JP2001309089A - Mobile communication unit, toll charge management system and charge management method, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toll charge management system that can detect an optimum charge plan and inform the users about it. SOLUTION: A data management program 2 of a mobile phone 1 stores in a charge plan contract at present in a storage area 21 of the charge plan contracted at present, stores a closing date in a storage area for storing the closing date for every month, stores a monthly charge until the closing date stored in the storage area 23 for an approximate amount of charge, and calculates a mean charge per one month and stores the calculated chare to a storage area 24 for the mean speech charge. An optimum charge plan detection program 3 downloads a newest charge plan from a storage area 41 for a new charge plan list in an optimum charge plan list storage server 4, converts the mean speech charge of a mean speech charge storage area 24 into a mean speech charge according to other charge plans on the basis of the newest charge plan list stored in a charge plan list storage area 25 and informs a user when detecting the optimum charge plan cheaper than the charge plan contract at present.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a mobile communication device,
TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a call charge management system, a call charge management method, and a recording medium, and more particularly, to a mobile communication device, a call charge management system, and a call charge management, for which a call charge is charged based on a predetermined charge plan among a plurality of charge plans. The present invention relates to a method and a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a charge plan of a mobile phone as a mobile communication device includes a plan including a fixed amount of free call charge, a plan having a low call charge on weekday daytime, nighttime, and weekends and holidays. There are various things.

[0003]

However, in order to determine whether or not an actually contracted billing plan is optimal for the user, the user himself / herself must have a detailed usage statement for the past several months. It is necessary to analyze and examine based on Further, the conventional mobile phone does not have a function of detecting an optimal charge plan by managing the history of the call charges. Therefore, as a result, there has been a problem that many users continue to contract for a non-optimal rate plan.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, detects whether or not the currently contracted rate plan is the optimum rate plan, and is cheaper than the currently contracted rate plan. When there is an optimal billing plan, the user can be notified of the fact.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile communication device which is a mobile communication device to which one of a plurality of price plans is selected and contracted. Rate plan storage means for storing data indicating a rate plan in use, calculating means for calculating an average call rate per month based on the currently contracted rate plan, and calculating means Average call rate storage means for storing the average call rate calculated by the above, download means for downloading data showing the latest rate plan list, and latest data for storing the latest rate plan list downloaded by the download means. The charge plan list storage means and the latest charge plan list data stored by the latest charge plan list storage means are used. The average call rate stored in the average call rate storage means is converted into the average call rate corresponding to the other rate plans shown in the latest rate plan list, and the rate plan with the lowest average call rate is optimized. An optimal rate plan detecting means for detecting as a rate plan;
Notification means for notifying the result of detection by the optimum rate plan detection means. Further, there are further provided a closing date storing means for storing a closing date for each month, and a category storing means for storing, for each category, a total of the call charges for one month up to the closing date for each month stored by the closing date storing means. Calculating means calculates an average value of the total of the monthly call charges stored for each category and the average call charge stored by the average call charge storage means. Thus, the newly calculated average call charge can be stored. In addition, the average call charge storage means stores the call time zone,
It is also possible to store the total of monthly call charges for weekdays, weekends and holidays. Further, the download means can download data indicating the latest billing plan stored in a predetermined host computer. The call charge management system according to claim 5, wherein a server, a mobile communication device contracted by selecting one of a plurality of charge plans and a call charge of the mobile communication device are managed, A call rate management system comprising an optimal rate plan detecting device for detecting an optimal rate plan, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to execute a current contract with a charge plan storage means for storing data indicating a currently contracted rate plan. Based on the rate plan
A calculating means for calculating an average call rate, which is an average value of monthly call charges, and an average call rate storing means for storing the average call rate calculated by the calculating means, wherein the server stores the latest rate plan list. The best billing plan storage means for storing data indicating the latest billing plan list from the server, and calculating the average billing rate from the average billing rate storage means of the mobile communication device. A download unit that downloads and downloads data indicating a currently contracted charge plan from a charge plan storage unit of the mobile communication device; and a latest charge that stores data indicating a latest list of charge plans downloaded by the download unit. The plan list storage means and the latest charge plan list storage means The average call rate stored in the average call rate storage means is converted into the average call rate corresponding to the other rate plans indicated in the latest rate plan list, based on the data indicating the rate plan list of It is characterized by comprising an optimal fare plan detecting means for detecting the lowest price plan as an optimal fare plan, and a notifying means for notifying the detection result by the optimal fare plan detecting means. A call charge management method according to claim 6, wherein the call charge management method is for a mobile communication device to which one of a plurality of charge plans is selected and contracted, wherein the currently contracted charge plan is provided. A rate plan storing step of storing data indicating the following; and a calculating step of calculating an average call rate, which is an average value of call rates per month, based on a currently contracted rate plan;
An average call rate storage step for storing the average call rate calculated in the calculation step, a download step for downloading data indicating the latest rate plan list, and data indicating the latest rate plan list downloaded in the download step. Based on the latest rate plan list storing step and the latest rate plan list stored in the latest rate plan list storing step, the average call rate stored in the average call rate storing step is updated to the latest rate. Optimized rate plan detection step, which converts the average rate to the average call rate corresponding to the other rate plans shown in the plan list and detects the rate plan with the lowest average rate as the optimal rate plan, and the detection result in the optimal rate plan detection step Notification step Characterized in that it comprises a flop. A recording medium according to a seventh aspect is characterized in that a program capable of executing the method for managing a call charge according to the sixth aspect is recorded. The mobile communication device, the call charge management system and the call charge management method according to the present invention, and in the recording medium, stores data indicating the currently contracted rate plan, based on the currently contracted rate plan, 1
Calculate the average call rate, which is the average value of the monthly call rates, store the calculated average call rate, download the data showing the latest rate plan list, and download the data showing the latest downloaded rate plan list And converts the stored average call rate into an average call rate corresponding to the other rate plans indicated in the latest rate plan list based on the stored data indicating the latest rate plan list. , And detects and notifies a billing plan with the lowest average call bill as the optimal billing plan.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is intended to detect an optimal charge plan by managing the history of call charges in a mobile communication device such as a portable telephone. Hereinafter, the outline of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a portable telephone to which the mobile communication device of the present invention is applied and a latest charge plan list storage server. Here, the CPU (c
Only the configuration of various control software executed by the central processing unit is shown in the drawing, and the other configurations are not directly related to the present invention, so that their illustration and description will be omitted as appropriate. That is, although not shown, the mobile phone 1 includes a CPU (central processing) that executes various control software.
unit) and a RAM (ran) for storing various data
dom access memory) and a ROM (read only meme) storing control software and the like.
memory), keys for inputting various data, and an LCD (liquid cr) for displaying various data.
display device), which comprises a
It is assumed that the communication system includes a communication circuit and an antenna for communicating with the base station. It has a clock function so that the current date and time can be detected.

