JP2006128844A - Terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent call origination to an unintended destination, which can occur by an operation performed without being aware that a call passes an extension exchange connectable to an outside line, in a terminal device capable of originating a call to an extension and an outside line (PSTN). <P>SOLUTION: A user performs a normal dial operation with an outside line access number (a specific number is assigned) and a normal telephone number in order. In the case of an erroneous dial operation, silence is not detected in a step S209 of detecting a silent state (no response from a transmission destination) one before the last number of successively sent numbers, and therefore, call origination is stopped by on-hook (S210) to avoid call transmission. With respect to numbers with which call origination has been successful, managed history information is checked (S208), and silence detection is omitted to increase the call originating operation speed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal device that is connected to an extension exchange that can be connected to a public telephone line network and that can make calls to both extension lines and outside lines, and more particularly, by an operation performed without noticing passing through the extension exchange. The present invention relates to the terminal device including means for preventing possible outgoing calls to an unintended partner.

Conventionally, a terminal device such as a telephone or a facsimile machine connected to a public telephone network (hereinafter referred to as “outside line”) can communicate with a terminal device connected by an extension line, thereby improving convenience. Improvements are being made.
The following Patent Document 1 shows an example of a conventional terminal device that enables communication with a counterpart terminal device through both such an outside line and an extension line.
The communication device described in Patent Document 1 enables connection to a plurality of communication lines such as an internal / external line or a G3 / G4 line, and when using the line, the communication apparatus is selected from a plurality of communication lines according to a pre-registered order. A function for selecting a more advantageous line and making a call is provided, and this function is intended to reduce communication time and communication cost with the partner terminal.
By the way, in the communication apparatus described in Patent Document 1, a call can be made to both an extension line and an outside line from one terminal apparatus. Details of the exchange used to make such a call are not shown in Patent Document 1, but the following extension exchanges are generally known.
In other words, after off-hook, a specific number (hereinafter referred to as "external line access number") is assigned to the input leading number as the number for accessing the outside line, and this is not used as the starting number of the extension line. In this way, if the number entered first after off-hook matches the outside line access number, it is switched to the outside line, and the number entered after that is sent to the outside line. Is to do.
JP-A-5-91206

However, according to the above-described method of adding an outside line access number to the head, when a device is shared by departments or groups, such as a facsimile device, all users are connected to the terminal, that is, the terminal There is a case where it is not correctly recognized whether it is connected to the extension switch or connected to the outside line. Therefore, there is a problem that a call is made to an unintended partner.
For example, when the outside line access number is “0” and you are trying to make a call to the other party with the telephone number “03-1234-5678”, just enter the telephone number without knowing that you are connected to the extension switch. Then, the extension exchange determines that the first “0” (domestic prefix number) is an outside line access number, and sends “3-1234-4678” to the outside line. At this time, if there is a telephone number with a local station number of “31” and a subscriber number of “2345”, a call will be made to that party.
As another example of an erroneous call, when trying to make a call to the other party of the telephone number “1234-5678” (city), only the telephone number is used without knowing that it is connected to the extension exchange. If entered, the extension switch cannot recognize the external line access number, so that the extension number “1234” is called.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and is connected to an extension switch that can be connected to a public telephone network (external line), and can make a call to both the internal line and the external line. It is an object of the present invention to prevent a call to an unintended partner, which may occur due to an operation performed without being aware of passing through an extension switch in a simple terminal device.

