JP2003046682A - Automatic message device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To permit the corresponding person of a message destination to securely hear voice guidance even if a message opposite device has an automatic answering function in an automatic message device transmitting voice guidance to the message opposite device through an ISDN line. SOLUTION: The presence or absence of a false ring back tone sent from the message opposite device 6 is detected after the connection of the B-channel of ISDN with the message opposite device 6 based on the confirmation of an answer message sent through the ISDN line 4. When the false ring back tone is detected, it is judged that the corresponding person of the message destination makes an answer by detecting the stop of the false ring back tone or it is judged that the corresponding person of the message destination makes the answer by detecting the presence of voice from the message destination or a silence state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to ISDN (In
integrated Services Digital
The present invention relates to an automatic notification device that is connected to a network line and makes a call to a predetermined report destination in the event of an emergency or the like to send out prepared report information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic notification device of this type is activated by a push button switch or a sensor in case of an emergency such as theft or fire, and a preset telephone number of a destination is called. When it is sent out through the line and the other party of the report destination responds, the report voice information consisting of the address and the content of the report stored in advance (hereinafter referred to as voice guidance)
And so on.

In this case, from the urgency of reporting, it is important that the callee can hear the voice guidance from the beginning. If the information that must be transmitted is incomplete because the other party who responded heard the voice guidance halfway through, the other party that responded will wait until the next notification information transmission cycle, and will respond to an emergency situation in which there is a moment. Is delayed.

In order for the callee to hear the voice guidance from the beginning, it is necessary to detect the response of the callee and send the voice guidance after confirming that there is a response. Good.

When the telephone line to which the automatic notification device is connected is an ISDN line, if there is a response to the incoming call from the automatic notification device at the report destination, the exchange of the central office will use the response from the other party. Since the message "CONN" is sent to the automatic notification device, the automatic notification device can confirm that the response message "CONN" has been received, and thus can send the voice guidance.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram for explaining the communication between the automatic reporting device and the reporting destination through the ISDN line during the reporting operation.

That is, depending on the button operation and the sensor,
When the automatic notification device is activated, the automatic notification device performs off-hook processing to capture the line, then dials out to the report partner device as the report destination, and sends the call setting message "SET UP" through the ISDN line. Send to the reporting device.

[0008] Then, the report partner device sends a response message "CALL PROC" to the call setup message "SET UP" through the ISDN line. Then, in the reporting partner device, a ringer for notifying the operator of the incoming call rings, and from the reporting partner device, a message "ALERT" indicating that a call is in progress is issued from the ISD.
It is sent to the automatic notification device side through the N line.

When the operator performs a response operation (off-hook operation) to the ringing of the ringer at the report destination,
A message "CONN" indicating an incoming call response is sent to the central office through the ISDN line, and the B channel of the ISDN line is connected. Then, the response message "CONN" indicating the incoming call response is sent from the telephone station to the automatic notification device through the ISDN line.

The automatic notification device detects the notification destination response by detecting the response message "CONN". Then, after sending a confirmation message "CONN ACK" for this response message to the other party's device via the ISDN line and the telephone exchange (exchange), the automatic reporting device sends the stored voice guidance to the ISDN line. Therefore, the operator at the call destination listens to this voice guidance.

[0011] When the automatic notification device finishes the transmission of the voice guidance, it terminates the call (on-hook process) and sends the call termination message "DISC". Receiving party device receives this end message "DISC", detects line disconnection (on-hook), and sends line release message "REL". When the automatic notification device receives the line release message "REL", the line release completion message "REL" is received.
"EL COMP" is sent. This completes the reporting operation.

[0012]

By the way, some of the report partner devices of the report destination automatically respond to an incoming message before the operator actually responds. this is,
This is a measure for dealing with the fact that it is difficult for the operator to respond to all incoming messages due to the restriction of the number of operators at the report destination when the number of reports is very large.

In this case, considering that the notification is not only from the automatic notification device but also from the informer, after the B channel is connected in response to the automatic notification, the partner notification device is notified through the B channel. , Send a pseudo ringback tone so that the caller is in a state as if the operator was calling.

However, when the above-described notification operation is performed from the automatic notification device to the notification partner device that makes such an automatic response, the automatic notification device causes the response message " By receiving "CONN", it is determined that the report destination has responded, and transmission of the voice guidance is started.

FIG. 7 shows a notification operation sequence in this case.

In other words, in this case, the automatic reporting device sends the response message "C" by the automatic response of the reporting partner device.
When "ONN" is received, a confirmation message "CONN ACK" for this response message is sent to the communication partner device via the ISDN line and the telephone exchange (exchange).
Send the voice guidance to the ISDN line.

However, in this case, at this point, the operator may be in a state where he / she is not actually responding at the report destination. In that case, the operator is
There is a problem in that the voice guidance may be missed at all, or the beginning of a voice message by the voice guidance may be missed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide an automatic notification device capable of avoiding the above-mentioned problems.

[0019]

In order to solve the above problems, in the automatic notification device according to the present invention, input monitoring means for monitoring whether or not a start event has occurred,
When the input monitoring means detects the occurrence of the activation event, an automatic dial means for transmitting a preset telephone number through the ISDN line, and a notification information transmission for transmitting prepared notification information through the ISDN line And a response determination control for controlling the notification information transmitting means to start transmitting the notification information when the response of the report destination is determined after transmitting the telephone number, and when it is determined that the report destination responds. The response determination control means includes a first detection means for confirming a response message sent through the ISDN line, and the ISDN between the notification destination based on the confirmation of the response message. B
After the channel is connected, second detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the voice or the pseudo ringback tone sent from the report destination, the detection result of the first detecting means, and the second detecting means. And a response determination means for determining the response of the notification destination based on the detection result of 1.

[0020]

According to the present invention configured as described above, even if the reporting partner device automatically responds, it is determined that the reporting destination responds only by the response message "CONN" received in response to the automatic response. Instead, after receiving the response message "CONN", the presence or absence of a pseudo ringback tone or voice sent through the B channel is detected to determine the response of the callee.

After the automatic answer, when the operator picks up the handset to the corresponding state, the pseudo ringback tone disappears. After that, the operator waits for reception of voice information such as voice guidance from the automatic notification device, so that the B channel becomes silent. Alternatively, the voice of the operator is supplied to the automatic notification device by uttering the voice through the B channel. Even when the operator responds directly without making an automatic response, the B channel is silent because it waits for reception of voice information such as voice guidance from the automatic notification device. Alternatively, the voice of the operator is supplied to the automatic notification device by uttering the voice through the B channel.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the response determination control means detects the presence / absence of the pseudo ringback tone and the presence / absence of the voice of the B channel. The voice guidance can be sent to the other party's device as report information, and it is possible to avoid missing the voice guidance or a so-called broken state.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of an automatic notification device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of the entire notification system in which the automatic notification device of this embodiment is used.
The automatic notification device 1 includes a push button switch 2 that is operated by a user when an emergency such as theft or fire occurs.
And a sensor 3 for detecting theft, fire, etc. are connected. The automatic notification device 1 is connected to the telephone station 5 (exchange) through the ISDN line 4. A reporting partner device 6 is connected to the telephone station 5.

As described above, when the automatic notification device 1 is activated by the push button switch 2 or the sensor 3, the automatic notification device 1 causes the notification partner device 6 which is the preset notification destination.
The telephone number of the telephone line is sent through the ISDN telephone line 4, and when the operator responds at the report partner device 6,
A voice guidance is transmitted as report voice information including a prestored address and report contents.

The automatic notification device 1 of this embodiment is shown in FIG.
It is configured as shown in.

That is, the automatic notification device 1 of this embodiment has a control unit 11 having a microcomputer for controlling the entire device and a DSU (Digital Service Uni) connected to the ISDN line 4.
t; line terminating device) 12, an S / T point interface 13, an ISDN message detection unit 14, a codec unit 15, a voice guidance transmission unit 16, amplifiers 17 and 18, a tone and voice detection unit 19, The dial sending section 20 and the input monitoring section 21 are provided.

The ISDN message detection unit 14 uses the ISD
Response message “CON sent through N line 4
Various messages such as "N" are detected, and the detection result is supplied to the control unit 11.

