JP2012039208A - Electronic apparatus life-and-death monitoring system, electronic apparatus life-and-death monitoring method, and electronic apparatus life-and-death monitoring program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic apparatus life-and death monitoring system capable of determining a life-and-death state of each electronic apparatus in a remote location at an early stage and suppressing occurrence of a communication charge.SOLUTION: A mobile phone 140 of an example of a communication terminal operated by a maintenance person makes a call to a PHS communication device 120 of an electronic apparatus 100 of which life-and-death state is monitored (Seq1). The PHS communication device 120 having the originating call arrival transfers an incoming call notification command including a caller number of the originating call mobile phone 140 to the electronic apparatus 100 (Seq6); and transmits a ringing state signal to the originating call mobile phone 140 to make it generate a ringback tone (Seq7, 8, and 9). The electronic apparatus 100 receiving the incoming call notification command transmits a disconnection request command to the PHS communication device 120, when acknowledgment time set as a time value showing normal operation has passed (Seq11); and makes the originating call mobile phone 140 transmit the disconnection request command and stop the ringing ringback tone (Seq12, 13, and 14).

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device alive monitoring system, an electronic device alive monitoring method, and an electronic device alive monitoring program. Here, the electronic device which is a component of the electronic device alive monitoring system and whose alive state is to be monitored includes, for example, a POS device, a vending machine, a security monitoring device, a facility monitoring device, and the like. Is a device having a function of serially connecting to a communication device such as a PHS communication device and a FOMA communication device, etc., and each electronic device is dispersed through a public network, although it is scattered in a remote place. The present invention can be suitably applied to devices that require state monitoring.

  In recent years, various electronic devices scattered in remote places such as POS equipment, vending machines, security monitoring devices, equipment monitoring devices, and the like are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-149114, “Vending Machines and Automatics”. The security method of the vending machine "and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-46289" Elevator Control Device and Control Method, and Upgrade Method of Existing Elevator "of Patent Document 2 are provided via a public network so that remote monitoring is possible. Communication functions that can communicate with each other have been added.

  By using a communication terminal for a mobile phone, for example, a maintenance person of the device management center transmits the electronic device disposed in various places on the remote side via the public network and monitors the response, Whether or not the electronic device is operating normally without encountering an abnormality is monitored.

  For example, when a PHS communication device conforming to a communication standard for PHS (Personal Handy-Phone System) is serially connected to the electronic device as a communication function to be given to the electronic device, a maintenance person of the electronic device can use a PHS terminal or mobile phone. Is it possible to perform a call operation to a PHS communication device serially connected to the electronic device using a communication terminal such as a telephone and receive a response from the electronic device within a predetermined time? By checking whether or not, the health check of the electronic device is performed.

JP 2000-149114 A (page 3-4) JP 2009-46289 A (page 8-10)

  As described above, in a current electronic device having a communication function, for example, a current electronic device serially connected to a PHS communication device, the electronic device is checked when the life status of the electronic device is confirmed. Whether or not the maintenance person can perform a call operation on the PHS communication device serially connected to the electronic device using a communication terminal such as a mobile phone and can receive a response from the electronic device. In addition to checking, if a response cannot be received, it is necessary to identify whether the electronic device is abnormal or the PHS communication device is abnormal. Therefore, there is a problem that it takes labor and time for the maintenance person to check the life and death state of the electronic device, and a communication fee for the public network is generated.

(Object of the present invention)
The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and enables early determination of the life and death state of each electronic device scattered in a remote place via a public network, and the communication fee. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device alive monitoring system, an electronic device alive monitoring method, and an electronic device alive monitoring program having a mechanism capable of suppressing the occurrence.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an electronic device alive monitoring system, an electronic device alive monitoring method, and an electronic device alive monitoring program according to the present invention mainly adopt the following characteristic configuration.

  (1) An electronic device alive monitoring system according to the present invention includes an electronic device connected to a communication device that performs communication via a public network, and a communication terminal operated by a maintenance person who maintains the electronic device. In the electronic device alive monitoring system that monitors the alive state of the electronic device connected to the communication device by operating the terminal and connecting to the communication device via the public network, the communication terminal of the maintenance person is The communication device that transmits to the communication device to which the electronic device that is the alive monitoring destination is connected via the public network and receives an incoming call from the communication terminal via the public network is the electronic device Forwards the incoming call notification command including the caller ID of the communication terminal to the electronic device and issues a ringing signal indicating that the incoming call notification command has been transmitted to the electronic device. The electronic device transmitted to the communication terminal of the original maintenance person via the public network and receiving the incoming notification command is a time value for indicating that the electronic device is operating normally. When a predetermined confirmation time elapses, the communication device transmits a disconnection request command for requesting disconnection to the communication device, and the communication device that has received the disconnection request command transmits the source device via the public network. A disconnection signal is transmitted to the communication terminal of the maintenance person.

  (2) An electronic device alive monitoring method according to the present invention includes an electronic device connected to a communication device that performs communication via a public network, and a communication terminal operated by a maintenance person who maintains the electronic device. An electronic device alive monitoring method for monitoring the alive state of the electronic device connected to the communication device by operating a terminal and connecting to the communication device via the public network, the maintenance person's communication The terminal transmits via the public network to the communication device connected to the electronic device that is the life and death monitoring destination, and the communication device that receives an incoming call from the communication terminal via the public network An incoming call notification command including the caller ID of the communication terminal is transferred to the electronic device, and a calling signal indicating that the incoming call notification command has been transmitted to the electronic device is transmitted to the electronic device. The electronic device transmitted to the communication terminal of the tenant via the public network and receiving the incoming notification command is predetermined as a time value for indicating that the electronic device is operating normally. When the confirmation time elapses, the communication device transmits a disconnection request command requesting disconnection to the communication device, and the communication device that has received the disconnection request command transmits the maintenance operator via the public network. A disconnection signal is transmitted to the communication terminal.

(3) An electronic device alive monitoring program according to the present invention includes an electronic device connected to a communication device that performs communication via a public network, and a communication terminal operated by a maintenance person who maintains the electronic device. An electronic device alive monitoring method for monitoring the alive state of the electronic device connected to the communication device by operating a terminal and connecting to the communication device via the public network is implemented as a program executable by a computer An electronic device alive monitoring program in the communication terminal, wherein the communication terminal of the maintenance person transmits the communication device to which the alive monitoring destination electronic device is connected via the public network, and When a ringing signal indicating that an incoming notification command has been transmitted to the electronic device is received from the communication device via the network, Then, when a disconnection signal is received from the communication device via the public network, the ringback tone that was ringing first is stopped and transmitted to the communication device. The outgoing call is terminated.
(4) An electronic device alive monitoring program according to the present invention includes an electronic device connected to a communication device that performs communication via a public network, and a communication terminal operated by a maintenance person who maintains the electronic device. An electronic device alive monitoring method for monitoring the alive state of the electronic device connected to the communication device by operating a terminal and connecting to the communication device via the public network is implemented as a program executable by a computer The electronic device alive monitoring program for the electronic device, wherein the electronic device registers in advance the telephone number / subaddress of the communication terminal of a maintenance person who maintains the electronic device as registered sender information, Caller information included in the incoming call notification command when the incoming call notification command is received from the communication device When matching with the registered sender information registered in advance, when a predetermined confirmation time has passed as a time value to indicate that the electronic device is operating normally The disconnection request command is transmitted to the communication device.

  According to the electronic device alive monitoring system, electronic device alive monitoring method, and electronic device alive monitoring program of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

  First, it is possible to detect an abnormality of the life / death monitoring destination electronic device at an early stage. The reason is that the maintenance device operates the communication terminal such as a mobile phone, calls the electronic device, and monitors the time until the ringback tone stops, and the life / death monitoring destination electronic device is installed. This is because it is possible to confirm the presence / absence of an electronic device from a remote location via a public network without going to the site.

  Secondly, it is possible to easily determine whether an abnormality is in the life / death monitoring destination electronic device or a communication device such as a PHS communication device serially connected to the electronic device. The reason is that the type and sequence of signals returned to the communication terminal such as the mobile phone of the caller maintenance person differ depending on whether the electronic device is abnormal or the communication device is abnormal.

1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of an electronic device alive monitoring system according to the present invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the signal sequence between the electronic device and a mobile telephone in the electronic device alive monitoring system of FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation in the mobile phone of the electronic device alive monitoring system of FIG. 1. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation when an incoming call is received from a mobile phone in the electronic device of the electronic device alive monitoring system of FIG. 1.

  Preferred embodiments of an electronic device alive monitoring system, electronic device alive monitoring method, and electronic device alive monitoring program according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, an electronic device alive monitoring system and an electronic device alive monitoring method according to the present invention will be described. However, the electronic device alive monitoring method is implemented as an electronic device alive monitoring program executable by a computer. It goes without saying that the electronic device alive monitoring program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.

(Features of the present invention)
A communication fee is charged via the public network for electronic devices that can be serially connected to communication devices such as PHS (Personal Handy-Phone System) communication devices and FOMA (Freedom Of Mobile multimedia Access: registered trademark) communication devices. The main feature is that it is possible to quickly detect the occurrence of an abnormality by monitoring the life and death state of the electronic device without causing the failure.

  That is, a maintenance person who maintains electronic devices scattered in remote places uses a communication terminal such as a mobile phone, and the PHS communication device or FOMA communication serially connected to the electronic device to be monitored for life and death via a public network Calls to a communication device such as a device. The electronic device that receives the outgoing call, that is, the alive monitoring destination, is contracted with a caller ID notification service, and a communication device such as a PHS communication device or a FOMA communication device that has received the incoming call Incoming call notification including caller ID notified as a call is forwarded to the serially connected electronic device, and the incoming call notification is sent to the alive monitoring destination electronic device to the communication terminal such as the mobile phone of the caller. Returns a ringing signal indicating that the call has been transferred.

  A communication terminal such as a mobile phone that has received the ringing signal is ringing a ringback tone (eg, 1 second on, 2 seconds off), and is calling the electronic device to be monitored. Inform the maintenance person to that effect. On the other hand, the electronic device that has received the incoming notification determines whether or not it is an “incoming notification for alive monitoring” from the communication terminal of the maintenance person based on the caller number included in the incoming notification. When it is determined that a notification is received from the communication terminal of the maintenance person, and when the electronic device is operating normally, a point in time when a predetermined confirmation time has passed as an elapsed time value indicating that the electronic device is operating normally Then, a disconnection request for disconnecting the incoming call is returned to a communication device such as a PHS communication device or a FOMA communication device.

  A communication measure such as a PHS communication apparatus or a FOMA communication apparatus that has received a disconnection request from a serially connected electronic device transmits a disconnection signal to a communication terminal such as a mobile phone of a maintenance person who is a transmission source. The communication terminal such as the mobile phone of the transmission source that has received the disconnect signal stops the ringback tone that has been ringing until now, and the communication fee is charged for the transmission operation to the electronic device of the transmission destination, that is, the electronic device of the alive monitoring destination. The call is terminated as an incomplete call that cannot be placed. The maintenance person who operated the communication terminal such as the mobile phone of the caller automatically stopped the ringback tone when the confirmation time set in advance as the elapsed time value indicating normal operation has passed. By confirming this, it is determined that the destination electronic device, that is, the alive monitoring destination electronic device is operating normally.

  In this way, the alive monitoring destination electronic device automatically returns a disconnection signal via the communication device when a predetermined confirmation time elapses with respect to the incoming call for alive monitoring, and the maintenance person Normality of the life-and-death monitoring destination electronic device by automatically checking whether or not a disconnection signal is returned and stopping the ringback tone that is ringing at the communication terminal such as the mobile phone being operated. Can be identified. Therefore, the labor of the maintenance person is not required, and the electronic device is serially connected to the life and death monitoring from the communication terminal such as the mobile phone of the transmission source to the life and death monitoring destination electronic device. Since only a disconnection request is made to the communication device such as a PHS communication device or a FOMA communication device after the confirmation time has elapsed, no response request is made, so there is no communication cost for the public network.

  As described above, a communication device such as a PHS communication device and a FOMA communication device is serially connected to the life and death monitoring destination electronic device as a communication function for performing communication via the public network. When an incoming call from a communication terminal such as a telephone is received and the communication device such as the PHS communication device or the FOMA communication device is not operating normally, the transfer operation of the incoming notification to the electronic device as described above Since the ringing tone is not transmitted to the communication terminal such as the mobile phone or the caller's communication terminal, the maintenance person does not ring the ring back tone indefinitely, or the busy tone sounds instead of the ring back tone. By doing so, it is possible to recognize an abnormality in a communication device such as a PHS communication device or a FOMA communication device.

  In addition, the confirmation time indicating that the disconnection signal is normal from the electronic device via the communication device such as the PHS communication device or the FOMA communication device to the communication terminal such as the mobile phone of the maintenance person who is the transmission source. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a different specific time value corresponding to the operating state of the electronic device may be set as appropriate within a range of the recognition time as a predetermined time. If a certain period of time such as this is set as the timing for transmitting the disconnection time according to the operation state of the electronic device, the sender maintenance person can respond to the passage of the disconnection signal, that is, the ringback. According to the duration of the tone, it is possible to grasp the current operating state of the life / death monitoring destination electronic device.

  In addition, within a predetermined measurement time (for example, within 1 minute) as a time for measuring the life and death state, an attempt is made to grasp the life and death monitoring electronic device from a communication terminal such as a cellular phone of the maintenance person. Depending on the number of types of operating states of the electronic device, the transmission may be performed a plurality of times. In such a case, the electronic device side, after the elapse of a predetermined time as a timing indicating the current operation state regarding the type of operation state defined in accordance with the number of incoming calls from the communication terminal such as the maintenance person's mobile phone A disconnect request may be transmitted. In addition, when performing notification operation of multiple types of operation state information according to the number of incoming calls, the electronic device receives an incoming call from a communication terminal such as a cellular phone of the maintenance person for a predetermined threshold time. If not, it is only necessary to clear the number of incoming calls counted so far.

  As an example having a plurality of types of operation states, for example, in the case where the electronic device is a security monitoring device that monitors the state of the device or in the home, two types of status information of “security state” and “mode setting state” Is to be understood as information indicating a detailed operation state, for example, the following operation may be performed. The first incoming call to the electronic device is an incoming call operation for confirming the “security state” as the first operation state type of the electronic device, and the electronic device is in the “guarding” state. In some cases, when operating normally, for example, after 10 seconds have passed as a predetermined time, a disconnection signal is transmitted from the electronic device to the communication terminal of the transmission source via the communication device. When the device is in the state of “unlocking security” and is operating normally, for example, after 20 seconds have passed as a predetermined time, a disconnection signal is transmitted to the communication terminal of the transmission source, etc. ..., the timing for transmitting a disconnection signal to the communication terminal of the transmission source is changed according to the security state.

  The second incoming call to the electronic device is an incoming operation for confirming the “mode setting state” as the second operation state type of the electronic device, and the electronic device is “1 (noon)”. ”Mode state, and when it is operating normally, for example, after 10 seconds have passed as a predetermined time, the electronic device communicates with the source communication terminal via the communication device. When the disconnection signal is transmitted and the electronic device is set to the “2 (night)” mode state and is operating normally, the disconnection is performed after elapse of, for example, 20 seconds as a predetermined time. The timing for transmitting the disconnect signal is changed according to the mode setting state, and so on.

  In addition, it is not necessary to grasp the multiple states of the life / death monitoring destination electronic device, and if it is only necessary to check whether the life / death monitoring destination electronic device is operating normally, for example, the first incoming call As described above, the confirmation time previously defined as an elapsed time indicating normal operation, for example, 30 seconds (10 seconds in the case of a ringback tone of 1 second on, 2 seconds off intermittent tone) When the elapse time) elapses, a disconnection signal may be transmitted to the source communication terminal, and the maintenance person operating the source communication terminal continues for the confirmation time, for example, for 30 seconds. By confirming that the ringback tone has been automatically stopped after the ringback tone has sounded, it is possible to grasp that the electronic device of the life monitoring target is operating normally.

(Configuration of the embodiment)
Next, an example of the configuration of the embodiment of the electronic device alive monitoring system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of an electronic device alive monitoring system according to the present invention, and PHS (Personal Handy-Phone System) communication is performed as a communication device provided in an alive monitoring destination electronic device. The case where the communication apparatus is serially connected to the electronic device is shown as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the electronic device alive monitoring system, the PHS communication device 120 is connected to the alive monitoring destination electronic device 100 via the serial cable 110, and the maintenance person 150 passes through the public network 130. It has a system configuration capable of communicating with a mobile phone 140 which is a communication terminal to be operated.

  Here, the PHS communication device 120 connected to the electronic device 100 via the serial cable 110 has a communication function for performing PHS communication using the public network 130, and the mobile phone 140 connected to the public network 130 You can communicate and talk between the two. The operation of the PHS communication device 120 is controlled by an AT command (control command system for a terminal device) from the electronic device 100 transmitted via the serial cable 110.

  The maintenance person 150 is a person who monitors and maintains the life and death state of the electronic device 100, and communicates with the electronic device 100 through the public network 130 using the cellular phone 140 that the user maintains. The alive state of the electronic device 100 can be confirmed.

  FIG. 1 shows a case where the maintenance person 150 communicates with the electronic device 100 using the mobile phone 140, but is not limited to the mobile phone 140, and may be a PHS terminal or a PDA. (Personal Digital Assistants: portable information terminals) or a fixed telephone, and can communicate with the PHS communication device 120 serially connected to the electronic device 100 via the public network 130. Any communication terminal may be used as long as it is a communication terminal.

  Further, FIG. 1 shows only one electronic device 100 as a life and death monitoring destination, but it may be composed of a plurality of electronic devices, and there are a plurality of maintenance personnel 150 instead of one. It does not matter.

(Description of operation of embodiment)
Next, an example of the operation of the electronic device alive monitoring system shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. 2 and the flowcharts of FIGS. Here, FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a signal sequence between the electronic device 100 and the mobile phone 140 in the electronic device alive monitoring system of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an electronic device alive monitoring system of FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the mobile phone 140 of FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation at the time of an incoming call from the mobile phone 140 in the electronic device 100 of the electronic device alive monitoring system of FIG.

  First, in the electronic device alive monitoring system of FIG. 1, in order to confirm the state of the alive monitoring destination electronic device 100 from the mobile phone 140 possessed by the maintenance person 150, the electronic device alive monitoring system of FIG. An example of a signal transmission / reception sequence when a signal is transmitted via the public network 130 to the PHS communication device 120 serially connected to the device 100 will be described.

  In FIG. 2, first, when a transmission signal destined for the PHS communication device 120 of the electronic device 100 that is the alive monitoring destination is transmitted from the mobile phone 140 to the public network 130 (sequence Seq1), the public network 130 And the incoming signal is transmitted to the destination PHS communication device 120 (sequence Seq2). The PHS communication device 120 that has received the incoming call signal returns an incoming call response signal to the public network 130 and requests transfer of the caller ID (sequence Seq3).

  The public network 130 confirms that the PHS communication device 120 is a communication device with which the caller ID notification service is contracted, and sends a call setting signal including the telephone number / subaddress of the mobile phone 140 as the PHS communication device. 120 (sequence Seq4). The PHS communication apparatus 120 that has received the call setting signal returns a call setting acceptance signal indicating that the call setting signal has been received to the public network 130 (sequence Seq5), and the mobile phone that is the caller to the electronic device 100 An incoming call notification command including 140 telephone numbers and subaddresses is transferred (sequence Seq6).

  Further, PHS communication apparatus 120 transmits to public network 130 a signal that notifies the caller that the electronic device 100 has received an incoming call, that is, a calling signal that indicates a transition to a calling state (sequence Seq7). ). The public network 130 that has received the calling signal indicates that the calling PHS communication device 120 (that is, the alive monitoring destination electronic device 100) is being called to the calling mobile phone 140. Back tone) is transmitted (sequence Seq8). As a result, the mobile phone 140 outputs a ring back tone (for example, 1 second on, 2 seconds off intermittent sound), and the maintenance person 150 shifts to the state where the electronic device 100 subject to alive monitoring is ringing. (Sequence Seq9).

  On the other hand, the electronic device 100 that has received the incoming call notification from the PHS communication device 120 receives the telephone number / subaddress included in the incoming call notification as the registered caller information in advance as the telephone number of the mobile phone 140 of the maintenance person 150. By checking with the sub address, it is determined whether the incoming call is from the mobile phone 140 operated by the maintenance person 150 who performs maintenance of the electronic device 100. As a determination result, when the incoming notification is an incoming call from the mobile phone 140 of the maintenance person 150, the electronic device 100 has passed a predetermined confirmation time (that is, a disconnection request time) after receiving the incoming notification. When the time is reached, a disconnection request command is transmitted to the PHS communication device 120 (sequence Seq10, 11). The confirmation time is a predetermined time as an elapsed time value after receiving an incoming call notification to indicate that the mobile phone is operating normally. If the ringback tone of the intermittent sound that is off for 2 seconds is sounded, the disconnection signal from the PHS communication device 120 is transmitted to the mobile phone 140 at the time when the ringback tone is sounded ten times continuously, The back tone is automatically stopped.

  Here, in the electronic device alive monitoring system, not only the alive state of the alive monitoring destination electronic device 100 but also the operating state when the device is operating normally is notified to the maintenance person 150. Is also possible. In other words, the operating state of the electronic device 100 (for example, if the electronic device 100 is a monitoring device, is it in a monitoring state, or is in a monitoring cancellation state that is not being monitored, etc.)? It is possible to notify the maintenance person 150 of the status information shown. When returning the status information of the electronic device 100 to the maintenance person 150 like this, a predetermined time defined within the range of the confirmation time is set to a different time determined in advance according to the current operating state of the electronic device 100. Define as a value. For example, when the electronic device 100 is a monitoring device, when the electronic device 100 is operating normally in a monitoring state, the predetermined time is defined as, for example, 10 seconds, and the normal operation is performed in a state in which the monitoring is canceled. If it is, the predetermined time is defined as 20 seconds, for example.

  Further, when there are a plurality of types of operation states as the state information of the electronic device 100 to be notified to the maintenance person 150, within a predetermined measurement time (for example, within one minute from the first transmission). In addition, a plurality of transmissions may be made to the electronic device 100 according to the number of types of state information to be grasped. That is, the electronic device 100 determines the status information to be notified to the maintenance person 150 according to the number of the incoming call notification command from the mobile phone 140 of the maintenance person 150 in the measurement time. Time for indicating the operation state in the type of status information corresponding to the number of incoming calls as the predetermined time (elapsed time) from receiving the incoming call notification to sending the disconnection request after setting the type. Predefine the value.

  For example, when the electronic device 100 is a monitoring device, status information indicating the current monitoring status (monitoring, monitoring canceled, etc.) of the electronic device 100 at the first (first) incoming call within the measurement time If the current operation state is in the monitoring state, a disconnection request is transmitted after 10 seconds as the predetermined time, and if the current operation state is in the monitoring release state, the predetermined time is 20 seconds, for example. Send a disconnect request later. Further, when the second incoming call within the measurement time, mode setting information currently set in the electronic device 100, for example, day / night information (day time zone, night time zone, etc.) is transmitted, If the daytime zone is set as the mode setting information, the disconnection request is transmitted after 10 seconds as the fixed time, and if the night time zone is set, the fixed time is set. For example, a disconnection request is transmitted after 20 seconds. The same applies to the third and subsequent incoming calls depending on the number of types of status information to be notified. In the above example, the same time value (10 seconds, 20 seconds) is used between different types of state information as the constant time value. However, depending on the type of state information, Different time values may be used.

  The PHS communication apparatus 120 that has received the disconnection request command from the electronic device 100 transmits a disconnection signal to the public network 130 (sequence Seq12). Receiving the disconnection signal, public network 130 transmits the disconnection signal to mobile phone 140 that is the transmission source (sequence Seq13). As a result, the ringback tone output from mobile phone 140 to maintenance person 150 is stopped (sequence Seq14). Therefore, the maintenance person 150 can grasp the life and death state and detailed operation state of the life and death monitoring destination electronic device 100 based on whether or not the ringback tone is stopped. In other words, when the maintenance person 150 automatically stops the ringback tone when the predetermined confirmation time (that is, the disconnection request time) has elapsed, the electronic device 100 to be monitored is operating normally. On the other hand, if the ringback tone is sounding even after the confirmation time has elapsed, it is determined that the electronic device 100 to be monitored is in an abnormal state that is not operating. be able to. Furthermore, even in a state where the life / death monitoring destination electronic device 100 is operating normally, as described above, when a certain time defined as the time value within the range of the confirmation time has elapsed, the electronic device 100 It is also possible to transmit a disconnection signal for indicating the state information, and by recognizing the duration during which the ringback tone was ringing, a detailed operation state indicating in what state the electronic device 100 is operating It is also possible to grasp.

  Next, an example of the operation of the mobile phone 140 operated by the maintenance person 150 who manages the life / death monitoring destination electronic device 100 in the electronic device life / death monitoring system of FIG. 1 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. To do.

  First, the maintenance person 150 operates the mobile phone 140 to input the telephone number / subaddress of the PHS communication device 120 to which the electronic device 100 to be monitored is serially connected, and sends a transmission signal to the PHS communication device 120. It transmits to the public network 130 (step S01). The public network 130 that has received the outgoing signal from the source mobile phone 140 is in a state where the PHS communication device 120 that is the destination of the outgoing signal cannot receive the incoming signal, such as in use. And whether the communication path to the PHS communication device 120 is busy or not, and if the incoming signal cannot be transmitted to the PHS communication device 120 Then, a busy signal is returned to the mobile phone 140 as the caller. Therefore, when the mobile phone 140 that has transmitted the outgoing signal receives a busy signal from the public network 130 (YES in step S02), it is assumed that the alive check operation of the electronic device 100 to be monitored has failed (step S10). The immediate confirmation operation is terminated.

  On the other hand, when mobile phone 140 does not receive a busy signal from public network 130 (NO in step S02), PHS communication device 120 that has received an incoming signal from public network 130 then passes through public network 130. Then, it is confirmed whether or not the calling signal has been received (step S03). If the calling signal has not been received (NO in step S03), the process returns to step S02, and the operation of confirming whether the busy signal has been received from the public network 130 is performed again.

  When a ringing signal is received from the public network 130 (YES in step S03), a ringback tone (eg, 1 second on, 2 seconds off intermittent sound) is sounded based on the received ringing signal for maintenance. The measurement timer for measuring the time until the disconnection signal is transmitted from the PHS communication device 120 that is the transmission source of the calling signal is started (step S04). In such a case, as described in the sequence diagram of FIG. 2, the public network 130 is normally transmitting the incoming signal to the destination PHS communication device 120 of the outgoing signal from the mobile phone 140, In addition, the PHS communication device 120 that has received the incoming signal from the public network 130 is in a state where the incoming notification command is transferred to the serially connected electronic device 100.

  Thereafter, the cellular phone 140 checks whether or not the activated measurement timer has passed a predetermined time as the confirmation time Y for determining the alive state of the monitored electronic device 100 (step S05). Here, the confirmation time Y is a time indicated as “confirmation time” in the sequence diagram in FIG. 2, and is a time indicating that the life / death monitoring destination electronic device 100 is operating normally, When the life-and-death monitoring destination electronic device 100 is operating normally, a disconnection request is sent to the serially connected PHS communication device 120 when a time corresponding to the confirmation time has elapsed after receiving the incoming call notification command. Send a command. Therefore, the confirmation time is also a monitoring time for monitoring the arrival of a disconnection signal transmitted from the PHS communication device 120 via the public network 130 on the mobile phone 140 side. In other words, on the mobile phone 140 side, if the disconnection signal is received after the confirmation signal Y elapses after the ringing signal is received, the alive monitoring destination electronic device 100 is operating normally. On the other hand, if the disconnection signal cannot be received even after the confirmation time Y has elapsed after receiving the ringing signal, the life / death monitoring destination electronic device 100 is not operating. Judge that it is in a state.

  If the activated measurement timer has passed the predetermined confirmation time Y without receiving the disconnection signal from the PHS communication device 120 (YES in step S05), the incoming operation to the electronic device 100 is normal. Although the PHS communication device 120 that has returned to the calling signal after being executed in the normal state was in a normal state, the life monitoring target electronic device 100 to which the PHS communication device 120 is serially connected is in an abnormal state in which it is not operating. It is determined that the electronic device 100 is present, and the electronic device 100 is repaired and adjusted (step S09).

  Next, when the activated measurement timer has not passed the predetermined confirmation time Y (NO in step S05), a response signal is first transmitted from the PHS communication device 120 via the public network 130. It is confirmed whether or not (step S06). This is because, if a response signal that is not necessary for the life and death confirmation of the electronic device 100 is erroneously transmitted to the public network 130, it shifts to a billing state, and therefore the communication cost for the life and death confirmation operation is reduced as much as possible. It is a measure for. When a response signal is transmitted from the PHS communication device 120 (YES in step S06), it is determined that the operation of the electronic device 100 is abnormal, and repair / adjustment of the electronic device 100 is performed ( Step S09).

  On the other hand, if a response signal has not been transmitted from the PHS communication device 120 (NO in step S06), it is next checked whether a disconnect signal has been transmitted from the PHS communication device 120 via the public network 130. (Step S07). If a disconnection signal has not been transmitted from the PHS communication device 120 (NO in step S07), the process returns to step S05 and repeats the operation of confirming whether the confirmation time Y has elapsed after receiving the ringing signal. . When a signal other than the response signal and the disconnect signal is received from the public network 130, the time monitoring operation is continued by ignoring any such signal.

  When a disconnection signal is transmitted from the PHS communication device 120 (YES in step S07), it is determined that the alive monitoring destination electronic device 100 is also operating normally together with the PHS communication device 120 (step S08).

  Here, when the maintenance person 150 intends to confirm the case where the life and death monitoring destination electronic device 100 is operating normally, including the one or more operation states, the sequence of FIG. As described in the figure, within a predetermined measurement time (for example, one minute), the electronic device 100 is transmitted once or a plurality of times depending on the number of types of one or a plurality of state information to be confirmed. It is only necessary to check the time until the disconnection signal is transmitted in each transmission operation by repeating the operation.

  That is, in the life and death monitoring destination electronic device 100, 1 is set as a predetermined time X (time value within the range of the confirmation time Y) set in advance as the time from receiving the incoming notification command to transmitting the disconnection request command. In addition, when a time corresponding to a plurality of operation states is registered and an incoming notification command corresponding to each transmission operation within a measurement time (for example, 1 minute) is received, a certain time X corresponding to the operation state to be notified in each It is only necessary to operate so as to transmit a disconnection request command to the PHS communication device 120 at the time when only the elapses.

  Next, in the electronic device alive monitoring system of FIG. 1, an example of an operation in the alive monitoring destination electronic device 100 when receiving an incoming signal from the mobile phone 140 operated by the maintenance person 150 in the electronic device alive monitoring system of FIG. Will be described in detail. Here, it is needless to say that the electronic device 100 that performs the operation as shown in FIG. 4 is not in an abnormal state in which it cannot operate, but in a state of operating normally.

  First, when an incoming call notification command is received from the serially connected PHS communication device 120 (step S11), the telephone number / subaddress of the caller communication terminal included in the incoming call notification command is extracted, and registered caller information Whether or not the received notification command is an incoming call from the mobile phone 140 by checking with the telephone number / subaddress of the mobile phone 140 operated in advance by the maintenance person 150 who manages the electronic device 100. Is confirmed (step S12). If the telephone number / subaddress of the communication terminal included in the incoming notification command is different from the registered telephone number / subaddress of the mobile phone 140 (NO in step S12), Since it is not the case where the call is made from the cellular phone 140 of the maintenance person 150 for confirmation, processing as a normal incoming call operation is performed (step S15).

  On the other hand, when the telephone number / subaddress of the caller communication terminal included in the received incoming notification command matches the telephone number / subaddress of the registered mobile phone 140 (YES in step S12), Since the call is made from the cellular phone 140 of the maintenance person 150 for confirmation of the life and death state, a predetermined disconnection request time Z (equal to the time value of the confirmation time Y in FIG. 3) is received after receiving the incoming call notification command. ) Has passed (step S13). If the disconnection request time Z has not elapsed (NO in step S13), the confirmation operation in step S13 is repeated to wait until the disconnection request time Z has elapsed.

  When a predetermined disconnection request time Z has elapsed since the receipt of the incoming call notification command (YES in step S13), serial connection PHS communication is performed to indicate that the electronic device 100 is operating normally. A disconnection request command is transmitted to the device 120 for requesting transmission of a disconnection signal to the mobile phone 140 that is the transmission source via the public network 130 (step S14).

  Here, when the maintenance person 150 intends to confirm the case where the life and death monitoring destination electronic device 100 is operating normally, including the one or more operation states, the sequence of FIG. As described in the figure, within a predetermined measurement time (for example, 1 minute), the electronic device 100 performs a transmission operation once or a plurality of times depending on the number of one or more state information to be confirmed. Therefore, in the incoming call notification command corresponding to each outgoing operation, it is defined as a predetermined time X (a time value within the range of the disconnection request time Z in accordance with the state information corresponding to the operation state to be confirmed). It is only necessary to transmit a disconnection request command to the PHS communication device 120 at a point when only elapses.

  In the above description, the case where the PHS communication device 120 is used as a communication device serially connected to the life / death monitoring destination electronic device 100 has been described. Any type of communication device may be used as long as it can notify an incoming call notification and a disconnection request using FOMA, a FOMA communication device, a DoPa (registered trademark, Docomo Packet) communication device, and a mobile phone. It may be a mobile communication device or the like. Further, the communication terminal operated by the maintenance person 150 is not limited to the mobile phone 140 but may be a mobile terminal such as a PHS terminal, a PDA terminal, or a notebook PC, or a desktop fixed telephone, or for an ISDN network. Or a telephone for an IP network.

(Explanation of effect of embodiment)
As described in detail above, the following effects can be achieved in the present embodiment.

  First, it is possible to detect an abnormality in the life / death monitoring destination electronic device 100 at an early stage. The reason is that the maintenance person 150 operates the communication terminal such as the mobile phone 140 to call the electronic device 100 and only monitors the time until the ringback tone stops, and the life / death monitoring destination electronic device 100 is installed. This is because it is possible to confirm whether there is an abnormality in the electronic device 100 from a remote location via the public network 130 without going to the site.

  Secondly, it is possible to easily determine whether the electronic device 100 that is the alive monitoring destination is abnormal or the PHS communication device 120 serially connected to the electronic device 100 is abnormal. The reason is that the type and sequence of signals returned to the mobile phone 140 of the maintenance person 150 that is the transmission source are different between when the electronic device 100 is abnormal and when the PHS communication device 120 is abnormal.

  The configuration of the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, it should be noted that such examples are merely illustrative of the invention and do not limit the invention in any way. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that various modifications and changes can be made according to a specific application without departing from the gist of the present invention.

100 Electronic device 110 Serial cable 120 PHS communication device 130 Public network 140 Mobile phone 150 Maintenance person

Claims (10)

  An electronic device connected to a communication device that performs communication via a public network and a communication terminal operated by a maintenance person who maintains the electronic device, and operates the communication terminal to communicate the communication via the public network. In the electronic device alive monitoring system that monitors the alive state of the electronic device connected to the communication device by connecting to the device, the communication terminal of the maintenance person is connected to the electronic device that is the alive monitoring destination The communication apparatus that transmits to the communication apparatus via the public network and receives an incoming call from the communication terminal via the public network includes an incoming call including the caller number of the communication terminal to the electronic device. The notification command is transferred, and a calling signal indicating that the incoming notification command has been transmitted to the electronic device is transmitted to the communication terminal of the maintenance person who is the source. When the electronic device that has transmitted the public network and received the incoming notification command has passed a predetermined confirmation time as a time value for indicating that the electronic device is operating normally, the electronic device The communication device that transmits a disconnect request command for requesting disconnection to the communication device, and the communication device that has received the disconnect request command sends a disconnect signal to the communication terminal of the source maintenance person via the public network. An electronic device alive monitoring system characterized by transmitting.   The electronic device pre-registers the telephone number / subaddress of the communication terminal of the maintenance person who maintains the electronic device as registered caller information, and when the incoming notification command is received from the communication device, the electronic device When the caller information included in the incoming call notification command matches the registered caller information registered in advance and matches, the communication device is informed when the confirmation time has elapsed. The electronic device alive monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein a disconnection request command is transmitted.   When the communication terminal of the maintenance person receives the ringing signal from the communication device via the public network, the communication terminal sounds a ringback tone, and then disconnects from the communication device via the public network. 3. The electronic device life-and-death according to claim 1, wherein when the signal is received, the ringback tone that has been ringing first is stopped, and the outgoing call sent to the communication device is terminated. Monitoring system.   The electronic device prepares a plurality of predetermined times as time values indicating the respective operation states of the electronic device, and receives the incoming notification command from the communication device. Instead of transmitting the disconnection request command when the confirmation time has elapsed, when the predetermined time indicating the current operation state of the electronic device among the plurality of operation states of the electronic device has elapsed. The communication device transmits the disconnection request command to the communication device, and the communication device that has received the disconnection request command transmits a disconnection signal to the communication terminal of the maintenance person who is the sender via the public network. The electronic device alive monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device alive monitoring system is provided.   When there are a plurality of types of state information as the state information of the electronic device to be notified to the maintenance person, the plurality of operations of the electronic device for each of the state information types as the certain time A time value indicating each of the states is determined in advance for each type of the state information, and the communication terminal of the source maintenance person is determined in advance as a time range for measuring the life and death state of the electronic device that is the life and death monitoring destination. Within the measurement time, for the communication device to which the electronic device of life and death monitoring destination is connected, repeat the transmission operation for the number of times according to the number of types of state information of the electronic device to be notified, Each time the electronic device receives the incoming notification command from the communication device, the electronic device is based on the number of incoming calls of the incoming notification command within the measurement range. Identifying the type of state information of the electronic device to be notified to the maintenance person, and when the predetermined time has elapsed indicating the current operation state of the electronic device related to the identified type of the operation state, The communication apparatus that transmits the disconnection request command to the communication terminal transmits a disconnection signal to the communication terminal of the source maintenance person via the public network. The electronic device alive monitoring system according to claim 4.   An electronic device connected to a communication device that performs communication via a public network and a communication terminal operated by a maintenance person who maintains the electronic device, and operates the communication terminal to communicate the communication via the public network. An electronic device alive monitoring method for monitoring an alive state of the electronic device connected to the communication device by connecting to the device, wherein the communication terminal of the maintenance person is connected to the electronic device of the alive monitoring destination The communication device that has transmitted to the communication device via the public network and has received an incoming call from the communication terminal via the public network, has provided the caller number of the communication terminal to the electronic device. An incoming call notification command including the call notification signal indicating that the incoming call notification command has been transmitted to the electronic device. When the electronic device that has received the incoming notification command has transmitted a confirmation time predetermined as a time value for indicating that the electronic device is operating normally, the communication device The communication device that transmits a disconnect request command to the communication terminal transmits a disconnect signal to the communication terminal of the source maintenance person via the public network. An electronic device alive monitoring method characterized by that.   The electronic device pre-registers the telephone number / subaddress of the communication terminal of the maintenance person who maintains the electronic device as registered caller information, and when the incoming notification command is received from the communication device, the electronic device When the caller information included in the incoming call notification command matches the registered caller information registered in advance and matches, the communication device is informed when the confirmation time has elapsed. The electronic device alive monitoring method according to claim 6, wherein a disconnection request command is transmitted.   When the communication terminal of the maintenance person receives the ringing signal from the communication device via the public network, the communication terminal sounds a ringback tone, and then disconnects from the communication device via the public network. 8. The electronic device life-and-death according to claim 6 or 7, wherein when the signal is received, the ringback tone that has been ringing first is stopped, and the outgoing call sent to the communication device is terminated. Monitoring method.   An electronic device connected to a communication device that performs communication via a public network and a communication terminal operated by a maintenance person who maintains the electronic device, and operates the communication terminal to communicate the communication via the public network. An electronic device alive monitoring program in the communication terminal for implementing, as a program executable by a computer, an electronic device alive monitoring method for monitoring the alive state of the electronic device connected to the communication device by connecting to the device. The communication terminal of the maintenance person transmits via the public network to the communication device to which the electronic device to be monitored for life and death is connected, and from the communication device to the electronic device via the public network. When a ringing signal indicating that an incoming call notification command has been transmitted to the receiver is received, a ringback tone is sounded, and then, via the public network. When the disconnection signal is received from the communication device, the ringback tone previously ringed is stopped and the outgoing call sent to the communication device is terminated. Monitoring program.   An electronic device connected to a communication device that performs communication via a public network and a communication terminal operated by a maintenance person who maintains the electronic device, and operates the communication terminal to communicate the communication via the public network. An electronic device alive monitoring program for the electronic device, wherein the electronic device alive monitoring method for monitoring the alive state of the electronic device connected to the communication device by connecting to the device is implemented as a program executable by a computer. The electronic device previously registers the telephone number / subaddress of the communication terminal of the maintenance person who maintains the electronic device as registered caller information, and when receiving an incoming notification command from the communication device, Refer to the caller information included in the incoming call notification command and the registered caller information registered in advance. And when the predetermined confirmation time elapses as a time value for indicating that the electronic device is operating normally, the disconnect request command is transmitted to the communication device. An electronic device alive monitoring program characterized by:

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