JP2005286609A - Communication transfer method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication transfer method capable of reducing a cost load required for equipment investment and equipment maintenance, and for re-transfer as well, by sharing equipments on the side of telecommunication carrier. <P>SOLUTION: The communication transfer method uses a communication automatic responding system that comprises the interface with data communication network and constitutes a part of an acoustic communication network. The method includes a procedure for automatically responding to communication for specifying the telephone number of a transfer destination, a procedure for transferring the communication that has been automatically responded to the telephone number of the specified transfer destination, and a procedure for receiving transfer instruction from the responder of the telephone to which the communication has been transferred through an information equipment. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a transfer method for transferring an incoming communication to a terminal connected to a voice communication network.

  Conventionally, when a call received at a specific phone number is transferred to another phone number, an automatic answering device is connected to a terminal having the specific phone number, and the automatic answering device is operated to transfer the destination. Generally, a method of setting a telephone number or a method of using a transfer telephone service provided by a communication carrier is used.

  For example, a multi-function telephone capable of handling a plurality of telephone numbers is accommodated in an exchange such as a PBX, and the person in charge of the reception responds to a call that arrives at the multi-function telephone and forwards it to each person in charge according to the contents There is something that can be done. This transfer process is performed when the person in charge of the incoming call puts the incoming call on hold and dials the telephone number of the transfer destination.

  On the other hand, if the caller ID notification service in ISDN is utilized, it is possible to transfer the call without answering to the transfer destination registered in advance without responding to the incoming call. However, if this non-response transfer method is applied as it is to the above-described multifunction telephone, no-response transfer cannot be performed when a plurality of telephone numbers are simultaneously received.

  Therefore, in the PBX, a detection unit that detects a transfer request for a non-response incoming call from a multi-function telephone, and line number data of an incoming call to be transferred are created for each telephone number of the multi-function telephone that performed the transfer operation. A line number creation unit, a transfer destination data creation unit that creates transfer destination data of an incoming call for each line number, a line number of the incoming call to be transferred and its line number based on the line number data and the transfer destination data In some cases, an incoming call transfer destination terminal that is receiving a call is determined and the incoming call is transferred to the transfer destination terminal (see Patent Document 1).

  Also, in a multi-function machine having both a facsimile function and a copy function, one having a function of receiving an image transmitted from a sender and transferring the received image to a preset destination facsimile apparatus is known. Yes. However, since the transfer destination cannot determine whether the call is a normal call or a transferred call, it must cope with a call transfer that it does not want to accept.

Therefore, the communication terminal device that transfers the incoming call from the caller is provided with a voice processing unit that sends a voice message and a transfer control unit, and when the incoming call is detected and the transfer destination telephone number is sent, the transfer destination is There is one in which a call is transferred only when a transfer acceptance signal to be returned in response is detected (see Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-276271 JP 2002-158744 A

  However, the method disclosed in Patent Document 2 cannot cope with a case where it is desired to re-transfer the transferred telephone to another telephone as a result of having been transferred once, for example, at a call center. Further, in the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, even if it is effective when transferring to an extension terminal accommodated in the same PBX, it is transferred to a terminal connected to an external line such as a telephone network or a VoIP network. Not applicable when doing. Furthermore, in the transfer service provided by the telecommunications carrier, the transfer destination (single or plural) is set at the time of the contract, and the re-transfer destination cannot be changed in a timely manner.

  On the other hand, a method of using a transfer service provided by a telecommunications carrier and installing a reception / transfer device at the transfer destination is also conceivable, but there is a problem that the cost burden for equipment investment and equipment maintenance becomes large.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a communication transfer method that reduces the cost burden required for capital investment and equipment maintenance by commonly using facilities on the telecommunications carrier side, and can retransmit incoming incoming calls. The purpose is to do.

