JPH06189038A - Charge managing system for private branch exchange network - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To collect a call charge, which is generated when a line is used, from a call originating source subscriber himself when the line presented by an telecommunication enterpriser is used from the extension of a private branch exchange. CONSTITUTION:A charge managing device 1 is interposed between a private branch exchange A and a public network B, and this charge managing device 1 is provided with a line housing part 2 for connecting/disconnecting the public network to the exchange and detecting charge information transmitted on the public network, trunk line use state managing part 3 for monitoring the public network and discriminating the states of respective trunk lines, charge processing part 4 for calculating the line use charges of the call originating source based on the charge information detected by the line housing part 2, charge managing table 7 for registering the use enable charges for each kind of identification information specifying the respective call originating sources of the private branch exchange, and control part 8 for controlling the respective parts.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a private branch exchange (PBX).
When a line provided by a telecommunications carrier is used from an extension of the above, the present invention relates to a method in which a calling subscriber collects a call charge generated when the line is used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in the case of a telephone belonging to a telephone exchange network provided by a telecommunications carrier, when a telephone line is used except for a call such as collect call, the charge for the use of the line is charged. It will be performed at a later date for the line owner or the person who has previously delivered it to the telecommunications carrier. For this reason, the person who pays the call charge when a person other than the above person uses the line is also payable.

Here, in the case where the user himself / herself bears the call charge, it is conceivable to use a public telephone having a coin storage signal transmitting function provided by the telecommunications carrier in a single line. In the case of this public telephone, a person who desires to use the line inserts a coin or a prepaid card into a coin insertion slot or a prepaid card insertion slot provided in the public telephone. At this time, the public telephone sends a coin storage signal or a signal indicating that the frequency of the prepaid card is 1 or more to the exchange. The exchange that detects these signals sets up a call line between the public telephone and the own exchange and waits for reception of the dial signal of the called telephone number. As a result, the caller dials the telephone number of the called party from the public telephone, and the public telephone transmits the dial signal to the exchange through the above-mentioned telephone line. The exchange analyzes the dial signal of the called party and sends a call arrival notification, that is, a ringer ringing signal to the called telephone terminal.

Here, when the telephone terminal of the called party answers, the exchange starts charging the call charge. Then, when the billed call charge is as follows, a warning sound is transmitted to the calling party.

(Number of coins inserted) -1, (remaining number of prepaid card) -1, Furthermore, when the call charge reaches the number of inserted coins or the remaining number of prepaid cards, the call line is forced. To disconnect.

[0006]

By the way, recently, the extension telephone of a private branch exchange (PBX), which has shown a remarkable diffusion rate, is not provided with a signal sending function such as coin storage. Therefore, when the line provided by the telecommunications carrier is used from the extension of the private branch exchange, the charges for the outside line call are charged to the administrator who holds the private branch exchange, for example, to the company, not the individual caller. Is done. For this reason,
If an attempt is made to collect call charges from individual callers, the administrator will have to charge the individual callers. However, it is troublesome for the administrator to collect the call charge from each caller.

Further, as a method of directly collecting the call charge from the caller himself / herself, one of the services provided by the telecommunications carrier is that the user himself / herself owns a line provided by the telecommunications carrier at another place. In this case, there is known a service that allows the user to look back at the call charge of his / her own line even when the line of another person is used.

[0008] In addition to the above, there is also a service in which it is possible to make a contract with a credit company and deduct the call charge from the account of the financial institution owned by the individual caller. However, the above-described method has a problem that the caller needs to make a contract with an organization corresponding to each service in advance, which is troublesome and less convenient than a public telephone.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and collects a call charge for making a call from an extension of a private branch exchange from the caller himself or herself without bothering the caller. However, it is an object to provide a highly convenient method.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is as follows. This will be described based on the principle diagram of FIG.

The charging management system according to the present invention enables extension calls between terminals accommodated in the private branch exchange network, and
In a private branch exchange network that enables an external call between an arbitrary extension terminal and the public network, a billing management device 1 is interposed between the private branch exchange and the public network.

