JP2014057153A - Communication system and communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To construct a communication system, the specification and performance of that is independent of a SIP server when the communication system is made up of IP phones communicating by the SIP.SOLUTION: A call center system 1 comprises: a communication management device 3 for requesting connection of a line controller 4 on the basis of an operation request of an IP phone 5 received from a client terminal 2; and the line controller 4 for performing call control of the IP phone 5 by the SIP. It also comprises a public line network converter 6 that converts the SIP into a communication protocol used in a public line network 7 and connects the IP phone 5 to a general phone set 8 via the public line network 7.

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system and a communication method that are used in, for example, a call center system and perform telephone call control.

  A conventional call center system includes a private telephone exchange connected to a public line network, a client terminal connected to the private telephone exchange, and an IP (Internet Protocol) telephone corresponding to the client terminal. A unique extension telephone number is associated with the client terminal, and the client terminal can be uniquely specified. In such a call center system, a call is controlled using an IP telephone that communicates using a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) protocol (hereinafter abbreviated as “SIP”). Therefore, audio data and video data can be transmitted and received in real time using SIP on the IP network.

This call center system has the following basic functions.
As a first function, a private branch exchange apparatus that receives a call from a public line network includes a call number including a caller number, an incoming call number, a transfer source number, and a name display provided by a communication carrier from the public line network. It has a call information acquisition function for acquiring information. Further, as a second function, the private branch exchange apparatus has an automatic call distribution function that distributes a telephone (call) to an IP telephone used by an operator based on the acquired call information.

  The private branch exchange apparatus acquires call information from the public line network by a call information acquisition function. The automatic call distribution function distributes the call to the most appropriate operator and takes it to the client terminal in consideration of the operator's knowledge level, waiting time from the end of the previous call, call information acquired by the private branch exchange, etc. Information is displayed.

  Further, a telephone number transmitted from the IP telephone (hereinafter referred to as “calling telephone number”) is displayed on a display device connected to the client terminal. The operator can make a call from the IP telephone by performing an operation of selecting a telephone number displayed on the display device. For this reason, when an operator performs a call operation, even if the telephone number is not input from the operation key of the IP phone, the call operation is made more efficient by controlling the IP phone from the client terminal and making the call. Incorrect operation during input can be prevented.

  Here, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which an administrator performs monitoring by listing reception information of an agent, and sends a handwritten instruction regarding the contents of telephone reception to the agent.

JP-A-11-284746

  In general, when a call center system is configured using an IP telephone that communicates using SIP, a SIP server that communicates with the IP telephone and manages the state of the IP telephone is required. In order to control the IP telephone from the client terminal, it is necessary to construct a communication environment for the client terminal using software unique to each IP telephone product.

  In addition, the SIP server has a unique function for each product. When a communication system is constructed using an IP telephone that communicates by SIP, the connection is controlled by the IP telephone directly communicating with the SIP server. There must be. However, the SIP server manages connection information including the IP address of the IP telephone connected to itself, and the use of the IP telephone that is not registered in the SIP server is restricted. For this reason, various types of IP telephones cannot be used together in a call center system. In addition, the specifications and performance of the communication system depend on the SIP server.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to construct a communication system without providing a SIP server.

In the present invention, a client terminal whose location is defined by the second location information and associated with the first phone whose location is defined by the first location information makes an operation request for the first phone.
Next, the first location information and the second location information are managed, and based on the operation request of the first phone received from the client terminal, the first phone and the second location connected to the public line network Request a connection with the phone.
Next, on the basis of the connection request, the first location information is acquired, and call control of the first telephone is performed using the first communication protocol.
Then, the first communication protocol is converted into the second communication protocol used in the public line network, and the first telephone is connected to the second telephone through the public line network.

