JP2002118591A - External storage system of telephone number - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a user to easily and quickly call an IP telephone by simply inputting the nickname of an opposite party registered in advance, where multiple IP addresses of opposite parties are stored without increasing the capacity of storage means of a telephone. SOLUTION: There are provided a personal profile server 12 where, connected to the Internet 11, a file in which user's personal information is stored is set for each user, and a telephone number storage server 15 where, connected to the Internet 11, a file in which a nickname of the opposite party and its corresponding IP address are stored in advance is set for each user.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a telephone number external storage system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, IP (internet pro
A so-called IP telephone, which makes a voice call via a tocol) network, is possible. in this case,
Voice calls can be made with the other party via the Internet. Voice data from the telephone is converted to digital communication data for compression or decentralization processing. can do. Therefore, the communication fee is low, and a large amount of data such as a photograph and a moving image other than the voice data from the telephone can be communicated on the same line.

As described above, in order to make a voice call via an IP network, voice data from a telephone is converted into digital communication data and compression or decentralization processing is performed. Since a device and software for converting voice data into voice data again are required for both, a normal telephone cannot be used as it is.

For this reason, an IP telephone service that can use a normal telephone is provided by Jens, PSI, or the like. In the IP telephone service, a call is made via an exchange operated by a provider of the IP telephone service. In this case, since the voice data from the telephone is converted into digital communication data by the exchange and subjected to compression or decentralization processing, an IP telephone using a normal telephone is possible.

[0005] However, in the IP telephone service, when making a telephone call, in addition to the telephone number of the other party,
It is also necessary to input the telephone number, user ID number, pin number (personal identification number) and the like of the exchange. In this case, for example, the telephone number of the exchange is 8 digits (digits), the user ID number is 6 to 8 digits, and the pin number is about 4 digits. And a number of about 30 digits is input, and it is difficult to remember the number to be input. Also, it is possible to store a number of about 30 digits to be entered in the storage means of the own telephone, but if the telephone is a cellular phone or the like, the capacity of the storage means is small, so that a number having a large number of digits can be stored. It is impossible to store in large quantities.

Therefore, Netmeeting (Micr
osoft), CU-seeMe, Internet
A telephone number service (Directory service) system such as Phone (Vocal Tec) is provided. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of the telephone number service system. As shown in the figure, in the telephone number service system, each user's telephone, personal computer, and the like are connected to the Internet 11 via a public communication line such as a wired or wireless network. , And is connected to the Internet 11 via a wired public communication line, a dedicated line, or the like. Then, when making a call, the user accesses the directory server 101 via the Internet 11,
The telephone number of the other party, the telephone number of the exchange, the user ID number, the pin number, and the like registered in the directory server 101 can be read. Therefore, when making a call using the IP telephone service, the user can obtain the number to be entered by accessing the directory server 101, so that it is necessary to remember the number of about 30 digits to be entered. Nor do they need to be recorded.

However, when the number of accesses to the directory server 101 increases, that is, when the traffic increases, it takes a long time to connect, and it becomes impossible to quickly obtain the number to be input.

[0008] When an Internet telephone service is used from an intranet or the like, an apparatus called a gate-keeper is provided to solve such a problem.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a system in which a conventional gatekeeper is used.

As shown in the figure, the gatekeeper 12
1 is mainly for LANs in organizations such as government offices and corporations.
(Local area network) 122 and provided with a normal PBX (private branch).
As in the case of exchange, not only are external telephones distributed to extension telephones and extension telephones are exchanged, but also the IP address of the other party is registered.

When making an IP call from the telephones 123a and 123b in the organization to an external party, if a user inputs a short registration number of the party registered in advance, a signal from the telephones 123a and 123b is changed. LAN
It is sent to the gatekeeper 121 via 122.
Then, the gatekeeper 121 reads out the IP address corresponding to the registration number or the like of the other party and automatically transmits the IP address, thereby connecting the telephones 123a and 123b to the other party's telephone (not shown) via the Internet 11. can do.

