JP3407680B2 - Telephone 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 telephone device,
In particular, the present invention relates to a telephone device compatible with a call service in which the called party bears the call charge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, there is a call service in which the called party pays the call charge in order to reduce the call charge burden on the caller side. Such a call service is used when the called side wants the calling side user to widely and easily use a call to a predetermined dial number.

[0003]

However, in the conventional telephone device, the calling side does not know from the dialed number of the called side that the calling side bears the charge of the calling side, and the called side to which the call charge is charged is the call charge. There was a problem that the call charge used was not known until was charged.
The present invention is to solve such a problem,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a telephone device compatible with a call service in which the called party bears the call charge.

[0004]

In order to achieve such an object, the telephone device according to the present invention sends call setting data.
After leaving, receive the charge data notified from the ISDN network
From the receiving means and the fee data received by this receiving means
Billing information showing the call charge per unit time required for the call
And the calling party bears the call charges.
Detection means for detecting a charge type indicating whether the call is made,
Based on the billing information detected by this detecting means,
Detecting by providing counting means to count the call charges required for talking
Call charge for the call, depending on the billing type detected by the method
If it is determined that the
The call charge is transmitted as charge information to the called party at the end of the call .

[0005] Also, the detected charging type by the detection means, as the call charge of the call if it is determined that the called party burden, and transmits the charging information detected by the detection means to the receiver side It was done.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telephone device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a block diagram of the entire hardware and (b) is a main part of a functional block diagram. In FIG. 1A, this telephone device is an IS via a DSU (line terminating device) 1 that terminates an ISDN line L.
It is a digital telephone device connected to a DN network and has the following configuration.

Reference numeral 2 is a driver receiver for transmitting data to the DSU 1 and receiving data from the DSU 1, 3 is an I interface circuit, 4 is a control unit (CPU) for controlling the entire telephone device, and 5 is a control unit 4. A ROM for storing various programs, a RAM 6 for storing various data used for processing operations in the control unit 4, such as transmission restriction conditions and speed dial numbers, which will be described later, 7 a display unit such as an LCD, and 8 dial keys. It is a key section that consists of operation keys such as and speed dial keys.

Further, 9 outputs various sound sources,
A sound source control circuit for encoding / decoding a voice signal, 10 is a call circuit for making a call using the handset HS, and SP is a speaker. The I interface circuit 3, the control unit 4, the ROM 5, the RAM 6, the display unit 7, the key unit 8 and the sound source control circuit 9 have a common bus BU.
They are connected by S, and various data are exchanged as needed.

The present invention utilizes a charge advance notification service provided by the ISDN network and manages call charges based on charge data notified by the service.
Various programs executed by the control unit 4 and the above-mentioned hardware are used to configure a functional block relating to call charge management as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1 (b), 11 is a receiving means for transmitting the call setting data to the ISDN network and then receiving the fee data notified from the ISDN network by the fee advance notification service, and 12 is the receiving means 11. It is a detection means for detecting, from the received charge data, a charge required for a call or communication, that is, charge information including a call charge and an information charge, and a charge type indicating which of a caller side and a callee side is charged.

Reference numeral 13 is a display unit (display unit 7) for displaying various information and the burden on the receiving side to the user based on the charge type, and 14 is a call charge based on the charge information detected by the detection unit 12. Counting means for counting, 15 is IS
It is a transmission means for transmitting the charge data notified from the DN network, the charging information based on the charge data, or the call charge counted by the counting means 14 to the receiving side.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, a charge advance notification service in the ISDN network will be described. Figure 2 is IS
It is explanatory drawing which shows the charge advance notification service in DN network, (a) is a system block diagram, (b) is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement.

In FIG. 2A, a calling side telephone device 21 is a telephone device to which the present invention is applied, and is accommodated in an ISDN network 23. In addition, the destination telephone device 22 directly
It does not need to be accommodated in the SDN network 23, and may be connected to the ISDN network 23 via another network.

First, a calling operation is performed by the user on the calling side telephone device 21, and in response to this, a call setting 24 including the dial number of the receiving side telephone device 22 is sent from the calling side telephone device 21 to the IS.
It is sent to the DN network 23. In this case, the activation number for activating the advance charge notification service is set in the call setting 24.

In accordance with the call setting 24, the ISDN network 23 uses charge notification 25 for charge data relating to a call (communication) with the destination telephone device 22, here, call charge, information charge and information charge non-charge time. The calling telephone device 21 is notified.
Almost in parallel with this, the ISDN network 23 sends a call 26 to the destination telephone device 22 to start the call.

After that, when a response operation is performed on the destination telephone device 22, a response 27 is sent from the destination telephone device 22 to the ISDN network 23, and a response is sent from the ISDN network 23 to the originating telephone device 21. 28 is sent out. This allows
The calling side telephone device 21 and the called side telephone device 22 are connected via the ISDN network 23, and a call (communication) is started.

In this way, in the calling side telephone device 21,
By using the charge advance notification service, it is possible to acquire from the ISDN network 23 the charge data regarding the call (communication) with the called telephone device 22, that is, the call charge, the information charge and the information charge non-charge time at the time of calling. .

FIG. 3 is an example of a format showing charge data notified from the ISDN network. The charge data is actually stored and notified in a predetermined message such as an additional information message sent from the ISDN network 23 to the calling side telephone device 21.

The charge notification information element identifier 31 stores an identifier indicating that the subsequent data is charge notification information, and the charge notification content length 32 stores the length of the charge notification information. The information type 33 stores the type of each charge information stored in the information field 34 described later, for example, the charge type indicating whether the charge required for the call is charged to the calling side or the called side.

In the information field 34, actual charge data, here, call charge 35, information charge 36 and information charge non-charge time 37 are stored. In particular, the information fee 36
It is a fee charged in addition to the normal call charge 35 for the pay service provided by the called-side telephone device 22, and the information charge 36 and the information charge non-charge time 37 are notified as necessary. Generally, regarding the charging of the information fee 36,
As the pay service selection time by the calling user, charging is started after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the call (communication) with the called telephone device 22, and that time is notified as the information charge non-charging time 37. To be done.

The call charge 35 is a pay-as-you-go system.
In addition to the case where you are notified at a time when you can talk for a predetermined amount of money (call time per unit amount of money), such as that you can talk for 45 seconds at 0 yen, the amount of money that is charged per predetermined amount of time (the amount of money per unit time). ) May be notified. On the other hand, for the information charge 36, the notification method is the same as the call charge 35 in the case of the pay-per-use system, but one call (communication) is made in the case of the flat-rate system.
Only the amount charged for each is notified.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the following, IS
A case will be described in which the calling side telephone device counts the call charge based on the billing information notified from the DN network and notifies the called side telephone device when the call ends.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a calling process in the calling telephone device as an operation according to the first embodiment of the present invention. First, the dial number of the called side is input by the user operating the key unit 8 (step 40), and the call setting data including the dial number and the request for the charge advance notification service is sent to the ISDN network as a call request. (Step 41).

Thereafter, the fee data notified from the ISDN network is received by the receiving means 11 (step 42),
As shown in Fig. 3, the call charge 3 is calculated from the received charge data.
5, the information charge 36 and the information charge non-charge time 37, and the information type 33 including the charge type are detected by the detecting means 12 (step 43). Then, based on the charge type detected by the detection means 12, the display means 13 displays which of the calling side and the called side is charged (step 44).

In this way, the calling user recognizes at the start of the call whether the call is a general call in which the caller bears the call charge or a call based on the same type of call service as the callee pays the call charge. it can. Therefore, the calling-side user can easily determine whether the call time should be limited in order to save the call charge or the call service should be sufficiently used for the subsequent calls.

After step 44, the caller is in a calling state until the called party answers (step 45: NO), and the call is made to the called telephone device according to the answer of the called party (step 45: YES), and the call time is measured. (Step 46), the charging of the call charge is started based on the charging information previously detected by the detecting means 12 (step 47).

In the call state, a loop for detecting the end of call by the user or the call partner is executed. Here, first, it is judged whether or not there is a call end instruction (operation) by the calling side user (step 48), and if not (step 48: N).
O), it is determined whether or not there is a call end instruction (operation) from the called side (step 49). If there is no call termination instruction from the receiving side (step 49: NO), step 48
Return to and repeat the loop.

In this loop, if the call termination instruction is detected on the calling side (step 48: YES), the call termination is requested by transmitting a line release request to the called side (step 50), and then the charge is charged. When the type indicates the call charge burden on the receiving side, the charge information indicating the call charge counted during the call is transmitted to the receiving side by the transmitting means 15 (step 5).
1). Then, the line is released (step 52) and the series of processing is terminated.

On the other hand, when there is a call termination instruction (operation) from the receiving side in the loop in the call state (step 4)
9: YES), and in response to the charge information transmission request from the receiving side (step 53: YES), the process proceeds to step 51 and the charge information is transmitted. If there is no charge information transmission request from the receiving side (step 53: NO), the process goes to step 52 to release the line.

Next, the operation of the called telephone device corresponding to FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an incoming call response process at the receiving side telephone. The configuration of the receiving-side telephone device is the same as that of FIG. 1A, and the telephone device connected to the ISDN network has a necessary circuit configuration, and controls for controlling the processing operation shown in FIG. The description is omitted here because it is not particularly necessary except for the parts.

In the destination telephone device, after answering the call from the ISDN network, the incoming call answering process as shown in FIG. 5 is executed. First, a response is made into a call state, and a loop for detecting the end of call by the user or the other party is executed. Here, first, it is judged whether or not there is an end instruction (operation) by the user on the receiving side (step 60), and if not (step 60: NO), it is judged whether or not there is an end instruction (operation) by the calling side (step). 61).

If there is no call termination instruction from the calling side (step 61: NO), the process returns to step 60 and the loop is repeated. In this loop, when the call termination instruction is detected on the called side (step 60: YES), after the call termination is requested by transmitting a line release request to the calling side (step 62), the counting is performed on the calling side. A request is made to transmit the charge information indicating the call charge being made (step 63).

After that, when the charge information from the calling side is received (step 64: YES), the call charge required for the call with the calling side is displayed based on the charge information (step 65) and necessary. According to the call charges (step 66), the line is released (step 67),
A series of processing ends. On the other hand, in step 64,
If the charge information from the calling side has not been received (step 64: NO), the process shifts to step 67, the line is released, and the series of processes is ended.

As described above, since the calling side telephone device charges the call charge based on the billing information notified from the ISDN network and the call charge is transmitted to the called side telephone device at the end of the call, an accurate call for each call is made. Call rates can be grasped on the receiving side. Therefore, by summarizing the call charges notified from the calling side, it is possible to reliably estimate how much the call charge will be billed at a later date, and it is possible to appropriately utilize the call service charged to the called side.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the first embodiment, as the first embodiment, a case has been described in which the calling side telephone device charges based on the charging information notified from the ISDN network. However, in the following, as the second embodiment, A case will be described in which the charging information notified from the ISDN network is transmitted from the calling side to the called side at the start of a call and the called side charges.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an operation according to the second embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a flow chart showing a calling process in the calling side telephone device, and (b) is an incoming call in the receiving side telephone device. The flowchart which shows a process is shown.
On the calling side, as shown in FIG. 6A, first, the dial number of the called side is input by the operation of the key unit 8 by the user (step 70), and the steps 41 to 41 of FIG.
The same processing as that of 43 is executed, and the billing information and the billing type are detected from the fee data received from the ISDN network by the detecting means 12.
Is detected (steps 71 to 73).

Then, based on the charge type detected by the detection means 12, the display means 13 displays which of the calling side or the receiving side is charged (step 7).
4) If the charge type indicates the charge burden on the receiving side (step 75: YES), the charging information detected by the detecting means 12 is transmitted to the receiving side (step 76).

Then, the call state is entered, and the call state is entered according to the response from the called side (step 77: YES). Then, the call-end or call-end instruction (operation)
(Step 78: YES), the line is released (step 79), and a series of processing ends.

On the other hand, the incoming call side executes the incoming call process as shown in FIG. 6 (b). The configuration of the destination telephone device is the same as that of FIG. 1A, and the telephone device connected to the ISDN network is provided with a necessary circuit configuration, and the receiving means 12 charges information from the receiving side. 6 is received and is not particularly required except for the control unit that controls the processing operation shown in FIG. 6B, and therefore the description thereof is omitted here.

First, the incoming call is displayed in response to the incoming call from the ISDN network (step 80), and then the billing information from the calling side is received (step 81). Then, in response to the response instruction (step 82: YES), the telephone call state is counted based on the received billing information (step 83).

As a result, in the call state, the call charges are counted for each unit time, and the counted call charges are sequentially updated and displayed (step 84). After that, in response to the call-end instruction (operation) from the caller or the callee (step 8)
5: YES), after summing up the call charges required for the call (step 86), the line is released (step 87), and a series of processing is ended.

As described above, the billing information notified from the ISDN network is transmitted from the calling side to the called side at the start of the call, and the called side charges the billing information. I can figure it out. Therefore, by summarizing the call charges counted on the receiving side, it is possible to reliably estimate how much the call charge will be charged at a later date, and it is possible to appropriately utilize the call service that bears the receiving side charges.

Next, the operation of the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the following, IS
A case will be described in which the call charges are counted in the DN network and transmitted to the called telephone device at the end of the call.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of the third embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a flow chart showing the call request processing of the ISDN network (switch), and (b) is the callee telephone device. The flowchart which shows an incoming-call response process is shown. In response to a call request (call setting data) from the calling telephone device, the call request process of FIG. 7A is started. First, a call charge required for the call is acquired by referring to a charge table prepared in advance from the dial numbers of the calling and called telephone devices (step 90).

Then, the call charge is notified to the caller as charge data by the charge advance notification service described above (step 91), and an incoming call request (call) is transmitted to the callee (step 92). As a result, the calling state is established, and in response to the response from the receiving side (step 93: YES), the line of the calling side and the receiving side are connected to shift to the calling state (step 94), and the counting of the call charges is started (step 94). 95).

After that, in the call state, after detecting a call termination request from the calling side or the called side (step 96: Y).
ES), in response to receiving the line release request (step 97:
(YES), the call charge counted during the call is transmitted to the called party as charge information (step 98). Then, the line is released (step 99) and the series of processing is terminated.

On the other hand, in the destination telephone device, after responding to the call from the ISDN network, the incoming call answering process as shown in FIG. 7B is executed. It should be noted that the configuration of the destination telephone device is the same as that of FIG. 1A, and the telephone device connected to the ISDN network has a necessary circuit configuration.
Since it is not particularly necessary in addition to the control unit for controlling the processing operation shown in FIG. 7B, description thereof will be omitted here. First, a response is made into a call state, and a loop for detecting the end of call by the user or the other party is executed.

If there is a call termination instruction (operation) by the user on the receiving side or the calling side (step 100: Y).
ES) and a circuit release request are transmitted (step 101).
Thereafter, the charge information from the ISDN network is received (step 102), and the call charge required for the call with the calling side is displayed based on the charge information (step 103).
If necessary, the call charges are totaled (step 104), the line is released (step 105), and the series of processing is terminated.

As described above, by utilizing the call charge counting function provided in the ISDN network (exchange), the call charge counted for each individual call is notified to the destination telephone device at the end of the call. By doing so, the called party can grasp the accurate call charge for each call. Therefore, IS
By summing up the call charges notified from the DN network, it is possible to reliably estimate how much the call charges will be billed at a later date, and it is possible to appropriately utilize the call service that bears the charges on the receiving side.

In each of the embodiments described above, when the charge information and the billing information are transmitted and received between the calling side telephone device and the receiving side telephone device, or between the ISDN network and the receiving side telephone device, A specific message may be used for transmission / reception, and existing information may store this information.

As for the method of totalizing the call charges, in addition to totaling the entire device, in the case of a key telephone device, it may be totaled for each telephone, and there are many telephones and they are grouped into individual tenants. If so, it may be aggregated for each tenant. Furthermore, the total may be calculated for each of the two communication channels provided in the ISDN line L.
When a plurality of DN lines L are connected, the data may be totaled for each ISDN line.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention, after the call setting data is transmitted, it is shown from the charge data notified from the ISDN network whether the call charge is borne by the caller or the callee. The billing type and the billing information is detected.
Based on the number of calls required for subsequent calls, billing
Depending on the type, it may be determined that the call charge for that call is borne by the called party.
If declined, the counted call charges will be used as charge information.
It is designed to be transmitted to the called party when the call ends.
Or, depending on the billing type, the call charge for the call is
If it is judged to be a burden, it was detected by the detection means.
The billing information is transmitted to the called side. Shi
Therefore, the exact call charge for each call on the called side
You can grasp the
It is possible to accurately estimate how much the call charge will be charged and
It is possible to properly utilize the call service that is charged by the receiver.

[0053]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telephone device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a charge advance notification service in an ISDN network.

FIG. 3 is a format example showing charge data notified from the ISDN network.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a calling process on the calling side according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing incoming call response processing on the called side according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... DSU, 2 ... Driver receiver, 3 ... I interface circuit, 4 ... Control part, 5 ... ROM, 6 ... RAM, 7
Display unit, 8 key unit, 9 sound source control circuit, 10 communication circuit, 11 receiving unit, 12 detecting unit, 13 display unit, 14 counting unit, 15 transmitting unit, 21 calling telephone Equipment, 22 ... destination telephone equipment, 23 ... ISDN network.

Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-3-295351 (JP, A) JP-A-63-115452 (JP, A) JP-A-4-61544 (JP, A) JP-A-4-45650 (JP , A) JP-A-6-105021 (JP, A) JP-A-6-350749 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04M 15/00 H04M 3/42

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A call charge is applied to the called party when connected to an ISDN network.
It is a telephone device that can make calls to a calling service that costs money.
, The charge notified from the ISDN network after sending the call setting data
Receiving means for receiving data, required for the call from the fee data received by the receiving means
Billing information that shows the call charge per unit time, and the call charge
Whether the call is borne by the calling or called party
Indicating a charge type indicating the charge type and the subsequent information based on the charge information detected by the detecting means.
Depending on the billing type detected by the counting means and the counting means that counts the call charge required for the call , the call for that call
If the charges are determined to be borne by the called party, they will be counted.
Call charges are sent to the recipient at the end of the call as charge information
A telephone device, comprising: 2. The caller is connected to the ISDN network and the receiving side is charged.
It is a telephone device that can make calls to a calling service that costs money.
, The charge notified from the ISDN network after sending the call setting data
Receiving means for receiving data, required for the call from the fee data received by the receiving means
Billing information per unit time showing the call charge, and the call charge
Whether the call is borne by the calling or called party
Of the call according to the detecting means for detecting the charging type indicating the number and the charging type detected by the detecting means .
Detects if the call charge is determined to be borne by the called party
Sending means for sending the billing information detected by the means to the called party
A telephone device comprising: