JP2002135418A - Intelligent network system and switching equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an intelligent network system that can execute customer control by an operation from a telephone terminal. SOLUTION: A switching equipment 5 is provided with a service management processing device 11 and a service management information database 14 that stores service management information so as to allow the telephone terminal 1 to access the service management information database 14 and the intelligent network system executes the customer control through operations of the telephone terminal 1 on the basis of e.g. a special number.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an intelligent network in which a service control function is separated from an exchange and is made independent as a service control node (also referred to as an SCP or NSP), and is particularly suitable for efficiently performing customer control. To intelligent intelligent network systems and exchanges.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an intelligent network, a function related to service control is separated from an exchange and is made independent as a service control node (SCP) including a dedicated computer. The exchange and the service control node are connected by a common channel signaling network, and the exchange performs an exchange connection operation according to the instruction of the service control node.
Advanced communication services can be provided.

[0003] As a typical communication service provided by the intelligent network, a "area designated incoming call charging service" (hereinafter, referred to as "0120" dial) is used.
It is a "toll-free" service. “Toll free” is a registered trademark of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation),
There are “VPN (Virtual Private Network)”, “Personal communication” and the like.

Further, the functions of the service control node are provided by two dedicated computers: an SMS (also called NSSP) that handles access management, service management, and customer control; and an SCP (also called NSP) that performs specific service control. With the separate configuration, it is possible to provide more advanced communication services.

For example, in the toll-free service, the use of SMS enables more advanced services such as making the same toll-free number reach the nearest telephone in each area or changing the destination according to time zone and day of the week. Can be provided. In addition, SMS (NSSP)
And two dedicated computers, SCP (NSP), are connected by a packet network.

In the intelligent network, a service subscriber directly accesses a database of a service control node as needed to perform a so-called "customer control" in which specific contents of a service are set by himself. be able to.

[0007] As an example of such a system that can be customized by an intelligent network service subscriber, a CTI (Computing) in which a call center is located is provided.
er Telephony Integration) system, and the CTI system will be described below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional intelligent network system.

In the figure, reference numerals 51 to 54 denote telephone terminals and 55 to 57.
Is an exchange, 58 is a common channel signaling network, 59 is a service control node (described as "SCP" in the figure), 60 is a call center, 61 is a database in the call center, 62 is a computer terminal operated by a service subscriber (in the figure) , "PC") and 63 are Internet networks as packet networks. With such a configuration, a toll-free service is provided as follows.

[0010] First, a service subscriber applies to a telephone carrier to obtain a toll-free number "0120-Z".
Z-ZZZZ ". Then, the service subscriber receives the obtained toll-free number (“0120-ZZ-ZZZ”).
Z ") to receive a cash on delivery call from an unspecified telephone subscriber.

In the present system, when it is desired to restrict access from a specific telephone subscriber during service subscription, the database 61 of the call center 60 associates the access with the toll-free number "0120-ZZ-ZZZZ" to restrict the access. By registering the desired subscriber telephone number, for example, the number of the telephone terminal 53 ("03-XXXX-XXXX"), the restriction becomes possible.

Also, a call from a specific subscriber telephone number, for example, a telephone terminal 54 ("03-YYYY-YYYY") is transferred to another telephone, for example, "06-BBBB-BB".
The transfer to “BB” is also possible by registering the subscriber telephone number and the transfer destination number in the database 61 of the call center 60 in association with each other.

By registering in this way, for example,
When a call is made from the telephone terminal 53 of “03-XXXX-XXXX” to the toll-free number “0120-ZZ-ZZZZ”, the exchange 56 sends the toll-free number to the service control node 59 via the common channel signaling network 58. And the service control node 59 accesses the call center 60 to set the toll-free number “01”.
20-ZZ-ZZZZ ”and the calling party number“ 03-XXXX ”
-XXXX ".

In the call center 60, the toll-free number "0120-ZZ-ZZZZ" and the calling party number "0"
Referring to the database 61 based on "3-XXXX-XXXX", the information that the access to the calling party number "03-XXXX-XXXX" is restricted is obtained, and the service control node 59 is notified.

On the basis of the access control notification, the service control node 59 connects the telephone terminal 53 to a talk key or the like to notify that access is not possible.

If the same toll-free call is made from the telephone terminal 54, coordination processing is performed between the exchange 57 and the service control node 59 and the call center 60 in the same manner as in the case of the telephone terminal 53, and the service control node 59 To the exchange 57 as "0" as the connection destination information.
6-BBBB-BBBB ", and the exchange 57 connects the telephone terminal 54 and the telephone terminal 52 via the exchange 55 based on the notification.

In this way, the service control node 59 of the telephone company and the database 61 of the call center 60 cooperate to perform service control for each call. Such CTI is described in the IEICE Journal, January 1999.
In the October issue, pages 1062 to 1064 (Shun Kagata, Yuji Inoue, "The Latest Trend of Computer Telephony Integration (CTI)").

In the system having such a configuration, when the content of the database 61 of the call center 60 is changed, that is, when customer control for changing the service content is performed, the service subscriber operates the computer terminal 62 to operate the Internet. Call center 6 via network 63
Access 0. Then, the service is customized by rewriting the database 61 in the call center 60.

As described above, in the conventional intelligent network, the service subscriber operates the computer terminal 62 connected to the Internet 63 to change the setting of the service content under customer control. Call center 6 using software
Since the database 61 of 0 is rewritten, the service subscriber needs the computer terminal 62 and the corresponding software, and also needs to connect to the Internet provider.

The service control node 59 of the telephone company
Then, for each call, the database 6 of the call center 60
Since access to the service center 1 is performed to perform a specific service control, it is necessary to perform a service control communication by setting up a line with the call center 60.

[0021]

The problem to be solved is that, in the conventional technology, in an intelligent network, customer control cannot be performed without a computer terminal connectable to the Internet and specific compatible software. It is.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art and to provide an intelligent network system and an exchange which enable customer control by operation from a telephone terminal.

[0023]

In order to achieve the above object, in an intelligent network system and an exchange according to the present invention, a database function for storing service management information (service setting information) in the exchange and a customer function for storing the database function. Control function to enable access to the service management information database from the telephone terminal,
For example, the customer terminal is controlled by an operation based on a special number of the telephone terminal.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the intelligent network system and the exchange according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a service management information table managed by a database in the exchange shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a hardware diagram of a service management processing device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 41 denotes a CPU (Central Pr
an information processing device having a computer (processing unit) 42 and a main memory 43 for performing computer processing.
An external storage device such as an rd Disk Drive) 45 is a CD-ROM (Compact Disc) on which programs and data are recorded.
-Read Only Memory or DVD (Digital VideoDi)
optical disk consisting of sc / Digital Versatile Disc)
46 is a drive unit for reading out programs and data recorded on the optical disk 45, and 47 is an input / output unit for controlling connection with an external device.

The program and data stored in the optical disk 45 are installed in the external storage device 44 by the information processing device 41 via the drive device 46, and then read from the external storage device 44 into the main memory 43 and processed by the CPU 42. The information processing device 41 functions as the service management processing device 11 shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numerals 1-4 represent telephone terminals, and reference numerals 5-7
Is an exchange, 8 is a common channel signaling network, 9 is a service control node (described as "SCP" in the figure), and in this example,
The switching equipment 5 includes a switching processing device 10 for performing circuit switching connection processing as a normal switching device and a service management processing device for performing service management control according to the present invention (“SM” in the figure).
The service management processing device 11 includes a service processing unit 12, a customer control processing unit 13, and a database (described as “DB” in the figure) 14. .

As described above, in the intelligent network system of the present embodiment, the service management processing device 11 is provided in the exchange 5 so that the telephone terminals 1 and 2 can access the database 14 and
2 and the like, for example, the customer control is performed by an operation based on a special number.

An operation of providing a free dial service with such a configuration will be described.

First, the service subscriber, as in the prior art,
By applying to the telephone company, a toll-free number “0120-ZZ-ZZZZ” is obtained. The service subscriber then obtains the toll-free number “0120-
By advertizing "ZZ-ZZZZ", a call is received from an unspecified telephone subscriber by cash on delivery.

In the intelligent network system of this example, when it is desired to restrict access from a specific telephone subscriber during service subscription, the database 14 of the service management processor 11 in the exchange 5 stores the information in FIG.
As shown in the service management information table 21, the subscriber telephone number to be restricted is associated with the number "06-AAAAA-AAAA" of the telephone terminal 1 which receives the toll-free number "0120-ZZ-ZZZZ". , The number of the telephone terminal 3 (“03-XXXX-XXXX”) is registered.

The telephone terminal 4 ("03-YYYY-Y
YYY ") is transferred to another telephone, for example," 06-B
Similarly, when it is desired to transfer to "BBB-BBBB", the subscriber telephone number and the transfer destination number are registered in the database 14 provided in the exchange 5 in association with each other.

As described above, in the exchange 5, the toll-free number “0120-ZZ” is stored in the database 14.
−ZZZZ ”, the number“ 06-AA ”of the telephone terminal 1
Various service management information associated with “AA-AAAA” is registered as shown in the service management information table 21 in FIG.

In the state where the service management information is registered in the exchange 5 as described above, "03-XXXX-XXX"
X "from the telephone terminal 3 toll-free number" 0120-
The operation when calling "ZZ-ZZZZ" will be described.

In such a case, the exchange 6 which is the originating side,
The dialed toll-free number is passed to the service control node 9 via the common channel signaling network 8, and the service control node 9 sends the toll-free number “0120-ZZ”.
-ZZZZ 'is converted to '06 -AAAAA-AAAA' and returned to the exchange 6.

The exchange 6 on the calling side sets a path to the exchange 5 on the receiving side based on the converted telephone number "06-AAAAA-AAAAA" on the receiving side.

In the exchange 5 on the receiving side, the service processor 1
1, the service processing unit 12 executes the database 1
4 to the "06-AAAAA-AAAAA" table, that is, the service management information table 21 in FIG. 2, and refers to the processing corresponding to the calling telephone number "03-XXXX-XXXX".

Service management information table 2 in FIG.
In 1, the calling phone number "03-XXXX-XXXX"
Corresponds to "access restriction", and the service processing unit 1 in the service processing apparatus 11
In step 2, the caller is notified that access is not possible by connecting to a talk key (not shown) or the like.

Further, the toll-free number "0120-ZZ-Z" is sent from the telephone terminal "03-YYYY-YYYY".
When a call is made to "ZZZ", a path is similarly set from the calling-side exchange 7 to the destination-side exchange 5.

In the exchange 5 on the receiving side, in the service processing unit 11, the service processing unit 12 stores the "06-AAAAA-AAAAA" table from the database 14, that is, the service management information table 21 in FIG. Search for the outgoing phone number "03-YYYY-YY
The processing corresponding to "YY" is referred to.

Service management information table 2 in FIG.
In 1, the outgoing telephone number "03-YYYY-YYYY"
The process corresponding to the above is "transfer to 06-BBBB-BBBB", and the service processing unit 12 in the service processing device 11 calls the telephone terminal 2 and
The telephone terminal 4 is connected.

In a system having such a configuration, when newly registering or changing the contents of the database 14 of the exchange 5, that is, when performing customer control of service management information,
The service subscriber calls, for example, the exchange 5 from the telephone terminal 1 with a special number predetermined for customer control.

The exchange 5 called with this special number is:
It determines that the request is an access control request from the telephone terminal 1, and activates the customer control processing unit 13 in the service management processing device 11.

The activated customer control processing section 13 sends the guidance information registered in advance to the telephone terminal 1 by the automatic voice response service, and responds to the selection input operation from the telephone terminal 1 using the “#” button. And database 14
Perform new setting and update of service management information in

In the process of setting the service management information in the database 14 of the exchange 5, as shown in the service management information table 22 in FIG. 2, the caller number is set to the entire “03” area (“03− * ***-**** ")
Or PHS (Personal
Handyphone system) number (“070-PPPP-
It is also possible to specify “PPPP”).

Next, referring to FIG. 3, the exchange 5 shown in FIG.
A description will now be given of a database backup system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second configuration example of the intelligent network system and the exchange according to the present invention.

In FIG. 3, reference numerals 31 to 34 denote telephone terminals,
35 and 36 are exchanges, 37 is a backup database (described as "backup DB" in the figure), 38 is a common channel signal network, and 39 is a service control node ("SC" in the figure).
P ”), and in this example, the exchanges 35, 3
6, switching processing devices 35 a and 36 a for performing a circuit switching connection process as a normal exchange, and a service management processing device for performing service management control according to the present invention (described as “SMS processing device” in the figure) 35b and 36b are provided.

The service management processor 35
b and 36b include service processing units 35c and 36c, customer control processing units 35d and 36d, and databases (described as "DB" in the figure) 35e and 36e.
Backup processing units 35f and 36f are provided.

As described above, the backup processing unit 35f,
Service management processing devices 35b, 36b having 36f
Accesses the backup database 37 once a day through the common channel signaling network 38 during a time period during which communication is low, and reflects the new settings and updated contents of the databases 35e and 36e in the backup database 37, Perform backup processing.

As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, in the intelligent network system and the exchange of the present embodiment, the service management processing units 11, 35b and 36b and the services are provided in the exchanges 5, 35 and 36. Databases 14, 35e, and 36e storing management information are provided to enable access to the service management information databases 14, 35e, and 36e from the telephone terminals 1, 31 to 34. The customer can be controlled by an operation based on the special number.

As described above, the service subscriber can control the customer by operating the telephone terminal, so that the service subscriber does not need to use a computer terminal connected to a packet network such as the Internet network or corresponding software as in the related art. The setting of the service management information can be easily changed via the telephone network.

The service control node 9 of the telephone company
Also in 39, as described in the prior art with reference to FIG.
Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a line with the call center 60 and perform service control communication.

The present invention is not limited to the examples described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the service management processing unit 11 (database 1
Although described as a configuration provided with 4), the exchanges 6, 7
As in the case of the exchange 5, a service management processing device and a database may be provided for each of them.

In this embodiment, the exchanges 5, 35, and 36 have a configuration in which a database function is added using a new storage device. The configuration provided in the unit may be used.

Further, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the backup processing is described to be performed once a day during a time period when communication is small, but it may be performed about two or three times a day. In the backup database 37, the databases 35e, 3 of the two exchanges 35, 36
Although the configuration is such that the backup of 6e is performed, the number of exchanges is not limited to two, and the use efficiency may be improved by collecting a certain number of exchanges.

In this example, the service control nodes 9 and
38, a telephone number (“06-AAAAA-AAA”) to which a toll-free number (logical number) requested to be connected from the telephone terminal 3, 4, 33, 34 is associated in advance.
A)), and only the function of instructing the exchanges 5, 35, 36 to connect is provided, but other service control functions are provided similarly to the prior art. For example, for each toll-free (logical number), A configuration may be adopted in which processing is distributed and services using a call center are provided together.

In this embodiment, the service management processing device 1
The configuration example of the computer shown in FIG.
Input devices such as keyboards and CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
And the like. In this example, the optical disk is used as a recording medium for a program, but the FD may be used as a recording medium. As for the installation of the program, the program may be downloaded and installed via a network.

[0059]

According to the present invention, since customer control in the intelligent network can be performed by operation from the telephone terminal, it is possible to easily set incoming call prohibition control or the like for harassment calls in ordinary households. Can be improved, and the spread of intelligent networks can be promoted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first configuration example of an intelligent network system and an exchange according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a service management information table managed by a database in the exchange shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second configuration example of the intelligent network system and the exchange according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a service management processing device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional intelligent network system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1-4: telephone terminals, 5-7: exchange, 8: common line communication network, 9: service control node ("SCP"), 10: exchange processor, 11: service management processor ("SMS processor") , 12: service processing unit, 13: customer control processing unit, 14: database (“DB”), 21, 22
2: service management information table, 31 to 34: telephone terminal, 35, 36: exchange, 35a, 36a: exchange processing device, 35b, 36b: service management processing device ("SMS
Processing device "), 35c, 36c: service processing unit, 35
d, 36d: customer control processing unit, 35e, 36e: database ("DB"), 35f, 36f: backup processing unit, 37: backup database ("backup DB"), 38: common line communication network, 39: service control Node ("SCP"), 41: information processing apparatus, 4
2: CPU, 43: main memory, 44: external storage device, 4
5: optical disk, 46: drive device, 47: input / output device,
51 to 54: telephone terminals, 55 to 57: exchange, 58: common line communication network, 59: service control node (“SC
P "), 60: Call center, 61: Database (" DB "), 62: Computer terminal (" PC "), 63: Internet network.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Naoki Takaya 2-3-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo F-term in Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (reference) 5K024 AA01 BB04 CC01 DD01 EE02 5K026 AA23 CC07 FF03 GG12 GG28 5K051 AA08 BB01 CC01 DD01 EE01 EE02 FF01 HH03 HH15 KK06

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An intelligent network system in which a service control function is separated from an exchange and is made independent as a service control node. A means for storing service management information in said service control function and performing customer control is provided in said exchange. An intelligent network system in a switching system, wherein the customer control is performed based on an operation from a telephone terminal of a service subscriber. 2. An intelligent network system in which a service control function is separated from an exchange and is made independent as a service control node, wherein a telephone number in which a logical number requested to be connected by a telephone terminal is associated with the service control node in advance. Means for notifying the exchange and instructing the exchange to make a connection instruction, means for storing the service management information in the service control function in the exchange, and providing the customer control of the stored service management information to the telephone of the service subscriber. An intelligent network system comprising: means for performing operations based on an operation from a terminal; and means for performing service control corresponding to a telephone number notified from the service control node based on the stored service management information. 3. The intelligent network system according to claim 1, wherein said exchange has means for determining an input of a predetermined special number from said telephone terminal. An intelligent network system for performing customer control on the service management information based on the input of the special number. 4. The intelligent network system according to claim 1, further comprising a backup device for backing up the service management information stored in each of the plurality of exchanges. A featured intelligent network system. 5. An exchange forming an intelligent network provided with a service control node having a service control function, comprising means for storing service management information and customer control in said service control function, An exchange for performing the above-described customer control based on an operation from a telephone terminal. 6. An exchange constituting an intelligent network provided with a service control node having a service control function, comprising: means for storing service management information in the service control function; and a customer of the stored service management information. Means for performing control based on operation from a telephone terminal of a service subscriber, and means for performing service control corresponding to a telephone number notified from the service control node based on the stored service management information. And exchange. 7. The exchange according to claim 5, further comprising means for judging an input of a predetermined special number from said telephone terminal, and An exchange for performing customer control on the service management information based on an input. 8. The exchange according to claim 5, wherein said exchange accesses a database device connected via a common channel signaling network, and uses said database device to store said stored service. An exchange having means for backing up management information.