In FIG. 1, the mobile phone 1 stores an estimated call fee for one month in an estimated call fee storage area 23 for each call time zone and each category such as weekdays, weekends, and holidays, and one month elapses. Each time, the average value of the estimated call charge for the current month and the average call charge for the previous month was calculated for each category,
The average call rate per month is stored in the average call rate storage area 24 of the mobile phone 1.

The optimal charge plan detection program 3 saves the latest charge plan list downloaded to the mobile phone 1 from the latest charge plan list storage server 4 that provides the latest charge plan list, and the current contract rate plan storage area 21. Based on the current contracted rate plan, convert the average call rate to the average call rate for the same time when calling with a rate plan other than the currently contracted rate plan, and then all rates Calculate and compare the average monthly payments for the plans to detect the best billing plan. The latest rate plan list storage server 4 can be installed, for example, in a base station (not shown).

In this way, it is possible to detect the optimal charge plan by managing the call charge history in the mobile phone 1.

Next, a portable telephone to which the mobile communication device of the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a mobile phone 1 of the present invention and a latest charge plan list storage server 4. The mobile phone 1
A data management program 2 and an optimal charge plan detection program 3 are provided. Further, it is assumed that the latest charge plan storage server 4 operates on a predetermined host computer such as a base station (not shown).

The data management program 2 includes a storage area 21 for a current contracted rate plan for storing data indicating a currently contracted rate plan, and a data storage area 21 for storing data indicating a closing date every month. Storage area 22 for the closing date
From the storage area 23 of the estimated call charge for storing the data indicating the estimated call charge, the storage area 24 of the average call charge for storing the data indicating the average call charge, and the latest charge plan list storage server 4 A storage area 25 for storing a charge plan list for storing data indicating the downloaded latest charge plan list is provided, and the storage of data in each storage area is managed. In addition, a function is provided for downloading the latest rate plan list stored in the latest rate plan list storage area 41 of the latest rate plan list storage server 4.

The storage area 21 of the current contracted rate plan stores data of the rate plan currently contracted by the user who is the owner of the mobile phone 1. In the storage area 22 for the closing date for each month, the date of the delimitation for each month specified by the user is stored. In the estimated call charge storage area 23, storage areas are provided for respective categories such as a call time zone and weekdays and weekends and holidays, and a total of charges for each call is stored as an approximate charge for each category. .

As in the case of the approximate call charge 23, the storage area 24 for the average call charge has storage areas for call time zones and categories such as weekdays, weekends, and holidays. The average call charge per month is stored by category for each date that is a delimiter.

In the rate plan list storage area 25, the latest rate plan list downloaded from the latest rate plan list storage area 41 of the latest rate plan list storage server 4 is stored.

The optimal charge plan detection program 3 stores the latest charge plan list data referenced from the charge plan list storage area 25 and the current contract charge plan storage area 2.
Based on the data of the currently-contracted rate plan read from No. 1, the average call-rate data read from the average-call-rate storage area 24 was called for the same time using a rate plan other than the currently contracted rate plan. The data is converted into data of the average call charges in each case, and thereafter, the monthly average payment amount of all the charge plans is calculated and compared, thereby detecting an optimum charge plan.

[0017] Further, when an optimum rate plan is detected than the currently contracted rate plan, that is, there is a rate plan in which the average call rate is lower than the currently contracted rate plan. If detected, the mobile phone 1 notifies the user visually or audibly that there is a more suitable rate plan than the currently contracted rate plan.

As described above, the latest charge plan list storage server 4 includes the latest charge plan list storage area 41, and the latest charge plan list storage area 41 stores the latest charge plan list data. ing.

Next, the overall operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1, and the flowcharts of FIGS. First, in using the mobile phone 1, the user operates a key (not shown) provided on the mobile phone 1 to input a currently-contracted rate plan and a date to be set for a month. ,specify.

The data management program 2 saves the data of the rate plan currently contracted by the user in the storage area 21 of the rate plan currently contracted (step A1 in FIG. 2),
In addition, the date specified for each month by the user is set to 1
It is stored in the storage area 22 of the closing date for each month (step A2 in FIG. 2).

Thereafter, the total of the charges for each call is calculated for each call time zone and for each category such as weekdays, weekends and holidays, and is stored in the approximate call charge storage area 23 for each category (step A3 in FIG. 2). . Further, the process of step A3 is repeated until a date specified by the user for each month is detected, that is, until the current date matches the date specified for the month by the user ( FIG.
(NO in step A4).

When the date specified by the user for each month is detected (YES in step A4), it is determined whether data is stored in the average call charge storage area 24 (step A5). If it is determined that the data is not stored (NO in step A5), the accumulated call charges stored in the approximate call charge storage area 23 are stored in the average call charge storage area 24 by category as they are. (Step A6).

On the other hand, when it is determined that the data is stored in the average call charge storage area 24 (YES in step A5), the total of the call charges stored in the approximate call charge storage area 23 is calculated. The average value with the average call rate stored in the average call rate storage area 24 is calculated for each category, and the calculated average value is calculated.
(Step A7). Step A
When the processing of Step 6 or Step A7 is completed, the storage area 23 of the estimated call charge is initialized, and the value of the approximate call charge is set to 0 (Step A8). After that, the process ends.

The optimal charge plan detection program 3 is configured to execute the optimal charge when the current date is a date specified by the user on a monthly basis or when a key (not shown) is operated by the user. Invoked when a plan detection request is made.

When the optimal charge plan detection program 3 is started, first, the optimal charge plan detection program 3
Reads out the average call rate stored in the average call rate storage area 24 and the rate plan that the user is currently subscribed to, stored in the current contract rate plan storage area 21 (see FIG. 3). Step B1, Step B2).

Next, for the data management program 2,
A request is made for data reference to the storage area 25 of the charge plan list (step B3). The data management program 2 receiving this data reference request downloads the data indicating the latest rate plan list from the latest rate plan list storage area 41 of the latest rate plan list storage server 4 (step A9), and downloads the downloaded latest rate. The data indicating the plan list is stored in the charge plan list storage area 25 (step A10).

Next, the optimum charge plan detection program 3
Refers to the latest rate plan list stored in the rate plan list storage area 25 (step B4), and reads out the data indicating the latest rate plan list and the current contract rate plan storage area 21 in step B2. Based on the data indicating the current contract rate plan, the average call rate read from the average call rate storage area 24 in step B1 is calculated based on the average call rate when the same time call is performed by a rate plan other than the currently contracted rate plan. The optimum charge plan is detected by converting the charges into charges and then calculating and comparing the monthly average payment amounts of all the charge plans (step B5).

Here, the rate plan detected as the optimum rate plan is compared with the currently contracted rate plan (current rate plan) read from the current rate plan storage area 21 in step B2. Then, it is determined whether or not an optimal rate plan has been detected from the rate plan of the current contract. That is, it is determined whether or not there is a charge plan whose average call charge is lower than the currently contracted charge plan (step B6). As a result, if it is determined that the most suitable rate plan is detected from the currently contracted rate plan (YES in step B6), the mobile phone 1 visually or audibly optimizes the user. Is notified (step B7), and the process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that an optimal rate plan has not been detected from the rate plan currently contracted (NO in step B6), the process ends.

Next, a specific example will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 4, four rate plans A, B, C, D
Is stored in the latest charge plan list storage area 41 of the latest charge plan list storage server 4 as a latest charge plan list.

In this example, the charge plan A has a basic charge of 7500 yen and includes a free call charge of 4500 yen. And the daytime call charge is 20 seconds / 10
Yen, weekday night call rate is 23 seconds / 10 yen, weekday midnight
Early morning call rates are 25 seconds / 10 yen, weekends and holidays daytime charges are 20 seconds / 10 yen, and weekends and holidays nighttime charges are 20 yen.
/ 10 yen per second, late night / early morning call charges are 23 seconds /
It is 10 yen.

