JPH11215255A - Communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system where a request generated continuously is efficiently processed, the line connection is maintained till a prescribed timing after the end of processing of a request produced through communication with a station connecting with a line. SOLUTION: On occurrence of an authentication request by a credit transaction, a CAT terminal 1 discriminates whether or not a line to a network center is connected. When no line is connected, the terminal 1 connects a line to the network center to make an authentication request. Furthermore, the CAT terminal 1 does not immediately disconnect the line to the network center even after the transaction processing is finished but keeps line connection till a prescribed timing. Thus, on occurrence of a new authentication request while the line is kept connected, the terminal 1 can process the new authentication request without line connection processing. Thus, the terminal 1 processes efficiently authentication requests issued continuously.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of connecting a line to a predetermined station or a partner station selected from a plurality of predetermined stations, and performing communication with the station connected to the line. The present invention relates to a communication terminal device that processes a requested request.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a communication terminal device which communicates with a station connected to a line and processes a generated request (transaction). As this type of communication terminal device, there is a CAT terminal device for processing a transaction by credit.

[0003] Usually, a CAT terminal device is installed in a store,
It is connected to a network center such as CAFIS, CATNET, or JCCA by a public line. A plurality of card companies that issue credit cards are also connected to the network center. In the CAT terminal device, when transaction data by credit is input, a request (transaction) for a transaction authentication process occurs. here,
The CAT terminal device connects a line to the network center, and issues a transaction authentication request to the network center. Upon receiving a transaction authentication request from the CAT terminal device, the network center recognizes the card company that issued the credit card used for the transaction from the transaction data,
Make a transaction authentication request to the recognized credit card company. The credit card company checks the validity / invalidity of the credit card, the credit limit, and the like in response to the authentication request, and transmits the authentication result to the network center. The network center transfers this authentication result to the CAT terminal device. The CAT terminal processes the transaction based on the authentication result and disconnects the line with the network center.

There is also a type of CAT terminal in which a transaction authentication request is made directly to a card company instead of a network center. This type of CAT terminal recognizes the card company that issued the credit card used for the transaction from the input transaction data, connects the line to the card company, and transmits a transaction authentication request. The card company transmits an authentication result for the authentication request to the CAT terminal device. The CAT terminal processes the transaction based on this authentication result and disconnects the line with the card company.

[0005]

However, this type of communication terminal device performs line connection, communication, and line disconnection processing for each transaction (such as a transaction authentication request) to process the generated transaction. Because
When transactions occur consecutively, line connection and line disconnection are frequently repeated for the same station, which wastes the time required for line connection and line disconnection processing, resulting in inefficient transaction processing. There was a problem.

[0006] In the above-described CAT terminal device, each time a credit transaction is processed, a line connection and a line disconnection process are executed with a network center (or card company). Therefore, when transaction A, transaction B, and transaction C occur consecutively as shown in FIG. 10A, the CAT terminal device connects the line to the network center at time t11 shown in FIG. To process the authentication request of transaction A, and disconnect the line at time t12 when the processing of transaction A is completed. At time t13, a line is connected to the network center to perform communication, and when the line is disconnected at time t14 when the processing of transaction B is completed, the line is connected to the network center at time t15 to further process transaction C. At the time t16 when the communication is performed
The line is disconnected at. As described above, when transactions occur consecutively, it is necessary to perform line connection and line disconnection processing with the network center for each transaction, resulting in waste of time required for line connection and line disconnection processing. Authentication requests that occur consecutively are not efficiently processed.

[0007] The CAT terminal and the network center are connected by a public line. As for the usage fee of the public line, a fixed amount is charged every predetermined time (every charging time) from the time when the line is connected. For example, if the charging time is 3 minutes and the amount to be charged is 10 yen, 10 yen is charged when the line is connected, and 10 yen is charged every 3 minutes thereafter.
Therefore, the line usage fee is 10 yen if the connection time is 3 minutes or less (within one charging time). However, FIG.
Even if the time from t11 to t16 shown in (B) does not exceed 3 minutes, the line connection,
Since the line was disconnected, the line usage fee was 30 yen, and the communication cost was wasted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to process requests generated by communicating with a station connected to a line and then maintain the connection of the line until a predetermined timing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication device capable of performing processing in a flexible manner and reducing communication costs.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication terminal apparatus for connecting a line to a predetermined specific station and communicating with the specific station to process a request generated. After processing the request, a control unit is provided for holding a line connection with the specific station until a predetermined timing comes.

[0010] The communication terminal device of the present invention communicates with a specific station connected to a line when a request is generated, and processes the generated request. After processing the request, the communication terminal apparatus does not disconnect the line immediately, but maintains the line connection with the specific station until a predetermined timing. For this reason, if the line connection is maintained when a new request is generated, communication with the specific station is performed without processing for connecting the line to the specific station, and the new request is processed. be able to. Therefore, continuously generated requests can be efficiently processed. Further, depending on the request generation interval and the like, a plurality of requests can be processed within one billing time of a line usage fee, for example, so that communication costs can be reduced.

Note that the communication terminal device disconnects the line with the specific station at a predetermined timing without generating a new request. That is, when a new request does not occur for a long time, the line with a specific station is temporarily disconnected, so that unnecessary communication costs do not increase.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in response to a request generated from a plurality of preset stations, a line is connected to a selected partner station, and a request generated by communicating with the partner station is transmitted. In the processing communication terminal device, after processing the request, the connection of the line with the partner station is maintained, and when a new request occurs, the partner station selected for the newly generated request is connected to the line. If the station does not hold the connection, the control unit disconnects the line and connects the line to the selected partner station in response to a newly generated request.

In the communication terminal device of the present invention, when a request is generated, a line is connected to a partner station selected for the request, and communication is performed to process the generated request. After processing the request, the communication terminal apparatus waits for a new request without disconnecting the line. Therefore, if the partner station selected for the newly generated request is a station to which the line is connected, the newly generated request is processed without performing the processing for connecting the line to the selected partner station. be able to. Therefore, requests that occur continuously can be efficiently processed. Further, when the selected partner station is the same for successive requests, depending on the request interval of these requests, for example, there are cases where these requests can be processed within one billing time of the line usage fee. As a result, communication costs can be reduced.

[0014] Further, there is provided storage means for storing one or a plurality of stations designated in advance among the plurality of stations, and the control means comprises a remote station connected to a line for processing a generated request. If the station is not stored in the storage means, after processing the request, the station is disconnected without holding the line connection.

In this configuration, if a station that is frequently selected in response to a generated request is designated and stored in the storage unit, communication is performed with a station that is rarely selected in response to the generated request. After processing the generated request, the line can be disconnected immediately. Here, a station that is rarely selected is extremely unlikely to be selected as a partner station when processing a request that occurs next. Therefore,
Even if the line is disconnected immediately after the processing of the generated request, the processing of the next generated request does not waste time. Further, since the line is disconnected and a new request is generated, no charge for the line is charged during this time, and unnecessary communication costs do not increase.

Further, the control means disconnects the line at a predetermined timing without generating a new request.

In this configuration, the communication terminal device disconnects the line at a predetermined timing without generating a new request. In other words, when a new request is not generated for a long time, the line is disconnected once, so that there is no problem that unnecessary communication cost increases.

The predetermined timing at which the line is disconnected is a timing at which a predetermined time has elapsed from completion of processing of the generated request.

With this configuration, by determining the predetermined time from the average value of the request generation intervals and the like, it is possible to more efficiently process continuously generated requests. Since a request is generated by the input of data by an operator (human), the predetermined time must be at least several seconds or more, in consideration of the time required for the data input operation.

Further, the predetermined timing for disconnecting the line is immediately before the timing at which the line usage fee is charged.

In this configuration, the line is disconnected immediately before the timing at which the line usage fee is charged, so that the line usage fee is not charged when no request is issued. Therefore, waste of communication costs can be reliably eliminated.

[0022]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a CAT terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an appearance of the CAT terminal device. The CAT terminal device 1 includes a control unit 2 for controlling the operation of the main body, an input unit 3 for inputting transaction data and the like, a display unit 4 for displaying the input transaction data and the like, and a card from a credit card owned by the customer. Card processing unit 5 for reading card information such as numbers
And a printer 6 for issuing a transaction slip on which the transaction contents are printed
A communication unit 7 for communicating with a station connected by a public line;
A storage unit 8 for storing transaction results and the like. The card processing unit 5 of the CAT terminal device 1 of this embodiment
As shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a CAT terminal 1 according to this embodiment.
1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a credit online system to which is applied. The CAT terminal device 1 of this embodiment is connected to a network center 10 via a public line. The network center 10 is also connected to a card company 11 that issues credit cards.

