JP2003087426A - Emergency notification control method, emergency notification system and center device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an emergency notification control method, an emergency notification system and a center device that can quickly attain notification reception processing with a high emergency degree in the center device. SOLUTION: In the emergency notification control method and system and the center device 1 including a subscriber side device 2 connected to a switch network 3 and the center device 1 where a notice by the operation of the subscriber device 2 is sent to the center device 1 via the switch network 3, when the subscriber device 2 makes a notice to the center device 1, the system makes call control where number of calling times or the like differs corresponding to the emergency, the center device 1 has a discrimination section 13 to discriminate a degree of emergency of a received notice according to a call signal from the switch network 3, records caller numbers from the switch network 3 in the case of all busy, and makes a call according to a reply or a caller number in the order of the degree of emergency.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention connects a subscriber side device operated by an elderly person or a physically handicapped person and a center device where an operator is stationed via an exchange network, and notifies the center side device from the subscriber side device. The present invention relates to an emergency call control method, an emergency call system, and a center device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When an elderly person or a physically handicapped person needs urgent care or the like, by pressing an emergency call button, a subscriber side device linked to the emergency call button can be operated by a center device via an exchange network. There is known an emergency call system for automatically calling the. Upon receiving this emergency call, processing such as emergency dispatch will be performed.

Further, the normality of the subscriber side device is periodically notified to the center device, and the center device determines that an abnormality has occurred in the subscriber side device for which there is no periodic notification, and performs cyclic maintenance. is there. In addition, a system in which a person having nursing care or medical knowledge is resident is also known as the center device, and it is possible to make a consultation call in addition to an emergency call and a regular call.

[0004]

In the emergency call system, as described above, the emergency call to the center device when an emergency situation such as a sudden illness occurs is low in frequency as a call. , Urgent needs to be dealt with.
Further, the regular notification is a notification that is performed at a predetermined relatively long time interval and can be completed in an extremely short time.

On the other hand, the consultation call is not urgent, but some kind of consultation is required. Therefore, the call time is relatively long and the frequency of occurrence is high. Therefore, since the number of lines between the center device and the switching network is relatively small, when the center device is in a busy state due to a consultation message, etc., when the emergency message is sent, this emergency message cannot be received. become. In this case, the automatic call for the emergency call is repeated until the center device responds.

Therefore, it may be considered to use the busy incoming call display service. However, the busy call display cannot judge the type of call, whether it is an emergency call, a consultation call, or a regular call. When there are multiple busy call displays at the same time, the currently active call is displayed. Even if the call is answered as a hold, it cannot be determined which call should be answered. As a result, there is a problem in that the treatment for the occurrence of an emergency is delayed.

In order to avoid such a problem, it is conceivable to increase the number of lines or to provide a line corresponding to the report type, but there is a problem that the line utilization efficiency is low and the cost increases. An object of the present invention is to enable the center device side to determine the type of notification from the subscriber side device, and to speed up the reception process of an emergency notification that requires an emergency.

[0008]

An emergency call control method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The emergency call control method includes a subscriber side device 2 and a center device 1 connected to a switching network 3 and includes a subscriber side device. A method for controlling an emergency call in which a notification by the operation of 2 is sent to the center device 1 through the switching network 3, wherein the calling control of the subscriber side device 2 is made different according to the urgency of the notification. 1 determines the urgency of the subscriber-side device 2 by a calling signal from the switching network 3 and records the caller number from the switching network 3 when the call is busy, and responds in an order according to the urgency. The process includes making a call according to the caller number.

In addition, it is possible to include a process of controlling the number of times the call signal is sent to the center device 1 as the urgency is higher, corresponding to the urgency of the notification. Corresponding to the urgency of the notification, the subscriber-side device 2 may include a process of increasing the calling time to the center device 1 as the urgency is higher and repeating the call at a predetermined time interval.
Further, the subscriber-side device 2 responds to the urgency of the notification by increasing the number of retries for re-calling while waiting for a response from the center device 1 or when a busy tone is detected. The process can be included. Further, the center device 1
Determines the urgency of the notification from the subscriber side device 2 in accordance with the call from the subscriber side device 2, and the subscriber side device based on the incoming call answer or the caller number in descending order of urgency. The process of calling 2 can be included.