The charge plan B has a basic charge of 4500 yen and includes a free call charge of 1600 yen. Weekday daytime call rates are 15 seconds / 10 yen, weekday nighttime call rates are 18 seconds / 10 yen, weekday late night / early morning call rates are 20 seconds / 10 yen, and weekend day holidays are 15 seconds / day.
The call fee for a night of 10 yen, weekends and holidays is 15 seconds / 10 yen, and the call fee for weekends and holidays late at night and early morning is 18 seconds / 10 yen.

The charge plan C has a basic charge of 3700 yen and includes a free call charge of 600 yen. Weekday daytime call rates are 10 seconds / 10 yen, weekday nighttime call rates are 13 seconds / 10 yen, weekday late night / early morning call rates are 15 seconds / 10 yen, and weekend day holidays are 10 seconds / day.
The call fee for the night and weekends and holidays is 10 seconds / 10 yen, and the call fee for late nights and early mornings on the weekends and holidays is 13 seconds / 10 yen.

The charge plan D has a basic charge of 4000 yen and does not include a free call charge. However, call charges during the daytime on weekdays are cheaper. Weekday daytime call rates are 30 seconds / 10 yen, weekday nighttime call rates are 15 seconds / 10 yen, and weekday midnight / early morning call rates are 18 seconds / 10 yen.
In the case of yen, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, the call charge is 13 seconds / 10 yen, in the night on weekends and holidays, the charge is 13 seconds / 10 yen, and in the late night and early morning on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, the charge is 15 seconds / 10 yen.

In this case, the category classification for storing the telephone charge of the mobile phone 1 is shown in FIG.
Categories a, b, c, d, e, and f. In the case of this example, the category a is the daytime of weekdays (8:00 to 1
9:00), and category b is the weekday night (19: 00-
23:00), category c is midnight / early morning on weekdays (2
3:00 to 8:00).

For example, it is assumed that the user is currently subscribed to rate plan C and pays an average of 5,400 yen per month. First, the user sets the current contract rate plan C
And the 31st day of the date to be separated every month is input by operating the keys of the mobile phone 1.

The data management program 2 saves the charge plan C input by the user in the storage area 21 of the charge plan of the current contract (step A1 in FIG. 2),
Next, the 31st day input by the user is stored in the storage area 22 for the closing date of each month (step A2 in FIG. 2).

Thereafter, the total of the calls made for each call is stored in the storage area 2 of the approximate call charge by category (FIG. 5).
3 (step A3 in FIG. 2). This process is repeated until the current date reaches the 31st (No in step A4 in FIG. 2). When the current date reaches the 31st (YES in step A4 in FIG. 2), the average call charge is not stored in the average call charge storage fee 24 for the first month, that is, the average call charge. Since there is no data (NO in step A5 in FIG. 2), the accumulated call charges stored in the estimated call charge storage area 23 are stored in the average call charge storage area 24 as they are by category (FIG. 5). (Step A6 in FIG. 2).

After the second month, the average call charge is stored in the average call charge storage fee 24, that is, the average call charge data exists (Y in step A5 in FIG. 2).
ES), the average of the total of the call charges stored in the estimated call charge storage area 23 and the average call charge stored in the average call charge storage charge 24 is calculated for each category (FIG. 5). The average value is stored in the average call charge storage area 24.
At the same time (step A in FIG. 2)
7). Then, in order to newly store the total of the call charges for the next month, the value of the approximate call charges stored in the approximate call charge storage area 23 is initialized (set to 0) (step A8). .

Here, it is assumed that three months have passed, and that the average call charge stored in the average call charge storage area 24 is as shown in FIG. That is,
The average monthly call fee for a weekday daytime is 400 yen, the average monthly call fee for a weekday night is 600 yen, the average monthly call fee for midnight and early morning on a weekday is 300 yen, and the average monthly call fee for weekends and holidays is 1 month. It is assumed that the charge is 300 yen, the average monthly call charge on weekends and holidays is 500 yen, and the average monthly call charge on weekends and holidays is midnight and early morning is 200 yen.

The optimal charge plan detection program 3 is started when the current date is 31st, and reads out the average call charge (FIG. 6) from the average call charge storage area 24 (FIG. 3).
In step B1), data indicating the current contract rate plan C is read from the current contract rate plan storage area 21 (step B2 in FIG. 3). Thereafter, the optimal charge plan detection program 3 requests the data management program 2 to refer to the data in the charge plan list storage area 25 (step B3 in FIG. 3).

The data management program 2 receiving the data reference request downloads the latest charge plan list (FIG. 4) from the latest charge plan list storage area 41 of the latest charge plan list storage server 4 (step in FIG. 3). A9),
The data is stored in the charge plan list storage area 25 (step A10 in FIG. 3).

The optimum rate plan detecting program 3 refers to the latest rate plan list (FIG. 4) (step B4 in FIG. 3), and further, based on the rate plan C of the current contract, the average call rate (FIG. 6). Is a rate plan A other than rate plan C,
Converted to the average call charge for the same time call at B and D,
FIG. 7 shows the result of calculating the average monthly payment amount for all the charge plans.