The operation of the CAT terminal 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing of the CAT terminal device of this embodiment.
As is well known, the merchandise information such as the merchandise code and price of the merchandise to be traded is input from the input unit 3 and the card processing unit 5
To read the card information such as the card number of the credit card (credit card used for the transaction) owned by the customer, and input the transaction data to the CAT terminal 1. C
When the transaction data is input, the AT terminal device 1 generates an authentication request for the transaction.

When a request for authentication of a transaction by credit is made (n1), the CAT terminal device 1 determines whether or not a line is connected to the network center 10 (n).
2). If the line is not connected, the line is connected to the network center 10 (n3).
(N4). If the line is connected to the network center 10, the process jumps to n4 without performing the process of n3.

Upon receipt of the transaction authentication request from the CAT terminal 1, the network center 10 determines the card company 11 that issued the credit card used for the transaction, as is well known, and gives the card company 11 Submit a transaction authorization request. Card company 11 that received a transaction authentication request
Checks the validity / invalidity of the credit card used for the transaction, the credit limit, and the like, and returns an authentication result including the propriety of the transaction to the network center 10. The network center 10 transfers this authentication result to the CAT terminal device 1.

The CAT terminal device 1 waits for the authentication result for the authentication request of the transaction made to the network center 10 in n5, and upon receiving the authentication result, processes the transaction based on the received authentication result (n6). When the transaction processing is completed, a timer (not shown) is reset and started (n7, n8), and the elapsed time from completion of the transaction processing is measured. The CAT terminal device 1 waits for a lapse of a predetermined time T from the completion of the previous transaction processing or for a new authentication request while maintaining the line connection with the network center 10 (n9, n1). ). The predetermined time T
Can be set arbitrarily. In addition, since the CAT terminal device 1 generates an authentication request when the operator inputs the transaction data, the predetermined time T is at least a time (several seconds to several tens of seconds) at which the operator inputs the transaction data.
It is necessary. When a new authentication request is generated, the CAT terminal device 1 executes the above-described processing after n2. In this case, since the line is connected to the network center 10, the line connection processing of n3 is not executed. On the other hand, when a predetermined time T elapses without generating a new authentication request, the line with the network center 10 is disconnected (n1).
0).

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the CAT terminal device 1 issues an authentication request for transaction A at t1 when the line with the network center 10 is disconnected, it connects the line to the network center 10 and Request for authentication. However, the timing t when the processing of the transaction A is completed
In 2, the line with the network center 10 is not disconnected (the line connection is maintained). Here, when a new authentication request for the transaction B occurs after a time T1 shorter than the predetermined time T (t3 shown in the figure), the authentication request for the transaction B is processed to connect a line to the network center 10. Will be processed without. That is, the authentication requests for the transaction A and the transaction B that have occurred successively can be efficiently processed (there is no waste of time required for line connection and line disconnection).
The CAT terminal 1 sends the network center 10 at a timing (t5 in the figure) at which a predetermined time T has passed without a new authentication request being issued from time t4 when the processing of the transaction B is completed.
And disconnect the line. When an authentication request for transaction C occurs at t6, a line is connected to the network center 10 and the authentication request is processed.

In addition, the usage fee of the public line, which is the communication cost, is a predetermined time (per billing time) from the time when the line is connected.
A fixed amount is charged every time. Therefore, if the time from t1 to t5 shown in FIG. 5 is within one billing time, the communication cost is reduced by half compared to the conventional CAT terminal device.
Therefore, communication costs can be reduced. Also, t1 to
Even if the time t5 exceeds one billing time and becomes two billing times, the communication cost is the same as the conventional one. In addition, since the line with the network center 10 is cut off at a timing when a predetermined time elapses without a new transaction authentication request being generated, if a new authentication request is not generated for a long time, the line usage fee is charged unnecessarily. It does not occur, and there is no problem that unnecessary communication costs increase.

Further, in the CAT terminal device 1, the frequency of the authentication request for the transaction is high in the time zone with many customers, and the frequency of the authentication request in the time zone with few customers is low. Therefore, a predetermined time T from completion of the transaction processing to disconnection of the line with the network center 10 may be set for each time zone. In this way, the predetermined time T for keeping the line connection short is set for a time period in which the frequency of the request for authentication of the transaction is low (a time period in which the number of customers is small),
By shortening the time the line is connected while waiting for the generation of an authentication request to reduce the possibility that the line usage fee will be charged while waiting for the generation of a new authentication request,
Communication costs can be further reduced.

On the other hand, by setting the predetermined time T longer in a time zone in which a transaction authentication request occurs frequently (a time zone in which there are many customers), a line is connected to the network center 10 when a transaction authentication request is issued. It is possible to increase the possibility of connection, and to process authentication requests that occur consecutively more efficiently.

Next, a CAT terminal 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The CAT terminal device 1 of this embodiment also has the configuration shown in FIG. The difference from the apparatus of the above embodiment is the control of the timing of disconnecting the line with the network center 10. FIG. 6 shows the CAT of this embodiment.
It is a flowchart which shows a process of a terminal device. When the CAT terminal 1 of this embodiment also issues a transaction authentication request (n11), it checks whether or not the line is connected to the network center 10 (n12), and if not, performs a line connection process (n13). ), A timer (not shown) is reset and started (n14, n15).
If a line is connected at n12, n13 to n1
The processing jumps to n16 without performing the processing of step 5. The CAT terminal device 1 of this embodiment measures the elapsed time since the line was connected by a timer (not shown).

The CAT terminal 1 transmits a transaction authentication request to the network center 10 at n16, and waits for an authentication result for the transaction authentication request made to the network center 10 at n17. When the authentication result is received, the transaction is processed based on the received authentication result (n18). CAT
Even if the terminal device 1 completes the transaction processing in n18,
While maintaining the line connection with the network center 10, it waits for a predetermined timing or for a new authentication request to be issued (n19, n11). Then, if a new transaction authentication request is generated before the predetermined timing, the processing after n11 is performed. However, in this case, since the line is connected to the network center 10, the processes of n13 to n15 are not executed, so that the process can be performed efficiently.

In this embodiment, the predetermined timing at n19 is immediately before the timing when the next fee is charged for the use of the line connection. For example, when the line usage fee is charged at 10 yen every three minutes, the predetermined timing is set to a timing immediately before the line connection time becomes 3 × N minutes. Note that N is an integer, and 3 × N is a minimum value larger than the time measured by a timer (not shown) when the transaction processing is completed at n18. As mentioned above, the line usage fee is 3 × (N-1) minutes to 3 × N
The same applies even if the line is disconnected at any timing up to just before the minute. Therefore, the communication fee, which is the communication fee, is the same as when the line is cut off at the time when the transaction processing is completed in n18.
Is not bulky. On the other hand, since the line with the network center 10 is not disconnected immediately after the transaction processing is completed, when an authentication request for a new transaction is generated, the authentication request is executed without performing the process of connecting the line to the network center 10. Since it is possible, authentication requests generated continuously can be efficiently processed.

Next, a CAT terminal 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The CAT terminal device 1 of this embodiment also has the configuration shown in FIG. CAT of this embodiment
The terminal device 1 is applied to a credit online system shown in FIG. The credit online system shown in FIG. 7 is a system in which the CAT terminal device 1 is directly connected to a card company 11 that issues a credit card via a public line. In the CAT terminal device 1 of this embodiment, the storage unit 8 stores card company data 15 shown in FIG. In the card company data 15, the line number and designated information of the card company are registered for each card company that issues credit cards. The specified information is
This is information that distinguishes a card company that issues a credit card that is rarely used in a transaction from a card company that does not. In FIG. 8, the designation information is 0 for a card company that has issued a rarely used credit card, and is 1 for other card companies. The designation information can be arbitrarily set by a predetermined operation on the input unit 3.

Referring to FIG. 9, the CA of this embodiment will be described.
The operation of the T terminal device will be described. FIG. 9 shows that the CAT terminal device 1 of this embodiment, when a credit authentication request is issued (n21), the card company 1 that issues the authentication request.
1 is selected (n22). Note that the card company 11 selected here is the card company that issued the credit card used for the transaction. The CAT terminal device 1 determines whether or not a line is connected to the card company selected in n22 (n23), and performs a line connection process if the line is not connected (n24). If the line is connected to a card company other than the card company selected in n22, the line with this card company 11 is disconnected and then n2
The line is connected to the card company 11 selected in step 2.

When the line is connected to the card company 11 selected in n22, the CAT terminal device 1 transmits an authentication request in n25, waits for reception of the authentication result in n26, and performs transaction processing in n27. After this, the card company 11 that connected the line
Is determined whether the designation information is 0 or 1 (n2
8). If the designated information is 0, the process jumps to n32 to disconnect the line with the card company 11.

On the other hand, if the designated information is 1, a timer (not shown) is reset and started (n29, n3).
0). This timer measures the elapsed time from the completion of the transaction processing in n27. The CAT terminal device 1 waits for a lapse of a predetermined time T from the completion of the previous transaction processing or for a new authentication request while maintaining the line connection with the card company 11 (n31, n21). ). In addition,
The predetermined time T can be set arbitrarily. When a new authentication request is generated, the CAT terminal device 1 executes the above-described processes after n21, and disconnects the line with the card company 11 at n32 when a predetermined time has elapsed without generating a new authentication request.

As described above, the CAT terminal device 1 according to this embodiment, when connecting a line to the card company 11 that issues a credit card that is rarely used in a transaction, processes the transaction. Disconnect the line immediately after completion. By the way, it is extremely unlikely that credit card transactions, which are rarely used in transactions, will continue, so that the card company 11 selected in n22 for the next transaction to occur may be another card company 11. high. Therefore, even if the line with the card company 11 is cut off immediately after the completion of the transaction processing, the processing efficiency of the authentication request for the next transaction does not decrease.

On the other hand, when a line is connected to a card company 11 that issues a credit card frequently used in a transaction and the transaction is processed, the line is not disconnected immediately after the transaction processing is completed, but the predetermined line is disconnected. Wait for the time to elapse. Here, there is a high possibility that the transactions with the card company 11 that issues the credit card frequently used in the transaction are continuous, and the card company 11 selected in n22 for the next transaction that occurs is the same card company 11 It is highly likely that Therefore, when a transaction authentication request is issued to the same card company in succession, these authentication requests can be efficiently processed.

Note that the CAT terminal of this embodiment is
Although the line is disconnected when a predetermined time has elapsed without generating a new transaction authentication request, the line may be disconnected immediately before the timing at which the line usage fee is charged next as shown in FIG. . In addition, the designation information is stored in two stages as to whether or not the card company issues a credit card that is rarely used. However, it is stored in three stages according to the frequency of use of the credit card, and each stage is stored. A waiting time from completion of the transaction processing to disconnection of the line may be set.

Further, the present invention is not limited to a CAT terminal device, but connects a line to a station such as a center.
The present invention can be applied to any device that processes a request generated by performing communication.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, the line is not disconnected when the processing of the request generated by the communication with the station to which the line is connected is completed, but until the predetermined timing is reached. Since the connection of the line is maintained, it is possible to efficiently process continuously generated requests and reduce the communication cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a CAT terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of the CAT terminal device of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a credit online system to which the CAT terminal device of the embodiment is applied.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing of the CAT terminal device of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing a state of a line of the CAT terminal device of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a CAT terminal device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a credit online system to which a CAT terminal device according to another embodiment is applied.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of card company data.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a CAT terminal device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing a state of a line of a conventional CAT terminal device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-CAT terminal 2-control unit 3-input unit 4-display unit 5-card processing unit 6-printer 7-communication unit 8-storage unit 10-network center 11-card company

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A communication terminal device for connecting a line to a specific station set in advance and communicating with the specific station to process a request generated, wherein a predetermined timing is reached after processing the request. A communication terminal device having control means for maintaining a line connection with the specific station until the communication terminal device. 2. A communication terminal device for connecting a line to a partner station selected for a request generated from a plurality of preset stations and communicating with the partner station to process the generated request, After processing the request, the line connection with the partner station is held, and when a new request occurs, the partner station selected for the newly generated request holds the line connection. A communication terminal device comprising control means for disconnecting a line if it is not a station and connecting the line with a partner station selected in response to a newly generated request. 3. A storage means for storing a single or a plurality of stations designated in advance among the plurality of stations, wherein the control means comprises a remote station connected to a line for processing a generated request. 3. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 2, wherein if the station is not stored in the storage unit, the request is processed and then the line is disconnected without holding the line connection. 4. The communication terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit disconnects the line when a predetermined timing comes without generating a new request. 5. The communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined timing at which the line is disconnected is a timing at which a predetermined time has elapsed from completion of processing of the generated request. 6. The communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined timing for disconnecting the line is immediately before a line usage fee is charged.