JPH0983681A - Using amount managing equipment for incoming collect call - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a using amount managing equipment preventing a call tariff to be paid by a call incoming user from becoming over a scheduled amount in an incoming collect call. SOLUTION: When an incoming collect call incomes from a transmission terminal on a foreign side 1, a service control exchange 6 retrieves a data base 7 by setting the identification number of a call incoming terminal to be a key. The data base 7 stores a domestic call incoming number, a presently used amount, a using limit amount, etc. The service control exchange 6 compares the presently used amount and the using limit amount, which are read by retrieval, and when the former is over the latter, the exchange 6 prohibits the connection of line to give disconnection instruction to the exchange on the foreign side. In addition, The limit of the using amount of an incoming collect call can be removed with respect to a call from a specified nation or area and with respect to a specified caller.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an amount-of-use management device for incoming call payments, and more particularly to an amount-of-use management device for a service that automatically pays incoming call charges for international dial calls.

[0002]

[Prior Art] Similar to domestic toll-free numbers,
Internationally, an incoming call service called autocorrect call is often used. This incoming payment call can be easily used by dialing in an access number from a foreign country. This incoming payment call service is used personally by foreign residents, foreign travelers, etc., or is used for business as seen in mail-order sales.

[0003]

However, in the conventional incoming payment call, international calls can be made any number of times and for many hours. , There was a problem that it would be more expensive than planned.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to provide a usage amount management apparatus capable of preventing the call charge paid by the called party from exceeding the planned amount in the incoming call. Especially.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a database storing a current usage amount and a usage limit amount that can be searched by using a number indicating a receiving terminal as a key, and an incoming payment call. Means for reading the current usage amount and the usage limit amount from the database using the number indicating the receiving terminal as a key, and determining whether the current usage amount exceeds the usage limit amount. Means to do
The present invention is characterized in that it has means for giving a disconnection instruction when the current usage amount exceeds the usage limit amount.

[0006]

According to the present invention, when there is an incoming payment call,
The database is accessed, and it is determined whether the current usage amount exceeds the usage limit amount. If not exceeded, the call is permitted, and if exceeded, the call is prohibited. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the situation where the called party has to pay more than the planned amount by the incoming call.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an international communication network in which the present invention is used. Further, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a signal flow and processing between each device in the network when an incoming payment call is made from the foreign side originating terminal. With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a schematic configuration of the network and an operation when an incoming payment call is made from a foreign-side originating terminal will be described.

When an access number is input from the foreign side originating terminal 1, the access number is transmitted to the foreign side exchange 3 via the foreign exchange network 2. The foreign exchange 3 refers to the data in the foreign database 4 to determine the called country from the access number, and also converts the access number into the called terminal identification number. Next, the foreign exchange 3 sends the originating country information and the receiving terminal identification number to the international relay exchange 5 of the receiving country. The international transit exchange 5 includes a plurality of transit lines 5 connected to the service control exchange 6 together with the international transit line.
a and 5b are accommodated. The international relay exchange 5 determines the service type from the code included in the called terminal identification number, and transfers the called terminal identification number to the service control exchange 6.

The service control exchange 6 is an exchange provided for special service processing in international communication,
The communication path switch 6a includes a signal device 6c including lines 5a and 5b connected to the international repeater exchange 5, a talkie device, a multi-frequency signal receiver such as a PB signal, and various signal generators such as a dial tone. Are connected. The control device 6b of the service control exchange 6 includes a communication path switch 6a
And the signaling device 6c, and is connected to the Japanese side database 7 to perform the following control regarding usage amount management.

That is, the control device 6b searches the Japanese side database 7 using the receiving terminal identification number as a key,
The current usage amount and the usage limit amount of the called terminal of the called terminal identification number are searched. At the same time, the called terminal identification number is converted into a domestic called number. In the database 7,
It stores the domestic called numbers that can be searched using the called terminal identification number as a key, the current usage amount, and the usage limit amount. A specific example of data stored in the database 7
As shown in FIG.

The control device 6b of the service control exchange 6 is
The current usage amount read from the database 7 is compared with the usage limit amount, and if the former does not exceed the latter, the call is permitted. As a result, the line between the international repeater exchange 5 and the receiving terminal 11 is connected via the domestic exchange network 10, and a call can be made between the foreign-side transmitting terminal 1 and the domestic receiving terminal 11. When the call is terminated and the disconnection signal reaches the service control exchange 6, the control device 6b transmits the call information, that is, the calling country information, the call start time, the call time, etc., to the charge calculation device 8. When the charge calculation device 8 receives this call information, it calculates the call charge. Then, the call charge is notified to the control device 6b. Next, the control device 6b accesses the database 7 and displays the call charge in the database 7
Add to the current usage amount. If the result of the addition exceeds the set limit, the call is automatically sent to the called party and an announcement to that effect is given. It is needless to say that the international relay exchange 5 disconnects the line with the foreign exchange 3 when receiving the disconnection signal from the domestic receiving terminal 11.

Next, the operation of the service control exchange 6 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Upon receiving the originating country identification number and the called terminal identification number from the international relay exchange 5 in step S1, the service control exchange 6 searches the database 7 using the called terminal identification number as a key in step S2. This allows
The domestic called number corresponding to the called terminal identification number, and the usage amount and usage limit of the terminal are searched. Step S
In 3, it is judged whether or not the called terminal identification number is registered in the database 7. If it is registered, the process proceeds to step S4, and whether the current usage amount exceeds the usage limit amount. It is judged whether or not. If this judgment is negative, the process proceeds to step S5, and the received domestic called number is received. As a result, a call is made between the caller from the foreign origination terminal 1 and the callee of the domestic termination terminal 11. When the determination in step S3 or S4 is negative, the process proceeds to step S9, and the disconnection instruction is returned to the foreign exchange 3.

In step S6, the service control exchange 6
Determines whether the call between the calling party and the called party has ended and the called party has hooked the handset. When the call is completed and this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S7, and the calling country identification number, the call start time and the call time received in step S1 are transmitted to the charge calculation device 8. The charge calculation device 8 calculates the call charge based on these data, sends the result to the bill issuing system 9, and returns it to the service control exchange 6. In step S8, the service control exchange 6 adds the call charge returned from the charge calculating device 8 to the current usage amount of the corresponding receiving terminal in the database 7. In step S10, it is determined whether or not the current usage amount exceeds the set limit amount, and if this determination is negative, the operation ends. On the other hand, in the affirmative case, the process proceeds to step S11 to automatically make a call to the contractor to notify that the current usage amount exceeds the set limit amount.

As a result of the above, according to the present embodiment, if it is determined in step S4 that the current usage amount exceeds the usage limit amount, incoming calls to the incoming call terminal in Japan are prohibited, so incoming call payment The usage limit will not be exceeded. Further, when the current usage amount exceeds the usage limit amount, the notification is automatically given, so that the called party can avoid the problem that he / she does not notice that the limit amount has been reached. In addition,
The current usage amount in the database 7 may be cleared on a predetermined closing date. Further, it goes without saying that the usage limit amount can be arbitrarily changed.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing only the main part of this embodiment. This embodiment is different from the above embodiment in that step S1 is provided between steps S3 and S4 in FIG.
Since only 2 and S13 are included, steps other than these are omitted in FIG.

If it is determined in step S3 that the corresponding receiving terminal identification number is registered in the database 7, the process proceeds to step S12, in which it is determined whether the originating country is a country or region desired to be managed. Is judged. When this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S4 and the above-mentioned processing is performed. On the other hand, when the result is negative, the process goes to step S13 to directly connect to the terminal having the domestic called number.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the number of incoming payment calls from a specific country or area is unlimited.
It is convenient to use the incoming call for commercial use such as found in mail-order sales. For example, if a pamphlet for mail order is distributed in the United States, the number of incoming payment calls from US customers may increase for a certain period of time. Therefore, the usage limit for incoming payment calls from the US is unlimited. . On the other hand, since incoming call payments from countries other than the United States have nothing to do with business, it is possible to reduce waste of costs by setting and operating a usage limit amount as in the first embodiment. In addition, if the originating country in step S12 is set to a specific country or region where many mischievous calls are made, it becomes a countermeasure for mischievous calls. The determination in step S12 may be "whether the source country is other than the country or region in which management is desired". If the determination is affirmative, the process may proceed to step S13, and if the determination is negative, the process may proceed to step S4.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing only the main part of this embodiment. This embodiment solves the problem that in the first embodiment, if the current usage amount in step S4 exceeds the usage limit amount, even a specific person cannot make an incoming payment call.

When the determination in step S4 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S21, and the service control exchange 6 sends, for example, an announcement that "the connection cannot be established because the usage limit has been exceeded" to the calling party. Next, step S
At 22, it is determined whether a specific code has been input within a predetermined time. This specific code invalidates the limit when the usage limit is exceeded, and is notified only to a specific person. If the determination in step S22 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S23 to connect to the domestic called number. On the other hand, if the specific code is not input within the predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S9, and the disconnection instruction is returned to the foreign exchange.

As described above, according to this embodiment, for example, by teaching the specific code only to the relatives who are staying in a foreign country, the inconvenience that the relatives cannot use the incoming payment call is inconvenient. It can be avoided.

[0021]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the called party has to pay more than the planned amount by the incoming call payment call. Therefore, the callee can prevent unexpected expenses.

In addition, for the incoming payment call from a specific country or a specific area, the management of the usage amount of the call can be made inapplicable so that the business such as mail order will not be hindered. can do.

If the caller inputs a specific code when the usage limit is exceeded, the management of the usage of the call can be made inapplicable. It is possible to avoid the inconvenience that even the caller cannot talk.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a network configuration to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a signal flow and processing between respective devices in a network.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of data stored in the Japanese database of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Foreign originating terminal 1, 2 ... Foreign exchange network, 3 ... Foreign exchange, 4 ... Foreign database, 5 ... International transit exchange, 6 ... Service control exchange, 7 ... Japanese database, 8 ... Charge calculator , 9 ... Bill issuing system, 10
… Domestic switching network, 11… Domestic receiving terminal.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An incoming payment call usage amount management device, comprising a database storing a current usage amount and a usage limit amount that can be searched using a number indicating a receiving terminal as a key, and a call requesting the incoming payment call. And a means for reading the current usage amount and the usage limit amount from the database using the number indicating the receiving terminal as a key, and means for determining whether the current usage amount exceeds the usage limit amount, A usage amount management apparatus for incoming call payment, comprising means for issuing a disconnection instruction when the current usage amount exceeds the usage limit amount. 2. The device for managing the amount of money for incoming call payment according to claim 1, wherein the means for judging whether the country of origin of the call for which the incoming call payment is desired is a specific country or region, and a specific country. In the case of a call from, the usage amount management device for the incoming call payment is provided with means for unconditionally connecting the call to the receiving terminal. 3. The usage amount management device for incoming call payment according to claim 1, wherein when the usage amount currently exceeds the usage limit amount, means for notifying the caller of that fact and a specific code are provided. An incoming call payment usage amount management apparatus comprising: a means for determining whether or not an input has been made; and a means for connecting a call to a receiving terminal when the specific code has been input. 4. The usage amount management device for incoming call payment according to claim 1, further comprising means for adding and updating a call charge to the current usage amount of the database after the call ends. A usage amount management device for incoming payment calls, which is characterized in that