That is, in the case of the rate plan A, the average call charge is 1232 yen, which is within the range of the free call charge, and the average monthly payment is 7500 yen, which is the basic charge. In the case of rate plan B, the average call charge is 1603
Yen, which exceeds the free call charge for 1600 yen by 3 yen, so the average monthly payment is 450 yen
3 (= 3 + 4500) yen. For rate plan C,
The average call fee is 2300 yen, which is over the free call fee for 600 yen by 1700 yen,
The average monthly payment is 5400 (= 1700 + 370)
0) It becomes a circle. In the case of rate plan D, the average call charge is 1
692 yen, the basic fee of 4000 yen is added, and the average monthly payment is 5,692 (= 1692 + 4000) yen.

Thereafter, the optimal charge plan detection program 3
Compares the average monthly payments for each of rate plans A, B, C, and D, and finds that rate plan B with a minimum amount of 4503 yen,
Detect as the optimal rate plan (Step B in FIG. 3)
5). In addition, the optimal charge plan detection program 3 has a charge plan B that is more optimal than the current contract charge plan C (YES in step B6 in FIG. 3).
Is notified to the user as the optimal charge plan (step B7 in FIG. 3).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. That is, the first effect is that during normal use, it is possible to recognize whether or not the charge plan of the current contract is optimal without making the user conscious at all. The reason is that, first, the day of the month is set in advance, and thereafter, the mobile phone 1 automatically detects the optimal billing plan every month without any user awareness. This is for notifying the user that there is an optimal charge plan in which the average call charge is lower than the contract charge plan.

A second effect is that the user can know whether or not the current contract price plan is optimal, when the user wants to know. The reason is that an optimum rate plan can be detected according to a user's request.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.
This will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 8 shows a configuration example of another embodiment to which the mobile communication device of the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 8, this embodiment includes a mobile phone 1, a latest charge plan list storage server 4, and a personal computer (hereinafter, simply referred to as a personal computer) 5 as appropriate.

The mobile phone 1 has a data management program 2
It has. The data management program 2 includes a storage area 21 for the current contract rate plan for storing the currently contracted rate plan, a storage area 22 for the closing date for each month for storing the closing date for each month, An approximate call rate storage area 23 for storing the approximate call rate and an average call rate storage area 24 for storing the average call rate are provided, and data storage in each storage area is managed.

[0049] In the storage area 21 of the currently contracted charge plan, data indicating the charge plan currently contracted by the user is stored. In the storage area 22 of the closing date of each month,
The date specified by the user for each month is stored. In the estimated call charge storage area 23, storage areas are provided for respective categories such as a call time zone and weekdays and weekends and holidays, and a total of charges for each call is stored as an approximate charge for each category. . As in the case of the approximate call charge 23, the storage area 24 for the average call charge has a storage area for each call time zone and category such as weekdays, weekends, and holidays. For each date, the average monthly call charge is stored for each category.

The latest charge plan list storage server 4 has a storage area 41 for the latest charge plan list. In the latest charge plan list storage area 41, data indicating the latest charge plan list is stored.

The personal computer 5 is provided with software or a detection Web site 51 for detecting an optimal fee plan. Here, the optimal rate plan detection software is a program that performs basically the same processing as the optimal rate plan detection program 3 of the embodiment of FIG. 1, and is stored in a memory (not shown) of the personal computer 5. 5 (hereinafter, abbreviated as software as appropriate), and the detection Web site is a site that can be browsed by a WWW (World Wide Web) browser provided in the mobile phone 1 or the like. This means a site that, when accessed via the Internet or the like and provides necessary data, detects the latest billing plan.
Therefore, in this case, the personal computer 5 functions as a WWW server.

Detecting software or detecting Web for optimal price plan
The site 51 stores data indicating the latest rate plan list downloaded from the latest rate plan list storage area 41 of the latest rate plan list storage server 4 and the current contract downloaded from the current contract rate plan storage area 21 of the mobile phone 1. Based on the data indicating the current rate plan, the data indicating the average call rate downloaded from the average call rate storage area 24 is converted to the average call when the same time call is made with a rate plan other than the currently contracted rate plan. The most appropriate billing plan is detected by calculating the monthly billing amount of all billing plans and comparing the calculated monthly billing amounts.

Then, when an optimal rate plan that has a lower average call rate than the currently contracted rate plan is detected, the personal computer 5 notifies the user of the visually or audibly optimal rate plan. Is done.

Next, the overall operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, when using the mobile phone 1, a user operates a key (not shown) of the mobile phone 1 to input and designate a current contract rate plan and a date to be set for each month.

The data management program 2 saves data indicating the rate plan currently contracted by the user in the storage area 21 of the rate plan currently contracted (step A in FIG. 2).
1) Next, the date specified by the user for each month is stored in the storage area 22 of the closing date for each month (FIG. 2).
Step A2).

