JPH0983680A - Service equipment added to facsimile communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a service equipment added to facsimile communication, which allows a facsimile communication user to correctly receive service information from a telephone exchange equipment without any operation. SOLUTION: When an incoming call requires a charge instantaneously informing service, a register 2 stores the telephone number of a transmission terminal. A FAX signal analyzing and judging part 3 judges whether the call is a facsimile signal or not and when it is the signal, the part 2 monitors the communication to its end. When the communication is finished, a charge calculation part 8 calculates the communication charge and a FAX responding part 5 prepares facsimile information to call back the transmission terminal by the telephone number to send the piece of facsimile information. As the result of this, the transmission terminal is capable of receiving information concerning the communication charge by means of a facsimile equipment. Consulting information can be added to the piece of charging information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile communication supplementary service apparatus, and more particularly, to a facsimile communication supplementary service which allows a user of a facsimile apparatus to easily and accurately receive a service relating to facsimile communication provided from a telephone exchange facility. Related to service equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a transmitting side of facsimile communication confirms whether or not a document has been sent to a partner by using a communication management report and an error report of a facsimile terminal. The communication charge is managed by counting the communication time by a timer of the facsimile terminal and calculating the communication charge by using a charge table of the terminal itself.

[0003] On the other hand, there is an automatic real-time charge notification service for international telephone calls that immediately notifies a user of an international telephone charge after a call. This service can be enjoyed by the user inputting a predetermined prefix number before a normal telephone number.
Upon receiving the telephone number prefixed with the prefix number, the telephone exchange facility calls back the user after the end of the call, and notifies the user of the call time (minutes) and the call charge by voice.

[0004]

In the conventional method of confirming the communication and managing the communication charge by the communication management report and the error report, the success or failure of the communication, which is the result of the communication, can be known, but the success or failure of the communication is not recognized. In that case, there was a problem that the reason was unknown. For example, since the receiving side is a personal computer, there is a problem that even if the facsimile communication becomes unsuccessful due to an inadequate call speed or a difference in signal level setting, this cannot be known. Further, since the facsimile terminal has a communication charge table, there is a problem that it is not possible to sufficiently cope with a complicated charge system in recent years. In particular, international calls have a complicated fee system that varies depending on the destination country, region, time of use, etc., making it difficult for users to provide communication fees with satisfactory accuracy. Was.

In the above-mentioned automatic immediate charge notification service, since the service is performed by voice, the sender of the facsimile communication manually switches the line from the facsimile terminal to the telephone after finishing the transmission of the facsimile terminal. There is a problem that the user has to wait for the notice of the charge from the telephone exchange facility, and the operation is troublesome. In addition, there is a problem that if the user makes a mistake in the operation, he or she may miss the communication fee. Furthermore, if the user does not know how to operate, there is a problem that the service cannot be received even though the telephone exchange facility notifies the user of the fee.

In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, an object of the present invention is that the switching equipment automatically determines whether the calling terminal is a telephone or a facsimile. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile communication supplementary service device capable of accurately receiving service information from a telephone exchange facility without any operation. Another object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile communication supplementary service device that can reduce the labor of the operator of the telephone exchange facility.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a means for, when an incoming call is received, determining whether or not the incoming call is a request for an immediate charge notification service. In the case of a call requesting an immediate charge notification service, a means for temporarily storing the telephone number of the calling terminal, a judgment as to whether or not the signal on the communication path corresponding to the incoming call is a facsimile signal, and a facsimile signal If there is, a means for monitoring and analyzing the signal to be communicated, a charge calculating means for calculating and calculating a communication charge after the completion of facsimile communication, a means for creating the communication charge as facsimile information, and a telephone number of the transmitting terminal. It is characterized in that it further comprises means for calling back the transmitting terminal and transmitting the facsimile information of the communication charge to the transmitting terminal. Further, when there is an abnormality, it is characterized in that consulting information for solving the abnormality is added together with the notification of the communication charge.

According to the present invention, when the originating terminal is a facsimile machine, the immediate fee notification service is performed by facsimile information, so that the operator of the originating terminal can receive the fee notification without performing any operation. Can be. Therefore, the calling terminal can easily and accurately receive the charge notification. Further, when an error occurs in facsimile communication, information for solving the problem can be obtained.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a switching facility according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a communication path switch unit 1 is a well-known exchange of a communication carrier, and when an incoming call is made from a calling terminal such as a facsimile machine or a telephone, it identifies the contents of a dial number and captures an outgoing line,
Set the communication line with the receiving terminal. A register 2 provided in the communication path switch unit 1 has a function of storing the terminal number of the calling side in order to call back the calling side terminal at the time of charge notification or notification of the result of facsimile communication. The facsimile (FAX) signal analysis / determination unit 3 monitors the communication line to identify whether the signal sent from the calling terminal is an audible signal or a facsimile signal. If the signal is a facsimile signal, monitoring is continued until communication ends, and communication information is collected from the procedure of facsimile communication. The details of the FAX signal analysis / determination unit 3 will be described later with reference to FIG.