  According to the present invention, the first telephone and the second telephone connected to the public line network can be connected by the communication management apparatus and the line control apparatus that do not have the function as the SIP server. At this time, since the line control apparatus obtains the first location information necessary for connecting to the first telephone from the communication management apparatus, software unique to the first telephone is installed in the client terminal. It is not necessary and the system configuration can be simplified.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the call center system in the example of 1 embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of the client information table in one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structural example of the client terminal in one embodiment of this invention, a communication management apparatus, and a line control apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process example of the call center system in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of the reception screen displayed on the client terminal in the example of 1 embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present embodiment, an example in which the communication system according to the present invention is applied to the call center system 1 will be described. The call center system 1 realizes a communication method performed by an internal block described later in cooperation with a computer executing a program. In the present specification and drawings, components having substantially the same function or configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the call center system 1.
The call center system 1 includes a client terminal 2, a communication management device 3, a line control device 4, an IP telephone 5 (first telephone), and a public line network conversion device 6 connected to a LAN 9. Each of these blocks can transmit and receive various packets, data, and the like. The public line network conversion device 6 can communicate with a general telephone 8 (second telephone) connected to the public line network 7.

  The client terminal 2 includes a storage unit 2a and a control unit 2b. The storage unit 2a stores various programs, parameters, and the like, and these programs and the like are appropriately read according to the processing executed by the client terminal 2. The storage unit 2a stores an IP address (second position information) assigned to the client terminal 2. The control unit 2b is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and executes various processes in the client terminal 2.

  The client terminal 2 includes a display unit 2c for displaying a reception screen (see FIG. 5 described later), and an operation unit 2d for performing various operations for registering customer information by an operator referring to the reception screen. Is provided. The display unit 2c is configured by a liquid crystal display, for example, and displays information related to the general telephone 8. The operation unit 2d is composed of, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, and the like. When the operator specifies the general telephone 8 from the information related to the general telephone 8 displayed on the display unit 2c, the IP telephone to be connected to the general telephone 8 The operation request of 5 is performed. As information about the general telephone 8, for example, there is a telephone number to be transmitted. The client terminal 2 is associated with a specific IP telephone 5, the location is defined by the IP address (second location information), and an operation request for the IP telephone 5 can be made.

  The communication management device 3 includes a storage unit 3a, a control unit 3b, and a client information table 3c. The storage unit 3a stores various programs, parameters, and the like, and these programs and the like are appropriately read according to processing executed by the communication management device 3. The control unit 3b is, for example, a CPU, and executes various processes in the communication management device 3. The client information table 3c manages the IP address (first position information) allocated to the IP telephone 5 and the IP address (second position information) allocated to the client terminal 2 in a uniquely associated manner. Then, the communication management apparatus 3 requests the line control apparatus 4 to connect the IP telephone 5 and the general telephone 8 connected to the public line network 7 based on the operation request of the IP telephone 5 received from the client terminal 2. To do.

  The line control device 4 includes a storage unit 4a and a control unit 4b. The storage unit 4a stores various programs, parameters, and the like, and these programs and the like are appropriately read according to processing executed by the line control device 4. The control unit 4b is, for example, a CPU, and executes various processes in the line control device 4. The line control device 4 acquires an IP address from the communication management device 3 based on a connection request from the communication management device 3. Then, call control of the IP telephone 5 is performed using SIP, which is an example of the first communication protocol. For this reason, the IP telephone 5 and the public line network conversion device 6 can be connected by a procedure prescribed by SIP.

  The IP telephone 5 includes a storage unit 5a and a control unit 5b. The storage unit 5a stores various programs, parameters, and the like, and these programs and the like are appropriately read according to processing executed by the IP telephone 5. The storage unit 5a stores an IP address assigned to the IP telephone 5. The control unit 5b is, for example, a CPU, and executes various processes in the IP telephone 5. The location of the IP telephone 5 is defined by the IP address that is the first location information. The IP telephone 5 transmits and receives voice data and the like with other telephones using, for example, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

  The public network conversion device 6 includes a storage unit 6a and a control unit 6b. The storage unit 6a stores various programs, parameters, and the like, and these programs and the like are appropriately read according to processing executed by the public network conversion device 6. The control unit 6b is, for example, a CPU, and executes various processes in the public network conversion device 6. The public line network conversion device 6 converts the SIP into a second communication protocol used in the public line network 7 and connects the IP telephone 5 to the general telephone 8 via the public line network 7.