The emergency call system of the present invention is an emergency call system including a subscriber side device 2 and a center device 1 connected to the subscriber side device 2 via a switching network 3,
The subscriber-side device 2 has a control unit 22 that performs a calling process corresponding to the urgency of the notification to the center device 1. The center device 1 uses the calling signal from the switching network 3 to send the subscriber-side device. It has a determination unit 13 for determining the urgency of the call from the caller, and a caller number processing unit 14 for displaying or recording the caller number according to the caller number notification from the exchange network 3.

Further, the control unit 22 of the subscriber side device 2 has a configuration in which the number of times of calling signal transmission to the center device 1 is increased as the urgency of the notification is higher, and the determination unit 1 of the center device 1 is increased.
The counter 3 can be provided with a counter 16 for counting the number of times of calling signals within a predetermined time and determining that the higher the number is, the higher the urgency is. Further, the control unit 22 of the subscriber side device 2 has a configuration in which as the urgency of the notification is higher, the sending time of the calling signal to the center device 1 is made longer, and the calling process is repeated every predetermined time, The determination unit 13 of the center device 1 can be provided with a ringing time measurement unit 17 for measuring the reception duration of the ringing signal and determining that the longer the reception duration is, the higher the urgency is. Further, the control unit 22 of the subscriber side device 2 has a configuration in which the higher the urgency of the notification, the greater the number of retries for performing the recalling process to the center device 1, and the determination unit 13 of the center device 1 joins. It is possible to provide a counter 18 for counting the number of retries for performing the recalling process of the person side device 2 and determining the urgency.

The center device of the present invention is a center device 1 which receives a message from the subscriber side device 2 via the exchange network 3 and responds in response to the contents of the message, and calls from the exchange network 3. The emergency of the notification from the subscriber side device 2 is determined by the transmission / reception unit 11 that receives and detects a signal, and the number of times the calling signal is received and detected by the transmission / reception unit 11, the duration, and the number of times of repeated calls within a predetermined time A determination unit 13 for determining the degree,
A caller number processing unit 14 that displays or records the caller number according to the caller number notification from the exchange network 3.

[0013]

1 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a center device, 2 is a subscriber side device, 3 is a switching network, 10 is a control processing unit, 11 is a transmission / reception unit, 12 is a voice processing unit, 13 is a determination unit, 14 is a caller number processing unit, 15
Is a busy incoming call processing unit, 16 is a call number counter, 17 is a ringing time measuring unit, 18 is a retry number counter, 19 is a display unit,
Reference numeral 20 is an operation unit, 21 is a transmission / reception unit, 22 is a control unit, 23 is a display unit, 24 is a voice processing unit, and 25 is an operation unit.

The subscriber-side device 2 is installed in the subscriber's home of an elderly person or a physically handicapped person who has subscribed to the emergency call service.
The operation unit 25 includes a dial button and an emergency call button, and realizes a calling operation function and a call function of a handset and the like together with the voice processing unit 24.
It includes a call control function for controlling each unit, an automatic call function for the center device, and a call control function corresponding to the urgency at the time of notification. Display unit 2 controlled by the control unit 22
3 can display the operation content of the operation unit 25 and the sender number. The transmission / reception unit 21 also performs transmission processing of calling information such as a dial signal to the switching network 3 and reception processing of a calling signal from the switching network 3 under the control of the control unit 22.

Further, the control processing unit 10 of the center device 1 can be realized by an information processing function of a computer or the like, and the caller number processing unit 14 operates from the switching network 3 by a caller number notification service. The transmission / reception unit 11 receives the transmitted telephone number of the caller and displays or records it on the display unit 19 to include a control function. Moreover, the determination unit 13
Determines the urgency of an incoming call based on the contents of the call number counter 16, the ringing time measuring unit 17, or the retry number counter 18. Therefore, the center device 1 includes the call number counter 16, the ringing time measuring unit 17, and the retry number counter 18.
Any one of the above functions may be provided.

