JP2001211244A - Key telephone system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a key telephone system that conducts various ser ices using abundant information, without increasing the scale of system configuration. SOLUTION: A server control section 32 of a server 3 makes a request of an external line call, where a destination telephone number denoted by destination information selected by a key telephone set 2A, is a call destination and the key telephone set 2A is used for a sender to a master unit 1, a function processing means 12A of the master unit 1 makes an external line call to the destination telephone number designated by the external line call request from the server 3 through a telephone line 10 and stores the destination telephone number to a redial buffer 14A as a redial telephone number, corresponding to the caller key telephone set 2A.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a key telephone system, and more particularly to a key telephone system in which information stored in a server connected to a main unit is used by a key telephone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a key telephone system comprises a main unit connected to a telephone line and one or more key telephones connected to the main unit. Key phones detect key operations and handset status,
By transmitting these operation information to the main unit, the main unit performs various functions based on the operation information from the key telephone, thereby realizing various functions such as external calls to telephone lines and internal calls to other key telephones. It is something to do. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in offices and the like in which a key telephone and a personal computer are used in combination, an information processing terminal (hereinafter, referred to as a PC terminal) such as a personal computer is connected to a main device to provide advanced functions. CTI (Comp
Uter Telephony Integration
n) The system is becoming popular.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional CTI system. The main device 91 is connected to a telephone line 90, and the key telephones 93A to 93N are connected to the main device 91 via an extension transmission line 92. Each button telephone 9
3A to 93N are associated with the PC terminals 9 respectively.
7A to 97N are provided side by side, and these PC terminals 97A
To 97N are connected to a server 95 via a LAN line 96. The main device 91 and the server 95 are connected via a data communication path 94, and exchange various kinds of information as needed.

[0004] In the server 95, personal information such as a name and work place is registered as a database in correspondence with the telephone number of the other party. In each of the PC terminals 97A to 97N, L
A list of database information of the server 95 connected via the AN line 96 can be displayed on the screen and searched, and a call can be made to the searched destination. For example, the PC terminal 97
When a call operation is performed to a destination selected from the list displayed on the screen in A, the server 95 extracts the destination telephone number from the database and requests the main device 91 to make a call. In response, main device 91 performs external line transmission processing based on the telephone number of the other party as if a transmission operation was performed by key telephone 93A installed in association with PC terminal 97A.

When a caller's telephone number is notified from the telephone line 90 when an outside line is received, the main device 91 notifies the server 95 of the caller's telephone number. The server 95 searches the database on the basis of the notified caller telephone number, and stores the obtained personal information on the caller in the PC terminal associated with the external telephone call, for example, the key telephone 93A. 97A is displayed on the screen.

[0006]

However, in such a conventional key telephone system, each key telephone 9
3A to 93N, PC terminals 97A to 97N need to be provided in association with each other.
To 97N need to be connected to the server 95 via the LAN line 96. Therefore, even a small-scale button telephone system having a relatively small number of telephone lines and key telephones requires such a configuration, which increases the overall configuration of the system and, of course, reduces the cost of the system itself. And the work load required for management and maintenance also increased. An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a key telephone system capable of performing various services using abundant information without increasing the scale of the system configuration.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a key telephone system according to the present invention comprises a main unit connected to a telephone line and a main unit connected to a main unit via a data communication path. An information processing terminal having a storage unit for storing the other party's information, and one or more key telephones connected to the main device via an extension transmission line and having a screen display unit for displaying various information; In the terminal control unit of the terminal,
A request is made to the main unit for an outside line originating from the destination telephone number indicated by any of the other party information and from the key telephone, and an external line transmission request from the information processing terminal is issued by the function processing means of the main unit. In response to the request, an outgoing call is made to the destination telephone number specified in the request, and the destination telephone number is stored as a redial telephone number corresponding to the caller key telephone.

[0008] As a storage location of the redial telephone number,
The other party's telephone number may be stored in a redial buffer provided in the main unit corresponding to the key telephone, and in this case, the other party's telephone number is read out and redialed in accordance with the redial operation by the source key telephone. It is used as the destination phone number. Alternatively, the called party telephone number may be notified to the calling party key phone and stored in the calling party key phone. In this case, in response to a redial operation on the key phone, the destination phone number stored therein is The telephone number is read out and transmitted to the main device as the telephone number of the retransmission destination.

