JPH0720191B2 - Telephone - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a telephone, and more particularly to a telephone that disconnects a call, restricts outgoing call, and warns when a call charge reaches a set amount.

[Conventional technology]

In a digital telephone network or a digital private branch exchange network such as PBX or CES which adopts a digital transmission system for a private branch system, by using time division multiplex transmission, an information channel for voice information transfer between a telephone and an exchange is used. Separately from the above, it is general to provide a signal channel for transmitting and receiving a call control signal (call origination, arrival, response, selection signal, etc.),
Various services can be realized using this signaling channel. For example, a call charge display service already implemented in the digital telephone network is an example. This is to send call charge information from the exchange to the originating telephone through a signal channel and display the call charge on the telephone based on the information. Further, there has been devised a digital telephone in which the notification of the call charge is performed at regular intervals during a call, at the time of ending the call, or at both of them, and the call charges at the time of ending the call are cumulatively accumulated. Also, as an analog telephone, a telephone having an independent charging means for calculating a call charge from a land-based area code and a call time has been devised.

However, the conventional telephone of this type has the following drawbacks because the call charge information is simply displayed, or even if accumulated for each call, it is simply read and displayed by a user operation.

(1) It is generally difficult to keep an eye on the display unit while talking while paying attention to the saving of call charges, and as a result, unintentionally making a long call and spending more charges than planned.

(2) The accumulated charges can be read and displayed, but it is impossible to monitor the accumulated charges during a call because the charge display area during the call is shared. Therefore, for example, when managing a monthly telephone charge, it is difficult to perform detailed management because the accumulated charge is managed after the call ends.

(3) With the recent tendency toward cost savings, there is a growing demand for telephone usage charges, ie, call charge management, at home and in the office. For example, active call charges such as preventing long calls for children. Can't manage.

In order to solve these problems, the applicant has previously proposed a digital telephone which gives a warning or disconnects when the total call charge or the call charge per call reaches a preset limit. (Japanese Patent Application No. 60-105214), this can only be used in the digital telephone network.

[Object of the Invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a telephone that can be used in an existing analog network and that can easily and rationally manage call charges.

[Differences Between Features of Invention and Prior Art]

The present invention, in a telephone having an autonomous billing means, means for setting and storing a call charge usage limit amount for each certain period such as a call and a monthly basis, and successively subtracting / displaying a call charge from an independent billing means from a set value. Memorizing and updating means, disconnecting the call when the result of subtraction against the total usage limit reaches a certain threshold, restricting outgoing calls until release is input, and usage limit for each call The call is similarly disconnected when the result of the subtraction with respect to reaches a certain threshold value, but the most main feature is to have a means for restricting the outgoing call for a fixed time thereafter. By having such means, it becomes possible to proactively and finely manage the call charge even in the telephone used in the existing analog network.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows the overall construction of an embodiment of a telephone according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a telephone 1 is connected to a subscriber line 2 in the telephone network. Reference numeral 3 in the telephone 1 is a network interface circuit section comprising a termination circuit for the subscriber line 2, an incoming call detection circuit, an activation circuit for the subscriber line 2 and a dial pulse or PB signal transmission circuit, and 4 is a call connection control and key input.・ Input / output control circuit for I / O control such as display output, 5 data memory (RAM) with memory backup, 6 program memory (ROM), 7 tone generation circuit for generating callees and alarm sounds , 8 is a call circuit, 9 is a handset, 10 is an indicator, 11 is a dial switch, 12 is a function key switch group for requesting the input / output control circuit 4 to set a charge and an alarm output charge, 13 is a Hook switch, 14 is a sounder that outputs the tone signal generated by the tone generation circuit 7, 15 is an autonomous charging circuit that calculates the call time from the local area code and call time, and 15a is a data for autonomous charge. A non-volatile memory for storing (ROM).

This embodiment shows a case where a general microprocessor or microcomputer is used for the input / output control circuit 4 and the processing is realized by program control. FIG. 2 is an example of a functional block configuration of the input / output control circuit 4 realized by the program control. A program therefor is stored in the program memory 6, and data and the like are stored in the data memory 5.

FIG. 3 is a first processing module configuration example of the charge control program, and FIG. 4 is a memory allocation example of each charge use limit amount, warning amount, subtraction result, etc. in the data memory 5.

First, the input setting operation of the call charge usage limit will be described. FIG. 5 shows an operation flow in the case of setting a total charge of 5 digits and a charge of 4 digits for each call as an example.

