WO2018116492A1

WO2018116492A1 - Group call system, call content providing method and program

Info

Publication number: WO2018116492A1
Application number: PCT/JP2017/010490
Authority: WO
Inventors: 一志村岡; 太一大辻; 洋明網中; 則夫山垣; 大金友; 孝司吉永
Original assignee: 日本電気株式会社
Priority date: 2016-12-22
Filing date: 2017-03-15
Publication date: 2018-06-28
Also published as: JP6870686B2; JPWO2018116492A1

Abstract

In order to enrich a knowledge sharing tool between a person belonging to a certain group and other persons, this group call system includes: a group management unit which manages a call group configured from terminals having a group call function; and a call control unit which controls a call between terminals belonging to the call group. The group management unit also receives, from another terminal, and manages a participation request as an interception member to which an utterance right is not given for the call group, and the call control unit performs a control for transmitting call content in the call group to the interception member.

Description

Group call system, call content providing method and program

(Description of related applications)
The present invention is based on the priority claim of US Provisional Application No. 62/437746 (filed on Dec. 22, 2016), the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. .
The present invention relates to a group call system, a call content providing method, and a program, and more particularly, to a group call system, a call content providing method, and a program for providing a call service for terminals belonging to a call group.

Patent Document 1 discloses an in-vehicle system that makes it possible to distinguish the position of another vehicle with which the vehicle is exchanging information from other vehicles. According to this document, in the navigation image 401 for guiding the user to travel, the other vehicle mark indicating the position of the other vehicle is displayed on the map together with the current position mark 412. At this time, when the own vehicle is participating only in the community A, the display of the other vehicle marks 413, 414, and 415 of the other vehicles participating in the community A is emphasized compared to the other vehicle marks of the other vehicles. It is described to do. In addition, it is described that the painting pattern (gray) of the other vehicle marks 413, 414, and 415 participating in the community A is different from that of the other vehicles (a).

Patent Document 2 discloses an inter-terminal call status sharing system device capable of sharing specific information related to a sense of connection among many people. According to the document, this system apparatus includes a GPS function unit 23 that measures the position of the terminal, a touch panel 24 that displays a map including the terminal position, a voice control unit 25 that acquires a speech state related to a voice call, Characterized by each data, a data control unit 26 that notifies each terminal location and utterance state data to the terminal management center 3, a call status management unit 32 that notifies each of the data to a plurality of call status sharing terminals 2. Based on the line segment calculation unit 33 for notifying data related to inter-vehicle line segments to the plurality of call status sharing terminals 2, and the respective data regarding the terminal position, utterance state, and inter-vehicle line segments, It is assumed that a display conversion unit 27 that superimposes and displays a line segment between vehicles that extends between icons on a map displayed on the touch panel 24 is provided.

Patent Document 3 discloses a position information sharing system that can improve usability for group members and group managers. According to this document, a plurality of visitors who enter the theme park 600 each have a portable terminal 100 capable of positioning, and a portable terminal 100 that is positioned at a predetermined time interval with the owner of the portable terminal 100. It is described that the position information sharing system is configured by the server apparatus 400 that manages the location of each location in association with each other. Then, the server device 400 sets a group to which the owner of the mobile terminal 100 should belong, manages its members for each set group, and stores the location information of each mobile terminal 100 of the same group member for each of the same group members. It is described that the data is transmitted to the mobile terminal 100. And it is described that the portable terminal 100 displays the received location of the portable terminal 100 of the same group member on one map.

As communication tools between groups, in addition to those using wireless devices and transceivers, services such as PTT (Push To Talk) and PoC (Push-to-Talk over Cellular) are known. In recent years, applications for group calls for smartphones have also been provided.

JP 2004-343399 A Japanese Patent No. 4012113 JP 2006-276380 A

The following analysis is given by the present invention. In general, it is desirable that the content of the call in the above-described inter-group call service is not intercepted by a third party. However, from the viewpoint of information sharing, it may be possible to let only a specific third party hear the content of the call. For example, letting a third party or an expert hear the contents of a call in a specific group, obtaining cooperation from the third party or an expert, or promoting cooperation with another group to which the third party belongs Can be considered. For example, in the case where a plurality of teams are in charge of their respective areas for security, a suspicious person who appears in one area may move to an area under the jurisdiction of another team. In this case, it is possible to provide linked security such as going ahead and preparing equipment by letting the security staff in another area hear the content of the call between the security staff in the area where the suspicious person was first discovered. Become. It is possible that some knowledge about the future countermeasures can be obtained by first letting the experts talk about the suspicious person.

In addition, it is considered that such sharing of call contents can be applied to search for unknown persons, rescue victims, and support activities at disaster sites. It can also be applied to the distribution of conversations and conversation contents in a group to unspecified users.

The object of the present invention is to provide a group call system, a call content providing method, and a program that can contribute to the enrichment of knowledge sharing tools between a person belonging to a certain group and others.

According to a first aspect, a group call system including a group management unit that manages a call group composed of terminals having a group call function, and a call control unit that controls a call between terminals belonging to the call group. Is provided. The group management unit of the group call system further receives and manages a participation request from another terminal as an intercept member who is not given the right to speak to the call group. In addition, the call control unit of the group call system performs control to transmit call contents in the call group to the intercept member.

According to a second aspect, a group call system including a group management unit that manages a call group composed of terminals having a group call function, and a call control unit that controls a call between terminals belonging to the call group. The group management unit further accepts and manages a participation request as an intercept member from which no speaking right is given to the call group from another terminal, and the intercept member There is provided a call content providing method for notifying participation and causing the intercept member to perform control to transmit the call content in the call group. The method is associated with a specific machine called a group call system including a group management unit and a call control unit.

According to the third aspect, a computer program for realizing the functions constituting the group call system described above is provided. This program can be recorded on a computer-readable (non-transient) storage medium. That is, the present invention can be embodied as a computer program product.

