JP3276923B2 - Phone number guidance method and system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone directory service, and more particularly to a system therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, relatively frequently used telephone numbers are memorized in a head or registered in a personal telephone number list. However, it is impossible to memorize and register the telephone numbers of all the parties. The telephone number of such a party can be looked up in a telephone directory.

[0003] However, there is a case where the telephone directory is not at hand when going out. In many cases, the telephone directory itself is not prepared for the other party outside the city or in the ward even at the office or home.
In particular, mobile phones, PHSs, etc., which have become popular in recent years
In many cases, mobile phones are not used in an environment where they can be used on the go and use a telephone directory. Usually, a mobile phone is provided with a telephone number registration function, and the necessary telephone number can be registered in advance,
After all, it is impossible to register every phone number.

[0004]

Accordingly, a telephone number guidance service is used. The user calls the service organization and informs the guidance operator of the other party's specific information, and the guidance operator searches for the phone number based on the information, and the phone number obtained as a result is spoken. Will be answered.

However, the telephone number is usually a numerical value of 10 digits or more, and it is not always easy to immediately and accurately store even if a response is received by voice. If there is a memo pad at hand, this problem can be solved by taking note of it.However, there is usually no such memo at hand or in a situation where you can take memos with the above mobile phone. is there.

[0006] Furthermore, when a call is made to the other party of the telephone number once memorized or memorized, the numerical value of the number must be entered by a key, which is troublesome.
There is a risk of erroneous input.

The present invention has been made in such a background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a telephone number guidance method and system which does not require a user to memorize telephone numbers answered by telephone number guidance. It is in.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a telephone number guidance method and system capable of dialing a telephone number answered by telephone number guidance by a simple operation without making a mistake.

[0009]

A telephone number guidance method according to the present invention performs a telephone number search process based on specific information of a telephone number inquired from a user via a telephone line, and obtains the information by the search process. A document containing the search result including at least the telephone number is created, and the response document is transmitted to the user as an e-mail.

According to this method, the user can receive the telephone number to be guided in the form of data as e-mail, so that the user can store the telephone number notified by voice as in the prior art. No need to write or take notes.

The response document can be created by embedding the search result in a template of a markup language document prepared in advance.

Further, a telephone number guidance system according to the present invention for carrying out this method performs a telephone number search process based on telephone number specific information inquired by a user via a telephone line. Search means, processing means for creating a document containing the search result including at least the telephone number obtained by the search processing, and transmission means for transmitting the response document as an e-mail to the user. Features.

The processing means creates the response document by embedding, for example, a search result including at least a telephone number obtained by the search process in a template of a markup language document prepared in advance.

[0014]

[0015]

[0016]

[0017]

In this specification, the term "portable telephone" substantially includes an information terminal device having a communication function such as a PDA.

[0019]

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a telephone number guidance system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The telephone number guidance service is provided in a department or organization of a telephone company (referred to as a guidance center in this specification). This system includes a telephone number database 11, a telephone number search system 12, a plurality of search terminal devices 13 to 15, and operator telephones 16 to 18 corresponding to these terminal devices. A mail server 20 is connected to the system according to the present embodiment, and the mail server 20 is further connected to the Internet 21.

A guide operator is seated in front of each of the terminal devices 13 to 15 and responds to an inquiry received from the telephone at his or her seat. The guidance operator asks the user for a specific personal name and corporate name (in some cases, job type, location, etc.) of the telephone number, and based on this, the number search system 12.
Perform a search on. The obtained search result is confirmed on the display screen of the terminal device. Therefore, the guidance operator confirms whether the user wants to be notified by voice or data. In the case of voice notification, the guidance operator instructs a voice response to an existing automatic response device (not shown) using voice synthesis.

In the case of notification by data, the guidance operator gives an instruction for that from the terminal device. This allows
A guide reply mail for the mail address of the user is created and stored in the mail server 20.

A user who wants to be notified of data requests a telephone number guide from a portable telephone with a data communication function or a portable information terminal device with a communication function (PDA: Personal Digital Assistant, etc.). These users hang up after temporarily requesting telephone directory information. Thereafter, the user makes a telephone call to a specific Internet service provider, connects to the Internet, accesses the mail server 20, and checks his / her received mail. Therefore, the mail from the telephone number information center is opened and displayed on the display screen. By instructing (selecting) the displayed telephone number, the user can activate automatic dialing for that telephone number.

By receiving the notification of the telephone number in the data, the user does not need to memorize or write down the number. In addition, the automatic dialing of the stored telephone number eliminates the need to key in a numeric value of 10 digits or more.

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of a portable telephone with a data communication function used by a user in the present embodiment.
This portable telephone has a flat display 122, various keys 131, a speaker 137, a microphone 136, an antenna 1
35. However, this appearance is the same as that of the existing one, and there is no feature in itself.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic hardware configuration of the portable telephone shown in FIG. Parts corresponding to those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In this configuration, a central processing unit (CPU) 101 controls the entire portable telephone 100. The CPU 101 includes a ROM 105, a flash memory 107, a RAM 108, a flat display 12
2, various keys 131 and a communication control unit 133 are connected.

The ROM 105 is a read-only nonvolatile memory, and stores various computer programs executed by the CPU 101 and necessary data. This program includes a browser (browsing software) whose functions are expanded according to the present invention.

The flash memory 107 is a rewritable nonvolatile memory for storing various types of personal information that a user wants to store in a nonvolatile manner. Also, a program that can be upgraded can be stored in the flash memory 107. However, a flash memory need not be used as long as the storage means achieves the intended purpose.

Here, "personal information" includes names and names of individuals, corporations, various organizations, etc. (collectively, "individuals"), as well as telephone numbers (mobile phones, PHS phone number), FAX number,
It may include an email address, a URL, etc. Information including the telephone number notified by the directory guide can be registered as such personal information.

The RAM 108 provides a temporary storage area and a work area necessary for the CPU 101 to execute a program, and an area for storing various data necessary for executing the program.

The flat panel display 122 is a device for displaying various information on the portable telephone for notifying the user.

The communication control section 133 is a section for controlling wireless communication of voice and data. The communication control section 133 is connected to the antenna 135 via the RF section 134 and performs processing of radio signals. The audio processing unit 138 includes a microphone 136 and a speaker 137.
To perform audio input / output processing.

In FIG. 1, detailed configurations (for example, a display memory, a display controller, an input / output control unit, etc.) are not shown.

In the present embodiment, a hypertext markup language (HTML) is used.
The received mail described in e) is interpreted by the browser and displayed on the screen of the flat display 122. A so-called anchor point is set for the telephone number displayed on the browser screen. Therefore, when making a call with this portable telephone, the user can select a telephone number on the display screen on which the anchor point is set by a predetermined operation to make a call without entering a telephone number key. I can do it. Here, the "predetermined operation" is to select an anchor point of a target telephone number by button operation or the like.

Next, referring to the sequence diagram of FIG. 4, the processing of the user and the guidance center in this embodiment, and the exchange between the user, the guidance center, and the mail server (within the provider) will be more concretely described. Will be described.

First, the user makes a normal telephone call to the information center. The operator of the guidance center responds to this. The exchange here is performed by voice.

After inquiring the information for the search, the operator operates the terminal device to start the telephone number search process. As a result, the search processing of the search system 12 is executed (S71), and the search result is displayed on the display device of the terminal device (S72).

If it is confirmed in the conversation with the previous user that the user wants to be notified by voice (S73, N
o), an automatic voice response process is started to notify the telephone number obtained as a result of the search process (S71) by voice (S7).
7). After the response is completed, the line is disconnected (S78).

If it is confirmed that the user wants to be notified by data, the line is disconnected (S74). Then, based on the telephone number and the attached information (described later) obtained as a result of the search processing (S71), a response mail in HTML format addressed to the mail address of the user is automatically created by the terminal device (S75). Then, this mail is stored in the mail server 20 (S76). In this embodiment,
The mail server 20 is located in or near the information center, and can store mail without passing through a public line. The mail address of the user used here is uniquely specified from the telephone number of the user, and is known on the guide center side. This e-mail address includes, for example, a telephone number and a domain name.

On the other hand, when receiving a voice notification, the user disconnects the line after the voice notification ends.
When receiving the data notification, the line is disconnected after the operator is notified that the data notification is performed. Then, select the mail function. Therefore, automatic dialing is performed for the service provider according to a user's instruction (S51). Thereby, the mail server 20
Is accessed, and the mail addressed to the user is received and stored (S52). Thereafter, the line is disconnected based on the user's instruction (S53). Further, based on the selection of the mail by the user, the HTML mail from the guidance center is interpreted and displayed (S54). By selecting the displayed telephone number, the user can perform automatic dialing to that number without keying in a numerical value.

As described above, the telephone number in the received data can be registered as personal information data in the portable telephone.

FIG. 5 shows a mail display example in step S54 of FIG. This screen is a browser display screen based on data transmitted from the telephone number information center. The portion 51 on the display screen is a fixed sentence, and the portion 5
2 is the content obtained from the search result.

FIG. 6 shows an HTML corresponding to the display example of FIG.
Indicates a document. In the figure, portions surrounded by square frames 61, 62, and 63 are portions corresponding to the search result 52, and the other portions are fixedly prepared in advance as templates. “Tel:” in the anchor tag immediately before the frame 62 indicates that when the browser detects this in the anchor tag “<>”,
This is a command for starting a script (program) for automatic dialing. Step S74 of FIG.
Then, a target HTML document can be created by automatically embedding a character string of a search result in such a template.

In the first embodiment described above, the user can selectively select only one of the voice notification and the data notification. However, the user may be able to select both. That is, after receiving the voice notification, the user can be notified of the data just in case or for the purpose of registering the telephone number in his / her own portable telephone.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above embodiment, the user has to make two calls to each of the directory assistance center and the service provider in order to receive the notification of the telephone directory information as data. In the present embodiment, this is completed only once. FIG. 7 shows a sequence diagram similar to FIG.

As in the case of FIG. 4, first, the user makes a normal telephone call to the guidance center. The operator of the guidance center responds to this. After inquiring the information for the search, the operator operates the terminal device to activate the telephone number search process. As a result, the search processing of the search system 12 is executed (S91), and the search result is displayed on a display device (not shown) of the terminal device (S92).

If it is confirmed in the conversation with the previous user that the user wants to be notified by voice (S93, N
o), an automatic voice response process is started to notify by voice the telephone number obtained as a result of the search process (S91) (S9).
7). After the response is completed, the line is disconnected (S96).

If it is confirmed that the user wants to be notified by data, the present embodiment proceeds to the next processing without disconnecting the line. That is, a tone signal sequence is created based on the search result (S94). The tone signal is a DTMF (Dual Tone Multi-Frequency) signal, and is an analog signal obtained corresponding to each push button of the telephone. Therefore, by transmitting the tone signal corresponding to the telephone number, the receiving side can reproduce the numerical sequence of the telephone number based on the tone signal sequence. By associating the combination of tone signals with characters in advance, it is possible to transmit data such as characters. The correspondence between the combination of tone signals and characters (including numerical values) is determined in advance in the ROM 10 in the telephone.
5 (FIG. 3) can be stored as a table. After the tone signal sequence is created, the tone signal sequence is transmitted to the user on the same line as the telephone line for which an inquiry has been made (S95).

It is assumed that the user wants to notify the guidance operator of data. In this case, after the user verbally informs the user of the "notification of data now" from the guidance operator, the user places the portable telephone in a tone signal reception waiting state by pressing a predetermined button or the like.

Upon receiving the tone signal sequence from the guidance center (S81, Yes), the portable telephone stores the data in the RAM 108 (108) until the reception is completed (S82).

After the reception is completed, the line is disconnected (S83),
The received data is decrypted based on the contents of the table (S84). Further, by incorporating this decryption result into an HTML template, an HTML document as described above with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 is automatically created (S85). This HTML document is displayed on the screen of the portable telephone (S
86).

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.

For example, although an HTML document is used to set an anchor point for automatic dialing, another markup language may be used as long as a similar function can be achieved.

In the first embodiment,
Although the e-mail described in HTML is transmitted from the information center, a simple text mail is transmitted, and a telephone number in the text mail is extracted by the portable telephone on the receiving side, and is extracted as in the second embodiment. An HTML document may be created on the receiving side by embedding it in an HTML template. Extracting a telephone number can be easily performed by finding a numerical value that follows a specific character such as "tel:".

[0056]

According to the present invention, by receiving a telephone number guidance response in the form of data, the user does not need to memorize the telephone number himself, and there is no risk of erroneous memory. Furthermore, by automatically dialing the portable telephone based on the data of the received telephone number, the operation is simplified and the possibility of erroneous dialing is eliminated.

[0057]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a telephone number guidance system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a mobile phone with a data communication function used by a user in the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic hardware configuration of the portable telephone of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram for explaining a process between a user and a guidance center and an exchange between the user, the guidance center, and a mail server (within a provider) in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example in step S55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an HTML document corresponding to the display example of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram similar to FIG. 4 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11: database, 12: telephone number search system, 1
3, 14, 15 ... terminal device for search, 16, 17, 18 ...
Operator telephone, 20 mail server, 21 Internet, 100 portable telephone, 101 CPU,
105 ROM, 107 flash memory, 108
RAM, 122 flat display, 131 various keys, 133 communication control unit, 134 RF unit, 135 antenna, 136 microphone, 137 speaker, 138
Voice processing unit.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-9-233195 (JP, A) JP-A-1-241957 (JP, A) JP-A-7-297924 (JP, A) JP-A-10- 133847 (JP, A) JP-A-61-141242 (JP, A) JP-A-1-137861 (JP, A) JP-A-63-73756 (JP, A) JP-A-9-36986 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04M 3/42-3/58 H04M 11/00-11/10 H04Q 3/58

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. Search for a telephone number based on specific information of a telephone number inquired by a user via a telephone line by a portable telephone having a function of receiving and displaying an e-mail described in a markup language. Performing a process; creating a response document by embedding the telephone number obtained by the search process as an anchor point in a template of a markup language document prepared in advance; and converting the response document into an electronic mail. Transmitting the response document to the mobile phone, the response document, the user of the mobile phone received as an e-mail by indicating the anchor point of the phone number on the display screen, the response document Phone number guidance method characterized in that it is created to perform automatic dialing 2. The telephone number guidance method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of selectively performing one or both of a data notification and a voice notification by the electronic mail in response to an instruction of the user. . 3. A search for a telephone number based on specific information of a telephone number inquired by a user via a telephone line by a portable telephone having a function of receiving and displaying an e-mail described in a markup language. Telephone number search means for performing processing; processing means for creating a response document by embedding at least the telephone number obtained by the search processing as an anchor point in a template of a markup language document prepared in advance; Transmitting means for transmitting a document as an e-mail to the portable telephone, wherein the response document is such that a user of the portable telephone, which has received the e-mail, designates an anchor point of the telephone number on a display screen. Is created so that automatic dialing is performed for the telephone number. Telephone number guidance system. 4. The telephone number according to claim 3, further comprising means for selectively executing one or both of the data notification and the voice notification by the e-mail in response to the instruction of the user. Guidance system.