JPH07193845A - Service system by telephone set and facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To serve the objective service to the user with a minimum operation by allowing the user to dial a telephone number corresponding to the service content and service form desired to be used from the user terminal equipment and allowing a host to serve the service corresponding to the request to the user terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:The service system 1 is provided with a fixed service group comprising various fixed services each offering a single fixed service only and a composite service group comprising composite services each is utilized selectively through the use of the interactive system from the user terminal equipment. When any of the fixed service in the fixed service group is designated from a terminal equipment in a form of selection of dial number, a selection control section 5 serves a required fixed service to the user terminal equipment via a receiver 3. On the other hand, when the user terminal equipment designates any of composite services in the composite service group through the selection of dial-in numbers, transmission and reception of data relating to the selection of services are executed in an interactive form between the user terminal equipment and the control section 5 to receive the desired service.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone and facsimile service system for performing various services such as a voice mail service, a facsimile mail service, a message service, and a telephone conference system using a telephone network or an ISDN network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a user has called a voice response system for a telephone service from his or her own user terminal via a telephone network or an ISDN network so that the user terminal can receive a required service. Various telephone and facsimile service systems have been developed. In this type of telephone and facsimile service system, a plurality of types of services are prepared in advance, for example, voice mail service, facsimile mail service, message service, voice response service, telephone conference service, etc. A desired service can be selected from these various services from the user terminal.

Therefore, as a method for selecting a service from the user side, after the user dials a predetermined number to connect the host device of the service system and his / her own terminal device, the user then uses the host device. A so-called conversational selection method is known in which a service required by oneself is specified by answering a question from the side. However, in this conversational method, the user must exchange data with the host device many times in order to receive the required service.
It has a problem that it takes a lot of time and labor to receive the required service.

In order to solve this problem, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 5-91127, in the case of a facsimile mail service, a plurality of outgoing mails are given dial-in numbers in advance and stored in a memory, so that Has proposed a service system that enables users to receive a required mail service simply by dialing a required dial-in number.

[0005]

However, according to the proposed service system, one specific service is assigned to each of a large number of dial-in numbers prepared in advance, so that the user can Even if you want to continue to use multiple services, you have to disconnect the line and perform dial operation each time, which is not convenient for any conventional system of this type. There is.

An object of the present invention is to provide a telephone and facsimile service system which can solve the above problems in the prior art.

[0007]

A feature of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is that a service host includes a large number of service modules for various services by telephone and facsimile and is assigned a large number of dial-in numbers. In a service system by telephone and facsimile for providing a desired service to a user terminal connected to the host device through a telephone network or an ISDN network, various fixed services that can receive only a predetermined single service Corresponding to the dial-in number, a plurality of control codes corresponding to each service and a plurality of control codes corresponding to various composite services that can be used by selecting a plurality of services from the user terminal side using an interactive system If the user terminal and the host device are connected, Converts the incoming dial-in number to the corresponding control code and the service according to the converted control code in that so as to provide to the user terminal.

[0008]

The user terminal is connected to the host device of the service system by the telephone network or the ISDN network by dialing the dial-in number corresponding to the content and form of the service desired to be used from the user terminal, and the dial-in is performed. The number is given to the host device. In the host device, this dial-in number is converted into a control code, and according to the control code, either an individual service that can receive only a single service or a complex service that allows multiple services to be selected and used by an interactive system is selected. The desired service is supplied from the host device to the user terminal.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a service system for providing various services to user terminals by telephone and facsimile according to the present invention. The service system 1 includes a host device 2 including a large number of service modules M1 to MN. An appropriate number of service modules M1 to MN can be provided according to the content of the service to be provided. For example, bulletin board service, mail service, message service, fax reception service, inventory inquiry service,
An arbitrary number of service modules can be provided for various services such as a pager calling service, a pager message extraction service, and an order reception service.

The host device 2 has a receiving device 3 connected to the telephone network 6, and a large number of user terminals U1 to UN are connected to the receiving device 3 of the host device 2 via the telephone network 6. A large number of dial-in numbers are assigned to the receiving device 3, and the dial-in number sent from the telephone network 6 to the receiving device 3 at the time of an incoming call from the user terminal is sent to the conversion unit 4, where the selection control unit is provided. 5 is converted into a control code for service selection control executed in 5.

In the service system 1, various fixed services that can receive only a predetermined single service (for example, a service that supplies only the content of a predetermined bulletin board is provided and used. Fixed services consisting of services that do not require the selection of service contents on the part of the user side) and a composite that allows the user terminal side to selectively use a plurality of services prepared in advance using the conversation system. A composite service group including services (for example, a service that selectively retrieves the contents of several different bulletin boards, or a service that allows you to arbitrarily select and use a fax service and a mail service) is provided. ing. A unique control code is assigned in advance to each of the plurality of fixed or combined services prepared in this way, and a dial-in number is assigned in advance to these control codes.

The conversion unit 4 stores a conversion table showing the relationship between dial-in numbers and the corresponding control codes. The dial-in number sent from the receiving device 3 to the conversion unit 4 is this. The control code is converted based on the conversion table, and the converted control code is sent to the selection control unit 5.

In order to provide the user terminal with a service according to the contents of the control code from the conversion unit 4, the selection control unit 5
Then, based on the control code from the conversion unit 4, the service modules M1 to MN are used to provide a required service to the user terminal via the receiving device 3. That is,
When any fixed service in the fixed service group is designated by the user terminal in the form of selecting a dial-in number, the required fixed service is selected by the selection control unit 5 via the receiving device 3 and the user terminal. Provided to. on the other hand,
When any one of the composite services in the composite service group is designated by the user terminal in the form of selecting a dial-in number, the data relating to the service selection is exchanged between the user terminal and the selection control unit 5. Is executed interactively,
It is possible to arbitrarily specify a desired service from a plurality of types of services included in the composite service from the user terminal side and receive the desired service.

According to this structure, as described above, the user of the service can receive the desired service in the form of the fixed service or the complex service by selecting the dial-in number. Therefore, by dialing the dial-in number for the fixed service, it is possible to receive a desired single service only by performing this dial operation without requiring a complicated operation. On the other hand, if you dial the dial-in number for complex services, 1
By performing a dial operation once and then having a conversation with the host device 2 for selection, an arbitrary service among the services included in this composite service can be continuously performed without disconnecting the line each time. You can receive it selectively, which is very convenient.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the service system according to the present invention. The host device 12 of the service system 11 shown in FIG.
3, the line control unit 14, the voice input / output unit 15, the fax (FAX) input / output unit 16, and the external memory 17 are connected as shown in the figure, which is different from the service system 1 shown in FIG. There is. However, other configurations are similar to those of the service system 1 shown in FIG. Therefore, of the respective parts of FIG. 2, those parts corresponding to the respective parts of FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted.

Since the hardware configuration of the computer 13 is well known, the hardware configuration of the computer 13 is also omitted in the drawing, and is stored in a memory (not shown) provided inside the computer. 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing a control program executed by a central processing unit (CPU) (not shown). Voice data and fax data are stored in the external memory 17 and are taken out when necessary.

The service system 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the outline thereof will be described. When an incoming call is received by the line control unit 14 by a dial operation from any of the user terminals, the incoming call is received from the line control unit 14 to an exchange (not shown) in the telephone network 6. Is requested for the dial-in number, and as a result, the dial-in number obtained from the telephone network 6 is sent to the computer 13. The computer 13 prepares a control code corresponding to the type of service requested by the user terminal from the contents of the dial-in number.

At the same time, when the requested service is a service belonging to the fixed service group, the voice input / output unit 15 or the FAX input / output unit 16 is used as an input / output unit suitable for the content of the requested service. Either one is connected between the line controller 14 and the computer 13,
Services are provided according to a control program described later and shown in FIG.

On the other hand, when the service requested from the user terminal is a service belonging to the composite service group, the voice input / output unit 15 and the FAX input / output unit 16 are used as the input / output units.
Both are connected between the line controller 14 and the computer 13. Thereafter, necessary data regarding service selection is exchanged between the user terminal and the computer 13 which are connected according to the control program, and a plurality of required services are continuously provided while the lines are connected. You can receive it selectively. The line is disconnected by performing an on-hook operation in the user terminal or by giving the host device 12 an indication of termination of receiving the service in the user terminal.

Next, the control program 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. When there is an incoming call, it is first determined in step 21 whether or not it is dial-in, and if it is dial-in, step 22 is entered. Here, the control code is automatically set according to the dial-in number.
That is, the service number, guest user ID, command, parameter, and greeting (opening) message number given to the dial-in number are set. However, those without default values are left unset.
On the other hand, if the decision result in the step 21 is NO, the step goes to a step 23, where the control code is set to the default value. That is, service number, guest user I
Set the default value of the line to D, command, parameter, greeting (opening) message number, etc. However, those without default values are left unset.

In this way, the control code is step 22.
Or 23, the greeting message number is determined in step 24, and step 2 is performed according to the determination result.
.., 25X, and the greeting message selected thereby is sent to the user terminal.

At the next step 26, it is judged whether or not the user check is necessary. If the check is necessary, step 2 is performed.
After the user ID is input in step 7, step 28 is entered. If the check is not made in step 26, step 28 is executed without executing step 27. In step 28, it is judged whether or not the service is fixed. If the service is fixed, the process goes to step 29, and the fixed service is selected. On the other hand, if the service has not been confirmed, the process proceeds from step 28 to step 30, where the service number is determined. According to the service number determined in step 30, one of the service routines prepared in advance is entered.

In the present embodiment, the bulletin board service routine S
1, a mail service routine S2, and other service routines SX are prepared. Since the basic configurations of these service routines are the same, only the bulletin board service routine S1 will be described here.

When the bulletin board service routine S1 is entered, it is first determined in step 40 whether or not the command is confirmed. If the command is not confirmed, step 41 is executed.
The command is selected in step 42 and step 42 is entered. If it is determined in step 40 that the command is confirmed, step 42 is executed without executing step 41.
In step 42, it is judged whether or not the parameter is confirmed. If the parameter is not confirmed, the parameter is selected in step 43, and the process proceeds to step 44. If it is determined in step 42 that the parameters are fixed, step 4 is executed without executing step 43.
Enter 4.

