JPH0380754A - Alternate number outgoing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically present a communication network number of an alternate communication terminal to an outgoing person, when the other party is busy and when the other party is absent by storing an alternate communication network number in an outgoing terminal or in a communication network, or storing the alternate communication network number in incoming terminal. CONSTITUTION:A personal computer 1 with a telephone of an outgoing person A displays in advance a number list 16 on a display 11 in an initial state. When the outgoing person A instructs an incoming person B by a dial key 12, a CPU 17 shows a fact that a master telephone set number b1 and a related telephone set number b2 exist in the other party on the display 11. When b1 is instructed by the dial key 12, the CPU 17 sends b1 being the master telephone set number to an NCU 195 through an input/output bus 19. When the incoming person B is absent and cannot receive a telephone, when the outgoing person A looks at the display 11 and instructs an alternate number by the dial key 12, the NCU 195 disconnects the circuit, and brings b2 to automatic outgoing as dial information instead of b1. In such a way, it is easily possible to get in touch with an alternate person.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] "Industrial Application Field" This invention is an alternative number calling method that allows communication to leave a message to the other party by communicating with some kind of alternative terminal even when the other party is busy or absent. It is related to.

"Prior Art" Conventionally, in real-time networks such as telephone networks, it has been difficult to convey one's intentions when the other party is busy or absent.

For this reason, call waiting services that allow you to interrupt a call when the other party is talking, and answering machines that allow you to leave a message even when the other party is not available, have been developed and serviced. However, all of these methods require the called party to subscribe to a service or replace the device, and if the called party is a conventional black phone, there is nothing the calling party can do about it, so it is necessary to call again and again, or to do something else. Communication methods are used, such as calling other telephones in the area, sending a telegram requesting a call, or sending a message via fax. However, since all of these processes are performed manually, they have the disadvantage of being time-consuming and troublesome. Also, this method cannot be used if you forget that you have another phone or fax machine.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an alternative number calling system that solves the problems of time-consuming and difficult-to-find numbers.

"Means for Solving the Problem" According to the present invention, when the other party is talking on the phone or when the other party is absent, the communication network number of an alternative communication terminal is automatically presented to the caller, and the caller can input the alternative communication network number. The main feature is that the communication can be transmitted automatically by one-touch instructions or manually to convey the intention of the communication. For this purpose, an alternative communication network number is stored in the originating terminal, an alternative communication network number is stored in the communication network, or an alternative communication network number is stored in the receiving terminal. While the conventional method requires humans to search for an alternative and manually call 1111, the communication terminal or communication network automatically suggests an alternative communication network number and re-calls automatically or manually. Completely different from conventional technology.

``Example'' FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the invention in detail.
The terminal 1 is a personal computer with a telephone, and the personal computer 1 with a telephone is provided with a display 11, dial keys 12 for selecting a telephone number and menu, a message lamp 13 for indicating that a message has arrived, and a handset 14. ing. A personal computer 1 with a telephone is connected to a communication network (for example, a telephone!4) 3 through a subscriber line 2, and terminals 4 to 10 on the receiving side are connected to the communication network 3 through separate subscriber lines 2. B is a representative telephone (hereinafter referred to as the master telephone) 4, and a telephone of a person who will take the message in place of the recipient B when he is absent (for example, 4 is an office telephone and 5 is a secretary's telephone Ja) or the telephone that receives the call. Person B has a phone at his/her place (for example, 4 is his home phone and 5 is his office phone), and recipient C has a phone 6 and a fax terminal that recipient C can use (for example, C's office fax). 7, a telephone 8 for receiving a call, a radio calling terminal (hereinafter abbreviated as a pager) 9 with a message for receiving a call, and a display 10 on the pager 9. A fixed-format message list 15 is stored in the memory of the personal computer 1 with a telephone, and a table 16 indicating the presence or absence of the other party's terminal and the communication network number for each destination of the sender A (recipients B-D) is stored. remembered.

