JPH0423659A - Card type charge management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To relieve the card user when the user loses its card by sending an ID code corresponding to the card and budget monetary amount information to a charge management device at the setting of the budget and storing the ID code and the budget charge information corresponding to the ID code. CONSTITUTION:When a card is loaded to a card telephone terminal set 20, a card reader section 23 reads an ID code of the card and it is sent to a master set 10. The budget monetary amount information corresponding to the ID code read from a charge information area of the storage circuit 15 is read to discriminate the presence of the budget and when no budget is available, a message representing it is sent to the card telephone set terminal 20. When the budget still remains, trunk line connection processing is implemented to the card telephone set terminal 20 and the budget monetary amount information is sent to the card telephone set terminal 20. When the card is loaded to an automatic vendor terminal 40, the budget monetary amount information corresponding to the ID code is read by the master set 10 and it is sent to the automatic vendor terminal 40.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to a prepaid card type charge management system.

``Prior Art'' Telephone cards are widely used as a charge management method using cards for public telephones.

In this prepaid telephone card system, charge information is written on the card itself. In other words, public telephones that accept cards are equipped with means for reading and writing billing information, and when in use, this reading/writing is done.
The writing means reads the charge information written on the inserted card, and depending on the call time (frequency),
``The problem that the invention seeks to solve'' is to subtract the charge information and write the remaining charge information to the card again when the call ends. In addition, there is a desire to have the vending machine shared with various vending machines so that it can be used, for example, in hotels and condominiums. When trying to apply the above prepaid system to a system to meet such demands, the following problems arise.

In other words, it is necessary to read the charge information stored on the card, and write the remaining charge information after subtracting the used charge from the read charge information to the card again. All of the machines must be provided with read/write capabilities, making the terminal telephones and vending machines complex and expensive.

In addition, since the card itself has charge information and has the same characteristics as a cash voucher, if someone obtains a terminal device and analyzes the card's reading/writing method, which is the heart of the device, it may be possible to forge the card. Therefore, filling machines and vending machines must be designed with sufficient security functions in mind, which increases costs.

Furthermore, since the card itself has the same characteristics as a cash voucher, with information on available fees written on the card itself, if the user loses the card, the fee information will also be lost. There is no remedy.

The present invention aims to provide a prepaid card type fee management system that solves the above problems.

Means for Solving Problems This invention provides a card budget setting device, a charge management device connected to the card budget setting device via a data communication line, and a charge management device connected to the charge management device via a data communication line. and a terminal device, and the budget setting device is provided with means for transmitting the fee information recorded on the card and the ID code of the card to the fee management device via the data communication line,
The fee management device is provided with a storage means to store the ID code transmitted from the budget setting device and fee information corresponding to this ID code, and the terminal device reads the ID code recorded on the card. A reading means, a means for transmitting an ID code and information for subtracting the charge information recorded in the charge management device, and a display means are provided, and the charge management device is configured to read the information stored in the charge management device according to the subtraction information. This is a card-type fee management system that subtracts the fee information that is currently available.

[When setting the operational budget, use the budget setting device! ID corresponding to the card from
The code and the budget amount information are transmitted to the fee management device, and the ID code and the budget fee information are stored in a storage means in the fee management device in association with the ID code.

When using a terminal device such as a card-type telephone or a card-type vending machine, the terminal device sends a code and charge subtraction information to the charge management device according to the usage status of the terminal device, and the budget balance is subtracted. be done. This is done each time the terminal device is used.

Since there is no need to write charge information on the card, there is no need to provide a writer part on the terminal device, and the card ID
By memorizing the code, it is possible to read out the budget charge information from the storage means using this ID card, so that the card user can be rescued if the card is lost.

``Embodiments'' Hereinafter, a charge management system according to the present invention will be explained with reference to figures of embodiments.

This example uses a card on which an ID code for identification is written, for example, magnetically. Then, using this card,
By prepaying the charges corresponding to the ID code and setting a budget, and using this card at a terminal such as a card phone or vending machine, you can use the card within the set budget. It is what makes it possible.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which this fee management system is integrated with a button telephone device, and 10 is a button telephone device,
20 is a card phone terminal, 40 is a vending machine terminal, 30
is a card budget setting device. A plurality of card telephone terminals 20 and vending machine terminals 40 can be connected to the main device 10. However, a telephone line, which will be described later, is not connected to the vending machine terminal 40.

The main device 10 includes a central office line circuit and exchange section 11, extension circuits 12a to 12n corresponding to the number of card telephone terminals 20, that is, the number of extensions, data communication lines 13 and 14, a storage circuit 15, and a billing circuit. It has a management circuit 16 and a control circuit 17 including, for example, a mask computer (hereinafter referred to as CPU) for controlling these.

The card telephone terminal 20 also includes a transmitting/receiving circuit (not shown), a data communication circuit 21, an operation section 22, a card league section 23, a display section 24, and a CPLI that controls these.
The control circuit 25 includes a control circuit 25.

The vending machine terminal 40 has a data communication circuit 41- and an operation section 4.
2, a card league section 43, a display section 44, a fee subtraction information sending section 45, and a control circuit 46 including a CPU that controls these.

The card budget setting device 30 includes a data communication circuit 31, a banknote identification section 32, a card league section 33, a display section 34, a key input section 35, a printer 36, and a control circuit 37 that includes a CPU that controls these. It has

The main device 10 is connected to one or more telephone lines 1a to 1m, and these telephone lines 1a to 1m are connected to a central office line circuit and exchange section 11.

Further, a plurality of extension communication lines 2a to 2n are connected to the main device 10, and extension circuits 12a to 12n are connected between each of these extension communication lines 2a to 2n and the central office line circuit and exchange section 11.
is connected. Each of the extension communication lines 2a to 2n is connected to a transmission/reception circuit of the card telephone terminal 20.

The data communication circuit 13 of the main device 10 includes an extension data bus 3
It is connected to the data communication circuit 21 of each of the plurality of card telephone terminals 2° and the vending machine terminal 40 via the terminal.

The data communication circuit 14 of the main device 10 connects to the data communication circuit 31 of the card budget setting device 30 via the data communication line 4.
connected to.

In the main device 10, under the control of the control circuit 17, the central office line circuit and exchange section 11 connects the telephone line and the extension telephone line (external telephone call by central office line connection), and connects the telephone line and the extension telephone line to each other.
(extension calls), etc.

Each of the extension circuits 12a to 12n supplies communication current under the control of the control circuit 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, the storage circuit 15 is set with an ID code area and a charge information area, the ID code written on the card is written in the ID code area, and the charge information area is , budget charge information is written corresponding to each ID code. Writing into the memory circuit 15 will be described later.

The charge management circuit 16 has a charge map in which time information of one degree, which is a unit of call charges, is stored according to the local area code and the city code. Charge management is performed using a charge map.

The usage fee management of the vending machine terminal 40 is such that the fee corresponding to the usage status of the vending machine terminal 40 (for example, the fee calculated from the number of vended items and the unit price) is transmitted to the main device from the fee subtraction information sending unit 45. 1o and charge management is performed.

Next, the operation will be explained below.

In this example, cards with different ID codes written therein are prepared. This card is then distributed to each individual user.

Using this card, the user first registers an ID code for use of the card telephone terminal 20 and the vending machine terminal 4o.

The registration operation procedure and the operation of each device will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In this example, one of the plurality of card telephone terminals 2o
For example, the operating unit 22 of the stand is provided with a registration mode setting means for performing this registration operation.

The telephone user or dedicated operator first operates the registration mode setting means on the card telephone terminal 20 equipped with the registration mode setting means to set the ID code registration mode (
FIG. 3, 101), then the card telephone terminal 20
transmits mode setting information from the data communication circuit 21 to the main device 10 via the data bus 3 (102>).

The main device 10 receives this mode setting information through the data communication circuit 13 (103), and sets the mode of the main device 10 to the I
The main device 10 enters the D-code registration mode (104), and sends a message confirming that it has entered the registration mode to the card telephone terminal 20 via the data bus 3 (
105), the card telephone terminal 20 receives this (
106), a card insertion message such as "Please insert your card" is displayed on the display unit 24.

The telephone user or operator then inserts the card. Then, when the card insertion is confirmed by the card telephone terminal 20 (107), the card telephone terminal 20 transfers the ID code written on the card to the card reader unit 20.
3 (same, 108), and the read ID
The code is transmitted to the main device 10 via the 2 data bus 3 (109).

Main outfit! 10 will receive this ID code, 110),
Write the ID code in the memory circuit 15 (same as 11
1) In this case, as shown in the second section, the ID code is
It is written to the ID code area of the memory area. At this time, the content stored in the fee information area is 0 yen.

When the registration of the ID code is completed in this way, the main device 10
transmits a registration completion message to the card telephone terminal 20 via the data bus 3 (112).

The card telephone terminal 20 receives this message (
113) and 114) of the same telephone number, whether or not another telephone user subsequently registers. Messages such as ``Please insert ``, or ``If registration is complete, please exit registration mode.'' are displayed. When performing continuous registration, a card is inserted, so confirm that the card has been inserted (return to step 107), and repeat the above registration operation.To end registration, set the registration mode. When the registration mode is canceled by operating the means (115), the registration operation is completed. During this registration operation, the ID code written on the card is displayed on the display unit 24 of the card telephone terminal 20.
The user can remember this ID code. Once the registration is completed, the telephone user can optionally prepay the call charges and set a budget using the card in the card budget setting device.

This budget setting procedure and the operation of each device at that time will be explained below with reference to FIG.

First, a telephone user who wishes to set a budget inserts the registered card into the card reader section 33 of the card budget setting device 30.

When the card budget setting device 30 detects that a card has been inserted (FIG. 4, 201), the card reader section 33 reads the ID code of the card (FIG. 4, 202), and then transmits the read ID code through data communication. It is transmitted from the circuit 31 to the main device 10 through the data communication line 4 (203
).

The main device 10 receives this ID code in the data communication circuit 14 (204), and stores this ID code in the memory circuit 115.
Search within the ID code area of (ibid., 205)
Then, it is determined whether the same ID code is registered or not (see 2o6), and if the same ID code does not exist, an error is handled as unregistered (see 207),
In this case, the unregistered error can be caused by, for example, sending a message to the effect that it is unregistered from the main device 1o to the card budget setting device 30, and displaying the message "Unregistered" on the display section 34 of the card budget setting device 30. Displays an error message such as "This is a problem," and processes the card return.

On the other hand, if the main device 10 determines that the ID code is registered, it reads out the budgeted fee information corresponding to the read ID code from the fee information area of the storage circuit 15 (208).

The budget charge information at this time is 0 yen if the budget is set for the first time, and if it is the second time or later, the prepaid charges will be deducted from the prepaid call charge and usage by the vending machine terminal 40. This is the balance after deducting interest. The budget charge information read out in this manner is transmitted from the card 210 to the card budget setting device 30 (209).

The card budget setting device 30 receives this budget fee information (210), displays the budget fee balance on the display unit 34 (211), and then displays the message “Please insert banknotes” on the display unit 34. Displays a bill insertion message such as ” (the same,
212>.

Seeing this message, the budget setter inserts banknotes, so the card budget setting device is activated! 30, the banknote recognition unit 32 identifies the banknote (213), returns the banknote to the banknote return slot (214) when the banknote cannot be identified, returns to step 212, and prompts the user to re-insert the banknote.

When the inserted banknotes can be identified, the inserted amount is identified and information on the inserted amount is transmitted to the main device 10 (same 2
15).

The main device 10 receives this input amount information.
, Rewrite the fee information area corresponding to the ID code with the budget fee information of the new balance consisting of the sum of the previous budget fee balance and the input amount (same, 217>, and
The main device 10 transmits this new balance fee information to the card budget setting device 30 (218>).

The card budget setting device 30 receives the budget charge information of this new balance (219) and displays the new balance on the display unit 34 (220).

Next, the card budget setting device 30 determines whether or not there is an addition of banknotes (221). If there is an addition, the card budget setting device 30 returns to step 213 and performs the procedure of rewriting the budget fee information to a new balance as described above. Do it repeatedly.

When it is determined that there are no additional bills, it is determined whether or not the setting is completed depending on whether the setting end button of the key human power section 35 is pressed or whether a certain period of time or more has elapsed (222), and the process ends. If not, return to step 221 and repeat the same procedure.If the setting is completed, change the banknote to gold [3
8, the end information is transmitted to the main device 1o (224), and the first unit W10 receives this,
Sends the completion confirmation information back to the card budget setting device 3o (
Ibid., 225).

The card budget setting device 30 receives this confirmation information (226), returns the card (227), issues a receipt for the input amount from the printer 36 (226), and returns the card (227).
228), even when setting one or more budgets to complete the budget setting procedure, the ID code written on the card can be displayed on the display unit 34 to confirm the ID code.

Next, the procedure for a telephone user to make a call using a card will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The case where the vending machine terminal 40 is used will be described later.

First, a telephone user who wants to make a call inserts the card into the filling machine terminal 20.

When the card filling machine terminal 20 detects insertion of a card (
Figure 5, 301), ID of the card in the card league section 23
The code is read (3o2), and the read ID code is transmitted to the main device 10 via the data bus 3 (303).

The main device 10 receives this ID code in the data communication circuit 13 (304), and stores this ID code in the storage circuit 15.
Search within the TD code area (305)
Then, it is determined whether the same ID code is registered or not (306), and if the same ID code does not exist, an error is handled as unregistered (307), and the process ends. The registration error handling may be the same as in the card budget setting procedure described above.

On the other hand, if the main device 1110 determines that the ID code is registered, it reads out the budget fee information corresponding to the read I and D codes from the fee information area of the storage circuit 15 (308).

Then, based on this budget charge information, the main device 10 determines whether there is a budget or not (309), and if there is no budget, it sends a message to that effect to the card telephone terminal 20 (309).
310), the card telephone terminal 20 receives this (
311), a message indicating that there is no budget is displayed on the display unit 24, and if there is a balance in the budget to return the card, 312>, the main device 10 connects the central office line to the card telephone terminal 20. Processing (ibid., 31
3), and the budget charge information is transmitted from the main device 10 to the card telephone terminal 20 via the data bus 3 (same as 3).
14).

The card telephone terminal 20 receives this budget charge information,
(315) and displays the amount on the display unit 24 (316).

Next, when the main device 10 confirms that the card telephone terminal 20 has made an outside line call (317), the main device 10 further confirms the response from the other party and starts charging the call fee by the billing management circuit 16 (318). ).

Then, the main device 10 measures the usage of one degree according to the time information of one degree from the billing management circuit 16 (the same, 31
9>, and if there is a use of 1 degree, the memory circuit 15
subtract one degree (10 yen) from the amount of budget charge information in the charge information area corresponding to the searched ID code,
Based on the subtraction result, the budget charge information of the corresponding charge area in the storage circuit 15 is rewritten (320), and
The new balance information resulting from this subtraction is transmitted from the main device 10 to the card telephone terminal 20 (321).

The card telephone terminal 20 receives this new balance information (322) and changes the display on the display unit 24 to this new balance. Then, for example, it is determined whether the call has ended by detecting the state of the hook switch (333), and if the call has not ended, the process returns to step 319 and the budget balance amount is reduced for each frequency or the display section The display change to 24 is repeated until the end of the episode.

When it is determined that the call has ended, the call end processing, that is, the main device 1
0, for example, opens the central office line and stops charging, and the card telephone terminal 20 returns the card after displaying the balance on the 1 display section 24 for a certain period of time (324).

Next, to explain the operation when using the vending machine terminal 40, the user inserts the card into the vending machine terminal 40,
As a result, the budget charge information corresponding to the ID code of the card is read out by the main device 10, and the operations until it is sent to the vending machine terminal 40 are as described above (3 in FIG.
01 to 314). Further, this budget fee information is displayed on the display unit 44.

Next, when a user operates the vending machine terminal 40 to use it, the vending machine terminal 40 transmits the usage amount at that time from the fee subtraction information sending unit 45 via the data communication circuit 41. It is sent to the control circuit 17 of the main device 10 together with the ID code. As a result, the control circuit 17 subtracts the usage amount from the amount of budget fee information in the fee information area corresponding to the ID code of the storage circuit 15, and rewrites the budget fee information. The new balance information resulting from this subtraction is then transmitted from the main device 10 to the vending machine terminal 40.

The vending machine terminal 40 receives this new balance information and changes the display section 44 to this new balance.

The vending machine terminal 40 displays the balance on the display section 44 for a certain period of time, and then returns the card.

In the above example, it is necessary to distribute a card with an ID code written in advance to the user and use the card to register the ID code, but the ID code can be automatically issued and registered as follows. By doing so, you can omit the registration work.

That is, in this example, as shown in FIG. 6, the card budget setting device 30 is provided with a card issuing section 39.

The earthenware W10 is exactly the same as the example shown in FIG. 1, but as the card telephone terminal 20, it is not necessary to provide a terminal exclusively for registering an ID code provided with a registration mode setting means.

In this example, the user uses the card budget setting device 30 to:
First, the key human power unit 35 performs key human power operations to purchase a new card or set an additional budget.

In the case of a new purchase, the budgeted amount of banknotes is inserted, and the banknote recognition unit 32 identifies the banknotes in the same manner as described above.
Calculate the amount invested.

Next, the card budget setting device 30 issues an I of the card to be issued.
Send the D code to the main device 10 and also send the identified input amount information0 An ID code is written on the issued card, but in order to send this ID code to the main device 10,
Write the ID code in memory in the order of card issue,
This may be read out sequentially when cards are issued, or the ID code of the card to be issued may be read each time.

The main device 10 receives these data and stores them in the storage circuit 15.
In this step, the ID code is written in the ID code area, and the input amount information is written as budget fee information in the fee information area corresponding to the memory location of the ID code.

When this writing to the storage circuit 15 is completed, the ID code and budget fee information are transmitted from the main device 10 to the card budget setting device 30. The card budget setting device 30 receives this and displays the amount information on the display section 34. The user is
Check the displayed amount and if the amount is correct, press the confirmation button and the card with the ID code written will be sent to the card issuing department 3.
Published from 9. In this way, ID code registration and budget setting can be done at the same time. A card will also be issued.

In this way, when the budget set for a newly purchased card runs out or decreases, the additional budget setting key is pressed on the card budget setting device 30, and the ID
Insert the card with the code written on it.

The subsequent procedure is exactly the same as the budget setting procedure shown in FIG. 4 described above.

Note that the card user must use the display unit 24 when registering an ID code, when setting a budget, and when using the phone with the card phone terminal 20.
The ID code of the card is displayed on the display section 34, and the ID code can be memorized. Therefore, if a card user loses their card, they can recreate the card with the ID code they have memorized, and the prepaid budget can be used by the card user. It is possible for people to be rescued.

In addition, if the ID code written in the memory blink 5 can be rewritten, it is possible to prevent unauthorized use by someone who finds the lost card.
Although the D code has been described as being written on the card in advance, when the card budget setting device is provided with a card issuing section, by further providing the card budget setting device with a function of writing an ID code on the card, The user may set the ID heat by himself or herself, provided that the generation of duplicate codes is prohibited.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, it is only necessary to have an ID code written on the card, and there is no need to write or read charges. Therefore, a terminal for card telephone estimation can be constructed at low cost.

Furthermore, even if you lose your card, you can memorize the card's ID code and reproduce it in some way, such as by remembering it, and use this ID code to read out the budget charge information in the memory circuit. Since it is possible, the user can secure the prepayment amount that has been set in the budget.
Users can be rescued.

In addition, if a card vending machine is installed in a card budget setting device so that the ID code can be automatically registered at the same time as the card is sold, operator intervention is not required from registration to budget setting. There is an advantage.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the card-type fee management system according to the present invention, and a diagram showing an example of the storage contents of the storage circuit. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a main part of another example of the present invention. : Main device: Storage circuit Charge management circuit, card telephone terminal 33: Card reader section 34: Display section 2 Card budget setting device: Vending machine terminal

Claims (1)

[Claims] It consists of a card budget setting device, a fee management device connected to the card budget setting device via a data communication line, and a terminal device connected to the fee management device via a data communication line, and the budget setting device includes: Means is provided for transmitting the charge information recorded on the card and the ID code of the card to the charge management device via the data communication line, and the charge management device is provided with a storage means to transmit the charge information recorded on the card and the ID code of the card to the charge management device. The transmitted ID code and charge information corresponding to this ID code are stored, and the terminal device includes a reading means for reading the ID code recorded on the card, and a reading means for reading the ID code and the charge information recorded in the charge management device. A card-type fee management system, comprising means for transmitting information for subtraction and display means, wherein the fee management device subtracts the stored fee information based on the subtraction information.