To start the input setting operation, the user first presses, for example, the setting request key in the function key switch group 12. The input / output control circuit 4 periodically activates the input monitoring program under the control of the scheduler to perform a key scan, and activates the charge control program when the depression of the setting request key is detected and confirmed. Since the start request is a setting request, the charge control program instructs the display control program to output a display pattern for charge setting, and also enters the charge setting mode by itself. In the charge setting mode, dial information is treated as numerical data for charge setting. That is, the pressing of the dial 11 is similarly detected by the input monitoring program in the input / output control circuit 4 and then passed to the charge control program to reach the required number of digits or to request registration of the input numerical value. By confirming that the setting is completed, the total usage limit amount is stored in the address n of the data memory 5 and the usage limit amount for each call is stored in the address (n + 1) of the data memory 5. The display control program displays the display pattern for setting the charge on the display unit 10, displays the charge setting amount like the display pattern when the dial 11 is pressed, and clears the display when the setting is completed or time-out occurs.

Next, the operation of the charge control program at the time of the call after the call is transferred to the call or at the time of the call end will be described. FIG. 6 shows the operation flow.

In the case of the first call after setting the charge, the value of the address n in the data memory 5 and the value of the address (n + 1) as the limit for each call are displayed on the display 10 when the call is transferred. It When the call state is entered, the call charge sent from the self-supporting charging circuit 15 during the call is stored and updated in the (n + 6) address on the shared memory 5 and is the first call after the usage limit is set. From the total usage limit that is the content of (n) address, the call charge that is the content of (n + 6) address is (n + 6)
1) From the usage limit for each call, which is the content of the address (n + 6)
When the call charge, which is the content of the address, is subtracted and the subtraction results are stored in the addresses (n + 4) and (n + 5), respectively, the display 10 is also displayed. Similarly after that,
As the call charge is updated, the values and display contents of the addresses (n + 4) and (n + 5) are also sequentially updated.

Also, if you make a second or subsequent call after setting the usage limit,
The operation is similar to the above except that the total usage limit is the amount obtained by subtracting the charge for the first outgoing call, that is, the content of the address (n + 4).

As described above, the subtracted results are (n + 2), (n +
3) When the total of the contents of the address, the warning limit amount for each call (for example, 0) or less, the charge control program outputs the tone and display for alarm notification to the tone generation program and the display control program. Instruct. Note that the warning limit amount can be set to an arbitrary value in the same manner as the charge setting.

FIG. 7 shows a second processing module configuration example of the charge control program. First, in the operation flow of FIG. 6, when the subtraction result for the usage limit amount for each call becomes less than the warning limit amount, instead of issuing an alarm, the call is automatically disconnected, and thereafter a fixed time ( For example, 5 minutes) enables the function of restricting the outgoing call, the second function of releasing the outgoing call restriction, and the third function of setting the outgoing call restriction time. The first function is easily realized by the charge control program disconnecting the call by instructing the call control program to disconnect the call, and the charge control program not permitting the call control program to start even if the call is off-hook thereafter. it can. The second function can be easily realized by allowing the charge control program to activate the call control program after a predetermined time has elapsed. The third function can be easily realized as a soft timer by program control. The call restriction time can be set in the same manner as the charge setting.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the third processing module mechanism of the charge control program. First, when the subtraction result for the total usage limit becomes less than the warning limit,
This is to enable the function of restricting outgoing calls after that while disconnecting a call in progress, and secondly to release the restriction of outgoing calls. The realization of the first function is the same as the case of the first function in FIG. 7 described above, but in the case of this example, the call restriction is based on the total charge, and the call restriction is released regardless of the elapsed time. The difference is that the regulation will continue until Second
The functions of the dial switch 11 and the function key switch group 12
It can be realized by combining with the password number according to, or by resetting the total usage limit amount.

FIG. 9 shows a fourth processing module configuration example of the charge control program. The first is the ability to store a phone number,
The second is the function of matching and searching the telephone number sent at the time of making a call and the set telephone number, and the correspondence between the set telephone number and the set amount of money. The third is the result of subtraction from the usage limit amount for each total or call. This is a function that enables an alarm warning or call disconnection when the warning limit is exceeded. The first function is realized by the RAM 5, the dial switch 11, and the function key switch group 12, the second function is realized by the program control of the input / output control circuit 4, and the third function is realized by the charge control program.

As a specific operation flow, FIG. 10 shows an example of a telephone number and a fee setting sequence for the telephone number. First
The operation of 10 is basically the same as the operation at the time of setting the charge in FIG. 5, except that the charge is set for a specific telephone number. Therefore, the display pattern of the display 10 is as follows. The operation at the time of calling the charge control program is to check the dialed number sent to the network by pressing the dial or redialing repertoire dialing, etc. and the entered telephone number (sequentially when there are multiple set telephone numbers. (Verification), and if the verification is successful, the sixth charge is based on the usage limit charge set for that particular number.
The same alarm processing or call disconnection processing as in the figure is performed.

As described above, in the embodiment, the analog telephone is shown, but the digital telephone can be similarly configured. In addition to the above, the charges can be set separately for local calls and long distance calls.