  The invention of claim 1 is a terminal device that performs network control for connection to an extension switch and a public telephone line network, and includes a number and a plurality of digits for switching the dial number of the other party from the extension connection to the public telephone line network. A dial number storage means for distinguishing and storing the normal number, a normal number read out from the dial number storage means, a calling means for making a call, and the silent state of the extension switch and the public telephone line network The silent state detecting means for detecting the silent state is detected by the silent state detecting means between the numbers sequentially transmitted at the time of the call, and the call of the calling means is made on condition that no silent state is detected. A terminal device comprising control means for terminating the operation.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device according to the first aspect, the detection at the time of the call by the silent state detecting means is limited to a predetermined number of lower digits of the number to be transmitted. It is characterized by this.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device according to the first or second aspect, history information storage means for storing call success information of a dial number to be called as history information, and the history information storage means at the time of a call And a control unit that checks the call success information and stores the silence success detection unit on the condition that there is no history of the call success.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a silent state is detected between normal numbers that are sequentially transmitted at the time of a call, and when the state is not a silent state (there is a ringback tone or a response by a person), the calling operation is terminated. By making it possible to make an outgoing call to an unintended partner, which may occur due to an operation performed without noticing that the call is being sent through the extension switch (see the description in the above [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] section) It becomes possible to prevent.
In addition, according to the invention of claim 2, since the silence state is not detected between all the normal numbers to be transmitted, it is limited to a predetermined number of lower digits of the numbers to be transmitted. It is possible to shorten the time required.
Further, according to the invention of claim 3, the call success information is managed as history information, the silent number is not detected for the normal number that has been successful once, and there is no history of successful call origination. Since this detection is performed only with respect to, the time required for making a call can be shortened.

Embodiments relating to the terminal device of the present invention will be described below. The present embodiment shows an example in which the terminal device of the present invention is applied to a facsimile machine.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a control system in a facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment.
With reference to FIG. 1, an outline of the configuration of the facsimile apparatus will be described.
The control unit 101 performs control processing and control procedures for each component described later in the facsimile apparatus, and manages programs and data for executing these processing using the system memory 102 and the parameter memory 103. The system memory 102 stores a control processing program executed by the control unit 101 and various data necessary for executing the processing program, and also provides a work area for the control unit 101. The parameter memory 103 is for storing various kinds of information unique to the facsimile apparatus. In particular, in the present embodiment, it is used as a storage location for storing call success information of a dial number to be called as history information.
The scanner 104 scans a document to be transmitted by FAX, reads image information of the document with a predetermined resolution using, for example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor, and converts it into an image signal.
The plotter 105 is based on a printing method such as electrophotography (laser writing), ink jet, or the like, which outputs an image on a recording sheet with a predetermined resolution based on FAX received image data.
The encoding / decoding unit 109 encodes and compresses the image signal input by the scanner according to a predetermined method, uses it for transmission, and decodes the received data encoded and compressed according to the predetermined method into the original image data. To do.
The image storage device 108 has a capacity for storing a large number of encoded and compressed image data, and stores data that has not been output in response to running out of paper or functions as a buffer.

The modem 107 has a modem function conforming to a group 3 (one of ITU-T recommended facsimile standards, generally referred to as “G3”) facsimile, and modulates a transmission signal and a reception signal. Is. For example, a full-duplex low-speed modem function (V.21, etc.) or a high-speed modem function (V.17, V.29, V.27ter, etc.) for mainly transmitting and receiving image data is provided. In addition to the modem function, a function for recording and reproducing voice data and a function for detecting silence are provided. Note that the function of detecting silence is used in call control described later.
The network control device 106 causes the facsimile apparatus to function as a calling terminal that can be connected to both a PSTN line network (public telephone line network) and an extension. For this purpose, the network control device 106 is adapted to be able to make a call to an outside line by sending an outside line access number to an extension exchange that can be connected to a public telephone line network (outside line). The The call control to the extension switch will be described in detail later.
The operation display unit 110 functions as a user interface for the facsimile apparatus, and includes a display (for example, LCD: liquid crystal display) together with various operation keys such as a numeric keypad and a start key for a user to perform an input operation. The destination telephone number is input by operating a numeric keypad or the like. On the display, the input contents from the operation keys and various information to be notified to the user from the facsimile apparatus are displayed.
The control unit 101, system memory 102, parameter memory 103, scanner 104, plotter 105, network control device 106, modem 107, image storage device 108, encoding / combining unit 109, and operation display unit 110 are connected to the system bus 111. Data exchange between these elements is mainly performed through the system bus 111. Further, the exchange between the network control unit 106 and the modem 107 is directly performed.

Next, call control in the control system will be described.
The control system according to the present embodiment makes a call to an extension switch that can be connected to an external line in order to cause the facsimile apparatus to function as a calling terminal that can be connected to both an external line (public telephone network) and an internal line.
Calls to the extension switch are made by a method of adding an outside line access number at the beginning of dial number input (refer to the description in the above [Background of the Invention] section), but it is necessary to input the dial number according to this method. A user who does not recognize the fact inputs a normal number. As a result, there arises a problem that a FAX is transmitted to an unintended partner (see and described in the above section [Problems to be Solved by the Invention]).
Therefore, this problem is eliminated and call control is performed to prevent outgoing calls to unintended parties.
In this call control, a silence state is detected between normal numbers sequentially transmitted at the time of a call (using the silence detection function of the modem 107), and the call operation is controlled according to the detection result. In other words, this detection result is silent if normal dial number input is performed, but normal input is not performed when it is no longer silent due to ringback tone or human response, It is possible to make a judgment. Therefore, when it is determined that the input is not normal, the calling operation is terminated, and abnormal transmission can be avoided.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of call control according to the present embodiment, which makes it possible to avoid abnormal calls (calls to unintended opponents).
The call control operation will be described with reference to the flow of FIG. In this control flow, when the apparatus is started up such as when the power is turned on, a program for performing this control operation is started by the control unit 101.
When this control program is started, first, it waits for a user input operation on the operation display unit 110. During this time, the dial number of the FAX transmission destination is input by operating the numeric keypad or the like. If the user performs a correct operation at this time, in the case of an outside line, an outside line access number is entered first, followed by a normal telephone number, and in the case of an extension line, only a normal telephone number is entered. Since a specific number such as “0” is normally used as the outside line access number (therefore, the number used as the outside line access number is not set as the extension number), for example, the outside line telephone number “03-1234-5678” When sending to the other party, the input is “0” + “03-1234-5678”.
The dial number input by the user's operation is stored and managed separately in a predetermined memory area, with the leading number as the outside line access number and the number after the leading number as the normal telephone number.
When the start key is pressed after the dial number has been entered, it goes off-hook (step S201) and proceeds to the next processing step.
In the next processing step, in the case of access to the outside line, this outside line access number is sent as a control signal to the extension exchange. When the extension exchange receives this specific number, the extension exchange performs the switching operation by switching the control to the outgoing call.
As a processing step, as shown in the flow of FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not the head of the input dial number matches the outside line access number (“0” in the above example) (step S202). If they match, this number is sent to the extension exchange as an outside line access number (step S203). In this process, when the user does not know the correct input operation and enters only a telephone number as an operation for connecting to an outside line, a problem arises in that a call is made to an unintended partner of the user (the above [ (See the description of Problems to be Solved by the Invention]).
If the head of the input dial number does not match the outside line access number (step S202-NO), the outside line access number is not sent to the extension exchange, and the process proceeds to the next processing step.

In the next step, wait processing is performed for the waiting time before the call necessary for extension / external line switching control in the extension switch (step S204), and then the call is started and the normal telephone number (external line access) The head number of the number excluding the number is sent to the extension exchange (step S205).
Thereafter, normal telephone numbers are sequentially sent to the extension exchange. In the process of sequentially sending these numbers, it is checked whether or not the call is normally made. The checking method is performed by detecting a state in which there is no response (ringback tone or human response) from the transmission destination terminal between the numbers to be transmitted, that is, a silent state.
If normal input is made, there should be no response between numbers, and there will be no sound, but if normal input is not made (hereinafter referred to as "abnormal input"), On the other hand, there is a response from the middle of the number, and there is no silence.
If the detection of abnormal input by detecting the silent state is performed between numbers, the detection accuracy can be improved or the detection result of abnormal input can be obtained early. However, according to the method of detecting a silent state between numbers each time, it takes time to finally determine normal input.
Therefore, a method is adopted in which an abnormal input is detected by detecting a silent state by limiting to a predetermined number of lower digits of the number to be transmitted without performing it between numbers. In particular, in the present embodiment, the method is performed by detecting only once between the numbers before sending the final number, and this method can speed up the processing.

If the above-described normal / abnormal outgoing call check is performed on all transmission requests instructed by user operation at the time of outgoing call, it is possible to always obtain a correct check result. However, the check requires processing for detecting an abnormal input by detecting a silent state as described above, and requires a considerable amount of time.
Therefore, the check process can be omitted for transmission requests that are considered to cause no problem even if this check is omitted. The transmission request to be omitted is a transmission request that has been successfully input in the past and has been successfully made. In order to identify such omission targets, history information of dial numbers (normal telephone numbers) that have been successfully called in the past is required.
At the time of making a call, if the normal telephone number that is currently making a call is included in the number of history information that has been successfully made, a call control procedure that omits the detection of the silent state is performed. The history information of successful call is the normal telephone number that is called when the call destination control is performed according to this flow, and there is a response by ringback tone from the transmission destination, and the successful call is confirmed. Is registered in the parameter memory 103.
By such a method, it is possible to speed up the call processing by omitting the normal / abnormal call check.

In the present embodiment, the silent state is detected only once between the numbers before sending the final number with the intention described above. Therefore, in the call control flow of FIG. 2, a normal telephone number is assigned to the extension switch. Each time it is sent, it is checked whether or not the number to be sent next is the final number (step S206).
As a result of this check, if the number is not the final number, the operation of sequentially transmitting normal telephone numbers is repeated until the final number is reached (step S207). Therefore, after this operation is repeated until the number preceding the last number is sent, the process exits from this loop and proceeds to the next processing step.
In the next processing step, it is checked whether or not the abnormal input detection (silence detection) process can be omitted (step S208). In this process, as described above, it is checked whether or not the normal telephone number that is currently making a call is registered in the history information of the successful call. If it can be confirmed by this check, the abnormal input detection (silence detection) process is omitted (NO in step S208), and the final number of the normal telephone number being sent is sent to the extension exchange. (Step S211), the control flow ends.

On the other hand, if it is not registered in the history information that has succeeded in making a call (step S208-YES), an abnormal input detection process is performed by detecting a silent state (step S209). In this process, when a ringback tone or a state where the other party is already responding is detected (step S209-NO), an unintended party is called due to an abnormal input. Therefore, in this case, the on-hook state is set (step S210), and this control flow is terminated.
In the detection of the silent state, when it is detected that the silent state is detected and the input is normal (step S209-YES), the extension switch is still in the number receiving state based on the determination. Then, the final number of the normal telephone number being called is sent to the extension exchange (step S211), and this control flow is terminated.
As described above, by performing the operation according to the call control flow of the present embodiment, when the input operation necessary for making a call to the extension exchange connectable to the outside line is not normally performed, the call operation is performed. Is terminated, so that an abnormal call can be avoided, and a call operation capable of avoiding the abnormal call can be speeded up.

1 shows a configuration of a control system in a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. A flow chart of call control according to the present embodiment that enables avoiding abnormal calls is shown.

Explanation of symbols

101..Control unit, 102..System memory,
103-Parameter memory 104-Scanner
105 ... Plotter 106 ... Network control unit,
107-Modem 108-Image storage device
109 .. Encoding / decoding unit, 110 .. Operation / display unit,
111. System bus.

Claims (3)

  It is a terminal device that performs network control for connecting to an extension switch and a public telephone network, and distinguishes the dial number of the other party into a number for switching from the extension connection to the public telephone network and a normal number consisting of multiple digits. Dial number storage means for storing, calling number means for sequentially sending out normal numbers read from the dial number storage means, and making a call, and silence state detecting means for detecting the silence state of the extension exchange and the public telephone line network And a means for detecting a silent state between numbers sequentially transmitted at the time of a call by the silent state detecting means, and terminating the calling operation of the calling means on condition that no silent state is detected. A terminal device comprising:   2. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the silent state detecting means is limited to a predetermined number of lower digits of a number for sending the call detection.   3. The terminal device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a history information storage means for storing call success information of a dialed number to be called as history information, and a call stored in said history information storage means at the time of a call. A terminal device comprising a control unit that checks success information and causes the silent state detection unit to perform silence detection on the condition that there is no history of successful calls.

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