At step 44, the service is executed in accordance with the command and parameter determined as described above. In step 45, it is determined whether or not the service can be continued. If the service can be continued, the process returns to step 41, and the desired service can be continuously received by the same procedure.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step 45 that the service cannot be continued, the process proceeds to step 31, where it is determined whether or not to continue the service, and if there is a response from the user terminal that the service is not desired to continue, Will disconnect the line. On the other hand, when a response indicating that the service is desired is continued, step 28
Return to.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a control code preset in response to the dial-in number. Next, a specific operation of the control program 20 will be described based on the control code illustrated in FIG. A conversion table corresponding to the conversion table shown in FIG. 5 is stored in the external memory 17, and the conversion between the dial-in number and the control code is executed using this conversion table.

First, an example in which a user receives a fixed service will be described. For example, dial-in number 002
When there is an incoming call by 1, the greeting message number is judged as no in step 24, and the greeting message is not transmitted. Further, since the user check is also NO, the determination result in step 26 is NO, and the user terminal is not requested to input the user ID. Further, since the service is decided as the bulletin board service, the service selection is not required in step 29.

In this way, the routine S1 for the bulletin board service is entered without inputting any instruction or selection from the user terminal. Even after entering the routine S1, since the command and the parameter have already been determined, it is possible to receive the reading service of the predetermined contents of the bulletin board without any input from the user terminal even in steps 41 and 43. it can. That is, it is possible to receive a single service of reading out predetermined contents of the bulletin board simply by dialing 0021.

Next, an example in which the user receives the composite service will be described. When the user dials 0001, no control data is set, as is apparent from FIG. Therefore, the determination result of step 26 and step 28 of the control program 20 is YES,
In addition, the determination result of step 40 and step 42 of the control program 20 is NO. As a result, in step 27, step 29, step 41, and step 43 of the control program 20, the host device 12 issues an inquiry to the corresponding user terminal, and the necessary data for this inquiry is sent from the corresponding user terminal to the host. It is possible to select a desired service by a conversation mode of sending to the device 12 and receive the selected service at the user terminal.

Therefore, in this case, step 45
If the process returns from step 41 to step 41 or the process returns from step 31 to step 28, it is possible to receive another service by sending control data different from the previous time to the inquiry from the host device 12. That is, 0
When 001 is dialed, some services included in the composite service specified by the dial-in number can be selectively and continuously received while the line is connected while talking with the host device 12.

Further, if the dial-in number 0002 is selected, as is apparent from FIG. 5 and the above description, it is possible to receive the composite service only by selecting the parameter in step 43. In this case, in step 43, the desired service can be selected by inputting a parameter corresponding to the desired service from among various predetermined bulletin board services from the user terminal.

As described above, since the operation of the control program 20 is controlled by the control code, by rewriting the conversion table stored in the external memory 17 for converting the dial-in number into the corresponding control code. It is possible to flexibly deal with addition, change of user interface and addition of dial-in number.

In each of the above embodiments, the service system using the telephone network has been described, but the service system according to the present invention can be similarly configured by using the ISDN network.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, the response method is different for each incoming dial-in number, and various services can be provided by the individual service or the combined service to the user according to the purpose. Interface can be provided. Therefore, it is possible to provide the intended service to the user with a minimum of operations. Further, since the response method can be changed for each dial-in number, the service can be provided by a plurality of response methods without making the user aware of one physical line, and the line equipment cost can be reduced. . Moreover, since the service can be provided by the response method corresponding to the same dial-in number on all lines, it is possible for a plurality of users to use the service by the same response method at the same time. Therefore, each service and each response method can be used. It is possible to respond dynamically to changes in traffic.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a service system for providing various services to user terminals by telephone and facsimile according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of a service system for providing various services to user terminals by telephone and facsimile according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial view of a flowchart showing a control program executed by a computer of the service system shown in FIG.

4 is a partial view of a flowchart showing a control program executed in a computer of the service system shown in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing a part of the contents of a conversion table stored in the external memory of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 11 service system 2, 12 host device 4 conversion unit 5 selection control unit 6 telephone network M1 to MN service module U1 to UN user terminal

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location H04M 3/42 J 11/00 303 8324-5K H04N 1/00 104 Z

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A service host device, which includes a number of service modules for various services by telephone and facsimile and is assigned a number of dial-in numbers, and is connected to the host device via a telephone network or an ISDN network. In a service system by telephone and facsimile for providing a desired service to a user terminal, a plurality of control codes corresponding to various fixed services that can receive only a predetermined single service and a conversation from the user terminal side A plurality of control codes corresponding to each of various composite services that can be used by selecting a plurality of services by using the system are defined corresponding to the dial-in numbers, and the user terminal and the host device are connected. The incoming dial-in number is converted to the corresponding control code, A service system by telephone and facsimile characterized in that a service according to the exchanged control code is provided to the user terminal.