[0009]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a key telephone system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a key telephone system includes a main device 1 connected to a telephone line 10, a key telephone 2 (2A to 2N) connected to the main device 1 via an extension transmission line 20, and a connection to the main device 1. And a server (information processing terminal) 3 having a database for storing various information. Hereinafter, a key telephone system in which a plurality of telephone lines 10 are connected and a plurality of key telephones 2 are connected will be described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can be applied to a single key telephone.

In the main unit 1, reference numeral 11 denotes an external I / F for controlling the termination of the telephone line 10, reference numeral 13 denotes an internal I / F for transmitting data to and from each key telephone connected via an internal transmission line 20, and 12 Is an external line I / F section 11 and an internal line I / F section 13
And a main control unit 14 that performs various function processing based on control information of the entire system such as the state of each key telephone and the state of each telephone line. Main storage unit for storing information necessary for
Reference numeral 5 denotes a communication I / F unit which is connected to the main control unit 12 and performs data communication with the server 3 via the data communication path 30. In addition, as the extension transmission line 20 and the data communication line 30,
Each may use a wired transmission path or a wireless transmission path.

The main storage unit 14 is provided with a redial buffer 14A for storing the destination telephone number used in the last outgoing call as a redial telephone number. In the redial buffer 14A, a buffer (redial buffer) is provided for each key telephone 2, and a redial telephone number is read from a corresponding buffer in response to a redial operation on the key telephone 2, and a caller of an outside line is transmitted. Used as the destination phone number.

The server 3 is composed of an information processing terminal such as a personal computer, 31 is a communication I / F section for performing data communication with the main unit 1 via the data communication path 30, 33 is composed of a hard disk device, etc. (Accumulation unit) 32 in which various kinds of information are stored, retrieves desired information from the database 33 in response to a request from the main device 1,
Server control unit for transmitting via communication I / F unit 31;
Denotes a server storage unit that stores information necessary for processing in the server control unit 32.

Each of the key telephones 2 (2A to 2N) has the same configuration. In these key telephones 2, reference numeral 21 denotes a transmission I / F unit for performing data transmission with the main device 1 via the extension transmission line 20, and 23 decodes audio information received by the transmission I / F unit 21 into an audio signal. Handset H
S and a speaker SP, an audio processing unit that encodes an audio signal input from the handset HS into audio information and outputs it to the transmission I / F unit, and 24 is an operation input unit that detects various key operations and hook states is there.

A transmission 22 transmits operation information detected by the operation input unit 24 to the main unit 1 via the transmission I / F unit 21, and transmits the operation information from the main unit 1 received by the transmission I / F unit 21. A slave unit control unit that controls each circuit unit of the key telephone set based on the control information, 25 is a control memory that stores various types of information necessary for control processing in the slave unit control unit 22, and 27 is a dot that displays various types of information using characters and patterns. A screen display unit such as an LCD for displaying a matrix is provided, and a screen memory 26 stores information to be displayed on the screen.

The main control section 12 of the main device 1 is provided with a function processing means 12A and a data transfer means 12B.
The function processing unit 12A executes various function processes including functions of a general key telephone device. The function processing includes, for example, an exchange control processing such as an outgoing call or an incoming call response performed in response to an operation on the key telephone 2 or a request from the server 3, and various function setting processing such as speed dial registration and key assignment registration. is there. In the data transfer means 12B, various kinds of information which are directly exchanged between the server 3 and the key telephone 2 are mutually transferred. Such information includes, for example, information transmitted from the server 3 to a predetermined key telephone 2, a request for transmission of desired information from the key telephone 2 to the server 3, and various processing requests.
Information that does not need to be processed by the function processing unit 12A of the main device 1 is given.

The server control section 32 of the server 3 is provided with telephone correspondence means 32A. In the telephone correspondence means 32A, in response to various processing requests transmitted from the key telephone 2 via the data transfer means 12B of the main device 1,
The requested processing is performed based on the information stored in the database 33 and the server storage unit 34. As this processing, for example, a telephone directory function for searching for various information such as a telephone number from a destination name, a calling process to a destination selected by the telephone directory function, and the like are performed.

Next, the operation of the data transfer means 12B in the main control section 12 of the main device 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of information exchanged between the main device 1, the key telephone 2, and the server 3. FIG. 2 (a)
An example of the format of information exchanged between the main device 1 and the key telephone 2 is shown.
A and detailed data 28B. The command 28A indicates the content of the instruction (or request) indicated by the information, similarly to the operation information of FIG. 3, and the detailed data 28B indicates the detailed content of the command.

FIG. 2B shows an example of the format of information exchanged between the main device 1 and the server 3.
A telephone ID (telephone identification information) 28C is added to the format of FIG. Since information is exchanged between the main device 1 and the key telephone 2 using the respective extension transmission lines 20, there is no need to specify the transmission destination or the reception destination of the information. On the other hand, since information is exchanged between the main apparatus 1 and the server 3 using the common data communication path 30, it is necessary to specify a transmission destination or a reception destination of the information. Is performed by the data transfer unit 12B of the main control unit 12.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a data transfer process relating to information received from the key telephone. In the data transfer means 12B of the main control unit 12, the key telephone 2
, First, a command is obtained from the received data (step 70), and based on the type information, it is determined whether the information is for use by the function processing unit 12A of the main device 1 (step 70). 71).

Here, the received data is stored in the function processing unit 12A.
(Step 71: Y
ES), the received data is fetched and analyzed (step 72), and the corresponding function processing is executed by the function processing means 12A (step 73). If the information is not information to be used by the function processing means 12A (step 71: NO), the telephone data ID of the key telephone 2 which is the transmission source is added to the received data as shown in FIG. (Step 74), and transmit it to the server 3 (Step 75).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a data transfer process relating to information received from the server. Main control unit 1
When the information is received from the server 3, the second data transfer unit 12B first obtains a command from the received data (step 80), and uses the information in the function processing unit 12A of the main device 1 based on the type information. It is determined whether or not it is for the purpose (step 81).

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the structure of information transmitted from the server. As shown in FIG. 2B, the information is composed of commands, telephone IDs, and detailed data. For example, the information instructing the display of the telephone directory list includes a command “40” corresponding to the instruction, a telephone ID indicating a transmission destination of the information, and detailed data indicating actual telephone directory list data. The information requesting an outside line, which is one of the information taken in by the main apparatus 1, includes a command “63” corresponding to the instruction, and a telephone ID of a key telephone set to be processed, that is, a transmission source. , And detailed data indicating the destination telephone number of the destination.

Here, the received data is stored in the function processing unit 12A.
(Step 81: Y
ES), the received data is fetched and analyzed (step 82), and the corresponding function processing is executed by the function processing means 12A (step 83). If the transmission data to the key telephone 2 is newly generated by the function processing in the function processing means 12A (step 84: YES), the transmission buffer provided in the extension I / F unit 13 includes The transmission data is stored in the transmission buffer corresponding to the telephone ID of the key telephone 2 (step 87).

Thus, the transmission data is read from the transmission buffer and transmitted to the extension transmission line 20 to which the key telephone 2 of the transmission destination is connected (step 88).
If no new transmission data has been generated (step 84: NO), the process ends. On the other hand, if the received information is not information to be used by the function processing means 12A (step 81: NO), the telephone ID is deleted from the received data as shown in FIG. 2A (step 74). ), And proceed to step 87. As a result, the received data is transferred to key telephone 2 corresponding to the telephone ID.

As described above, the data transfer means 1
2B, the operation information from the key telephone is transferred to the server 3 as necessary, and the information from the server 3 is transferred to the corresponding key telephone 2. It is not necessary to take in all the information and perform the analysis processing, thereby reducing the processing load on the main control unit 12, transmitting a large amount of data from the server 3 to the key telephone 2 at a higher speed, and waiting for abundant information in a short time. The time can be displayed on the key telephone 2.

Further, the data transfer means 12B determines whether or not the transfer of the information is necessary based on the command indicating the instruction content of the received information, so that the information transmitted from the key telephone 2 or the server 3 includes It is not necessary to separately include transfer destination information for designating the transfer destination of the information, and it is possible to determine whether transfer is necessary without increasing the capacity of the exchanged information. Further, in the data transfer means 12B, the telephone ID is added or the telephone ID is deleted according to the transmission source of the received data, and the data is transmitted to the corresponding extension transmission line.
The information of each key telephone 2 can be mixed and communicated between the main device 1 and the server 3 without increasing the amount of information exchanged with the key telephone.

Next, the operation of the entire key telephone system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a telephone directory transmission operation performed from the key telephone using the database of the server. First, when the telephone directory key is pressed on the key telephone 2A operating in the TEL mode (step 1).
00), this operation is detected by the operation input unit 24, and corresponding operation information is generated by the slave unit control unit 22, and the transmission I
It is transmitted from the / F unit 21 to the main device 1 via the extension transmission line 20 (step 101).

In the main unit 1, the extension I / F unit 13 receives this operation information, and the data transfer unit 12B determines whether or not the information is used by the function processing unit 12A based on the command. Here, since the information is used by the function processing unit 12A, the operation information is fetched and the function processing unit 12A
To execute the phonebook function. First, a telephone directory display request for requesting transmission of telephone directory list data addressed to the key telephone 2A is transmitted to the server 3 via the communication I / F unit 15 and the data communication path 30 (step 102).

The server 3 receives the telephone directory display request via the communication I / F unit 31, reads out the desired telephone directory list data from the database 33 by the server control unit 32, and uses the information relating to the key telephone 2A. The telephone ID of the key telephone 2A indicating the presence of the
To the main device 1 via the data communication path 30 (step 103). The main apparatus 1 receives the telephone directory list data via the communication I / F unit 15 and
The command is confirmed in 2B, and it is determined whether the command is information used by the function processing unit 12A. In this case, since the information is not used by the function processing unit 12A, the key telephone 2A of the telephone ID added to the telephone directory list data is used.
Transfer to

Thus, the telephone directory list data is directly transferred from the server 3 to the key telephone 2A via the main device 1, and received by the key telephone 2A. The handset control unit 22 of the key telephone 2A refers to the command of the received data, determines that the data is the telephone directory list data from the server 3, stores the data in the screen memory 26, and displays the screen data in the subsequent display processing. The telephone directory list data stored in the memory 26 is read out and displayed on the screen display unit 27. FIG. 7 is a screen display example of telephone directory list data.

In the key telephone 2A, the cursor (see the white display in FIG. 7) is moved by operating the arrow keys (step 104). The slave unit control unit 22 generates operation information having a predetermined command corresponding to these operations,
The data is transmitted to the main device 1 (step 105). In the data transfer means 12B of the main device 1, based on the received commands of the operation information, the information is
A is determined not to be used in A, and is transferred to the server 3.

Thus, the operation information is directly transferred from the key telephone 2 to the server 3 via the main device 1. Then, the operation information from the key telephone 2A is received by the telephone corresponding means 32A of the server 3, and the other party information selected by the cursor of the key telephone 2A is sequentially updated based on the operation content. In the key telephone 2A, when the call destination is determined by pressing the enter key (step 106), the slave unit control unit 22 generates operation information indicating the enter key operation and transmits it to the main device 1 (step 106). Step 107).

The data transfer means 12B of the main device 1 transfers this operation information to the server 3 because this operation information is not information used by the function processing means 12A. The telephone correspondence means 32A of the server 3 determines that the received operation information is an outside line transmission request because the received operation information indicates the confirmation key operation, and stores the telephone number of the currently selected destination information in the database 33.
, And transmits an outside line transmission request to the main apparatus 1 specifying the destination telephone number and the telephone ID of the key telephone 2A as a transmission source (step 108).

The main unit 1 fetches the external line transmission request, and the function processing means 12A stores the external line transmission request in the buffer in the redial buffer 14A corresponding to the key telephone 2A specified by the external line transmission request. And the telephone number of the called party (step 10).
9) The outside line is transmitted to the destination telephone number using the telephone line 10 (step 110).

Therefore, in response to the pressing of the redial key on the key telephone 2A (step 111), if the operation information indicating the pressing of the redial key is transmitted from the key telephone 2A (step 112), the function processing of the main unit 1 is performed. The means 12A reads out the telephone number of the other party who made the outgoing call last time from the buffer in the redial buffer 14A corresponding to the key telephone 2A from which the operation information was transmitted (step 113). An outgoing line is transmitted from the telephone line 10 based on (step 114).