The codec section 15 receives the voice guidance from the voice guidance sending section 16 through the amplifier 17, encodes it into a digital signal to be sent to the ISDN line 4, and then, the S / T point interface 13 and the DSU 12
Through the ISDN line 4. Further, the codec section 15 decodes the data received from the ISDN line 4 through the DSU 12 and the S / T point interface 13, and supplies the decoding result to the tone and voice detecting section 19 through the amplifier 18.

The voice guidance sending unit 16 previously holds voice guidance information as a notification voice message in a magnetic tape, a memory of a voice synthesis circuit or the like, and reads the voice guidance according to an instruction from the control unit 11. And sends it to the ISDN line 4.

The tone and voice detection unit 19 uses the ISDN
A tone signal such as a ring back tone sent through the line 4 is detected, and the presence or absence of a voice band signal is detected. Then, the detection result is supplied to the control unit 11.

The dial sending unit 20 holds the telephone number of the notification destination in advance, and the telephone number of the notification destination is changed to the S / T point interface 13 according to an instruction from the control unit 11.
And the ISDN line 4 through the DSU 12.

The input monitoring unit 21 monitors the operation input of the push button switch 2 or the output of the sensor 3, and when the push button switch 2 is pressed or when a predetermined output is obtained from the sensor 3, It recognizes it as the occurrence of an emergency and gives a start signal to the control unit 11.

When the control section 11 receives the activation signal from the input monitoring section 21, it sends a control signal to the S / T point interface 13. The S / T point interface 13 captures the ISDN line 4 accordingly. The control unit 11 uses the IS
After confirming that the DN line 4 has been captured, a dial sending instruction is given to the dial sending unit 20.

In response to a dial transmission instruction from the control unit 11, the dial transmission unit 20 changes the telephone number of the report destination to S / S.
It is sent to the ISDN line 4 through the T point interface 13. The S / T point interface 13 dials out as described above, and then inputs a message for call setup coming from the ISDN line 4 to the ISDN message detection unit 14.

After the dial is transmitted, the control unit 11 sets the I
The detection output signal of the SDN message detection unit 14 is fetched. Then, the response message “CONN” sent in response to the incoming call response including the automatic response of the report destination is detected, and I
After connecting the B channel of the SDN line, the detection output signal of the tone and voice detection unit 19 is fetched. Then, a response determination control process, which will be described in detail later, is performed, and after confirming the response of the other party of the report destination, a voice guidance sending instruction is sent to the voice guidance sending unit 16.

The voice guidance sending unit 16 outputs the voice guidance held by this instruction to the amplifier 17, the codec unit 15, the S / T point interface 13, and the DSU.
12 to the ISDN line 4.

In the response determination control processing, the control unit 11 also determines that the other party of the callee has not responded for a certain period of time when the other party of the report does not have an automatic response function, or the other party is busy and busy. If it is, the process of restarting the automatic notification operation from the line capturing operation is also performed.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 which is a continuation of FIG. 3 show a flowchart for explaining the notification operation including the above-described response determination control processing executed by the control unit 11.

That is, the control unit 11 monitors whether the activation signal comes from the input monitoring unit 21 (step S
101), when it determines that the activation signal has arrived, it sends a number sending instruction to the dial sending unit 20. In response to the number sending instruction, the dial sending unit 20 sends the telephone number of the reporting partner device, which is the reporting destination, through the S / T point interface 13 to perform an automatic call operation (step S102).

If the callee is busy for this automatic calling operation, a message to that effect is sent through the ISDN line 4, so the control unit 11 informs the ISDN.
It is determined whether or not a message indicating that the device is busy is detected through the message detection unit 14 (step S103), and when it is determined that the message is busy, the line is disconnected (step S106). Then, the process returns to step S102 and the reporting operation is performed again.

On the other hand, when the callee is not busy and responds to the automatic call in step S102 by an automatic response or an operator off-hook at the callee, a response message "CONN" is sent from the callee. come. On the other hand, when the operator does not respond at the report destination and the automatic response function is not available at the report destination, the response message “CO
"NN" is not sent.

Therefore, the control unit 11 waits for the detection output of the response message "CONN" from the ISDN message detection unit 14 (step S104). Then, it is determined whether or not the state in which the detection output of the response message "CONN" is not obtained has continued for a predetermined timer time (step S105), and when it is determined that the timer time has elapsed, the connection is established. Then, the ISDN line 4 is disconnected (step S106), and then the process returns to step S102,
Repeat the reporting operation.