According to the present invention, it is possible to contribute to the enrichment of knowledge sharing tools between a person belonging to a certain group and other persons.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the operation | movement of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the operation | movement of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the terminal of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the group management server of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the group information which the group management server of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention hold | maintains. It is a flowchart showing operation | movement of the terminal of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display information displayed on the display of the terminal of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart showing operation | movement (group management) of the group management server of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the group information which the group management server of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention hold | maintains. It is a flowchart showing operation | movement (display information creation) of the group management server of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the change of the display information displayed on the display of the terminal of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart showing operation | movement of the call control server of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram showing the whole operation | movement of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display information produced by the group management server of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the change of the display information produced by the group management server of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the call content selection screen provided by the call content provision server of the 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the group call system which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the group call system which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the terminal which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the terminal management server which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the terminal management server which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the terminal which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the user interface with which the terminal which concerns on one Embodiment is provided. It is a block diagram which illustrates the composition of the information processor concerning one embodiment.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the drawing reference numerals attached to the drawings referred to in the following embodiment are added for convenience to each element as an example for facilitating understanding, and are not intended to limit the present invention to the illustrated embodiment. Absent. In addition, connection lines between blocks such as drawings referred to in the following description include both bidirectional and unidirectional directions. The unidirectional arrow schematically shows the main signal (data) flow and does not exclude bidirectionality.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a call between a group management unit 11A for managing a call group composed of terminals 20a to 20c having a group call function and terminals belonging to the call group This can be realized by a group call system 10A including a call control unit 12A for controlling the call.

The group management unit 11A of this group call system further receives and manages a participation request from another terminal (20d in FIG. 2) as an eavesdropping member who is not given the right to speak to the call group. And call control part 12A performs control which transmits the contents of a call in the call group to the intercept member.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the terminal 20d requests the group management unit 11A to participate as an eavesdropping member who is not given the right to speak to the call group, the group management unit 11A receives the terminals 20a to 20c. The terminal 20d is added as an intercept member of the group constituted by

Thereafter, the call control unit 12A performs control to transmit the call contents in the call group to the terminal 20d that has become an intercept member (see the arrow line from the group call system 10A to the terminal 20d in FIG. 2).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a third party can be allowed to participate as an intercept member who is not given the right to speak in a certain call group. A third party can hear the contents of the intercepted call and know the status and state of the members belonging to the call group. For example, a member of a team (platoon) guarding another floor joins a call group constituted by terminals of members of a team (platoon) guarding a specific floor of a certain facility as an intercept member. This enables coordinated security on the upper and lower floors of the specific floor. Further, according to the present embodiment, since the intercept member is not given the right to speak, the command system of the call group is not disturbed when the intercept member speaks.

Although omitted in the above description, it is preferable that the group management unit 11A performs user authentication as to whether or not the other terminal is qualified to participate as an intercept member. As this user authentication, a method of confirming the relationship between the other terminal or its owner and the call group to join can be considered. As another method, the group management unit 11A makes an inquiry to the members of the call group that is going to participate, and participates as an intercept member when, for example, the call group manager or a predetermined number of approvals are obtained. You can take the way to admit. These conditions may be retained by the group management unit 11A as call group condition information.

[Second Embodiment]
The present invention can be realized without providing a special member as an intercept member. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a group call system according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the group call system 10B includes a group management unit 11A that manages a call group composed of terminals 20a to 20c having a group call function and a call that controls a call between terminals belonging to the call group. A control unit 12A and a call content recording unit 13A are provided.

The call content recording unit 13A of this group call system records the call content in each call group for a predetermined period. Then, the call content playback unit 14A plays back the previous call content in response to a request from a terminal belonging to the call group (see the arrow line from the group call system 10B to the terminal 20d in FIG. 4).

As described above, even with the configuration of the present embodiment, it is possible to let the third party holding the other terminal hear the utterance content of a certain call group. A third party can hear the contents of a call before a predetermined time and know the status and state of members belonging to the call group. For example, a member of a team (platoon) that guards a specific floor of a facility can indirectly learn about the occurrence of an incident by listening to a conversation made by a member of another team (platoon) that guards another floor. It becomes possible. Also in this embodiment, since the right to speak is not given to other terminals, the command system of the call group is not disturbed.

Of course, it is possible to combine the first embodiment and the second embodiment. In this case, the user of the other terminal can hear the real-time utterance content as an intercept member, and can hear the past call content.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, based on the first embodiment, a third embodiment in which a user interface for selecting a group to participate as an intercept member is devised will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, a plurality of terminals 1-1 to 1-4 (hereinafter referred to as “terminal 1” unless the terminals are particularly distinguished), a group management server 2a, and a call control server 3a are connected via a network. Connected configurations are shown. It is assumed that the terminal 1, the group management server 2a, and the call control server 3a are connected to the network by either wireless or wired.

The terminal 1 is a terminal such as a smartphone or a feature phone having a group call function. The terminal 1 according to the present embodiment identifies its own terminal ID to the group management server 2a (hereinafter, an identifier (Identifier) for uniquely identifying the same type is referred to as “ID” in the present specification), Send terminal-related information. The terminal-related information includes the current call state, the other party (group ID in the case of group communication), information (member name, title, affiliation) regarding the member who owns the terminal, position information, and the like. In the following description, it is assumed that the terminals 1-2 to 1-4 constitute the call group 4, and the terminal 1-1 does not belong to the call group 4.

The group management server 2a manages a call group based on information received from the terminal. Accordingly, the group management server 2a includes a terminal position information acquisition unit that acquires terminal position information. In addition, the group management server 2a associates and holds arbitrary information among the ID of the terminal 1, the call state, the position information, or information (name, title, affiliation) regarding the member possessing the terminal 1. Of these managed terminal information, the group management server 2a creates display information (terminal related information such as terminal position information and call state) to be displayed on each terminal and transmits it to the terminal 1.

The call control server 3a provides a voice call service between call groups based on the group information managed by the group management server 2a. As such a call control server 3a, a PTT that provides a call service in a form that gives a right to speak on a first-come-first-served basis by pressing a button such as Push-To-Talk (PTT) using SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). A device corresponding to a server can be used. In the case of PTT, for example, a voice packet transmitted from the terminal 1-2 is transmitted to the call control server 3a as a destination. The call control server 3a transfers the voice packet with the IP address of the terminal included in the call group 4 as the destination. At this time, when the call group 4 includes an intercept member, the call control server 3a of the present embodiment also transmits a voice packet to the IP addresses registered as these intercept members.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the terminal according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the example of FIG. 6, the terminal 1 includes a user input determination unit 101, a call group participation processing unit 102, a display display control unit 103, a communication unit 104, a location information acquisition unit 105, and a call state determination unit 106. A terminal-related information storage unit 107.

The location information acquisition unit 105 acquires the location information of the terminal 1 using GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like and registers it in the terminal related information storage unit 107. The call state determination unit 106 determines the call state of the own device and registers it in the terminal related information storage unit 107.

The communication unit 104 receives from the group management server 2a display information including terminal related information such as location information and call status of terminals belonging to the group, and stores them in the terminal related information storage unit 107. In addition, the communication unit 104 transmits the position information of the own device and the call state registered in the terminal related information storage unit 107 to the group management server 2a. Moreover, the communication part 104 transmits a participation request | requirement to a group management server 2a as a participation request to a group, or an intercept member to a group.

The display display control unit 103 reads out the terminals belonging to each group and their positions and call states from the terminal related information storage unit 107 at a timing such as update of the terminal related information in the terminal related information storage unit 107 or a predetermined cycle. Presented to the user (see FIG. 10). For example, the terminal 1 displays a map on the display, and displays an icon of each terminal at a position corresponding to each terminal on the map. The display display control unit 103 may display arbitrary information among the information managed by the terminal management server 2 together with the icon and the call state of the terminal.

The user input determination unit 101 accepts a participation request as a group participation request or an intercept member from a user who refers to information displayed by the display display control unit 103.

The call group participation processing unit 102 transmits a participation request to the group or an interception request to the group management server 2a via the communication unit 104 based on the contents input from the user input determination unit 101.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the group management server 2a according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the example of FIG. 7, the group management server 2a includes a group management unit 201, a communication unit 202, a group information storage unit 203, and a display information creation unit 204.

The group management unit 201 provides the call control server 3a with the group registered in the group information storage unit 203 and the IP address and user type (usually interception) of members belonging to the group. In addition, the group management unit 201 receives and processes a call group creation request, participation in the call group, and withdrawal request from the call group from the terminal 1 via the communication unit 202. In addition, the participation request to the call group and the withdrawal request from the call group include a participation request as an intercept member and a withdrawal request.

When the communication unit 202 receives a request for creating a call group, participation in the call group, and a request for withdrawal from the call group, the communication unit 202 sends the request to the group management unit 201. The communication unit 202 transmits a response to the request for creating the call group from the group management unit 201, participation in the call group, and a request for withdrawal from the call group to the terminal 1. Further, the communication unit 202 receives the terminal related information from the terminal 1 and updates the entry of the corresponding terminal in the group information storage unit 203. The communication unit 202 transmits information to be displayed on each terminal created by the display information creation unit 204 to the terminal 1.

The group information storage unit 203 manages a call group configured by the terminal 1. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of group information held by the group management server according to the third embodiment of this invention. In the example of FIG. 8, for each group specified by the group ID, the terminal to which it belongs, its IP address, member type, position, state, and the like are stored in association with each other. Of course, the example of FIG. 8 is merely an example, and for example, information on the call group and information on the position and state of the terminal may be managed in different tables.

The display information creation unit 204 reads information about the group from the group information storage unit 203 at a predetermined opportunity, creates information to be displayed on the terminal, and transmits the information to each terminal 1 via the communication unit 202.

Subsequently, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, the operation of the terminal 1 will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the terminal 1 of this embodiment. Referring to FIG. 9, the terminal 1 notifies the group management server 2a of the terminal ID and the terminal related information (step S001).

Further, when display information is received from the group management server 2a independently of the transmission operation of the terminal ID and the terminal related information (step S002), the terminal 1 displays a map on the display, and further performs group management. The terminal information (icon and supplementary information) received from the server 2a is plotted (step S003).

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of information displayed on the display of the terminal 1 in step S003. In the example of FIG. 10, it is shown that the terminals 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4 belong to the call group 0001 and are in a call. It can also be seen that the terminal 1-1 does not belong to this call group.

Again, referring to FIG. 9, the operation of the terminal 1 will be described. With reference to the information as shown in FIG. 10, the user of the terminal 1 receives an operation for requesting participation as an intercept member. For example, in the example of FIG. 9, the determination is made based on whether or not an icon of a terminal belonging to a call group that the user wants to join as an intercept member is pressed on the display (step S004). Here, when the user of the terminal 1 presses the icon of another terminal (YES in step S004), the terminal 1 transmits its own terminal ID and IP address to the group management server 2a and requests participation as an intercept member. (Step S005).

Although omitted in the above description, the user of the terminal 1 may be able to request participation as a normal member who has the right to speak in the call group. In addition, whether the request for participation as a normal member or the request for participation as an intercept member is not selected on the terminal 1 side, but is determined on the group management server 2a side with reference to terminal attributes and user authority. Also good.

Next, the operation of the group management server 2a will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the group management server 2a of this embodiment. FIG. 11 (1) shows the operation of the group management server 2a when a call group creation request is received from the terminal 1 having the call group creation authority. As shown in (1) of FIG. 11, when receiving the call group creation request, the group management server 2a creates the call group 4 with the designated members (step S100-1). Thereafter, the information of the created call group 4 is provided to the call control server 3a, and calls between groups can be made.

