JPH08289020A - Three-party speech system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To continue speech by remaining subscribers when a 1st subscriber starting the three-party speech finishes its speech. CONSTITUTION: A three-party speech section M1 is provided to an exchange station M0 in the three-party speech system, a 1st subscriber M3 makes a call to a 3rd subscriber M5 while 1st and 2nd subscribers M3, M4 make a speech to attain the three-party speech among the 1st to 3rd subscribers M3-M5. A consecutive means M6 continues the 2nd and 3rd subscribers M4, M5 when the speech of the 1st subscriber M3 is finished. A charging imposition changeover means M7 imposes the charging of the 1st subscriber M3 to either the 2nd and 3rd subscribers M4, M5 at least.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-way call system, and more particularly to a telephone system capable of making a call between three parties.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In telephone systems such as car telephones, systems having a three-way calling function have been developed. The three-party call function is a function of temporarily holding a call in progress during a call by two parties, making a new call to a third party, and making a call between the connected three parties.

FIG. 6 shows an operation sequence of a conventional three-way call system. In the figure, first, during a call between the subscriber 1 and the subscriber 2, the subscriber 1 who has subscribed to the three-party call service makes a call to the subscriber 3. That is, a predetermined operation (for example, hooking) is performed to request a three-way call. As a result, a signal (additional information signal) for requesting a three-party call is sent from the subscriber 1 to the exchange, the subscribers 1-2 are put on hold, and a hold tone is sent to the subscriber 2 side. To be done. During this time, the calling connection processing is performed between the subscribers 1-3, and when the subscriber 3 lifts the handset and responds, the subscribers 1-2 are on hold and the subscribers 1-3 are talking. . Here, if a predetermined operation is performed to request a three-way call, the hold between the subscribers 1-2 is released, and the three-way call is possible between the subscribers 1-2-3. .

Further, the charge at this time is imposed on the calling side between the subscribers 1-2, and is charged on the subscriber 1 who initiated the three-party call between the subscribers 1-3.

[0005]

When calculating the call charge, first, the exchange collects and records the information (charge bill) necessary for the calculation, transfers it to the charge system, and charges the charge using the charge system. Calculate. For three-way calling, subscriber 1-
Two billing slips are issued: a bill for a person who makes a call between two subscribers and a bill for a subscriber 1-3 who initiates a three-party call. Further, the billing form includes a subscriber number, a call start date and time, a call end date and time, and the like.

Here, in the conventional system, when the subscriber 1 terminates either the subscribers 1-3 or the subscribers 1-2, the remaining subscribers 1-2 (or the subscribers 1-3). Then, the two-party call can be continued again, but if the subscriber 1 ends the calls between the subscribers 1-2 and 1-3,
Since there is no chargeable object, the two-party call cannot be continued only between the subscribers 2-3, and the call between the subscribers 2-3 is ended.

Therefore, if subscribers 2 and 3 still want to continue talking even if subscriber 1 hangs up, subscriber 2 and
One of the subscribers 3 has to call back,
There was a problem that it was inconvenient. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a three-party call system that allows the remaining subscribers to continue the call when the first subscriber who started the three-party call ends the call. To do.

[0008]

As shown in FIG. 1, the invention according to claim 1 has a three-way call section M1 in a switching center M0, and a call between the first and second subscribers M3 and M4. During the first call from the first subscriber M3 to the third subscriber M5,
To a three-party call system for performing a three-party call with the third subscribers M3 to M5, the continuation of continuing the calls of the second and third subscribers M4 and M5 when the first subscriber M3 ends the call Means M6, and charging switching means M7 for switching the charging of the first subscriber M3 to at least one of the second and third subscribers M4 and M5.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the three-way call system according to the first aspect, the charge switching means is the first
The call is automatically switched to a predetermined subscriber when the subscriber ends the call. The invention according to claim 3 is the claim 1
In the three-party call system described above, the charge switching means switches the charge to the second or third subscriber according to a designation from the first subscriber.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the three-way call system according to the first aspect, the charging switching means is the second
Alternatively, the billing is switched to the second or third subscriber according to designation from the third subscriber.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the invention, when one subscriber tries to end the call from a three-way call, even if the subscriber who is about to end the call is the charge target, this charge continues the call. Since it is switched to at least one of the remaining two parties, the call by the remaining two parties can be continued, and the usability is improved without the trouble of making a call again.