The processing of converting audio data into digital communication data and performing compression or decentralization processing, and the processing of converting digital communication data back into audio data are as follows:
This is performed by the gateway 125. Therefore, the function of the gate keeper 121, the gateway 124, and the Internet telephone gateway 125 allows the user to make an IP telephone simply by inputting a short registration number of the other party.

[0013]

However, the gatekeeper 124 is not suitable for the LAN 12 in a large organization.
However, it is not suitable for individuals and small-scale organizations because it requires additional facilities and costs are high. Further, when the telephones 123a and 123b are mobile telephones, it is substantially impossible to cope.

[0014] Therefore, a technology has been developed which allows an ordinary mobile phone or the like to make a direct call to an IP telephone without using the IP telephone service as described above.

On the other hand, the IP used in the IP network
Addresses are being depleted due to an increase in the number of Internet users, and the current IP standard using a 32-bit IP address, IPv4 (internet)
protocol version 4), 12
Next-generation standard using 8-bit IP address, I
Pv6 (Internet protocol ver.)
The transition to the zone 6) is being considered.

In this case, it is practically impossible for the user to store the 128-bit IP address. If the user wants to store the 128-bit IP address in the storage means of the telephone, it is necessary to greatly increase the capacity of the storage means. However, the cost increases. In particular, when the telephone is a mobile phone, the size and cost of the device are greatly restricted, and it is difficult to increase the capacity of the storage means.
It becomes impossible to store the P address, which is extremely inconvenient.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and can store the IP addresses of a large number of destinations without increasing the capacity of the storage means of the telephone.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a telephone number external storage system that allows a user to easily and quickly make an IP telephone call simply by inputting a short registration number of a destination registered in advance.

[0018]

For this purpose, in the telephone number external storage system of the present invention, a file which is connected to the Internet and stores personal information for each use in the storage means is set for each user. A personal profile server connected to the Internet and a telephone number storage server in which a file in which a nickname of a destination telephone and a corresponding IP address are stored in advance in a storage means is set for each user. .

And the personal profile server,
The nickname of the destination telephone transmitted from the user's telephone is transferred to a telephone number storage server, and the telephone number storage server stores the received nickname in a corresponding I
The personal profile server converts the IP address into a P address and returns the IP address to the personal profile server.
The user's telephone is connected to the destination telephone based on the address.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a telephone number external storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 11 is the Internet, 12
Is a personal profile server connected to the Internet 11 via a public communication line or a dedicated line. The personal profile server 12 includes a calculation unit (not shown),
A storage unit, a communication interface, and the like are provided, and a file in which personal information of the user is stored is set in the storage unit for each user.

Here, the user has previously concluded a contract with a person who operates the personal profile server 12 and uses the personal profile server 12 based on the contract. , A group composed of a plurality of persons, or a corporation or an office such as a company.

In addition, the above-mentioned personal information is, in principle, not disclosed and, in principle, does not respond to inquiries from anyone other than the user himself. However, if the user is a corporation, etc., the personal information should be disclosed at his will. You can also.

Further, when the user is a group such as a family or a group, the personal information is shared between members of the group, and a file shared between the members includes:
It is also possible to set a personal file which is a file of each member and is not disclosed to other members.

The personal profile server 12 also functions as a portal site which is an entrance to the Internet 11, and as described later, when the user makes an IP phone call, first, the personal profile server 12 To be connected to. Here, the IP phone is an IP (Internet protocol).
This refers to making a voice call via a network.

A mirror server 13 for reducing the load on the personal profile server 12 is connected to the personal profile server 12. Here, the mirror server 13 includes an unillustrated computing unit, a storage unit, a communication interface, and the like, and a mirror (copy) of the file of the personal profile server 12 is stored in the storage unit.

However, even if the mirror server 13 does not store mirrors of all the files of the personal profile server 12,
It is only necessary to store the mirror of the index file and part or all of the cache memory. In addition,
The index file is a so-called Second-
The mirror server 13 is the same as DNS.
It can be compared to a DNS cache or Web cache.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a telephone service server which is connected to the Internet 11 via a public communication line or a dedicated line. The telephone service server 14 includes arithmetic means (not shown), storage means, a communication interface, and the like.
It is for providing services such as absence notification. Further, a function of converting the contents of the answering machine into character information can be provided.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a telephone number storage server connected to the Internet 11 via a public communication line or a dedicated line.
A communication interface and the like, and in the storage means,
A file storing a nickname and an IP address corresponding to the nickname is set in advance for each user.

