JP2003319075A - Voice mail service providing system and providing method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply transfer an answer message from a receiving party having received a voice mail to a voice mail sending party. <P>SOLUTION: The system stores voice messages (voice mails) addressed to users A, B, C of telephone terminals 101, 102, 103 from a sending terminal 104 of a caller (voice mail sending party) in a voice storage module 109; calls a telephone terminal corresponding to a telephone number equal to a calling schedule to transfer associated voice messages in the voice storage module to the user of this telephone terminal; stores an answer message from the user of the telephone terminal after transferring the voice messages in a terminating party voice storage module 111; and, after end of storing the answer message, restores and sends the answer message stored in the storage module 111 to the sending terminal to make the caller hear it. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to voicemail distribution using a telephone network, and more particularly to a system and method for providing a voicemail service which enables a plurality of users to circulate / confirm by voice message.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a system for providing this type of voice mail service, there is a broadcast type voice mail that calls a plurality of preset users and delivers the voice mail to each user. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of such a conventional broadcast type voice mail.

As shown in FIG. 5, the conventional broadcast type voice mail comprises telephone terminals 201 to 203, a voice mail server 206, and a transmission terminal 204 for transmitting a voice mail to the voice mail server 206. Are connected to the telephone network 205. Here, the telephone terminal 20
1 to 203 and the transmitting terminal 204 may be existing fixed telephones or mobile telephones as long as voice communication is possible.
An IP telephone such as P may be used. Also, the telephone network 205 may be an existing circuit switching network or an IP network.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a signal sequence showing the operation of each part of the system shown in FIG. The operation of the conventional system will be described based on the sequence diagram of FIG.
First, a call is made from the sending terminal 204 to cause the communication module 207 in the voice mail server 206 to receive the incoming call. When the communication module 207 responds to the incoming call, the sending terminal 204 instructs the telephone terminals 201 to 203 to broadcast the voice mail message. At the same time, the voice mail message is transmitted (step S51). The voicemail message of the user of the transmission terminal 204 transmitted from the transmission terminal 204 to the communication module 207 is the communication module 207.
From the voice storage module 209 to be stored in the voice storage module 209 (step S52).

In this case, the communication module 207 has the telephone terminals 201 to 20 registered in the registrant list 208.
Each telephone number of 3 is acquired (step S53), and the telephone terminal 201 to the telephone terminal 202, based on the acquired telephone number.
Calls are made to the telephone terminal 203 sequentially (steps S54, S
56, S58). Then, each telephone terminal 201, 202,
When sequentially connected to 203, the voice mail server 206
Reproduces the voice message in the voice storage module 209 and sequentially transmits the reproduced message to each of the connected telephone terminals 201, 202, 203 (step S55,
S57, S59). In this way, each telephone terminal 20
Voice mail messages can be broadcast to 1,202,203.

[0006]

In the conventional voice mail service, information is transmitted by broadcasting a voice mail to a preset user. Since the transmission of such information is one way from the sender of the voicemail to the recipient of the voicemail, there is a demand for transmitting the response message of the recipient who received the voicemail to the sender of the voicemail.

Here, in order to convey the response message of the voice mail receiver to the voice mail sender side, the voice mail receiver needs to separately send the voice mail to the voice mail sender. In this case, , The voicemail recipient must use the voicemail number of the voicemail sender, and the voicemail sender must also associate which voicemail it sent with the reply message. There is a problem that both the person who receives the voice mail and the person who receives the voice mail are complicated to operate.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to easily transmit a response message of a recipient who receives a voicemail to the sender of the voicemail. Is to

[0009]

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention provides a plurality of telephone terminals connected to a telephone network and a user of the telephone terminal which is connected to the telephone network and can be heard. A server (106) having a first storage unit (sound storage module 109) for storing voice messages,
In a system including a transmission terminal connected to a telephone network and capable of accumulating voice messages in a first accumulation unit of the server, each telephone number of a plurality of telephone terminals and a telephone number of the transmission terminal are registered in the server. The telephone number list section (registrant list 108), the second storage section (callee voice storage module 111) that stores a response message that can be heard by the user of the transmission terminal, and the voice message from the transmission terminal. Acquiring means for acquiring the telephone numbers in the telephone number list section when accumulated in the first accumulating section, and making a call to the telephone terminal corresponding to the telephone number acquired by the accumulating section to display the voice message in the first accumulating section. First transmitting means for transmitting, and a response message returned from the telephone terminal in response to the transmission of the voice message by the first transmitting means, the response message indicating a response to the voice message. The voice message is transmitted to all the telephone terminals by the storage means for storing in the second storage portion and the first transmission means, and the response messages from all the telephone terminals are stored in the second storage portion by the storage means. Then, there is provided a second transmitting means for acquiring the telephone number of the transmitting terminal in the telephone number list section, calling the transmitting terminal corresponding to this telephone number, and transmitting the response message of the second storage section. It is a thing.

