JPH09270866A - Line changeover controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a communication charge attended with transfer, by avoiding the transfer of a call replied at once from being transferred to other terminal equipment at the arrival of an incoming call, when each of terminal equipments with different communication forms is connected in common to a line. SOLUTION: Each caller and each terminal equipment are registered in a memory 22 in cross reference, a CPU 21 receiving the caller number via a line L with a MODEM 16 references the memory 22 to control a channel switch 20, so that a call to the terminal equipment is attained in response to the caller number. As a result, a desired terminal equipment is called automatically and transfer of a call once replied and made to the other terminal equipment is avoided, and a useless communication charge attending the transfer is reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a line switching control device for switching telephones, facsimiles, etc. commonly connected to a telephone line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As communication using a telephone line, not only telephone calls but also various forms of communication such as facsimile communication, personal computer communication, POS communication and communication karaoke have been performed in recent years. When the amount of communication is not large when performing these various types of communication, generally, various types of communication are often performed through one telephone line in consideration of economy.

[0003]

However, when various communication terminals that perform different forms of communication are connected through one telephone line, all communication terminals ring when an incoming call arrives.
In this case, conventionally, any one of the terminals responds to the incoming call for the time being, and transfers it to the corresponding communication terminal according to the subsequent communication content. That is, for example, when an incoming call for facsimile communication is answered by the telephone, a signal sound peculiar to the facsimile is heard from the handset, and the responder recognizes the signal sound and performs some operation to transfer it to the facsimile device. For this reason, there is a problem that a useless communication charge is incurred from the time the call is answered to the time it is transferred to the facsimile.

On the contrary, when the facsimile device responds to an incoming call addressed to the telephone, after detecting that no signal tone peculiar to the facsimile communication is detected, the telephone is called again to transfer the incoming call. There is also a problem that if the transfer destination telephone cannot respond, the telephone charge is charged but the call cannot be made with the other party. Further, even when a response is made by the facsimile device, there is a problem that a useless communication charge is incurred between the response at the facsimile device and the response at the telephone. Therefore, according to the present invention, when terminals having different communication forms are commonly connected through one telephone line, it is possible to avoid the transfer of an incoming call that has once been answered at the time of an incoming call to another terminal, and a wasteful communication charge. The purpose is to reduce.

[0005]

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention provides a memory in which a caller number and a terminal device are associated with each other and is registered when the caller number is received via a telephone line. The line switching control device is provided with call control means for making a call to the terminal device according to the caller number by referring to the memory. As a result, it is possible to automatically call a desired terminal device, and therefore, it is possible to avoid a situation in which a call is once answered and transferred to another terminal, and a wasteful communication charge associated with the transfer can be reduced. Further, the line switching control device is arranged between the telephone line and the terminal device. As a result, modification of the terminal device can be avoided when performing automatic line switching. Further, the line switching control device is built in any one of the plurality of terminal devices. As a result, wiring from each terminal device to the line switching control device can be omitted. Further, the call control means transmits / receives a protocol signal to / from the telephone line when receiving the caller number. As a result, the caller number can be accurately received. Further, the call control means sends a caller number reception completion signal to the telephone line after receiving the caller number. As a result, the exchange side connected to the telephone line can surely recognize that the caller number has been received.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a line switching control device according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a switching device corresponding to the above line switching control device, and the switching device 1 is connected to a telephone line (hereinafter referred to as line) L, and a line L
And the communication terminals such as the telephone 2, the personal computer 3, and the facsimile apparatus 4 are switched. That is, the switching device 1 connects the line L and any one of the above-mentioned communication terminals according to the caller number (calling ID) notified from the exchange side (not shown) via the line L at the time of incoming call, and once at the time of incoming call. This avoids the transfer of the answered incoming call to other terminals and reduces unnecessary communication charges.

Here, the switching device 1 is configured as follows. That is, 12 is a start signal detection circuit that detects a start signal sent from the exchange side before the notification of the caller number, 13 is a reverse detection circuit that detects reversal by the switch before sending the start signal, 14 Is a loop opening / closing circuit for opening / closing a DC loop of the line L, 15 is a dial sending circuit for sending a dial signal, and 16 is a modem for receiving a caller number notified via the line L.

Further, 17 is a telephone interface which is an interface of the telephone 2, 28 is a personal computer interface which is an interface of the personal computer 3, 19 is a FAX interface which is an interface of the facsimile apparatus 4, 20 is a line L and the telephone 2, the personal computer 3 and A call path switch for connecting each communication terminal of the facsimile device 4 and a CPU 21 for controlling each of the above parts. A memory 22, a display unit 23, and an operation unit 24 such as a keyboard are connected to the CPU 21.

By the way, the above-mentioned calling party number is notified from the exchange side as follows. First, when the telephone number of the called party is called from the calling party, the called party (that is,
The line L, which is the line on the communication terminal side), is reversed. After that, a start signal for intermittently outputting an AC signal having a frequency around 16 Hz for a predetermined time is sent. Here, on the communication terminal side,
When the DC loop of the line L is closed after detecting the reversal of the line L and the activation signal, the exchange recognizes this as a temporary response and sends the caller number (caller's telephone number) as a modem signal. . On the communication terminal side, when the caller number is received, the DC loop is opened. Then, the exchange side recognizes this as a reception completion signal of the caller ID and frequency 16 Hz.
The original calling signal in the vicinity is sent to the terminal side. When the communication terminal side closes the DC loop of the line L again in response to the arrival of this calling signal, the exchange side recognizes this as a secondary response. As a result, a call or communication is performed between the communication terminal and the calling party side.

Utilizing such a caller number notification function, the switching device 1 connects the line L to any one of the communication terminals of the telephone set 2, the personal computer 3 and the facsimile device 4 when an incoming call arrives at the line L. In this case, in the switching device 1, each caller number is registered in advance in the memory 22 in association with each communication terminal. Then, first, prior to the notification of the caller number, the reversal of the line L output from the exchange side is detected via the reverse detection circuit 13. Then, the activation signal output from the exchange side is received via the activation signal detection circuit 12. CP when the activation signal is received
U21 drives the loop opening / closing circuit 14 to close the DC loop of the line L and transmit it as a primary response signal to the exchange side.
Then, the caller number is transmitted from the exchange side.

In this case, the modem 16 uses the ITU-T Recommendation V. The communication protocol is carried out with the exchange side in a system compliant with No. 23, and the caller number from the exchange side is received. CPU 21
When the caller number thus received by the modem 16 is input, the loop opening / closing circuit 14 is driven to open the DC loop of the line L, and the communication corresponding to the caller number input by referring to the registered contents of the memory 22. The communication path switch 20 is controlled so that the terminal is connected to the line L side. When the caller's number is received and the line L is released, a call signal comes from the exchange side. This ringing signal reaches the telephone set 2 through the line L, the reverse detection circuit 13, the loop opening / closing circuit 14 and the speech path switch 20, and through the desired desired telephone interface 17, for example.

Therefore, in this case, a call signal (incoming call) arrives only at the telephone 2 and only the telephone 2 rings, and no incoming call arrives at the other unselected personal computers 3 and facsimile machines 4. Then, the telephone 2 goes off-hook to start a call with the calling party. The table below shows the memory 22
4 is a table showing an example of a correspondence relationship between a caller number registered in and a corresponding communication terminal.

[Table 1]

As shown in the above table, when "34935111" is received as the caller number, the communication terminal A is selected and connected to the line L, and the caller number "34937".
When "495" is received, the communication terminal B is selected and connected to the line L, and the caller number is "34936983".
If "0" is received, the communication terminal C is selected and the line L
Connected to In this way, each caller number is registered in advance in the memory 22 in association with each communication terminal, and when the caller number is received when a call is received, the corresponding communication terminal is connected to the line L by referring to the contents of the memory 22. It was done like this. As a result, when an incoming call arrives, a desired terminal can be automatically connected and called, so that forwarding of the incoming call to another terminal can be avoided, and thus wasteful communication charges associated with the forwarding can be reduced.

Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another example of the present embodiment. In this example, the function of the switching device 1 is incorporated in the pink telephone 5. Therefore, parts having the same functions as those of the switching device 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.
That is, in the pink telephone 5, the call circuit 31 is connected to the call path switch 20 that connects the line L side and the communication terminal side, instead of the communication terminal, and the handset 32 is connected to the call circuit 31. It is configured to. Also, C
A coin processing unit 33, a ringer 34, and a hook switch HS are newly connected to the PU 30, and an incoming call detection circuit 35 for detecting an incoming signal coming to the line L is also connected to the PU 30.