The voice processing unit 12 includes a call processing with the subscriber side device 2 and the like, an automatic announcement function and the like. Further, the operation unit 20 includes functions such as transmission / reception operation, and in a configuration in which a plurality of operators operate, the operation unit 20 and the display unit 19 are provided corresponding to the operators.

FIG. 2 is an operation flow chart of the subscriber side device, showing an embodiment in which the urgency is notified to the center side by the number of calling signals. The control unit 22 makes a call (A1) when a call is issued. Control is performed (A2), the ringing tone (ring back tone) from the switching network 3 is detected by the transmitting / receiving unit 21 (A3), and the control unit 22 determines whether an emergency call is made by pressing the emergency call button of the operation unit 25 or the operation unit. It is judged whether it is a consultation notification by pressing the consultation notification button 25 or a regular notification for notifying the normality of the subscriber side device 2 to the center device, and the ring back tone is counted (A4). For the urgency of, determine whether it is a regular report (A
5) In the case of regular notification, it is determined whether the number of calls = n3.

In this embodiment, n1>n2>
The number of calls in the relationship of n3 is shown, where the regular notification is n3, the consultation notification is n2, and the emergency notification is n1. Therefore, in the case of the regular notification, it is judged whether or not the number of calls of the count content is n3 (A8), and when the number of calls becomes n3, the line is disconnected. Then, although not shown, after a predetermined time, the process proceeds to step (A2) to perform the automatic re-call process.

If it is not a regular report, it is judged whether or not it is a consultation report (A6). In the case of a consultation report, the number of calls = n.
It is determined whether the number is 2 (A9), and when the number of calls reaches n2, the line is disconnected. Also in this case, after a predetermined time, the step (A
Go to 2) and perform the automatic call resumption process. If it is neither a regular call nor a consultation call, it is determined whether it is an emergency call (A7). If it is not an emergency call, it is judged as an erroneous call processing and the line is disconnected. In this case, the recalling process is not performed. In the case of an emergency call, it is determined whether the number of calls is n1 (A10), and when the number of calls is n1, the line is disconnected.
Then, after a predetermined time, the process proceeds to step (A2) to perform the automatic re-call process. That is, the greater the degree of urgency, the switching network 3
The center device 1 is controlled so that a large number of call signals are transmitted from the center device 1.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the judgment by the number of calls of the center device, showing the case of judging the report type by using the function of the call number counter 16.
1) Since the subscriber side device 2 makes a call to the center device 1, a calling signal is transmitted from the switching network 3 and this calling signal is received via the transmitting / receiving unit 11. There is an incoming call due to the call signal (B2), and it is determined whether the line is blocked, that is, whether all the lines are busy (B3). If the call is not in full talk, a normal reception state in which a call is answered in response to the incoming call is set (B4).

In the case of the full-busy state, the telephone number is detected (B5), that is, the telephone number by the notification of the caller number is received by the caller number processing unit 14 and displayed or recorded on the display unit 19. To do. The call signal is sent to the call counter 16
Is counted (B6). The determination unit 13 determines whether or not the number counted by the call number counter 16, that is, the number of calls = n3 (B7). In this case, as described above, since the number of calls has a relationship of n1>n2> n3 corresponding to the degree of urgency, when the number of calls is n3, that is, when the number of calls is the smallest, the regular time is set. It is determined that the message has arrived (B1
1).