Further, in the above embodiment, since the self-supporting charging circuit is provided, the charge information from the network is not necessary, but the charge information is received from the network at the end of the call, and the charge information is confirmed and compensated by the self-supporting charging circuit. You may do it.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the call charge limit for each call, the warning amount, the presence or absence of call disconnection and the setting of the call disconnection amount, the total call charge limit amount,
You can set the warning amount, whether or not there is a call disconnection / transmission restriction, etc., and you can also set the correspondence between the telephone number and the set amount, and display the limit amount and the amount of the call charge subtracted from the independent charging means during a call Then, when the subtraction result reaches the call disconnection amount, the call is disconnected, and thereafter the outgoing call is regulated for a certain period of time, and when the total limit amount is used up, the outgoing call is completely regulated until the release operation. If necessary, since the alarm notification is made when the warning amount is reached, there is an advantage that the active call charge management becomes possible as follows.

(1) You can set the charge for one call and the charge for the total amount during a certain period such as monthly.
Systematic call charge management becomes possible.

(2) There is an alarm notification when the set price is approaching.
There is no need to pay attention to the charge display at all times.

(3) By combining with a telephone number or a telephone directory such as an out-of-city / city or a specific telephone number, fine-tuned call charge management becomes possible.

(4) It is possible to prevent a long phone call for a child or the like by disconnecting the call when the set amount for each call is exceeded and restricting the outgoing call for a certain period thereafter. In this case, it is more effective to set the call disconnection to a partner number dedicated to a child, for example, in combination with the telephone directory.

(5) Even if the communication partner or the other party's phone accidentally forgets to put on the handset in communication with the other party who does not end the call from the receiving side, such as an answering machine with registered voice mail or a telephone service center that has been increasing recently. If the set amount is exceeded, the call is automatically disconnected, so that it is possible to suppress the expense spending due to the misuse of the user's telephone.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a digital telephone according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional block configuration example of a control circuit in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a processing module configuration example of a charge control program. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of memory allocation, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a charge setting flow, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an operation flow corresponding to the processing module configuration of FIG. 3, and FIGS. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a processing module configuration of another embodiment of the charge control program, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a charge setting flow of another embodiment. 1 ... Telephone, 2 ... Subscriber line, 3 ... Network interface circuit section, 4 ... Input / output control circuit, 5 ... Data memory, 6 ... Program memory, 7 ... Tone generation circuit,
8 ... communication circuit, 9 ... handset, 10 ... display,
11 …… Dinle switch, 12 …… Function key switch group,
13 ... Hook switch, 14 ... Sounder, 15 ... Autonomous billing circuit.

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP 59-190771 (JP, A) JP 60-47546 (JP, A) JP 53-132919 (JP, A) JP 58-3366 (JP , A) JP 56-141654 (JP, A) JP 60-174566 (JP, A)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A telephone having an autonomous charging means for calculating a call charge from a land-based area code and a call time, wherein the total call charge usage limit within a predetermined period and the call charge usage limit for each call are set to the telephone. Means for inputting and setting with the function keys and dial keys, first storing means for storing the total call charge usage limit set by the input setting means, and the call set by the input setting means Second storage means for storing the call charge usage limit amount for each, and third storage for storing a value obtained by subtracting the call charge notified from the autonomous charging means from the stored contents of the first storage means each time the notification is given. Means, fourth storage means for storing a value obtained by subtracting the call charge notified from the autonomous charging means from the stored content of the second storage means each time the notification is given, and during the call, the third storage means When the stored content becomes less than or equal to a predetermined value, the call is disconnected, the outgoing call is restricted thereafter, and the first outgoing call restricting means for canceling the outgoing call restriction restricted by the function key and dial key of the telephone, and during the call, A second outgoing call restricting means for disconnecting the call when the stored content of the fourth storage means becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value, restricting outgoing calls thereafter, and releasing the outgoing call restriction after a predetermined time, and the second outgoing call restriction Means for inputting and setting a transmission restriction time regulated by means by means of function keys and dial keys of the telephone; means for displaying one or both of the contents stored in the third storage means and the fourth storage means during a call; A telephone comprising: 2. The telephone set according to claim 1, wherein when either one of the stored contents of the third storage means or the stored content of the fourth storage means is below a predetermined value, A telephone having a means for outputting a warning sound or a warning display. 3. The telephone set according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the telephone number for call charge management is input and set by a function key or dial key of the telephone, and the input setting is made. The stored telephone number comprises means for storing a telephone number and means for associating the stored telephone number with one or both of the stored contents of the first storage means and the second storage means. And the dialed number sent when the call is made, and if found, the usage-limited amount of charge associated with the telephone number is subtracted from the call charge notified by the autonomous charging means at the time of the call. A telephone characterized by.