JP2004023414A - Telephone directory management system, telephone directory management service server, communication terminal and telephone directory managing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a notice (or telephone directory automatic update) receivable by a telephone owner of the change of a telephone number, etc. (access information) registered in a telephone directory contained in a telephone, if changed. <P>SOLUTION: A telephone directory managing server 20 has a telephone database 25 for receiving and registering telephone directory data stored in a plurality of communication terminals 10. The server 20 refers to the database 25 in the change of access information to any communication terminal, retrieves those communication terminals having stored not changed access information in a telephone directory, and sends a notice of change information of the access information to the communication terminals identified by the retrieval. The communication terminals having received this notice preferably automatically update the directory data, based on the change information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a communication terminal device such as a mobile phone capable of performing communication with a server on a communication network and a system including the same, and particularly to management of telephone directory data built in the communication terminal device. About.
[0002]
[Prior art]
At present, mobile phones have become widespread. A mobile phone is usually provided with a telephone directory function, and a user registers an arbitrary telephone number as telephone directory data in the telephone, so that it is not necessary to input the other party's telephone number at the time of a call, A registered telephone number can be transmitted by a relatively simple operation. In addition, many mobile phones have a function of connecting to a communication network such as the Internet, so that e-mail and web browsing can be performed.
[0003]
Recently, some fixed telephones that can use a telephone directory function and a network connection service are available.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Usually, when the owner of a fixed telephone changes his / her address, the telephone number changes unless the destination is in the same area. On the other hand, a mobile phone does not change its telephone number, and can be used anywhere as long as it is within the service area of the communication carrier.
[0005]
However, even in a mobile phone, for example, the telephone number may change in the following cases.
1. 1. New subscribers due to damage or loss of mobile phone. 2. Change of carrier (carrier) For other reasons, such as avoiding harassment calls.
[0006]
In such a case, it is troublesome to notify a new telephone number to all the persons involved with the owner of the mobile phone, and the notification may be omitted. In particular, it is usually unclear whether anybody has registered the telephone number of their mobile phone, and if so, it is not clear who is registered.
[0007]
As can be seen from the fact that the number of mobile phone subscribers has recently surpassed the number of landline subscribers, many people only have mobile phones, and once the phone number changes, the It is very difficult to contact the person.
[0008]
In the past, landline telephones had a service that would give you a new telephone number when you called an old telephone number, but there is currently no such service for mobile phones. Even if such a service exists, it is necessary to register the new telephone number in the telephone directory. In addition, the landline service provides all callers with a new number, which may be inconvenient in some circumstances.
[0009]
The present invention has been made in such a background, and an object of the present invention is to allow a communication terminal owner to change a telephone number or the like (access information) registered in a telephone directory built in the communication terminal. An object of the present invention is to provide a telephone directory management system, a telephone directory management service server, a communication terminal device, and a telephone directory management method capable of receiving a notification (or automatic telephone directory update).
[0010]
It is another object of the present invention to provide a telephone directory management system in which a communication terminal owner such as a telephone number relating to a change can suppress notification.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The telephone directory management system includes a plurality of communication terminal devices internally storing access information including a telephone number and / or a mail address as telephone directory data, and a server connected to the plurality of communication terminal devices via a network. Prepare. The server refers to the telephone directory database for receiving and registering telephone directory data stored therein from the plurality of communication terminal devices and the telephone directory database when changing access information of any communication terminal device. Searching means for searching for the communication terminal device storing the access information before the change in the telephone directory, and notifying the communication terminal device specified by the search of the change information of the access information. Notification means. Each communication terminal device has transmission means for transmitting the telephone directory data therein to the server, and reception means for receiving a notification regarding a change in the telephone directory data from the server.
[0012]
Preferably, each communication terminal device includes means for rewriting the telephone directory data based on the change information.
[0013]
Preferably, the telephone directory database has means for suppressing notification of a change in the specific access information to a specific telephone directory owner who owns the telephone directory in which the specific access information is registered.
[0014]
A telephone directory management method according to the present invention is a telephone directory management method on a server for a communication terminal device in which access information including a telephone number and / or a mail address is stored as telephone directory data in the communication terminal device. Receiving the phone book data stored in the plurality of communication terminal devices via the PC, and registering the data in the phone book database, and referring to the phone book database when changing the access information of any communication terminal device. By specifying a communication terminal device that stores the access information before the change in the telephone directory, and a step of notifying the communication terminal device specified by the search of the change information of the access information, It is characterized by having.
