JPH0818698A - Individual charging device for facsimile call - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use a charging system depending on voice or facsimile communication by calculating the charging amount from the charging list for facsimile based on the facsimile communication time. CONSTITUTION:A charging processing installation 10 is connected with a data base 11 storing data such as the number of a user, the type of communications, a charge list for vice communication, a charge list for a facsimile, and a communication history for each user. It accepts the time notification required for the facsimile communication from a main control part 9. Then, the installation 10 calculates the charge by using the charge list for the facsimile stored in the data base 11. On the other hand, when a call is a voice communication, the time notification required for the voice communication is accepted. Then, the change is calculated by using the charge list for voice communication. Thus, the charge amount can be calculated by using the charge list for the facsimile for the facsimile call identified by the telephone exchange installation and the more flexible change system can be presented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile call unique billing device, and in particular, in a telephone exchange facility or the like, a facsimile call can be automatically identified from a normal voice call and a unique charge system can be applied to the facsimile call. The present invention relates to a facsimile call unique charging device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a subscriber connects a facsimile device to a subscriber line and carries out facsimile communication with a foreign country. This facsimile communication has dramatically increased as the number of transactions with foreign countries has increased.

Conventionally, various types of communication such as facsimile communication and data communication have come and go in a telephone exchange facility.
These communications were regarded as voice communications and exchanged, and could not be distinguished from other communications. Further, since the subscriber telephone line is used, the normal telephone charge system is applied even for facsimile communication.

[0004]

However, while the facsimile communication in the telephone has the convenience that the requirement can be completed even if the other party is absent, the communication time is generally shorter than the voice communication, and Even if the transmission was unsuccessful and could not be completed, there was a problem in the telephone exchange facility that special consideration was not given to the peculiarities of facsimile communication different from voice communication.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, to distinguish the facsimile communication which is regarded as the voice communication and processed in the telephone exchange equipment into the voice communication and the facsimile communication. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile call unique billing device capable of applying a charge system according to communication and facsimile communication. Further, another purpose is a facsimile call unique billing device that detects a page for which transmission is not completed in facsimile communication and does not charge the communication portion of the page concerned. To provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is a tariff table for facsimile in a facsimile call unique charging device of a telephone exchange facility capable of distinguishing a facsimile call from a call on a communication path. It is characterized in that it is provided with a database for storing the above and a means for calculating the charge amount from the fee list for the facsimile based on the facsimile communication time.

Further, the invention of claim 2 is a database for storing a charge table for each page of successful facsimile transmission, and means for calculating a charge amount from the charge table for each page of successful transmission based on the number of pages of successfully transmitted facsimile pages. It is characterized in that it is equipped with.

Further, the invention of claim 3 further comprises a database for storing a charge table for voice communication, a means for obtaining a time required for communication of a facsimile transmission success page, and a time required for communication of a facsimile transmission success page. And a means for calculating a charge amount from the voice call charge table.

Further, the invention of claim 4 is characterized in that a means for checking whether or not the calling party is a registered person is provided.

[0010]

According to the invention of claim 1, the charge amount can be calculated by applying the facsimile charge table to the facsimile call identified by the telephone exchange facility. Therefore, it is possible to provide a flexible fee system as compared with the conventional fee system.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile transmission, only the page for which the transmission is successful is charged, and the page for which the transmission is unsuccessful is not charged.

According to the invention of claim 3, in facsimile transmission, the fee is charged only for the time required for the communication of the page that has been successfully transmitted, and for the time required for the communication of the unsuccessful page. You will not be charged.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4, only for the user registered in advance, the charge calculation based on the tariff table for the facsimile or the voice based on the time required for the communication of the facsimile transmission success page is performed. It will be possible to calculate charges from the call charge table.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic hardware configuration of an example of a switching facility of a telecommunications carrier to which the present invention is applied.

In the figure, 1 is a speech path of a voice class line, 2
Is a service trunk for distinguishing audio signals for telephone exchange such as voice and busy tone, and facsimile signal sounds from the audio signal on the communication path 1. The service trunk 2 is publicly known as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-204652, so detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Reference numeral 3 is a facsimile signal identification trunk for collecting facsimile signals, monitoring signal errors, and measuring power. Reference numeral 4 is for demodulating coded and modulated facsimile signals transmitted on the communication path 1. The demodulation section 5 measures the power of the entire band of the audio signal transmitted on the communication path 1 continuously for a predetermined time and measures the maximum value, average value and minimum value of the power amount. A power measuring unit 6 collects the facsimile signal demodulated by the demodulating unit 4, collects a signal error check result, and collects a power amount measuring result from the full band power measuring unit 5 in a facsimile signal collecting unit. Is.