Here, an outline of processing in the call center system 1 will be described.
First, when the operator makes a call using the telephone number displayed on the display unit 2 c of the client terminal 2, the client terminal 2 transmits an IP telephone operation request packet P 1 to the communication management device 3. The IP telephone operation request packet P1 includes the IP address of the client terminal 2 that is the call originator, information on the telephone number selected by the operation unit 2d, and the like.

  The communication management device 3 obtains the IP address of the client terminal 2 that is the call originator from the received IP telephone operation request packet P1. Next, the communication management device 3 retrieves the IP address of the IP telephone 5 corresponding to the client terminal 2 that has made the operation request from the client information table 3c, and finds the IP address of the IP telephone 5 associated with the client terminal 2. get. Then, the communication management apparatus 3 sets the IP address of the requesting IP telephone 5 in the line control request packet P2 and transmits it to the line control apparatus 4.

  The line control device 4 connects to the IP address of the IP telephone 5 set in the line control request packet P2 by the basic SIP procedure, and causes the IP telephone 5 requested to be transmitted from the client terminal 2 to use the communication line. . After the connection with the requesting IP telephone 5 is completed, the line control apparatus 4 communicates with the public line network conversion apparatus 6 and sends the call to the general telephone 8.

  At this time, the line control device 4 transmits a line control result packet P3 in which a connection result with the IP telephone 5 is set to the communication management device 3. The communication management device 3 creates an IP telephone operation result packet P4 including the IP address of the client terminal 2 associated with the IP address of the IP telephone 5, and transmits the IP telephone operation result packet P4 to the client terminal 2. The client terminal 2 acquires the transmission result of the IP telephone 5 from the IP telephone operation result packet P4.

  In this call center system 1, when a call arrives, the client terminal 2 can acquire the communication state of the IP telephone 5 and the telephone number of the general telephone 8. Then, the operator can have a conversation while confirming the information of the called party displayed on the display unit 2c of the client terminal 2. When making a call, a telephone number to be sent to the client terminal 2 is displayed, and the displayed telephone number may be selected. The operator can improve the efficiency of the operator's work by selecting and displaying the displayed telephone number, and can prevent the erroneous operation of the calling telephone number error.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of the client information table 3c.
The client information table 3c includes an ID field f1, a client terminal IP address field f2, an IP telephone IP address field f3, an operator name field f4, a group name field f5, and a skill value field f6.

In the ID field f1, an ID assigned to uniquely identify a specific client terminal 2 among a plurality of client terminals 2 is recorded.
In the client terminal IP address field f2, IP addresses individually assigned to a plurality of client terminals 2 are recorded.
In the IP telephone IP address field f3, IP addresses individually assigned to a plurality of IP telephones 5 are recorded.
In the operator name field f4, the name of the operator who uses the client terminal 2 and the IP telephone 5 is recorded.
A group code to which the operator belongs is recorded in the group name field f5.
In the skill value field f6, a skill value indicating the skill level in the telephone reception of the operator is recorded. For example, when there is a difference in the skill level of the operator, the skill value is set when the telephone is preferentially assigned to an operator with a high skill level.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration example of the client terminal 2, the communication management device 3, and the line control device 4. In FIG. 3, a solid line arrow represents a communication path performed using SIP, and a broken line arrow represents a data communication path. Note that data transmitted and received in the network is divided into units called “packets”.

  First, an internal configuration example of the client terminal 2, the communication management device 3, and the line control device 4 will be described.

The client terminal 2 is used for an operator to perform a call center operation. The client terminal 2 includes a business function unit 21, an IP telephone operation request packet transmission unit 22, and an IP telephone operation result packet reception unit 23.
The client terminal 2 transmits an IP telephone operation request packet P 1 to the communication management apparatus 3 and receives an IP telephone operation result packet P 4 from the communication management apparatus 3.

  At this time, the business function unit 21 accepts an operation request from the operation unit 2d, and sends an IP telephone operation request packet P1 including information related to the operation request of the IP telephone 5 from the IP telephone operation request packet transmission unit 22 to the communication management device 3. Send to. In addition, the business function unit 21 displays the operation result extracted from the IP telephone operation result packet P4 including information related to the operation result of the IP telephone 5 received by the IP telephone operation result packet receiving unit 23 from the communication management device 3 on the display unit 2c. Display.

The communication management device 3 includes an IP telephone operation request packet receiver 31, an IP telephone operation result packet transmitter 32, a client manager 33, a line control request packet transmitter 34, and a line control result packet receiver 35. Prepare.
The communication management device 3 transmits a line control request packet P2 to the line control device 4, and receives a line control result packet P3 from the line control device 4.

  At this time, the client management unit 33 reads the IP address of the client terminal 2 from the IP telephone operation request packet P1 received by the IP telephone operation request packet receiving unit 31 from the client terminal 2. Next, the IP address of the IP telephone 5 associated with the client terminal 2 obtained by searching the client information table 3c is set in the line control request packet P2. Then, the line control request packet P2 for requesting the use of the communication line by the IP telephone 5 is transmitted from the line control request packet transmission unit 34 to the line control device 4. Further, the client management unit 33 uses the line control result packet P3 received by the line control result packet receiving unit 35 from the line control device 4 to determine whether the communication line can be used or not and includes an IP telephone operation result packet. P4 is generated. Then, the IP telephone operation result packet P4 is transmitted from the IP telephone operation result packet transmitting unit 32 to the client terminal 2.

The line control device 4 includes a line control request packet receiver 41, a line control result packet transmitter 42, and a line controller 43.
The line control device 4 performs communication using SIP between the IP telephone 5 and the public line network conversion device 6.

  At this time, the line control unit 43 sets the SIP between the IP telephone 5 and the public line network conversion device 6 based on the line control request packet P2 received by the line control request packet receiving unit 41 from the communication management device 3. Call control is performed using the IP telephone 5 and the general telephone 8 are connected. Then, the line control result packet P3 including the result of the call control is transmitted from the line control result packet transmitter 42 to the communication management apparatus 3.

  Next, an operation example performed by each unit in the client terminal 2, the communication management device 3, and the line control device 4 will be described.

  First, the operator operates the client terminal 2 to select a target outgoing telephone number from the reception screen displayed on the display unit 2c and give an instruction to make a call. At this time, the business function unit 21 acquires the calling telephone number instructed by the operator from the operation unit 2d, and passes the calling telephone number to the IP telephone operation request packet transmitting unit 22. In the transmission telephone number, the telephone number of the general telephone 8 connected to the public line network 7 to be transmitted via the public line network conversion device 6 is specified when the call destination is an external line. However, when the destination is an extension IP telephone 5 (an IP telephone different from the IP telephone 5 shown in FIG. 1), an extension number is designated. Whether the external line or the internal line is displayed on the client terminal 2, the operator can distinguish the type of connection destination.

  The IP telephone operation request packet transmission unit 22 creates an IP telephone operation request packet P1 in which the outgoing telephone number received from the business function unit 21 is set. Then, the IP telephone operation request packet P1 is transmitted to the IP telephone operation request packet receiving unit 31 of the communication management device 3 via the network.

  The IP telephone operation request packet receiver 31 receives the IP telephone operation request packet P1 from the IP telephone operation request packet transmitter 22 via the network, and transmits it to the client manager 33.

  Here, the client terminal 2 and the IP telephone 5 are assigned different independent IP addresses, and the client terminal 2 does not know the IP address of the IP telephone 5 associated with itself. When making an operation request from the client terminal 2, the IP address of the IP telephone 5 is not set. However, the client management unit 33 acquires the IP addresses of the client terminal 2 and the IP telephone 5 from the ID of the client terminal 2 based on the information obtained by referring to the client information table 3c, and continues the processing. In order to perform such processing, the client management unit 33 acquires the IP address of the IP telephone 5 associated with the requesting client terminal 2 that has transmitted the IP telephone operation request packet P1. Then, the client management unit 33 passes the acquired IP address of the IP telephone 5 to the line control request packet transmission unit 34.

  The line control request packet transmitter 34 creates a line control request packet P2 in which the IP address of the IP telephone 5 passed from the client manager 33 and the IP telephone information including the extension number are set. Then, the line control request packet P2 is transmitted to the line control request packet receiving unit 41 of the line control device 4 via the network.

  The line control request packet receiving unit 41 receives the line control request packet P2 via the network, and transmits the line control request packet P2 to the line control unit 43.

  The line control unit 43 obtains the IP address of the IP telephone 5 that is the call originator from the received line control request packet P2, and connects to the IP telephone 5 using SIP. When the line control unit 43 is connected to the IP telephone 5 that is a call originator by SIP, the line control unit 43 communicates with the public line network conversion device 6 to make a call to the general telephone 8 in the case of an outside line call. In the case of extension call, the call is sent to an IP telephone 5 different from the IP telephone 5 that requested the call.

  The line control unit 43 determines the line control result for the line control request packet P2 based on the connection state between the IP telephone 5 and the public line network conversion device 6, and passes the line control result to the line control result packet transmitter 42.

The line control result packet transmitter 42 creates a line control result packet P3 in which the line control result passed from the line controller 43 is set, and sends it to the line control result packet receiver 35 of the communication management device 3 via the network. Send.
The line control result packet receiving unit 35 receives the line control result packet P3 via the network, and passes the line control result packet P3 to the client management unit 33.

  The client management unit 33 acquires the IP address of the client terminal 2 associated with the IP telephone 5 set in the passed line control result packet P3. Then, the client management unit 33 passes the IP address of the client terminal 2 to the IP telephone operation result packet transmission unit 32.

  The IP telephone operation result packet transmission unit 32 creates an IP telephone operation result packet P4 in which the IP address of the client terminal 2 passed from the client management unit 33 is set. Then, the IP telephone operation result packet P4 is transmitted to the IP telephone operation result packet receiving unit 23 of the client terminal 2 via the network.

  The IP telephone operation result packet receiving unit 23 receives the IP telephone operation result packet P4 via the network, and passes the contents of the IP telephone operation result packet P4 to the business function unit 21. The business function unit 21 notifies the operator of the transmission result.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the overall processing of the call center system 1. Here, the description will be given focusing on the processing of the client management unit 33 and the line control unit 43.

  First, the client management unit 33 acquires the IP telephone operation request packet P1 from the IP telephone operation request packet receiving unit 31 (step S1). The client management unit 33 determines whether there is a client terminal 2 corresponding to the acquired IP telephone operation request packet P1, that is, whether the client management unit 33 has client information (step S2). . This client information is information used for grasping the activation of the client terminal 2 and the like. For example, when the client terminal 2 is not logged in to the call center system 1, the client management unit 33 does not have client information, so it is determined that the client terminal 2 does not exist. If the client terminal 2 exists, the client management unit 33 acquires an IP address from the IP telephone 5 (step S3).

  Then, the client management unit 33 determines whether there is a free line (step S4). Here, since the communication management device 3 acquires the communication state of the line from the line control device 4, it is possible to distinguish between the used line and the free line. If there is an empty line, the client management unit 33 transmits the line control request packet P2 generated by the line control request packet transmission unit 34 to the line control device 4 (step S5).

  If the client management unit 33 determines that there is no client terminal 2 in the process of step S2 or that there is no free line in the process of step S4, the IP telephone operation result packet P4 including this result is displayed as the IP telephone operation result. The packet transmitter 32 generates the packet. Then, the client management unit 33 transmits the IP telephone operation result packet P4 from the IP telephone operation result packet transmission unit 32 to the client terminal 2 and ends the process (step S6).

  A description will be given following step S5. The line control unit 43 acquires the line control request packet P2 via the line control request packet receiving unit 41 (step S7), and connects the requesting IP telephone 5 that requests transmission to the line control device 4 by SIP. Is started (step S8).

  Further, the line control unit 43 determines whether or not the requesting IP telephone 5 can be connected to the destination general telephone 8 (step S9). If the connection is possible, the line control unit 43 performs a process of connecting to the destination general telephone 8 using SIP (step S10). Then, the line control unit 43 determines whether a connection is made with the general telephone 8 that is the destination (step S11).

  When the line control unit 43 determines that the connection is established with the destination general telephone 8, the line control unit 43 causes the line control result packet transmission unit 42 to generate a line control result packet P3 indicating that the connection is OK. On the other hand, if the line control unit 43 determines that the connection is not established with the destination general telephone 8, the line control unit 43 notifies the line control result packet transmission unit 42 that the connection is NG. Is generated. Then, the line control result packet P3 is transmitted to the communication management device 3 via the line control result packet transmitter 42 (step S12).

  The client management unit 33 acquires the line control request packet P2 via the line control result packet receiving unit 35 (step S13). Then, the client management unit 33 causes the IP telephone operation result packet transmission unit 32 to generate the IP telephone operation result packet P4, and transmits the IP telephone operation result packet P4 to the client management unit 33 (step S14).

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration example of a reception screen displayed on the display unit 2 c of the client terminal 2.
The reception screen is used by the operator for reception in telemarketing. When the operator newly receives a call from a customer, customer information is not registered in a customer database (not shown), and only the customer's telephone number is displayed on the reception screen. For this reason, the operator inputs customer information including the customer's name, address, telephone number, and other contact information obtained from the customer, and registers the customer information in the customer database. About the content which an operator talks with a customer, it is advanced along the progress guidance displayed on the right side of a reception screen. The progress guidance includes, for example, a talk content, and information such as how much the customer is interested is appropriately input along the talk content that the customer talks with.

  When responding with a customer who has been accepted in the past, the customer information registered so far is retrieved from the customer database simultaneously with the incoming call and displayed on the reception screen. For this reason, the operator does not need to repeatedly ask the customer for customer information.

  In addition, when an operator sends a message to a customer, a customer ID uniquely assigned to each customer is input to the reception screen, and when the search screen is pressed, customer information associated with the customer ID is displayed in a list on the reception screen. Is done. When the operator makes a call, an operation of inputting the customer's telephone number is performed. However, the operator can make a call by designating the telephone number displayed on the reception screen. Then, the operator lifts the handset of the IP telephone 5 installed near the client terminal 2 and waits for connection with the customer's telephone. After the connection is completed, the operator can talk with the customer. Since the reception screen displays information on campaigns that have already been made to customers, it is not necessary to provide the same guidance to customers who have previously conducted campaign guidance.

  According to the call center system 1 according to the embodiment described above, the communication management device 3 that manages the association between the IP address of the client terminal 2 and the IP telephone 5, and the line that communicates with the IP telephone 5 by the basic SIP procedure. The SIP function is used by using the control device 4. Then, an inexpensive and flexible system can be constructed by using a function that the operator operates the client terminal 2 to transmit. As a result, it is possible to realize a function of selecting and transmitting a telephone number displayed on the client terminal 2 and controlling the IP telephone 5 from the client terminal 2, which is required in the call center system 1.

  When the operator makes a call, the customer's telephone number is input from the client terminal 2 on which the reception screen is displayed, and an operation request for the IP telephone 5 is made. The communication management device 3 requests the line control device 4 to perform line control between the IP telephone 5 and the public line network conversion device 6, and the line control device 4 performs line control. The line control device 4 notifies the communication management device 3 of the line control result, and the communication management device 3 notifies the client terminal 2 of the operation result of the IP telephone 5. Through such a procedure, the IP telephone 5 is connected to the public line network conversion device 6 by performing call control by SIP of the line control device 4. For this reason, the IP telephone 5 is connected from the public network converter 6 to the general telephone 8 via the public network 7, and the operator can make a call with a customer who uses the general telephone 8 by using the IP telephone 5. It becomes.

  Conventionally, when performing call control using SIP, installation of a SIP server for managing the IP address of the IP telephone 5 has been essential. However, the line control device 4 in the call center system 1 according to the present embodiment performs only call control using SIP without managing the IP address of the IP telephone 5. For this reason, the call center system 1 does not need to use a conventional SIP server, and it is possible to distribute functions, increase fault tolerance, and reduce installation costs.

  The IP telephone 5 is connected to the line control unit 43 by SIP. Then, the line control device 4 can acquire the IP address of the IP telephone 5 that is necessary when connecting to the IP telephone 5 by SIP from the line control request packet transmitted by the communication management device 3. Therefore, the client terminal 2 can construct a simple call center system 1 that does not require software unique to the IP telephone 5.

  Further, the communication management device 3 manages the IP addresses assigned to the client terminal 2 and the IP telephone 5 using the client information table 3c. The client terminal 2 and the IP telephone 5 are connected via the communication management device 3. The communication management device 3 associates a telephone call made by the operator at the client terminal 2 with the IP telephone 5, so that the operator operates the client terminal 2 to view customer information while interacting with the customer using the IP telephone 5. It becomes possible.

  The client terminal 2 includes a business function unit 21, the communication management device 3 includes a client management unit 33, and the line control device 4 includes a line control unit 43. Each terminal and device includes a packet transmission unit that transmits a packet and a packet reception unit that receives the packet, and each unit shares the function. For this reason, it is possible to increase the speed of packet processing, and the configuration is suitable for the call center system 1 that requires real-time processing.

  Further, conventionally, after an operator lifts a telephone handset, a call is made by inputting the other party's telephone number. However, in the call center system 1 according to the present embodiment, when the operator transmits the telephone number displayed on the reception screen, the handset of the IP telephone 5 is not lifted. For this reason, after making a call from the line control device 4 to the IP telephone 5, the operator lifts the handset of the IP telephone 5 to make a system similar to a callback that starts a call with the other party. There are several possible ways to make a call. For example, when a call operation is performed from the client terminal 2, the line control device 4 is connected to the IP telephone 5 as an extension, and when the handset of the IP telephone 5 is lifted, a method of making an outside line call to the general telephone 8 this time. There is. In addition, when the line control device 4 first makes an outside line call to the general telephone 8 and detects that the general telephone 8 receives, the line control apparatus 4 connects to the IP telephone 5 as an extension, and the handset of the IP telephone 5 There is also a method of connecting the IP telephone 5 and the general telephone 8 when lifted. In this case, if the other party of the general telephone 8 is absent, it is possible to make outgoing calls from the client terminal 2 one after another until other general telephones receive it, and work efficiency can be improved.

  Further, the communication management device 3 can also manage the client terminals 2 and the IP telephones 5 that have been conventionally connected one-to-one by connecting them one-to-many. For this reason, it becomes easy to manage the connection status of a plurality of IP telephones 5 with one client terminal 2.

  The IP telephone 5 may be configured to have a FAX function as well as a function for receiving and sending calls. Moreover, not only IP but other location information may be used, and not only SIP but other communication protocols may be used.

  Moreover, although the example which applied the communication system which concerns on this invention to the call center system 1 was demonstrated, you may apply to the other control system using SIP.

  The series of processes in the above-described embodiment can be executed by hardware, but can also be executed by software. When a series of processing is executed by software, it can be executed by a computer in which a program constituting the software is incorporated in dedicated hardware or a computer in which programs for executing various functions are installed. . For example, a program constituting desired software may be installed and executed on a general-purpose personal computer or the like.