The communication network 3 also includes a radio paging base station 30 and a directory assistance center 31 that can store and search alternative numbers such as telephone numbers, fax numbers, pager numbers, and related telephone numbers held by specific subscribers.
, a voice storage center 32 that records voice messages, calls a specific subscriber, and plays them back, and a text-to-fax converter 33 that converts text codes into fax signals.

FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of the personal computer with telephone 1 used in this invention, and shows the central control unit (
A memory 18 for storing programs, a fixed message list 15, and a number list 16 is connected to the CPU 17, and a human output bus 19 for transmitting and receiving commands and data from the CPU 17 is connected to the CPU 17, and converts character data into fax screen signals. A character-to-fax converter 190 to convert, a speech synthesizer 191 to convert character data to a voice signal, a character-to-pager code converter n 192 to convert character data to a two-digit code for each character, a character to multi-frequency modulation signal. A modem 193 for conversion/inverse conversion, a network control unit (NCU) 195 having functions such as calling/answering, dialing, detecting a caller's response, detecting a busy tone, and switching audio signals, and a display 1
1. The dial key 12 is connected to the input/output bus 19, and also includes a text/fax converter 5190, a voice synthesizer 191, a text-pager code converter 192, a modem 193, and an NCU.
Each analog terminal of 195 is connected to audio bus 194 .

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Caller A's telephone personal computer 1 displays a number list 16 on the display 11 in an initial state. First, callee B
Suppose you call . When caller A instructs callee B using the dial key 12, the CPU 17 displays the display 1.
1, and the other party has the parent phone number b1 and the related phone number b2
Indicates that there is. In order to make a call to the parent phone 4 of the recipient B, when BL is specified using the dial key 12, the CPU 1
7, the main telephone number bl is sent to the NCU 195 through the human output bus 19. The NCU 195 makes a call to the communication M43, and the 0 communication network 3, which transmits bl as a dial, connects to the main telephone 4 and calls the called party B. When caller B is absent and cannot answer, caller A looks at display 11 and
When an alternative number (b2 in this case) is specified using the dial key 12, the NCU 195 disconnects the line and automatically makes a call using b2 as the dial information instead of bl in the same manner as in the above procedure. This allows you to easily contact a replacement.

If there is no alternative telephone, the message delivery service of the public voice storage center 32 may be used. That is, set the number b3 of the voice storage center 32 instead of b2, and press dial key 1 when the other party is absent or busy.
2 to specify number b3 and call the audio storage center 32,
When the voice storage center 32 responds, the caller A uses the number b1
PB signal and then send a voice message to the handset 14.
or in the case of a fixed form message, select one from the list 15 and convert it into an audio signal with a speech synthesizer 191 and send it,
The voice storage center 32 accumulates this, and every predetermined time b
1's telephone, and if there is a response, sends the memorized voice message. In this manner, a voice message can also be delivered to recipient B via the voice storage center 32.

Called party C (phone number cl) has a telephone and fax machine.
), and the caller A is not available, hang up the line, pull out the alternative number c2 from the number list 16, and send it to fax 7 via NC/U 195.
Automatically send dial number 2. When the other party's fax machine 7 automatically responds and caller A's telephone computer 1 detects it, the sender displays a fixed message list 15 on the display [I] and selects the sender's name, contact phone number, etc. When one of the fixed-format messages containing information is specified by the dial key 12-(), the CPU 17 outputs the character string of the specified fixed-format message through the human output bus 19.
This converter 190 converts the character string into a fax image signal and sends it to the other party's fax 7. Thereby, the message can be automatically delivered even if the recipient C is absent. In this case, the public character fax converter 33 may be used without performing character-to-fax signal conversion within the sending terminal. In other words, callee C
When there is no answer, caller A presses dial key 1.
2, the telephone number of the text-to-fax conversion center 33 is specified and the call is made automatically through the NCU 195. When the text-to-fax conversion center 33 responds, the fax number c2 of the recipient C is transmitted as a multi-frequency signal by the modem 193, and this Subsequently, the fixed form message selected from list 15 is converted into a multi-frequency signal by modem 193 and transmitted.

The text-to-fax conversion center 33 calls the received fax number c2, and if there is a response, converts the fixed-form message previously received from sender A into a fax image signal and sends it.

Called party D (phone number di) has a telephone and pager
When you call someone and they are not present, call the message-attached pager 9 using the same procedure. In other words, first call the radio paging base station 30, send the number d2 of the pager 9 twice as PB, and then send the selected fixed form message to the character - The PokeHell code converter 192 converts each character into a two-numeric code and transmits it, and the radio calling base station 30 calls the BokeHell 9 with number d2, and further transmits the received fixed message to the display 10 on the BokeHell 9. A message is displayed.

The example described above shows a system in which the destination number list 16 is stored in the calling terminal, but this list is often changed and is stored in the directory assistance center 31 which is managed by the communication network 3 as a database. may be provided. In this case, a call is made to the other party's terminal, and if the other party does not answer because the other party is absent, the line is disconnected and an automatic call is made to this directory assistance center 3I.

When the directory assistance center 31 responds, the telephone personal computer 1 sends the recipient's parent telephone number (for example, bl, cl, di, etc.) to the directory assistance center 31 through the modem 193. The directory information center 31 searches the data base from the received number and returns to the telephone-equipped personal computer 1 an alternative number that can be used for alternative communication, such as a related telephone number, fax number, or phone number related to this subscriber. This is displayed on the display 11, and when the sender A sees this and instructs selection using the dial key 12, alternative communication becomes possible.

In this case, when the other party does not answer, the directory assistance center 31
However, instead of the originating terminal making the call, the switching center detects that the called party is not available and calls the directory assistance center 31. When the callee answers, it sends the called party's parent phone number and searches for an alternative number. Alternatively, the alternative number can be automatically obtained by sending the alternative number to caller A.

Furthermore, instead of providing this alternative number to the directory assistance center, there is also a method in which the parent telephone of the other party's terminal stores it individually and notifies the calling party each time a call is received. This is the integrated service digital network subscriber line interface (CCIT).
This is because such information can be sent in the user signal at the time of incoming call using the standard I interface).

In the above description, when the called party does not answer, an alternative number or center number is specified using the dial key 12 and the NCU 195 automatically calls the number, but these numbers may also be dialed manually by operating the dial key 12. . For example, in the case of automatic dialing, after operating the special key indicating automatic dialing, specify the alternative number, and in the case of manual dialing, input each digit of the alternative number from dial key 12 without operating the special keys. Enter in sequence.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, according to the present invention, when making a telephone call, when the purpose of communication cannot be achieved because the other party is absent, busy, etc.
Since an alternative number is provided by the calling terminal, the directory assistance center, and the receiving terminal, it is possible to select an alternative communication with a simple operation, and it can provide support when you really need to make contact, which is very convenient. There is.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a communication system for explaining the configuration and operation of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of a terminal (personal computer with telephone) used in the present invention.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) If the calling party's communication terminal has a memory that stores multiple communication network numbers for the same recipient, and the recipient cannot be contacted because the recipient is busy or absent, the recipient's information stored in the memory An alternative number calling method characterized by manual or automatic calling to other communication network numbers. (2) For each called party, the communication network number of the other terminal that should be contacted when the other party is busy or absent is stored in the communication network, and when the other party is busy or absent and cannot be contacted, instructions from the calling terminal or An alternative number calling method characterized in that the communication network number of another terminal to be contacted is automatically learned from the communication network, and the call is made manually or automatically to the terminal with this number. (3) Store the communication network number of another terminal that can perform alternative communication in the destination communication terminal, and when a person does not respond when a call is received, send the stored communication network number to the calling side, This is an alternative number calling method in which the calling party calls this communication network number manually or automatically.