Thereafter, the total of the charges for each call is stored in the approximate call charge storage area 23 for each call time zone and each category such as weekdays, weekends and holidays (step A3). This process is repeated until a date specified by the user for each month is detected (NO in step A4 in FIG. 2).

When the date specified by the user for each month is detected (YES in step A4 in FIG. 2), it is determined whether or not the average call charge data is stored in the average call charge storage area 24. If it is determined (step A5 in FIG. 2) that the average call charge data is not stored in the average call charge storage area 24 (NO in step A5 in FIG. 2),
The cumulative total of the call charges stored in the approximate call charge storage area 23 is stored in the average call charge storage area 24 for each category as it is (step A6 in FIG. 2).

On the other hand, if the average call charge data is stored in the average call charge storage area 24 (YES in step A5 in FIG. 2), the call charge data stored in the approximate call charge storage area 23 is displayed. The average value of the cumulative total and the average call charge stored in the average call charge storage area 24 is calculated for each category, and the calculated average value is stored for each category in the average call charge storage area 24 (step in FIG. 2). A
7). Next, when the processing in step A6 or step A7 in FIG. 2 is completed, the value of the approximate call charge stored in the approximate call charge storage area 23 is initialized (set to 0) (step A8 in FIG. 2). ). After that, the process ends.

Software for detecting the optimal charge plan of the personal computer 5
The detection Web site 51 is operated when the current date is a date specified by the user on a monthly basis or when the user operates an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse (not shown) of the personal computer 5. It is activated when a request for detection of the optimal rate plan is made.

Detecting software for optimum price plan or detecting Web
When the site 51 is activated, first, the software for detecting the optimal rate plan or the detection Web site 51 stores the average call rate stored in the average call rate storage area 24 and the average call rate stored in the rate plan storage area 21 of the current contract. The stored data of the rate plan with which the user is currently subscribed is downloaded (steps C1 and C2 in FIG. 9).

Next, data indicating the latest rate plan list is downloaded from the latest rate plan list storage area 41 of the latest rate plan list storage server 4 (step C3 in FIG. 9). 9 based on the data indicating the latest rate plan list downloaded in step C3 of FIG. 9 and the data of the current contract rate plan downloaded from the current contract rate plan storage area 21 in step C2 of FIG. In step C1, the data indicating the average call rate downloaded from the average call rate storage area 24 is converted into the average call rate for a call of the same time using a rate plan other than the currently contracted rate plan. Then, by calculating and comparing the monthly average payment amounts of all the charge plans, the optimum charge plan is detected (step C4 in FIG. 9).

Next, the optimal rate plan detected in step C4 in FIG. 9 is compared with the current rate plan downloaded from the current rate plan storage area 21 in step C2 (step in FIG. 9). C
5) In the case where an optimal billing plan that has a lower average call rate than the currently billed billing plan is detected (FIG. 9).
(YES in step C5), the personal computer 5 notifies the user visually or aurally of the optimal rate plan (step C6 in FIG. 9). After that, the process ends.

Next, a specific example will be described. First, as the latest charge plan, the four charge plans A, B, C, and D shown in FIG. 4 exist in the latest charge plan list storage area 41 of the latest charge plan list storage server 4 (stored). ). Also, here, the mobile phone 1
Are set to six categories a, b, c, d, e, and f as shown in FIG.

For example, it is assumed that the user is currently subscribed to rate plan A and pays an average of 8,000 yen per month. First, the user operates a key (not shown) of the mobile phone 1, and inputs the current contract rate plan A and the 31st day, which is the date to be separated by one month.

The data management program 2 saves the data indicating the charge plan A input by the user in the charge contract storage area 21 of the current contract (step A1 in FIG. 2), and then stores the data for one month. Storage area 22 for each closing date
Then, the 31st day input by the user is saved (step A2 in FIG. 2).

Thereafter, the total of the calls made for each call is stored in the estimated call charge storage area 2 by category (FIG. 5).
3 (step A3 in FIG. 2). This process is repeated until the current date reaches the 31st (NO in step A4 in FIG. 2). Then, when the current date reaches the 31st (YES in step A4 in FIG. 2), the average call charge is not stored in the average call charge storage fee 24 for the first month (step A5 in FIG. 2). NO), the total of the call charges stored in the estimated call charge storage area 23 is stored in the average call charge storage area 24 as it is for each category (FIG. 5) (step A6 in FIG. 2).

In the second and subsequent months, since the average call charge is stored in the average call charge storage fee 24 (YES in step A5 in FIG. 2), the approximate call charge storage area 2 is stored.
3. The average value of the total of the call charges stored in 3 and the average call charge stored in the average call charge storage fee 24 is calculated for each category (FIG. 5), and the average value is stored in the average call charge. The data is stored in the area 24 for each category (FIG. 5) (step A7 in FIG. 2).