[0015]
Instead of or in addition to the step of notifying, the method may further include a step of rewriting or rewriting the telephone directory data based on the change information.
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0017]
FIG. 1 shows a schematic system configuration of a telephone directory management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The plurality of mobile phones 10 are connected to a telephone directory data management service server 25 (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a service server) via a communication network 15. The communication network 15 is composed of a telephone network (regardless of circuit switching or packet switching), but may be a mixture of the Internet and the like. The service server 20 includes a telephone directory database 25. The configuration of this database and the operation of the service server 20 will be described later.
[0018]
Each mobile phone 10 includes a control unit 100 including a CPU and the like, a memory 101 as a storage device for storing control programs and various data (including telephone directory data 102), and operation means such as ten keys, various operation keys, and a jog dial. An input unit 103, a display unit 104 including a display unit such as a liquid crystal display, and a communication unit 105 that manages a wireless communication interface with the communication network 15 are provided.
[0019]
The telephone directory data management service server 20 includes a data processing unit 201 that performs various processes such as a data registration process, a search process, and a notification process, which will be described later, and a communication unit 203 that performs communication with the network 15.
[0020]
In this embodiment, the mobile phone 10 is taken as an example of the communication terminal device. However, a fixed phone may be used as long as it has a function of performing data communication with the service server 20 via the communication network 15. It is possible to receive the change notification service of the present invention.
[0021]
In recent years, many mobile phones have an electronic mail transmission / reception function, and an electronic mail address (also simply referred to as a mail address) can be registered in the telephone directory of such a mobile phone. According to the present invention, it is possible to cope with the change of the mail address as well as the change of the telephone number. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is possible to cope with both of them (collectively called access information).
[0022]
In the system shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone 10 transmits the phonebook data 102 to the service server 20 via the communication network 15 when the phonebook data 102 is updated (added, modified, or deleted) or periodically. . The service server 20 configures a telephone directory database 25 based on telephone directory data 102 collected from each mobile phone 10. When the telephone number of a specific telephone is changed, the service server 20 changes the telephone number for the mobile telephone 10 or the like of the user who has registered the telephone number before the change in its own telephone directory. Notification. This notification may be to notify the telephone number information before and after the change as text information, or to automatically store the telephone directory data 102 of the telephone based on the change information without the need for the user to input the telephone number. It may be one that is rewritten dynamically. Of course, it is preferable that this automatic rewriting be displayed on the display unit 104 before or after that to obtain the user's consent. The notification to the service server 20 that the telephone number of the specific telephone has been changed can be performed based on the exchange of information within the communication carrier or between the communication carriers. Alternatively, it may depend on notification of change information via a communication network by a telephone user relating to the change. The telephone associated with the change of the telephone number (for convenience, referred to as a number-change telephone) is sufficient if it has a telephone number that may be registered in the telephone directory data in the mobile telephone 10 that receives the service. It is not necessary that the change telephone itself use this service. That is, it does not matter whether the number-change telephone itself has a built-in telephone directory function or whether the telephone directory data is registered in the service server 20.
[0023]
Next, a specific configuration example of the telephone directory database 25 will be described. In this example, the telephone directory database 25 includes a user-specific telephone directory table 251 (FIG. 2), a telephone number change notification table 252a (FIG. 3), and a mail address change notification table 252b (FIG. 4). The telephone number change notification table 252a and the mail address change notification table 252b are collectively called a change notification table 252.
[0024]
The telephone directory table 251 for each user shown in FIG. 2 is a set of telephone directory data uploaded from the mobile phone 10 using this service, and is stored for each “phone directory owner telephone number (and mail address)”. And the "registered telephone number" and "registered mail address" registered in the telephone directory of the telephone. Neither the “registered telephone number” nor the “registered mail address” is a single telephone owner telephone number. However, an upper limit number that can be stored may be provided. Also, there may be a telephone number for which no corresponding mail address exists. In this example, the first memory address (AD1, AD2,...) Of each area of the table 251 is used as a pointer to the telephone directory data in the telephone of each telephone directory owner telephone number.