When it is detected in step S104 that the response message "CONN" is received,
Since the B channel of the ISDN line 4 is connected, the control unit 11 detects the output of the signal sent through the B channel, that is, the tone and voice detecting unit 1.
The detection output of 9 is monitored (step S107).

As described above, when the callee automatically responds, a pseudo ringback tone (ringback tone is described as RBT in FIG. 4) may be sent. By monitoring the detection output of the unit 19, it is determined whether or not the pseudo ringback tone is received (step S111).

When a pseudo ring back tone is detected in step S111, it is determined whether or not a predetermined timer time has elapsed (step S112). If not, the process returns to step S111 and the pseudo ring is returned. Continue monitoring with back tone. Step S
When it is determined in 112 that the timer time has elapsed, the ISDN line 4 that has been connected is disconnected (step S113), and then the process returns to step S102 to repeat the reporting operation.

When it is detected in step S111 that the pseudo ringback tone cannot be detected before the timer time has elapsed (the pseudo ringback tone has stopped), it means that there is voice, that is,
It is determined whether the operator has picked up the handset (step S114).

When it is determined in step S114 that the voice cannot be detected, that is, in the silent state, it is determined whether or not the silent state lasts for 3 seconds or more (step S115). Step S1
When it is determined in 15 that the duration of the silent state is 3 seconds or less, the process returns to step S114 and the voice detection operation is performed.

When the presence of voice is detected in step S114, or when it is determined in step S115 that the silent state has continued for 3 seconds or more, the control unit 11
Sends a voice guidance sending instruction to the voice guidance sending unit 16 to send the voice guidance (step S116). Then, after the transmission of the voice guidance is completed (step S117), the call ending process is performed (step S118).

When it is detected in step S104 that the response message "CONN" is received, and when no pseudo ringback tone is detected in step S111, the process proceeds to step S114 and thereafter, and as described above, When it is detected, or in step S1
When it is determined in step 15 that the silent state has continued for 3 seconds or more, voice guidance is sent (step S116),
Wait until the end of the transmission of the voice guidance (step S1
17) Then, the call ending process is performed (step S118).

As described above, in this embodiment, the response message "CONN" alone is not used to detect the response of the report destination, but the response message "CON" is detected.
By detecting the pseudo ringback tone after "N" and the state with voice or the state of silence due to the operator responding, the response of the callee is detected, so at the time of sending the voice guidance, The operator is ready to hear the voice guidance.

Therefore, it is possible to avoid the situation where the operator as the callee misses the voice guidance or the voice guidance is overheard by the operator due to the automatic response as in the conventional case. it can.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a sequence when the reporting partner device automatically responds in this embodiment.

That is, in the same manner as described above, when the automatic notification device 1 is activated by the button operation or the sensor, the automatic notification device 1 performs the off-hook processing as described above to capture the line, and then, as the notification destination. Of the call setup message "SET U"
"P" is transmitted to the report partner device 6 through the ISDN line.

Then, the reporting device 6 sends a response message "CALL PROC" to the call setting message "SET UP" through the ISDN line 4. Then, in the report partner device 6, the ringer for notifying the operator of the incoming call sounds and the report partner device 6
The message "ALERT" indicating that the call is being made
It is sent to the automatic notification device 1 through the SDN line.

In this case, since the report partner device 6 automatically responds, a message "CONN" indicating an incoming call response is sent to the telephone station 5 through the ISDN line after the message "ALERT", and the B channel of the ISDN line is sent. Is connected. Then, the response message “CONN” indicating the incoming call response is sent from the telephone station 5 to the automatic notification device 1 through the ISDN line 4.

The automatic notification device detects this response message "CONN", but here, when the operator (correspondent) is absent or unable to respond without judging that the report destination has responded, an automatic response is given. The pseudo ringback tone sent subsequently to is detected.

After that, when the operator (corresponding person) responds, the pseudo ringback tone stops, the voice of the operator such as "Hello" is sent, or the silence state occurs due to the stop of the pseudo ringback tone. The automatic notification device 1 detects that the operator has responded by detecting the presence of voice and the silent state.

Then, when it is detected that the operator has responded, the automatic notification device 1 starts transmitting the voice guidance. Therefore, the operator can listen from the beginning of the voice guidance.

When the transmission of the voice guidance is completed, the automatic notification device performs the call termination process (on-hook process) and transmits the call termination message "DISC". The report partner device 6 receives the end message "DISC",
A line disconnection (on-hook) is detected, and a line release message "REL" is sent. When receiving the line release message "REL", the automatic notification device sends out a line release completion message "REL COMP". This completes the reporting operation.

In the above description of the embodiment, the response of the other party to the call destination is determined by detecting the state with voice or the state without voice after the pseudo ringback tone is stopped. When the pseudo ringback tone stops, the operator (correspondent) of the report destination can be in a state of responding. Therefore, by stopping the pseudo ringback tone, the response of the partner of the report destination can be determined. Good.

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention, even when the telephone line is an ISDN line and the communication partner device has an automatic response function, the voice guidance which is the notification information is transmitted. The operator (correspondent) at the report destination can be surely notified without cutting the head.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an automatic notification device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a notification system in which the automatic notification device of the embodiment is used.

FIG. 3 is a part of a flowchart for explaining a notification processing operation of the automatic notification device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a part of a flowchart for explaining a notification processing operation of the automatic notification device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a sequence at the time of notification by the automatic notification device of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a sequence at the time of notification in a conventional automatic notification device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of a notification sequence in the conventional automatic notification device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Automatic reporting device 4 ISDN line 6 Report partner device 11 Control unit 14 ISDN message detector 16 Voice guidance sending unit 19 Tones and voice detector 20 Dial sending unit 21 Input monitoring unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] August 15, 2001 (2001.8.1)
5)

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 3

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 3]

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Masami Takahashi             3-4-1 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo Foundation             Telecommunications Mutual Aid Association F term (reference) 5C087 AA40 BB14 BB74 DD04 DD05                       EE08 FF01 FF04 FF05 FF20                       FF23 GG03 GG04 GG21 GG23                       GG30 GG35 GG67 GG70 GG83                 5K101 KK14 LL03 NN13 PP08 RR21

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Input monitoring means for monitoring whether an activation event has occurred, and automatic dialing for transmitting a preset telephone number through an ISDN line when the input monitoring means detects the occurrence of the activation event. Means, and means for transmitting information prepared in advance through the ISDN line, and after transmitting the telephone number, the response of the callee is determined, and when it is determined that the callee has responded, Response determination control means for controlling the notification information transmission means so as to start transmission of the notification information, and the response determination control means is a first detection for confirming a response message sent through the ISDN line. And a presence or absence of a voice from the notification destination after connecting the ISDN B channel between the means and the notification destination based on confirmation of the response message. Alternatively, a response determination that determines the response of the report destination from the second detection unit that detects the presence or absence of the pseudo ringback tone, the detection result of the first detection unit, and the detection result of the second detection unit. An automatic notification device comprising means. 2. Input monitoring means for monitoring whether an activation event has occurred, and automatic dialing for transmitting a preset telephone number through an ISDN line when the input monitoring means detects the activation event. Means, and means for transmitting information prepared in advance through the ISDN line, and after transmitting the telephone number, the response of the callee is determined, and when it is determined that the callee has responded, Response determination control means for controlling the notification information sending means so as to start sending the notification information; and the response determination control means based on the confirmation of the response message sent through the ISDN line. ISDN B with the destination
After the channel is connected, the presence / absence of a pseudo ringback tone sent from the report destination is detected. When the pseudo ringback tone is detected, the response of the report destination is determined based on the stop of the pseudo ring bank tone. An automatic notification device characterized by performing. 3. The automatic notification device according to claim 2, wherein the response determination control means, when detecting the pseudo ring back tone, indicates that there is a voice from the notification destination after the pseudo ring bank tone is stopped. By detecting
An automatic notification device, characterized in that the response of the notification destination is determined. 4. The automatic notification device according to claim 2, wherein when the response determination control unit detects a pseudo ring back tone, the response destination control unit detects that there is no voice from the notification destination after the pseudo ring bank tone is stopped. An automatic notification device, characterized in that the response of the notification destination is determined by detecting that it has continued for a predetermined time.