Reference numeral 7 analyzes the collection result of the facsimile signal collecting section 6 when the audio signal on the communication path 1 is identified as a data sound such as a facsimile signal sound by the service trunk 2. It is a facsimile communication determination unit that performs a collation with a known facsimile transmission procedure and analyzes a communication state of facsimile communication such as noise level and communication signal level determination. The facsimile communication determination unit 7 also measures the communication time.

Reference numeral 8 is a speech path switch unit of a telephone exchange system for simultaneously exchanging a plurality of lines, and 9 is a main control unit for controlling the entire telephone exchange system. 10 is a billing processing facility which is a main part of the present invention, 11 is a database in which data such as contractor number, call type, voice call charge list, facsimile charge list, and communication history for each contractor is stored. is there.

FIG. 2 shows a specific example of the service trunk 2 and the facsimile signal identification trunk 3. As shown, there are n + 1 service trunks 2 (n
Is a positive integer) audio signal identification section, and the facsimile signal identification trunk 3 is composed of m + 1 sets (m is a positive integer) demodulation section 4, full band power measurement section 5 and facsimile signal collection section 6. Has been done.

The T30 standard communication protocol for facsimile communication will be briefly described with reference to FIG. When the calling side dials the receiving side, and the receiving side responds to this, the calling side facsimile device outputs a 1100 Hz calling tone (CNG) indicating that it is a non-voice terminal. On the other hand, the facsimile machine on the receiving side outputs a 2100 Hz called party identification tone (CED) to inform that the facsimile machine has responded, and then outputs a digital identification signal (DIS signal and CSI signal), Notify the function and identification number of the receiving side. Upon receiving the digital identification signal, the calling side outputs a digital command signal (DCS signal and CIG signal) to notify the transmission condition and the identification number.

The DIS signal and the DCS signal include
Country name of terminal manufacturer, terminal manufacturer name, signal speed (14
400 bps, 12000 bps, 9600 bps, 7
200 bps), size of recording paper (A4, B5, B
4. No restrictions), presence / absence of error correction function (ECM), mode correspondence (normal, fine), presence / absence of image compression mode and type (MH, MR). Also,
The CSI signal and CIG signal include a terminal identification number (telephone number, company name, department name, etc.).

When the above communication is established, the calling facsimile sends a test signal by training check (TCF). The facsimile machine on the receiving side
The reception status of this training signal is returned. When the training is unsuccessful, the FTT signal is returned, and when the training is successful, the CFR signal indicating the reception preparation confirmation is returned. Upon reception of the CFR signal, the calling facsimile machine starts the operation of transmitting an image. Then, when the image signal for one page is transmitted, a message end signal is transmitted. As the message end signal, an MPS signal for transmitting the next page without changing the transmission condition, an EOM signal for transmitting the next page by changing the transmission condition, and an EOP signal indicating that the transmission of the last page has ended and so on.

Upon receiving the message end signal, the receiving side outputs a message confirmation signal. The message confirmation signal is a signal for notifying the quality of the received image, and includes an MCF signal indicating that the quality is good, an RTP signal indicating that the quality is slightly inferior, and an RT indicating that the quality is defective.
There are N signals and the like. When the calling side receives the MCF signal after outputting the MPS signal, it shifts to the image transmission of the next page. On the other hand, when the RTN signal is received, the image signal of the same page is retransmitted.

The above operation is performed, the calling side outputs the EOP signal as the message end signal, and the receiving side outputs M
When the CF signal is received, the calling side outputs a disconnection signal (DCN) to notify the end of facsimile transmission.

The above is an outline of the T30 standard communication protocol. The demodulation unit 4 of the facsimile signal identification trunk 3 demodulates each signal of the communication protocol and notifies the facsimile signal collection unit 6. Further, the all-band power measuring unit 5 continuously measures the power of all bands of the audio frequency signal for a predetermined time, and measures the maximum value, average value, and minimum value of the power amount. The facsimile communication determination unit 7 compares the signal received from the facsimile signal collection unit 6 with each signal of a prescribed communication protocol to monitor the progress of facsimile communication. Also, the output result of the full band power measuring unit 5 is checked. Then, it is checked whether the facsimile communication is successful or unsuccessful, and the cause when the facsimile communication is unsuccessful is investigated. Also, the communication time is measured.
The results of these checks and the measurement results are reported by the main controller 9
Is sent to the billing processing facility 10 via.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When detecting the input of a call, the main control unit 9 of the telephone exchange system performs an operation of capturing a line on the outgoing side and setting a communication path in the switch unit 8 by a well-known exchange connection operation. At the same time, the facsimile communication determination unit 7 is instructed to start monitoring the communication path 1. The calling telephone number is used to identify the calling party.

