-responding prospective participant is made from the terminal TM of the conference convener A, the prospective participant monitoring unit 12 is registered in the prospective participant status monitoring table 21. The extension number of the terminal T3 of the subscriber B who is present and the reason for the non-response are extracted, and if the reason for the non-response is not busy, that is, the absence, the process proceeds to ST3.

ST2: If the reason for the non-response is busy in ST1, the terminal T3 of the subscriber B is selected from the terminal status display table 24.
The state is extracted and it is determined whether or not the state is empty. If it is empty, the process proceeds to ST5.

ST3: If the reason for non-response is absent in ST1, the contents of the absence registration table 23 are referred to, and if the absence registration is canceled, the process proceeds to ST5. ST4: If busy in ST2 and absent in ST3, the process returns to ST1 after a certain time.

[0030] ST5: If the space is empty in ST2 and the absent state is released in ST3, the terminal TM of the conference convener A is notified that the terminal T3 of the subscriber B is ready to participate. Request.

ST6: A queue displaying the extension number of the terminal T3 which has become ready to participate (indicated as a prospective participant waiting queue table 22B in the figure) is queued in the prospective participant waiting queue table 22A.

ST7: It is judged whether or not the extension number of the queued terminal T3 is at the head of the queue. If not, the process proceeds to ST10. ST8: In the case of the head of the queue, the prospective participant monitoring button control unit 13A causes the terminal TM of the convener A (here,
The lamp of the conference call enable button of the multi-function telephone) is turned on to notify the conference caller A that the terminal T3 of the unresponsive subscriber B is ready to participate in the conference call.

ST9: The extension number of the terminal B3 of the subscriber B who has been able to convene is displayed on the display of the multifunctional telephone of the conference convener A. ST10: The convener A interrupts the conference at a good break point in the progress of the conference.

ST11: The conference caller A pushes down the conference callable button after hooking the multifunction telephone. ST12: The prospective participant convocation unit 13B extracts the extension number of the terminal T3 of the subscriber B registered in the head queue from the prospective participant waiting queue tables 22A and 22B, and calls the extension number.

ST13: The response from the terminal T3 of the subscriber B enables the connection and participation in the conference. Therefore, the extension number of the terminal T3 of the subscriber B who has completed the connection is cleared from the prospective participant waiting queue table 22A. .

ST14: The prospective participant waiting queue table 22A corresponding to the extension number of the meeting convener A is extracted. ST15; Waiting queue table 2 for prospective participants
It is determined whether or not the terminal T3 that is in the next participation enabled state is registered in 2A, and if it is registered, the process returns to ST11 to call a prospective participant who has become able to participate in the next conference call. .

ST16: Since the calling of the prospective participants who have become able to participate in all the telephone conferences has been completed, the lamp of the conference callable button of the conference caller A's multifunction telephone is extinguished. 7 and 8 are flowcharts (4) and (5) of the embodiment of the present invention, in which the terminal T2 of a conference participant who has already attended the conference by responding to the invitation of the conference by setting from the maintenance console 16. The operation of notifying the state of the terminal T3 of the prospective participant who has become able to participate in the conference will be described.

ST1: The status notification type is registered in the status notification type registration table 26 from the maintenance console 16. The status notification types are as follows. 0: Notify only the convener.

1; The conference attendee is also notified at the request of the conference convener. 2; Notify the conference participants. ST2: When the meeting convener issues a status monitoring request for the terminal T1 of the non-responding prospective participant, the prospective participant monitoring unit 12 refers to the terminal status display table 24 to check the terminal T1 of the prospective participant who is not responding. Recognizing that the terminal T3 of the prospective participant in the group is ready to participate, it issues a notification request to the terminal TM of the meeting convener A that the terminal T3 is ready to be convened.

ST3: Notifying that the terminal T3 of the non-responsible participant is ready to participate by turning on the lamp of the conference callable button of the multifunctional telephone of the conference caller A. ST4: The status notification type is extracted from the status notification type registration table 26, and it is determined whether or not to notify the terminal T2 of the conference participant. If not notified, there is no subsequent processing, and the process ends.

ST5; Next, it is determined whether or not to notify at the request of the convener, and if not, the process proceeds to ST7. ST6: When notifying at the request of the convener, the convener activates the prospective participant status notification unit 14 by the prospective participant status notification unit activation unit 15 in the program mode, and the terminal T3 of the prospective participant who does not respond. Request to be notified that the conference is now available.