The billing management device 1 includes a line accommodation unit 2, a station line usage state management unit 3, a billing processing unit 4, a charge management table 7,
The control unit 8 is provided. Line accommodating section 2 described above
Is for connecting / disconnecting the public network and the exchange and detecting the charging information transmitted on the public network.

The office line usage status management unit 3 monitors the public network to determine the usage status or idle status of each office line. The billing processing unit 4 calculates the line usage fee of the calling subscriber based on the billing information detected by the line accommodation unit 2.

The charge management table 7 is a table in which a usable charge is registered for each piece of identification information that identifies each calling party subscriber of the private branch exchange network. The control unit 8 controls the above-mentioned units.

Further, the charging management device 1 is provided with an input unit 5 for setting a predetermined prepaid card, inputting a desired registration amount and identification information, and a display device 6 for displaying the balance of the prepaid card. You may

Here, the charge management table 7 may be provided with an extension number-based charge table 7a for registering a usable charge for each called number of the extension terminal. Also, instead of the extension number-based charge table 7, the individual charge table 7 in which the usable charge is registered for each individual identification information of the subscriber
b may be provided. Further, both the extension number charge table 7a and the individual charge table 7b may be provided.

Note that the billing management device 1 may be provided with a warning generation unit 9 which sends a warning sound to the calling subscriber when the available charge falls below a certain amount during a call. Good.

[0018]

According to the present invention, when the control unit 8 receives the call request from the private branch exchange to the public network and the identification information of the calling subscriber, the control unit 8 causes the central line usage state management unit 3 to make the public network. It is determined whether or not there is an idle station line.

If there is no station line in an idle state, a signal indicating the line use state, for example, a busy tone is sent to the calling subscriber. When there is an idle station line in the public network, the control unit 8 refers to the charge management table 7 based on the identification information, and the usable charge corresponding to the identification state is a positive number. Or not.

When the usable charge is a positive number, the line accommodation unit 2 connects the calling subscriber and the vacant station line, and detects the billing information transmitted from the public network. Then, the line accommodating section 2 notifies the accounting processing section 4 to this effect each time the accounting information is detected.

The billing processing unit 4 subtracts the amount of money corresponding to the billing information from the usable charge of the calling subscriber, and judges whether the usable charge after subtraction is a positive number or not. If the usable charge is a positive number, the above-mentioned charging process is repeated.

On the other hand, when the usable charge after the subtraction becomes "0", the control unit 8 forcibly disconnects the call line by the line accommodation unit 2. Thereby, the extension terminal holder in the private branch exchange network and the manager of the private branch exchange network can pay the call charge without performing a troublesome work.

Here, as a method of registering a call charge, in the present invention, a prepaid card can be inserted into the input section 5 and only a desired frequency can be registered from the prepaid card. That is, the control unit 8 displays the balance of the prepaid card from the display device 6 when the prepaid card is set in the input unit 5. Then, when the holder of the prepaid card recognizes that the desired registration amount and the identification information are input to the input unit 5, the charging processing unit 4
Is subtracted from the balance of the prepaid card, and it is determined whether or not the subtracted value is a positive number.

When the subtracted value is a positive number, the charge management table 7 is accessed, and the desired registration amount is added to the usable charge corresponding to the identification information. Further, a value obtained by subtracting the desired registration amount from the balance of the prepaid card is written in the prepaid card.

On the other hand, when the subtracted value is not a positive number, that is, when it is "0" or less, a message indicating that registration is impossible is displayed on the screen of the display device 6. A telephone card or the like can be considered as the prepaid card. The identification information to be entered when registering is the extension number of the extension terminal accommodated in the private branch exchange network,
Personal identification information that identifies an individual subscriber belonging to the private branch exchange network can be considered.

The input section 5 may be a coin insertion slot or a bill insertion slot. In this case, the subscriber
You can register the desired amount with coins or bills.

[0027]

EXAMPLES Specific examples of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the telephone switching network in this embodiment.

In FIG. 1, n office lines 11 are drawn from the public network 10 to a private branch exchange 13, and a billing management device according to the present invention is provided between the public network 10 and the private branch exchange (hereinafter referred to as PBX) 13. 12 is provided. M terminals 14 are connected to the PBX 13 to form a private branch exchange network. further,
The PBX 13 and the billing management device 12 are connected by a control line.

