JP2999660B2 - Video conference equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video conference apparatus which enables a conference with a remote speaker by performing two-way image and voice communication using a communication network. When a large number of people use one video conference device, each user is notified that there is an automatic incoming call when the user is away from the video conference device, and the search for the stored image data is performed. The present invention relates to a video conference device to be performed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a known document describing the prior art according to the present invention, for example, there is a "communication device" in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-203633. This publication integrates the functions of a videophone and a facsimile, has the functions of a conventional facsimile and a videophone, and has a function of printing an image displayed on an image receiving section in a videophone mode. In the mode, images taken with a TV camera can be transmitted, so that the distance to the subject can be set arbitrarily, so that images of three-dimensional objects such as faces and landscapes can be transmitted, and printing is performed immediately upon reception. The image is displayed once on the image receiving unit without printing, and only the necessary image can be printed.

A "facsimile apparatus" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-261077 is a facsimile transceiver having an automatic dialing function. When a facsimile is received from a specific destination, a telephone corresponding to the destination is automatically dialed. By ringing and notifying the management information by a synthetic sound, the convenience of the user of the facsimile transceiver is provided. Further, a "facsimile apparatus" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-258546 discloses a method for receiving a facsimile signal from among the received facsimile signals.
The extension number of the transmission destination is detected, and based on the detected extension number, automatic dialing is performed to the corresponding extension destination, and notification that a facsimile signal has been received is performed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a hardware configuration of a conventional video conference apparatus having an automatic call receiving function. In the figure, 31 is a video conference apparatus, 32 is a control section, 33 is a storage section, and 34 is a storage section. ISDN (Integrated Services Digigal Ne
twork) Line control unit, 35 is a codec unit, 36 is D /
A conversion unit, 37 is a display unit, 38 is an A / D conversion unit, 39 is an input unit, 40 is a storage device, 41 is an operation unit, and 42 is an ISD.
An N line 43 is an ISDN line network.

[0005] As shown in FIG. 4, the video conference device 31 is totally controlled by a control unit 32 centering on a microprocessor. The control unit 32 executes the program read from the storage unit 33, and executes an ISDN line control unit 34, a codec unit 35, a D / A conversion unit 36,
By appropriately controlling the / D conversion unit 38, the recording device 40, and the operation unit 41, various operations required as a video conference device are performed. That is, in the case of the receiving operation, the ISDN line 4
2 is sent to the ISDN line controller 34
, The compressed information such as image information is sent to the codec unit 35, and the uncompressed information is sent to the control unit 32 as it is. Each piece of information is stored in the storage unit 33, passes through the D / A conversion unit 36, and is displayed on the display unit 37 as a video signal.

On the other hand, in the case of a transmission operation, the video signal fetched from the input section 39 is sent to the storage section 33 after being converted into digital data through the A / D conversion section 38. Also,
When information is stored in the recording device 40 in a similar manner, the information is sent directly from the recording device 40 to the storage unit 33. If the information stored in the storage unit 33 requires compression of image information and the like, the information is sent to the codec unit 35 and subjected to compression processing, and then sent to the line control unit 34, where the compression of character information and the like is performed. Are not sent to the line control unit 34. The various information is sent to the ISDN network 43 via the line control unit 34 and the ISDN line 42.

The operation section 41 is composed of ten keys, function keys and other various mode display lamps. Various information stored in the storage unit 33 can be stored at any time by operating the operation unit 41. In this case, the information in the storage unit 33 is transmitted to the recording device 40 via the control unit 32.
Sent to and recorded.

[0008]

As described above, it is desirable that a conventional video conference apparatus be installed for each selection, such as a telephone or a facsimile apparatus which has been widely used to date. Since the frequency of use is not so high and the price is high at the beginning, it is assumed that one TV conference apparatus is used by many people.
In that case, each terminal is installed in a place that is easy for everyone to use, and the larger the number of people who use each terminal, the more the terminal is installed in a place away from the user. Therefore, when image data such as materials and pictures to be used for the meeting is transmitted before the meeting, the receiving speaker may not be notified that the image has been received.