When the communication contents are voice, the voice response unit 4 translates the charge information into voice, and the register 2
Is called back to the telephone number stored in, and a charge notice is sent to the calling terminal. For example, "This is xx. The charge to xxx you just used is xx minutes.
It is ○○ yen in ○ seconds. ". Facsimile (F
AX) The response unit 5 creates a text to be sent to the facsimile machine which is the originating terminal, and sends it to the telephone number stored in the register 2. This document includes, for example, a communication time, a fee, and the number of sheets transmitted when the document transmission is successfully completed. When the document transmission is completed halfway without completing the transmission, the FAX signal analysis / determination unit is used. Various communication status information obtained from 3 such as the cause of communication interruption, the number of transmissions, and consulting information for solving the cause, etc., are sent together with the charge notice as one message. The maintenance terminal 6 is a device including a switchboard and the like for updating consulting information and the like.

The control unit 7 includes the above-mentioned communication path switch unit 1, FAX signal analysis / determination unit 3, voice response unit 4, and FAX.
It controls the operations of the response unit 5, the charge calculation unit 8, and the like. The charge calculation unit 8 calculates the communication charge by referring to the charge list based on the location of the communication partner, the communication time, the communication time zone, and the like. In the case of facsimile communication, when the communication is interrupted, the communication charge adjustment for the number of successfully transmitted sheets is calculated. The charge file 9 includes charge information for each time series or the terminal number of the calling side, information history such as a cause in the case of defective facsimile communication, for inquiry from the user to the telecommunications carrier at a later date and issuance of a bill. And the result of success or failure of the charge notification is stored. 10a, 10
Reference characters b are a sending side terminal and a receiving side terminal, respectively, which are connected to the switching equipment having the above-mentioned configuration. These terminals are telephones, facsimile machines and the like.

Next, the configuration and operation of the FAX signal analysis / determination unit 3 will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the FAX signal analysis / determination unit 3. In the figure, a service trunk 11 distinguishes a telephone exchange audible signal sound such as voice and busy tone and a facsimile signal sound from an audio signal inputted through a speech path switch unit 1. The service trunk 11 is publicly known as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-204652, and its description is omitted.

The fax signal identification trunk 12 collects facsimile signals, monitors for signal errors, and measures power. The demodulation unit 13 demodulates the encoded and modulated facsimile signal input via the speech path switch unit 1. That is, each signal of the communication protocol used in the facsimile communication is demodulated and notified to the facsimile signal collecting unit 15. The full band power measuring unit 14 continuously measures the power of the entire band of the audio signal input via the speech path switch unit 1 for a predetermined time, and determines the maximum value of the power amount,
Measure the average and minimum values. Then, these are notified to the facsimile signal collecting unit 15. . The facsimile signal collecting unit 15 collects the facsimile signals demodulated by the demodulating unit 13, collects the error result of the signal, and collects the power amount measurement result from the full band power measuring unit 14.

Further, the facsimile communication judging section 16 uses the service trunk 11 to make the call path switch section 1
If the audio signal on the communication path input via the is identified as a data sound such as a facsimile signal sound,
The facsimile communication determining unit 16 collates the signal obtained from the facsimile signal collecting unit 15 with each signal of a prescribed communication protocol to monitor the progress of facsimile communication.
Also, the communication state of facsimile communication such as noise level and communication signal level determination is analyzed. Also, the output result of the full band power measuring unit 14 is checked. Then, it is checked whether the facsimile communication is successful or unsuccessful,
Investigate the cause of unsuccessful results. Also, the communication time is measured. These check results and measurement results are sent to the control unit 7.

A FAX including the service trunk 11, the demodulation unit 13, the full band power measurement unit 14, the facsimile signal collection unit 15 and the facsimile communication determination unit 16.
A large number of signal analysis / determination units 3 are provided in parallel,
The determination as to whether or not signals on a number of communication paths are facsimile signals and the monitoring of signals when the signals are facsimile signals can be performed simultaneously in parallel.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When there is an incoming call to the switching equipment of this embodiment, the communication path switch unit 1 sets a communication line. In step S2, the control unit 7 determines whether or not there is a predetermined prefix number before the normal telephone number, and if there is, the prefix number is the identification number of the automatic immediate charge notification service. Determine whether there is. For example, before the number of the receiving terminal, "00
If the number "X" is attached, the control unit 7 determines that there is an identification number for the automatic immediate charge notification service.

If this judgment is affirmative, step S3
Then, the caller terminal number is temporarily recorded in the register 2. On the other hand, when the result is negative, that is, when the communication is not the communication requesting the automatic immediate charge notification service, the process proceeds to step S13, and it is determined whether the communication is completed. Then, when this determination is affirmative, the communication is ended.

In step S4, it is determined whether or not the calling terminal is a facsimile machine. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S5. In step S5, the FAX signal analysis / judgment unit 3 monitors a signal coming and going on the communication path and monitors whether or not communication is proceeding normally. When the communication is interrupted or terminated, the process proceeds to step S6. When the determination in step S4 is negative, that is, when the originating terminal is not a facsimile terminal, the process proceeds to step S6.

In step S6, it is determined whether the communication is interrupted or terminated. If this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S7 and the communication line is disconnected. Step S
In 8, the charge calculation unit 8 calculates the communication charge. The charge calculation unit 8 calculates a charge based on the transmission start time and the end time. In the case of facsimile communication, a charge is calculated for a page for which communication was successful, and an adjustment is made such that a charge is not charged for a page for which communication failed.

In step S9, it is judged whether or not the other party to whom the immediate charge notification is given, that is, the calling terminal is a facsimile machine. When this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S10, where the communication status of the communication line and the fee information are sent to the FAX response unit 5 via the control unit 7. In step S11, the fee information, the consulting information, and the like are created by the FAX response unit 5. For example, when the communication is terminated during the transmission of the document information, a method of coping with the cause is included in the consulting information. When the creation of these information is completed, the process proceeds to step S12, where the FAX response unit 5 translates the information into a facsimile signal, calls the telephone number recorded in the register 2, and transmits the created information. .

On the other hand, when the determination in step S9 is negative, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, the charge calculation unit 8 notifies the voice response unit 4 of the communication charge information obtained by the calculation via the control unit 7. The voice response unit 4 translates the fee information into voice and prepares for voice transmission. After that, the process proceeds to step S12, the calling side is called back, and the communication charge is notified.

[0022]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, when the calling terminal is a facsimile machine, the immediate charge notification is made by facsimile information.
The calling terminal can receive the data reliably and accurately without any operation. Also, if an error occurs in facsimile communication and the communication is terminated midway,
Since the consulting information for solving the abnormality is provided to the transmitting terminal as the facsimile information, the transmitting terminal can deal with the abnormality early.

Further, according to the present invention, since the instant charge notification can be received reliably and accurately, the inquiry of the charge etc. from the user of the facsimile apparatus to the communication carrier is reduced.
Therefore, the labor of the user and the operator can be reduced. In addition, since it is possible to take measures such as not to charge a fee for a document whose transmission has not been completed in facsimile communication, it is possible to notify a user of a fee that matches a fee measure of a communication carrier.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a specific example of a facsimile signal analysis / determination unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication channel switch part, 2 ... Register, 3 ... FAX signal analysis / judgment part, 4 ... Voice response part, 5 ... FAX response part, 6
... maintenance terminal, 7 ... control unit, 8 ... charge calculation unit, 9 ... charge file.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Means for determining whether or not an incoming call is a call requesting an immediate charge notification service when there is an incoming call; A means for temporarily storing the telephone number, a judgment as to whether or not the signal on the communication path corresponding to the incoming call is a facsimile signal, and if it is a facsimile signal, means for monitoring and analyzing the communicated signal, Fee calculation means for calculating and obtaining the communication fee after the facsimile communication is finished, means for creating the communication fee as facsimile information, and calling back the calling terminal with the telephone number of the calling terminal,
Means for transmitting the facsimile information of the communication fee to the originating terminal. 2. The facsimile communication supplementary service device according to claim 1, wherein when a communication abnormality is detected by the means for monitoring and analyzing the signal to be communicated, consulting including a method for solving the abnormality. An additional service device for facsimile communication, characterized in that information is added to the charge information and sent to a calling terminal. 3. The facsimile communication supplementary service apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fee calculation unit calculates a communication fee only for a document that has been successfully transmitted.