ST7: The prospective participant state notification unit 14 extracts the extension number of the terminal T2 of the conference participant who has already participated in the conference from the conference participant registration table 25. ST8: The fact that the terminal T3 of the prospective participants T1 who has not responded can be called to the terminal T2 of the participant of the meeting is called a meeting call enable button of the terminal (here, a multifunctional telephone) T2. Notify by turning on the lamp.

In this way, other conference participants can also know that the prospective participant who was unable to attend the conference call due to a non-response at the time of convening the first conference has become available to participate in the conference. Smooth operation can be planned.

[0044]

According to the present invention, the prospective participants who did not respond when the convener of the conference call called the conference,
When it becomes possible to participate in the meeting, the meeting convener is notified that the participation is possible, and the meeting can be easily joined.

Furthermore, it is possible to notify the convener of the fact that a non-responding prospective participant can join, even to the conference participants who have already participated in the conference. Further, the notice to the conference participants who have already participated in the conference can be given by the designation from the conference convener.

By configuring the telephone conference system as described above, it becomes possible to smoothly proceed with the conference.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram (1) illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram (2) illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart (1) of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart (2) of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart (3) of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart (4) of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart (5) of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional example 10 Central control unit 11 Participant monitoring registration unit 11A Conference call registration reception unit 11B Non-responding participation registration unit 11C Automatic absence registration unit 12 Participant monitoring unit 13 Participation plan Participant convocation control section 13A Participant prospect monitoring button control section 13B Participant convocation section 14 Participant status notification section 15 Participant status notification section activation section 16 Maintenance console 20 Storage device 21 Participant status monitoring table 22, 22A , 22B Scheduled participant waiting queue table 23 Absence registration table 24 Terminal status display table 25 Conference participant registration table 26 Status notification type registration table 30 Network 31 Conference trunk 40 Announcement machine TM Conference inviter terminal T1 Non-responding terminal T2 response A terminal that attended T3 Possible By now, the terminal T terminal (T1 + T2 + T3)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A telephone conference system using a private branch exchange, comprising: a central control unit (10) for controlling a replacement process of the private branch exchange; and a storage device (in which an exchange program, station data, etc. are written). 20) and a private branch exchange provided with a network (30) for connecting designated terminals under the control of the central control unit (10), wherein the central control unit (10) includes A prospective participant monitoring registration unit (11) that receives registration of monitoring of the terminal (T1) of a prospective participant who is not responding in the terminal (T1 + T2), and a state of the terminal (T1) of the prospective participant who is not responding. When the prospective participant monitoring unit (12) to be monitored and the terminal (T1) of the non-responding prospective participant are ready to participate in the conference call, the prospective participant convocation control unit ( 3) is provided, and in the storage device (20), a prospective participant state monitoring table (21) for recording the state of the terminal (T1) of the prospective participant who does not respond, and a prospective participant who does not respond. Participant waiting queue table (2) that queues the state in which the terminal (T1) can participate in the conference call as a queue table.
2) is provided, and the terminal (T
The state of 1) is monitored by the prospective participant monitoring unit (12),
A telephone conferencing system, wherein a prospective participant convocation control unit (13) reconvenes when a state in which it is possible to participate in a conference call. 2. The conference call system according to the preceding paragraph, wherein the central control unit (10) includes a prospective participant who is ready to participate in the conference call among the terminals (T1) of the prospective participants who are not responding. Terminal (T3)
To the terminal (T2) of the conference participant, and the storage device (20) includes a prospective participant's terminal (T1 + T2) corresponding to the conference call inviter's terminal (TM). ) Is stored in the conference attendee registration table (25), and among the terminals (T1) of prospective participants who have not responded, the terminal (T3) of prospective participants has already participated in the conference call. The telephone conference system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal (T2) of the conference participant who is present is notified. 3. The telephone conference system according to the preceding paragraph, wherein the central control unit (10) plans to activate the scheduled attendee status notification unit (14) in response to a request from the terminal (TM) of the conference convener. An attendee status notification starting unit (15) is provided, and the attendee status notification starting unit (15) activates the attendee status notification unit (14) according to an instruction from the terminal (TM) of the convener. The terminal (T
2) In the terminal (T
The telephone conference system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal (T2) of the conference participant is notified of 3).