The PBX 13 includes a station line trunk 13a, a subscriber trunk 13b, and an exchange side control circuit 13c.
The office line trunk 13a connects / disconnects an arbitrary terminal 14 and the office line 11.

The subscriber trunk 13b sets / disconnects a call path between the terminals 14. Switch side control circuit 1
3c is an office line trunk 13a and a subscriber trunk 13b
Control the behavior of.

The billing management device 12 instructs the PBX 13 to connect / disconnect the office line 11 and the extension terminal 14 and manages the settlement of the call charge for using the office line 11. In this embodiment, the call charge is managed based on the frequency recorded on the prepaid card.

The above-mentioned control line is the station line 1 to be connected to the caller terminal 14 together with the call start notification information from the PBX 13.
The station line number of 1 is transmitted. On the other hand, the charge management device 12 transmits control information such as station line use permission information, information indicating that the station line cannot be used, call charge information, warning information, and forced disconnection station line number. A detailed description of the above control information will be given later.

FIG. 3 shows the billing management device 12 in this embodiment.
2 shows the internal building blocks of the. In the figure, the billing management device 12 includes a station line management circuit 16, a station line management table 17,
The card reader / writer 18, numeric keypad 19, display device 20, arithmetic circuit 21, charge management table 22, control circuit 23, and PBX interface circuit 24 are provided.

The above-mentioned station line management circuit 16 controls each station line 11
Of the charging pulse transmitted on the station line 11 is managed. The office line management table 17 is a table for registering, for each office line 11, whether it is in use or in an empty state, and a specific description thereof will be described later.

The card reader / writer 18 is a specific example of the billing processing unit according to the present invention, and reads / writes the remaining number on the prepaid card. The ten-key pad 19 is a device for inputting arbitrary information.

The display device 20 is a device for outputting arbitrary information on the screen. The charge management table 22 is for registering usable frequencies for each individual subscriber belonging to the private branch exchange network 15, and a detailed description thereof will be described later.

The arithmetic circuit 21 calculates the frequency of use of the office line, and updates the usable frequency of the charge management table 22 based on this frequency. The PBX interface circuit 24 includes the PBX 13 and the billing management device 12 concerned.
It is a circuit that interfaces with.

The control circuit 23 controls each of the above parts. FIG. 4 shows the charge management table 2 in this embodiment.
2 shows a specific example. The charge management table 22 in this embodiment includes an extension number-based charge management table 22a and an individual-based charge management table 22b.

The extension number-based charge management table 22a is a table in which the usable frequencies are registered corresponding to the extension numbers of the individual extension terminals constituting the private branch exchange network. In the figure, the extension number "001" is the terminal (1) 14 shown in FIG.
The extension number of a is shown, and a call from this terminal (1) 14 to the public network is possible up to 100 degrees. Extension number as well
002 ″ is an extension number of the terminal (2) 14b shown in FIG. 2, and a call up to 50 degrees is possible from this terminal (2) 14b. When actually making a call, the arithmetic circuit 21
Calculates the frequency of the call and subtracts the usable frequency from this frequency. Then, at the end of the call, the subtracted value is registered in the extension number-based charge management table 22a as a new usable frequency.

On the other hand, the individual charge management table 22b is
It is a table in which the usable frequency is registered for each subscriber ID that identifies each individual subscriber. The usable frequency is updated in the same manner as the above-mentioned extension number-based charge management table 22a.

Next, FIG. 5 shows a concrete example of the office line management table 17 in this embodiment. The station line management table 17 according to the present embodiment, the station line state, processing number,
Register the identifier and identification information.

The above-mentioned station line numbers are numbers for identifying the individual station lines 11, and "1" to "n" for identifying the station lines (1) to (n) shown in FIG. It is a number up to. The station line state is a flag bit indicating the use state of each station line 11. In this embodiment, the use state is shown by "11", the empty state is shown by "00", and the reserved state is shown by "01". A detailed description of this station line state will be given later. .

The processing number is a number sequentially assigned to each call processed by the billing management device 12. As for the identifier, charge management for calls is performed for each extension number,
This is a flag bit indicating whether it is performed for each individual. In the present embodiment, "1" is used for each extension number and "0" is used for each individual. The billing management device 1 refers to this identifier when paying the call charge, and identifies whether to perform the call charge based on the extension number charge management table 22a or the individual charge management table 22b. .

In the identification information, the extension number of the caller terminal 14 is registered when the identifier is "1", and the subscriber ID of the caller subscriber is registered when the identifier is "0". .

FIG. 6 shows the format of control information exchanged between the billing management device 12 and the PBX 13. In the figure, A to B are specific examples of information formats to be transmitted from the PBX 13 to the billing management device 12, and C to G are specific examples of information formats to be transmitted from the billing management device 12 to the PBX 13.

The control information A is information transmitted when a call is made from the arbitrary terminal 14 to the public network, and the information ID indicates an attribute of the control information. The attribute of the control information A is call start notification information.

The processing numbers are PBX 13 and billing management device 1.
It is a number that is defined between the two and is sequentially defined every time control information is transmitted. The identifier is a flag indicating whether the control information is information based on an extension number or information based on a subscriber ID.

In the identification information, an extension number or a subscriber ID is registered corresponding to the above-mentioned identifier. The planned connection line number is a line number that identifies the line 11 to be connected to an arbitrary subscriber in the PBX 13 when a call is requested to the public network.

Here, when the billing management device 12 receives the control information A, the billing management device 12 accesses the central line management table 17 based on the planned central line number and identifies the local line state of the local line 11. Here, the station line 11 is in an empty state ("0
0 "), the reserved state is indicated by" 0 "
1 "is registered and identification information (extension number or subscriber ID)
The charge management table 22 is accessed based on In the charge management table 22, it is determined whether or not the usable frequency corresponding to the identification information is a positive number (usable frequency> 0), and if it is a positive number, the control information shown below for the PBX 13 is determined. Return C.

If the station line status is other than the empty status ("00") or the usable frequency is "0", P
The control information D shown below is returned to the BX 13. Hereinafter, regarding the control information B to G, the information ID, the processing number, the identifier, and the identification information are the same as those of the above-mentioned control information A, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

The control information B is information transmitted at the end of the call. The disconnected station line number is a station line number that identifies the station line 11 that has ended the call. The control information C and D are control information transmitted in response to the control information A or the control information B described above. When the process requested by the PBX 13 is normally completed, the control information C is returned, and when the process requested by the PBX 13 has a failure, the control information D is returned. Specifically, the station line 1 designated by the control information A
When 1 is empty and the usable frequency corresponding to the identification information is a positive number, the control information C is returned as the station line use permission information. On the other hand, when the station line 11 is in the use state or the usable frequency is “0”, the control information D indicating that the station line cannot be used is returned.

Next, the control information E is information to be transmitted to the terminal during a call and indicates the usable frequency at the present time. That is, the billing management device 12 calculates the call charge each time it receives a billing pulse transmitted on the central line, and subtracts the call charge from the usable frequency. The subtracted value obtained as a result is transmitted as the usable frequency at the present time. When the PBX 13 receives the control information E, only the fee information is transmitted to the subscriber.

The control information F is information to be transmitted to the terminal during the call, and is based on the information indicating the usable frequency at the present time and the warning information indicating that the usable frequency is lower than the predetermined frequency. Become. Upon receiving the control information E, the PBX 13 sends a warning sound to the subscriber.

Further, the control information G is information to be transmitted when the usable frequency of the terminal during a call becomes "0".
Upon receiving the control information G, the PBX 13 forcibly disconnects the station line 11 involved in the call.

Next, the operation process of the billing management device 12 at the time of registration of the usable frequency in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the charging management device 12 in the present embodiment recognizes the insertion of the prepaid card into the card reader / writer 18 (step 701), the card reader / writer 18 reads the remaining number recorded in the prepaid card, This is displayed on the screen by the display device 20 (step 702). At this time, the control circuit 23 determines whether or not the remaining frequency is a positive number (> 0) (step 703).

When the remaining number is 0, the prepaid card is ejected from the card ejection port of the card reader / writer 18 and the process is finished (step 724). on the other hand,
When the residual frequency is a positive number (> 0), the display device 2
When 0, a message prompting the input of the extension number or the subscriber ID is displayed (step 704).

Here, the control circuit 23 recognizes that arbitrary information is input from the ten-key pad 19 and determines whether the information is an extension number or a subscriber ID (step 705).
First, when the input information is an extension number, the control circuit 23 accesses the extension number-based charge management table 22a of the charge management table 22 (step 706), and determines the usable frequency corresponding to the extension number. The data is read and displayed on the screen by the display device 20 (step 707).

Further, the control circuit 23 causes the display device 20 to display a message prompting the user to input the desired registration frequency (step 708). Here, the holder of the prepaid card refers to the remaining frequency and the usable frequency displayed on the display screen, and operates the ten-key 19 to input the desired registration frequency.

The control circuit 23 recognizes the input of the desired registration frequency (step 709) and notifies the arithmetic circuit 21 of the remaining registration frequency together with the desired registration frequency. The arithmetic circuit 21 subtracts the desired registration frequency from the remaining frequency and determines whether or not the subtracted value is 0 or more (step 710).

If the subtracted value is less than 0, the process returns to step 708, and a message prompting the user to re-enter the desired registration frequency is displayed. On the other hand, if the subtracted value is 0 or more,
The control circuit 23 notifies the arithmetic circuit 21 of the desired registration frequency and the usable frequency. The arithmetic circuit 21 adds the desired registration frequency to the usable frequency and notifies the added value to the control circuit 23. The control circuit 23 accesses the extension number-based charge management table 22a again, and registers the above-mentioned added value as the usable frequency corresponding to the extension number (step 711). Then, the subtraction value obtained by subtracting the desired registration frequency from the remaining frequency is notified to the card reader / writer 18, and the card reader / writer 18 writes the subtraction value in the prepaid card (step 712). At this point, the control circuit 23 displays a message indicating the end of registration of the usable frequency on the display device 20 (step 713) and ejects the prepaid card set in the card reader / writer 18 (step 71).
4).

Second, in step 705 described above,
When the input information is the subscriber ID, the control circuit 23 accesses the individual fee management table 22b of the fee management table 22 (step 715), reads the usable frequency corresponding to the subscriber ID, and displays the display device. The screen is displayed from 20 (step 716).

Further, the control circuit 23 displays a message prompting the user to input the desired registration frequency from the display device 20 (step 717). Here, the holder of the prepaid card refers to the remaining frequency and the usable frequency displayed on the display screen, and operates the ten-key 19 to input the desired registration frequency.

The control circuit 23 recognizes the desired registration frequency input from the numeric keypad 19 (step 718) and notifies the arithmetic circuit 21 of the desired registration frequency and the remaining frequency. The arithmetic circuit 21 subtracts the desired registration frequency from the remaining frequency and determines whether or not the subtracted value is 0 or more (step 71).
9).

If the subtracted value is less than 0, the process returns to step 717 and the display device 20 displays a message prompting the user to re-enter the desired registration frequency. On the other hand, when the subtraction value is 0 or more, the control circuit 23 notifies the arithmetic circuit 21 of the usable frequency and the desired registration frequency, and the arithmetic circuit 21 adds the desired registration frequency to the usable frequency and adds the sum. To the control circuit 23. The control circuit 23
The individual charge management table 22b is accessed, and the added value is registered as the usable frequency corresponding to the subscriber ID (step 720).

Then, the subtraction value obtained by subtracting the desired registration frequency from the remaining frequency is notified to the card reader / writer 18, and the card reader / writer 18 writes the subtraction value in the prepaid card (step 721).

The control circuit 23 causes the display device 20 to display a message indicating the end of registration of the usable frequency on the screen (step 722) and returns the prepaid card set in the card reader / writer 18 (step 723). ).

From the above, the subscriber belonging to the private branch exchange network 15 can check the usable frequency and can add the arbitrary frequency by referring to the usable frequency. Here, a processing flowchart of the PBX 13 at the start of a call is shown in FIG.

An arbitrary terminal 14 in the private branch exchange network 15
After dialing a specific number that indicates a call from the
When the call destination telephone number is dialed, the exchange side control circuit 13c recognizes the call request via the subscriber trunk 13b (step 801).

The exchange-side control circuit 13c determines whether the call request is an extension number call or a subscriber ID call (step 802). If the call request is an extension number call, The ID indicating the call start notification is stored in the information ID of the control information (step 803), the extension number is stored as the identification information, and the information indicating the extension number transmission is stored in the identifier (step 804).

At this time, the office line trunk 13a supplements the unconnected office line 11 by referring to the connection status of each office line 11 (step 805). Switch side control circuit 13c
Detects the station line number of the supplemented station line 11, stores the station line number in the control information (step 806), and transmits the control information to the billing management device 12 (step 80).
7).

On the other hand, when the calling request is the calling of the subscriber ID in step 802, the calling party is prompted to dial the subscriber ID (step 80).
8). Then, the subscriber ID is stored as the identification information in the control information, and the information indicating the transmission of the subscriber ID is stored in the identifier (step 809), and the processing from step 805 described above is performed. Next, FIG. 9 shows an operation process of the billing management device 12 when a call is made from the terminal 14 to the public network.
A description will be given based on the flowchart.

The PBX interface circuit 24 is
Arbitrary control information is received from the PBX 13 (step 90
1), the control circuit 23 refers to the information ID stored at the head address of this control information to determine the attribute of the control information (step 902).

First, when the control information is calling information, that is, call start notification information (see control information A in FIG. 6),
The control circuit 23 reads the identifier from the control information (step 903) and identifies whether the control information corresponds to the extension number or the subscriber ID (step 904).

When the identifier indicates an extension number, the control circuit 23 accesses the extension number-based charge management table 22a based on this extension number (step 9).
05). Then, it is determined whether the usable frequency corresponding to the extension number is a positive number (> 0) (step 90).
6).

Here, when the usable frequency is a positive number, the control circuit 23 reads out the planned connection line number from the control information (step 907), and the line management table 17 is based on this line number. Access to (Step 9
08). Then, by referring to the station line state corresponding to the station line number, it is determined whether or not there is an idle state (step 90).
9). When the control circuit 23 is idle, the control circuit 23
The reservation information "01" is registered as the station line status (step 910). Further, the control information (see control information C in FIG. 6) indicating the permission to use the central line is transmitted to the PBX (step 911).

On the other hand, when the usable frequency is 0 or less in step 906 and when the station line 11 is in the used state or the reserved state in step 909, the control circuit 23 sends the PBX to the station. Control information indicating that the line 11 cannot be used (see control information D in FIG. 6) is transmitted (step 913).

Second, in step 902 described above,
If the control information is disconnection information (see control information B in FIG. 6), the control circuit 23 reads the disconnecting station line number from the control information (step 914). Then, the station line management table 17 is accessed based on the disconnected station line number (step 915), and the station line state of the station line 11 is changed from the in-use state to the idle state (step 916). After the completion of the change process, the control circuit 23 transmits the control information indicating the end of the process (see the control information C in FIG. 6) to the PBX 13 (step 917).

FIG. 10 shows an operation flow of the billing management device 12 during a call. In the charge management device 12, the control circuit 23
Accesses the station line management table 17, reads out the station line number in the reserved state, and uses this station line number as the station line management circuit 1
Notify 6. The office line management circuit 16 monitors the office line 11 having the office line number notified from the control circuit 23 to determine a change in polarity (step 1001). That is, when the called party subscriber goes off-hook, the polarity of the station line 11 changes, and the station line management circuit 16 determines whether or not the called party responds based on this polarity change (step 1002). ).

When the called subscriber goes off-hook, the station line management circuit 16 sets the station line number to the control circuit 2.
Notify 3. Then, the control circuit 23 accesses the station line management table 17 based on the station line number to change the station line state from the reserved state to the used state (step 10).
03).

Furthermore, the station line management circuit 16 is configured to
1 is monitored to detect a charging pulse. When the charging pulse is detected (step 1004), the control circuit 23 determines the station line management table 1 based on the station line number.
7 to recognize the identification information of the calling subscriber, and access the charge management table 22 based on this identification information to read the usable frequency (step 100).
5). Here, the arithmetic circuit 21 subtracts the frequency corresponding to the charging pulse from the usable frequency (step 1006),
It is determined whether the usable frequency after subtraction is 0 or more (step 1007).

When the usable frequency is 0 or more, the control circuit 23 determines whether or not the usable frequency is equal to or lower than a predetermined frequency (step 1008), and when the usable frequency is equal to or lower than the predetermined frequency, it is transmitted to the PBX 13. The warning information is stored in the control information (step 1009), and the usable frequency after subtraction is also stored as fee information and transmitted to the PBX 13 (step 1010).

In step 1008 described above,
If the usable frequency after subtraction exceeds the predetermined frequency, P
Only the usable frequency after the subtraction is stored in the control information to be transmitted to the BX 13 and transmitted.

On the other hand, in step 1007 described above,
When the usable frequency after subtraction is less than 0, the station line management circuit 16 forcibly disconnects the station line 11 (step 10).
11), the control circuit 23 accesses the station line management table 17 based on the station line number of the station line 11 to access the station line 1
The station line status of No. 1 is changed from the used status to the empty status (step 1012). Further, the control circuit 23 stores the station line number in the control information and transmits it to the PBX 13 as forced disconnection station line number information (see control information G in FIG. 6) (step 1013).

In step 1002 described above,
The control circuit 23 refers to the time from the start of calling to determine whether or not a predetermined time has passed (step 1014). Here, if the called subscriber does not go off-hook within a predetermined time, the timing-out information (see control information D in FIG. 6) is stored in the control information and transmitted to the PBX 13 (step 1015).

Next, the PB when the arbitrary control information is received
The operation flowchart of X13 is shown in FIG. PBX1
3 receives the arbitrary control information from the billing management device 12 (step 1101), the exchange side control circuit 13c.
Reads the information ID of the control information and determines the attribute of this control information (step 1102).

First, when the attribute of the control information is the call start notification information, the exchange side control circuit 13c reads the response content from the control information, that is, the information stored in the lowest address (step 1103). Then, it is determined whether this information is call permission information ("OK") or call impossible information ("NG") (step 110).
4).

When the response content is the call permission information, the office line trunk 13a is operated to connect the calling terminal 14 and the planned connecting office line 11 (step 1105). On the other hand, when the response content is the call impossible information, the subscriber trunk 1
A busy tone is transmitted to the calling terminal 14 via 3b (step 1106).

Secondly, when the attribute of the control information is the forced disconnection information, the exchange side control circuit 13c operates the station line trunk 13a and the subscriber trunk 13b to operate the station line 11 and the calling terminal 14. And disconnect (step 110)
7).

Thirdly, when the attribute of the control information is charge information, the exchange-side control circuit 13c determines whether or not warning information is stored in the control information (step 1108). If the warning information is stored, the subscriber trunk 13b is operated to send a warning sound to the calling terminal 14 to call attention to the available remaining number (step 110).
9). Here, if the calling terminal 14 has a display display function, a message calling attention to the available remaining number may be displayed on the display screen.

Then, the exchange side control circuit 13c reads out the charge information from the control information and sends it to the calling terminal 1
4 (step 1110). On the other hand, when only the charge information is stored in the control information in step 1108, only the processing in step 1110 described above is performed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when a subscriber belonging to the private branch exchange network makes a call to the public network, the subscriber himself / herself pays the charge for the call, and the manager of the private branch exchange network. The procedure can be omitted for the complexity of.
Further, the subscriber can arbitrarily add the usable frequency.

In this embodiment, although the call charge is registered and settled by the prepaid card, the call may be registered and settled by cash. In that case, a cash settlement machine is used instead of the card reader / writer 18. Further, both the card reader / writer 18 and the cash settlement machine may be provided so that the call charge can be registered and settled with both the cash and the prepaid card.

[0093]

According to the present invention, a call charge for making a call from an extension of a private branch exchange is collected from the caller itself without bothering the administrator of the private branch exchange network and the caller. A highly convenient telephone switching network can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a telephone exchange network in the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an internal configuration block diagram of a billing management device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a specific example of a charge management table in this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a specific example of a station line management table in this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a format of control information in this embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process of registering a usable charge in this embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the operation of the PBX at the start of a call.

