JP2007124450A - Communication terminal comprising soft-phone function and communication program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication terminal and communication program capable of utilizing an external application to attain an information processing function effectively utilizing a soft-phone function. <P>SOLUTION: A communication terminal according to the present invention comprises a soft-phone part playing a telephone function via a VoIP network and includes an external application part and an interface part which receives a data communication request from the external application part and transfers the received data communication request to the soft-phone part. In response to the transferred data communication request, the soft-phone part supplies a call control message to the VoIP network and sets a data communication path, via the VoIP network, with the termination destination of the data communication request, and data communication corresponding to the data communication request is performed via the data communication path. A communication program according to the present invention is executed by a computer as the communication terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication terminal and a communication program having a softphone function in which a telephone function using VoIP (Voice over IP) technology is realized by software.

  A personal computer having a softphone function using VoIP technology is widely used as a telephone terminal. Such a personal computer has a softphone function as a basic function and can be installed and executed with an external application having an arbitrary information processing function.

  However, the information processing function of the external application is an independent function that does not link with the softphone function.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication terminal and a communication program that can use an external application that realizes an information processing function using a softphone function.

  A communication terminal according to the present invention is a communication terminal including a softphone unit that performs a telephone function via a VoIP network, receives an external application unit and a data communication request from the external application unit, and receives the received data communication request. And an interface unit for transferring the data communication request to the softphone unit, and the softphone unit supplies a call control message to the VoIP network in response to the transferred data communication request to receive a call destination of the data communication request. And a communication channel setting unit for setting a data communication channel via the VoIP network and a data communication unit for performing data communication corresponding to the data communication request via the data communication channel.

  The communication program according to the present invention is a communication program including a softphone program for realizing a telephone communication function via a VoIP network in a computer, receives an external application program and a data communication request from the process of the external application program, An interface program for transferring the received data communication request to the process of the softphone program, wherein the softphone program supplies a call control message to the VoIP network in response to the transferred data communication request. A communication path setting procedure for setting a data communication path to the called party corresponding to the communication request via the VoIP network, and data communication corresponding to the data communication request via the data communication path. Wherein the forming process to perform and to data communication procedure.

  According to the communication terminal and the communication program of the present invention, in response to a data communication request from an external application, the softphone sets a data communication path with the called party corresponding to the data communication request and performs data communication. The composition to be made is given. As a result, it is possible to use an external application that realizes an information processing function utilizing the softphone function.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an embodiment of the present invention, and shows an overall configuration including a communication terminal and a communication program according to the present invention. Here, personal computers 10 a and 10 b (hereinafter abbreviated as PCs 10 a and 10 b) are connected to the IP network 50. The PCs 10a and 10b are ordinary computers as communication terminals, and preferably have the same hardware configuration. For example, the PC 10 a mainly includes a central processing unit (CPU) 11, a main storage device (MEM) 12, and an IP network I / F 13 that performs a telephone function and a data communication function via the IP network 50. The In the main memory (MEM) 12, an operating system (not shown) that controls computer basic control and an application program group 20 including several application programs are expanded.

  The IP network 50 is a network that enables IP telephone communication using the VoIP technology, such as the Internet. A SIP server 30 and a SIP application server 40 are connected to the IP network 50. The SIP server 30 is a server that provides a call control service to the PCs 10a and 10b using the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) protocol. The SIP application server 40 is a server that provides services such as a service for resolving a telephone number and an IP address and a service such as presence in response to a request from the PC 10a and the PC 10b, and communicates using the SIP protocol and HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) protocol. .

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the application program group shown in FIG. The application program group 20 includes a softphone application program 21 (hereinafter abbreviated as “softphone 21”) and an external application program 23 (hereinafter abbreviated as “external application 23”).

  The soft phone 21 is a program that realizes an IP telephone function using VoIP technology with an external telephone terminal (not shown), and performs HTTP-based call control, exchange of presence information by SIP extension, and the like. It can also be used in combination with protocols. The softphone 21 also includes a softphone AP interface 22 that is integrated with itself by a method such as dynamic linking. The softphone AP interface 22 has a SIP communication function by exchanging call control messages with the IP network 50 according to call control such as a call in the softphone 21 and an HTTP communication function for exchanging presence information. Prepare.