In such a video conference apparatus used by a large number of people, when storing images, the images are stored in the recording device in the order in which they are received.
With the above configuration, when a target image is to be quickly searched, data for one screen or compressed data is sequentially read from all data to be searched from an information recording device in which image data is stored. Because the number of stored images increases, the time and effort required for searching increases. This has the problem that repeating such a search while the line is connected, such as during a meeting, leads to waste of communication costs, and may also be a factor that hinders the smooth progress of the meeting. .

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and even if an image addressed to itself is automatically received by a video conference apparatus, the notification of the incoming call and the contents are automatically output to the nearest facsimile. It is an object of the present invention to provide a video conference device that prevents a user from being confused while receiving an incoming call.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned object, (1) a television which enables a conference with a remote speaker by performing two-way communication of images and voices via a communication network. In the conference apparatus, an automatic receiving means for automatically receiving information when an incoming call signal is received, an analog line control unit for connecting to a facsimile apparatus connected to an analog network, and A telephone number detecting means for detecting a telephone number of a transmission destination connected to the analog line network among the received call signals, and the analog line based on the telephone number detected by the telephone number detecting means. An automatic dial transmission means for controlling a control unit to perform automatic dial transmission to the transmission destination; a recording device capable of storing received information in the automatic reception means; (2) an image conversion processing unit for converting the information stored in the device into a facsimile signal, and automatic facsimile transmission means for automatically transmitting the facsimile signal to a destination using automatic dial transmission means. The image to be transmitted to the destination facsimile machine includes a caller name, a source telephone number, a date and time of reception,
The apparatus is characterized in that it comprises means for adding each information of the total number of received images and the search information, and (3) means for reducing the image obtained by the image conversion processing section.

[0012]

The video conference apparatus according to the present invention performs the following operations by including the analog line control unit and the automatic facsimile transmission unit. That is, when the incoming call signal is received, the telephone number of the transmission destination connected to the analog network is detected, and the received information is stored in the recording device. When all the information is received, the analog line control unit is controlled based on the detected telephone number to perform automatic dialing to the transmission destination. Then, by performing image conversion processing for converting the received information stored in the recording device into a facsimile signal and transmitting the facsimile signal to the transmission destination, images such as materials and pictures to be used in the conference in advance before the conference are performed. When the data is transmitted, it is notified by transmitting a facsimile reception image near the receiving speaker and its additional information, and can be applied to materials for a conference to be performed later and an index for search.

[0013]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of a video conference apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a video conference apparatus, 2 is a control unit, 3 is a storage unit, and 4 is an ISDN line. A control unit, 5 a codec unit, 6 a D / A conversion unit, 7 a display unit, 8 an A / D conversion unit, 9 an input unit, 10 a storage device,
11 is an image conversion processing unit, 12 is an operation unit, 13 is ISDN
Line, 14 a facsimile compression / decompression unit, 15 a modem unit, 16 an analog line control unit, 17 an extension, 18 a private branch exchange, 19-1 to 19-n facsimile machines,
0 is an analog network, 21 is an analog line, 22 is IS
It is a DN network.

[0014] As in the conventional example, it is generally controlled by a control unit 2 mainly composed of a microprocessor. The control unit 2 appropriately controls the image conversion processing unit 11, the facsimile compression / decompression unit 14, the modem unit 15, and the analog line control unit 16 in addition to the conventional example, thereby realizing the video conference device 1 of the present embodiment. Of various operations. The analog line control unit 16 has an automatic dial transmission function. As will be described later, a dial signal can be transmitted to the extension 17 by appropriately controlling the analog line control unit 16 from the control unit 2. Has been made. The extension 17 is connected via a private branch exchange 18 to facsimile machines 19-1, 19-2,..., 19-n of each section in the office.

Next, the operation of the video conference apparatus of this embodiment will be described. Now, it is assumed that a video conference device similar to the video conference device 1 shown in FIG. 3 is installed at a digital line signal source connected via the ISDN line 13. In such a state, in order to transmit an image from the video conference device of the transmission source, first, an image is fetched from the image input unit 9 to the storage unit 3 via the A / D conversion unit 8 or the recording device 11 A reading operation for storing the previously captured image stored in the storage unit 3 in the storage unit 3 is performed. Next, using the numeric keypad constituting the operation unit 12, the outside line telephone number of the video conference
The extension number of the facsimile machine 19-1 of the destination department in the office is sequentially input, and a start command is given to the machine.

Then, a dial transmission process is performed to establish a line connection with the other party's video conference device 1 which is the destination, and thereafter, the facsimile device 1 of the destination department
The 9-n extension number information and the image information obtained from the storage unit 3 are sequentially transmitted to the other party's video conference device 1 via the ISDN line 13.

On the other hand, the following operation is performed in the video conference apparatus 1. That is, after performing automatic line connection processing, the video conference device 1 on the receiving side sends the line control unit 4 the information of the calling terminal and the extension number information of the destination facsimile device transmitted from the ISDN line 13 to the line control unit 4. And stores it in a predetermined area of the storage unit 3.
The date and time at that time are also stored. Then ISD
The image information sent from the N line 13 is decoded by the codec unit 5 in the same manner as in the conventional device, and the decoded image information is once taken into the storage unit 3 and sequentially stored in the recording device 1.
It is accumulated at 0.

In this manner, while repeating the reception of the image information and the recording in the recording device, the reception of the final surface of the image information,
When the recording is completed, the total number of received images is recorded together, and an automatic line release process is performed. Next, the control section 2 reads out the extension number information of the destination facsimile apparatus from the recording section 3 and supplies the information to the analog line control section 16. Then, in the analog line control unit 16, an automatic dialing process is performed based on the given extension number information, and a dial signal is sent to the extension 17. As a result, the private branch exchange 18 operates to establish a line connection to one of the corresponding facsimile machines 19-1, 19-2,..., 19-n.

Here, the analog line controller 16 receives the reception condition information of the partner facsimile machine in the negotiation with the corresponding facsimile machine. The reception condition information refers to, for example, communication information, the size of paper to be printed, monochrome or color, whether or not gradation printing is possible, and the like. Next, the previously received images are read out from the recording device 10 in order from the first received image, and stored in the storage unit 3.
Is written in the image data area. The written image is image-converted by the image conversion processing unit 11. At that time, the image conversion processing unit 11 reads out the above-described reception condition information, generates image data suitable for the receiving-side facsimile apparatus, and stores it in the facsimile image area of the storage unit 3.

As an example of specific image conversion, (1) an image is scaled up or down to a size corresponding to the size of paper to be printed, and (2) in the case of a color-compatible facsimile machine,
Convert to color code for facsimile and perform color correction,
(3) In the case of monochrome, a process of extracting only the luminance component of the image data and converting it into a monochrome gradation image by a dot pattern operation is performed.

At this time, as shown in FIG.
Information on the video conference device that is the image sending terminal (sender name, sender's phone number, etc.), (2) date and time of reception, (3)
Information such as the total number of received data and (4) a search number is added. The search number in (4) is search information added when an image is stored in the recording device.
It is desirable that the keypad can be searched using the numeric keypad.

The facsimile image data generated in this way is sent to the facsimile compression / expansion unit 14 where it is subjected to a compression process, and then sent to the modem unit 15 where it is subjected to a modulation process. It is sent to the control unit 16. Then, the image is sent to the other party's facsimile machine via the extension 17 and the private branch exchange 18. In the facsimile image generation part, as shown in FIG. 3, when the image is enlarged or reduced to a size corresponding to the size of the paper to be printed, the image is further reduced and stored in the facsimile image area of the storage unit 3. Is stored by shifting one reduced screen at a time,
By sequentially reading out the image data stored in the recording device 10 and repeating the image conversion process until the image data is completely covered by the printing paper, a plurality of images can be printed on the printing paper.

