JPH01300646A - Message storage exchange system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To withdraw the output of a message incoming notice if no usual subscriber exists by providing a count function of present time and a function storing an incoming notice start time and an incoming end time and limiting the incoming notice from the incoming end time till the incoming notice start time to a storage service equipment. CONSTITUTION:A mail box management section 11 in the storage service equipment 4 has a function counting the present time and the function limiting the incoming notice from the incoming notice end time till the incoming notice start time set by a prescribed means in the disk device 14 in advance. Then whether an incoming notice is outputted or withheld is discriminated at the incoming time of a message and in case of withholding, the incoming notice is limited from the incoming notice end time to the incoming notice start time. Thus, the incoming notice is limited when the absence of a subscriber is noticed and the incoming call is notified effectively when the subscriber comes back.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] This invention has a device that stores voice, facsimile information, and general data via a switchboard, particularly a private branch exchange, and stores mailboxes for individuals in the device. The present invention relates to a message storage and exchange system that notifies a called subscriber that a message has been posted and can deliver the message to the called subscriber.

[Conventional technology]

For example, in the storage service device in the conventional message storage and exchange system described in "Research and Practical Application Report" published by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone ■, Vol. 35, No. 9 (published in 1986), pages 59-69, When a message is posted in a mailbox, a lamp is displayed to indicate that a message has arrived at the terminal corresponding to the mailbox, or a call is made to that terminal to notify the terminal of the arrival of the message. In this case, the notification time is limited and can be instantaneous at any time.

Figures 8 to 10 schematically show this situation. FIG. 8 is a system configuration diagram of a conventional example. In the figure, 1 is a subscriber, and a to C in the figure indicate each subscriber. 2 is a telephone assigned to each subscriber;
3 is an exchange, and 4 is a storage service device. FIG. 9 is an incoming call notification table as a management table in the storage service device 4 of FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart 1 for explaining the operation of notifying the incoming message.

Next, the operation of the conventional example will be explained with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. For example, when the telephone 2 with line number A is busy, a person making a call to subscriber a connects to the message multiplication service device 4 and registers a message in the mailbox of subscriber a. In this case, message accumulation ()
When the service device 4 receives the message registration in step 5T801, it further refers to the terminal number A corresponding to the subscriber at step 5T802 from the incoming call notification table (an example of which is shown in FIG. 9). and call that number.
Notify you that a message has arrived. Next step S
At T803, it is determined whether or not the incoming call notification has been successful. If it is successful, the memory contents of waiting for incoming notification, not being notified of incoming call, and number of times of one ride are reset at step 5T804. On the other hand, if the retry is not successful for some reason, the number of retries is incremented by 1 in step 5T806, and it is determined in step 5T807 whether the number of retries exceeds a predetermined number. If the predetermined number of times has been exceeded, step 5T808 sets the incoming call notification table to "Unnotified", but if the predetermined number of times has not been exceeded, step 5T810 waits for a certain period of time and then steps again. 5T802 operation is performed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Since the conventional message storage and forwarding system is configured as described above, it tries to notify the incoming call even when the recipient is not present, so the ringing sound is noisy to the surrounding area. It's wasteful, and I don't like it for security purposes either.

When the subscriber returns to the location of the terminal, the specified number of retries may be exceeded, and the important call notification may not reach the subscriber.Furthermore, a lamp is displayed to indicate the arrival of a message. If the message is a voice message, it is unlikely that the message will be registered in the middle of the night, but if the message is a facsimile data, etc. This poses a particular problem because discount rates are often used at night.

This invention was made in order to solve the problems mentioned in item 1. It limits the notification of incoming calls when it is known that the subscriber is absent, and effectively notifies the incoming call when the subscriber returns. The purpose is to obtain a message storage and exchange system that can

[Means to solve the problem]

In the message masonry exchange system l according to the present invention, the storage service device has a timekeeping function, and stores an incoming notification start time and an incoming notification end time in advance, and from the incoming call end time to the incoming notification start time. is configured to have a function of restricting the notification of incoming calls.

(Function) In the message storage and exchange system according to the present invention, the timekeeping function of the storage service device and the function of limiting the incoming notification based on the preset incoming notification start time and incoming notification end time are used to notify the incoming call. When a message is received, it is determined whether the message should be put on hold or not, and when the call is to be put on hold, the incoming notification is controlled from the incoming notification start time to the incoming notification start time.

[Example] Hereinafter, one embodiment of this invention will be explained using two illustrations.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a subscriber whose symbols a to f are distinguished from each other by stones 11 and δ...f, each of which is given as a telephone number, and 2 is this subscriber. telephones as subscriber terminals, A, B, and C are the line numbers (terminal numbers) of telephone 2, 1.3 is the exchange, 4 is the M service device, and 11 in the storage service device 4. 12 is a line interface, 13 is a discipline interface with the exchange 3, and 14 is a mailbox in which messages are stored. This is a disk device for configuring a memory that stores. In this case, the mailbox management unit 11 has a function of measuring the current time, and also performs incoming call notification from the incoming notification end time to the incoming notification start time, which is set in advance in the disk device 14 by a predetermined means. It has the ability to limit the

Next, the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the message registration is accepted in step ST201, the mailbox management unit 11 checks the current time in step ST202. Next, in step 5T203, it is determined whether the time is between the incoming notification start time and the incoming notification end time that are stored in advance in the mailbox in the disk device 14, and it is determined whether the incoming notification end time has passed. Then step ST 204
As a result, an incoming call notification waiting state is registered in the incoming call notification table held in the mailbox in the disk device 14. Therefore, in this case, useless incoming notifications are not made and are restricted.

On the other hand, if it is the incoming notification possible time, step 5T206
The corresponding terminal number is retrieved from the mailbox in the disk device 14, a call is made to the terminal with that number, and a message is notified that the message has arrived. Subsequently, in step ST 207, it is determined whether or not the incoming call notification has been performed correctly, and if the incoming call notification has failed, step ST207 is performed.
The number of retries is incremented in step 210, and if the number of retries does not exceed a predetermined value in step 5T211, the process waits for a certain period of time in step 5T214 and returns to the operation of step ST202. If the incoming call notification is successful or the number of attempts exceeds the default value, the operation is the same as the conventional one.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the mailbox management section 11 showing the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. This second embodiment shows an example in which the mailbox management unit 11 has an incoming call notification time zone table corresponding to the dates shown in FIG.
Each date corresponds to an incoming notification start time and an incoming notification end time.

The operation of this second embodiment will now be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the message registration is accepted in step 5T401, the 81st day of the day is checked in step ST40.2, and the incoming notification start time and incoming notification end time are determined from the incoming notification time zone table corresponding to that date in step 5T403. The time is coming.

Next, in step ST404, the current time at that point is checked, and in step ST405, it is determined whether the time is within the incoming call notification time zone. The subsequent operations in steps 5T406 to 5T413 are similar to those in the first embodiment.

Note that in the second embodiment, the day of the week may be used instead of the date.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the mailbox management section 11 showing the operation of the third embodiment. In this third embodiment, the mailbox management unit 11 not only uses the notification time zone table shown in FIG. This example shows a box status management table, in which each subscriber can temporarily register or cancel absence. The operation of this third embodiment will now be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When message registration is accepted in step ST601, the status of the mailbox is retrieved from the mailbox status management table in step ST602. Next, in step ST603, it is determined whether or not the subscriber of the mailbox is absent, and if not, in step ST604, the date is checked from the table in FIG. On the other hand, when the user is absent, a missed call is registered in the mailbox management table.

In the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the storage service device 4 makes a call and notifies the arrival of a message, but a system that engages with an exchange and lights up a terminal lamp etc. to notify the arrival of a message is also possible. By limiting the time for notification of incoming calls, processing at the exchange and waste of power can be avoided.

Furthermore, the incoming call start time and incoming end time in the above embodiments may be set and changed freely by the subscriber from the telephone.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the message storage and exchange system is configured such that the M-bis device has a timekeeping function for the current time, and stores the incoming notification start time and incoming notification end time.
In addition, since the structure is equipped with a function to limit the incoming notification from the end time of the incoming call to the start time of the incoming notification, it is possible to prevent message incoming notification from being issued when there are usually no subscribers, thereby reducing the need for redundant storage devices and exchanges. This has the effect of reducing traffic and preventing the telephone from ringing unnecessarily, such as at night.

The storage service device can also be configured to have a calendar function for knowing the date, and to store the incoming notification start time and end time for each date or day of the week, and to change the incoming notification time limit depending on the day or day of the week. , the same response as described above can be made even during holidays and irregular hours.

Furthermore, the storage service device has a function of registering the temporary absence of a subscriber for each mailbox, and if the subscriber is not present, the incoming call is notified during the notification time period, and if the subscriber is registered as absent, the incoming call notification time is reached. Since it can be configured to restrict incoming call notifications even if the subscriber is not in the office, it is possible to restrict incoming call notifications for each subscriber, which has the effect of not bothering people around the subscriber or the subscriber himself when he is absent.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a message storage and exchange system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mailbox management unit 11 of the above embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a notification time period of the same embodiment. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mailbox management unit 11 according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the notification time zone table of the second embodiment; FIG. The figure shows a flowchart 1 showing the operation of the mailbox management section 11 according to the third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 shows a mailbox status management table of the same embodiment, and FIGS. An example is shown in FIG. 8, which is a block diagram of the message storage and exchange system.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart, and FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing an incoming call notification table. 1 is the subscriber, 2 is the telephone (subscriber terminal), 3 is the exchange,
4 is a storage service device, and 14 is a disk device (mailbox). In addition, in the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent parts. Patent Applicant Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (external 2 stones) 1: Canada) - Jireho Index) Figure 7 Figure 9 Isamu Iwanobu - Chimote

Claims (1)

[Claims] It consists of an exchange that connects subscriber terminals such as telephones, facsimiles, and data terminals, and a storage service device that stores messages for the subscriber terminals, and the storage service device has a mailbox that stores messages for the subscribers. , when a message is registered in the mailbox, a call is made to the subscriber terminal of the terminal number associated with the mailbox stored in advance, or the lamp, etc. of the subscriber terminal is turned on by engaging with the exchange. In a message storage and exchange system having a function of notifying that a message has arrived, such as by turning on a light, the storage service device has a timekeeping function, and stores an incoming notification start time and an incoming notification end time, and records the incoming call end time. A message storage and exchange system, characterized in that the message storage and exchange system has a function of restricting the incoming call notification from to the incoming call notification start time.