Also in the pink telephone 5, the caller number is registered in advance in the memory 22, as in the switching device 1. In this case, the caller numbers corresponding to the pink telephone 5 and the external facsimile device 4 are registered. Here, when the caller ID is received at the time of incoming call, if the incoming call is referred to the pink telephone 5 by referring to the memory 22, the CPU 30 controls the call path switch 20 to connect the line L and the call circuit 31. Connecting. When a ringing signal arrives and the ringing detection circuit 35 detects the ringing signal, the CPU 30 drives the ringer 34 to drive the speaker SP.
Ringtone from. When such a call is taken off-hook, the CPU 30 detects this via the hook switch HS. Then, the loop opening / closing circuit 14 is driven to close the DC loop of the line L. As a result, a call is made with the calling side via the call circuit 31.

When the caller ID is received at the time of the incoming call, if the incoming call is judged from the contents of the memory 22 to the facsimile apparatus 4, the CPU 30 controls the communication path switch 20 to control the line L and the FAX interface 19. And connect. After that, when a call signal arrives at the line L, the call signal reaches the facsimile apparatus 4 via the call path switch 20, the FAX interface 19, and the like. The facsimile device 4 closes the loop and responds to this call, and starts facsimile communication with the calling side. When the facsimile communication ends, the loop is released. CPU3
When 0 detects the end of communication due to a loop break through the FAX interface 19, it controls the communication path switch 20 to open the connection route between the line L side and the FAX interface 19.

Next, FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of registering the caller number in the memory 22 of the switching device 1 or the pink telephone 5. CPU21 or CPU30,
When the depression of the registration key in the operation unit 24 is detected in step S31, a registration start message is displayed on the display unit 23 in step S32. Here, when a predetermined key of the operation unit 24 (for example, a numeric keypad or the like in the case of the switching device 1 or a dial key or the like in the case of the pink telephone 5) is operated, this operation information is associated with each of the communication terminals described above. The corresponding sender numbers are sequentially registered in the memory 22 (step S33).

That is, assuming that the telephone 2 is the terminal A, the personal computer 3 is the terminal B, and the facsimile apparatus 4 is the terminal C, the caller number of the terminal A is, for example, "34935111".
However, the caller number of the terminal B is, for example, "349374
95 "and the caller number of the terminal C is, for example," 3 ".
4936830 ”is registered, and the registration status in the memory 22 is as shown in Table 1. Finally, when the registration end key is pressed in step S34, the registration is officially completed and the process ends. The caller number corresponding to each communication terminal in the memory 22 may be registered from a terminal such as the telephone set 2 or may be registered from the outside via the line L.

Next, FIG. 3A shows a CPU of the switching device 1.
21 is a flowchart showing the operation of No. 21. The operation of the main part of the present invention will be described in detail according to this flowchart. Telephone 2, PC 3 connected to the switching device 1 at the calling side
When a call is made in order to communicate with any one of the communication terminals of the facsimile apparatus 4, the exchange first polarizes the line L. In this case, the CPU 21 detects the reversal of the line L via the reverse detection circuit 13 (step S1). Subsequently, the CPU 21 receives the ID reception terminal activation signal (activation signal) via the activation signal detection circuit 12 (step S
2) The loop switching circuit 14 is driven to close the DC loop of the line L and send it to the exchange side as a primary response signal (step S3).

On the other hand, the exchange side transmits the caller number, but the CPU 21 receives this caller number (calling ID) via the modem 16 (step S4). After receiving the caller number, the loop opening / closing circuit 14 is driven to open the DC loop of the line L to send a reception completion signal to the exchange side (step S5), and the memory 22
The registered terminal is referred to, that is, the communication terminal corresponding to the received caller number is identified by referring to the registered contents of step S (step S
6). After that, the communication path switch 20 is controlled to connect the line L side and the identification terminal (step S7).

Here, when the exchange side receives the reception completion signal, it sends a calling signal. The calling signal reaches the identification terminal, for example, the telephone 2 via the call path switch 20 and the like, and the bell of the telephone 2 rings. In this case, the CPU 21 detects and judges an incoming call response by off-hook of the identification terminal via the telephone interface 17 (step S8). When the off-hook of the identification terminal is detected, a call is made between the identification terminal and the calling side (step S9), and from this time point, the billing of the call charge by the billing signal is started. In this way, when a call is received, the calling side can automatically call the desired terminal, and since the billing is started from the time when this terminal responds, it is possible to reduce unnecessary communication charges. When the identification terminal is the facsimile device 4, facsimile communication is performed.