When the number of calls is not n3, the number of calls = n
It is determined whether it is 2 (B8). If the number of calls is n2,
It is determined to be a consultation report (B10). If the number of calls is neither n3 nor n2, it is determined that an emergency call has arrived (B9). That is, it is determined that the greater the number of calling signals, the higher the urgency. Therefore, it is possible to immediately respond to an incoming call with a high degree of urgency during the entire call by disconnecting or holding a call with a low degree of urgency.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the subscriber side apparatus, showing an embodiment in which the calling time is lengthened as the degree of urgency increases. As in the case of the above-described embodiment, when the message is generated (C1), the automatic call function of the control unit 22 is used to make the call (C2). Then, the ring back tone is detected (C3), and the call elapsed time is measured (C3).
4), it is determined whether or not this report is a regular report (C
5).

In the case of regular notification, the calling time is t3. That is, the higher the urgency of the call, the longer the calling time. In the case of an emergency call, t1 and in the case of a consultation call, t2.
Then, a call time relationship of t1>t2> t3 is set according to the degree of urgency. Therefore, in case of regular notification, ringing time = t
If it is 3 (C8) and t3 is reached, the line is disconnected. Then, although not shown, after a predetermined time, the process proceeds to step (C2) to perform the automatic re-calling process.

If it is not a regular report, it is judged whether or not it is a consultation report (C6). If it is a consultation report, the calling time = t2.
It is determined whether or not (C9), when t2, the line is disconnected,
After a predetermined time, the process proceeds to step (C2) and the automatic call resumption process is performed. If it is neither a regular call nor a consultation call, it is determined whether it is an emergency call (C7). If it is not an emergency call, it is determined as an erroneous call and the line is disconnected. In this case, automatic re-call processing is not performed. In case of an emergency call,
It is determined whether or not the ringing time is t1 (C10). When t1 is reached, the line is disconnected, and after a lapse of a predetermined time, the process proceeds to step (C2) to perform the automatic recalling process.

FIG. 5 is a determination flowchart based on the ringing time of the center device, and the ringing time measuring unit 1 of the center device 1
The case where the type of notification is determined by using the function of 7 is shown. When the notification is generated (D1), the subscriber side device 2 makes a call to the center device 1, so a call signal is sent from the switching network 3. The call signal is received via the transmission / reception unit 11. When there is an incoming call by the calling signal (D2), it is determined whether the line is blocked, that is, whether all the lines are busy (D3). If the call is not in full talk, a normal reception state is established in which a call is made in response to the incoming call (D4).

In the case of the full-busy state, the telephone number detection (D5), that is, the telephone number by the notification of the caller number is received by the caller number processing unit 14 and displayed or recorded on the display unit 19. To do. Then, the ringing time measuring unit 17 measures the ringing time (D6). The determination unit 13 determines whether the ringing time measured by the ringing time measuring unit 17 is t3 (D7). In this case, as described above, the calling time has a relationship of t1>t2> t3 corresponding to the degree of urgency. Therefore, when the calling time is t3, that is, when the calling time is the shortest, the regular time is set. It is determined that the notification has arrived (D11).

If the calling time is not t3, it is determined whether the calling time is t2 (D8). If the calling time is t2, it is determined to be a consultation notification (D10). Moreover, the ringing time is t
If it is neither 3 nor t2, it is determined that an emergency call has arrived (D9). That is, it is determined that the longer the calling time is, the higher the urgency is. Therefore, it is possible to immediately respond to an incoming call with a high degree of urgency during the entire call by disconnecting or holding a call with a low degree of urgency.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the subscriber side apparatus, showing an embodiment in which the number of retries increases as the degree of urgency increases. Similar to the case of the above-mentioned embodiment,
When a message is generated (E1), the automatic call function of the control unit 22 is used to make a call (E2). Then, the ring back tone is detected, and it is determined whether or not the center device side has responded, that is, whether or not it has been received (E3). When the information is received by the center device side, the notification ends (E4).

If the center device is busy, the call (E
Since it will not be received for 2), the line is disconnected (E5). Then, the number of retries is counted up (E6). In this case, the number of retries is set in a relation of r1>r2> r3 corresponding to the urgency of the notification. And
It is judged whether it is a regular report (E7), and if it is a regular report,
It is determined whether or not the number of retries = r3 (E10), the process proceeds to step (E2) until the number of retries = r3, and the above-described operation is performed. When the number of retries = r3, the notification ends (E4).

If it is not a regular report, it is judged whether or not it is a consultation report (E8). In case of a consultation report, the number of retries = r.
It is determined whether it is 2 (E9). Judgment result, number of retries =
If it is not r2, the process proceeds to step (E2), and if the number of retries = r2, the notification ends (E4). If it is neither a regular call nor a consultation call, it is determined whether it is an emergency call (E9), and if it is not an emergency call, it is determined as an erroneous call and the report ends (E4). In the case of an emergency call, it is determined whether or not the number of retries = r1 (E12), and when the number of retries = r1 is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step (E2),
When the number of retries = r1, the notification ends.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of determination by the number of retries of the center device, showing a case of determining the report type by using the function of the retry number counter 18 of the center device 1. When a report is generated (F1), the subscriber side device Since 2 calls the center device 1, a call signal is transmitted from the switching network 3 and this call signal is received via the transmission / reception unit 11. When there is an incoming call due to the calling signal (F
2) It is determined whether the line is blocked, that is, whether all the lines are busy (F3). If the call is not in full talk, a normal reception state in which a call is answered in response to the incoming call is set (F4).

In the case of the full-busy state, the telephone number is detected (F5), that is, the telephone number by the notification of the caller number is received by the caller number processing unit 14 and displayed or recorded on the display unit 19. To do. Then, the arrival time in this case is recorded, and whether or not the specified time has elapsed is monitored, and it is determined whether or not this incoming call is within the specified time from the previous incoming call (F6). If the specified time has elapsed, the number of retries is cleared (F7). If it is within the specified time,
The retry number counter 18 counts up the number of retries (F8).

Then, it is determined whether or not the number of retries = r3 (F9), and when the number of retries = r3, it is determined that the scheduled notification has arrived (F13). When the number of retries is not r3, it is determined whether or not the number of retries is r2 (F10). When the number of retries is r2, it is determined that the consultation report has arrived (F10).
12). If the number of retries is not r2, it is determined that an emergency call has arrived (F11). Then, an incoming call with a high degree of urgency during the entire talk can be immediately answered by disconnecting or holding a call with a low degree of urgency.

FIG. 8 shows a processing flow chart according to the degree of urgency, and shows a flow chart of the notification reception processing in the center apparatus, in which the notification generation (G
By 1), it becomes an incoming call (G2), and at that time, it is determined whether or not the line is blocked, that is, whether or not all the lines are busy (G
3) If the line is not blocked, the normal reception (G4) is performed in response to the incoming call.

When all the calls are in progress, the telephone number by the caller number notification is detected (G5), and the notification type is detected (G5).
6). That is, the determination unit 13 detects the notification type, which is the emergency notification, the consultation notification, or the scheduled notification, depending on the number of calls, the calling time, or the number of retries. Then, it is determined whether or not the urgency of the incoming call notification is higher than the urgency of the current busy (G7).

If the urgency of the current busy is higher, the incoming telephone number and the type of notification are notified (G
8) If the urgency of the incoming call notification is higher, the incoming telephone number and the notification type are notified (G9), and the incoming call data is received by the busy incoming call function (G10). For example, the current busy call can be put on hold and the incoming call notification of this time can be received and processed. Then, after receiving the incoming call notification with a high degree of urgency, the line can be disconnected and switched to the line for the call in the hold state to continue the call.

Therefore, the center device 1 preferentially receives and processes an emergency call even when the number of lines is small or even when the line is busy for a relatively long time such as a consultation call. It becomes possible. Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described respective embodiments, but various additions and modifications can be made. For example, in the center device 1, it is possible to provide a means such as a lamp display and a buzzer sound for an incoming call with a high degree of urgency.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, the call control is performed from the subscriber side device 2 according to the number of calls, the call time, the number of retries, etc. in accordance with the urgency of the notification, and the center device 1
Determines the urgency of the subscriber-side device 2 by a calling signal from the switching network 3 and records the caller number from the switching network 3 when the call is busy, and responds in the order according to the urgency or Since the call is made according to the caller number, the urgency of the call from the subscriber side device 2 can be determined in the center device 1, so that the receiving process of the urgent call requiring an emergency can be speeded up. There are advantages.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of a subscriber side device.

FIG. 3 is a determination flowchart based on the number of calls of a center device.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of a subscriber side device.

FIG. 5 is a determination flowchart according to a calling time of the center device.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of a subscriber side device.

FIG. 7 is a determination flowchart based on the number of retries of the center device.

FIG. 8 is a processing flowchart according to the degree of urgency.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Center device 2 Subscriber side device 3 switching network 10 Control processing unit 11 Transmitter / receiver 12 Voice processing unit 13 Judgment section 14 Caller ID processing section 15 Busy call processing unit 16 Call counter 17 Ringing time measurement section 18 Retry counter 19 Display 20 Operation part 21 Transmitter / receiver 22 Control unit 23 Display 24 Voice processing unit 25 Operation part

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An emergency call control method, comprising a subscriber side device and a center device connected to a switching network, and sending a notification due to an operation of the subscriber side device to the center device via the switching network. The call control of the subscriber side device is changed according to the urgency of the notification, the center device determines the urgency of the subscriber side device by a calling signal from the switching network, and An emergency call control method comprising a step of recording a caller number from the switching network during a full talk and making a response in the order according to the urgency or making a call according to the caller number. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of controlling to increase the number of times of calling signal to the center device as the urgency is higher, corresponding to the urgency of the notification.
Emergency call control method described. 3. Corresponding to the urgency of the notification, the subscriber-side device includes a process of lengthening a calling time to the center device as the urgency is higher and repeating a call at a predetermined time interval. The emergency call control method according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The subscriber-side device sets the number of retries for performing a recalling call in response to the urgency level of the notification while waiting for a response from the center device or when a busy tone is detected. The emergency call control method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of increasing the number. 5. The center device determines the urgency of the notification from the subscriber side device according to the call from the subscriber side device, and determines the busy incoming call response or the caller number in the descending order of urgency. The emergency call control method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of making a call to the subscriber side device based on the above. 6. An emergency call system including a subscriber side device and a center device connected to the subscriber side device via an exchange network, wherein the subscriber side device is an emergency for a notification to the center device. The center device has a control unit for performing a calling process corresponding to each call, and the center device determines a urgency of a notification from the subscriber side device based on a calling signal from the switching network; An emergency call system comprising: a caller number processing unit that displays or records a caller number according to a caller number notification from a network. 7. The control unit of the subscriber-side device has a configuration in which the higher the urgency of the notification, the greater the number of times that a call signal is sent to the center device. 7. The emergency notification system according to claim 6, further comprising a counter for counting the number of times of calling signals within a predetermined time and determining that the higher the number is, the higher the urgency is. 8. The control unit of the subscriber-side device is configured such that the higher the urgency of the notification is, the longer the sending time of the calling signal to the center device is, and the repeated call processing is performed at predetermined time intervals. The determination unit of the center device has a ringing time measurement unit for measuring the reception duration of the ringing signal, and determining that the longer the reception duration is, the higher the urgency is. The emergency call system according to claim 6. 9. The control unit of the subscriber-side device has a configuration in which the higher the urgency of the notification, the greater the number of retries for performing the recalling process for the center device. 7. The emergency notification system according to claim 6, wherein the unit has a counter for counting the number of retries for performing the recalling process of the subscriber side device and determining the degree of urgency. 10. A transmission / reception unit for receiving and detecting a ringing signal from the switching network in a center device which receives a notification from a subscriber side device via the switching network and responds in response to the contents of the notification. , The number of ringing signals received and detected by the transmitter / receiver, the duration,
A determination unit that determines the urgency of the notification from the subscriber side device by any of the number of repeated calls within a predetermined time, and displays or records the caller number according to the caller number notification from the switching network. A center device comprising: