JPH0244849A - System for collecting information rate in telephone service - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To restore a service use rate to an information supply trader by permitting an information rate storage means to store metering information in which an information rate and a call rate are added, calculating the information rate obtained by means of subtracting the normal call rate from a rate calculated from a call time and a specified telephone number and storing a calculated value. CONSTITUTION:The information storage means 7 stores metering information in which the information rate and the call rate are added, calculates the information rate obtained by subtracting the normal call rate from the rate calculated from the call time and the specified telephone number and stores the calculated value. When messages are metered at a period shorter than a K shift metering period for a user, the call rate and the information rate are metered and a function calculating the information rate obtained by subtracting the normal call rate from the rate calculated from the dial number including information showing the information rate and the call rate is newly provided in a sound accumulation device 5 provided in a network apart from the recording and reproducing function of sound. Thus, the calculated information rate can be restored to the information supply trader.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an information fee collection system in telephone services, and in particular, in services that utilize a telephone network, a telephone operating company collects service equipment other than call charges on its behalf. Regarding the method of

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, services using telephone networks include captain service, personal computer communication service, message service, answering machine service, seat reservation service, etc.
There are various services, but these services charge a service usage fee for each call in addition to the call fee. (Published by Ohmsha Co., Ltd., pp. 2201-2206).Call charges are charged by operating a billing meta for each call, but the method of collecting service usage charges is by the telephone carrier or The method is to sign a contract with a service provider, register the user's identification code and password, check the user's eligibility based on that information, and charge the user. For example, the above method is used in captain services, personal computer communication services, and the like.

These services are initially contracted between the telephone carrier and service provider and are available only to registered subscribers, but there are also non-contract telephone services such as voicemail services, Facsimile information service, captain service, personal computer
There are other communication services, etc., and these require a fee to be collected from unspecified subscribers each time a service is requested without a contract.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a conventional information fee collection method.

In FIG. 4, 11 is a subscriber's terminal device, 12 is a telephone exchange, 13 is a service providing device, 14 is an information storage unit,
15 is a charge storage section.

First, when a contract is made between a telephone carrier and a service provider, the user identification number of the terminal device 11 and the like are registered in the storage unit 14 of the device 12 that provides the service.

Next, when a call arrives from the terminal device 11 via the telephone exchange 12 to the service device 13, prior to starting the service, a user identification number, etc., registered in the storage unit 14 and sent from the terminal device 11 are sent. The system verifies the incoming user identification number, etc., and if the identification number, etc. is registered, the service starts. Then, charge the usage fee according to the service content.
Fee storage unit 1 corresponding to the user having the user identification number
Charge 5.

Note that the method for transmitting user identification numbers, etc. is as follows: (a) The telephone network automatically transmits a user identification number (telephone number) based on the location on the exchange where the terminal line is accommodated. (b) A method in which the user enters a user identification number or the like from a terminal device, independent of the terminal line.

All of these methods are the same in that a user identification number and the like must be registered in the service providing device.

[Problem to be solved by Invention C] As described above, in the past, in contract-type or membership-based services, prior to using the service, the user had to sign a contract with the service provider and register the user identification number, etc. Charges were made to the charge storage unit corresponding to users. However, there are other non-contract services that are targeted at an unspecified number of people, but conventional methods cannot be applied to these services.

That is, in non-contract type telephone services, it was not possible to collect fees other than call charges and return them to the information provider that provides telephone service information.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve such conventional problems and to reduce call charges even for non-contract-type services provided by information providers other than telephone operators and aimed at an unspecified number of users. To provide an information fee collection method for a telephone service that can return usage fees other than those to an information provider.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the information fee collection method for telephone services of the present invention is implemented in a service device that is installed in a telephone network and provides various kinds of telephone services. Information for receiving a storage means and a specific telephone number identifying the type of service to be reproduced from the audio storage means, registering the frequency at a shorter charging cycle than the normal charging cycle, and storing the registered value. and an incoming call number storage means for counting the number of incoming calls from the user and accumulating and storing the counted value, the information fee storage means comprising:
This is billing information that includes the information charge and the call charge, and is characterized by calculating the information charge by subtracting the normal call charge from the charge calculated from the call time and the above-mentioned specific telephone number, and storing the calculated value. be.

[Function] In the present invention, by registering the frequency at a cycle shorter than the shift billing cycle, the user is billed for call charges and information charges, and the voice storage device installed within the network is charged. In addition to voice recording and playback functions, we have added a new function that calculates the information charge by subtracting the normal call charge from the charge calculated from the dial number and call time, which includes information indicating the information charge and call charge. The calculated information fee will be returned to the information provider at a later date.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a telephone service and a telephone service illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a system.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a subscriber's telephone, 2 is a local telephone exchange, 3 is a relay telephone exchange, 4 is a service device, 5 is a voice storage device, 6 is a voice storage section, 7 is an information fee storage section, and 8 is a 9 is a control unit, and 10 is an input/output device for maintenance. Note that 1A, 2A, and 3A are telephones, local exchanges, and relay exchanges of information providers.

Before starting a service, an information provider that provides voice information signs a contract with a telephone operator and has them allocate a specific telephone number for the service.

This number consists of (a) a common number for information guidance services, (b) information indicating the rate rank preset by the telephone operator, and (c) a number corresponding to individual voice information. There is. Therefore, the information provider selects which rate rank to use among these at the time of contract.

When the contract ends, the telephone operator registers in the service device 4 the contract number for managing the information provider, the password, and the specific telephone number for the service. Then, voice information for providing the service is recorded in a predetermined recording area based on these numbers.

In addition, the local telephone exchange 2 to which the telephone 1 is connected determines the connection route to the service device 4 in advance based on the common number for the above-mentioned information guidance service, and also determines the connection route to the service device 4 in advance based on the common number for the above-mentioned information guidance service. Set the billing function to perform registration.

The user who listens to the voice information dials the specified telephone number, and the local exchange 2 registers the frequency according to the charge rank included in this number. This registered frequency includes a normal call charge and an information charge.

This call is then transferred to the service equipment 4 through a normal switched connection.
At the same time, the specified telephone number is sent to the service device 4. The service device 4 reproduces service audio information from a predetermined recording area corresponding to this number and sends it to the telephone 1. When a call is disconnected, an information fee is calculated by calculating the difference between the frequency corresponding to the number indicating the charge rank and the frequency corresponding to the normal call charge, and the fee of the information provider providing the voice information is calculated. It is stored in the storage unit 7. The telephone operator periodically reads out the charge storage section 7 and returns the information to the information provider.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the charging method of the present invention, in which 2a represents the normal charging cycle, 2b represents the information charge charging cycle in the present invention, and 2C represents the call charge charging cycle in the present invention. , and 2d represents the billing cycle of the information fee in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a specific telephone number in the present invention.

[m0ABCj shown in FIG. 3 is a vacant area code, and this number is used to identify the information guidance service.

[i'DEj is a number indicating the charge rank, FFGH
J j is a number that identifies information provided by an information provider.

The information fee collection operation according to the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

Prior to recording, the audio information provider signs a contract with a telephone operator and sets a contract number, password, and specific telephone number. The telephone operating company controls the control unit 9 of the voice storage device 5.
In addition to setting the information provider's contract number, password, etc., securing the recording area of the voice storage section 6 is also performed by inputting from the maintenance input/output device 10.

Next, the information provider that provides the voice information uses the telephone IA
Call from local telephone exchange 2A, relay telephone exchange 3A
The call arrives at the service device 4 via. Subsequently, the information provider records voice information from the telephone IA according to guidance from the service device 4. The audio information is sent to the control unit 9
The audio data is recorded in a predetermined recording area of the audio storage unit 6 according to the process described in FIG.

A user who wants to listen to audio information dials a specific telephone number [m OA B CD EFG] from the telephone 1 as shown in Fig. 3.
When dialing "HJ", the local exchange 2 determines the connection route to the service equipment W4 according to the dialed number,
All dialed numbers are transferred to the subsequent relay telephone exchange 3. Then, charge rank information DE included in the dialed number
Accordingly, preparations are made to register the frequency in a charging cycle shorter than the normal charging cycle Ko shown at 28 in FIG. 2 with □. Frequency registration is started after a call is connected to the service device 4 and the local exchange 2 receives a response signal from this device 4. From this point on, the telephone operator will collect call charges and information charges all at once.

On the other hand, the voice storage device 5 in the service device 4 reproduces the voice information recorded in the recording area of the predetermined voice storage section 6 according to the received dial numbers shown in FIG. At the same time as transmitting it to the subscriber via the internal exchange 2, the charging cycle is determined to be □, and the time S from the start of the connection to the end of the connection is counted according to the number li'DE indicating the charge rank among the dialed digits. . Further, the number of incoming calls is counted and recorded in the incoming call number storage section 8.

In the audio storage device 5, the information fee is calculated by frequency conversion using the following formula (1).

However, [ ] is a Gaussian symbol, S is the call time (seconds), and K is the billing cycle (seconds) according to the rate rank. The first term (S/Ko) in the above formula (1) is the term (frequency) that adds the call charge and information charge, and the second term [S/Ko] subtracts the frequency corresponding to the call charge. This is the term (frequency) for

The voice storage device 5 performs the following for each incoming call, according to the above formula (1)
Calculate the information fee according to the following and add these up.

The information fee is stored in the information fee storage unit 7 allocated to the information provider providing the information using that number. The contents of the information fee storage section 7 and the number of incoming calls storage section 8 are periodically outputted by the maintenance input/output device 10. In this way, the information fee is returned to the information provider, and the telephone operator can collect the fee.

The field of application of the present invention is not only voice information provision services, but also non-contract services operated by third parties for an unspecified number of users, such as voice mail services and facsimile information guidance services. , captain service, personal computer communication service, etc.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably return service usage fees other than call charges to information providers other than telephone operating companies, so that services using the telephone network can be provided to an unspecified number of people. Can be extended to subscribers.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a telephone service system showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a charging method in the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a specific telephone number used in the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an information fee collection method in a conventional telephone service system. 1, IA: Telephone, 2, 2A: Local telephone exchange, 3.3
A: Relay telephone exchange, 4: Service device, 5: Voice storage device, 6: Voice storage section, 7: Information fee storage section, 8: Incoming call number storage section, 9: Control section, 10: Maintenance input/output device , 11
: terminal device, 12: @phone exchange, 13: service providing device, 14: information storage section, 15: fee storage section. Patent Applicant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation Figure H-111-KO -111111-K1-1 H-111-KO -1111-1-17-1 Figure No. Cow diagram

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a service device that is installed in a telephone network and provides multiple types of telephone services, a voice storage means for storing and reproducing voice for the service, and the type of service to be reproduced from the voice storage means. information fee storage means for receiving a specific telephone number identifying the user, registering the frequency at a shorter charging cycle than the normal charging cycle, and storing the registered value, and counting the number of incoming calls from the user; Incoming call number storage means for accumulating and storing the counted value, and the information fee storage means is billing information that includes the information fee and the call fee, and is calculated from the call time and the specific phone number. An information fee collection method for a telephone service, characterized in that an information fee is calculated by subtracting a normal call fee, and the calculated value is stored.