The communication transfer method of the present invention that achieves the above-mentioned object has a plurality of interfaces connected to the voice communication network using an automatic communication response device that has an interface to the data communication network and forms part of the voice communication network. A communication transfer method for transferring a communication addressed to one of a plurality of telephone numbers assigned to a terminal of the terminal to another telephone number,
A procedure for automatically responding to a communication addressed to the one telephone number and identifying a transfer destination telephone number;
A procedure for transferring the automatically-committed communication to the identified transfer destination telephone number;
And a procedure for receiving an instruction to transfer the communication from an attendant of the terminal to which the communication has been transferred via an information device connected to the data communication network.

  As described above, the communication automatic response device constituting a part of the voice communication network has an interface to the data communication network, and the receiver of the transfer destination terminal transfers the communication under reception through the data communication network. By giving the instruction, the communication once transferred can be transferred again.

  According to the communication transfer method of the present invention, since the automatic communication response device of the communication carrier has an interface to the data communication network, it becomes possible for the transferee to instruct retransfer via the interface, The cost burden required for individual user equipment investment and equipment maintenance can be reduced, and the telecommunications service can be improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the transfer method of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a call transfer service to which an embodiment of a transfer method of the present invention is applied.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the call transfer service to which this embodiment is applied is part of a voice communication network 2 such as an ISDN network or a VoIP network, and an interface 4 is provided in a data communication network such as a computer network including the Internet. The communication automatic answering apparatus 100, the caller telephone 1 connected to the voice communication network 2, the caller telephone 7 from which the telephone call from the caller telephone 1 is transferred and received by the communication automatic answering apparatus 100, and the callee It is composed of a transfer destination telephone 8 that is transferred again by a telephone 7 attendant and an information device 5 that can be connected to a data communication network.

  Here, for convenience of explanation, the caller telephone set 1, the callee telephone set 7, and the transfer destination telephone set 8 are connected to the voice communication network 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and “ The categories of “sender”, “recipient”, and “forwarding destination” are given for convenience of explanation, and change each time and are not fixed.

  The automatic communication response device 100 according to the present embodiment includes an automatic communication response unit 3 and an information storage unit 6, and the caller terminal 1, the callee terminal 7, and the transfer destination via the voice communication network 2. Access is received from the terminal 8 and access is received from the information device 5 such as a personal computer, a mobile phone, and a PDA via the data communication network 4.

  When there is a telephone call from the caller telephone 1 to the telephone number for which the call transfer service contract is made, the communication automatic answering apparatus 100 automatically responds via the digital exchange constituting the voice communication network 2. Then, in accordance with the voice guidance, transfer is performed by a PB signal input from the caller telephone 1 using a push button or by a transfer destination table that defines the correspondence between the contract telephone number and the transfer destination telephone number registered at the time of the contract. The previous telephone number is specified, and the automatically answered telephone call is forwarded to the specified telephone number (here, called party telephone 7). On the other hand, when the responder who has responded to the destination telephone 7 of the transfer destination wants to transfer the communication to another telephone number based on the contents of the reception, the data communication network 4 such as a personal computer, a cellular phone, or a PDA is used. The automatic communication response device 100 is accessed from the connectable information device 5 via the data communication network 4 and a predetermined transfer command is input from the information device 5. When receiving the transfer command, the automatic communication response device 100 transfers the telephone call that is being handled by the receiver of the called telephone 7 to the transfer destination telephone 8 corresponding to the re-transfer destination for which the transfer command was issued.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the call transfer service in which a plurality of terminals connected to the voice communication network 2 are telephones has been described, but the plurality of terminals do not necessarily have to be telephones. Any device having a function capable of communicating via a communication network may be used.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the communication automatic response apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  The automatic communication response device shown as an example in FIG. 2 includes an automatic communication response unit 3 and an information storage unit 6.

  The automatic communication response unit 3 includes a digital telephone network connection unit 9, a digital communication network connection unit 10, a communication processing unit 11, a communication transfer processing unit 12, and a communication transfer management unit 13.