In this case, after the voice message is transmitted by the first transmitting means to the server, the response message from another telephone terminal stored in the second storage unit is transmitted to the telephone terminal to which the voice message is transmitted. And a storage means for receiving the response message returned from the telephone terminal in response to the transmission of the voice message by the first transmission means and the transmission of the response message by the third transmission means. Is stored in the storage unit of. Also,
A registration unit (calling schedule management unit 11 that registers a calling schedule indicating a calling order to each telephone terminal in the server.
0), the transmission of the voice message by the first transmission means, the transmission of the response message by the third transmission means, and the storage of the response message by the storage means according to the calling schedule of the registration unit. And.

Further, according to the present invention, the first step of registering each telephone number of a plurality of telephone terminals and transmitting terminals connected to the telephone network in the telephone number list section, and a voice message from the transmitting terminal is transmitted to the telephone network. When stored in the first storage unit of the server to be connected, the second step of acquiring the telephone number in the telephone number list section and the telephone terminal corresponding to the telephone number acquired based on the processing of the second step The server is provided when the third step of making a call and transmitting the voice message of the first storage unit and the response message returned from the telephone terminal in response to the voice message transmission based on the processing of the third step are received. The fourth step of accumulating in the second accumulating section and the voice message are transmitted to all the telephone terminals based on the processing of the third step, and all telephones are transmitted based on the processing of the fourth step. When the response message from the end is stored in the second storage unit, the telephone number of the transmission terminal in the telephone number list unit is acquired, the transmission terminal corresponding to this telephone number is called, and the second storage unit stores the telephone number. And a fifth step of transmitting a response message.

In this case, a response message from another telephone terminal stored in the second storage unit is transmitted to the telephone terminal to which the voice message has been transmitted after the transmission of the voice message based on the processing of the third step. It has a sixth step, and the processing in the fourth step is returned from the telephone terminal for the transmission of the voice message based on the processing of the third step and the transmission of the response message based on the processing of the sixth step. The method includes a seventh step of storing the response message in the second storage unit. Further, it has an eighth step of registering a calling schedule indicating a calling order to each telephone terminal in the registration unit, and the processing in the third step is performed by the telephone terminal according to the calling schedule of the registration unit. The process in the sixth step includes the ninth step of transmitting the voice message of the first storage section, and the tenth step of transmitting the response message of the second storage section to the telephone terminal according to the call schedule of the registration section. The process in the seventh step includes the response message returned from the telephone terminal in response to the transmission of the voice message based on the process of the ninth step and the transmission of the response message based on the process of the tenth step. And receiving in the second accumulation unit, the eleventh step of accumulating is stored.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a voice mail service providing system according to the present invention. This system, as shown in FIG.
3, a voice mail server 106, and a transmission terminal 104 for transmitting a voice mail to the voice mail server 106, and these units are connected to a telephone network 105. Here, the telephone terminals 101 to 103 and the transmission terminal 10
4 may be an existing fixed telephone or mobile telephone as long as voice communication is possible, or an IP telephone such as VoIP. Also, the telephone network 105 may be an existing circuit switching network or an IP network.