Then, in order to newly store the cumulative total of the call charges for the next month, the value of the approximate call charges stored in the approximate call charge storage area 23 is initialized (set to 0) ( Step A8 in FIG. 2). After that, the process ends.

Here, it is assumed that three months have passed, and the average call charge stored in the average call charge storage area 24 is as shown in FIG. That is, the average monthly call fee for weekdays is 4700 yen, the average monthly call fee for weekdays is 100 yen, the average monthly call fee for midnight and early morning on weekdays is 0 yen, and the average monthly call fee for weekends and holidays is 1 month. It is assumed that the average call charge is 200 yen, the average call charge for one month on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays is 0 yen, and the average call charge for midnight on weekends, holidays, and early morning is 0 yen.

Thereafter, when the user makes a request for detection of the optimal charge plan, the detection software of the optimal charge plan of the personal computer 5 or the detection Web site 51 is started. First, the best rate plan detection software or detection Web site 5
1 downloads data indicating the average call rate (FIG. 10) from the average call rate storage area 24 of the mobile phone 1 (step C1 in FIG. 9), and then downloads the data from the current contract rate plan storage area 21. Then, data indicating the charge plan A of the current contract is downloaded (step C2 in FIG. 9).

Next, data indicating the latest rate plan list (FIG. 4) is downloaded from the latest rate plan list storage area 41 of the latest rate plan list storage server 4 (FIG. 9).
Step C3). Average call charges (FIG. 10) based on the data indicating the downloaded latest charge plan list (FIG. 4) and the data indicating the current contract charge plan A downloaded from the current contract charge plan storage area 21.
Is converted to an average call charge for the same time call in charge plans B, C, and D other than the charge plan A currently contracted, and the average monthly payment amount in all charge plans is calculated. It becomes as shown in.

That is, in the case of the rate plan A, the average call charge is 5,000 yen, which exceeds the free call charge for 4500 yen by 500 yen, and the average monthly payment is 8000 (the basic charge). = 500 + 7500)
It becomes a circle. For rate plan B, the average call charge is 666
1 yen, which is 50 yen for the free call fee of 1600 yen
Since it exceeds 61 yen, the average monthly payment is 9561 (= 5061 + 4500) yen. In the case of the rate plan C, the average call charge is 9977 yen, which exceeds the free call charge of 600 yen by 9377 yen, so the average monthly payment is 13077 (= 9).
377 + 3700) yen. In the case of charge plan D, the average call charge is 3594 yen, and the basic charge of 4000 yen is added, and the average monthly payment is 7594 (= 3594).
+4000) yen.

After that, as a result of comparing the monthly average payment amount, the software 51 or the detection Web site 51 of the optimal rate plan detects the rate plan D with the minimum amount of 7,594 yen as the optimal rate plan (step in FIG. 9). C4).

Next, the best rate plan detection software or detection Web site 51 has an optimum rate plan D whose average call rate is lower than the current contract rate plan A (YES in step C5 in FIG. 9). Therefore, the user is notified of the charge plan D as the optimum charge plan (step C6 in FIG. 9). After that, the process ends.

In the embodiment shown in FIG.
The same effect as in the embodiment shown in FIG. Further, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the mobile phone 1 does not need to have the storage area 25 for the price plan list and the latest charge plan detection program 3 in the embodiment of FIG. Can be simplified, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Data management program 2, optimal charge plan detection program 3, and optimal charge plan detection software
or the program executed by the detection Web site 51 is a DVD (digital versatile d
isc), CD-ROM (compact disc)
read only memory), a semiconductor memory, or the like.

In each of the above-described embodiments, when the user inputs a currently-contracted rate plan, the user enters
May be input, or any of the letters A, B, C, and D for identifying the charge plans A, B, C, and D may be input, and the mobile phone 1 May download rate plan data corresponding to the input characters from the latest rate plan list storage server 4 and store the data in the rate plan storage area 21 of the current contract.

Further, in the above embodiment, the average call charge is calculated by comparing the average call charge stored in the approximate call charge storage area 23 with the average call charge stored in the average call charge storage area 24. The average call rate is calculated and stored in the average call rate storage area 24 as a new average call rate. However, the average call rate stored in the average call rate storage area 24 is weighted and the current contract rate is calculated. The average call fee for each month in the billing plan being used may be calculated strictly.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a portable telephone has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to other communication devices.

