JP4805373B2 - Answering machine and message reproduction promotion method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an answering machine that records and reproduces a message addressed to a callee from a caller, and a message reproduction promotion method.

There is an answering machine service as one of conventional mobile communication services. The answering machine service connects the calling terminal to the answering machine service center when calling from the calling terminal to the receiving terminal unconditionally or if there is no response from the receiving terminal within a predetermined time. This is a service that enables a caller to record a voice message addressed to a callee.
The answering machine service center that has accepted the message recording notifies the receiver's mobile terminal that the message addressed to the receiver has been recorded when the receiver terminal is ready to receive a message. If the incoming terminal is out of service area, during a call, when the power is turned off, or in the answering machine mode where the incoming call is unconditionally transferred to the answering service center, the incoming terminal After returning to a state where incoming calls can be made, notification is made at a retransmission timing preset in the answering machine service center. After this notification was made, it was entirely up to the recipient to hear the message and whether or not to listen to the message.

For this reason, some recipients do not notice the notification, do not know the operation method of message playback even if they notice the notification, or are troublesome to perform the playback operation, and leave the message without being heard. There was something to be done.
As a technique for automatically reproducing a message and letting the called party hear it, there is a technique described in Patent Document 1, for example. In Patent Document 1, when a fixed telephone set in the answering machine mode receives an incoming call, the answering machine records a designated time and message input from the calling side, and when the designated time arrives, the fixed telephone or It is described that the slave is called and a message is reproduced when the fixed telephone or the slave is off-hook.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-30639

In Patent Document 1, since a fixed telephone or its slave is a target for calling, there is a high probability that a callee can hear a message when the fixed telephone is called at a specified time. However, when the mobile terminal is set as a call target, if the mobile terminal is out of service area, turned off, or set in the answering machine at the specified time, the receiving terminal cannot receive an incoming call. Therefore, the possibility that a mobile terminal can respond when called at a specified time is lower than that of a landline telephone, and calling a mobile terminal at a specified time is not appropriate as a countermeasure for receiving a message as soon as possible. . Further, in Patent Document 1, since a message is immediately reproduced when a callee goes off-hook for a call, it is sudden and inconvenient.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and an answering machine that can prompt the callee to listen to the message recorded from the caller to the callee as early as possible. It is an object to provide a telephone system and a message reproduction promotion method.

In order to solve the above problems, voice mail system of claim 1, the effect that the called party addressed message from the caller is recorded, you notify the incoming end end of the called party to use distilled Mamoru number In the telephone system , when it is detected that the incoming terminal has changed from being unable to receive an incoming call, the caller notifies the incoming terminal that a message addressed to the incoming call has been recorded. A message recording notification means, a post-notification calling means for calling the receiving terminal when the message is not reproduced within a predetermined time from the notification by the message recording notification means, and a post-notification calling means. When receiving a response from the receiving terminal with respect to the outgoing call, there is provided a reproduction promoting means for transmitting a guidance for prompting reproduction of the message to the receiving terminal.

  According to the present invention, the answering machine makes a call to the receiving terminal when the message is not reproduced within a predetermined time after notifying the receiving terminal that the message has been recorded. When there is a response from the receiving terminal to the calling terminal, the guidance for prompting the reproduction of the message is transmitted to the receiving terminal, so that the probability of calling when the receiving terminal is ready to receive calls is increased, The probability that the callee can answer can be increased. Therefore, the answering machine can prompt the callee to listen to the message recorded from the caller to the callee as early as possible.

The answering machine system according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in claim 1, the reproduction promoting means reproduces the message when the callee desires.
According to the present invention, since a message can be reproduced when the recipient wants it, it is not necessary for the recipient to listen to the message when he / she does not want it, which is convenient.

An answering machine system according to claim 3 further comprises a fixed time setting means for setting the fixed time in claim 1 or 2, wherein the fixed time setting means is based on an input or an analysis result of a message The predetermined time is set based on the above.
According to the present invention, since the certain time can be set based on an input or based on the analysis result of the message, the certain time can be set flexibly.

The answering machine system according to claim 4 is the answering machine system according to claim 3, wherein the fixed time setting means includes the emotion or situation of the caller recognized from the pitch, voice color, rhythm, etc. of the sound of the message, The fixed time is set based on at least one of a word or a language recognized from the frequency configuration.
According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately set a certain time based on the state and contents of the voice when a message is recorded.

The answering machine system according to claim 5, wherein, in the claim 3 or 4, the fixed time setting unit determines that the caller has an urgent requirement from the analysis result of the message. Is characterized in that the predetermined time is set to a predetermined time or less.
According to the present invention, when the caller determines that the callee has an urgent requirement from the analysis result of the message, the fixed time setting means sets the fixed time to a predetermined time or less. Therefore, when the caller has an urgent requirement for the callee, the predetermined time can be set short, and the callee can be prompted to listen to the message at an early stage.

An answering machine system according to claim 6 is the answering machine according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the post-notification calling means has a predetermined time set by the fixed time setting means less than or equal to a predetermined time, and When there is no response from the receiving terminal with respect to the call after the fixed time has elapsed, the call is repeated at the fixed time period until a response is received.
According to the present invention, the post-notification calling unit responds to the call after the predetermined time elapses, and the fixed time set by the fixed time setting unit is a predetermined time or less. If there is no response, the call is repeated at the predetermined time period until a response is received, so that it is possible to prompt the callee to respond and to promptly listen to the message after the response.

Message promoting regeneration method according to claim 7, message playback the effect that the called party addressed message from the caller is recorded, to that clasp Mamoru No. telephone system notifies the incoming end end of the called party is available to be executed A method of facilitating a notification when a message addressed to a callee has been recorded from a caller when the caller detects that the call has been received from a state where the call cannot be received. and message recording notification step of, when the message within a predetermined time from the notification by the message recording notification step is not reproduced, and notification late call step of calling to the called terminal, in the notification subsequent call step When there is a response from the receiving terminal to the outgoing call, a playback promotion step is transmitted to the receiving terminal for prompting the message to be played back. Characterized in that a flop.

  According to the present invention, the answering machine makes a call to the receiving terminal when the message is not reproduced within a predetermined time after notifying the receiving terminal that the message has been recorded. When there is a response from the receiving terminal to the calling terminal, the guidance for prompting the reproduction of the message is transmitted to the receiving terminal, so that the probability of calling when the receiving terminal is ready to receive calls is increased, The probability that the callee can answer can be increased. Therefore, the answering machine can prompt the callee to listen to the message recorded from the caller to the callee as early as possible.

  According to the present invention, the answering machine makes a call to the receiving terminal when the message is not reproduced within a predetermined time after notifying the receiving terminal that the message has been recorded. When there is a response from the receiving terminal to the calling terminal, the guidance for prompting the reproduction of the message is transmitted to the receiving terminal, so that the probability of calling when the receiving terminal is ready to receive calls is increased, The probability that the callee can answer can be increased. Therefore, the answering machine can prompt the callee to listen to the message recorded from the caller to the callee as early as possible.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a mobile communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the operation example of the mobile communication network which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the operation example of the mobile communication network which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the operation example of the mobile communication network which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the operation example in case the answering machine which concerns on the embodiment sets fixed time based on the analysis result of a message.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In each drawing referred to in the following description, components equivalent to those in the other drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals.
(overall structure)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a mobile communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a mobile communication network includes a mobile communication terminal 40, a subscriber information server 30 that manages subscriber information and area information of a user who uses the mobile communication terminal 40, and a mobile communication terminal that is in the area. An exchange 20 that controls the communication of 40, an answering machine 10 that provides an answering machine service to the mobile communication terminal 40, and a mail delivery apparatus 50 that controls notification by SMS (Short Message Service), a Push message, e-mail, etc. , Including. Each of these components constituting the mobile communication network communicates with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a storage device including a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a hard disk and the like for storing various software. And a communication interface to be controlled.

(Configuration of answering machine)
Next, the functional configuration of the answering machine 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the answering machine 10 includes a message recording notification unit 11, a post-notification calling unit 12, a reproduction promoting unit 13, and a fixed time setting unit 14.
The message recording notification unit 11 indicates that a message addressed to the callee has been recorded from the mobile communication terminal 40 used by the caller (hereinafter referred to as “calling terminal 40a”). Hereinafter referred to as “incoming terminal 40b”).

  The post-notification calling unit 12 measures the time from the time when the message recording notification unit 11 notifies the caller that the message addressed to the called party has been recorded. When the post-notification calling unit 12 determines that the message has not been reproduced within a predetermined time from the time when the notification is made, the calling unit 12 makes a call to the receiving terminal 40b. When a call is made, the receiving terminal 40b is out of the mobile communication service area, is in a call, is powered off, is set to the answering machine mode for unconditionally forwarding the incoming call to the answering machine 10, etc. If not, the post-notification calling unit 12 receives the incoming terminal 40b when the incoming terminal 40b returns to the service area, the call is disconnected, the power is turned on, or the answering mode setting is canceled. After returning to a possible state, call again.

When there is a response from the receiving terminal 40b to the calling by the calling section 12 after notification, the reproduction promoting unit 13 transmits guidance for prompting message reproduction to the receiving terminal 40b.
Specifically, the reproduction promoting unit 13 transmits a guidance “You have a message. Would you like to reproduce?” To the receiving terminal 40b. On the other hand, when receiving a DTMF (Dial Tone Multi Frequency) signal or a voice signal from the receiving terminal 40b by the input operation of the recipient and detecting that the message reproduction is desired from the signal, the reproduction promoting unit 13 The recorded message is reproduced and transmitted to the receiving terminal 40b.

  The fixed time setting unit 14 sets “fixed time” from when the message recording / notifying unit 11 performs the notification until the incoming terminal 40b makes a call when the incoming terminal 40b does not reproduce the message. To do. The fixed time may be set by the content input by the caller at the time of recording the message, or may be set based on the analysis result of the recorded message, or a fixed value input in advance by the operator. It may be set.

When setting a certain time based on the analysis result of the message, the certain time setting unit 14 recognizes the pitch, voice color, rhythm, etc. by analyzing the frequency of the sound of the message, and from the pitch, timbre, rhythm, etc. Recognize the emotions and circumstances of the caller. Also, speech recognition is performed from the frequency structure of the sound of the message to recognize words and languages.
Then, for example, when it is recognized that the caller's emotion is high or the caller's situation is tense, the “certain time” is made shorter than a predetermined time. On the other hand, when it is recognized that the caller's emotion is calm or the caller's situation is not urgent, the “certain time” is set longer than the predetermined time.

As a result of speech recognition, if the message contains words such as “emergency”, “urgent”, “early”, etc., and the caller can determine that the callee has urgent requirements, The “time” is made shorter than a predetermined time.
In addition, when the message pitch is higher than a predetermined reference value, when the interval is short, or when the speaking speed is high, the “certain time” is set shorter than a predetermined time. On the other hand, when the pitch is lower than the reference value, when the interval is long, or when the tone is slow, the “certain time” is set longer than the predetermined time.

If the fixed time set by the fixed time setting unit 14 is less than or equal to the predetermined time, it is assumed that the callee should be encouraged to listen to the message early. When there is no response from the receiving terminal 40b for a call after a certain period of time, the call is repeated at regular time intervals until a response is received.
In addition to the above functions, the answering machine 10 has a function of transmitting a guidance prompting the caller to record a message when connected to the caller terminal 40a, and recording the message received from the caller terminal 40a on a recording medium. It has a general answering machine service function such as a function to play a recorded message and a function to play a recorded message.

(Operation example)
Next, operation examples of the mobile communication network in the above configuration will be described with reference to sequence diagrams shown in FIGS. Here, the exchange 20 in which the originating terminal 40a is located will be described as “originating side exchange 20a”, and the exchange 20 in which the terminating terminal 40b is located will be described as “destination side exchange 20b”.
First, the caller operates the caller terminal 40a to input a callee number, and issues a call instruction (step S101 in FIG. 2). Thereby, the transmission terminal 40a transmits a connection request including the caller number and the callee number (step S102).
The originating exchange 20a that has received the connection request makes an inquiry for routing information to the subscriber information server 30 in order to determine the connection destination (step S103).

  When the subscriber information server 30 receives the inquiry about the routing information, the subscriber information server 30 inquires about the position of the receiving terminal 40b (step S104). When receiving the inquiry from the subscriber information server 30, the destination exchange 20b inquires about the position of the receiving terminal 40b via the subordinate base station (step S105). The receiving terminal 40b responds to the inquiry (step S106). Note that the incoming terminal 40b cannot respond when the incoming terminal 40b is out of range or the power is turned off. The destination exchange 20b returns the location of the receiving terminal 40b to the subscriber information server 30 based on the response result (step S107).

If the subscriber information server 30 cannot confirm the response from the receiving terminal 40b, or if the receiving terminal 40b is set in the answering machine mode and satisfies the conditions for connecting to the answering machine 10, it corresponds from the called party number. Routing information to the answering machine 10 is determined (step S108). The subscriber information server 30 transmits the routing information to the originating exchange 20a (step S109).
When receiving the routing information from the subscriber information server 30, the originating side exchange 20a transmits a connection request to the answering machine 10 (step S110). The answering machine 10 returns a response to the connection request (step S111). Thereby, the calling terminal 40a and the answering machine 10 are connected.

  In step S112, the answering machine 10 transmits a guidance for recording a message to the calling terminal 40a. The calling terminal 40a reproduces the guidance. The caller speaks a message according to the guidance. The calling terminal 40 a transmits the input caller message to the answering machine 10. The answering machine 10 records the message received from the calling terminal 40a in the storage device.

When the message recording is finished, the calling terminal 40a transmits a disconnection request (step S113), and the answering machine 10 transmits a reply to the disconnection request (step S114), whereby the calling terminal 40a and the answering machine 10 Will be disconnected.
The message recording notification unit 11 of the answering machine 10 creates a notification message by SMS notifying that the message has been recorded (step S115), and transmits it to the mail delivery device 50 (step S116). The notification message is not limited to SMS but may be a Push message or an e-mail notification message.

Thereby, the mail delivery device 50 returns a response to the answering machine 10 (step S117), and transmits a notification message to the destination exchange 20b (step S118).
At this time, if the receiving terminal 40b is within range and is ready to receive a call, the destination exchange 20b delivers a notification message to the receiving terminal 40b (step S201 in FIG. 3). When receiving the notification message, the receiving terminal 40b returns a notification message reception response to the destination exchange 20b (step S202), and the destination exchange 20b returns a notification message distribution response to the mail distribution device 50 (step S203).

  On the other hand, if the delivery of the notification message to the receiving terminal 40b fails due to reasons such as the incoming terminal 40b moving out of service area when the mail delivery device 50 transmits the notification message to the called exchange 20b, The exchange 20b transmits a notification message delivery response to the mail delivery device 50 (step S301). The mail delivery device 50 performs message resend processing depending on the reason for failure (step S302).

When the receiving terminal 40b returns to the service area (step S303), it notifies the subscriber information server 30 that the service area has returned (step S304). The subscriber information server 30 transmits a within-area return notification to the mail delivery device 50 (step S305).
Upon receiving the within-area return notification, the mail delivery device 50 retransmits the notification message (steps S306 and S307). When receiving the notification message, the destination exchange 20b distributes the notification message to the receiving terminal 40b (step S308). As a result, the receiving terminal 40b returns a notification message reception response to the called exchange 20b (step S309), and the called exchange 20b returns a message delivery response to the mail delivery apparatus 50 (step S310).

When the transmission of the notification message is completed, the mail delivery device 50 transmits a notification message transmission completion notification to the answering machine 10 (step S119 in FIG. 4). As a result, the answering machine 10 returns a notification message transmission completion response to the mail delivery apparatus 50 (step S120).
Next, the post-notification calling unit 12 of the answering machine 10 sets a timer and measures a certain time (step S121). If there is no connection for requesting message reproduction from the receiving terminal 40b within a predetermined time, the post-notification calling unit 12 calls the receiving terminal 40b and transmits a voice connection request (step S122).

When receiving the voice connection request, the destination exchange 20b makes an inquiry to the subscriber information server 30 for the subscriber information and the location information of the receiving terminal 40b (step S123). Upon receiving the inquiry, the subscriber information server 30 acquires the subscriber information and the location information of the receiving terminal 40b from the database, and responds to the inquiry (step S124).
The destination exchange 20b transmits a voice connection request to the receiving terminal 40b based on the subscriber information and the location information of the receiving terminal 40b received from the subscriber information server 30 (step S125). The receiving terminal 40b returns a response to the voice connection request to the called exchange 20b (step S126). The destination exchange 20b returns a voice connection response to the answering machine 10 (step S127). As a result, the destination exchange 20b and the answering machine 10 are connected.

In step S128, the reproduction promoting unit 13 of the answering machine 10 transmits a guidance “I keep a message. Would you like to reproduce” to the receiving terminal 40b. The called party responds to the guidance by operating a key of the receiving terminal 40b or by voice. The receiving terminal 40b transmits a DTMF signal or a voice signal corresponding to the operated key to the answering machine 10.
The reproduction promoting unit 13 of the answering machine 10 analyzes the DTMF signal or voice signal received from the receiving terminal 40b and, when detecting that the callee desires to reproduce the message, reproduces the recorded message. , To the receiving terminal 40b.
After playing the message, the receiving terminal 40b and the answering machine 10 are disconnected (step S129).

(Operation example when performing message analysis)
Next, with reference to FIG. 5, an operation example in the case where a certain time is set based on the analysis result of the message will be described.
First, in steps S101 to S114, the answering machine 10 records a message as in steps S101 to S114 shown in FIG. At this time, the caller records a message saying “I have an urgent need to consult. If it is an email, it is difficult to explain, so please contact me.”
In step S1141, the fixed time setting unit 14 of the answering machine 10 analyzes the pitch and voice color of the message received from the calling terminal 40a and performs voice recognition. As a result, the caller has an urgent requirement for the callee. The predetermined time is set to a value smaller than the predetermined time.

In steps S115 to S120, similar to steps S115 to S120 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the message recording notification unit 11 of the answering machine 10 indicates that the message addressed to the callee has been recorded from the caller. Notify
In step S121, similar to step S121 shown in FIG. 4, the reproduction promoting unit 13 of the answering machine 10 receives a certain amount of time from when the message recording notification unit 11 notifies the receiving terminal 40b. When there is no connection from the receiving terminal 40b for message reproduction, a call is made to the receiving terminal 40b. Here, since it is determined that the caller has an urgent requirement for the callee and the predetermined time is set to be equal to or less than the predetermined time, if the call is not received from the call receiving terminal 40b, the playback is performed. The promotion unit 13 makes a number of calls at regular time intervals until a response is received.

  As described above, the answering machine 10 makes a call to the receiving terminal 40b when the message is not reproduced within a certain time after notifying the receiving terminal 40b that the message has been recorded. When the receiving terminal 40b responds to the call, a guidance for prompting message reproduction is transmitted to the receiving terminal 40b. Therefore, the probability of calling when the receiving terminal 40b is ready to receive a call is determined. The probability that the callee can answer can be increased. Therefore, the called party can listen to the recorded message as early as possible.

  That is, as is conventional, when a call is made to the receiving terminal 40b at a time designated by the caller, if the receiving terminal 40b is out of service area or set in the answering machine mode, the incoming call cannot be made. The answering machine 10 according to the embodiment of the invention makes a call after a predetermined time has elapsed from the time when the message is recorded to the receiving terminal 40b so that the receiving terminal 40b can receive at least the incoming call. It is possible to make a call after the call has been made and to increase the probability that the callee can answer the call.

Further, since the message is reproduced after confirming whether or not the callee wishes to reproduce, it is not necessary for the callee to listen to the message when he / she does not want to do so.
In addition, since the “fixed time” until the call is made to the receiving terminal 40b can be set based on the input or based on the analysis result of the answering machine message, the fixed time is set appropriately. It becomes possible to do.
In addition, if a certain time is set below a certain time, the call is repeated at a certain time period until a response is received. Can be encouraged to listen early.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Answering machine 11 Message recording notification part 12 Post-notification calling part 13 Playback promotion part 14 Fixed time setting part 20 Exchanger 20a Originating side exchange 20b Terminating side exchange 30 Subscriber information server 40 Mobile communication terminal 40a Originating terminal 40b Incoming terminal 50 Mail Distribution device

Claims (7)

The fact that the called party addressed message from the caller is recorded, a distillate Mamoru number telephone system that notifies the incoming end end of the recipient is available,
Message recording notifying means for notifying the receiving terminal that a message addressed to the called party has been recorded from the caller when it is detected that the receiving terminal has changed from a state where the receiving terminal cannot receive a call ,
A post-notification calling means for making a call to the receiving terminal when the message is not reproduced within a predetermined time from the notification by the message recording notification means;
Replay facilitating means for transmitting, to the call receiving terminal, guidance for prompting to play the message when there is a response from the call receiving terminal to the call by the calling means after notification. Answering machine system . The regeneration promoting means includes
Voice mail system of claim 1, wherein the called party if desired, playing the message. A fixed time setting means for setting the fixed time;
The fixed time setting means includes
Based on the input, or, voice mail system according to claim 1 or 2, based on the analysis result of the message, and sets the predetermined time. The fixed time setting means includes
Based on at least one of the sender's emotion or situation recognized from the pitch, voice color, rhythm, etc. of the message, and the word or language recognized from the frequency structure of the sound, the predetermined time is voice mail system according to claim 3, characterized in that the setting. The fixed time setting means includes
5. The fixed time is set to a predetermined time or less when the caller determines that the callee has an urgent requirement from the analysis result of the message. voice mail systems. The post-notification calling means is:
If the fixed time set by the fixed time setting means is less than or equal to a predetermined time and there is no response from the terminating terminal for the call after the fixed time has elapsed, the fixed time is set until there is a response. voice mail system according to claim 3 in any one of the 5, characterized in that repeated calling in a cycle. The fact that the called party addressed message from the caller is recorded, a message reproducing method for promoting distillate Mamoru number telephone system that notifies the incoming end end of the called party is available to be executed,
A message recording notification step for notifying the receiving terminal that a message addressed to the called party has been recorded when it is detected that the receiving terminal has changed from a state where the receiving terminal cannot receive a call; ,
A post-notification calling step for making a call to the receiving terminal when the message is not reproduced within a predetermined time from the notification by the message recording notification step ;
A reproduction promoting step of transmitting a guidance for prompting the reproduction of the message to the receiving terminal when there is a response from the receiving terminal to the calling in the calling step after the notification. Message playback promotion method.

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