JPH01321765A - Communication terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To display a present charge in a real time by calculating the charge based on a momentary amount per unit time stored during commercial communication service connection. CONSTITUTION:A charge table for various communication services is displayed on a display device 2 to input the selection by the operator from an input device 3. In the case of the selection normally, a relevant center telephone number of the communication service is read from the charge table and the start of communication is commanded to a communication equipment 7. The center is dialed by the command. A charging device 9 to be started calculates each charge based on a data on the charge table per unit time. A charge display section 11 revises the display such as connection time to the center, telephone charge, access charge and total charge for each unit time according to the data from the charging device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a communication terminal device, for example, a communication terminal device that uses a telephone line to access commercial databases, electronic mail, electronic bulletin boards, and the like.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in communication terminal devices such as personal computers that access commercial communication services such as commercial databases, e-mail, and electronic bulletin boards via telephone lines, the main focus has been on communication, and connection time has been reduced. There was no device with additional functions such as notification. However, recently, some devices have started to display the connection time when the connection ends, or in real time during the connection.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, even if you know the connection time, it is difficult to know how much it will actually cost to make the connection and receive a commercial communication service by checking the telephone line usage fee. , it was necessary to calculate and add up access fees for commercial communication services based on connection time.

Furthermore, when accessing multiple commercial communication services, the individual phone numbers may be different (the communication charges per unit time may also differ), and the access charges per unit time vary depending on each service. Even if I knew the connection time, it was only a guideline.

The present invention was made to solve the above problems, and
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a communication terminal device that displays current usage charges in real time while accessing a commercial communication service.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a communication device of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a storage means for storing a telephone number for accessing a paid commercial communication service, a telephone line usage fee per unit time corresponding to the telephone number, and an access fee per unit time for the commercial communication service; , comprising a charging means for calculating a charge based on the amount per unit time stored in the storage means during connection of the commercial communication service, and a display means for displaying the charge calculated by the charging means.

[Operations] In the above configuration, the charge is calculated based on the amount per unit time stored while connected to a commercial communication service, and the current charge is displayed in real time.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Description of the device (Fig. 1)] Fig. 1 is a block diagram of this embodiment, and 1 is a CPU
, 2 and 9 are display devices, 3 is a manual device such as a keyboard, 4 is an external storage device, 5 is a basic software, and a ROM that stores the processing procedures of the CPU which will be described later.
, 6 is a RAM that stores application software of the present invention, 7 is a communication device that performs communication, 8 is a telephone line, and 9 is a billing device that calculates charges.

[Description of billing device (FIGS. 2 and 3)] FIG. 2 shows details of the display device 2 in this embodiment. The screen 11 is a charge display section that displays various charges. The charge display unit 11 then displays the connection time with the center, telephone charges, access charges, total charges, etc. to the billing device 9.
The display is updated every unit time according to the data from. The billing device 9 of this embodiment is a device that, when activated, initializes a built-in timer (not shown) and calculates each fee based on the unit time and unit amount of various communication services shown in FIG.

The table shown in FIG. 3 is data stored in the external storage device 4, and includes the name of the communication service to be used, its center telephone number, the telephone billing unit time,
The telephone billing unit amount, the communication service billing unit time, the communication service billing unit amount, etc. are stored.

Additional registration of the above table can be done on the registration mode screen (
For example, the format shown in FIG.
Each data is inputted from and stored in the external storage device 4.

Next, the activated billing device 9 calculates each fee based on the above data for each unit time.

For example, the telephone charge is calculated using the following formula: Telephone charge = timer value ÷ telephone charge billing unit time x billing amount In addition, the access charge is similarly calculated from the timer value.

[Explanation of Processing Procedure (FIG. 4) Next, the flow of control will be described below according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in step SIO, the charge table for various communication services shown in FIG. In the determination process of step S14, if the input result is cancelled, the process ends; on the other hand, if the selection is successful, the center telephone number of the corresponding communication service is read from the rate table in step S16, and the communication service is Instructs device 7 to start communication. In response to this instruction, the communication device 7 makes a call to the center via the telephone line 8.

Next, in step S18, the result of the call is determined,
If there is a communication abnormality, an error message is displayed on the front/receiver section 11 of the display device 2 in step S48, and the process ends. However, if the communication is connected normally,
In step S20, the charging device 9 is activated, and the fee display section 12
Initialize. Thereby, the display on the fee display section 12 is started.

Then, in steps 322 to 26, the above-mentioned billing device 9 calculates the telephone charge, access charge,
Then, the total of the telephone charge and the access charge is displayed on the charge display section 11 shown in FIG.

Next, in step S30, the center connection time is displayed on the fee display section 11 based on the timer value of the charging device 9.

Then, in step S32, it is checked whether or not there is communication processing, and if there is processing, communication processing is performed in step S34, and if it is determined in step S36 that the line is disconnected, an error is detected in step S50. Display the message and end the process. On the other hand, if the line is not disconnected, it is checked in step S38 whether or not the operator has inputted a key from the input device 3. If the operator has inputted a key, the key is inputted in step S40.
Perform each process for the y input.

Then, the input result is determined in step S42, and if the termination instruction is given by the operator, the line is disconnected and the process is terminated.

However, if there is no key input from the input device 3 in step S38, or if the input key is not input in step S42,
If the input is not a termination instruction, the timer value of the billing device 9 is checked in step S44, and if the unit time has elapsed, the process advances to step S46, and if the unit time has not elapsed, the process returns to step S32. Next, step S4
In step 6, if the telephone charge display is updated or the access charge display is updated (this is an integral multiple of the charging unit time), the process proceeds to step S22, otherwise the process proceeds to step S30 to continue the process. do.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the charges for commercial communication services are based on a metered system based on connection time, but there is also the possibility of supporting a metered system based on data charges.

Furthermore, it may be a convenient function to store connection records, including charges, in the external storage device 4 for later use.

According to this embodiment, the telephone number for accessing the commercial communication service, the telephone line usage fee per unit time, and the access fee per unit time of the commercial communication service are stored, and the information is displayed in real time while accessing the commercial communication service. Currently, by displaying the charges on the display device, the operator can easily and clearly know the charges while operating the device.In addition, the operator can easily see the charges increasing while operating the machine. This also has the effect of psychologically speeding up the operation.

[Effect of the invention] As explained above, while accessing a commercial communication service,
Current usage charges can be displayed in real time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of this embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of control. In the figure, 1...CPU, 2...Display device, 3...
...Input device, 4...External storage device, 5...ROM
, 6...RAM, 7...Communication device, 8...Telephone line, 9...Charging device, 10...PC communication screen,
11... Charge display section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a storage means for storing a telephone number for accessing a paid commercial communication service, a telephone line usage fee per unit time corresponding to the telephone number, and an access fee per unit time for the commercial communication service; A communication terminal comprising: a billing unit that calculates a charge based on the amount per unit time stored in the storage unit while connected to a commercial communication service; and a display unit that displays the charge calculated by the billing unit. Device.