JPH0326048A - Incoming call processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely satisfy the communication request to a facsimile equipment by preserving the connection state of a line receiving a call signal during communication and connecting the said line to a communication processing means depending on the end of the communication. CONSTITUTION:When a call signal is given to other line 101 (line B) while communication is implemented to any of plural lines 101 (line A) in a facsimile equipment 110, a changeover control means 117 controls a preserving means 114 corresponding to the line B to preserve the connection state of the line B. Moreover, a preservation information transmission means 115 sends the information representing the preservation of the connection state of the line via the line B. Then the changeover means 112 is controlled by the changeover control means 117 in response to the end of the communication via the line A, the line B and the communication processing means 111 are connected to attain the communication via the line B. Thus, the communication request is surely satisfied.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Monthly] Overview Industrial field of application Conventional technology Problems to be solved by the invention Examples of means and actions for solving the problems ■. Correspondence between the example and FIG. 1■. Structure of the example ■, Operation of the example ■, Summary of the example ■. Variations of the Invention Effects of the Invention [Summary] The purpose of this invention is to reliably satisfy communication requirements regarding an incoming call processing method for a facsimile machine in which one of a plurality of lines is selected for communication. A plurality of incoming call detection means corresponds to each of the plurality of lines and detects a ringing signal supplied via the corresponding line; a communication processing means communicates via the connected line; In an incoming call processing method for a facsimile machine having a switching means for connecting one of the lines to a communication processing means, and a switching control means for controlling the switching means according to the detection results of the plurality of incoming call detection means, via a plurality of hold means that correspond to each of the lines and hold the connection status of the corresponding line, and the line whose connection status is held by the corresponding hold means,
and a holding information sending means for sending information that the connection state of this line is on hold, and by controlling the corresponding holding means by the switching control means according to the detection results of the plurality of incoming call detection means. , the connection state of the line to which the call signal was supplied during communication is suspended, and the line is connected to the communication processing means upon completion of communication.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an incoming call processing method for a facsimile machine that accommodates a plurality of lines, and more particularly to an incoming call processing method for a facsimile machine that selects one of the plurality of lines for communication. It is related to the method.

With the spread of facsimile machines, facsimile machines are being installed in each department and section of companies, for example.

Such facsimile machines communicate with facsimile machines outside the company via a subscriber switching network, while communicating with facsimile machines installed within the company via a private branch exchange network. There is a desire to communicate via

In response to such demands, multiple lines are accommodated, for example, at least one line is a subscriber line connected to a subscriber switched network, and at least one other line is an extension line connected to a private branch exchange network. A facsimile machine that does this has been realized.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 5 shows the layout of a facsimile machine accommodating a plurality of lines.

The ringing signals supplied through the two circuits 11501a and 50lb are sent to the incoming call detection units 511a and 51501a, respectively.
Detected by 1 lb. According to this detection result, the switching control unit 512 controls the line 501a,
By controlling the selection operation of the 50lb, the line to which the calling signal is first supplied is connected to the communication processing unit 514 for communication.

In such a facsimile device 510, for example, as shown in FIG. When a call signal is received from facsimile machine B (not shown), this line 50lb
is unable to return a predetermined response to the call signal supplied to it, and becomes busy.

In this way, if a predetermined response to the paging signal is not returned, the facsimile machine B transmits the paging signal for a predetermined period of time, then suspends the calling operation and uses the redial function to The calling operation is performed only several times at predetermined transmission intervals (for example, 3 minutes).

Furthermore, if the line 50lb is put on hold after the facsimile machine 510 receives a paging signal, the communication data from the facsimile machine 510 will not be supplied to the facsimile machine B for a certain period of time, so the facsimile Device B releases line 501b.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional system, communication is carried out via the line that received the call first. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, if a call signal from facsimile machine C (not shown) arrives on line 50la again before the above-mentioned redial call signal from facsimile machine B arrives on line 50lb, then , facsimile machine 5]0 starts communication with the above-mentioned facsimile machine C via line 501a. On the other hand, line 50lb
A call signal from facsimile machine B supplied via the facsimile machine B is not accepted.

In this way, when communication is frequently performed via the line 501a, even if facsimile machine B makes several calls using the redial function, all of the calling signals due to the redial function are not accepted. There was a problem that there was a possibility that the communication request could not be satisfied.

In such a case, facsimile machine 2B is designed to end the sending operation, so the operator of facsimile machine B has to perform operations such as specifying the communication destination and inserting the document again, which reduces serviceability. It was hoped that improvements would be made.

The present invention was created in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an incoming call processing method that ensures that communication requests are satisfied.

[Means to solve the problem]

FIG. 1 is a basic diagram of the incoming call processing method of the present invention.

In the figure, a plurality of incoming call detection means 1 correspond to each of a plurality of lines 101 and detect a ringing signal supplied via the corresponding line 101. 3, and a communication processing means 1.3 that communicates via the connected line lO1. 1 1
, a switching means 112 for connecting which of the plurality of lines 101 to the communication processing means 111, and a plurality of incoming call detection means 113.
A facsimile machine 1 having a switching control stage 117 that controls the switching means 112 according to the detection result of the facsimile machine 1. 1,000 stages of hold in the incoming call processing method of 0]. 1 4 is
Corresponding line 1 corresponding to each of the plurality of lines 101
The connection status of ol is suspended.

Hold information sending means 1. 1 5 is the corresponding retention means 1
14, the information indicating that the connection status of this line 101 is suspended is sent through the communication line 101 whose connection status is suspended.

Overall, depending on the detection results of the plurality of incoming call detection means 113, the corresponding holding means 1 is controlled by the switching control stage 117.
14, the connection state of the line 101 to which a call signal was supplied during communication is suspended, and upon completion of communication, this line 101 is connected to the communication processing stage 111. There is.

[Function] What is the function of the plurality of lines 101? A ringing signal that fails to be supplied via one of them will be sent this time. It is detected by the incoming call detection means 113 corresponding to the IJl 101. Depending on the detection result of the incoming call detection means 113, the switching control means II7 controls the switching stage 112, and the above-mentioned line 101 and the communication processing stage 111 are connected to perform communication.

At this time, multiple lines 10 other than the above-mentioned 2 lines 101
When a ringing signal is supplied via 1 and detected by the corresponding incoming call detection stage 113, this incoming call detection means 113
According to the detection result, the corresponding holding means 114 is controlled by the switching control means 117, and the connection state of this line 01 is put on hold.

For example, multiple lines 1. If a call signal is supplied to another line 101 (hereinafter referred to as line B) while communication is being carried out through any one of the lines 101 (hereinafter referred to as line A), switching will occur. The hold stage 114 corresponding to line B is controlled by the control stage 1l7, and the hold stage 114 corresponding to line B is
connection status is suspended.

Also, at this time, the connection state is put on hold by the above-mentioned holding means 114! Via this line 101 (for example, line B), information indicating that the connection state of this line 101 is on hold is sent out by the hold information sending means 115.

In response to the termination of the communication via line A described above, switching unit 112 is controlled by switching control unit 117, line B and communication processing unit 111 are connected, and communication via line B is performed.

In the present invention, the connection state of the line 101 to which a call signal is supplied during communication is suspended, and the switching control stage 117 switches the switching means 112 in accordance with the end of communication, and this line 101 is switched to the communication state. It is connected to processing means 111 .

As a result, immediately after the above-described communication ends, communication is performed via the line 101 to which the calling signal was supplied during this communication.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a facsimile machine to which the incoming call processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

Here, the correspondence between I and 1 and the embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 1 will be shown. Line 101 corresponds to line 201.

Facsimile machine 110 corresponds to facsimile machine 210.

The communication processing means 111 is a microprocessor (MPU)
2 1 1, memory 212, reading section 213, recording section 21
4, modem 215, and compression/decompression section 2I6.

The switching means 112 corresponds to the selector 222.

The incoming call detection means 113 corresponds to the incoming call detection section 221.

The reservation means 114 corresponds to the line reservation section 223.

The hold information sending means 115 corresponds to the push button (PB) signal generating section 225 and the selector 226.

The switching control means 117 corresponds to the switching control section 224.

Examples of the present invention will be described below assuming that the correspondence relationship as described above exists.

U small structure precepts. In FIG. 2, a facsimile machine 210 according to an embodiment
includes a line control unit 220 that controls n lines 2011 to 201.1, a memory 212, a reading unit 213, a recording unit 2l4, a modem 215.
It consists of each part of the compression/decompression unit 216 and a microprocessor (MPU) 211 that controls each part.

Here, at least one line 201 including the line 201 described above is connected to a subscriber switching network, and the line 201 is connected to a subscriber switching network.
It is assumed that other lines 201 including lines 01, . . , are connected to a private branch exchange network.

In addition, the MPU 2 1 1, the memory 212, and the reading unit 213
, the recording section 214, the modem 215, the compression/decompression section 216, and the line control section 220 are connected via a bus.

The line control unit 220 includes incoming call detection units 2211 to 221 that detect ringing signals supplied via the lines 201I to 201, respectively, and lines 201 to 201. The line holding units 223I to 223.1 put each of the lines on hold.
, a PB signal generator 225 that generates a push button (PB) signal, and lines 201+ to 201. a selector 222 that selects any one of the lines 2011 to 2011 and connects it to the modem 215; a selector 226 that selects any one of the lines 2011 to 2011 and connects it to the PB signal generator 225; The switch control section 224 controls each section based on the output of the switch 22l7.

The PB signal generator 225 generates a hold signal indicating that the line connection status is on hold in response to an instruction from the switching control unit 224, and sends it out via the line 201 selected by the selector 226. It is strictly prohibited to do so. This hold signal is made up of, for example, a predetermined combination of PB signals.

Furthermore, 230 and 240 are facsimile machines connected to line 202 and line 203, respectively. This line 202 is connected to a subscriber switching network,
On the other hand, line 203 is connected to a private branch exchange network.

The facsimile machine 240 includes a communication processing unit 241 for performing normal transmission and reception, a PB signal detection unit 242 for detecting a PB signal supplied via a circuit 41203, and a timer for which a predetermined grace period is set. 243.

This timer 243 starts a time measurement operation in response to an instruction from the communication processing unit 241 described above, for example, in response to reception of a calling signal transmitted via the line 203, and checks whether a predetermined grace period has elapsed. It is configured to output a signal indicating.

Further, the PB signal detection section 242 is configured to detect a predetermined PB signal representing the above-mentioned hold signal, and in response to the output of this PB signal detection section 242, the above-mentioned timer 243 performs a time measurement operation. It is supposed to stop.

According to the output state of the timer 243, the communication processing unit 241 releases the line 203, for example, when it is indicated that the above-mentioned predetermined grace period (for example, 30 seconds) has elapsed.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 4 shows an explanatory diagram of the operation of the embodiment.

The operation of the embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

For example, a calling signal (fourth call signal) from the facsimile machine 230
When a call signal (indicated by arrow A in the figure) is supplied via the line 201, this call signal is received by the corresponding incoming call detection unit 221l.
and is supplied to the switching control section 224 (step 301).

Next, in step 302, the switching control unit 224 performs the following steps.
It is determined whether or not the facsimile machine 210 is communicating. If the facsimile machine 210 is on standby, a negative determination is made in step 302, and the incoming call detection unit 2211
Based on the output of 22l7, the switching control unit 224 controls the selector 222 so that the line 201 to which the calling signal is supplied is connected to the modem 215. This results in
The line 2011 to which the calling signal from the facsimile machine 230 is supplied is connected to the modem 215 (step 30
3) As shown in FIG. 4, the facsimile machine 210 performs an operation of receiving communication data supplied from the facsimile machine 230 via the line 201I (step 30).
4).

On the other hand, when the facsimile device 210 is performing the receiving operation in step 304, for example, the line 201,
, Facsimile packaging! 240 (indicated by arrow B in FIG. 4), step 3
The result is an affirmative judgment in 02. In this case, the switching control unit 224 accepts this call signal and connects the lines 201 and 1, and then
7, the line holding unit 221, , corresponding to the line 20 is controlled.
11 connection status is suspended. Furthermore, the switching control section 224 controls the selector 226 to connect the PB signal generation section 225 and this line 201 (step 305). Further, the switching control unit 224 instructs the PB signal generation unit 225 to generate the above-mentioned hold signal, and in response,
The PB signal generating section 225 generates the above-mentioned predetermined PB signal to transmit the line 201 .
, (step 306).

This hold signal is supplied to the facsimile machine 240 via the private branch exchange network and line 203 (indicated by arrow C in FIG. 4), and detected by the PB signal detection section 242.

In response to the detection result by the PB signal detection unit 242, the timer 243 stops the time measurement operation, so the communication processing unit 241 of the facsimile machine 240 does not release the line 203, and the line 203 is connected to the private branch exchange network. The communication path connecting the facsimile machine 210 to the line 201 is maintained.