The voice mail server 106 includes a communication module 107 capable of communicating with the telephone terminals 101 to 103 and the transmission terminal 104 via the telephone network 105, and the telephone terminal 1.
01-103 and the registrant list 108 in which the respective telephone numbers of the transmitting terminal 104 are registered, and the transmitting terminal 10 that is the caller.
Voice storage module 109 for storing voice messages of users No. 4 and telephone terminals 101 to 103 which are called parties.
A call schedule management unit 110 that manages a call schedule to the user and a called party voice storage module 111 that stores a response message of the called party are provided.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of information in each unit constituting the present system. In FIG. 4, 30
1 to 303 are telephone numbers of the callees A to C (telephone number: actual telephone numbers are 012-345-6789,023-456-7891,034-56, respectively)
7-8912), and 304 indicates a calling schedule registered from the sending terminal 104 in the calling schedule management unit 110 in the voice mail server 106. Also, 30
Reference numeral 5 denotes a list of telephone numbers of callees registered in the registrant list 108 in advance, and reference numeral 306 denotes a storage message stored by the caller in the voice storage module 109. Reference numeral 307 denotes a calling schedule registered in the calling schedule management unit 110 from the transmission terminal 104, and 308 denotes a called party voice storage module 11 from a called party.
1 shows the response message of the called party stored in FIG.
Reference numeral 309 indicates a caller's accumulated message sent to the callee, and reference numeral 310 indicates transmission of a caller's response message to the message. 311 is the telephone number (telephone number: the actual telephone number is 045-67 of the transmitting terminal 104.
8-9123) is shown.

Next, the outline of the operation of this system will be described with reference to FIG. The telephone number list 305 is stored in the registrant list 108 in advance as described above, and the calling schedule 304 and the message from the transmission terminal 104 are sent to the calling schedule management unit 110 and the voice storage module 109, respectively. And the caller's accumulated message 306, the call schedule management unit 110 refers to the telephone number list 305 to acquire the telephone numbers 301 to 303 of the callees A to C, and sends them to the communication module 107. Instruct to call the callees A to C.

In response to this calling instruction, the communication module 107
Makes a call to the callees A to C, whereby the callees A to C
An incoming call arrives at C. When the called party answers this call,
The caller storage message in the voice storage module 109 is transmitted 309 to the called party who responded. afterwards,
In response to this message transmission, a response message 310 is transmitted from the callee to the voice mail server 106, and is stored as a callee response message 308 in the callee voice storage module 111.

After the response messages from all the called parties are stored in the called party voice storage module 111, the calling schedule management section 110 acquires the calling party's telephone number 311 from the registrant list 108. The data is passed to the communication module 107, and the communication module 107 is instructed to call the transmission terminal 104. The communication module 107 makes a call to the transmitting terminal 104 according to this calling instruction, and after the transmitting terminal 104 responds to this and communication is established, the called party voice storage module 111 stores the called party response message 308. Is transmitted to the transmitting terminal 104 side to convey the response message of the called party to the calling party.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing an operation in the first embodiment of the present system. According to this sequence diagram, the first of this system
The operation of will be described. The caller makes a call from the transmission terminal 104 to make a communication module 107 in the voice mail server 106.
To call. Then, when the communication module 107 responds to the incoming call, the transmission terminal 104 → the communication module 10
By connecting the path of 7 → voice storage module 109, the caller records a voice message addressed to each user of the telephone terminals 101 to 103 in the voice storage module 109 (steps S1 and S2).

After that, when the calling party registers a calling schedule based on the operation of the transmitting terminal 104 (step S
3), the registration operation information is transmitted to the communication module 107, and further transmitted from the communication module 107 to the call schedule management unit 110, so that the call schedule is registered in the call schedule management unit 110 (step S4). . This calling schedule is based on the telephone terminal 10
The calling order of users 1, 102 and 103 to users A, B and C is determined. In this example, users A, B and C are called in this order.

When the calling schedule management unit 110 registers the calling schedule, the users A of the telephone terminals 101, 102, 103 registered in the registrant list 108,
Telephone numbers of B and C (in this example, user A shown in FIG. 4)
＝ 012-345-6789, User B ＝ 023-456-7891, User C ＝ 03
4-567-8912) is acquired (step S5). Then, the telephone number 012-345-6789 of the user A is first sent to the communication module 107 according to the registered calling schedule.
Furthermore, the communication pattern indicating whether or not the called party can hear the response message of another called party when sending the response message (in the first embodiment, listening of the answer message of another called party is not possible). Possible patterns) communication module 10
7 (step S6).

Then, the communication module 107 determines that the user A
A telephone terminal 10 corresponding to the telephone number
1 is received (step S7). And the telephone terminal 1
When the 01 side detects that it has answered the incoming call, it notifies the voice storage module 109 of the incoming call response. When notified of the incoming call response, the voice storage module 109 reproduces the stored voice message of the calling party and transmits it to the telephone terminal 101 (step S8), and the called party A (user A) receives it. Make them listen. When the callee A listens to the voice message of the caller, the callee A transmits a response message indicating a response to the message to the voice mail server 106 side.
This response message is sent to the called party voice storage module 111 via the communication module 107, and is stored in the area corresponding to the called party A in the called party voice storage module 111 (step S9).

