KR20070015677A - Service System and Method for Virtual Number - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a virtual telephone number service system and method for allocating at least one virtual telephone number to a telephone subscriber and performing an access to the actual telephone number of a called party when a call by a virtual telephone number is attempted from a caller. The virtual telephone number service system of the present invention performs a user authentication and a user management unit for receiving and managing at least one actual telephone number, a virtual telephone number for allocating a virtual telephone number according to a user's request and matching the actual telephone number and storing the same. And a routing processing unit for retrieving the actual telephone number matching the virtual telephone number and routing the incoming request signal as the incoming request signal and the virtual telephone number are received from the allocating unit and the calling side exchange, and the virtual telephone number service method includes: In step S as an attempt to make a call using the representative telephone number as the called number, the calling exchange checks the called number and connects to the virtual telephone number service system, and the virtual telephone number service system requires the entry of the virtual telephone number. Receive a virtual phone number and associate it with a virtual phone number. Including the steps of attempting to connect to real phone numbers to view the actual telephone number, there is an advantage that facilitates calls without having to disclose personal information as possible.

Virtual phone number, routing

Description

Service system and method for virtual phone number

1 is a configuration diagram of a communication network to which the present invention is applied;

2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the virtual telephone number service system shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a virtual telephone number assignment method according to the present invention;

4 is a flowchart illustrating a virtual telephone number service method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a flowchart illustrating a virtual telephone number service method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a flowchart illustrating a virtual telephone number service method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: virtual telephone number service system 20: mobile communication terminal

30: landline telephone terminal 40: personal computer

200: mobile communication network 300: public telephone switching network

400: Internet

The present invention relates to a system and method for a virtual telephone number service, and more particularly, to assigning at least one virtual telephone number to a telephone subscriber, and when a call based on a virtual telephone number is attempted from a caller, a call originated to a communication network designated by the called party. A virtual telephone number service system and method for routing.

With the development of wired and wireless communication technology, almost all homes use wired telephone service, and most individuals use mobile telephone service. While such service universalization has various advantages, there are large and small problems due to phone number exposure.

For example, if a vehicle is parked, the user has no choice but to expose his or her contact number in case it is used. Thus, the exposed phone number may be misused by spam calls or mail senders. In addition, people often write down names and phone numbers on their belongings in case they lose their belongings.In this case, their contacts are exposed and exploited by others regardless of whether they have lost the belongings. There is a risk. This problem may occur similarly when a contact number is written on a tag for preventing childbirth and a tag of an elderly person or a disabled person.

Therefore, there is an urgent need for measures to prevent personal information exposure while allowing easy contact in emergency situations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described needs, and when a virtual telephone number is assigned to a telephone subscriber and an attempt is made to call a combination of a representative telephone and a virtual telephone number, the actual user of the user who uses the virtual telephone number is used. There is a technical problem to provide a virtual telephone number service system and method for routing a call to a telephone number to enable a call without exposing personal information.

The virtual telephone number service system of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem is a control unit; Memory; interface; A user manager for performing authentication on a user who wants to use a virtual phone number service, receiving and storing at least one actual phone number from the user; A virtual telephone number assignment unit for allocating a virtual telephone number according to a user's request and matching and storing the virtual telephone number; And a routing processor for retrieving the actual telephone number matching the virtual telephone number and routing the incoming request signal to the corresponding telephone number as the incoming request signal and the virtual telephone number are received from the exchange of the calling party communication network.

In addition, in the virtual telephone number service method according to an embodiment of the present invention, as the calling terminal attempts to make a call using the representative telephone number as the called number, the calling party exchange checks the called number to provide the virtual telephone number service. Connecting to the system; Requesting, by the virtual telephone number service system, to input a virtual telephone number to be connected to the calling terminal through the calling exchange; Retrieving, by the virtual telephone number service system, an actual telephone number matching the virtual telephone number as the virtual telephone number is transmitted through the calling exchange; And the virtual telephone number service system attempting to access the actual telephone number.

In addition, in the virtual telephone number service method according to another embodiment of the present invention, as the calling terminal attempts to make a call using the combination of the representative phone number and the virtual phone number as the called number, the calling side exchange checks the called number. Accessing the virtual telephone number service system by performing the above steps; Extracting, by the virtual telephone number service system, a virtual telephone number included in the called number; Querying, by the virtual telephone number service system, an actual telephone number matching the virtual telephone number; And the virtual telephone number service system attempting to access the actual telephone number.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram of a communication network to which the present invention is applied.

As shown, the virtual telephone number service system 10 of the present invention is connected to the mobile communication terminal 20 through the mobile communication network 200, and wired telephone terminal 30 through the public switched telephone network (PSTN) 300 Is connected to the personal computer 40 through the Internet (400). In addition, the mobile communication network 200 has an environment capable of communicating with the public telephone switching network 300 and the Internet 400.

The virtual phone number service system 10 is provided with a representative phone number or a representative URL for requesting an outgoing call through a wired or wireless network, and a service request phone number or a service request URL for an application for a virtual phone number. In addition, a wired telephone service subscriber or an internet telephone service subscriber allocates a virtual telephone number as he or she wants to use a virtual telephone number after accessing the wired / wireless communication network or a public switched telephone network using a service application telephone number or a service application URL. In addition, when the user connected to the representative phone number or the representative URL requests to call, the call is searched for the actual phone number of the user to which the corresponding virtual phone number is assigned, and the call is routed to the exchange managing the actual phone number.

The representative phone number (representative URL) and the service request phone number (service request URL) may be implemented in the same manner. In this case, it is preferable to provide a visitor with a guide to select which service to use. However, if the representative phone number (representative URL) and the service request phone number (service request URL) are implemented differently, the calling process can be made simpler and faster.

FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the virtual telephone number service system shown in FIG. 1.

As illustrated, the virtual telephone number service system 10 according to the present invention includes a control unit 110 for controlling the overall operation, a memory 120 for recording a program, data, etc. necessary for operating the system, a wired / wireless communication network, and a public telephone. Access through the interface 130 for transmitting and receiving data with the switching network, the service request phone number or the service request URL to authenticate the user who wants to use the virtual phone number, and receives and stores at least one actual phone number from the user. And a user manager 140 for managing, generating a virtual phone number or selecting a number requested by the user as the virtual phone number, and matching and storing the virtual phone number with the user's actual phone number. ), Subscribers dialing through the primary phone number or the primary URL attempt to dial the virtual phone number According to the request, the routing processing unit 160 searches for a real phone number matching the virtual phone number and routes the call to the telephone network managing the phone number. A guide line providing unit 170 for guiding the calling procedure by the telephone number to the caller and a database 180 that matches and stores user information, a virtual telephone number, and an actual telephone number are provided.

Here, the user manager 140 may store two or more real phone numbers in one virtual phone number, and control the real phone numbers to have priority. In this case, the routing processing unit 160 performs routing to the real phone number having the highest priority, and if the incoming call to the corresponding real phone number is impossible, the routing processor 160 retries the routing sequentially according to the priority.

The telephone subscriber should access the virtual telephone number service system 10 through the wired / wireless communication network or the public switched telephone network to register the virtual telephone number in order to use the incoming service by the virtual telephone number. The description is as follows.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a virtual telephone number assignment method according to the present invention.

As a user who accesses the virtual telephone number service system through a wireless communication network, a wired communication network or a public telephone exchange network requests to allocate a virtual telephone number (S101), the user manager 140 of the virtual telephone number service system 10 Check whether the user is a legitimate user (S103). User authentication can be performed in conjunction with a telephone network that receives the name, resident registration number, actual telephone number, etc. from the user, the actual telephone number is registered, it can be omitted as necessary.

After the user authentication is completed, the virtual telephone number assignment unit 150 allocates a virtual telephone number to the corresponding user and stores it in the database (S105). Although the virtual telephone number can be arbitrarily generated, a desired number is input from the user. If the number entered is an available number, it is also possible to assign the number.

Thereafter, the user manager 140 requests the user to input a routing number, that is, an actual phone number (S107). When a routing number is input from the user, the user manager 140 matches the corresponding routing number to the virtual phone number and stores it in a database. Check whether the input of the number is completed (S109). When the input of the routing number is completed, that is, when there is no routing number to be input any more, it is notified that the virtual telephone number registration is completed (S111).

If there is a routing number to be input in step S109, the process proceeds to step S107 for requesting the input of the routing number and continues the subsequent procedure.

In this manner, a call reception process using the virtual phone number to a user who is assigned a virtual phone number and at least one actual phone number will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. In the following description, the calling terminal and the called terminal may be any one of a mobile communication terminal, a wired telephone terminal, and an Internet phone, and will be described by taking an example of calling through a representative telephone number.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a virtual telephone number service method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The virtual telephone number is supported by the virtual telephone number service system after accessing the virtual telephone number service system using a representative telephone number. To indicate the service method in the case of performing the call.

If the call is attempted from the originating terminal through the representative telephone number, the call attempt is transmitted to the calling exchange (S201). The calling exchange recognizes that the called number received from the calling terminal, that is, the representative telephone number, is the representative telephone number of the virtual telephone number service system (S203), and accesses the virtual telephone number service system (S205) to notify that the call has been received. .

Accordingly, the guidance message providing unit 170 of the virtual telephone number service system requests to input a virtual telephone number to be called by the calling terminal through the calling exchange (S207), and accordingly, the virtual telephone through the calling exchange. When the number is transmitted (S209, S211), the routing processing unit 160 of the virtual telephone number service system inquires the database 180 to query the actual telephone number matching the corresponding virtual telephone number (S213).

Then, the routing processing unit 160 requests the incoming call to the exchange of the telephone network that manages the actual phone number (S215), at this time transmits the calling terminal number, the actual phone number and the like.

The receiving side exchange receiving the incoming request checks the location information of the called terminal with reference to the actual telephone number and transmits a paging signal to the called terminal (S217). At this time, the destination exchange is paging by the incoming request from the virtual telephone number service system, it can notify the destination terminal. In addition, the called terminal receiving the paging signal may transmit a ring signal, display the outgoing telephone number, and also allow the called party to recognize the incoming call through the virtual telephone number (S219).

In the present embodiment, the caller described using the representative telephone number to access the virtual telephone number service system, and then perform the calling procedure according to the guidance of the virtual telephone number service system, but in order to simplify the calling procedure. It is also possible to perform the calling procedure without providing a comment, which will be described with reference to FIG. 5 as follows.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a virtual telephone number service method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

When an outgoing call is attempted by entering a called number including a representative phone number and a virtual phone number from the calling terminal, the calling attempt is transmitted to the calling exchange (S301). The calling side exchange checks the called number received from the calling terminal, determines that the call is coming to the virtual telephone number service system (S303), and requests the incoming call to the virtual telephone number service system (S305). At this time, the calling side exchange transmits the calling terminal number and the called number together to the virtual telephone number service system.

Accordingly, the routing processing unit 160 of the virtual telephone number service system extracts the virtual telephone number from the called number and inquires the database 180 to inquire the actual telephone number matching the corresponding virtual telephone number (S307). Then, the routing processing unit 160 requests the incoming call to the switchboard of the telephone network that manages the actual telephone number (S309), at this time transmits the calling terminal number, the actual telephone number and the like.

The receiving side exchange receiving the incoming request checks the location information of the called terminal with reference to the actual telephone number and transmits a paging signal to the called terminal (S311). At this time, the destination exchange is paging by the incoming request from the virtual telephone number service system, it can notify the destination terminal. In addition, the called terminal receiving the paging signal may transmit the ring signal and display the calling number at the same time, and also allow the called party to know that an incoming call through the virtual phone number has occurred (S313).

In this embodiment, by attempting to make a call by inputting a representative phone number and a virtual phone number together, it is possible to reduce the resources and time required for providing the announcement for receiving the virtual phone number, thereby enabling more effective call processing. .

On the other hand, the user of the virtual phone number service can register two or more real phone numbers according to the priorities when registering the virtual phone number, in this case, if the incoming call to the real phone number is not possible to route to other phone numbers, call connection It can improve the success rate.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a virtual telephone number service method according to another embodiment of the present invention. When two or more routing telephone numbers are registered, a routing change method when a call to a high priority telephone number is not possible. Indicates.

In this embodiment, the caller may attempt to make a direct call according to the announcement of the virtual telephone number service system as shown in FIG. 4 or without the announcement as shown in FIG. Assume that the system has performed up to the step of requesting an incoming call to the destination exchange A having the highest priority (S201 to S2115 and S301 to S313).

However, the exchange A receiving the incoming request informs the routing processing unit 160 of the virtual telephone number service system that the incoming call is impossible due to terminal power off, rejection, or internal error of the exchange (S401). 160 re-searches the database to look up the actual telephone number of the next priority (S403), and requests an incoming call to the exchange of the telephone network that manages the actual telephone number of the next priority (S405), where the calling terminal number and the actual Send your phone number.

The receiving side exchange receiving the incoming request checks the location information of the called terminal with reference to the actual telephone number and transmits a paging signal to the called terminal (S407). At this time, the destination exchange is paging by the incoming request from the virtual telephone number service system, it can notify the destination terminal. In addition, the called terminal receiving the paging signal may transmit the ring signal and display the outgoing telephone number, and also allow the called party to know that the incoming call has occurred through the virtual telephone number (S409).

This rerouting process may be performed sequentially according to the priority of the actual telephone number when the incoming call to the actual telephone number is impossible.

In the present invention, the virtual telephone number may be implemented by a combination of a corporation identification code (for example, two digits), a corporation internal identification code (for example, three digits), and an individual subscriber code (for example, four digits).

In addition, the virtual telephone number service system is a mobile communication network connected to both the Internet and the public telephone switching network, although it is also possible to perform direct routing when routing to an exchange that manages the telephone number by checking the actual telephone number. After performing the unconditional routing, it is also possible to perform the subsequent procedure in the mobile communication network.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. Therefore, the above-described embodiments are to be understood as illustrative in all respects and not as restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown by the following claims rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

According to the present invention, a telephone subscriber can easily talk to a caller during an emergency without exposing an actual telephone number. In addition, if a plurality of real phone numbers to be routed are registered in order of priority, even if a call with a high priority phone number is impossible, the incoming call can be retried at the next higher phone number, thereby improving the call connection success rate. have.

Claims (12)

A virtual telephone number service system connected to a mobile communication network, a public switched telephone network and the Internet, Control unit; Memory; interface; A user manager for performing authentication on a user who wants to use a virtual phone number service, receiving and storing at least one actual phone number from the user; A virtual telephone number assignment unit for allocating a virtual telephone number according to a user's request and matching and storing the virtual telephone number; And A routing processing unit for retrieving the actual telephone number matching the virtual telephone number and routing the incoming request signal to the corresponding telephone number as the incoming request signal and the virtual telephone number are received from the exchange of the calling communication network; Virtual telephone number service system comprising a. The method of claim 1, And the routing processing unit routes an incoming request signal to an exchange of a communication network managing the actual telephone number or routes an incoming request signal to the mobile communication network. The method of claim 1, The user management unit manages the at least two actual phone numbers in accordance with the priority, The routing processor performs routing to the real telephone number having the highest priority, and if the incoming call to the real telephone number having the highest priority is impossible, the routing processor sequentially re-routes according to the priority. Number service system. The method of claim 1, The virtual telephone number service system further includes a virtual line number providing unit for guiding a user who wants to use a virtual telephone number service or a guide line for guiding a caller with a virtual telephone number. Service system. A service method in a virtual telephone number service system for matching and storing a virtual telephone number with an actual telephone number, and routing a call received at the virtual telephone number to the actual telephone number. Assigning and storing a virtual telephone number to the user when a user accessing the virtual telephone number service system through a communication network requests to allocate a virtual telephone number; Receiving at least one actual telephone number from the user terminal; Matching and storing the actual telephone number and the virtual telephone number; And Notifying the user terminal that the virtual telephone number registration is completed; Virtual phone number service method comprising a. The method of claim 5, The allocating of the virtual telephone number may include generating the virtual telephone number arbitrarily or selecting a number according to the user's request. The method of claim 5, And before authenticating the virtual phone number to the user, authenticating whether the user is a legitimate user. A service method in a virtual telephone number service system for matching and storing a virtual telephone number with an actual telephone number and routing a call received at the virtual telephone number to the actual telephone number, wherein the virtual telephone number service system includes a representative telephone number. Has been granted, When the calling terminal attempts to make the call using the representative telephone number as the called number, the calling exchange confirms the called number and accesses the virtual telephone number service system; Requesting, by the virtual telephone number service system, to input a virtual telephone number to be connected to the calling terminal through the calling exchange; Retrieving, by the virtual telephone number service system, an actual telephone number matching the virtual telephone number as the virtual telephone number is transmitted through the calling exchange; And The virtual telephone number service system attempting to access the actual telephone number; Virtual phone number service method comprising a. A service method in a virtual telephone number service system for matching and storing a virtual telephone number with an actual telephone number and routing a call received at the virtual telephone number to the actual telephone number, wherein the virtual telephone number service system includes a representative telephone number. Is granted, When the calling terminal attempts to make a call using a combination of the representative phone number and the virtual phone number as a called number, the calling side exchange checking the called number and accessing the virtual telephone number service system; Extracting, by the virtual telephone number service system, a virtual telephone number included in the called number; Querying, by the virtual telephone number service system, an actual telephone number matching the virtual telephone number; And The virtual telephone number service system attempting to access the actual telephone number; Virtual phone number service method comprising a. The method according to claim 8 or 9, The virtual telephone number system attempting to access the actual telephone number is a step of requesting an incoming call by transmitting an outgoing telephone number and an actual telephone number to a called side exchange, The called side exchange checks the location information of the called terminal with reference to the actual telephone number and then transmits a paging signal to the called terminal. The method of claim 10, The step of transmitting the paging signal is a virtual telephone number service method, characterized in that notifying the destination terminal is a call by the virtual telephone number. The method according to claim 8 or 9, The virtual phone number service system stores at least two real phone numbers matching the virtual phone number according to priority. Retrieving the actual telephone number of the next priority after receiving an incoming call message from the exchange managing the actual telephone number after attempting to access the actual telephone number; And Attempting to connect to a called side exchange that manages the actual telephone number of the next priority; Virtual telephone number service method characterized in that to further perform.

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