JP2885760B2 - How to prevent excessive billing of telephone charges due to switch failure - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for calculating a telephone charge in telephone communication, and more particularly to a method for preventing an excessive charge of a telephone charge due to a failure in an exchange.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A call charge for making a telephone call in a pay-as-you-go system is calculated from the point in time when the telephones of both parties are connected and both parties can talk, and the call ends and one of the receivers The time at which the switch recognizes that a call has been placed (disconnected) is calculated as the talk time.

[0003] However, the package failure of the exchange
Due to a line failure or the like, even after the users hang up the handset and end the call, the exchange may not recognize the end of the call. In this situation, the exchange is in a state where the telephone call is terminated for the first time in the recovery processing by the investigation such as the periodic diagnosis.
Therefore, the call end time of the notified call data is the time when the call end time is restored, and the call charge calculated based on the call start time and the call end time becomes higher than the regular charge.

Therefore, as a countermeasure, monitoring of long-term use due to a failure of an exchange in telephone communication or forgetting to hang up the handset after a call is terminated, a release notification is transmitted to a maintenance person when a certain time is exceeded. Release processing. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 64-25648 proposes a method of performing a release process by regarding a case where there is no change in the audio signal even after exceeding a predetermined time as no communication.

[0005]

In the long-term monitoring method and the no-call state monitoring method described above, for example, in the former case, it is necessary to set the monitoring time to a long time (several hours). Still has the disadvantage of being overcharged. As for the latter, there is a drawback that a normal result cannot be obtained for a line in which noise or the like may be mixed.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide an overcharge prevention method capable of reducing the overcharge of the call charge by solving the above-mentioned drawbacks.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a method for preventing excessive billing of telephone charges due to a fault in an exchange is incorporated in the exchange to detect a fault and output fault information to the outside. Periodically check whether or not a failure has occurred, and when the occurrence of the failure is recognized, output the failure information to an externally installed collecting device, and perform the charge calculation process. Based on the above, call data that satisfies the two conditions of the call using the package that caused the failure and the call whose call start time is before the failure detection time and the call end time is after the failure detection time are excluded from the charge calculation. To be characterized.

[0008]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, an exchange Q is connected to an exchange P to which a transmitting telephone A is connected and a receiving telephone B, and the exchange P is provided with a call data collection device X and a failure data collection device Y. It is connected. In addition, charge calculation device Z
Is the call data Xd stored in the call data collection device X
And call charge calculation processing V for performing charge calculation processing with reference to the failure data Yd stored in the failure data collection device Y.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a record layout of the call data Xd.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a record layout of the failure data Yd.

In particular, capture port 212 and port number 31
If the same port number is stored in 1, the relationship indicates that the same port is used.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, when a user A makes a call to a user B, an exchange P accommodating the telephone A receives a package C to which the telephone A is connected.
Then, a package E accommodating a trunk line for the exchange Q accommodating the telephone B is connected, and a connection request is issued to the exchange Q.

The exchange Q connects the package F and the package D in response to a connection request for the telephone B from the exchange P.

When user B picks up the handset, package D receives the connection signal from telephone B and recognizes that the call has started.

Next, when either user A or user B hangs up the telephone, the package E receives the disconnection signal and recognizes that the telephone call has ended. At the end of the call, the package H creates call data from the user A to the user B based on the information in the package E, and outputs the data to the call data collection device X.

When the charge closing date has passed, the charge calculation device Z inputs the call data stored in the call data collection device X for each device, and performs a call charge calculation process V.

Originally, when either the user A or the user B hangs up, the package E receives the disconnection signal and the call ends. However, a disconnection signal is not transmitted to the package E due to a failure such as a package failure or a line failure.
In some cases, the line between the package E and the package F does not return from being used to an unused state.

At this time, even after the user A or the user B hangs up the handset, the package E recognizes that the telephone call is continuing, and at the stage of the recovery processing by the periodic diagnosis and the abnormality detection, the package E and the package F are finally connected. When the line is released and the package E recovers to the normal state, the call ends. As a result, the call end time of the call data created by the package H becomes the time when the normal state of the package E is restored, and when the charge is calculated in this state, the call to the user A is normally made. Usage fees will be charged more than the fees.

In order to solve this, the call charge calculation processing V calculates a charge based on the call data Xd and the failure data Yd stored in the call data collection device X and the failure data collection device Y.

[0021]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the exchange P is connected to a transmitting telephone A and includes a package C, a package E, a package G, and a package H. The package C has a function of accommodating the telephone line to the telephone in the exchange P, and connects to a package accommodating a trunk line for the exchange accommodating the telephone to be called according to the dial number from the telephone. Package E has a function of accommodating a trunk line between exchanges, and a function of transmitting a dial number sent from a package accommodating a transmitting telephone to a destination exchange. The package H has a function of storing the call data Xd for the call data collection device X, and a function of storing the trouble data Yd for the trouble data collection device Y when it occurs.
Have each. As a matter of course, when the exchange Q is on the transmitting side, it has the same function as the exchange P.