As described above, in response to an external line transmission request from the key telephone 2, an external line transmission request is sent from the telephone corresponding means 32A of the server 3 to the main unit 1, and the other party's telephone call is sent to the function processing unit 12A of the main unit 1. Since the number is stored in the buffer in the redial buffer 14A corresponding to the key telephone 2 as the caller, even if the call is transmitted through the server 3, the subsequent redial operation from the key telephone 2 can be performed. In response, a call can be made to the previously used destination telephone number. Therefore, unlike the conventional system, it is possible to perform various services using a wealth of information without increasing the scale of the system configuration, such as providing an information processing terminal for each key telephone, and reduce the processing load on the main unit. It can provide more advanced services without increasing.

In the above description, the case where the main apparatus 1 is provided with the redial buffer 14A is described as an example. However, a redial buffer may be provided in the control memory 25 of each key telephone 2 or the like. In this case, in step 109 of FIG. 6 described above, the destination telephone number is transmitted to the key telephone 2A as a transmission source and stored. Then, in response to the redial operation on the key telephone 2, the destination telephone number stored in the redial buffer of the key telephone 2 is read, and the main telephone 1 may be notified of the destination telephone number.

[0038]

As described above, the present invention relates to an information processing terminal which uses a destination telephone number indicated by one of destination information as a destination and an external line originating from a key telephone as a main unit. In response to an outgoing call request from the information processing terminal, the main unit makes an outgoing call to the destination telephone number specified in the request, and redials the destination telephone number to the calling button telephone Since it is stored as a telephone number, the next time there is a direct redial instruction from the key telephone to the main unit, redial transmission can be performed based on the destination telephone number used in the previous outside line transmission. Therefore, unlike the conventional system, it is possible to provide a more advanced service using abundant information without increasing the scale of the system configuration such as providing an information processing terminal for each key telephone.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a key telephone system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of information exchanged between a main device, a key telephone, and a server.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a data transfer process for information received from a key telephone.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a data transfer process relating to information received from a server.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of information from a server.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a telephone directory transmission operation.

FIG. 7 is a screen display example of telephone directory list data.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional CTI system.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main apparatus, 10 ... Telephone line, 11 ... External line I / F part, 1
2 ... Main control unit, 12A ... Function processing unit, 12B ... Data transfer unit, 13 ... Extension I / F unit, 14 ... Main storage unit, 15
... Communication I / F section, 2, 2A-2N ... Key telephone, 20
... Extension transmission line, 21 ... Transmission I / F unit, 22 ... Slave unit control unit, 23 ... Sound processing unit, 24 ... Operation input unit, 25 ... Control memory, 26 ... Screen memory, 27 ... Screen display unit, HS ...
Handset, SP: Speaker, 3: Server, 30: Data communication path, 31: Communication I / F section, 32: Server control section, 32A: Telephone corresponding means, 33: Database, 3
4. Server storage unit.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masakazu Koyamada 2-3-3 Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo F-term in Tamura Electric Co., Ltd. (Reference) 5K015 AB01 5K024 AA13 AA14 AA76 BB04 CC04 DD02 FF03 GG03 5K036 AA12 BB01 DD03 DD32 EE01 5K049 AA16 BB05 BB17 EE01 EE11 FF01 FF32 KK02 KK12

Claims (3)

[Claims] An information processing terminal connected to the main device via a data communication path, the information processing terminal having a storage unit for storing a plurality of destination information, and an extension transmission line. And one or more key telephones connected to the main device and having a screen display unit for displaying various information, wherein the information processing terminal sets a destination telephone number indicated by any of the destination information as a destination. And a terminal control unit for requesting the main device to send an external line from the key telephone as a caller, wherein the main device is specified in the request in response to an external line call request from the information processing terminal. A key telephone system comprising a function processing means for transmitting an outside line to a destination telephone number and storing the destination telephone number as a redial telephone number corresponding to the calling key telephone. 2. The key telephone system according to claim 1, wherein the function processing means stores the destination telephone number in a redial buffer provided in the main device corresponding to the key telephone, and transmits the outgoing call. In response to the redial operation by the original button telephone, read the destination telephone number,
A key telephone system used as a telephone number of a re-call destination. 3. The key telephone system according to claim 1, wherein said function processing means notifies said destination telephone number to said transmission source key telephone and stores it in said transmission source key telephone. Is a key telephone system for reading out the other party's telephone number stored therein in response to a redial operation, and transmitting the same to the main unit as a telephone number of a re-destination.