JP2667179B2 - Message storage and exchange system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention has a device for storing voice, facsimile information and general data via an exchange, particularly a private branch exchange, and is addressed to an individual (confidential) in the device. The present invention relates to a message storage and exchange system capable of delivering a message posted to a mailbox of a message receiving subscriber. [Prior Art] In general offices in Japan, telephones and the like are not assigned to one person at a time, and are often shared by a plurality of people. Conventionally, when storing a confidential message (addressed to an individual) in a storage service device, there is a method of assigning a mailbox number to an individual and posting the message to the mailbox. Thus, when storing a message in a mailbox by this method, it is first confirmed that the other party is absent, then a call is made to the storage device, and a mailbox number is input. In the case of automatic transfer to the storage service device when the incoming telephone is absent, in order to make it confidential, either enter the mailbox number again or notify the storage device of the telephone number from the exchange to notify the storage device. Is managed as a mailbox number. FIG. 9 to FIG. 12 schematically show this situation. FIG. 9 is a system configuration diagram of the first conventional example. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a subscriber, and in the figure, a to e indicate each subscriber name. Reference numeral 2 denotes a telephone to which the subscribers a to e are assigned, 3 denotes an exchange, and 4 denotes a storage service device. FIG. 10 is a management table in the storage service device 4 of FIG. 9, and shows a telephone set for outputting stored messages. Next, the operation of the first conventional example according to FIGS. 9 and 10 will be described. For example, suppose that a certain subscriber a makes a call to b who is absent at that time. Then, when the subscriber c of the same telephone as the subscriber b answers and informs that b is absent, the subscriber a once hangs up and calls the storage service device, and changes the mailbox number of the subscriber b. input. Therefore, the storage service device 4 intercepts the message to the subscriber b. Thereafter, the subscriber b can connect to the storage service device 4 and retrieve the stored message from the subscriber a during his absence by inputting a password. Confidential communication is thus achieved, in which case the sender of the message must once enter the mailbox number as described above. FIGS. 11 and 12 show a second conventional example, and FIG. 11 is a system configuration diagram thereof. In the figure, 2 is a telephone, 3 is an exchange having an automatic transfer function, and 4 is a storage service device. FIG. 12 shows an automatic transfer table in the exchange 3, and shows a transfer destination at the time of automatic transfer. The operation of the second conventional example will be described. For example, it is assumed that a certain subscriber a makes a call to the telephone set C whose transfer destination is registered at that time. The exchange 3 refers to the transfer destination table and determines the transfer destination X.
Is registered, and is transferred to X. At this time, exchange 3
Has a telephone number notification function, the storage service device 4 is notified of the original destination C. Therefore, the storage service device 4 can perform proxy reception using the same as the mailbox number. In this case, when the telephone C is used by a plurality of persons, the storage service device 4 cannot recognize to whom the message is directed. Therefore, in order to make it a confidential communication in that case, use of the mailbox from one telephone is limited to one person,
Or, they gave up messages to each individual and shared their mailboxes as well as telephones. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Since the conventional message store and exchange system is configured as described above, a mailbox number must be entered in order to perform confidential communication. Is automatically transmitted during the transfer from the exchange with the same telephone number as the telephone number. When one person shares a single telephone, complete confidential communication for each individual is impossible. There was a problem. The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and when a call is automatically transferred to a storage service device during a call or when the user is absent, interception can be performed without entering a mailbox number. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to obtain a message storage and exchange system capable of complete confidential communication. [Means for Solving the Problems] The message store and exchange system according to the present invention assigns a plurality of call numbers to one line for one subscriber terminal such as a telephone set, and makes a call to a certain number. Is assigned to a storage service device, the call number is notified to the storage service device, and the notified call number is managed as a mailbox number. [Operation] In the message storage and exchange system of the present invention,
A plurality of call numbers assigned to one subscriber terminal are assigned to a plurality of individuals using the terminal and are managed in the same manner as a mailbox number, and are assigned to the call number. When the call is allocated to the storage service device, the number is notified to the storage service device, thereby simplifying the operation of the alternate reception and realizing the confidential communication. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a service subscriber in which symbols a to f are separately indicated and symbols a to f are given as respective telephone numbers (that is, call numbers). , B and C are the line numbers of each telephone 2, 3 is an exchange, 4 is a storage service device, 11 in the exchange 3 is a telephone number correspondence management unit, 12 is an exchange processing unit, and 13 is an exchange 3 and the storage service device 4. A control line provided for transmitting and receiving signals between the storage service device 21, a mailbox management unit 21 in the storage service device 4, a line interface 22, a control interface 23 with the exchange 3, and a mail 24 in which messages are stored This is a disk device for configuring a box. X indicates the line number of the storage service device 4 (see FIG. 3). Next, the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. When a call request to exchange 3 is accepted in step ST (201), exchange 3 retrieves the line number for the telephone number from the number correspondence table (an example is shown in FIG. 3) in step ST (202). . Step to pair
In ST (203), it is determined whether or not the line is busy, and if it is busy, a busy tone is returned to the calling line in step ST (211). On the other hand, if the line is not busy, it is determined in step ST (204) whether or not the line is the storage service device 4. If not, the connection is made normally in step ST (205). On the other hand,
If the line number is X and the storage service device 4 is the storage service device 4, a ringback tone is returned to the calling terminal in step ST (207), and the storage service device 4 is called. Then, when the storage service device 4 responds, step ST (20
At step 8), the caller is notified of the telephone number originally requested to be called (in this case, a from FIG. 3), and at step ST (209), the calling terminal is connected to the storage service device. On the other hand, in the storage service device 4, in the flow chart of FIG. 4, when an incoming call is received from the exchange 3 in step ST (301), the number is inputted in step ST (302), and then, in step ST (303). It is determined whether the received telephone number a is only a mailbox number or a password number. In this case, when the telephone number is sent from the exchange 3,
Step ST (34)
Intercept by 0). On the other hand, when the password is attached to the transmitted telephone number, the step ST (30
4) Check whether the password matches the one registered in the mailbox. FIG. 5 shows a password number correspondence table in the mailbox management unit 21. If they do not match, the communication is disconnected in step ST (305). On the other hand, if they match, it waits for a code input from the telephone 2, and executes the processing according to the code at each step ST (30
8) to (311). FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the exchange 3 showing the operation of the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, an example is shown in which the exchange 3 has a prioritized number correspondence table shown in FIG. 7, and a plurality of line numbers assigned to each telephone number are assigned. Yes, it is. The operation of the second embodiment will now be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When a call not directly called to the storage service device 4 is accepted in step ST (401), the rank variable for the telephone number (for example, b) is set in step ST.