(2) in FIG. 11 shows the operation of the group management server 2a when a request to join a call group is accepted. As shown in (2) of FIG. 11, upon accepting the participation process (participation request) to the call group, the group management server 2a adds the participation request source terminal as a member of the designated call group ( Step S100-2). For example, when the terminal 1-1 is allowed to participate as an eavesdropping member, the information on the terminal 1-1 is added to the group information as shown in FIG. Thereafter, the updated information on the call group 4 is provided to the call control server 3a, and the provision of the call contents to the terminal 1-1 is started.

(3) in FIG. 11 shows the operation of the group management server 2a when a withdrawal request to the call group is accepted. As shown in (3) of FIG. 11, when the withdrawal processing (withdrawal request) to the call group is accepted, the group management server 2a deletes the withdrawal request source terminal from the designated call group (step S100). -3). For example, when there is a withdrawal request from the terminal 1-1, the group management server 2a deletes the information on the terminal 1-1 from the group information. Thereafter, the call contents are not transmitted to the terminal 1-1.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing processing for creating a display screen for terminals in the group management server 2a. As shown in FIG. 13, the group management server 2a checks whether there is a change in the display information of the call group to be managed (step S101). The change in display information is, for example, a change in items displayed on the terminal side among items managed by the group information in FIG.

When there is a change in the display information of the call group to be managed, the group management server 2a creates display information for displaying a screen representing the members of the call group on the map on the terminal as shown in FIG. And transmitted to the terminal 1 (step S103).

Further, even when there is no change in the display information of the call group to be managed in the determination in step S101, the group management server 2a checks whether or not a predetermined update time has elapsed (step S102). Even when there is no change in the display information of the call group to be managed, the group management server 2a creates display information at a predetermined time interval and transmits it to the terminal 1 (step S103).

As described above, the group management server 2a transmits information related to the state of the call group to the terminal 1 to share the state of other members among the members of the call group, to join the call group to non-members, etc. The action for prompting is performed. Even when it is determined that display information is to be transmitted, it is not necessary to transmit all display information. For example, if it is determined as YES in step S101, only the data of the item in which the change has occurred may be sent. Also, if it is determined as YES in step S102, it is not necessary to transmit the same data every time, and thinning may be performed as appropriate. Further, even when a change occurs, transmission of display information may be omitted. For example, when the change in the position of the member is less than a predetermined threshold, the group management server 2a may suppress transmission of display information triggered by the change in the position information.

FIG. 14 shows a state in which the user of the terminal 1-1 who refers to the screen shown in FIG. 10 requests the group 0001 to participate as an intercept member and participates. The difference from FIG. 10 is that a character indicating the state of the terminal 1-1 “group 0001 intercepted” is added below the terminal 1-1, and the terminals 1-2 to 1-4 are connected to the terminal. This is a point where an arrow line in one direction toward 1-1 is added. On the other hand, the arrow line between the terminals 1-2 to 1-4 is a bidirectional arrow line. This indicates that the terminals 1-2 to 1-4 are members (normal members) who can speak to the call group. On the other hand, since the arrow line toward the terminal 1-1 is unidirectional, it can be seen that the member (intercept member) is not given the right to speak to the call group. Thus, it is also effective to represent the difference between members by arrows. In the example of FIG. 14, the same icon is used for the terminal 1-1 and the terminals 1-2 to 1-4. However, the color (shading), size, etc. of the icon is different between the normal member and the intercepting member. The display mode may be changed.

Next, the operation of the call control server 3a will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation of the call control server 3a of this embodiment. As shown in (1) of FIG. 15, when the call control server 3a receives a voice packet from the terminal 1 to the call group 4, the call control server 3a refers to the IP address provided from the group management server 2a to Transfer to the terminal to which it belongs (step S200-1). At this time, if the terminal 1-1 has already joined the call group with the call group ID 0001 as an eavesdropping member, voice packets sent from the terminals 1-2 to 1-4 are also delivered to the terminal 1-1. become.

Here, with reference to FIG. 16, a series of operations of the terminal 1, the group management server 2a, and the call control server 3a will be described. First, in the initial state, it is assumed that the terminals 1-2 to 1-4 participate in the call group and the terminal 1-1 does not participate in this call group. As described in step S001 of FIG. 9, the terminals 1-2 to 1-4 transmit the terminal ID and the terminal related information to the group management server 2a (step S301).

The group management server 2a creates display information based on the received terminal ID and terminal related information, and transmits it to the terminals 1-1 to 1-4 (step S302). The transmission of display information from the group management server 2a to the terminal 1-1 may be triggered by, for example, the terminal 1-1 accessing the group management server 2a and requesting information regarding the call group.

As shown in FIG. 10, each terminal including the terminal 1-1 that has received the display information displays a map on the display, and the terminal information (icon and supplementary information) received from the group management server 2a is displayed on the map. Plot.

Further, the call control server 3a transmits voice packets from the terminals belonging to the call group to other terminals based on the group information provided from the group management server 2a (step S303). At this time, since the terminal 1-1 is not participating in the call group, the call control server 3a does not transmit a voice packet to the terminal 1-1.

Here, when the user of the terminal 1-1 depresses (clicks) an icon of another terminal on the display, the terminal 1-1 accepts a participation request as an intercept member of the call group to which the other terminal belongs ( Step S304). Specifically, the terminal 1-1 notifies the group management server 2a of the terminal ID and the IP address and requests participation as an intercept member (step S305).

The group management server 2a confirms whether or not the terminal 1-1 has the qualification to become a call group interception member, and then adds the terminal 1-1 as the designated call group interception member ( Step S306). The group management server 2a notifies the call control server 3a that the terminal 1-1 has been added as an intercept member of the designated call group (step S307; call group information provision).

Thereafter, the call control server 3a transmits voice packets from the terminals belonging to the call group to other terminals based on the group information provided from the group management server 2a (step S308). At this time, since the terminal 1-1 is participating in the call group, the call control server 3a also transmits a voice packet to the terminal 1-1.

Thereafter, the user of the terminal 1-1 can intercept the call contents exchanged in the call group composed of the terminals 1-2 to 1-4.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, selection of a call group to participate in is facilitated. The reason for this is that a map-type user interface is adopted, and by clicking a terminal icon on the map, the conversation of the call group to which the terminal corresponding to the terminal icon belongs can be intercepted.