The facsimile communication determination unit 7 that has received this activation instruction selects from the plurality of audio signal identification units (0 to n) and facsimile signal collection units (0 to m) shown in FIG. One of the statuses is selected and captured, and these are instructed to start monitoring the communication path 1. Further, the facsimile communication determination unit 7 monitors the speech path of the corresponding call with respect to the selected and captured audio frequency signal identification unit, the demodulation unit under the facsimile signal collection unit, and the all-band power measurement unit. The main control unit 9 is instructed to set the connection path of the switch unit 8 to the switch unit 8. The facsimile signal collecting unit, when receiving the instruction to activate the communication channel monitoring, activates the monitoring timer, and controls the demodulation unit and the all-band power measuring unit to monitor the communication channel for the time defined by the monitoring timer.

When a facsimile signal encoded and modulated into an audio signal appears even in one direction on the speech path 1 during the speech path monitoring state, the demodulation section 4 automatically detects it and the facsimile signal is detected. Notify the signal collection unit 6. The facsimile signal collecting unit 6 reads the demodulated facsimile signals in the order of detection, and checks whether this signal is a well-known signal or not. The relative time of is added and stored. Further, the demodulation unit 4 checks the frame check sequence of the facsimile signal, and when a data frame error is detected, the facsimile signal collection unit 6 reads and stores this.

The full-band power measuring section 5 has a threshold value, and if there is no sound at the time of starting the measurement of the amount of power, the measurement is started from the time when the sound amount changes to the sound. Further, when the sound changes from the sound to the silence during the measurement continuation time, the measurement is immediately interrupted, and the measurement result of the power amount measured immediately before the interruption is automatically reported to the facsimile signal collecting unit 6. On the other hand, the full-band power measurement unit 5 starts the measurement from the point of silence when there is sound at the time of starting the measurement of the amount of power, and immediately measures when there is a change from silence to sound during the measurement duration time. Is interrupted, and the measurement result of the amount of electric power measured immediately before the interruption is automatically reported to the facsimile signal collecting unit 6.

When the service trunk 2 identifies the audio signal on the communication path 1 as a data sound such as a facsimile signal sound, the facsimile communication determination unit 7 displays the collection result of the facsimile signal collection unit 6. Parse,
It collates with a known facsimile transmission procedure and retrieves a preset arbitrary facsimile signal. The facsimile communication determination unit 7 is, for example, a terminal maker name,
Facsimile information of sender and receiver such as terminal identification number (telephone number), signal speed, recording paper size, presence of error correction function (ECM), mode support (normal, fine), presence of image compression Information on communication conditions such as the type and its type and information on the transmission result are detected and notified to the main control unit 9.

Regarding the information of the transmission result, information about successful or unsuccessful transmission, in the case of successful transmission, information about the number of transmitted sheets, the transmission speed and the time required for image transmission for each image, and in the case of unsuccessful Is the unsuccessful page, the time required to send each image, the timing of the failure (pre-training, training, image transmission,
After the image is sent, the main controller 9 is notified of the information about the failure (training failure, poor image reception state, image reception failure, line disconnection from the other party), and transmission speed after the second image and the like).

The billing facility 10 receives from the main controller 9 a notification of the type of call newly received. Then, as shown in step S1 of FIG. 4, it is judged whether or not this call is a facsimile call. If the determination is affirmative, that is, if the call is a facsimile call, the process proceeds to step S2, and the main controller 9 receives a notification of the time required for the facsimile communication. Next, the charging processing facility 10 calculates the charging using the facsimile charge table stored in the database 11 in step S3. on the other hand,
If the call is a voice call, the process proceeds to step S4 to receive a notification of the time required for the voice call. continue,
In step S5, the charge is calculated using the price list for voice communication.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the telecommunications carrier can determine whether or not the call is a facsimile call in the switching equipment. It becomes possible to calculate the charge using the charge table, and there is an effect that a flexible charge system can be created and applied. For example, in facsimile communication, transmission of only one page of an original document is overwhelmingly common, but in the case of transmission of only one page, consideration can be given to making the charge lower than the conventional charge.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, steps S1 to S5 are the same as in FIG. This embodiment is characterized in that step S6 is provided after step S1.

In the database 11, the customer list to which the new tariff, that is, the tariff for facsimile is applied is registered together with the telephone number. On the other hand, when the customer makes a call with the facsimile machine, the telephone number of the caller can be detected by the calling telephone number or the CIG signal, so that the billing facility 10 detects the telephone number detected and the customer in the database 11. The collation with the telephone number in the name list enables the determination in step S6.

According to the present embodiment, there is a merit that it is possible to charge the customer by applying the facsimile charge list only to the customer who is registered as a customer who receives the new charge list in advance.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, steps S1, S4 and S5 are the same as the corresponding steps in FIGS. 4 and 5, so description thereof will be omitted. In step S7, the charging processing facility 10 receives a notification of the number of pages successfully transmitted by facsimile from the main control unit 9. In step S8, a fee is charged per page for the number of pages successfully transmitted by facsimile. In other words, in step 8, the fee is not charged for the page for which the facsimile transmission was unsuccessful. The facsimile communication determination unit 7 determines whether or not the facsimile transmission is successful.
However, for example, when the MCF or RTP signal is detected, it is determined to be successful, and when the RTN signal is detected, it is determined to be unsuccessful.

According to the present embodiment, the fee per page is charged only for the number of pages for which the facsimile transmission is successful, and the fee is not charged for the unsuccessful page. There is an advantage that it can be done, that is, page charging can be done. In the present embodiment as well, it is needless to say that the new tariff may be applied only to customers who are registered in advance, as in the second embodiment.

As a modification of this embodiment, the transmission unit price per page of the original may be determined according to the size of the original to be transmitted. Further, for a manuscript having an irregular size, the charge may be calculated using a charge table for voice communication as in the conventional case.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 7, steps S1 and S4
Are the same as the corresponding steps in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, and description thereof will be omitted. In step S9, the billing processing facility 10 receives from the main control unit 9 a notification of the time required to transmit the facsimile transmission success page. For example, the call time that is unsuccessful before the completion of the first facsimile transmission is set to 0 second, and the call that is unsuccessful in the transmission of the second and subsequent sheets is set to the successful page as the charging time. Step S10
Then, based on the notified charging time, the charge table for voice call is applied to calculate the charging.

According to the present embodiment, the fee table for voice call is applied based on the transmission time for the number of pages for which the facsimile transmission is successful, and the fee is charged for the unsuccessful page. That is, since the automatic charge reduction can be applied to the unsuccessful facsimile transmission call, there is an advantage that the customer can be satisfied with the charge as in the third embodiment.
Note that, also in this embodiment, as in the second embodiment,
Of course, the new price list may be applied only to customers who are registered in advance.

[0042]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the call on the communication path is a facsimile call, the charge table unique to the facsimile call can be applied to calculate the charge, so that a flexible charge system can be constructed. There is an effect.

According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, since the page for which the facsimile transmission is successful is charged, and the page for which the facsimile transmission is unsuccessful is not charged, the user is informed.
The effect is that a reasonable charge can be made.

According to the invention of claim 4, since the user can be registered in advance, there is an effect that the billing service is facilitated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic hardware configuration of exchange equipment to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing details of a part of the exchange facility.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a T30 standard communication protocol for facsimile communication.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Call path, 2 ... Service trunk, 3 ... Facsimile signal identification trunk, 4 ... Demodulation section, 5 ... Full band power measuring section, 6 ... Facsimile signal collecting section, 7 ... Facsimile communication judging section, 8 ... Call path switch section , 9 ... Main control unit, 10
... Billing processing equipment, 11 ... Database.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. In a facsimile call unique billing device of a telephone exchange facility capable of distinguishing a facsimile call from a call on a communication path, a database storing a fee list for a facsimile and a fee for the facsimile based on a facsimile communication time. A facsimile call unique billing device comprising means for calculating a billing amount from a table. 2. In a facsimile call unique billing device of a telephone exchange facility capable of distinguishing a facsimile call from a call on a communication path, based on a database storing a charge table for each page of successful facsimile transmission and a number of pages of successful facsimile transmission. A facsimile call unique billing device, comprising: means for calculating a billing amount from a fee list for each page of successful facsimile transmission. 3. A database for storing a charge table for voice calls and a means for determining the time required for communication of a facsimile transmission success page in a facsimile call unique charging device of a telephone exchange facility capable of identifying a facsimile call from a call on a communication path. And a means for calculating the charge amount from the voice call charge table based on the time required for the communication of the facsimile transmission success page. 4. The facsimile call unique charging device according to claim 1, further comprising means for checking whether or not the calling party is a registered person, and the facsimile is provided only to the registered person. Facsimile call unique billing device, characterized in that a billing calculation based on a billing table for use, or a billing calculation based on a billing table for each successful facsimile transmission is performed.