  The external application 23 is a program that has an optional information processing function and can be additionally mounted as a function expansion of the PC 10. For example, a business management application, customer management such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and SFA (Sales Force Automation) Application software is assumed. The external application 23 also includes the cooperative AP interface 24 by integrating it with itself by a method such as dynamic linking. The cooperation AP interface 24 has a cooperation function for causing the external application 23 and the softphone 21 to cooperate with each other in cooperation with the softphone AP interface 22 of the softphone 21.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the execution of the method in the external application 23 causes the operation of the cooperative AP interface 24, and through the interprocess communication between the cooperative AP interface 24 and the softphone AP interface 22, the softphone AP interface 22. Is passed to the softphone 21 as a method notification. The issue of the event in the softphone 21 causes the operation of the softphone AP interface 22, the inter-process communication between the softphone AP interface 22 and the cooperative AP interface 24, and the event by the operation of the cooperative AP interface 24. A notification is passed to the external application 23.

  Each of the above programs 21 to 24 can be implemented, for example, as a program executed under Windows (registered trademark), which is an operating system provided by Microsoft Corporation in the United States. Of course, the software executed in the PCs 10a and 10b can be executed under other operating systems such as UNIX (registered trademark), for example, but in this embodiment, each program 21 to 24 is Windows (registered trademark). It will be described below as being executed under the control.

  Therefore, the softphone AP interface 22 and the cooperative AP interface 24 can be realized as an API (Application Program Interface) library that is widely available as a standard specification and conforms to an ActiveX control specification provided by Microsoft Corporation. Here, ActiveX control is a software componentization technology provided by Microsoft. The implementation of the program according to the ActiveX control can be easily realized by using ATL (Active Template Library) and COM (Component Object Model).

  Here, the cooperative AP interface 24 operates in the same process as the external application 23. On the other hand, the softphone AP interface 22 operates in the same process as the softphone 21. Therefore, the cooperation between the cooperative AP interface 24 and the softphone AP interface 22 is realized by using RPC (Remote Procedure Call), which is a procedure for executing processing on different machines on the network, also provided by Microsoft. obtain.

  With the above software configuration, the external application 23 can perform data communication only by using the cooperative AP interface. Normally, in order for an application to perform data communication, a communication function must be configured inside the application. In the software configuration described above, since the softphone 21 performs the data communication function of the external application 23, the external application 23 can use the IP network 50 more easily.

  In addition, on the premise of a platform on which an operating system other than Windows (registered trademark) operates, by using another appropriate system program that enables interprocess communication, the process of the external application 23 and the process of the softphone 21 It is also possible to enable coordination between the two.

  FIG. 3 shows a processing procedure performed in cooperation between the external application program and the softphone application program. The processing procedure shown in this figure will be described with reference to the components shown in FIGS. Here, a sequence for simultaneously transmitting application data at the time of calling is shown. The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to such a transmission sequence form, but also includes a form in which application data is transmitted or received in response to an outgoing call or incoming call.

  First, it is assumed that the user of the PC 10a makes a call by designating a telephone number and application data (step S1). For example, the calling process is started when the user inputs parameters for designating the telephone number of the PC 10b as the communication partner and the application data to be subjected to data communication to the external application 23. The parameter input designating the telephone number and application data constitutes a data communication request in the present invention.

  For example, when the external application is customer management software, the application data is assumed to be the customer number of the customer corresponding to the telephone number. Of course, it can be various information according to the function of the external application.

  Next, in response to this call, the external application 23b of the PC 10a specifies the telephone number and application data of the PC 10b and executes the SendDataSet method (step S2). The execution of the method is notified to the softphone 21 a via interprocess communication by the cooperative AP interface 24 and the softphone AP interface 22. In response to this notification, the softphone 21a transmits the telephone number of the PC 10b to the SIP application server 40 (step S3).

  In response to the transmission of the telephone number, the SIP application server 40 determines the IP address of the PC 10b corresponding to the telephone number and returns the IP address to the softphone 21 (step S4). Thereby, the softphone 21a of the PC 10a can acquire the IP address of the PC 10b. As described above, the external application 23a designates a telephone number when designating a communication partner. Usually, the IP address of the other party's PC is managed by the SIP application server 40. Thereby, even if the IP address of the other party's PC is changed, it is possible to always perform data communication with the same other party's PC by designating the telephone number.

  Next, the soft phone 21a of the PC 10a performs RPC connection to the PC 10b based on the acquired IP address of the PC 10b, and transmits application data at the time of the previous call toward the IP address of the PC 10b ( Step S5). The application data is received by the soft phone 21b of the PC 10b and temporarily held.

  Next, the external application 23a of the PC 10a executes the CALL method (step S6). The execution of the method is notified to the softphone 21 a via interprocess communication by the cooperative AP interface 24 and the softphone AP interface 22. In response to this notification, the softphone 21a transmits an INVITE command to the SIP server 30 as a call signal for the PC 10b (step S7).