  For example, the digital telephone network connection unit 9 automatically responds to a telephone call addressed to a telephone number for which a call transfer service contract is made, and sends the telephone call to the communication processing unit 11.

  When the telephone number of the telephone call that has been automatically answered is sent from the digital telephone network connection unit 9, the communication processing unit 11 sends the telephone number to the communication transfer processing unit 12. When the telephone number is not sent from the digital telephone network connection unit 9, the information stored in the information storage unit 6 is expanded and a predetermined voice guidance is transmitted to the caller telephone 1 of the telephone call. The call transfer destination is determined by the PB button pressed according to the voice guidance from the caller telephone, and the determined telephone number is sent to the communication transfer processing unit 12. When the transfer destination telephone number is confirmed, a call is made to that telephone number to establish a communication path with the transfer destination. When it is determined that the caller telephone 1 is requesting information provision, the requested information is provided from the information storage unit 6.

  The communication transfer processing unit 12 confirms whether or not the transmitted telephone number is registered in the communication transfer destination table stored in the communication call transfer management unit 13, and uses the telephone number as the communication processing unit 11. Notify

  The communication transfer management unit 13 stores a communication transfer destination table in which a correspondence table between a telephone number for which a call transfer service contract is made and a communication transfer destination telephone number is recorded.

  When accessed from the data communication network 4 via the information device 5, the data communication network connection unit 10 displays a Web page on the display screen of the information device 5, and displays the Web page of the information device on the displayed Web page. A transfer instruction for retransferring the telephone call that the operator is answering from the callee telephone 7 to another telephone or the like is received and notified to the communication processing unit 11.

  Next, the general transfer function of the communication automatic answering apparatus provided as a call transfer service is exemplified by the exchange between the communication automatic answering apparatus and the caller telephone 1, the callee telephone 7, and the transfer destination telephone 8. explain.

  FIGS. 3 to 5 are diagrams showing communication between the communication automatic answering apparatus 100 and the caller telephone 1, the callee telephone 7, and the transfer destination telephone 8. FIG.

  In the figure, the vertical band indicates the caller telephone 1, the communication automatic response unit 3, the call receiver telephone 7, and the transfer destination telephone 8, and the thick arrow line connecting the vertical bands indicates the transmission direction of the signal or information, It represents the source and destination.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a method of providing stored information from the communication automatic response device to the caller telephone.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when a caller telephone makes a telephone call to a telephone number for which a call transfer service contract has been made, the voice of the communication automatic response unit 3 is transmitted via a digital switch constituting the voice communication network 2. The communication network connection unit 9 automatically answers the telephone call (S1).

  The voice communication network connection unit 9 sends the telephone call to the communication processing unit 11, and the communication processing unit 11 decompresses the information stored by compressing the band from the information storage unit 6, for example, and sends a predetermined voice guidance to the communication processing unit 11. The call is sent to the caller telephone 1. When the PB button is pressed according to the voice guidance from the caller telephone, the communication processing unit 11 identifies the number of the pressed PB button. When it is determined that the caller telephone 1 is requesting information provision, the requested information is provided from the information storage unit 6 (S2).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a method of identifying a telephone number to which a telephone call automatically answered by the communication automatic answering apparatus is transferred using a PB signal.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when the caller telephone makes a telephone call to a telephone number for which a call transfer service contract has been made, the voice of the communication automatic answering unit 3 is transmitted via a digital switch constituting the voice communication network 2. The communication network connection unit 9 automatically answers the telephone call (S1).

  The voice communication network connection unit 9 sends the telephone call to the communication processing unit 11, and the communication processing unit 11 decompresses the information stored by compressing the band from the information storage unit 6, for example, and sends a predetermined voice guidance to the communication processing unit 11. The call is sent to the caller telephone 1. When the communication processing unit 11 recognizes that the caller telephone wants to transfer the telephone call by the PB button pressed according to the voice guidance from the caller telephone, the communication processing unit 11 presses the PB button. Voice guidance is performed from the information storage unit 6 so that the telephone number of the transfer destination is input.