[0025]
The telephone number change notification table 252a shown in FIG. 3 sequentially extracts a common registered telephone number over all registered telephone directory data based on the contents of the user-specific telephone directory table 251 of FIG. And a list of notification destinations (pointers) of the owners of the telephone directory in which the registered telephone numbers are registered (a so-called reverse lookup table). However, in order to reduce the storage capacity, the access information of the telephone directory owner is not directly stored in this table 252a, but is used as a “telephone directory owner notification destination” in the memory of the user-specific telephone directory table 251 in FIG. The address is stored in the form of a pointer. Of course, the access information of the telephone directory owner may be directly stored instead of the pointer. In the change notification table 252a of FIG. 3, "permission flags" are provided for each telephone directory owner notification destination. This permission flag is data that determines whether or not the user of the registered telephone number is permitted to notify each telephone directory owner of a telephone number change. In the example of the figure, flag = 1 indicates permission, and flag = 0 indicates non-permission. A specific method of setting the permission flag will be described later in detail.
[0026]
The mail address change notification table 252b shown in FIG. 4 is almost the same as the telephone number change notification table 252a, except that it is a data table for mail addresses instead of telephone numbers. This table 252b sequentially extracts a common registered e-mail address over all registered telephone directory data based on the contents of the user-specific telephone directory table 251 of FIG. 2, and registers the registered e-mail address. 6 is a reverse lookup table listing notification destinations (pointers) of the owners of the telephone directory in which they are stored. As described above, since telephone numbers and mail addresses are not always registered one-to-one in the telephone directory data, the registered contents of the two change notification tables 252a and 252b are not necessarily equivalent.
[0027]
Since the entire telephone directory data of each user is reflected in the telephone directory table 251 for each user in FIG. 2, a registered telephone number such as a fixed telephone can be included. If this service excludes such a change in the number of registered telephone numbers of a specific type from being notified, the number can be excluded when the change notification table 252a is created.
[0028]
Next, FIGS. 5A and 5B are flowcharts showing processing examples of a mobile phone (hereinafter simply referred to as a terminal) and a service server (hereinafter simply referred to as a server) in the present service, respectively.
[0029]
The terminal connects to the server at a predetermined point in time after the telephone directory data is changed by the operation of the user (S11, Yes) (S12). The predetermined time point may be immediately after the change operation, or may be a regular time point (for example, a fixed time of a day). If the connection to the server is successful, the telephone directory data is transmitted to the server (S13). The contents to be transmitted at this time may be the entire telephone directory data, or may be only a part related to the change.
[0030]
When the terminal receives the notification of the change information from the server (S14, Yes), after obtaining the approval of the automatic rewriting of the telephone directory from the user (S15, Yes), the terminal automatically rewrites the telephone directory data (S16). . Here, “automatic rewriting” means that the user does not manually rewrite the access information related to the change by key input. The “approval” of the automatic rewriting is to confirm whether the user can perform the automatic rewriting on the display screen at this time, and to make the user respond by a predetermined key operation. However, if the already input approval result is stored in the initial setting of the terminal, this judgment is automatically made based on the stored result. Upon completion of the automatic rewriting, a message to that effect is preferably displayed to notify the user (S17). If there is no approval in step S15, the process proceeds to "other processing" in step S18. When the other processes are completed, the process returns to the step S11.
[0031]
On the other hand, when the telephone directory data is received from the terminal (S21), the server updates the telephone directory DB 25 (FIG. 1) (S22). That is, the registered contents of the user-specific telephone directory table 251 (FIG. 2) related to the telephone number of the terminal are updated. Next, in connection with this update, the change notification tables 252a and 252b shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are updated (S23).
[0032]
The server also changes the access information (telephone number or mail address) of a specific telephone when the new access information is confirmed by the above-described method (S24, Yes). The change notification table is referred to based on the telephone number or the mail address (S25). As a result of this reference, if the corresponding registered telephone number or registered mail address exists, and if there is a contact whose permission flag is 1 (S26, Yes), a predetermined method is given to the telephone directory owner. To notify the change information (S27). The “change information” includes information indicating that there has been a change, and at least the telephone numbers before and after the change. In addition, control information for automatically updating the telephone directory may be included. The “predetermined method” usually involves transmitting change information by data communication using the telephone number of the telephone directory owner. In the case of cancellation only, the new telephone number after the change is not included. Alternatively, the change information can be notified to the mail address of the telephone directory owner in the form of e-mail. The user may be allowed to select whether to be notified as data communication for the telephone number or to be notified as an e-mail to the mail address. In that case, for example, when registering the telephone directory data in the server, information on which of the telephone directory data to select is also transmitted to the server.
[0033]
The change information is reflected in the contents of the telephone directory database 25 (S28). After that, the processing shifts to other processing (S29). When the other processes are completed, the process returns to the step S21. If there is no corresponding access information or if the permission flags are all 0 (S26, No), the process proceeds to other processing (S29).
[0034]
Next, FIGS. 6A and 6B are flowcharts illustrating an example of notification (update) non-permission processing of a terminal and a server in the present service, respectively.
[0035]
The notification (update) non-permission process is a process for suppressing a change in own access information and a notification (disclosure) of the new access information to another person. This processing corresponds to the fact that even if the access information of the user is registered in the telephone directory of another telephone, it may not be desirable to register the new access information after the change in the telephone directory. It is.
[0036]
For this reason, a person who does not want to be notified when the telephone number or the like is changed connects to the service server 20 (S31). To ensure security, this service may be intended for registered users only. In that case, an arbitrary personal authentication such as a password is performed. Next, the requester specifies a partner for whom notification of a change in a telephone number or the like is to be permitted / rejected (S32). This specification can be made, for example, by the telephone number of the other party. To suppress the change notification of the own mail address, also specify the own mail address. There is no need to specify the number of your mobile phone, as it is automatically notified to the server. Here, it is assumed that a request for a change notification is issued in advance before an actual change of the own telephone number or the like is made. This is because after the change, the change notification by the server may already be functioning.
[0037]
Next, the terminal requests permission / non-permission to the server (S33). If a request for “permission” is made, an instruction is given that only the specified partner is permitted. If a request for “non-permission” is made, an instruction is given that only the specified partner is not permitted. A permission request that does not specify a partner means permission for all partners. A non-permission request that does not specify a partner means that all the partners are not permitted. However, it is not essential that both the permission request and the non-permission request can be performed, and any one of the requests may be performed.
[0038]
The service server receives the permission / non-permission request from the terminal together with the partner information (S41). If there is no partner information, all members are determined to be partners. Next, the telephone number of the requester is confirmed (S42). Therefore, it is checked with reference to the change notification tables 252a and 252b whether or not the telephone number of the requester is registered as a registered telephone number or a registered mail address in any of the tables (S43). If it is registered, it is checked whether or not there is a telephone directory owner corresponding to the partner information (S44). If there is, the permission flag of the change notification table is updated (S45). At this time, if the request is a permission request, the permission flag of the telephone directory owner corresponding to the other party information among the telephone directory owners such as the registered telephone number is set to 1. If the request is a non-permission request, the permission flag of the telephone directory owner corresponding to the other party information among the telephone directory owners such as the registered telephone number is set to 0. In any case, when the partner information is specified, a method of setting the permission flag to the opposite of the request for the telephone directory owner who does not match the partner information is also possible. Thereafter, a message to the effect that this procedure has been completed is sent to the terminal (S46). When the result is No in steps S43 and S44, the process directly proceeds to step S46. In the response at this time, a message to the effect that the corresponding registered content does not exist is notified to the terminal.
[0039]
Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, various modifications and changes are possible. For example, the notification is made when the access information in the telephone directory data is changed. However, the present invention can be extended so that the notification is made when the address or other personal information is changed. It is. Although the suppression of the notification is performed commonly for both the telephone number change and the mail number change, the suppression may be performed by designating either of them (for example, the change of the mail address is notified, No notification of phone number changes, etc.). The change notification table is not necessarily an essential element. If there is no problem with the processing load or speed, the contents of the telephone directory table for each user (FIG. 2) are scanned each time, and the owner telephone number corresponding to the registered access number, etc. It is also possible to check.
[0040]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, a telephone user who has registered in the built-in telephone directory can receive a change notification (or automatic telephone directory update) when there is a change in the registered content. Even if there is no communication from the other party, you can quickly know the change. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to know only the old telephone number and to be in contact with the telephone number. Further, the person who changes the telephone number or the like does not need to perform a troublesome work of making a troublesome change notification by himself.
