JPH01320851A - Communication charge accounting system for subscriber telephone system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent too many pre-paid cards over a required number by provid ing a telephone call charge accounting means by means of pre-paid cards to a subscriber telephone set. CONSTITUTION:When a user or a subscriber telephone set desires the accounting of a talking charge of call by a pre-paid card, the card is loaded to a card reader/writer 5 the same as the case with the call from a card type public telephone set and hooks off the handset and dials the telephone number. In the talking state, a card control section 4 decides whether or not the residual call units in the register is zero while they are being decremented and a signal generation/identification section 6 generates a residual call unit zero signal when the residual call unit is zero. Thus, the exchange changes the accounting system of the talking charge by the pre-paid card into the normal charging by the integration of the call units.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a call charge settlement system used in subscriber telephone systems.

(Prior Art) Recently, when making a call from a public telephone, a method of paying a call fee using a prepaid card called a telephone card has become popular. The user of this prepay card purchases in advance a magnetic card on which the number of remaining cards corresponding to the price is recorded, carries it with him, inserts it into the magnetic card reading/writing device of a public telephone, and makes a call. After the call starts, the exchange sends a charging pulse at a predetermined period according to the distance-based time difference method, and the public telephone subtracts the remaining power recorded on the magnetic card one degree at a time in synchronization with the charging pulse. Teyu (.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The above-mentioned prepaid cards are generally printed with photographs of sightseeing spots, events, etc., and serve as souvenirs, or are given and received as gifts. For this reason, there is a tendency for people to carry more prepaid cards than there is actual demand for making calls from public telephones, and there is a problem that many cards are lost or left unused, which is uneconomical.

(Means for Solving the Problems) According to the call charge settlement method of the subscriber telephone system according to the present invention, the number of remaining points recorded in the prepay card attached to the subscriber telephone housed in the subscriber exchange If the read remaining power is zero, it sends a remaining power confirmation signal to the exchange before starting a call, and receives a billing pulse sent from the exchange after the start of a call. means for subtracting the read remaining power by a predetermined value each time the call is continued; and means for transmitting a zero remaining power notification to the subscriber exchange upon detecting that the remaining power has become zero while continuing the call. .

In addition, when the subscriber exchange detects a signal to confirm the number of remaining power before starting a call, it sends a charging pulse to the calling subscriber's telephone at a predetermined period instead of the normal billing based on the accumulation of the number of calls. After receiving the frequency zero notification, a means is provided to start normal billing by accumulating the number of calls instead of sending out the above-mentioned billing pulse, and it is possible to use a call charge settlement method using a prepaid card on the subscriber's telephone. It is configured.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present invention will be explained in detail together with examples.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a subscriber telephone used in the call charge settlement method of a subscriber telephone system according to an embodiment of the present invention, where 1 is a telephone circuit, 2 is a transmission circuit, and 2 is a telephone circuit. 3 is a dial board; 4 is a card control section; 5 is a card reading/writing section; 6 is a signal generation/identification section; 7 is a subscriber line.

If the user of this subscriber telephone wants to pay the call charges for a call using a prepay card, he/she should insert the magnetic prepay card into the card reading/writing section 5 in the same way as when making a call from a card-type public phone. After putting it on, take the handset 2 off-hook.

When the card reading/writing unit 5 detects the off-hook,
The remaining power held in the inserted magnetic card is read and transferred to the card control section 4. The card control unit 4 holds the remaining power transferred from the card read/write unit 5 in a register, and checks whether this is zero. Card control unit 4
When confirming that the remaining number of degrees held in the register is not zero, it activates the signal generation/identification section 6.

When the subscriber exchange detects that the subscriber telephone is off-hook, the subscriber exchange selects one of the idle call register trunks and causes a predetermined dial tone to be transmitted from there to the subscriber telephone.

When the signal generating/identifying unit in the subscriber's telephone detects a predetermined dial tone sent from the subscriber's exchange, it sends a confirmation signal that the remaining number of cards on the prepaid card is not zero to a predetermined M.
It is sent onto the subscriber line 7 using an F-fold signal "#", etc.). This confirmation signal is received and stored in the calling register trunk prior to the called telephone number being manually entered by the user from the dial board 3.

If the local exchange detects that a predetermined confirmation signal is added to the beginning of the called telephone number stored in the calling register before analyzing it, it will start charging instead of the normal billing method based on the accumulation of the number of calls. Select the payment method for call charges using a prepaid card, similar to that used for public telephones. That is, the local exchange sends out speech line pulses between the calling telephone and the called telephone. This billing pulse is identified by the signal generation/identification section 6 in the subscriber's telephone, and is identified by the card control section 4.
The remaining count in the register is subtracted by one unit.

Each time the card control unit 4 subtracts the remaining number of credits in the register, it determines whether or not this is equal to the minimum unit, and if so, it notifies the user of this subscriber telephone that the remaining number of credits has become the minimum unit. The signal generation/identification unit 6 is caused to generate an alarm sound for warning. Each time the card system Jl11 unit 4 subtracts the remaining number of points in the register, it determines whether or not it has become zero, and if so, it generates a signal to notify that the remaining number of points has become zero. The identification unit 6 generates the signal and sends it out to the subscriber line 7 through the telephone circuit 1.

The subscriber exchange that receives this notification of zero remaining number of calls changes the previous method of paying call charges using a prepay card to a normal billing method based on the accumulation of the number of calls. In other words, after this change is made, the change time and call distance are written to the subscriber file, and when the call ends, the call frequency is calculated from the call time and call distance after changing the payment method, and is written to the billing file. This is added to the number of calls made to this subscriber's telephone that is currently being saved.

Note that if the user of the subscriber telephone makes a call without attaching a prepay cart to the card reading/writing unit 5, no confirmation signal is sent to the subscriber exchange, and the number of calls is calculated based on the cumulative number of calls from the start of the call. Normal billing will begin.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained in detail above, the call charge payment method of the subscriber telephone system according to the present invention is configured to use a call charge payment method using a prepaid card in the subscriber telephone. This prevents the storage or loss of Prepay Rebay Cards, which tend to be excessive when making calls from
This has the effect of making it possible to use it economically.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a subscriber telephone that accepts the call charge settlement method of a subscriber telephone system according to an embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Telephone circuit, 2... Handset, 3... Dial board, 4... Card control section, 5... Card reading/writing section, 6... Signal generation/identification section, 7... -Subscriber line.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A call charge settlement method for a subscriber telephone system comprising a subscriber exchange and a subscriber telephone connected to the subscriber exchange via a subscriber line, the subscriber telephone comprising: has a means for reading or writing the remaining power recorded in the installed prepaid card, and if the read remaining power is zero, it sends a remaining power confirmation signal to the exchange before starting a call. , a means for subtracting the read remaining power by a predetermined value each time a billing pulse sent from the exchange is received after the start of a call; and means for sending a zero notification to a subscriber exchange, and when the subscriber exchange detects the remaining frequency confirmation signal before the start of the call, the subscriber exchange charges the calling subscriber at a predetermined period instead of the normal billing based on the accumulation of the call frequency. The present invention is characterized by comprising means for transmitting a billing pulse to the telephone set, and, after receiving the notification of the number of remaining charges of zero while continuing a call, to start normal billing by accumulating the number of calls instead of transmitting the billing pulse. A call fee payment method for subscriber telephone systems.