  When the transfer destination telephone number is input from the caller telephone 1 by the PB button, the communication processing unit 11 determines the call transfer destination of the telephone call based on the input telephone number (S3).

  The communication processing unit 11 sends the determined telephone number to the communication transfer processing unit 12, and the communication transfer processing unit 12 stores the received telephone number in the call transfer destination table stored in the communication transfer management unit 13. Check if it is registered.

  When there is a response from the communication transfer management unit 13 indicating that it is registered in the call transfer destination table, the communication transfer processing unit 12 notifies the communication processing unit 11 of the telephone number of the transfer destination.

  The communication processing unit 11 makes a call to the notified telephone number, and when the communication path with the called party telephone 7 is formed, the telephone call is transferred to the called party telephone 7 (S5).

  Before transferring the telephone call, the communication processing unit 11 sends a voice message such as “connect to XX” from the information storage unit 6 to transfer the telephone call to the caller telephone. You may decide to notify beforehand.

  On the other hand, when there is a response from the communication transfer management unit 13 that it is not registered in the call transfer destination table, the communication transfer processing unit 12 notifies the communication processing unit 11 that transfer is not possible. The communication processing unit 11 sends a voice message such as “the specified transfer destination is not registered” to the caller telephone 1, and the transfer destination is specified to the caller telephone 1 in error. You may decide to notify.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method of identifying a telephone number to which a telephone call automatically answered by the communication automatic answering apparatus is identified by a table stored in the communication transfer management unit.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the caller telephone 1 makes a telephone call to a telephone number for which a call transfer service contract is made, the communication automatic answering unit 3 of the communication automatic response unit 3 passes through the digital exchange constituting the voice communication network 2. The voice communication network connection unit 9 automatically answers the telephone call (S1).

  The voice communication network connection unit 9 sends the automatically answered telephone number to the communication processing unit 11, and the communication processing unit 11 sends the telephone number to the communication transfer processing unit 12. The communication transfer processing unit 12 makes an inquiry to the communication transfer management unit 13, refers to the call transfer destination table stored in the communication transfer management unit 13, and determines the transfer destination telephone number corresponding to the telephone number (S4). ).

  The determined telephone number of the transfer destination is notified to the communication processing unit 11, and the communication processing unit 11 calls the notified telephone number, and when the communication path with the called party telephone 7 is formed, the telephone number The call is transferred to the called telephone 7 (S5).

  Here, the communication transfer management unit 13 manages information such as the caller telephone number of the telephone call automatically answered by the voice communication network connection unit 9, the response time, and the number of telephone calls already processed by the communication processing unit 11. Then, by performing priority control based on the managed information, a transfer destination telephone number having a higher priority is selected from a plurality of stored transfer destination telephone numbers and notified to the communication transfer processing unit 12 You may decide to give the function to do.

  In addition, before transferring the telephone call, the communication processing unit 11 sends a voice message such as “connect to XX” from the information storage unit 6 to transfer the telephone call to the caller telephone. It can be notified in advance, or it can behave as if a telephone call was made directly from the caller telephone to the callee telephone without sending a voice message.

  Next, the re-transfer function of the communication automatic answering apparatus provided as a call transfer service is exchanged between the communication automatic answering apparatus 100 and the caller telephone 1, the information device 5, the callee telephone 7, and the transfer destination telephone 8. Will be described as an example.

  6 and 7 are diagrams showing exchanges between the communication automatic response unit 3 and the caller telephone 1, the information device 5, the callee telephone 7, and the transfer destination telephone 8.

  In the figure, the vertical band indicates the caller telephone 1, the communication automatic response unit 3, the information device 5, the callee telephone 7, and the transfer destination telephone 8, and the thick arrow line connecting the vertical bands indicates the signal or information. A transmission direction, a transmission source, and a destination are shown. In addition, the information device 5 and the callee telephone 7 are installed in the same place so that the person who receives the callee telephone 7 can operate the information device 5.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a method of retransferring a telephone call that the called telephone receives to the transfer destination telephone.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the caller telephone makes a telephone call to the telephone number for which the call transfer service contract is made, the voice of the communication automatic answering unit 3 is transmitted via the digital exchange constituting the voice communication network 2. The communication network connection unit 9 automatically answers the telephone call (S1).