When it is detected that the response message from the called party A is stored in the called party voice storing module 111, the calling schedule management unit 110 causes the communication module 107 to disconnect the connection with the called party A. Then, according to the calling schedule, the next user B's telephone number 023-
456-7891 is transmitted to the communication module 107 and the above-mentioned communication pattern is instructed (step S10).

Then, the communication module 107 determines that the user B
A telephone terminal 10 corresponding to the telephone number
2 is received (step S11). Then, when the telephone terminal 102 detects that it has answered the incoming call, it notifies the voice storage module 109 of the incoming call response. In this case, the voice storage module 109 similarly reproduces the voice message of the calling party that has been stored and transmits it to the telephone terminal 102 (step S12), and allows the called party B (user B) to listen. When the called party B listens to the voice message of the calling party, the called party B similarly sends a response message to the voice mail server 106.
Send to the side. This response message is the communication module 1
It is sent to the called party voice storage module 111 via 07 and stored in the area corresponding to the called party B in the called party voice storage module 111 (step S13).

When it is detected that the response message from the called party B is stored in the called party voice storage module 111, the calling schedule management section 110 disconnects the connection with the called party B to the communication module 107. In addition, according to the calling schedule, the next user C's telephone number 034-
567-8912 is transmitted to the communication module 107 and the above-mentioned communication pattern is instructed (step S14).

Then, the communication module 107 uses the user C.
A telephone terminal 10 corresponding to the telephone number
3 is received (step S15). When the telephone terminal 103 detects that it has answered the incoming call, it notifies the voice storage module 109 of the incoming call response. In this case, the voice storage module 109 reproduces the voice message of the calling party that is also stored and transmits it to the telephone terminal 103 (step S16), and makes the called party C (user C) listen. When the called party C listens to the voice message of the calling party, the called party C similarly sends a response message to the voice mail server 106.
Send to the side. This response message is the communication module 1
It is sent to the called party voice storage module 111 via 07 and stored in the area corresponding to the called party C in the called party voice storage module 111 (step S17).

When it is detected that the response message from the called party C is stored in the called party voice storage module 111, the calling schedule management unit 110 disconnects the connection with the called party C to the communication module 107. At the same time, the communication module 107 is notified of the end of the calling schedule. Then, the communication module 107 uses the registrant list 1
User of the transmission terminal 104 registered in 08 (that is,
Obtain the telephone number 045-678-9123 of the calling party (step S
18) Call the acquired telephone number of the caller and make the transmission terminal 104 receive the call according to this telephone number (step S
19). When an incoming call response on the side of the transmitting terminal 104 is detected, the callee voice accumulation module 111 indicates that the incoming call response is received.
To notify. Then, the called party voice storage module 111
By sequentially reproducing the accumulated response messages of the called parties A, B, C and transmitting them to the transmitting terminal 104,
The calling party listens (step S20).

As described above, in the first embodiment, the voice storage module 1 transmits a voice message addressed to each user A, B, C of each telephone terminal 101, 102, 103 from the caller.
09, and calls the telephone terminal corresponding to the telephone number that matches the calling schedule to transmit the voice message of the voice storage module 109 to the user of this telephone terminal. The response message from the user of the telephone terminal is stored in the called party voice storage module 111, and when the storage of the response message is completed, the response message stored in the called party voice storage module 111 is played back to the caller. Since it is made to listen, the response message from each user A, B, C of each telephone terminal 101, 102, 103 which is the recipient of the voice mail is easily transmitted to the caller side who is the voice mail sender. It can be transmitted and listened to by various configurations.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an operation in the second embodiment of the present system. According to this sequence diagram, the second of this system
The operation of will be described. The caller makes a call from the transmission terminal 104 to make a communication module 107 in the voice mail server 106.
To call. Then, when the communication module 107 responds to the incoming call, the transmission terminal 104 → the communication module 10
By connecting the path of 7 → voice storage module 109, the caller records a voice message addressed to each user of the telephone terminals 101 to 103 in the voice storage module 109 (steps S21 and S22).

After that, when the caller registers a call schedule based on the operation of the transmitting terminal 104 (step S2)
3), the registration operation information is transmitted to the communication module 107, and further transmitted from the communication module 107 to the call schedule management unit 110, whereby the call schedule is registered in the call schedule management unit 110 (step S24). . In this calling schedule, the calling order is the order of the users A, B, and C, as in the first embodiment.

When the calling schedule management unit 110 registers the calling schedule, the users A of the telephone terminals 101, 102, 103 registered in the registrant list 108,
The telephone numbers of B and C are acquired (step S25). Then, the telephone number 012-345-6789 of the user A is first sent to the communication module 107 according to the registered calling schedule. Furthermore, the communication pattern indicating whether or not the called party can hear the response message of another called party when sending the response message (in the second embodiment, the answer message of another called party can be heard). Pattern) communication module 1
07 (step S26).

Then, the communication module 107 determines that the user A
A telephone terminal 10 corresponding to the telephone number
1 is received (step S27). Then, when the telephone terminal 101 side responds to the incoming call, it notifies the voice storage module 109 of the incoming call response. In this case, the voice storage module 109 transmits the voice message of the calling party stored in itself to the telephone terminal 101 (step S28) as in the first embodiment, and the called party A (user A). To listen to. When the communication module 107 detects that the transmission of the caller voice message by the voice storage module 109 is completed, the communication module 107 notifies the callee voice storage module 111 to that effect. Then, the called party voice storage module 111 reproduces the response message of each called party stored in itself and transmits it to the telephone terminal 101 to allow the called party A to listen (step S29).

Upon receiving the caller voice message and the response message of each called party, the called party A sends the response message to the voice mail server 106 side. This response message is sent to the called party voice storage module 111 via the communication module 107, and the called party voice storage module 1
It is stored in the area corresponding to the called party A in 11 (step S30).

When the response message of the called party A is stored in the called party voice storage module 111, the calling schedule management section 110 causes the communication module 107 to disconnect the connection with the called party A and to make a call. The next telephone number 023-456-7891 of the user B is transmitted to the communication module 107 according to the schedule, and at the same time, the communication pattern is instructed so that the response message of another called party can be heard (step S31).

Then, the communication module 107 determines that the user B
A telephone terminal 10 corresponding to the telephone number
2 is received (step S32). Then, when the telephone terminal 102 side responds to the incoming call, it notifies the voice storage module 109 of the incoming call response. In this case, the voice storage module 109 similarly transmits the stored voice message of the caller to the telephone terminal 102 (step S3).
3) Have the callee B (user B) listen. When the transmission of the calling party voice message by the voice storage module 109 is completed, the communication module 107 notifies the called party voice storage module 111 of that fact. As a result, the called party voice storage module 111 responds to the voice message of the calling party by calling party A stored in itself in step S30.
The past response message of each called party including the response message is reproduced and transmitted to the telephone terminal 102 so that the called party B can listen (step S34).

When the called party B listens to each called party's past reply message including the calling party's voice message and the called party A's reply message to this voice message, the called party B also receives the reply message from the voice mail server 106. Send to the side. This response message is sent to the called party voice storage module 111 via the communication module 107 and is stored in the area corresponding to the called party B in the called party voice storage module 111 (step S35).

When the response message of the called party B is stored in the called party voice storage module 111, the calling schedule management section 110 causes the communication module 107 to disconnect the connection with the called party B and to make a call. The telephone number 034-567-8912 of the next user C is transmitted to the communication module 107 according to the schedule, and at the same time, the aforementioned communication pattern that makes it possible to listen to the response message of another called party is instructed (step S36).

Then, the communication module 107 determines that the user C
A telephone terminal 10 corresponding to the telephone number
3 is received (step S37). Then, when the telephone terminal 103 side responds to the incoming call, it notifies the voice storage module 109 of the incoming call response. In this case, the voice storage module 109 transmits the voice message of the caller, which is also stored, to the telephone terminal 103 (step S3).
8) Have the called party C (user C) listen. When the transmission of the calling party voice message by the voice storage module 109 is completed, the communication module 107 notifies the called party voice storage module 111 of that fact. As a result, the called party voice storage module 111 responds to the caller's voice message in steps S30 and S35, respectively.
In the caller B, the reply message of each callee in the past including the reply message of the caller A and the caller B for the caller voice message stored in the caller B is reproduced and transmitted to the telephone terminal 102. To listen (step S39).