Here, the nickname is an ID previously assigned to each of the other party's telephones by the user, and is usually a string of short letters, numbers, symbols, etc. of about two to three digits.

Then, the telephone number storage server 15
The nickname and the IP address are mutually converted in response to an inquiry from the personal profile server 12.
That is, the telephone number storage server 15 functions as if it were a telephone directory or an address book. The function of the telephone number storage server 15 is as follows.
Can be compared to the function of a domain name server that is used when connecting to a domain name and converts a domain name and an IP address to each other.

The file set in the storage means of the telephone number storage server 15 is not a file for each user,
It may be set for each group such as a family and a group. In this case, the file functions as a telephone directory or an address book shared between members of the organization.

Here, the personal profile server 1
2. The mirror server 13, the telephone service server 14, and the telephone number storage server 15 may be a single integrated server, but are configured as so-called distributed servers independent of each other from the viewpoint of load distribution. Is desirable. That is, since accesses from each user are not concentrated on one server but are distributed to each server, the occurrence of jam (congestion) is suppressed even if the capacity of the line connected to each server is small. be able to.

Since the line connecting the servers has a larger capacity than a normal line, the communication between the servers is quick even if the access from the users is flooded and the traffic on the Internet 11 is increased. Done in

In this case, the respective servers execute the above-described functions by executing the daemon program while accessing each other via the line. For example, like HTTPD, a daemon program starts and executes a child process for each user.

Reference numerals 21a and 21b denote telephones such as a portable telephone and a stationary telephone which are connected to the Internet 11 via a wired or wireless public communication line and can make an IP telephone directly. User A
, And the telephone 21b is used by the other user B. It should be noted that a large number of the telephones 21a and 21b are provided, though not shown in the figure.

Here, the telephones 21a and 21b are not limited to portable telephones, stationary telephones and the like, but may be any telephones that can make an IP telephone directly and have a function of enabling voice communication. , Electronic organizer, personal computer, PD
A, any form such as a videophone may be used.

A sub-network 22 is connected to the Internet 11 via a public communication line or a dedicated line, and is, for example, a network such as a LAN (local area network) in an organization such as a government office or a company. Subnetwork 2
2 comprises a device such as a gatekeeper, reads out the IP address corresponding to the telephone number of the other party,
The P address is automatically transmitted, and the ordinary telephone 23 connected to the sub-network 22 is connected to the other telephone via the Internet 11. further,
The sub-network 22 converts audio data into digital communication data and performs compression or decentralization processing,
It also performs processing for converting digital communication data back to voice data.

Here, a large number of the telephones 23 are provided, and the telephones 23 may be of any type such as a portable telephone, a stationary telephone, an electronic organizer, a personal computer, a PDA, and a video telephone.

Next, the operation of the telephone number external storage system having the above configuration will be described.

As a first operation example, the user A receives the telephone 2
The operation when making a call to the user B using the telephone 21b using 1a will be described.

First, the user A inputs the IP address of the personal profile server 12 and the short registration number, nickname, etc., registered in advance of the telephone 21b.
1a.

Here, the personal profile server 12
IP address is the current IP standard IPv4 (inte
32 bits according to the rnet protocol version 4), and IPv6 which is a next-generation standard
(Internet protocol version
According to n6), the length is as long as 128 bits, and it is inconvenient to input each time a call is made. Therefore, the data is stored and registered in the storage means of the telephone 21a in advance so that the call is automatically transmitted. It is desirable to do. In this case, the IP address of the personal profile server 12 itself is long, but since the number of IP addresses to be registered is only one, the capacity of the storage means of the telephone 21a does not run out.

The user I of the telephone 21a registered in the personal profile server 12 in advance
It is desirable that the D number, the pin number, and the like are also stored and registered in advance in the storage means of the telephone 21a so that the call is automatically transmitted.

The nickname is usually 2 to
It is a string of about three digits of characters, symbols, numbers, etc., and is easy to input, so that the user A may input each time a call is made. Since there is no shortage, it may be stored in advance in the storage means of the telephone 21a and registered.

Next, after the telephone 21a is connected to the personal profile server 12 by transmitting the IP address, the user ID number, pin number, etc. of the telephone 21a and the nickname of the telephone 21b are transmitted to the personal profile server 12. Sent.

Subsequently, the personal profile server 12
Is the user ID number of the telephone 21a, the pin number, etc.
When the nickname of the telephone 21b is received, it accesses the mirror server 13 if necessary, and determines whether or not the user ID number and the pin number of the telephone 21a are registered.

If it is determined that the service is registered, the personal profile server 12 determines whether services such as answering machine, telephone transfer, and absence notification are set for the telephone 21b corresponding to the nickname. An inquiry is made to the telephone service server 14 as to whether or not it is not.

Then, when a response to the effect that the service has not been set is returned, the personal profile server 12
Stores the nickname of the telephone 21b in the telephone number storage server 1.
Transfer to 5.

Next, when the telephone number storage server 15 receives the transferred nickname of the telephone 21b,
The nickname is converted into the IP address of the telephone 21b. Then, the IP address of the telephone 21b is returned to the personal profile server 12.

Subsequently, the personal profile server 12
Receives the returned IP address of the telephone 21b, and connects the telephone 21a to the telephone 21b.
In this case, the personal profile server 12 functions as a portal site for the telephone 21a. Thus, the user A can use the telephone 21a to communicate with the user B using the telephone 21b via the Internet 11.

Next, as a second operation example, user A uses telephone 21a and user C uses telephone 23.
The operation when making a call to is described. The description of the same operation as in the first operation example is omitted.

First, the user A transmits the IP address of the personal profile server 12 and the nickname registered in advance of the telephone 23 from the telephone 21a.

Then, the telephone number storage server 15
When the nickname of the telephone set 23 transferred from the personal profile server 12 is received, the nickname is transmitted to the IP address of the subnetwork 22 and, for example, an extension number (ext) in the subnetwork 22.
The number is converted into the telephone number of the telephone 23, for example, an entry number. Then, the IP address of the telephone 23 is returned to the personal profile server 12.

Next, the personal profile server 12
Upon receiving the returned IP address, the telephone 21a is connected to a device such as a gatekeeper in the sub-network 22. Then, a device such as the gatekeeper connects the telephone 21a to the telephone 23 based on the telephone number of the telephone 23 in the subnetwork 22.

Next, as a third operation example, an operation in the case where the user A uses the telephone 21a to make a call to the telephone 21b on which services such as answering machine, telephone transfer, and absence notification are set. explain. In addition, the first
The description of the same operation as that of the second operation example is omitted.

First, the personal profile server 12
Makes an inquiry to the telephone service server 14 as to whether services such as answering machine, telephone transfer, absence notification, etc. are set for the telephone 21b corresponding to the nickname of the telephone 21b.

If any one of the services is set, the telephone service server 14 sends a reply to the personal profile server 12 to that effect.

If the answering machine service is set, the personal profile server 12 returns an answering machine message to the telephone 21a. Then, if a message to be recorded is transmitted from the telephone 21a in response thereto, the message is transferred to the telephone service server 14. Subsequently, the telephone service server 14 stores the message in a storage unit.

When the telephone transfer service is set, the personal profile server 12 transmits the IP address of the transfer destination stored in the storage means of the telephone service server 14.
The address is read, and the telephone 21a is connected to the transfer destination telephone corresponding to the IP address.

Further, when the absence service is set, the personal profile server 12 sets the telephone 2
1a.

As described above, in the telephone number external storage system according to the present embodiment, the telephone number storage server 1
Nickname and corresponding IP in the storage means
The telephone number storage server 15 converts the nickname and the IP address into each other in response to an inquiry from the personal profile server 12 in which an address is stored in advance and a registered file is set for each user. . That is, the telephone number storage server 15 functions as if it were a telephone directory or an address book.

Therefore, the telephones 21a, 21b, 23
Without increasing the capacity of the storage means, the user can easily and quickly make an IP call simply by storing the IP addresses of a large number of destinations and entering the short nickname of the destination registered in advance. be able to.

In this case, usually, the capacity of the storage means of the telephone number storage server 15 is limited to the telephones 21a, 21b, 23.
Is much larger than the capacity of the storage means, so that an extremely large number of nicknames can be stored, and the convenience for the user is high.

Further, since the mirror server 13 is connected to the personal profile server 12, the load on the personal profile server 12 can be reduced.

Further, after the telephone 21a of the user A is connected to the personal profile server 12, the personal profile server 12 accesses the telephone number storage server 15 and receives the IP address of the telephone 21b of the other party. Since the telephone set 21a is connected to the telephone set 21b, traffic to the telephone number storage server 15 is reduced. Since the communication between the servers is performed in cooperation with the servers, no load is applied to the telephones 21a and 21b.

Since the line connecting each server has a larger capacity than a normal line, even if traffic from the Internet 11 increases due to a flood of users, communication between the servers can be performed quickly. Done.

Further, the personal profile server 12, the mirror server 13, the telephone service server 14, and the telephone number storage server 15 are independent of each other and form a so-called distributed server, so that access from each user is prevented. It is distributed to each server without being concentrated on one server. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a jam even if the capacity of the line connected to each server is small. In particular, since the personal profile server 12, the telephone service server 14, and the telephone number storage server 15 are independent, it is possible to independently and easily change or enhance the functions of the respective servers.

Further, each of the servers executes a daemon program while accessing each other via a line, and the daemon program activates and executes a child process for each user, thereby facilitating load distribution. be able to.

When the functions of the respective servers are changed, enhanced, etc., they can be easily performed by operating from the Internet 11.

Further, in the telephone number external storage system according to the present embodiment, since a single system performs other types of functions, the TCO (total cost) is used.
of operation is reduced. Further, since there is no need for ancillary facilities and the cost is low, individuals and small-scale organizations can use the facility without financial burden.

Further, each server is connected to an ISP (inter
When incorporated into the system of a net service provider, maintenance can be further facilitated. Further, if each server is distributed to a plurality of ISP systems, even if one of the ISP systems goes down, it can be recovered by another ISP, thereby improving the reliability of the telephone number external storage system. Can be done.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified based on the gist of the present invention, and they are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

[0075]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the telephone number external storage system is connected to the Internet, and a file in which personal information of the user is stored in the storage means is stored for each user. And a telephone number storage server which is connected to the Internet and stores in the storage means a file in which the nickname of the telephone of the other party and the corresponding IP address are stored in advance for each user. And

Then, the personal profile server:
The nickname of the destination telephone transmitted from the user's telephone is transferred to a telephone number storage server, and the telephone number storage server stores the received nickname in a corresponding I
The personal profile server converts the IP address into a P address and returns the IP address to the personal profile server.
The user's telephone is connected to the destination telephone based on the address.

In this case, without increasing the capacity of the storage means of the telephone, the IP addresses of a large number of destinations are stored, and the user simply inputs a short nickname of the destination registered in advance, which is convenient. It is possible to make an IP phone call quickly.

Further, since the personal profile server and the telephone number storage server are independent of each other and form a so-called distributed server, the access from the user is not concentrated on one server, but is concentrated on each server. Distributed. Therefore, even if the capacity of the line connected to each server is small, occurrence of a jam can be suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a telephone number external storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of a telephone number service system.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a system in which a conventional gatekeeper is used.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Internet 12 Personal Profile Server 15 Phone Number Storage Server 21a, 21b, 23, 123a, 123b Telephone

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) H04M 11/00 302 H04L 11/20 B

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. (a) a personal profile server connected to the Internet, wherein a file in which personal information of a user is stored in a storage means is set for each user;
(B) Connected to the Internet, the nickname of the other party's telephone and the corresponding I
A file storing a P address and a telephone number storage server set for each user; and (c) the personal profile server stores a nickname of a destination telephone transmitted from the user's telephone. To the telephone number storage server, (d) the telephone number storage server converts the received nickname into a corresponding IP address and returns it to the personal profile server, and (e) the personal profile server A telephone number external storage system for connecting the telephone of the user to a telephone of the other party based on the IP address.