  The SIP server 30 that has received this INVITE command transmits an INVITE command as a call signal to the softphone 21b of the PC 10b (step S8). The softphone 21b detects an incoming call based on this INVITE command, issues an OnRecvCa11 event, and transmits the OnRecvCa11 event via inter-process communication by the cooperative AP interface 24 and the softphone AP interface 22 provided in the PC 10b. The issue is notified to the external application 23b (step S9). At this time, the application data once held as a result of the transmission in step S5 described above is simultaneously transferred to the external application 23b as a parameter of the incoming call (OnRecvCa11) event (step S10).

  Then, a call is started between the softphone 21a and the softphone 21b (step S11). Thereby, each user of the softphone 21a and the softphone 21b can make a call on the premise of exchanging the previous application data.

  4 and 5 show an example of a program in the external application on the calling side and the called side. In the calling side program shown in FIG. 4, a DataSet object is generated and a value is set in the DataSet. Here, as an example, “1111” is set in “customer number”, “inquiry about failure” is set in “business”, and “5” is set in “importance”. Next, the Call method is called by specifying the destination and DataSet. Here, as an example, a call is made to extension “7654” and oDataSet is specified as application data. In the program on the called side shown in FIG. 5, OnRecvCall is executed as a function for receiving an incoming event, and then a loop is performed for the number of data in order to display the contents of the DataSet object. Here, as an example, the “name” and “value” of the data are displayed.

  In the above embodiment, the external application can specify a telephone number and application data when starting a call. The external application on the called side acquires this application data by the incoming call event. Thus, the outgoing call and the data communication are associated with each other, and the necessary data communication can be performed at the outgoing call timing. For example, even when an external application such as a net meeting or a messenger is installed, it is possible to make a call and transmit arbitrary data.

  As is clear from the above embodiments, a configuration for performing data communication unique to an external application is provided by applying the communication terminal and the communication program according to the present invention. As a result, the softphone becomes the basis for communication of the external application. In addition to the call control, the applications of each of the two opposing communication terminals can perform data communication. It becomes possible to cooperate with communication more closely.

  The communication terminal according to the present invention can be not only a normal personal computer but also various communication terminals having a softphone function such as a PDA. By applying the communication terminal and the communication program according to the present invention, the external application can transmit and receive not only the call source telephone number and the terminal type such as an external line or extension, but also any data. Information that is not directly related to the telephone, such as various customer information, can also be transmitted.

  Therefore, the application range of the external application is wide. For example, if it is an external application for customer management such as CRM or SFA, the telephone operation and customer management can be linked, and more detailed customer management and simpler Advanced functions can be realized with simple operations.

It is an Example of this invention and is a block diagram which shows the whole structure containing the communication terminal and communication program by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the application program group shown by FIG. It is a sequence diagram which shows the process sequence which an external application program and a softphone application program perform in cooperation. It is a figure which shows the example of the program of the calling side. It is a figure which shows the example of the program by the side of an incoming call.

Explanation of symbols

10, 10a, 10b Personal computer (PC)
20, 20a, 20b Application group 21, 21a, 21b Softphone application program (softphone)
22, 22a, 22b Softphone AP interface 23, 23a, 23b External application program (external application)
24, 24a, 24b Cooperation AP interface 30 SIP server 40 SIP application server 50 IP network

Claims (3)

A communication terminal including a softphone unit that performs a telephone function via a VoIP network,
An external application section;
An interface unit that receives a data communication request from the external application unit and transfers the received data communication request to the softphone unit;
The softphone part is
Communication path setting means for supplying a call control message to the VoIP network in response to the transferred data communication request and setting a data communication path via the VoIP network with a destination of the data communication request; ,
Data communication means for performing data communication corresponding to the data communication request via the data communication path;
A communication terminal comprising:   The communication path setting means supplies a call control message including the telephone number of the called party to the VoIP network, and determines an IP address included in a response message from the VoIP network as the IP address of the called party The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the data communication path is set. A communication program including a softphone program for realizing a telephone communication function via a VoIP network on a computer,
An external application program,
An interface program for receiving a data communication request from the external application program process and transferring the received data communication request to the softphone program process;
The softphone program is
Communication path setting for supplying a call control message to the VoIP network according to the transferred data communication request and setting a data communication path with the called party corresponding to the data communication request via the VoIP network Procedure and
A data communication procedure for performing data communication corresponding to the data communication request via the data communication path;
A communication program characterized in that a process for executing is executed.

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