JP4837720B2 - Mail-based incoming billing system and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mail-based incoming billing system and method, and more particularly to a mail-based incoming billing system and method for charging a callee user for the entire call.

  As an incoming billing service in the conventional first telephone service, a service for the following cases is provided (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1).

  (A) The calling user requests the incoming call charge when setting up the call, and the incoming call user selects whether to accept the incoming call charge.

  (B) A calling user or a receiving user having a function for requesting an incoming call charges the incoming call charge for the rest of the call using a call communication phrase.

  (C) The incoming user requests an incoming call charge for the entire call in the call communication phase.

  (D) The incoming call is charged unconditionally without requiring an incoming call charge request from the caller.

  As a second incoming billing service, there is a method of billing incoming calls only for incoming phone numbers registered by the recipient in advance (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

As a third incoming call charging service, there is a method of charging incoming calls by click-to-dial (C2D) (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 2001-309088 A JP 2008-113399 A TTC standard (JT-1256 3rd edition)

  However, in the first incoming call accounting method, there is no provision for a case where the incoming caller permits the incoming call charge only from a specific caller before the call.

  Further, in the second incoming call accounting method, the callee can register the caller telephone number in advance and specify the incoming call charge. However, the callee needs to specify the telephone number individually at the time of registration. However, it is difficult to perform registration for permitting the incoming call charge for the other communication partner, and delete operation when the other party is not permitted.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a mail-based incoming call charging system and method capable of simplifying the caller telephone number registration process before making a call when performing incoming call charging. The purpose is to do.

  FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

The present invention (Claim 1) is a mail-based incoming billing system that retains a mail transmission record and permits outgoing billing from a mail destination to a mail sender.
A user information management database (DB) 410 for managing a mail address and a telephone number in association with each user ID;
An e-mail status management database (DB) 420 that holds information on the e-mail transmission destination and e-mail transmission source that permit incoming call accounting, e-mail transmission records, and conditions for outgoing calls;
Based on the mail address of the sender of the received mail, referring to the user information management DB 410, means for acquiring the sender user ID corresponding to the mail address of the sender, and the received mail is converted to URL If the URL tag is included, the URL conversion tag includes means for converting the URL conversion tag into a URL for call origination including the transmission source user ID, and means for relaying to the transmission destination mail address. A server 100;
When access is made from a terminal using a URL for outgoing calls, the mail status management DB 420 is referred to determine whether to allow or reject incoming call outgoing calls. A browser-compatible server 200 that acquires the telephone numbers of the mail transmission source and the mail transmission destination from the user information management DB 410;
A telephone call server 300 that obtains a mail transmission destination and a telephone number of the mail transmission source from the browser correspondence server 200 and makes a call connection when the browser correspondence server 200 permits the call transmission.

Further, the present invention (Claim 2) includes an expiration date as a condition for making a call in the mail status management DB 420,
The browser-compatible server 200
The expiration date of the mail status management DB 420 is compared with the date and time information at the time of access, and if the expiration date has passed, means for rejecting incoming call billing is included.

Further, according to the present invention (Claim 3), the mail status management DB 420 includes the effective number of times as a condition for making a call,
The browser-compatible server 200
When a call connection notification of a mail destination and a mail source telephone is acquired from the telephone call server 300,
Means for counting the number of times the call connection notification has been received, and rejecting the call for incoming call charges if the counted number is equal to or greater than the valid number,
Or
Each time a call connection notification is received, one is subtracted from the effective count, and when it becomes 0, any means for rejecting incoming call billing is included.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention.

The present invention (Claim 4) is a mail-based incoming billing method that retains a mail transmission record and permits outgoing billing from a mail destination to a mail sender.
In the mail corresponding server, referring to the user information management DB based on the mail address of the sender of the received mail, the sender user ID corresponding to the mail address of the sender is acquired (step 1), If the received mail includes a URL conversion tag (step 2), the URL conversion tag is converted into a telephone call URL including the transmission source user ID (step 3), and the destination Relay to email address
Deliver to the destination email address (step 4),
In the server corresponding to the browser, when the terminal is accessed from the terminal by the URL for calling (step 5), the information on the mail destination and the mail source that permits the incoming call charge, the mail transmission record, and the telephone call Referring to the mail status management DB that holds the conditions for the call, it is determined whether to permit or reject the incoming call billing (step 6). If so, the user information is based on the user ID. Obtain the telephone number of the mail transmission source and mail transmission destination from the management DB (step 7),
In the call origination server, when the call origination is permitted by the browser corresponding server, the mail transmission destination and the telephone number of the mail transmission source are acquired from the browser correspondence server (step 8), and the call connection is made (step 9).

The present invention (Claim 5) provides a browser-compatible server,
When the expiration date of the expiration date and the date and time information at the time of access are compared in the conditions for making a call registered in the mail status management DB, and the expiration date has passed, call transmission for incoming call charging To refuse.

The present invention (Claim 6) provides a browser-compatible server,
When you get a call connection notification for the mail destination and the mail source phone from the phone call server,
The number of times that the call connection notification is received is counted, and if the counted number is equal to or greater than the effective number of the conditions for making a call stored in the mail state management DB, the call for incoming call charge is rejected.
Or
Each time a call connection notification is received, 1 is subtracted from the effective count.

  As described above, according to the present invention, by sending a mail containing information for charging the incoming call from the incoming terminal to the outgoing terminal and the mail server via the Internet, the incoming side and the outgoing side Therefore, it is possible to easily set the incoming call charge without setting the special incoming call charge.

  In addition, the caller can make a call based on incoming call charges by simply clicking on the URL included in the received mail.

  Furthermore, it is possible to restrict desired incoming billing only by setting an expiration date and the number of valid times in advance on the incoming side.

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

  FIG. 3 shows a network configuration in an embodiment of the present invention.

  In the following description, it is assumed that the call recipient is user A and the call recipient is user B. In the present invention, the mail client function, the browser function, and the telephone function may be provided in any of the same or different terminals. However, in the following description, as shown in FIG. A portable terminal having a function is used.

  The system shown in FIG. 1 includes a mail-compatible server 100, a browser-compatible server 200, a telephone call server 300, a terminal A70, a terminal B80, the Internet network 10, and a voice communication network 20.

  In the following, an example is shown in which the mail-compatible server 100, the browser-compatible server 200, the telephone call server 300, and the DB server 400 are individually deployed, but the functions of these servers are not limited to this example. You may comprise as one apparatus which has.

  The billing processing function for performing incoming billing is assumed to use existing technology and is not particularly described in the present embodiment. In the following, it is assumed that incoming billing is not permitted when the valid period or number of valid times registered in advance from user A who is the called party is reached, and when incoming billing is permitted, the billing process for the called party is performed. Shall be performed.

  The configuration of each server will be described below.

  FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the DB server in one embodiment of the present invention.

  The DB server 400 is a server that is accessed from the mail-compatible server 100 and the browser-compatible server 200, and includes a user information management unit 410 and a mail status management unit 420.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the user information management unit 410 is a storage medium that stores data of items such as a user ID, a display name such as the name of the user, a telephone number, an e-mail address, a valid period, and a valid count. is there. User A registers at least a combination of an email address and a telephone number in advance.

  The mail status management unit 420 is a storage medium that stores data of each item of a user ID, transmission time, expiration date, passcode, mail transmission source ID, and remaining number of times that an incoming call can be charged.

  The passcode is set from the mail corresponding server 100 described later. Further, the remaining number of times that the incoming call can be charged is set to the effective number of the user information management unit 410 by the mail correspondence server 100 at the time of registration, and is subtracted by 1 by the browser correspondence server 200 described later for each call.

  FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the mail-compatible server in one embodiment of the present invention.

  The mail handling server 100 includes an interface 110, a search unit 120, a passcode generation unit 130, an update unit 140, a URL conversion unit 150, a mail determination unit 160, and a DB interface 170.

  The interface 110 transmits and receives mail with the terminal A and the terminal B via the Internet network.

  When receiving the mail addressed to the destination (terminal B80) mail address b from the terminal A70, the search unit 120, based on the mail address a of the sender (terminal A70) of the mail, the user information management unit 410 of the DB server 400. To obtain the user ID of the transmission source corresponding to the mail address a of the transmission source.

  In addition, the search unit 120 searches the user information management unit 410 based on the transmission destination address b included in the received mail, and acquires the transmission destination user ID corresponding to the transmission destination address b.

  The passcode generation unit 130 uniquely identifies a record in combination with the transmission source user ID (XXXX) when the search unit 120 can acquire the user ID corresponding to the mail address a of the transmission source (terminal A70). Generate a passcode that can. However, the value must not be inferred by a third party from the viewpoint of preventing unauthorized use.

  The update unit 140 acquires the current time from the clock, and adds the valid period acquired from the user information management unit 410 to obtain the valid period. Further, the time acquired from the clock is set as the transmission time, and a record including the transmission source ID, transmission destination ID, expiration date, transmission time, and passcode is additionally registered in the mail state management unit 420.

  Upon receiving the URL conversion instruction from the mail determination unit 160, the URL conversion unit 150 converts the URL conversion tag into a URL including a transmission source user ID and a passcode, and the mail is transmitted via the interface 110. It is transmitted to the mail address b of (terminal B80). Note that the converted URL is a URL accessible to the browser-compatible server 200.

  If the mail received from the transmission source (terminal A) is an HTML mail and the URL text includes a URL conversion tag, the mail determination unit 160 instructs the URL conversion unit 150 to convert the URL. If the received mail is not HTML or does not include the URL conversion tag in the mail text, the interface 110 is instructed to relay the mail as it is to the transmission destination.

  The DB interface 170 transmits and receives data between the search unit 120, the update unit 140, and the DB server 400.

  FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the browser-compatible server in one embodiment of the present invention.

  The browser-compatible server 200 includes a telephone call server interface 210, a terminal interface 220, a search unit 230, and a DB interface 240.

  The telephone call server interface 210 transmits a telephone number to the telephone call server 300 and receives a call connection notification.

  The terminal interface 220 accepts access from the terminal B 80 on the transmission side.

  The search unit 230 searches the mail status management unit 420 of the DB server 400 based on the user ID and passcode acquired from the terminal B80, and determines whether there is a corresponding record. If there is a corresponding record, the transmission source user ID (XXXX) and the transmission destination ID (YYYY) are acquired, and both telephone numbers A and B are obtained from the user information management unit 410 based on the ID. get.

  The DB interface 240 performs transmission and reception when the search unit 230 searches for information on the DB server 400.

  The operation in the above configuration will be described below.

  FIG. 7 is a sequence chart of operations in one embodiment of the present invention.

  Step 101) User A creates an HTML mail. In the HTML mail, the mail address of the terminal A 70 as shown in FIG. 8, the mail address of the transmission destination, and the text are entered. Further, “<HTML>” indicating HTML mail is set in the text, and a URL conversion tag “<KWD>” is described. It is also possible to distribute a template as shown in FIG. 8 in advance before creating an email.

  Step 102) The terminal A 70 sends the created mail to the mail corresponding server 100 with the mail address b of the terminal B assigned.

  Step 103) Upon receiving the mail from the terminal A70, the mail handling server 100 determines whether the mail is an HTML mail and the URL conversion tag is included in the text. If it is not an HTML mail and a URL conversion tag is not included, the mail is directly relayed to the transmission destination (terminal B80).

  Step 104) If the received mail is HTML mail and the URL conversion tag is included in the text, the user information management unit 410 of the DB server 400 is searched based on the mail address a of the transmission source. Then, it is confirmed whether or not the mail address a exists, and if it exists, the user ID (XXXX) of the transmission source is acquired. If it does not exist, an error mail is transmitted to terminal A70.

  Step 105) The mail server 100 searches the user information management unit 410 of the DB server 400 based on the acquired mail address b of the transmission destination, determines whether the user ID of the transmission destination exists, and exists. In this case, the user ID (YYYY) of the transmission destination is acquired. If there is no user ID (YYYY), the transmission destination ID is set to NULL.

  Step 106) The passcode generation unit 130 generates a passcode.

  Step 107) The mail server 100 acquires the validity period of the user information management unit 410 based on the user ID (XXXX) of the transmission source, and the date and time when the update unit 140 adds the validity period from that point in time. And If the effective number can be acquired, the remaining number is set. Further, the time is acquired from the clock and is set as the transmission time. A record composed of the acquired information (transmission source user ID, expiration date, transmission time, passcode, transmission destination user ID, remaining number of times) is generated, and the record is added to the mail state management unit 420.

  Step 108) The mail server 100 sets the URL conversion tag as a URL accessible to the browser server, and embeds the transmission source user ID (XXXX) and pass code in the URL.

  Step 109) The mail corresponding server 100 embeds the address converted in Step 108 in the mail text of the transmission source and transmits it to the mail address b of the terminal B 80 via the I / F 110.

  Step 110) The user B reads the mail received from the user A, knows the message, and clicks the URL described in the mail received via the mail corresponding server 100, thereby clicking from the browser of the terminal B80. The browser-compatible server 200 is accessed.

  Step 111) The search unit 230 of the browser-compatible server 200 searches the mail status management unit 420 of the DB server 400 based on the transmission source user ID and passcode included in the URL, and there is no record or the expiration date. If is off, an error screen is transmitted to the browser of terminal B80. If there is no destination user ID (NULL), a screen prompting entry of a telephone number is transmitted to the terminal B80.

  Step 112) The search unit 230 of the browser-compatible server 200 searches the user information management unit 410 of the DB server 400 based on the user ID of the transmission source / destination, and the telephone number A of the user A and the user B The telephone number B is acquired.

  Step 113) The browser-compatible server 200 transmits the acquired telephone number A and telephone number B to the telephone call server 300.

  Step 114) The browser-compatible server 200 transmits a message as shown in FIG. 12C to the terminal B80.

  Step 115) The telephone call server 300 makes a call to the telephone number B.

  Step 116) When the user B responds, the telephone call server 300 calls the telephone number A.

  Step 117) When the user A responds, the telephone call server 300 starts a call between the user A and the user B.

  Step 118) When the connection is successful, the telephone call server 300 notifies the browser corresponding server 200 that the calls of the telephone numbers A and B are connected.

  Step 119) Based on the user ID and passcode of the user A, the updating unit 250 of the brother-compatible server 200 accesses the mail status management unit 420 of the DB server 400, decreases the remaining number of the user B by 1, If it becomes, the record is deleted.

  Next, the operation of the mail-compatible server will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the operation of the mail-compatible server in one embodiment of the present invention. The following operations correspond to the operations in steps 101 to 109 in FIG.

  Step 201) When receiving the mail (including mail address a and mail address b) from the terminal A via the interface 110, the mail server 100 receives the mail address a from the transmission unit 120 in the user information management unit 410. It is determined whether it is registered. If it is registered, the process proceeds to step 202. If it is not registered, the process proceeds to step 213.

  Step 202) The mail determination unit 160 determines whether “<HTML>” is described in the body of the mail and includes the URL conversion tag “<KWD>”, and if these are not included, Control goes to step 214.

  Step 203) The search unit 120 acquires the transmission source user ID (XXXX) from the user information management unit 410 based on the transmission source mail address a extracted from the received mail.

  Step 204) The search unit 120 searches the user information management unit 410 based on the mail address b of the transmission destination extracted from the received mail. If it is not registered, the search unit 120 proceeds to step 206. Control goes to step 205.

  Step 205) The retrieval unit 120 obtains the transmission destination user ID (YYYY) from the user information management unit 410, and proceeds to Step 207.

  Step 206) If the destination mail address is not registered in Step 203, NULL is set in the destination ID, and the process proceeds to Step 207.

  Step 207) The passcode generation unit 130 generates a passcode. At this time, in order to use a telephone that is not registered in the user information management unit 410, two passcodes are generated, and a record including the transmission destination user ID and a NULL record are both mailed. What is necessary is just to add to the state management part 420.

  Step 208) The search unit 120 acquires the effective period and the effective number from the user information management unit 410 based on the user ID of the transmission source. The time acquired from the clock is set as the transmission time.

  Step 209) The update unit 140 additionally registers a record in which the transmission source user ID, expiration date, transmission time, passcode, transmission destination user ID, and remaining number of times are set in the mail status management unit 420. At this time, the validity period is set by adding the validity period to the current date and time acquired from the clock, and the validity count acquired from the user information management unit 410 is set as the remaining count.

  Step 210) A telephone call URL is generated by inserting the transmission source user ID and passcode into the URL of the browser-compatible server.

  Step 211) The URL conversion tag of the received mail is converted to the telephone call URL generated in Step 210.

  Step 212) The mail is transferred to the destination address b.

  Step 213) When the mail address a of the transmission source is not registered in Step 201, an error mail is transmitted to the transmission destination.

  Step 214) In step 202, when the mail is not an HTML mail and the URL conversion tag is not set, the mail is directly transferred to the destination.

  Next, the operation of the browser compatible server 200 will be described.

  The following operation corresponds to the processing of steps 110 to 119 in FIG.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the operation of the browser-compatible server according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Step 301) When the URL of the browser-compatible server 200 is accessed from the terminal B80, the user ID and passcode of the sender (terminal A70) are acquired from the URL.

  Step 302) The search unit 230 determines whether or not the combination of the acquired user ID and passcode is registered in the mail status management unit 420. If not registered, the process proceeds to step 304, and if registered, the process proceeds to step 303.

  Step 303) It is determined whether the current time acquired from the clock is within the expiration date registered in the mail status management unit 420. If it is within the expiration date, the process proceeds to Step 305. Migrate to

  Step 304) An error screen is transmitted to the terminal B80.

  Step 305) When the transmission destination ID of the mail status management unit 420 is “NULL”, the process proceeds to step 306. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step 308.

  Step 306) A telephone number input screen for prompting input of a telephone number is transmitted to the terminal B 80 via the mail client I / F 220.

  Step 307) The telephone number on the calling side is acquired from the terminal B80, and the process proceeds to Step 309.

  Step 308) The search unit 230 refers to the user information management unit 410 based on the transmission destination ID and acquires the corresponding telephone number A on the calling side.

  Step 309) Based on the transmission source ID, the user information management unit 410 is referred to and the corresponding telephone number B on the called side is acquired.

  Step 310) The telephone number A and the telephone number B are transmitted to the telephone transmission server 300 via the telephone transmission server I / F 210.

  Step 311) A screen indicating that the call is in progress is displayed on the terminal B 80 via the mail client I / F 220.

  Step 312) Upon receiving a call success notification (call connection notification) from the telephone call server 300, the updating unit 250 decrements the remaining number of corresponding records in the mail state management unit 420 by one.

  Step 313) When the remaining number of times becomes 0, the process proceeds to Step 314. Otherwise, the process of the browser-compatible server 200 is terminated.

  Step 314) When the remaining number of times is 0, the corresponding record in the mail status management unit 420 is deleted.

  The specific operation when the data of FIG. 4 is used will be described below along the operation of FIG.

  The user A creates an HTML mail as shown in FIG. 8 (step 101), and transmits the mail from the terminal A70 to the address (mail address b) of the terminal B80 via the mail corresponding server 100 (step 102).

  When the mail corresponding server 100 receives the mail from the terminal A 70 via the I / F 110, the search unit 120 searches the user information management unit 410 of the DB server 400 based on the mail address a of the transmission source of the mail. Then, it is confirmed whether the mail address a exists (step 103). Since this exists, the user ID “XXXX” of the transmission source is acquired.

  Next, the mail determination unit 160 determines whether “<HTML>” exists in the body of the received mail and the tag “<KWD>” for URL conversion exists (step 104), and both exist. If not, the received mail is forwarded to the destination as it is. If both exist, the user information management unit 410 is searched based on the destination mail address b, and the destination user ID “YYYY” is acquired (step 105).

  The passcode generation unit 130 generates a passcode (for example, “qwerty”) (step 106).

  The mail server 100 refers to the effective number “2 times” and the effective period “24 hours” of the user information management unit 410 based on the user ID “XXXX” of the transmission source in the search unit 120, and at that time (for example, , 2008/12/09 20:00:00) and the date and time (for example, 2008/12/10 20:00:00) obtained by adding the validity period (24 hours) as the expiration date, the transmission source user ID “XXXX” , Expiration date "2008/12/10 20:00:00", passcode "qwerty", destination user ID "YYYY", transmission time "2008/12/09 18:00:00", remaining number of times "2 times "Is added to the mail status management unit 420 (step 107).

  In the URL conversion unit 150 of the mail server 100, “<KWD>” in the mail text includes a URL (http: //) including the user ID “XXXX” of the transmission source and the pass code “qwerty” as shown in FIG. KWD.com/XXXX/qwerty) (step 108), and the mail is relayed to the mail address b of the terminal B 80 via the I / F 110 (step 109).

  User B reads the content of the email received from user A shown in FIG. 11, knows the business, and clicks the URL (http://KWD.com/XXXX/qwerty) described in the email. Thus, the browser corresponding server 200 is accessed from the browser of the terminal B80 (step 110).

  The search unit 230 of the browser-compatible server 200 searches the mail status management unit 420 based on the user ID (XXXX) and the passcode (qwerty) included in the URL, and acquires the transmission destination ID (YYYY) (step 111). ). At this time, if there is no corresponding record or the expiration date has expired, an error message as shown in FIG. 12A is transmitted to the terminal B80. If the transmission destination ID is not in the record, a screen prompting the input of a telephone number as shown in FIG. 12B is transmitted to the terminal B80.

  The search unit of the browser-compatible server 200 searches the user information management unit 410 based on the user IDs “XXXX” and “YYYY”, and acquires the telephone number A and the telephone number B (step 112).

  The browser corresponding server 200 transmits the acquired telephone number A and telephone number B to the telephone call server 300 (step 113).

  The browser corresponding server 200 transmits an outgoing message as shown in FIG. 12C to the terminal B80 (step 114). The telephone call server 300 makes a call to the telephone number B (step 115). When the user B responds, the telephone call server 300 makes a call to the telephone number B (step 116). When user A responds, telephone call server 300 starts a call between user A and user B (step 117).

  When the connection is successful, the telephone call server 300 notifies the browser corresponding server 200 that the calls of the telephone numbers A and B are connected (step 118).

  When the remaining number of times is set in the mail state management unit 420, the browser-compatible server 200 accesses the mail state management unit 420 based on the user ID and the passcode of the user A, and the remaining number of times for the user B Is reduced by 1 and the remaining number of times is 0. Since the remaining number of times becomes 0, the uppermost record of the mail status management unit 420 in FIG. 4 is deleted. When the remaining number of times becomes 0, it is deleted even if it is within the expiration date (step 119).

  In this embodiment, the transmission time is acquired from the clock, but it is also possible to acquire the transmission time of the received mail header.

  In addition, the operation of the components of the mail-compatible server and browser-compatible server in the above system can be constructed as a program, installed on a computer used as these servers, executed, or distributed via a network. It is.

  Further, the constructed program can be stored in a portable storage medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, or a CD-ROM, and can be installed or distributed in a computer.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and applications can be made within the scope of the claims.

  The present invention is applicable to a system including a terminal such as a PC having a mail client function, a terminal having a call function with a mobile phone, and a telephone. Further, the present invention can be applied to a system of a carrier other than a telecommunications carrier that provides a telephone service.

It is a principle block diagram of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the principle of this invention. It is a network block diagram in one embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the data of DB server in one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the mail corresponding | compatible server in one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the browser corresponding | compatible server in one embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence chart of operation in one embodiment of the present invention. It is an example of the mail which the user A in one embodiment of this invention produces. It is a flowchart of operation | movement of the mail corresponding | compatible server in one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of operation | movement of the browser corresponding | compatible server in one embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the mail transferred from the mail corresponding | compatible server in one embodiment of this invention. It is an example of a browser screen in one embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 Internet 20 Voice communication network 30 Terminal A (mobile phone)
40 Phone A
50 Terminal B (Personal computer)
60 Phone B
100 mail correspondence server 110 interface 120 search section 130 passcode generation section 140 update section 150 URL conversion section 160 mail determination section 170 DB interface 200 browser correspondence server 210 telephone call server interface 220 terminal interface 230 search section 240 database interface 250 Update unit 400 Database (DB) server 410 User information management unit 420 Mail status management unit

Claims (6)

A mail-based incoming billing system that retains email transmission records and allows outgoing billing to be sent from a certain email destination to an email sender,
A user information management database (DB) for managing a mail address and a telephone number in association with each user ID;
A mail status management database (DB) that holds information on the destination and destination of a mail that is permitted to receive incoming calls, a mail transmission record, and a condition for making a call;
Based on the mail address of the sender of the received mail, referring to the user information management DB, means for acquiring the sender user ID corresponding to the mail address of the sender, and the received mail is converted to URL If the URL tag is included, the URL conversion tag includes means for converting the URL conversion tag into a URL for call origination including the transmission source user ID, and means for relaying to the transmission destination mail address. Server,
When there is an access from the terminal at the URL for outgoing calls, the mail status management DB is referred to determine whether to permit or reject incoming call billing, and if so, the user A browser-compatible server that obtains the telephone number of the mail transmission source and the mail transmission destination from the user information management DB based on the ID;
A telephone call server that obtains a telephone number of the mail transmission destination and the mail transmission source from the browser compatible server and makes a call connection when a telephone call is permitted by the browser compatible server;
A mail-based incoming billing system characterized by comprising: The mail status management DB includes an expiration date as a condition for making a call,
The browser-compatible server is
2. The mail according to claim 1, further comprising means for comparing the expiration date of the mail status management DB with the date and time information at the time of access and rejecting the telephone call for the incoming charge if the expiration date has passed. Usage-type incoming billing system. The mail status management DB includes the number of valid times as a condition for making a call,
The browser-compatible server is
When obtaining a call connection notification of the mail transmission destination and the telephone of the mail transmission source from the telephone call server,
Means for counting the number of times the call connection notification has been received, and if the counted number is greater than or equal to the valid number, means for rejecting the telephone call for the incoming charge;
Or
2. The mail-based incoming call charging system according to claim 1, further comprising any means for subtracting 1 from the effective number each time the call connection notification is received, and rejecting the incoming call telephone call when 0 is reached. A mail-based incoming billing method that retains a mail transmission record and allows outgoing billing from a certain mail destination to the mail sender,
In the mail corresponding server, referring to the user information management DB based on the mail address of the sender of the received mail, the sender user ID corresponding to the mail address of the sender is acquired, and the received mail is If the URL conversion tag is included, the URL conversion tag is converted to a telephone call URL including the transmission source user ID, and relayed to the destination mail address.
In the server corresponding to the browser, when there is an access from the terminal at the URL for outgoing calls, information on the destination of the mail and the sender of the mail that are allowed to charge the incoming call, the record of the outgoing mail, and the outgoing call Referring to the mail status management DB that holds the conditions, it is determined whether to permit or reject the incoming call billing, and if so, send the mail from the user information management DB based on the user ID Get the phone number of the original and mail destination,
In the call origination server, when a call origination is permitted by the browser-compatible server, the mail use is characterized in that the telephone number of the mail transmission destination and the mail transmission source is acquired from the browser-compatible server and the call connection is performed. Type incoming billing method. In the browser-compatible server,
When the expiration date of the expiration date and the date and time information at the time of access are compared in the conditions for outgoing calls registered in the mail status management DB, and the expiration date has passed, 5. The mail-based incoming call accounting method according to claim 4, wherein the call transmission is rejected. The browser-compatible server is
When obtaining a call connection notification of the mail transmission destination and the telephone of the mail transmission source from the telephone call server,
The number of times that the call connection notification is received is counted, and if the counted number is equal to or greater than the effective number of the conditions for making a call stored in the mail state management DB, the call for the incoming charge is rejected. ,
Or
5. The mail-based incoming call billing method according to claim 4, wherein each time the call connection notification is received, 1 is subtracted from the valid count, and when it becomes 0, the incoming call billing is rejected.

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