During such a call or communication, the CPU 21
Judges the end of the call or communication due to the on-hook of the identification terminal via the corresponding interface (step S1
0) When the end of the call or communication is detected, the call path switch 20 is controlled to disconnect the path between the line L and the identification terminal (step S11). The operation of the CPU 30 of the pink telephone 5 is almost the same as the operation shown in this flowchart except that the identification terminal is the communication circuit 31 and the facsimile device 4.

Next, FIG. 3B is a flow chart showing the operation of the switching device 1 or the pink telephone 5 in response to the calling operation of the connected terminal. That is, the presence / absence of off-hook of the terminal is determined through the corresponding interface (step S21), and when the off-hook is detected, the line L and the terminal are connected (step S22), and thereafter, the dial and the response of the other party are detected and the processing is advanced. When the other party's response is detected, the terminal side enters into a call or communication state with the other party, and in this case, the switching device 1 or the pink telephone 5 side determines the end of the call or communication due to the on-hook of the corresponding calling terminal ( Step S27). When the call or communication ends, the call path switch 20 is controlled to disconnect the path between the line L and the calling terminal (step S28).

When the pink telephone 5 itself makes a call, the loop of the line L is closed and the dial information operated by the operation unit 24 is detected (step S2).
3) When the dial operation is detected, the dial sending circuit 1
5 outputs the corresponding dial signal (step S2
4), the process proceeds to step S25. Further, when the pink telephone 5 itself does not make a call, the process immediately shifts from step S22 to step S25, and the partner response detection via the reverse detection circuit 13 is determined (step S25).

While the calling terminal is talking or communicating, the switching device 1 is controlled by the CPU 21 or 30.
It is not possible to make a call even if another communication terminal connected to is off-hook and makes a call operation. Further, even when an incoming call is made to the identification terminal, another communication terminal cannot similarly make a call. Further, although a case has been described with the present embodiment where a plurality of communication terminals are connected to one line L, the same effect can be obtained even if a plurality of lines are accommodated in switching device 1. Also, as the terminal to be connected, an example of a telephone or a facsimile device has been described, but a communication karaoke device may be connected,
Any device that can be connected to the line may be used.

Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which the line switching function is incorporated in the pink telephone 5 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to the pink telephone, and can be applied to, for example, a key telephone. Further, in the present embodiment, the switching device 1
In addition, each interface 17, 1 corresponding to each communication terminal
Although 8 and 19 are provided, the configuration of the switching device 1 can be simplified by configuring each of these interfaces as one interface.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, a caller number and a terminal device are associated with each other and registered in a memory, and when the caller number is received via a telephone line, the memory is referred to and the caller number is set. Since the call is made to the corresponding terminal device, the desired terminal device can be called automatically, and therefore it is possible to avoid having to answer once and transfer to another terminal when there is an incoming call. Communication charges can be reduced.
Further, since the line switching control device is arranged between the telephone line and the terminal device, modification of the terminal device can be avoided when performing automatic line switching. Further, since the line switching control device is built in any one of the plurality of terminal devices, wiring from each terminal device to the line switching control device can be omitted. Further, when the call control means receives the caller number, it transmits and receives the protocol signal to and from the telephone line, so that the caller number can be accurately received. Further, since the call control means sends the caller number reception completion signal to the telephone line after receiving the caller number, the exchange side can surely recognize that the caller number has been received.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a line switching control device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another example of the line switching control device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of a main part of the line switching control device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a caller number registration operation of the line switching control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Switching device, 2 ... Telephone, 3 ... Personal computer, 4 ... Facsimile device, 12 ... Activation signal detection circuit, 13 ... Reverse detection circuit, 14 ... Loop switching circuit, 16 ... Modem, 20
... switches 21, 30 ... CPU, 22 ... memory, 23
... display section, 31 ... call circuit, 35 ... incoming call detection circuit.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Nobuyuki Itagaki 2-3-3 Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo Tamura Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A memory connected to a telephone line, in which a caller number and a terminal device are associated with each other and registered, and when the caller number is received through the telephone line, the memory is referred to and the caller number is responded to. A line switching control device comprising: a call control means for making a call to a terminal device. 2. The line switching control device according to claim 1, wherein the line switching control device is arranged between the telephone line and the terminal device. 3. The line switching control device according to claim 1, wherein the line switching control device is incorporated in any one of the plurality of terminal devices. 4. The line switching control device according to claim 1, wherein the call control means transmits / receives a protocol signal to / from a telephone line when the caller number is received. 5. The line switching control device according to claim 1, wherein the call control means sends a caller number reception completion signal to a telephone line after receiving the caller number.