Next, a case where the user A calls the user B using the telephone set A on the transmitting side will be described with reference to FIG.

First, when the telephone set A on the calling side picks up the receiver, a signal flows between the telephone set A and the package C of the exchange P connected to the telephone set to establish a connection state. When the transmitting telephone dials, the package C selects the package E containing the trunk line for the exchange Q in order to connect to the exchange Q containing the receiving telephone, and uses the OUT port. Connect to the IN port of package E. The package E issues a connection request to the exchange Q on the receiving side, and if OK, connects to the OUT port of the package E and the IN port of the package F of the exchange Q. The package F selects and connects the package D to connect to the telephone set B on the receiving side. The package D rings the bell of the receiving telephone B and calls the user B. When the receiver of the telephone set B on the receiving side is separated from the telephone main body, a connection signal flows to the package D, and it is recognized that the packages F and E have been connected. When the conversation is completed and one of the users hangs up the telephone and disconnects the line, the packages of the exchanges P and Q perform disconnection processing.

At this time, when the call is terminated and one of the receivers is placed, that is, when both the IN port and the OUT port of the package E are turned off, the package H stores the call data record shown in FIG. Is created and stored in the call data collection device X. The call data record includes a caller number 211, a capture port 212, a call start time 213, a call end time 214, a callee number 215, and the like. Here, the source number 211 is the telephone number of the transmitting telephone A, and the capture port 212 is the package E.
OUT port number. Call start time 21
3 shows a state in which the receiving side raises the handset and both users can talk, that is, the time when both the IN port and the OUT port of the package E are in the ON state, and the call end time 21.
4, the time when both the IN port and the OUT port of the package E are in the OFF state is allocated in the format of month, day, hour, minute, and second. The example of the call start time 213 in FIG. 2 indicates “8:00:00 am on July 25”.

However, depending on the situation, the package E
In some cases, the line between the package E and the package F does not return to the unused state from busy, and of the two ports of the package E, the port facing the exchange Q is turned on, and the other port is turned off. May be. The package G checks this phenomenon every fixed time (for example, several seconds to one minute). The shorter the fixed interval is, the better it is, and it is determined by the processing capacity and specifications of the fault data collection device Y.

If it is determined that this phenomenon has occurred,
The package G generates the failure data record 31 shown in FIG. 3 and stores it in the failure data collection device Y as the failure data Yd. The failure record 31 has a port number 311
The OUT port number of the package E and the failure detection time 312 are allocated. The failure detection time 312 is a month, day, hour, minute, and second in the same format as the call start time 213.

The call charge calculation V is processed monthly once a month. The charge calculation method follows the call charge calculation processing flow shown in FIG.

First, at step 41, call data Xd is input from the call data collection device X. In step 42,
Using the capture port 212 in the call data Xd input in step 41 as a key, the failure data collection device Y searches for the failure data Yd. The search condition of the failure data is represented by the following equation.

(Capture port 212 = port number 311) AND (call start time 213 ≦ failure detection time 312 ≦ call end time 214) If this condition is not met, control is passed to step 44, and if this condition is met, control is passed to step 45. Transfer.

Step 44 is a charge calculation in a normal state without any trouble. The charge is calculated by multiplying the difference of (call end time 214-call start time 213) by the frequency.

On the other hand, in step 45, depending on the business operator, it is conceivable to charge up to the point in time when the failure occurs.
6 is performed. The charge is calculated by multiplying the difference between (failure detection time 312-call start time 213) by the frequency.

If a failure has occurred, and the user is not to be charged, the process ends without doing anything.

In the above description, even when the connection and disconnection are performed normally, a case occurs in which the states of the two ports do not match instantaneously. However, this is determined to be instantaneous and is ignored here.

[0035]

As described above, the present invention has an effect of preventing a long-term charge calculation by a conventional method by constantly monitoring a package and grasping an exchange failure in a short time and reflecting it in the charge calculation. is there.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system to which a method for preventing a call charge from being excessively charged according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a call data record in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a failure data record in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a processing flowchart of a method for preventing an excessive billing of call charges according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Caller Telephone B Receiver Telephone C-H Package P Switch Q Switch X Call Data Collection Device Y Failure Data Collection Device Xd Call Data Yd Failure Data Z Charge Calculation Device V Call Charge Calculation 21 Call Data Record Layout 31 Failure Data Record layout 41 Call data input step 42 Fault data search step 43 Searchable judgment step 44 Call charge calculation step 45 Charge calculation judgment step 46 Fault call charge calculation step

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A package which is incorporated in an exchange, detects a failure and outputs failure information to the outside, periodically checks whether a package failure has occurred in the exchange, and recognizes the occurrence of the failure. At the time, the trouble information is output to an externally installed collecting device, and when performing the charge calculation process, based on the accumulated trouble information, a call using the package in which the trouble has occurred,
Excessive call charges due to a switch failure, wherein call data that satisfies the two conditions of a call in which the call start time is before the failure detection time and the call end time is after the failure detection time are excluded from the charge calculation. Prevention method. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the period from the start of the call to the time when the failure is detected is included in the billing claim.