When the called party C listens to the called party's voice message and the called party's past reply messages including the called party A's and called party B's reply messages to this voice message, the called party also responds. The message is sent to the voice mail server 106 side. This response message is sent to the called party voice storage module 111 via the communication module 107.
And is stored in the area corresponding to the called party C in the called party voice storage module 111 (step S40).

When the response message from the called party C is stored in the called party voice storage module 111, the calling schedule management unit 110 causes the communication module 107 to call the called party C.
The communication module 107 is disconnected and the communication module 107 is notified of the end of the calling schedule. Then, the communication module 107 causes the telephone numbers of the users (that is, callers) of the transmission terminals 104 registered in the registrant list 108.
045-678-9123 is acquired (step S41), the acquired telephone number of the calling party is called, and the transmission terminal 104 receives the call according to this telephone number (step S42). When an incoming call response on the transmitting terminal 104 side is detected, the called party voice storage module 111 is notified of the incoming call response. Then, the called party voice storage module 111 sequentially reproduces the response messages of the called parties A, B, and C stored in itself and transmits them to the transmitting terminal 104, so that the calling party listens ( Step S43).

As described above, in the second embodiment, after the voice message of the calling party is transmitted from the voice storage module 109 to the telephone terminal and the called party listens, another person receives the voice message. Since the response message that has already been transmitted is transmitted to the called party so that the called party can hear the response message, when the called party transmits its own response message and stores it in the called party voice storage module 111, the other party's opinion Can be used as a reference. Also, when the voice mail recipient who is the called party returns a response message to the voice mail sender who is the calling party, the other voice mail recipients do not have to contact the other voice mail recipients individually. You can refer to the opinion.

In the first and second embodiments, when transmitting voice messages and accumulating reply messages, the order of transmitting voice messages is set by the users A, B, and
The procedure is performed in the order of C, that is, in the order of the telephones 101, 102, and 103. However, by registering in the calling schedule management unit 110 in accordance with the order of transmission of voice messages, for example, the order of the authorizer, the approval by voice mail is also accepted. It will be possible.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, the telephone number list unit in which the telephone numbers of a plurality of telephone terminals and transmitting terminals connected to the telephone network are registered in the server connected to the telephone network. A first storage unit that stores voice messages that can be heard by users of a plurality of telephone terminals, and a second storage unit that stores response messages that can be heard by users of the transmission terminals. , When the voice message from the transmitting terminal is stored in the first storage unit, the telephone number in the telephone number list unit is acquired, and the telephone terminal corresponding to the acquired telephone number is called to call the first storage unit. When a voice message is transmitted and a response message returned from the telephone terminal in response to the transmission of the voice message is received, the operation of accumulating in the second accumulation unit is performed for all the telephone terminals, and the response message from all the telephone terminals is transmitted. Is stored in the second storage unit, the telephone number of the transmission terminal in the telephone number list unit is acquired, the transmission terminal corresponding to this telephone number is called, and the response message of the second storage unit is transmitted. As a result, the response message from the user of each telephone terminal which is the recipient of the voice mail can be transmitted to the user side of the transmitting terminal, which is the voice mail sender, with a simple configuration and can be heard.

In this case, after the voice message is transmitted by the first transmitting means to the server, the response message from another telephone terminal stored in the second storage unit is transmitted to the telephone terminal to which the voice message is transmitted. Since the third communication means is provided, the user of the telephone terminal to which the voice message is transmitted can refer to the opinions of the users of other telephone terminals when transmitting his / her response message. it can. Also, voice mail recipients (telephone terminal users)
When returning a response message to the voicemail sender (user of the sending terminal), the other voicemail recipients (users of other telephone terminals) can be You can refer to the opinion.

In addition, the server is provided with a registration unit for registering a call schedule indicating a call sequence to each telephone terminal, and according to this call schedule, transmission of a voice message and a response message to the telephone terminal. Since the storage of response messages from the telephone terminal is controlled, the transmission order of the voice messages (that is, the calling order) can be changed in accordance with, for example, the order of the approver. It is also possible to approve.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a voice mail service providing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing a first operation of the system.

FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing a second operation of the system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of information in the system.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a conventional system.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the conventional system.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 to 103 ... Telephone terminal, 104 ... Transmission terminal, 105
... Telephone network, 106 ... Voice mail server, 107 ... Communication module, 108 ... Registrant list, 109 ... Voice storage module, 110 ... Calling schedule management unit, 111
... Called party voice storage module.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Takao Nakanishi             2-3-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo             Inside Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Mitsuhiro Okamoto             2-3-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo             Inside Telegraph and Telephone Corporation F-term (reference) 5K015 AB02 GA02 GA07                 5K024 AA72 BB05 CC02 DD02 EE09                       FF06

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of telephone terminals connected to a telephone network,
A server having a first storage unit connected to the telephone network and storing a voice message that can be heard by a user of the telephone terminal; and a first storage unit of the server connected to the telephone network. A transmission terminal capable of accumulating the voice message, wherein the server is a telephone number list unit in which the telephone numbers of the plurality of telephone terminals and the telephone numbers of the transmission terminals are registered, and a user of the transmission terminal. A second storage unit that stores a response message that can be heard by; and an acquisition unit that acquires a telephone number of the telephone number list unit when a voice message from the transmission terminal is stored in the first storage unit; First transmitting means for making a call to a telephone terminal corresponding to the telephone number acquired by the acquiring means and transmitting the voice message in the first storage section; and a voice by the first transmitting means. A storage unit that stores in the second storage unit when a response message returned from the telephone terminal in response to the transmission of the message and indicating a response to the voice message is received, and all the telephone terminals by the first transmission unit. When the voice message is transmitted and the response messages from all the telephone terminals are accumulated in the second accumulating section by the accumulating means, the telephone number of the transmitting terminal in the telephone number list section is acquired, and this telephone number is acquired. To the transmitting terminal according to
And a second transmission means for transmitting a response message from the storage section of the voice mail service providing system. 2. The server according to claim 1, wherein the voice message is a response message from another telephone terminal stored in the second storage unit after the voice message is transmitted by the first transmitting unit. The communication means further comprises a third transmission means for transmitting to the telephone terminal, wherein the storage means responds to the transmission of the voice message by the first transmission means and the transmission of the response message by the third transmission means. A voice mail service providing system, characterized in that, when a response message returned from a terminal is received, the response message is accumulated in the second accumulation unit. 3. The server according to claim 2, wherein the server registers a calling schedule indicating a calling order to each telephone terminal, a voice message is transmitted by the first transmission means, and the third transmission is performed by the server. A system for providing a voice mail service, comprising: control means for controlling the transmission of the response message by the transmission means of the above and the storage of the response message by the storage means according to the calling schedule of the registration unit. 4. A first step of registering respective telephone numbers of a plurality of telephone terminals and transmitting terminals connected to a telephone network in a telephone number list section, and a voice message from the transmitting terminal is connected to the telephone network. Stored in the first storage unit of the server, the second step of obtaining the telephone number of the telephone number list section, and the telephone terminal corresponding to the telephone number obtained based on the processing of the second step. A third step of making a call and transmitting the voice message of the first storage unit, and a response to the voice message returned from the telephone terminal in response to the voice message transmission based on the processing of the third step. The fourth step of accumulating in the second accumulating section provided in the server upon receiving the response message indicating the voice message to all telephone terminals based on the processing of the third step When the response messages from all the telephone terminals are transmitted and accumulated in the second accumulation section based on the processing of the fourth step, the telephone numbers of the transmission terminals in the telephone number list section are acquired, A fifth step of making a call to a transmission terminal corresponding to a telephone number and transmitting the response message of the second storage section. 5. The voice message according to claim 4, wherein the voice message is transmitted as a response message from another telephone terminal stored in the second storage unit after transmission of the voice message based on the process of the third step. And transmitting a voice message based on the process of the third step and transmitting a response message based on the process of the sixth step. The method for providing a voice mail service, further comprising: a seventh step of storing the response message returned from the telephone terminal in the second storage section. 6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising an eighth step of registering a calling schedule indicating a calling order to each telephone terminal in a registration unit, wherein the processing in the third step is performed by the registration unit. It includes a ninth step of transmitting the voice message of the first storage unit to the telephone terminal according to the calling schedule, and the processing in the sixth step is performed by the telephone terminal according to the calling schedule of the registration unit. And a tenth step of transmitting a response message from the second storage unit, wherein the processing in the seventh step includes transmitting a voice message based on the processing in the ninth step and the tenth step.
The provision of the voice mail service, including the eleventh step of storing the response message returned from the telephone terminal in response to the transmission of the response message based on the processing of step (1), in the second storage section. Method.