In addition, the hold state of this line 2017 is set in step 307.
This is maintained until it is determined that the communication with the facsimile device A described above has ended.

For example, the facsimile device 230 via the line 201l
When the communication between the
The result is an affirmative judgment in 07. In this case, the switching control unit 224 switches the selector 222 to step 305.
Modem 2 connects the line 2017 whose connection status was suspended in
15 (step 308).

After step 30B is completed, step 302 described above is performed.
Similarly to the negative determination in step 304, the communication data supplied via the line 201 selected by the selector 222 is received.

■ As mentioned above, the line 2017, to which the ringing signal was supplied during the communication taking place via the line 201, is kept connected until the communication ends, and when the communication ends, the line 2017 is connected. and switch the selector 222 to select this line 20J.
．． . is connected to modem 215.

As a result, line 201. Immediately after the end of the communication that was taking place through &? It is now possible to communicate via the i201n, and even if communication is frequently performed via the line 2011, for example, the communication from the device 240 from the facsimile that made the call to the line 201n We can ensure that your requirements are met.

Here, as mentioned above, if the line 201 to which the calling signal is supplied during communication is connected to a private branch exchange network, charges will be incurred even if this line 201 is kept connected. Therefore, by using the incoming call processing method according to the embodiment, there is no increase in economic burden.

In addition, even if the line 201 is connected to a subscriber switched network, if the communication charges via this line 201 are borne by the called party, by extending the holding time, the other party will have to bear the charges. It is effective because it does not require .

? Note that in the embodiment of the present invention described above, the facsimile machine 240 prevents the line from being released by the hold signal and maintains the connection state of the line. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the line 20 to which the calling signal is supplied during communication via any one of the plurality of lines 201
Any device that maintains the connection state of 1 can be applied.

Also, rI. In “Correspondence between Examples and FIG. 1”,
Although the correspondence between the present invention and the embodiments has been described, those skilled in the art will easily assume that the present invention is not limited to this and that there are various modifications.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the connection state of the line to which a call signal is supplied during communication is suspended, and the line is connected to the communication processing means upon completion of communication, thereby making it possible to control the facsimile machine. It is extremely useful in practical terms because it can reliably satisfy the communication requirements for.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a principle block diagram of the incoming call processing method of the present invention, Figure 2
Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a facsimile machine to which an incoming call processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied; Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment; Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the embodiment; FIG. 6, a block diagram of a conventional facsimile machine, is an explanatory diagram of a conventional incoming call processing operation. In the figure, 101 is a line, 110 is a facsimile machine, 111 is a communication processing means, 112 is a switching means, 113 is an incoming call detection means, 114 is a holding means, 115 is a holding information sending means, 117 is a switching control means, 201, 501 is a line, 210, 230, 240, 51.0 is a facsimile machine, 211 is a microphone processor (MPU), 2 i 2
! ;! : memory, 213 is a reading unit, 214 is a recording unit, 215 is a modem, 216 is a compression/decompression unit, 220 is a line control unit, 221, 511 is an incoming call detection unit, 222, 226, 513 is a selector, 223 is a line 224, 512 is a switching control unit, 225 is a push button (PB), 241, 514 is a communication processing unit, 242 is a push button (PB), and 243 is a timer. Signal generation part, signal detection part, Shiko example's work Σ roast - 1 option 7 section 3 History example's work 1'\'s oracle diagram Figure 4 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A plurality of incoming call detection means (113) corresponding to each of the plurality of lines (101) and detecting a ringing signal supplied via the corresponding line (101), ) communication processing means (1
11), a switching means (112) for connecting any one of the plurality of same lines (101) to the communication processing means (111), and a switching means (112) for connecting any one of the plurality of same lines (101) to the communication processing means (111), and a switching means (112) for connecting any one of the plurality of same lines (101) to the communication processing means (111); switching control means (117) for controlling the means (112);
), a plurality of holding means (114) corresponding to each of the plurality of lines (101) and holding the connection state of the corresponding line (101); Suspension information sending means (115) for transmitting information indicating that the connection state of this line (101) is on hold via the line (101) whose connection state has been put on hold by the corresponding holding means (114); and the switching control means (113) according to the detection results of the plurality of incoming call detection means (113).
17) to control the corresponding holding means (114), the line (10
1) An incoming call processing system characterized in that the connection state of 1) is suspended and the line (101) is connected to the communication processing means (111) upon completion of the communication.