[0041]
In addition, by using the mechanism of notification non-permission, it is possible to prohibit the change notification (or automatic update of the telephone directory) to the other party who does not want to know the change of the telephone number or the like.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic system configuration of a telephone directory management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a telephone directory table for each user which constitutes a part of the telephone directory database shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a telephone number change notification table constituting a part of the telephone directory database shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a mail address change notification table constituting a part of the telephone directory database shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing examples (a) and (b) of a mobile phone (terminal) and a service server (server) according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of notification (update) non-permission processing of a terminal and a server according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 mobile phone (communication terminal device), 15 communication network, 20 phonebook data management service server, 25 phonebook database, 101 memory, 102 phonebook data, 251 phonebook table for each user, 252a Phone number change notification table, 252b ... Email address change notification table

Claims (12)

In a system comprising: a plurality of communication terminal devices internally storing access information including a telephone number and / or a mail address as telephone directory data; and a server connected to the plurality of communication terminal devices via a network.
The server comprises:
A telephone directory database for receiving and registering telephone directory data stored therein from the plurality of communication terminal devices,
When changing the access information of any communication terminal device, by referring to the telephone directory database, search means for searching for a communication terminal device that stores the access information before the change in the telephone directory,
Notifying means for notifying the communication terminal device specified by this search of the change information of the access information,
Each communication terminal device
Transmitting means for transmitting the telephone directory data inside itself to the server,
Receiving means for receiving, from the server, a notification regarding a change in own telephone directory data. 2. The telephone directory management system according to claim 1, wherein each of the communication terminal devices includes means for rewriting the telephone directory data based on the change information. 2. The telephone directory database according to claim 1, wherein the telephone directory database has means for suppressing notification of a change in the specific access information to a specific telephone directory owner who owns the telephone directory in which the specific access information is registered. Phone book management system. A service server for managing telephone directory data for a communication terminal device internally storing access information including a telephone number and / or an email address as telephone directory data,
Receiving means for receiving telephone directory data stored in a plurality of communication terminal devices via a network;
A phone book database for registering received phone book data,
When changing the access information of any communication terminal device, by referring to the telephone directory database, search means for searching for a communication terminal device that stores the access information before the change in the telephone directory,
Notification means for notifying the communication terminal device specified by the search of the change information of the access information. 5. The telephone directory management service server according to claim 4, wherein the telephone directory database has a first data table in which access information of each telephone directory owner is associated with a set of access information registered in the telephone directory. The telephone directory database stores a second data table in which registered access information of the first data table is associated with access information of a telephone directory owner who registers the registered access information in the telephone directory. 6. The telephone directory management service server according to claim 5, wherein said search means performs said search by referring to a second data table. 5. The telephone directory management service server according to claim 4, further comprising a unit that rewrites or rewrites the telephone directory data based on the change information instead of or in addition to the notification unit. A storage device for storing access information including a telephone number and / or a mail address as telephone directory data;
Transmitting means for transmitting the telephone directory data stored in the storage device to a telephone directory management service server via a communication network;
Receiving means for receiving, from the telephone directory management service server, a notification regarding a change in the telephone directory data via the communication network. 9. The communication terminal device according to claim 8, further comprising means for rewriting the telephone directory data based on the change information. A telephone directory database for receiving and registering telephone directory data stored therein from a plurality of communication terminal devices and the telephone directory when changing access information including a telephone number and / or a mail address of an arbitrary communication terminal device. A search unit that searches for a communication terminal device that stores the access information before the change in the telephone directory by referring to the book database; and a search unit that searches the communication terminal device specified by the search for the access information. A communication terminal device connected via a communication network to a server having notification means for notifying change information,
A communication terminal device, comprising: means for requesting the server to suppress notification of a change in the access information of a telephone directory owner who owns a telephone directory in which the access information is registered. A telephone directory management method on a server for a communication terminal device in which access information including a telephone number and / or a mail address is stored as telephone directory data in the communication terminal device,
Receiving, via a network, phone book data stored in the plurality of communication terminal devices, and registering the data in a phone book database;
When changing the access information of any communication terminal device, by referring to the telephone directory database, identifying the communication terminal device storing the access information before the change in the telephone directory,
Notifying the communication terminal device specified by the search of the change information of the access information. 12. The telephone directory management method according to claim 11, further comprising a step of rewriting or rewriting the telephone directory data based on the change information instead of or in addition to the step of notifying.

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