In the example of FIGS. 10 and 14, an example in which only one call group is displayed has been described. However, the presence of a plurality of call groups and their respective states may be presented to the user. In this case, a color may be set for each call group. Thereby, the user can easily recognize the terminals belonging to the call group. Further, the size of the terminal icon corresponding to the terminal participating in the call group may be made larger than that of other terminals. As a result, the user can easily recognize which terminal is participating in the call group. When there are many call groups, the group management server 2a may display a suitable search screen on the terminal 1 and provide a user interface for presenting call groups that meet the conditions input by the user.

Further, in FIG. 10 and FIG. 14, the utterer who has transmitted the voice packet may be identified on the terminal side. For example, in conjunction with the operation in which the call control server 3a receives a voice packet from a certain terminal and transfers it to a destination included in the call group 4, the group management server sends the IP address of the transmission source (speaker). Or a user identifier such as an ID may be displayed. As a display mode at that time, a display such as “call”, a blinking terminal icon, or the like can be considered. As a result, the user who listens to the voice can more correctly understand which terminal is talking and the content of the call.

Further, when there are a large number of call groups and terminals to be managed, the arrow lines between the terminal icons shown in FIGS. 10 and 14 may be omitted. In this case, for example, when the user performs a selection operation of a certain terminal, it is possible to perform a modification in which a call group in which the terminal participates is displayed with an arrow line.

The third embodiment of the present invention as described above is more effective when guarding a large-scale facility by being divided into a plurality of teams, for example. For example, each team member holds a terminal and receives an instruction from a commander or a leader using a group call function. Normally, no other team members belong to this team, so they will not join the calling member. However, according to the present embodiment, members of other teams can intercept the content of calls of other teams guarding their own area by referring to the map-like user interface as shown in FIG. Is possible. Thus, it becomes possible for two or more teams to implement coordinated security by sharing each other's security status.

Although omitted in the above description, when a normal member or an intercept member is added, the group management server 2a notifies the terminal 1 belonging to the call group that the member has joined the group. Also good. As a result, a member belonging to the call group can speak while considering the additional member. In addition, the member addition notification may be changed according to the attribute of the user. For example, the call group manager may be notified, and other members may not be notified. As a notification method, in addition to the method of displaying on the display, a vibration function or a ring tone output function of the terminal may be used.

Also, for each call group, it may be possible to set whether or not a normal member can be accepted and whether or not an intercept member can be accepted. When the group management server 2a receives participation in a call group set to reject acceptance of an intercept member, the group management server 2a rejects a request from the terminal. In addition, as a condition for accepting or rejecting a call group, it is also possible to use approval from an administrator or member, attributes of each member (affiliation, class, role, etc.), and positional relationship of terminals. . For example, the acceptance condition for the eavesdropping member may be that the terminal is within a predetermined distance from a terminal belonging to the call group.

Also, when a normal member or an intercept member leaves the call group, it may be notified to terminals belonging to the call group as in the case of adding the member. Contrary to the case of joining the call group, when the terminal of an intercept member of a certain call group is separated from the other terminal of the call group by a predetermined distance or more, the group management server 2a May be performed to forcibly leave the call group.

In the third embodiment described above, the group management server 2a and the call control server 3a have been described as being arranged independently of each other. However, a configuration in which both functions are arranged in one server can also be adopted. It is.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, a fourth embodiment in which a change is made to the user interface of the above-described third embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Since the configuration and operation of the fourth embodiment are basically the same as those of the third embodiment, the differences will be mainly described below.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of display information created by the group management server according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 17, a list of two units constituting the call group and their members is shown. The thick lines (segments) with terminals shown as call groups 4-1 and 4-2 in FIG. 17 indicate that calls are being made in these call groups.

In the screen of FIG. 17, when a user of a certain terminal (for example, commander aaaaaa of unit 2) presses (clicks) the display of the commander or member of unit 1 or each terminal icon, the user (for example, unit 2). The terminal 1 of the commander aaaaaa) sends the ID and IP address of the terminal to the group management server 2a, and requests participation in the unit 1 as an intercept member.

Subsequent operations are the same as those in the third embodiment, and the group management server 2a sends the call control server 3a an intercept member of the designated call group 4-1 to the user (for example, command of the unit 2). Notification that the terminal 1 of the official aaaaaa) has been added.

Thereafter, the call control server 3a transmits voice packets from terminals belonging to the call group 4-1 to other terminals based on the group information provided from the group management server 2a. Further, in this case, as shown in FIG. 18, each terminal displays that the commander aaaaaa of unit 2 is listening to the conversation of the call group (call group 4-1) to which the intercept member has been added. May be.

As described above, also in this embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the selection of a call group to participate in is facilitated. The reason is that the user interface in the organization chart format is adopted, and by clicking on the elements and terminal icons on the organization chart, the conversation of the call group to which the terminal corresponding to the terminal icon belongs can be intercepted. is there.

The present embodiment can also be variously modified. For example, in the thick lines (line segments) with terminals shown as the call groups 4-1 and 4-2 in FIG. 17, the speaker's terminal icon is blinked to facilitate confirmation of the speaker. Moreover, although the organization chart is used in the examples of FIGS. 17 and 18, it is also possible to use a name list that lists members and potential members.

Also, as in the third embodiment, it is also useful to provide information regarding the position to the user. For example, the terminal user may sort and display the members and call groups in the order closer to the user based on the position information of each terminal so that the terminal user can grasp the call groups and members close to the terminal user. At that time, the user may be able to select rearrangement in units of terminals or rearrangement in units of call groups. In the case of rearrangement in units of call groups, it is necessary to determine the representative position of the call group for calculation. The representative positions include the position of the call group manager, the position of the terminal nearest to the call group members, the average value (center of gravity) from the origin of all call group positions, and the call group members. The position of the member whose average distance to the other members is the shortest (corresponding to the most dense position) can be considered.