  Further, a recording medium that records a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments may be supplied to the system or apparatus. It goes without saying that the function is also realized by reading and executing the program code stored in the recording medium by a computer (or a control device such as a CPU) of the system or apparatus.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program code in this case, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, etc. are used. Can do.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by executing the program code read by the computer. In addition, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code. The case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing is also included.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various other application examples and modifications can be taken without departing from the gist of the present invention described in the claims.
For example, the above-described exemplary embodiments are detailed and specific descriptions of the configuration of the apparatus and the system in order to easily understand the present disclosure, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. . Further, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Moreover, it is also possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.
In addition, the control lines and information lines are those that are considered necessary for the explanation, and not all the control lines and information lines on the product are necessarily shown. Actually, it may be considered that almost all the components are connected to each other.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Call center system, 2 ... Client terminal, 3 ... Communication management apparatus, 3c ... Client information table, 4 ... Line control apparatus, 5 ... IP telephone, 6 ... Public line network converter, 7 ... Public line network, 8 ... General Telephone, 9 ... LAN

Claims (7)

A first telephone whose location is defined by the first location information;
A client terminal whose location is defined by the second position information and making an operation request for the first telephone;
The first location information and the second location information are managed, and connected to the first telephone and the public line network based on an operation request of the first telephone associated with the client terminal. A communication management device for requesting connection with the second telephone;
A line control device that acquires the first location information from the communication management device based on the connection request and performs call control of the first telephone using a first communication protocol;
A public line network conversion device for converting the first communication protocol into a second communication protocol used in the public line network and connecting the first telephone to the second telephone via the public line network; A communication system. The client terminal is
A display unit for displaying information on the second telephone;
The communication system according to claim 1, further comprising: an operation unit that instructs an operation request for the first telephone when the second telephone is identified from information on the second telephone displayed on the display unit. The communication management device includes a client information table that uniquely associates the first position information with the second position information,
The communication system according to claim 2, wherein the communication management apparatus causes the first telephone set corresponding to the client terminal that has made an operation request, searched based on the client information table, to use a communication line. The client terminal is
An operation request from the operation unit is received, an operation request packet including information related to the operation request of the first telephone is transmitted from the operation request packet transmission unit to the communication management device, and an operation result packet is received from the communication management device A business function unit that causes the display unit to display an operation result extracted from an operation result packet including information related to the operation result of the first telephone received by the unit;
The communication management device
Corresponding to the second location information obtained by searching the client information table by reading the second location information of the client terminal from the operation request packet received by the operation request packet receiving unit from the client terminal A line control request packet for requesting use of the communication line by the first telephone associated with the first position information is set from the line control request packet transmitting unit. The operation result packet including the result obtained by determining whether or not the communication line can be used from the line control result packet received by the line control result packet receiving unit from the line control device. A client management unit that causes the result packet transmission unit to transmit to the client terminal;
The line control device
Based on the line control request packet received by the line control request packet receiving unit from the communication management apparatus, call control is performed between the first telephone and the public line network conversion apparatus using the first communication protocol. A line for connecting the first telephone and the second telephone and transmitting the line control result packet including the result of the call control from the line control result packet transmitter to the communication management device. The communication system according to claim 3, comprising a control unit. The display unit displays a telephone number to be transmitted as information on the second telephone,
The communication system according to claim 4, wherein the business function unit generates the operation request packet including the telephone number selected by the operation unit in information related to the operation request of the first telephone. The first communication protocol is SIP (Session Initiation Protocol),
The first and second location information are IP (Internet Protocol) addresses,
The first telephone is an IP telephone that transmits and receives voice data using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol),
The line control device connects the first telephone set and the public line network conversion device according to a procedure defined in the SIP.
The communication system according to claim 5. A client terminal associated with the first telephone whose location is defined by the first position information and whose location is defined by the second positional information makes an operation request for the first telephone;
The first location information and the second location information are managed, and the first phone and the first phone connected to the public line network based on the operation request of the first phone received from the client terminal Requesting connection with two telephones;
Obtaining the first location information from the connection request and performing call control of the first telephone using a first communication protocol;
Converting the first communication protocol into a second communication protocol used in the public line network and connecting the first telephone to the second telephone via the public line network. Method.