In the above description, the image data stored in the recording device 10 has been handled as uncompressed image data. However, in all data exchanges between the recording unit 3 and the recording device 10, Once compressed / expanded via the codec unit 5, it becomes possible to accumulate the compressed image data in the recording device 10, and effectively use the recording device effectively.

In the present embodiment, the analog line control unit 16 is connected to the private branch exchange 18 via the extension line 17. However, the extension number information of the destination facsimile apparatus is replaced with the outside line number information. Analog line controller 16
From then on, by directly connecting to the analog network 20, the received image can be transmitted to a facsimile machine installed outside the premises (not shown), so that the video conference apparatus of the present invention can be notified of the reception. . further,
In the present embodiment, it has been described that the data to be automatically received is image data. However, the data stored in the recording device is not limited to only a still image. Or the like, it is possible to convey a certain amount of the contents of the moving image to the receiver as a still image.

As described above, in the video conference apparatus having the automatic incoming call function, by providing the analog line control section and the automatic facsimile transmission means, image data such as materials and pictures to be used in the conference can be stored before the conference. In the case of transmission, a video conference device that has a function to notify the facsimile device of the communication partner by transmitting the received image and the additional information by transmitting the received image and the additional information and to utilize it as a material for a subsequent conference and an index for search, etc. can do.

[0026]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in a large-scale office having a large number of facsimile machines, only one or a few video conference machines are installed. Even when an image addressed to the user is automatically received by the video conference device, the notification and the content of the nearest facsimile call are automatically output, so that the user does not have to know the incoming call. Further, the printed image of the facsimile apparatus enables a wide range of effective use such as a meeting material and an index for searching for a target image. In particular, the search for the target image can be expected to be much more efficient than the search on the screen.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment of a video conference apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a print example output to a destination facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating another example of printing output to a destination facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a conventional video conference device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Video conference apparatus, 2 ... Control part, 3 ... Storage part, 4 ... I
SDN line control unit, 5 codec unit, 6 D / A conversion unit, 7 display unit, 8 A / D conversion unit, 9 input unit, 10
... Recording device, 11 ... Image conversion processing unit, 12 ... Operation unit, 1
3 ISDN line, 14 Compression / decompression unit for facsimile, 15 Modem unit, 16 Analog line control unit, 17
.. Extension, 18 private branch exchange, 19-1 to 19-n facsimile machine, 20 analog line network, 21 analog line, 22 ISDN line network.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/00 H04N 1/32 H04N 7/15 H04M 3/56

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A video conference apparatus which enables a conference with a remote speaker by performing two-way communication of an image and a voice via a communication network, and automatically receives information when an incoming call signal is received. Receiving means, an analog line control unit for making a connection with a facsimile apparatus connected to an analog network, and the automatic receiving means, in the received call signal, connecting to the analog network. Telephone number detecting means for detecting a telephone number of a destination to be transmitted,
Based on the telephone number detected by the telephone number detection unit, an automatic dial transmission unit that controls the analog line control unit to perform an automatic dial transmission to the transmission destination;
A recording device capable of storing the received information, an image conversion processing unit for converting the information stored in the recording device into a facsimile signal, and a transmission destination using the automatic dial transmission device for the facsimile signal. A video conferencing apparatus comprising: an automatic facsimile transmission means for automatically transmitting a call to a video conference. 2. An image transmitted to the facsimile machine of the transmission destination includes a unit for adding information of a caller name, a transmission source telephone number, a reception date and time, a total number of receptions, and search information. The video conference device according to claim 1, wherein 3. The video conference apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for reducing an image obtained by said image conversion processing unit.