The configuration and operation of each of the above embodiments are examples, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0081]

As described above, according to the mobile communication device, the call charge management system, the call charge management method, and the recording medium of the present invention, data indicating a currently contracted charge plan is stored. Based on the contracted rate plan, calculate the average call rate, which is the average value of the monthly call rates, store the calculated average call rate, download the data indicating the latest rate plan list, The data indicating the latest downloaded rate plan list is stored, and based on the stored data indicating the latest rate plan list, the stored average call rate is reduced to another indicated by the latest rate plan list. Converted to the average call rate corresponding to the rate plan, the rate plan with the lowest average call rate is detected and notified as the optimal rate plan. Detects whether the contracted rate plan is the optimal rate plan, and notifies the user when there is an optimal rate plan whose average call rate is lower than the currently contracted rate plan. can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a mobile phone according to the present invention and a configuration example of a latest charge plan list storage server 4.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure of a data management program of the mobile phone of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of a program for detecting an optimal charge plan of the mobile phone in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a list of the latest charge plans.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a category classification of call charges.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an average usage fee of a fee plan C.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an average usage fee of all fee plans and a monthly payment amount.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the mobile phone according to the present invention and a configuration example of a latest charge plan list storage server 4 and a personal computer 5;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a process of detecting an optimal fee plan by the software or detection website 51 for detecting an optimal fee plan of the personal computer 5 in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an average usage fee of the fee plan A.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an average usage fee of all fee plans and a monthly payment amount.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Mobile phone 2 Data management program 3 Optimum rate plan detection program 4 Latest rate plan list storage server 5 PC 21 Storage area for current contract rate plan 22 Storage area for closing date for each month 23 Storage area for estimated call charges 24 Average Call rate storage area 25 Rate plan list storage area 41 Latest rate plan list storage area 51 Optimal rate plan detection software or web site

Claims (7)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A mobile communication device contracted by selecting one of a plurality of charge plans, a charge plan storage means for storing data indicating a currently contracted charge plan, Calculating means for calculating an average call rate, which is an average value of monthly call charges, based on the currently contracted rate plan; and an average call rate storing the average call rate calculated by the calculating means. Storage means; download means for downloading data indicating the latest rate plan list; latest rate plan list storage means for storing data indicating the latest rate plan list downloaded by the download means; and the latest rate plan Based on the data indicating the latest rate plan list stored by the list storage means,
The average call rate stored by the average call rate storage means is converted into an average call rate corresponding to another rate plan shown in the latest rate plan list, and a rate plan with the lowest average call rate is calculated. A mobile communication device comprising: an optimal fee plan detecting unit that detects an optimal fee plan; and a notifying unit that notifies a detection result by the optimal fee plan detecting unit. 2. A closing date storage unit for storing a closing date for each month, and a category-based storage for storing, for each category, a cumulative total of call charges for one month up to the closing date for each month stored by the closing date storage unit. Means, and the calculating means calculates an average value of the total of the call charges per month stored for each category and the average call charges stored by the average call charge storage means. 2. The mobile communication device according to claim 1, wherein the average call charge storage unit stores the average call charge newly calculated by the calculation unit. 3. The mobile device according to claim 1, wherein said average call charge storage means stores a total of the call charges per month for each call time zone, weekdays, weekends and holidays. Body communication device. 4. The mobile communication device according to claim 1, wherein the download unit downloads data indicating the latest rate plan list stored in a predetermined host computer. 5. A server, a mobile communication device contracted by selecting one of a plurality of charge plans and a call charge of the mobile communication device are managed, and an optimum charge plan is detected. A call rate management system comprising an optimum rate plan detection device, wherein the mobile communication device includes: a rate plan storage unit that stores data indicating a currently contracted rate plan; Calculating means for calculating an average call charge, which is an average value of call charges per month, based on the average call charge storage means for storing the average call charge calculated by the calculation means. A latest rate plan storage means for storing data indicating a latest rate plan list, wherein the optimal rate plan detection device reads the latest rate plan from the server. Download the data indicating the list, download the average call rate from the average call rate storage means of the mobile communication device, and read the currently contracted rate plan from the rate plan storage means of the mobile communication device. Download means for downloading data indicating the latest rate plan list storage means for storing data indicating the latest rate plan list downloaded by the download means; and Based on the latest list of pricing plans,
The average call rate stored by the average call rate storage means is converted into an average call rate corresponding to another rate plan shown in the latest rate plan list, and a rate plan with the lowest average call rate is calculated. A call charge management system, comprising: an optimal charge plan detection unit that detects an optimal charge plan; and a notification unit that notifies a detection result by the optimal charge plan detection unit. 6. A call charge management method for a mobile communication device contracted by selecting one of a plurality of charge plans, wherein the charge stores data indicating a currently contracted charge plan. A plan storing step, a calculating step of calculating an average call rate which is an average value of a monthly call rate based on the currently contracted rate plan, and a step of calculating the average call rate calculated in the calculating step. An average call rate storing step for storing; a download step for downloading data indicating the latest rate plan list; a latest rate plan list storing step for storing data indicating the latest rate plan list downloaded in the download step; Before being stored in the latest charge plan list storage step Based on the data indicating the latest rate plan list, the average call rate stored in the average call rate storage step is changed to an average call rate corresponding to another rate plan indicated in the latest rate plan list. A call rate, comprising: an optimal rate plan detecting step of detecting, as an optimal rate plan, a rate plan in which the average call rate becomes the lowest, and a notification step of notifying a detection result in the optimal rate plan detecting step. Management method. 7. A recording medium on which a program capable of executing the call charge management method according to claim 6 is recorded.