According to the invention of claim 2, when one subscriber of a three-way call terminates, the billing of the terminated subscriber is automatically switched to at least one of the remaining two parties. Therefore, the operation for switching is unnecessary. According to the third aspect of the invention, by the designation from the subscriber who wants to end the call, the remaining subscribers who switch the billing can be freely designated from the subscriber who wants to end the call.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the remaining subscribers who switch the billing can be freely designated by the subscriber who intends to continue the call by the designation of the subscriber who intends to continue the call.

[0014]

FIG. 2 shows the hardware configuration of the system of the present invention. In the figure, a three-way telephone unit (TWT) 1 is provided in the exchange 10.
1 is provided, which has a three-way calling function. The central processing unit (CPR) 12 controls the switching of the communication path by the exchange in the exchange 10 and controls the start / stop of the three-way communication unit 11, and the control information and billing information of each subscriber are stored. It is stored in the disk device 14. The central processing unit 12 corresponds to the continuation unit M2 and the charging switching unit M3. The charge system 13 is connected to the exchange 10 and transfers the charge information of the disk device 14 to calculate the call charge of each subscriber.

FIG. 3 shows an operation sequence of an embodiment of the three-way call system of the present invention. In the figure, step: The subscriber 2 makes a call to the subscriber 1 and is in a call via the call path p1. At this time, the payee between the subscribers 1-2 is the calling subscriber 2.

Step: In this state, when the subscriber 1 performs a call with the subscriber 3, that is, hooking for requesting a three-party call service, the subscriber 1 sends an additional information signal to the exchange 1. Will be sent. This additional information signal is a signal for requesting a three-way call service, and this signal includes information necessary for making a three-way call.

Step: In the exchange 10, it is confirmed that the central processing unit 12 receives the additional information signal transmitted from the subscriber 1 and that the subscriber 1 is authorized to use the three-party call function. In addition, the three-way call 11 is activated and the call path p1 between the subscribers 1-2 set in the exchange 10 is released. Along with this, the subscribers 1, 2, and 3 are connected to the three-party communication unit 11
The call paths p2, p3, p4 connected to are set, the dial tone is sent to the subscriber 1, and the hold tone is sent to the subscriber 2.

Step: From this, the subscriber 1 performs a normal call operation to the subscriber 3. Step: After the subscriber 3 responds and the subscribers 1-3 are in a call, when the subscriber 1 again performs an operation such as hooking for requesting a three-way simultaneous call, the subscriber 1 adds the call. The information signal is sent out, and the central processing unit 12 activates the three-way communication unit 11 to make the communication paths p2, p between the subscribers 1, 2, and 3.
It becomes possible to make a three-party simultaneous call via 3, p4. At this time,
The charging target person among the subscribers 1-3 is the subscriber 1 who has activated the three-party calling service.

Step: If the subscriber 1 who is the charging target wants to continue the call between the subscribers 2 and 3 even after the call ends, the subscriber 1 drops the charging target after the receiver is hung up. It is decided after consultation with the subscribers 2 and 3, and the predetermined operation is performed. For example, the person who first made a call with the subscriber 1 (here, the subscriber 2) is "1", and the person who newly calls the subscriber 1 (the subscriber 3 here) is "2". If the subscriber is to be charged, "# 1" is pressed. If the subscriber 3 is to be charged, "# 2" is pressed before the handset is dropped. As a result, the subscriber 1 sends the additional information signal to the exchange 10. This signal contains information indicating that the call between the subscribers 2 and 3 is left, the charge target is switched, and the number of the charge target is indicated.

Step: In the exchange 10, when the central processing unit 12 receives the additional information signal transmitted from the subscriber 1, a disconnection signal is sent to the subscriber 1 and, at the same time, the communication paths p2, p3, p4. Is released and the call path p5 between the subscribers 2-3 is set up. At this time, between subscribers 1-2, subscriber 1
-3 charging is stopped and charging between subscribers 2-3 is started.

Step: When the subscriber 2-3 finishes the call, the central processing unit 12 issues three bills.
One is the billing fee that subscriber 2 bears, and the other is subscriber 1
At the expense of subscriber 1, subscriber 1 activates the three-party calling service, and subscriber 1 then makes a request to switch the chargeable party.
-Billing bill until disconnecting between 2 and subscribers 1-3,
The other is the subscriber 2-, which is charged by the charging target (here, the subscriber 3) after the charging target is switched from the subscriber 1.
It is a bill from the time when the line is set up only for 3 to the end of the call between the subscribers 2-3. These bills are stored in the disk device 14. The accumulated bills are transferred to the billing system 13. Based on the transferred information, the charge system 13 calculates the call charges for each of these three.

FIG. 4 shows an operation sequence of a modification of the three-way call system of the present invention. Here, the sequence of steps to steps is the same as that in FIG. In FIG. 4, step a: When the subscriber 1 who is a chargeable party hangs up the handset and terminates the call, a disconnection signal as a chargeable party switching request is sent to the exchange 10.

Step a: When the central processing unit 12 of the exchange 10 receives the disconnection signal transmitted from the subscriber 1, the disconnection signal is transmitted to the subscriber 1, and at the same time the communication path p
2, p3 and p4 are released and the communication path p5 is set. At this time, charging between the subscribers 1-2 and between the subscribers 1-3 is stopped, and charging between the subscribers 2-3 is started.

The billing between the subscribers 2-3 is determined in advance by the exchange 10. For example, the subscriber 2 who was first in a call with the subscriber 1 or the subscriber who the subscriber 1 newly made a call. 3 or both of the subscribers 2 and 3 (however, the charge value is 50%). Step a: When the subscriber 2-3 finishes the call, the central processing unit issues a bill for each of the subscribers 1, 2, and 3.

FIG. 5 shows an operation sequence of another modification of the three-way call system of the present invention. Here, the sequence of steps to steps is the same as that in FIG. Figure 5
In step b: In the case of simultaneous three-party call, if the subscriber 1 who is the chargeable party wants to continue the call even after the call ends, if the subscribers 2 and 3 consult, It is determined which is the charging target person, and a predetermined operation (for example, pressing “# 1”) is performed by the charging target person. For example, the additional information signal is transmitted to the exchange 10 by the above operation of the subscriber 2. This signal contains subscribers 2,
It includes information that shows the remaining number of calls between 3 parties, switching the chargeable party, and the number of the chargeable person.

Step b: Subscriber 1 who is the charging target
When the receiver drops the handset to end the call, a disconnection signal is sent to the exchange 10. Step b: In the switching center 10, when the central processing unit 12 receives the disconnection signal transmitted from the subscriber 1, the subscriber 1
A disconnection signal is sent to the communication path p2, p3, p4 at the same time.
Is released and the communication path p5 is set.

At this time, between the subscribers 1-2 and the subscribers 1-3
The charging between the subscribers 2-3 is stopped, and the charging between the subscribers 2-3 is started. Step b: When the subscriber 2-3 finishes the call, the central processing unit issues a bill for each of the subscribers 1, 2, and 3.

[0028]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, when one subscriber tries to end a call from a three-way call, even if the subscriber who is going to end the call is a charge target. , Since this charge can be switched to at least one of the remaining two parties to continue the call, the remaining two parties can continue the call, improving the usability without the need to call again Above all very useful.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 2, when one subscriber of a three-way call terminates, the charge of the subscriber who terminated the call is automatically charged to at least one of the remaining two parties. Since it is switched to, the operation for switching is unnecessary, which is extremely useful in practice. According to the third aspect of the invention, by the designation from the subscriber who wants to end the call, the remaining subscribers who switch the billing can be freely designated from the subscriber who wants to end the call. It is useful.

Further, in the invention described in claim 4,
It is extremely useful in practice since the remaining subscribers who switch the billing can be freely designated by the subscribers who intend to end the call according to the designations of the subscriber who intends to continue the call.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation sequence of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation sequence of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation sequence of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conventional operation sequence.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 M0 switching center 11, M1 three-party communication unit (TWT) 12 central processing unit (CPR) 13 tariff system 14 disk unit M3 first subscriber M4 second subscriber M5 third subscriber M6 continuation means M7 Charge switching means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. The switching center has a three-party call unit, and the first to third callers make a call from the first subscriber to the third subscriber during a call between the first and second subscribers. In a three-party call system in which three subscribers make a three-party call, continuation means for continuing the calls of the second and third subscribers when the first subscriber ends the call, and the first subscriber. And a charge switching means for switching the charge of at least one of the second and third subscribers. 2. The three-party call system according to claim 1, wherein the billing switching unit automatically switches billing to a predetermined subscriber when the first subscriber ends the call. Three-way calling system. 3. The three-way call system according to claim 1, wherein the charge switching unit is designated by the first subscriber.
A three-way call system characterized by switching charges to a second or third subscriber. 4. The three-party call system according to claim 1, wherein the billing switching unit switches billing to the second or third subscriber according to designation from the second or third subscriber. And a three-way calling system.