  Here, the voice communication network connection unit 9 sends the telephone call to the communication processing unit 11, and the communication processing unit 11 transmits the voice guidance to the caller telephone 1 of the telephone call, and the caller telephone 1 transmits the voice guidance. With the PB button pressed according to the voice guidance, the communication processing unit 11 may determine the call transfer destination of the telephone call (S3), and the voice communication network connection unit 9 performs communication processing on the automatically answered telephone number. The communication processing unit 11 sends the telephone number to the communication transfer processing unit 12. The communication transfer processing unit 12 makes an inquiry to the communication transfer management unit 13 and refers to the call transfer destination table stored in the communication transfer management unit 13 to determine the transfer destination telephone number corresponding to the telephone number. (S4).

  Then, the determined transfer destination telephone number is notified to the communication processing unit 11, and the communication processing unit 11 transmits to the notified telephone number, and when the communication path with the callee telephone 7 is formed, The telephone call is transferred to the called party telephone 7 (S5).

  When the receiver of the receiver's telephone 7 (hereinafter referred to as “operator”) determines from the content of the call with the caller that the caller needs to talk to a person other than the operator, he / she operates the information device 5. Then, the communication automatic response unit 3 is accessed and a transfer instruction for the telephone call is issued (S6).

  Here, when accessed from the data communication network 4 via the information device 5, the communication automatic response unit 3 displays a web page on the display screen of the information device 5 and inputs it to the menu screen displayed on the web page. The access may be authenticated based on the received telephone number of the called telephone 7, the attribute information of the operator, and the telephone number of the transfer destination.

  The communication automatic response unit 3 holds the communication path with the caller telephone 1 that has made the telephone call and sends a hold sound to the caller telephone 1 (S7).

  Then, the re-forwarding destination telephone number included in the transfer instruction is extracted, and the communication path is formed by calling the extracted re-forwarding destination telephone number and forming a communication path with the re-forwarding destination telephone. The communication is transferred again to the transfer destination telephone 8 (S8). When the retransfer is completed, the communication path between the called telephone 7 and the communication automatic response unit 3 is disconnected (S9).

  As described above, even when a telephone call is transferred between the telephones connected to the voice communication network 2 by the communication automatic answering apparatus 100 constituting a part of the voice communication network 2, the communication automatic answering is performed. If the device 100 has an interface with the data communication network 4, it is possible to access the information device 5 provided near the telephone via the interface to instruct the re-transfer destination, and the data is once transferred. You can transfer the phone call again.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a method of providing stored information from a communication automatic answering apparatus to a caller telephone after once transferring a telephone call.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the caller telephone 1 makes a telephone call to a telephone number for which a call transfer service contract is made, the communication automatic answering unit 3 of the communication automatic response unit 3 is connected via a digital switch constituting the voice communication network 2. The voice communication network connection unit 9 automatically responds to the telephone call (S1), and the communication processing unit 11 sets the call transfer destination of the telephone call by the PB button pressed from the caller telephone 1 according to the voice guidance. Whether or not it is determined (S3), or the telephone number that has been automatically answered is referred to the communication transfer management unit 13, and the call transfer destination table stored in the communication transfer management unit 13 is referred to. The telephone number is determined (S4).

  Then, the determined transfer destination telephone number is notified to the communication processing unit 11, and the communication processing unit 11 transmits to the notified telephone number, and when the communication path with the callee telephone 7 is formed, The telephone call is transferred to the called party telephone 7 (S5).

  The operator of the receiver telephone 7 operates the information device 5 to access the automatic communication response unit 3 when he / she determines from the content of the call with the caller that the caller needs to provide information by a standard message. Then, a voice message transmission instruction is issued (S10).

  When receiving an instruction to send a voice message, the automatic communication response unit 3 sends a holding sound to the caller telephone 1 that has made the telephone call, and disconnects the communication path with the callee telephone 7 (S11).

  Further, the communication automatic response unit 3 extracts a voice message for which a transmission instruction has been received from the voice messages stored in the information storage unit 6, and the information storage unit 6 transmits the extracted voice message to the caller telephone 1. (S12).

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the call transfer service to which 1st Embodiment of the transfer method of this invention is applied. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function of the communication automatic response apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the method of providing accumulation | storage information from a communication automatic response apparatus to a caller telephone. It is a figure which shows the method of identifying the telephone number which transfers the telephone call which the communication automatic response apparatus answered automatically by a PB signal. It is a figure which shows the method of identifying the telephone number which transfers the telephone call which the communication automatic response apparatus answered automatically by the table stored in the communication transfer management part. It is a figure which shows the method of re-transferring the telephone call which a called party telephone responds to a transfer destination telephone. It is a figure which shows the method of providing accumulation | storage information to a caller telephone set from a communication automatic response apparatus, after transferring a telephone call once.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Caller telephone 2 Voice communication network 3 Communication automatic response part 4 Data communication network 5 Information equipment 6 Information storage part 7 Callee telephone 8 Transfer destination telephone 9 Voice communication network connection part 10 Digital communication network connection part 11 Communication processing part 12 Communication Transfer processing unit 13 Communication transfer management unit 100 Automatic communication response device

Claims (8)

Of the plurality of telephone numbers assigned to a plurality of terminals connected to the voice communication network using an automatic communication response device that has an interface to the data communication network and forms a part of the voice communication network A communication transfer method for transferring communication addressed to one telephone number to another telephone number,
A procedure for automatically responding to a communication addressed to the one telephone number and specifying a telephone number of a transfer destination of the communication;
A step of transferring the communication automatically answered to the identified telephone number of the transfer destination;
A communication transfer method comprising: a step of receiving an instruction to transfer the communication from an attendant of the terminal to which the communication has been transferred via an information device connected to the data communication network. .   When the transfer instruction is received, a telephone number of the re-transfer destination included in the received transfer instruction is extracted to form a communication path with the terminal of the re-transfer destination, and the transfer instruction from the responder The communication transfer method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of retransferring the communication received. The re-transfer procedure is:
A procedure for holding a communication path with a source terminal that has transmitted the communication and sending a hold sound to the source terminal;
A call is made to the extracted re-transfer destination telephone number, a communication path is formed with the re-transfer destination terminal, and the communication is re-transmitted to the re-transfer destination telephone number where the communication path is formed. The communication transfer method according to claim 2, further comprising an order of transfer.   When accessed from the data communication network via the information device, a predetermined Web page is displayed on a display screen of the information device, and the transfer instruction is received on the displayed Web page. The communication transfer method according to claim 1. The communication automatic response device includes an information storage unit in which predetermined information is stored,
A procedure of providing the information stored in the information storage unit to a source terminal that has transmitted the communication by disconnecting a communication path with the terminal that the responder has received when receiving the transfer instruction; The communication transfer method according to claim 1, further comprising:   When an automatic response is made to the communication in the procedure of extracting the telephone number of the transfer destination, a voice guidance is sent to the source terminal that originated the communication, and the source terminal according to the sent voice guidance 2. The communication transfer method according to claim 1, wherein a telephone number of the transfer destination is specified based on a signal sent from.   When the communication is automatically answered in the procedure of extracting the telephone number of the transfer destination, the one telephone number is identified, and a predetermined table is referred to based on the identified one telephone number. 2. The communication transfer method according to claim 1, wherein a transfer destination telephone number is specified.   2. The communication transfer method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of terminals assigned with the other telephone number is connected to a VoIP network.

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