FIG. 9 is an operation flowchart of the billing management device when receiving control information from the PBX.

FIG. 10 is an operation flowchart of the billing management device during a call.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the operation of the PBX when receiving control information.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Billing management device 2 ... Line accommodation unit 3 ... Station line usage status management unit 4 ... Billing processing unit 5 ... Input unit 6 ... Display device 7 ... Charge management table 7a ... Management table 7b ・ Personal charge table 8 ・ ・ Control unit 9 ・ ・ Warning generation unit 10 ・ ・ Public network 11 ・ ・ Station line 12 ・ ・ Charging management device 13 ・ ・ PBX 13a ・ ・ Station line trunk 13b ・ ・ Subscription Person trunk 14 ・ ・ Terminal 15 ・ ・ Private branch exchange network 16 ・ ・ Local line management circuit 17 ・ ・ Local line management table 18 ・ ・ Card reader / writer 19 ・ ・ Numeric keypad 20 ・ ・ Display device 21 ・ ・ Arithmetic circuit 22 ・ ・Charge management table 22a ... External number charge management table 22b ... Personal charge management table 23 ... Control circuit 24 ... PBX interface circuit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A private branch exchange network that enables extension calls between terminals accommodated in the private branch exchange network and external calls between arbitrary extension terminals and the public network. A billing management device (1) is interposed between the billing management device (1), which connects / disconnects the public network to an exchange and detects a billing information transmitted on the public network. A station line use state management unit (3) for monitoring the public network to determine the use state or idle state of each station line; and a call originator based on the billing information detected by the line accommodation unit (2). Charge processing unit (4) for calculating subscriber line usage charges
And a charge management table (7) for registering an available charge for each calling party subscriber of the private branch exchange network, and a control unit (8) for controlling the above respective units, and the control unit (8) When a call request from the private branch exchange to the public network is received together with identification information for identifying the calling subscriber, the station line use state management unit (3) determines that the public line is in an idle state. It is determined whether or not there is an available office line, and the charge management table (7) is referred to based on the identification information, and the usable charge of the calling subscriber is a positive number. If the usable charge is a positive number, the line accommodation unit (2)
When the calling subscriber is connected to the vacant station line and billing information is detected from the public network, the billing processing unit (4) determines that the calling subscriber can use the charge. The amount corresponding to the billing information is subtracted from, and whether or not the usable charge after the subtraction is a positive number is determined, and when the usable charge is a positive number, the above charging process is repeated, A charging management method in a private branch exchange network, wherein the control unit (8) forcibly disconnects the telephone line by the line accommodation unit (2) when the usable charge is not a positive number. 2. An input unit (5) for setting a predetermined prepaid card, inputting a desired registration amount and identification information, and a display device for displaying the balance of the prepaid card in the billing management device (1). (6), the control unit (8) displays the balance of the prepaid card from the display device (6) when the prepaid card is set in the input unit (5), When the desired registration amount and the identification information are input from 5), the desired processing amount is subtracted from the balance of the prepaid card by the billing processing unit (4), and whether the subtracted value is a positive number or not is determined. If the subtracted value is a positive number, the charge management table (6) is accessed, the desired registration amount is added to the usable charge corresponding to the identification information, and the prepaid Charging management system, a value obtained by subtracting the registration applicant amount from the card balance of the private branch exchange network of claim 1, wherein the writing to the prepaid card. 3. The identification information is an extension number of a terminal accommodated in the private branch exchange network.
Billing management method in the private branch exchange network described. 4. The charging management system in a private branch exchange network according to claim 1, wherein the identification information is personal identification information for identifying a subscriber individual who belongs to the private branch exchange network. 5. The charge management table (7) can be used for each extension number charge table (7a) for registering a usable charge for each extension number of the terminal, and / or for each personal identification information of the subscriber. 2. The charging management method in a private branch exchange network according to claim 1, further comprising an individual charge table (7b) for registering charges. 6. The warning generation unit (9), wherein the billing management device (1) sends a warning sound to the calling subscriber when the available charge falls below a certain amount during a call. The charging management system in a private branch exchange network according to claim 1, further comprising: