JPH04243360A - Method and device for collecting entry information such as to quiz with prize and questionnaire - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To collect information efficiently by utilizing a telephone communication network. CONSTITUTION:Telephone sets 1, 2 and a processing circuit 8 are connected via a telephone communication network 6. The processing circuit 8 makes a question by using a voice signal from a voice synthesis circuit 11 in response to a call from the telephone sets 1, 2. The information from the telephone sets 1, 2 by the operation of a pushbutton 17 or a dialer 19 is recognized and processed by the processing circuit 8. Voice information from the telephone sets 1, 2 is recognized by a voice recognition circuit 12, from which the information is extracted. The extracted entry information such as to quiz with prize and questionnaire is processed by the processing circuit 8 and stored in replaceable memories 13a-13n. A telephone communication network 6 collects the information charge from users of the telephone sets 1, 2 in response to the talking time between the telephone sets 1, 2 and the processing circuit 8 on behalf of the information offer party (IP) 7 being installed party of the processing circuit 8.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for collecting application information for prize quizzes, questionnaires, etc. via a telephone communication network.

0002

[Background Art] Conventional methods for collecting various information include, for example, certain questions (address, name, date of birth, etc.) that can identify the person from whom the necessary information is collected.
They publish quizzes and surveys with prizes, etc., along with their destinations, in various advertising media such as weekly magazines, and collect information from the responses of subscribers and other people who have seen or read them. In addition to applying, subscribers write their answers on postcards, etc. to the questions posted in various advertising media, and send them to the questioner listed as the destination. The person asking the question collects the answers written on the postcards and uses them as information for various surveys and where to send prizes and prize money. In the information collection method using postal mail such as postcards as described above, respondents are required to spend a lot of time and effort, such as ■ purchasing postcards, ■ writing answers on postcards, and ■ posting postcards in the mailbox. Subscribers to various advertising media can receive quizzes with prizes and
Postcards are mailed to collect information only when there is a desire to apply by answering questionnaires in hopes of receiving prizes or prizes. There are large individual differences in the evaluation of the above-mentioned effort, making it difficult to collect information from people who are willing to go through such effort.
The efficiency of information collection is poor, resulting in information collection that is biased towards sampling targets.

[0003] Even on the provider side of quizzes and questionnaires with prizes, it is necessary to manually extract necessary information from the collected postcards and process the information. The more information there is on a postcard, etc., the more time and effort it takes for humans to collect it. In order to collect useful information, information must be extracted from the many questions asked on a huge amount of postcards, and the effort required to collect information becomes extremely large.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In order to improve the efficiency of the conventional method of collecting information by postcards, it is conceivable to collect information by telephone. In other words, a person who intends to collect information should post quizzes and surveys with prizes on various advertising media, write answers to the quizzes or questions related to the information they are trying to collect, and provide the telephone number of the person who answered the questions. Describe. Subscribers to various advertising media can call the listed phone number and receive answers to quizzes, surveys, etc. and information they wish to obtain (answers to surveys, etc., address, name, date of birth, occupation, etc. that can identify the applicant) basic information)
Answers to questions collected by telephone by turning a dial or by pressing a button on a telephone. Nowadays, telephones are ubiquitous and are easier and less time-consuming than answering by postcard. Therefore, a lot of information can be collected efficiently. However, the questioner needs to extract and process information from signals sent by telephone, which requires more advanced processing technology than collecting information from postcards. In other words, it is necessary to receive appropriate answers to questions as well as answers to prize quizzes and questionnaires by answering telephone calls. This is because responses by telephone need to be processed in real time. Trying to collect as much information as possible,
It is difficult to limit telephone answering hours, and
Must be able to take calls 4 hours a day. As long as humans answer telephone calls, such a system that can be used all day long requires a large number of people, including shift personnel, and the time and effort required to gather information increases.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus that can collect application information for prize quizzes, questionnaires, etc. by signals from a telephone communication network without human intervention.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention is configured such that a telephone and a processing circuit can communicate via a wire communication network, and the telephone calls the processing circuit via the communication network to enable communication. , the processing circuit asks a telephone a question by voice, the processing circuit receives an answer to the question from the telephone, and the processing circuit collects information in response to the answer and stores it in a replaceable memory. It is a method of collecting application information such as quizzes and questionnaires with prizes.

Further, the present invention provides that, in the telephone communication network, a call charge corresponding to the call time, which is the communication time between the telephone and the processing circuit, and information determined corresponding to the call time as compensation for information from the processing circuit. It is characterized by adding the charges and collecting the result of the addition as a usage charge.

The present invention also provides a telephone communications network to which a plurality of telephones are connected, a processing circuit communicably connected to the telephones via the telephone communication network, and a system that responds to signals from the processing circuit;
The device includes a signal generation means for generating a signal corresponding to a predetermined question, a signal recognition means for recognizing a signal given from the telephone to the processing circuit, and an exchangeable memory for storing the recognition result of the signal recognition means. This is an application information gathering device for quizzes, questionnaires, etc. with prizes.

Further, the present invention calculates a call charge and an information charge as compensation for information in the telephone communication network according to a call time that is a communication time between a telephone and a processing circuit, and calculates a call charge and an information charge as compensation for information. The feature is that the information fee is added and the result of the addition is collected as a usage fee.

The present invention is also characterized in that the signal generating means generates an audio signal, and the signal recognizing means recognizes the audio signal.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the telephone and the processing circuit are configured to be able to communicate via a telephone communication network. When the processing circuit is called from the telephone via the telephone communication network, it becomes ready for communication. The processing circuit queries the telephone. When the processing circuit receives an answer from the telephone to the question, the processing circuit collects information in response to the answer and stores it in a replaceable memory. Since the information stored in memory is collected from answers to questions, necessary information can be collected efficiently. Furthermore, since the memory is replaceable, a large amount of information can be stored by taking out a memory in which a large amount of information has already been stored and connecting a memory in which new information is to be stored. Further, for example, while information from a telephone is stored in one memory, statistical processing or the like can be performed on the information stored in the other memory.

Further, according to the present invention, the telephone communication network adds the call charge corresponding to the call time, which is the communication time between the telephone and the processing circuit, and the information charge determined corresponding to the call time. The added calculation result is collected as a usage fee. Therefore, the information collector who operates the processing circuit can earn compensation from the information fee. Respondents can reduce the hassle of using postcards, etc., even if they have to pay the information fee.

According to the present invention, a plurality of telephones are connected to the telephone communication network. The processing circuit is communicatively connected to the telephone via the telephone communication network. The signal generation circuit responds to the signal from the processing circuit and generates a signal corresponding to a predetermined question. Therefore, when the processing circuit is called from the telephone via the telephone communication network, a signal corresponding to a predetermined question can be generated by the signal from the signal generating means. Signals provided by the telephone to the processing circuit are recognized by signal recognition means. The recognition results of the signal recognition means are stored in a replaceable memory. In this way, by recognizing the answer to the question from the signal generating means by the signal recognizing means and storing it in the replaceable memory, valid information corresponding to the question can be stored in the memory. Since memory is replaceable, much information can be stored in memory. Further, based on the stored contents of the exchanged memory, information processing such as statistical processing can be further performed in a device separate from the processing circuit for collecting application information such as prize quizzes and questionnaires.

Further, according to the present invention, the telephone communication network has a communication time corresponding to a communication time between a telephone and a processing circuit.
Collect call charges and information charges. Those who provide information via the processing circuit can receive compensation from this information fee, so they can prepare sufficient materials for information collection.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to collect application information for prize quizzes, questionnaires, etc. using audio signals.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. The button telephone 1 and the dial telephone 2 are connected to a telephone office 5 via telephone lines 3 and 4, respectively. Such telephone lines 3, 4 and telephone office 5
are installed in large numbers nationwide, and constitute the telephone communication network 6 operated by, for example, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (hereinafter abbreviated as "NTT").

For example, in NTT, "Dial Q2"
An information fee collection agency service called . INFORMATION PROVIDE
R (hereinafter abbreviated as "IP") has a contract with NTT to obtain compensation for information provided to the users of telephones 1 and 2 via the telephone communication network 6 from the users via NTT. Can be done. NTT calculated the call charge and the information charge specified by the IP based on the call time between the user and the IP, and billed and collected the sum of the sum from the user, for example, every month. The remaining amount after deducting the handling fee from the information fee is I.
Pay P. Such services are provided by a predetermined “
It is called the Dial Q2 service because it is performed for the 6-digit number 0990.

The IP 7 has a processing circuit 8 implemented by a computer device, and the processing circuit 8 has a plurality of modems 9.
A telephone line 10a included in the telephone communication network 6 via a to 9n
~10n. A speech synthesis circuit 11 is connected to the processing circuit 8 . The speech synthesis circuit has multiple types of speech information corresponding to sentences for predetermined responses and questions recorded in a ROM, magnetic disk device, etc., and synthesizes one type of speech information in response to a signal from the processing circuit 8. Information is selected and a corresponding audio signal is synthesized. The synthesized voice signals are sent from the modems 9a to 9n to the telephones 1 and 2 via the telephone communication network 6.

Voice signals from the telephones 1 and 2 via the telephone communication network 6 are processed by a voice recognition circuit 12 connected to a processing circuit 8.
recognized by. The voice recognition circuit 12 includes a digital signal processor (hereinafter abbreviated as "DSP") and the like, and extracts information from the voice signal. Voice recognition circuit 12
The information recognized by is stored in memories 13a-13n, which are replaceable by processing circuits. Memory 13a
~13n is realized by a magnetic tape device, magnetic disk device, optical disk device, etc., and has a large capacity and is replaceable. As such a magnetic disk device, the hard disk device itself may be replaced, or the disk itself, which is a recording medium, may be replaced.

Also connected to the processing circuit 8 are a recorder 14 for temporarily recording audio signals, a printer 15 for displaying collected information and various calculation results thereof, and the like.

The button telephone 1 is provided with a handset 16 and a push button 17. User uses handset 16
By picking up the telephone and pressing the push button 17 to call IP7, a call from the button telephone 1 to IP7 is started. The dial telephone 2 is provided with a handset 18 and a dial 19. A call is initiated by the user picking up the handset 18 and turning the dial 19 to call IP7.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the telephone office 5 of the communication network 6 in the embodiment shown in FIG. In step a1, the IP 7 prepares a contract for receiving the information fee collection agency service and the installation of the processing circuit 8 and the like. Next, in step a2, it is determined whether there is a call to IP7 from telephones 1 and 2. When there is a call, the process moves to step a3, and guidance regarding the composite second is provided. Composite seconds guidance is information provided by the telephone communication network 6 to alert users that ``this service includes information charges and call charges...approximately 10 yen per second.'' . Next, in step a4, it is determined whether a call from the user via the telephones 1 and 2 is still being connected. Composite seconds are the usage charges per unit time calculated by adding the call charges and information charges per unit time, for example, 10 seconds.
This is the result converted to the number of seconds per unit usage fee in yen.

In the next step a4, it is determined whether or not the user is still connecting the telephones 1 and 2 even with the synthetic seconds guidance. If the connection is not in progress, the process returns to step a2 and waits until there is a call again. If it is connected, from step a5 to step a6,
Measures the time until the call ends. When the call ends, a call fee corresponding to the call time is calculated in step a7, and an information fee is calculated in step a8. These charges are recorded for each user. Note that usage fees for public telephones are determined based on composite seconds.

Next, in step a9, it is determined whether one month has ended. If it has not been completed, return to step a2 again. When one month ends, a fee is added for each user in step a10, and the resulting fee is collected in step a11. Next, in step a12, the information communication network 6 pays the IP 7 a remuneration corresponding to the information fee from among the collected fees. Thereafter, the process returns to step a2 and the above-described operation is repeated.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the processing circuit 8 of the IP7. In step b1, a call from the telephones 1 and 2 via the telephone communication network 6 arrives at the processing circuit 8. In order to make such calls possible, IP7 uses various advertising media such as magazines, newspapers, and other publications, as well as TV and radio broadcasts, to post quizzes, surveys, and other questions related to the information to be collected. Display your phone number along with other information. When performing multiple types of such information collection processing, a number to distinguish them from each other is designated as a service code.

[0026] A person who wishes to apply for a prize quiz/survey given by the display as described above calls the displayed telephone number from the telephone set 1 or 2. In step b2, the processing circuit 8 activates the speech synthesis circuit 11 to provide audio guidance. For example, "This is...
··is. Please enter the service code you are applying for and press "#" to proceed to the desired service corner." In response to this voice guidance, the user:
The service code is notified to the processing circuit 8 by using the push button 17 of the button telephone 1. When a person in need uses the dial telephone 2, he or she can similarly send information by turning the dial 19. Subsequently, such a service code is input to the processing circuit 8 in step b3. In the next step b4, the processing circuit 8 determines whether the input service code is incorrect. If the service code does not represent the service being provided at that time, the process moves to step b5, and a request is made to correct the service code. For example, a voice signal such as "That service is not provided. Please re-enter a new service code" is generated by the voice synthesis circuit 11 and sent to the user. In this way, the service code is input again from step b3. If it is determined in step b4 that the service code is correct, the process moves to step b6.

In step b6, out of the information to be collected, a request is made for information that can be encoded and processed as numerical information. For example, a voice signal such as ``This is... Please enter the telephone number of the person applying and press ``#'' is generated from the voice synthesis circuit 11 and sent to the telephones 1 and 2. Next, in step b7, numerical information from the push buttons 17 and dial 19 from the telephones 1 and 2 is input to the processing circuit 8. Next, in step b8,
The processing circuit 8 converts the input numerical information into a speech synthesis circuit 11.
Convert to voice by In step b9, for example, ``The applicant's phone number is....If it is correct, press ``0'' and ``#''; if it is incorrect, please press the correct phone number and ``#''again.'' Check. If it is incorrect, the process returns to step b7, and if it is correct, the process moves to step b10. Furthermore, such numerical information is
There may be multiple types of information that differ for each service code. Such multiple types of information can be collected by repeating the same operations as steps b7 to b9.

In step b10, a voice request is made for information to be collected. For example, a voice signal is given to the telephones 1 and 2 from the voice synthesis circuit 11 with the content, ``When you hear a beep, say your name and press the # symbol at the end.'' Next, in step b11, voice information from the telephones 1 and 2 is input to the processing circuit 8. This input audio information is recorded on the recorder 14. In step b12, the audio information from the recorder 14 is reproduced and sent to the telephones 1 and 2 together with the audio from the audio synthesis circuit 11. For example, "Your name is
...(plays recorded audio), if correct, "0"
'' and ``#'', and if it is incorrect, please press ``9'' and ``#''.'' Then step b
At step 13, it is determined whether or not there is confirmation from the telephones 1 and 2. If it is determined that it is incorrect, send a voice signal saying "Please say your name again and press "#" at the end" to telephones 1 and 2, and repeat step b1.
Return to 1. In step b13, if it is correct, the process moves to step b14.

[0029] In step b14, "Thank you very much. We have accepted your application. We will continue to do so... (Questioners of quizzes with prizes, surveys, etc.)"
Thank you for your continued support.'' is sent to telephones 1 and 2, and the call is ended. Note that steps b6 to b9 are
Steps b10 to b13 may be performed again after completing steps b6 to b9 and steps b10 to b13.
Of course, these may be freely combined.

Next, proceeding to step b15, the telephones 1 and 2
Determine the line with. In step b16, recorder 1
The voice information recorded in step 4 is recognized by the voice recognition circuit 12, and information to be collected is extracted. Next, in step b17, the processing circuit 8 performs aggregation and past arithmetic processing based on the extracted information, and stores the processing results in the replaceable memory 13. Next, in step b18, the processing circuit 8 prints and displays the necessary information using the printer 15. For example, it is possible to select those who answered correctly in quizzes and surveys with prizes, and print out related information. In this way, the process corresponding to the call from one respondent is completed in step b19. In addition to processing for each person individually, we also process batch processing (separated by time,
You can also divide the number of people and capacity).

Step b1 to step b as described above
Operations up to 18 are possible without human intervention, so
Answers to quizzes and questionnaires with prizes can be made at any time from telephones 1 and 2. The information collected in conjunction with such answers is recognized by the voice recognition circuit 12 and derived as stored contents of the replaceable memory 13 or printed output from the printer 15. Therefore, it is possible to save time and effort for collecting information, which is required when collecting information by conventional postcards, for example. It is possible to reduce the labor that was previously required on the part of the person asking questions such as quizzes and surveys with prizes.
P7 can also receive compensation from the question giver.

In the above embodiment, the voice information is recognized by the voice recognition circuit 12, but it goes without saying that the voice information recorded on the recorder 14 may be recognized by a human being. Since the range of information to be collected is limited according to the questions such as name, address, occupation, etc., a relatively large amount of information can be accumulated in the recorder 14. Information can be efficiently collected by having a human recognize the voice information thus accumulated and extract the information to be collected. In addition, the speech synthesis circuit 1
1 generates an audio signal, but it goes without saying that a real voice may be recorded and played back. Also, when using an ISDN network etc. as the telephone communication network 6,
Of course, not only audio signals but also video signals may be used.

[0033]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, in response to a call from a telephone to the processing circuit via the telephone communication network, the processing circuit asks the telephone a question and receives an answer to the question from the telephone. , in response to this answer, collects information and stores it in replaceable memory. by this,
It is possible to selectively collect necessary information and efficiently store a large amount of information in memory. Also, by replacing the memory, more information can be collected. In this way, it is possible to collect application information such as prize quizzes and questionnaires without human intervention, so it is possible to collect information all day long. Therefore, phone users can play quizzes with prizes at their convenience.
It is possible to respond to questionnaires, etc., and it is only necessary to answer necessary items in response to questions from the processing circuit, so it is possible to provide information to be collected in a concise and precise manner.

Further, according to the present invention, although call charges and information charges are collected in accordance with the communication time from the telephone to the processing circuit, the processing circuit can shorten the call time by asking appropriate questions. Therefore, the burden on the user can be reduced. Since the installer of the processing circuit can receive compensation from the information fee, he or she can sufficiently prepare for collecting a large amount of information.

Further, according to the present invention, the processing circuit is connected to the processing circuit via the telephone communication network, and generates a speech signal corresponding to a predetermined question from the speech synthesis means. This allows the telephone to understand the questions in the same way as when a human responds directly. The answer from the telephone is given to the processing circuit as a voice signal and recognized by the voice recognition means. Since the range of the speech signal to be recognized by the speech recognition means is limited by the question from the speech synthesis means, recognition becomes easy. Such recognized results are stored in replaceable memory. By exchanging the memory, it is possible to collect a large amount of application information such as prize quizzes and questionnaires.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the telephone office 5 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the processing circuit 8 shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 Telephone 3, 4, 10a-10n telephone line 5 Telephone office 6 Telephone communication network 7 Information provider (IP) 8 Processing circuit 11 Speech synthesis circuit 12 Speech recognition circuit 13a-13n Memory 14 Recorder 16,18 Handset 17 Push button

Claims (5)

[Claims] Claim 1: A telephone and a processing circuit are configured to be able to communicate via a wire communication network, the telephone calls the processing circuit via the communication network to enable communication, and the processing circuit communicates with the telephone by voice. A quiz/survey with prizes, characterized in that a question is asked, an answer to the question from a telephone is received by a processing circuit, and the processing circuit collects information in response to the answer and stores it in an exchangeable memory. How to collect application information. 2. The telephone communication network charges a call fee corresponding to a call time, which is a communication time between a telephone and a processing circuit;
2. The quiz/survey with prizes, etc. according to claim 1, wherein an information fee determined corresponding to the call time is added as compensation for the information from the processing circuit, and the added calculation result is collected as a usage fee. How to collect application information. 3. A telephone communication network to which a plurality of telephones are connected; a processing circuit communicably connected to the telephones via the telephone communication network; and a processing circuit that responds to signals from the processing circuit and responds to predetermined questions. A sweepstakes characterized by comprising: a signal generating means for generating a signal to generate a signal, a signal recognizing means for recognizing a signal given from a telephone to a processing circuit, and an exchangeable memory for storing a recognition result of the signal recognizing means. Applicant information collection device including quizzes and questionnaires. 4. The telephone communication network calculates a call charge and an information charge as compensation for information in accordance with a call time that is a communication time between a telephone and a processing circuit, and calculates a call charge and an information charge as compensation for information. 4. The device for collecting application information such as quizzes and questionnaires with prizes according to claim 3, wherein the addition result is collected as a usage fee. 5. The apparatus for collecting application information such as prize quizzes and questionnaires according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the signal generating means generates an audio signal, and the signal recognizing means recognizes the audio signal.