[Fifth Embodiment]
Next, a fifth embodiment in which the function of reproducing past call contents is based on the configuration of the third and fourth embodiments will be described. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the configuration of the fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the third embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is that a call content providing server 6 for recording the call content in the call group for a predetermined period is added.

The call content providing server 6 receives voice packets from each call group via the call control server 3a and stores them for a predetermined period. Further, the call content providing server 6 receives a voice reproduction request from the terminal 1 via the group management server 2a, and provides voice information based on the stored voice packet to the requesting terminal 1.

More specifically, the call content providing server 6 receives the voice information included in the voice packet sent from each call group from the call control server 3a and manages it for each call group. It is assumed that the voice information management form in this embodiment is a collection of voices from a plurality of speakers in time series. For example, the audio file may be a single file. Alternatively, the voice may be converted into text using voice recognition, and the voice information may be converted into a text file by voice recognition. In addition to the voice data compiled in time series, data for each speaker may be created.

When receiving a request for reproducing the call content of the call group from the terminal 1 via the group management server 2a, the call content providing server 6 transmits a voice information selection screen to the requesting terminal 1. As a mode in which the group management server 2a accepts a request to reproduce the past call contents of the call group, for example, an arbitrary call group is selected from FIG. 10, FIG. 14, FIG. 17, and FIG. A form of calling the “call playback” function is conceivable. Of course, a mode in which the terminal 1 directly accesses the call content providing server 6 and confirms whether the terminal 1 is a normal member or an intercept member of the call group requested by the terminal 1 may be adopted. .

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a call content selection screen provided by the call content providing server. The terminal 1 can listen to the voice by designating the time with the voice progress bar of each group displayed in FIG. In the case of FIG. 20, the relative time with the current time set to 0:00 is displayed below the progress bar. The call content providing server 6 reproduces the current voice when 0:00 is designated by the progress bar. Then, when a negative relative time is designated, the call content providing server 6 uses the audio information file to reproduce the audio at the corresponding time that goes back from the current time.

According to the fifth embodiment of the present invention as described above, it becomes possible to share the contents of past calls of an arbitrary call group. Thereby, for example, after a call group is created, a user who joins a call group that has already transitioned to a plurality of topics can follow a new topic.

In the above-described embodiment, the call content providing server 6 has been described as receiving an instruction from the terminal 1 using the call content selection screen. However, the call content providing server 6 and voices from a plurality of speakers are combined. It is good also as transmitting the audio | voice file put together and the text file made into text. Thereafter, the user of the terminal 1 may play back with the audio file playback application of the terminal 1 or browse the text.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and further modifications, substitutions, and adjustments are possible without departing from the basic technical idea of the present invention. Can be added. For example, the network configuration, the configuration of each element, the expression form of the information element, and the like shown in each drawing are examples for helping understanding of the present invention, and are not limited to the configuration shown in these drawings.

Finally, a preferred form of the invention is summarized.
[First embodiment]
(Refer to the group call system from the first point of view)
[Second form]
The group manager of the group call system described above
When the participation of the eavesdropping member for an arbitrary call group is accepted, it is preferable to notify the terminals belonging to the call group that the participation of the eavesdropping member has been accepted.
[Third embodiment]
The group manager of the group call system described above
For each call group, hold setting information as to whether or not to allow participation of the intercept member,
It is preferable to refuse participation in a call group that does not allow the interception member to participate.
[Fourth form]
The group manager of the group call system described above
For each call group, holding condition information on whether or not to allow participation of the intercept member,
It is preferable to refuse participation as the intercept member from a person who does not satisfy the condition.
[Fifth embodiment]
The above group call system
A terminal location information acquisition unit that acquires terminal location information is provided.
The group management unit manages the position of terminals belonging to the group, and participates as an intercept member depending on whether the position of the other terminal is within a predetermined distance from the terminals belonging to the call group. A configuration for deciding whether or not to accept can be adopted.
[Sixth embodiment]
The group manager of the group call system described above
Participation can be accepted as the eavesdropping member using a screen showing the positions of the terminals belonging to the call group on the map.
[Seventh form]
The group manager of the group call system described above
Participation can be accepted as the intercept member using a screen listing users of terminals belonging to the call group.
[Eighth form]
The above group call system
Furthermore, a call content recording unit for recording a call content in each call group for a predetermined period;
In response to a request from another terminal, it is possible to adopt a configuration including a call content reproduction unit that reproduces the past call content.
[Ninth Embodiment]
The group call system
A group management unit for managing a call group composed of terminals having a group call function;
A call control unit for controlling a call between terminals belonging to the call group;
A call content recording unit for recording a call content in each call group for a predetermined period;
In response to a request from another terminal, it is possible to adopt a configuration including a call content reproduction unit that reproduces the past call content.
[Tenth embodiment]
(Refer to the method for providing call contents from the second viewpoint.)
[Eleventh form]
(Refer to the program from the third viewpoint)
The tenth to eleventh embodiments can be developed into the second to ninth embodiments as in the first embodiment.

In the present disclosure, the following modes are also possible.

Solution The terminal displays icons of its own terminal and other terminals on the display, and displays the call state of the terminal together with the icons.
When the user presses an icon of another terminal displayed on the terminal display, a process of transferring a voice packet of the other terminal to the terminal is performed.
In particular, as a process of transferring a voice packet, a process of adding the terminal as a member to the call group to which the terminal of the pressed icon belongs is performed. By becoming a member, voice packets are transferred.
With the above configuration, security personnel can easily listen to the voice instructions of other units, and take actions that take into account the security status of other units, thereby enhancing security and improving efficiency. realizable.

The system of the present invention (see FIG. 21 and subsequent figures) includes the following elements.
Terminal 1 (1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4) has its own terminal ID as well as terminal related information (current call status, call partner (group ID in case of group communication), Information (name, title, affiliation) or position information) regarding the member possessing the terminal is transmitted to the terminal management server 2.
The terminal management server 2 associates and holds arbitrary information among the terminal ID, the call state, the position information, or information (name, title, affiliation) regarding the member who owns the terminal 1. It also manages call groups. The voice call format may be Push-To-Talk (PTT). In the case of PTT, for example, a voice packet transmitted from the terminal 1-2 is transmitted with the terminal management server 2 as the destination, and the terminal management server 2 uses the IP address of the terminal included in the call group 4 as the destination. Forward the packet.
The terminal management server 2 notifies the terminal 1 of display information to be displayed on each terminal (terminal related information such as terminal position information and call state) among the managed terminal information.
The call control server 3 corresponds to a SIP server and manages the telephone number and IP address of the terminal 1 in association with each other. The call control server 3 passes the IP address corresponding to the telephone number to the terminal management server 2. As a result, the terminal management server 2 can manage the call group based on the IP address.
The terminal 1 displays the icon of each terminal on the map at a corresponding location on the display, and displays arbitrary information among the information managed by the terminal management server 2 together with the icon and the call state of the terminal.
When the icon of the other terminal 1 (1-2, 1-3, 1-4) displayed on the display of the terminal 1 (1-1) is pressed, the voice packet of the other terminal is transferred to the terminal 1 Processing is performed. When the current call is a group communication, the terminal management server 2 performs a process of joining the terminal 1-1 to the call group 4 that is in a call.
The terminal 1, the terminal management server 2, and the call control server 3 are connected by either wireless communication or wired communication.

Supplement When the call group join processing unit performs the join process for the existing call group 4, it is not only added as a normal member that can make a voice call from the terminal, but the call cannot be made and only the reception is possible. A mode of possible intercept members may be provided. By using an intercept member, members of another unit cannot enter during the instruction of the unit, and the security work can be performed without confusing the site.
When a normal member or an intercept member is added, a mechanism may be provided for notifying or displaying the joining of a group to a terminal that has already joined the call group 4. The group that is making a call can select the content of the call in accordance with the addition of a new member. The presence or absence of notification or display of group participation may be different for the commander's terminal or the normal member's terminal. As a notification method, in addition to the method of displaying on the display, a specific vibration may be generated for the member terminal. When displaying a normal member or an intercept member, the color (shading) of the icon may be distinguished so that the member type can be confirmed.
For each call group, it may be possible to set whether or not a normal member can be accepted and whether or not an intercept member can be accepted. For example, in a call group between commanders, both normal members and intercept members may not be accepted as normal members. You may enable it to set reception of a normal member and an intercept member for every member, every organization, and every position (for example, person within a fixed distance).
When a normal member or an intercept member leaves the call group, notification or display may be performed in the same manner as when joining the group.

In addition, the following modifications can be made in FIG.
-A color may be set for each call group. The user can easily recognize the terminals belonging to the call group.
-A terminal participating in a call group may increase the size of the terminal icon. The user can easily recognize which terminal is participating in the call group.
-You may enable it to identify the speaker who transmitted the voice packet with the terminal which receives the voice packet. For example, when the terminal management server 2 receives a voice packet from the terminal 1 and transfers it to a destination included in the call group 4, the terminal management server 2 includes a user identifier such as an IP address or ID of the transmission source (speaker). May be. Thereby, the terminal which received the voice packet can determine which terminal is speaking. On the display, a display such as “call” or a terminal icon may be blinked so that the speaker can be identified. This helps a user who listens to the voice to understand the content of the call more correctly.
-The arrow between the terminal icons indicates that you are in the same call group. However, when the number of terminals is large, or when the deployment position overlaps with terminals in another call group, the display on the display becomes complicated. Therefore, the arrows between the terminal icons may be omitted. Moreover, when the number of terminals is a predetermined value or more, it may be omitted.

A system with the following elements is proposed.
The terminal displays the icon of each terminal on the organization chart or in the corresponding location on the name list on the display, and displays any information among the call status of the terminal and information managed by the call management server together with the icon. To do.
The point of performing group participation processing by pressing the terminal icon is the same as in the above embodiment.

With the above configuration, when listening to the voice instructions of other units, it is possible to select according to the organization and name, and to select more efficiently.

Further, the circle shown on the line group of the call group in FIG. 17 indicates that the call group is subscribed. Further, the speaker's terminal icon may be recognized by the speaker by blinking the icon or the like.

FIG. 17 shows an organization chart as a user interface, but this may be a name list.
Considering the cooperation in security, the instructions of the units near the security area are highly relevant to their own security. Therefore, it may be possible to perform sorting according to the distance between terminals calculated by the position information so that it is possible to grasp members close to the security area. Sorting may be performed in units of terminals or in units of units. In the case of rearrangement by unit, it is necessary to determine the representative position for the unit. Representative positions include the position of the commander of the unit, the position of the terminal closest to the terminal among the members of the unit including the commander, and the terminal with the shortest average distance between the members of the unit including the commander. The position (corresponding to the most dense position), the center of gravity of the positions of the members of the unit including the commander, etc. can be considered.

The system can also be configured by adding the following elements to the above-described form.
The terminal management server holds voice information based on voice packets sent from each call group.
In response to a request from the terminal 1, the terminal management server 2 provides voice information based on the voice packet.

The above configuration makes it possible to hear past voice instructions from other units and to grasp the security situation in more detail.

Specifically, the terminal management server 2 holds the voice information included in the voice packet sent from each call group and manages it for each call group. The voice information is a collection of voices from a plurality of speakers in time series. For example, the audio file may be a single file. Alternatively, the voice information may be converted into text using voice recognition, and the voice information may be converted into a text file.
In response to a request from the terminal 1, the terminal management server 2 notifies the voice information. At that time, the terminal management server 2 may send a voice file or a text file in which voices from a plurality of speakers are combined into one to the terminal 1.
In the case of an audio file, the terminal 1 can listen to the audio by designating the time with the audio progress bar of each group displayed on the display (see FIG. 20). The relative time with the current time at 0:00 is displayed below the progress bar. In particular, if 0:00 is designated on the progress bar, the current voice can be heard, and if a negative relative time is designated, the voice at the corresponding time is output from the voice file.

FIG. 28 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the information processing apparatus. The terminal management server 2 and the call control server 3 according to the embodiment may include the information processing apparatus illustrated in the upper diagram. The information processing apparatus includes a central processing unit (CPU: Central Processing Unit) and a memory. The information processing apparatus may realize part or all of the functions of each unit included in the analysis server by causing the CPU to execute a program stored in the memory.

Form 1
A call state acquisition unit for acquiring a call state of the own terminal;
A display display control unit for acquiring a call state of another terminal and displaying an icon of the own terminal or another terminal together with the call state on the display;
A user input determination unit for recognizing a terminal icon pressed by the user;
A wireless terminal comprising: a call group participation processing unit that makes a request to participate in a call group to which the terminal indicated by the pressed terminal icon is subscribed.
Form 2 (Intercept member)
In the above form 1,
The call group participation processing unit can request group participation processing as an intercept member who does not transmit voice in addition to the normal members of the call group.
Form 3 (map display)
In the above form 1 or 2,
A location information acquisition unit that acquires location information of the terminal itself is provided, and the display display control unit can acquire location information of other terminals and display a terminal icon on a map.
Form 4 (Organization chart or name list)
In the first aspect, further,
It has a terminal-related information storage unit that holds information or name on the organization of its own terminal,
The display display control unit can acquire information or a name on an organization of another terminal and display a terminal icon on an organization chart or a name list.
Form 5 (display according to the distance from the terminal)
The display order of the units on the organization chart or the display order of the names on the name list can be arranged so as to be rearranged according to the distance between the terminals with the own terminal unit or unit unit.
Form 6 (Acceptance setting)
When a new member joins a call group, it is preferable that whether or not a normal member can be accepted and whether or not an intercept member can be accepted can be set.
Form 7 (Notification when member is changed)
When a normal member or an intercept member is changed, it is preferable to notify or display the participation in the group to the terminal that has joined the call group.
Form 8 (Speaker display)
It is preferable that the voice packet transmitted to the call group includes the information of the speaker and the speaker is displayed.
Form 9 (confirmation of past calls)
The voice packet sent to the call group is held as voice information in the terminal management server. When the terminal requests past voice information, the conversation of the specified call group is output as voice. Or the structure which displays a text can be taken.

It should be noted that the embodiments and examples can be changed and adjusted within the framework of the entire disclosure (including claims) of the present invention and based on the basic technical concept. Various combinations or selections of various disclosed elements (including each element of each claim, each element of each embodiment or example, each element of each drawing, etc.) are possible within the scope of the disclosure of the present invention. It is. That is, the present invention of course includes various variations and modifications that could be made by those skilled in the art according to the entire disclosure including the claims and the technical idea. In particular, with respect to the numerical ranges described in this document, any numerical value or small range included in the range should be construed as being specifically described even if there is no specific description.

1, 1-1 to 1-4 Terminal 2 Terminal management server 2a Group management server 3, 3a Call control server 4, 4-1, 4-2 Call group 6 Call

content providing server

10A, 10B Group call system 11A Group management unit DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12A Call control part 13A Call content recording part 14A Call content reproduction | regeneration part 20a-20d Terminal 101 User input judgment part 102 Call group participation process part 103 Display display control part 104 Communication part 105 Location information acquisition part 106 Call state judgment part 107 Terminal relation Information storage unit 201 Group management unit 202 Communication unit 203 Group information storage unit 204 Display information creation unit

Claims

A group management unit for managing a call group composed of terminals having a group call function;
A call control unit for controlling a call between terminals belonging to the call group,
The group management unit further receives and manages a participation request from another terminal as an intercept member who is not given the right to speak to the call group,
The call control unit performs control to transmit the call contents in the call group to the intercept member.
Group call system.
The group management unit
2. The group call system according to claim 1, wherein, when participation of an intercept member for an arbitrary call group is accepted, the terminal belonging to the call group is notified that participation of the intercept member has been accepted.
The group management unit
For each call group, hold setting information as to whether or not to allow participation of the intercept member,
The group call system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein participation in a call group that does not permit participation of the intercept member is rejected.
The group management unit
For each call group, holding condition information on whether or not to allow participation of the intercept member,
The group call system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein participation as an intercept member from a person who does not satisfy the condition is rejected.
Furthermore, a terminal location information acquisition unit that acquires location information of the terminal is provided,
The group management unit manages positions of terminals belonging to the call group, and participates as an intercept member depending on whether the position of the other terminal is within a predetermined distance from the terminals belonging to the call group. The group call system according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not to accept the call.
The group management unit
The group call system according to claim 5, wherein participation is accepted as the intercept member using a screen showing a position of a terminal belonging to the call group on a map.
Furthermore, a call content recording unit for recording a call content in each call group for a predetermined period;
The group call system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a call content playback unit that plays back the content of a past call in response to a request from another terminal.
A group management unit for managing a call group composed of terminals having a group call function;
A call control unit for controlling a call between terminals belonging to the call group;
A call content recording unit for recording a call content in each call group for a predetermined period;
A group call system comprising: a call content reproduction unit that reproduces past call contents in response to a request from another terminal.
A group management unit for managing a call group composed of terminals having a group call function;
A call control unit that controls a call between terminals belonging to the call group, and the group management unit of the group call system further intercepts the call group from another terminal without being given a right to speak. Accept and manage participation requests as members,
Notifying the call control unit that the eavesdropping member has joined, and causing the eavesdropping member to perform control to transmit the call content in the call group.
Call content provision method.
A group management unit for managing a call group composed of terminals having a group call function;
A computer connected to a group call system including a call control unit that controls a call between terminals belonging to the call group,
Record the call content in each call group for a predetermined period of time,
A call content providing method of reproducing past call contents in response to a request from a terminal belonging to the call group.