First, initialization is performed by (402) (set to “1” in the present example). Next, the corresponding line number is checked in step ST (403). If the line is not busy, the same processing as in the first embodiment, that is, steps ST (405) to (410)
Is performed. On the other hand, if you are busy, step ST
The order variable is incremented to “2” by (421), and it is checked in step ST (422) whether the next corresponding line is present. If there is a line number, the process returns to step ST (403) to continue the same process. On the other hand, if there is no line number, since all the corresponding lines are busy, a busy tone is returned in step ST (423). FIG. 8 is a view showing a third embodiment. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 14 in the exchange 3 denotes a multi-frequency tone (hereinafter referred to as MF tone) transmitting device, and reference numeral 25 in the storage service device 4 denotes an MF tone detecting device. Thus, there is no control line 13 in FIG. In the third embodiment, the step ST (208)
Alternatively, the notification of the telephone number from the exchange 3 in step ST (409) is performed by the MF tone. Therefore, the storage service device 4 cannot know whether the exchange 3 automatically sent the mailbox number or whether the subscriber sent it from the telephone, but there is no problem in use. Note that the line number corresponding to the telephone number in the above embodiment may be freely changed by the subscriber from the telephone. [Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the exchange gives a plurality of call numbers to one subscriber terminal, detects the line number for the call number based on the number correspondence table, and transfers the call. If the call number is assigned to the storage service device, the call number is transferred to the storage service device, and the storage service device checks the line number corresponding to the call number, and this line is busy. , The call number is managed as a mailbox number, and if only the mailbox number is entered, it will be intercepted, while if the password and the mailbox number are entered, the mailbox owner will be notified. Because it is configured to provide all allowed services, for example, even if a telephone is shared by multiple people, when communicating messages addressed to individuals, the call number of that person Is input, the call number is substituted for the mailbox number, and there is an effect that the mailbox number need not be input. In addition, since a plurality of line numbers are assigned to the call numbers in order and corresponded, the subscriber can set the transfer order of the terminal as desired during a busy period, and the calling party can call back or transfer the call. You only need to call one number without being aware of the. Further, if the call number is notified from the exchange using the MF tone, only the line interface is required between the exchange and the storage service device, and no special control line interface is required. Can be designed without being aware of Therefore, each device can be used by being connected to another device, and confidential message communication is also possible at that time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a message storage and exchange system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the exchange of the above embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the storage service device 4 of the embodiment, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a password correspondence table, and FIG. 6 is an exchange according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a prioritized number correspondence table, FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 9 to 12 are block diagrams for explaining two conventional examples. It is a figure showing the correspondence table. 2 is a telephone (subscriber terminal), 3 is an exchange, 4 is a storage service device, 11 is a telephone number correspondence management unit, 12 is an exchange processing unit,
21 is a mailbox management unit, 14 is a multi-frequency tone transmitting device, 24 is a disk device, and 25 is a multi-frequency tone detecting device. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] In a message storage and exchange system comprising an exchange for connecting a subscriber terminal such as a telephone, a facsimile, and a data terminal, and a storage service device for accumulating a message for the subscriber terminal, the exchange is provided to one of the subscriber terminals. On the other hand, the line number for the call number is detected based on the function of assigning a plurality of call numbers and the number correspondence table,
When the transferred call number is assigned to the storage service device, the storage device has a function of transferring the call number to the storage service device, and the storage service device corresponds to the call number. A function of managing the call number as a mailbox number when the line is busy and a proxy number for the transferred call number when a password is added to the transferred call number. A message storage and exchange system that performs processing in response to a code input from a calling side in addition to reception. 2. Each of the subscriber terminals has one unique line number, and a plurality of the call numbers can be associated with the line number of each subscriber terminal. 3. The message store and exchange system of claim 1. 3. The exchange has a priority number correspondence table in which line numbers of a plurality of the subscriber terminals are assigned priorities with respect to one call number and correspond to the transferred call numbers. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein a line number is checked, and when the line is busy, connection processing is repeatedly executed based on the priority.
Message storage and exchange system according to the item. 4. 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the exchange and the storage service device are connected by a line interface, and the call number is transferred to the storage service device by a multi-frequency tone through the line interface. The described message storage and exchange system.