JPH10336346A - Information processor, information processing method and medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the information processor where trouble of a phone call manual input operation is avoided and dialing is made directly from information including a telephone number to make a speech, to provide the information processing method and the medium storing its software program. SOLUTION: The information processor 10 has a detection means 30 and a telephone dial means 34. The detection means 30 detects a telephone number included in processed information and displays the detected result in a way of a telephone number or other comment. In the case that the user desires a phone call to an opposite party with the detected telephone number, the user selects the displayed part to start the telephone dial means 34. The started telephone dial means 34 dials the telephone number of the opposite party via a communication connection means 1 automatically and sets up the communication. Thus, the user easily makes a speech with the opposite party. In order that the detection means 30 easily detects a telephone number, a prescribed description form for the telephone number is decided by a specification means 32.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method capable of automatically detecting a telephone number and making a telephone call. Further, the present invention relates to a medium storing a software program for causing an information processing apparatus to automatically detect a telephone number from information and arbitrarily make a telephone call to the other party of the detected telephone number. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, with the spread of communication networks such as the Internet, mutual exchange of information on computer networks, use of advertisements, advertisements, and the like are increasing.

FIG. 8 shows an e-mail system and a World Wide Web (E-mail system) that enable information exchange by e-mail via an Internet service provider (hereinafter, simply referred to as a provider) connected to the Internet. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a network configuration that enables information retrieval and the like of the WWW (hereinafter referred to as WWW).

A plurality of PCs (personal computers) 1
₁ to 1 _N (hereinafter, referred to as PC1 collectively) is a public telephone network 2, PC1 gateway respective user provides a provider subscription 3 ₁ to 3 _N (hereinafter, referred to as the gateway 3 collectively ), And are connected via the Internet 4 so that the PCs 1 can exchange information such as electronic mail. In addition, a plurality of W
WWW servers 5 _{1 to} 5 _N (hereinafter collectively referred to as WWW servers 5
Is connected, and various information can be provided to each PC 1.

[0005] Here, the case of exchanging e-mail by dial-up IP connection will be described by taking e-mail transmission / reception as an example. PC1 ₁ users, when transmitting an e-mail to the user of the PC1 _N, first, the communication modem in PC1 ₁ starts the communication application software establishes communication with the provider to join over the public telephone network 2 I do. The e-mail created using the e-mail application software in the PC ₁₁ is sent to the gateway 3 of the provider.
₁ through the Internet 4 and other P
Provider gateway 3 _N to which C1 _N users subscribe
To reach. E-mail that has reached the gateway 3 _N is temporarily stored in the mail server (not shown) which the provider owns. On the other hand, the user of PC1 _N needs to connect to PC1 to connect to the provider to which the user subscribes.
_The communication modem is started by the communication application software of _N and communication is established. Then, the user of the PC 1 _N can use the e-mail application software of the device to read the e-mail stored in the connected mail server.

[0006] When searching for information in the WWW server 5 using a WWW browser, the network configuration and the procedure for establishing communication are the same as those in the conceptual diagram of FIG. 1 and those described above. Regarding the information search procedure after the communication is established, the WWW browser uses a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicating the address of a desired WWW server.
Enter HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)
The information provided by the WWW server is read out by transmitting the information based on HTML or the HTML (HyperText).
By clicking on the anchor area linked to the desired WWW server from the screen display of the file created in Markup Language), the information provided by the desired WWW server can be read.

[0007] In the browsed e-mails and searched information, telephone numbers and the like, which are the contact information of the sender and the provider, are included in the information of the e-mails and the like in order to carry out individual transactions and contacts thereafter. Often included. In particular, email application software that handles email
It has a function to insert a signature field into an e-mail, so that a sender's name and its telephone number can be automatically added to the e-mail at the time of transmission.

[0008]

Here, when a recipient of the mail or information wants to make a telephone call with an information provider such as an interested advertisement or a sender of an e-mail, the advertisement has been used until now. It was necessary to find out the telephone number of the other party described in the information or in the signature field in the e-mail, manually enter the telephone number, and make a call.

[0009] With today's use of computers as telephones and advanced functions of communication devices, personal computers have been newly provided with a telephone call function. Furthermore, mobile phones and simplified mobile phones (hereinafter PHS) have been added. (Person
al Handy Phone System)), which has the function of an information processing terminal, has been integrated with computers and communication devices. However, even in these devices, since the functions of the conventional application software for communication such as an e-mail system and a WWW browser are incorporated in the device, if the information provider wants to make a call, It is still necessary to manually confirm the telephone number contained therein and manually enter the telephone number to make a call.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the complexity of a telephone call operation by such manual input, and to provide an information processing apparatus and an information processing method capable of making a telephone call directly from various information including telephone number information and making a telephone call. The object of the present invention is to provide a medium in which a software program for making the information processing device executable is stored.

[0011]

Therefore, according to the present invention, there is provided a communication connecting means for connecting to a communication network, and a detecting means for detecting a telephone number from information handled when executing predetermined application software. Means, a display means for displaying when a telephone number is detected by the detection means, and a telephone call for making a telephone call via the communication connection means based on the telephone number detected by the detection means. Means.

[0012]

In the information processing apparatus, the detecting means automatically detects the telephone number of the user from the information to be processed,
In response to the selection of the display information shown on the display means, the telephone calling means can automatically make a telephone call to establish a communication connection with the other party, so that the user can manually input a telephone number. Eliminate the need.

[0013]

FIG. 1 schematically shows a functional block diagram of an information processing apparatus (for example, a personal computer) 10 achieved by the present invention. The information processing apparatus 10 includes an application processing unit 12 for performing main processing of the present invention, a user interface unit 14 for interfacing with a user, and a network for enabling transmission and reception of information and communication with external devices. Connection means 16 such as a modem for connecting to a communication line 22 such as a telephone network or a public telephone line network; communication control means 18 for controlling establishment and disconnection of a communication line; setting of a data communication protocol; Has a communication means 20 for enabling communication via an external public telephone network via the communication connection means 16.

The application processing means 12 has a detecting means 30 for automatically detecting a telephone number from the obtained information and a detecting means 30 for enabling the detecting means 30 to detect the telephone number from the information. Specific means 32 for specifying a telephone number and telephone calling means 34 for making a call to the other party of the detected telephone number are included.

The user interface means 14 includes a display means 36 and an input means 38. The display means 36 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, a CRT, or the like. Is displayed. The input means 38 is a keyboard, a mouse, a jog dial, and a microphone for inputting a call or voice data, which can be accessed by the user, so that the user can input information and perform other operations, which will be described later. A call can be made to the detected telephone number and a call can be made via the call means.

[0016] A telephone number is identified from the obtained information,
Means and a method for enabling a telephone call to the other party of the telephone number without inputting the telephone number will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that this information has a particular effect on information obtained from the communication line 22 via the communication connection means 16, but is not limited to this, and is not shown connected to the information processing apparatus 10. floppy disk,
The information may be information read from a CD-ROM or the like. Further, the communication line is not limited to wireless or wired.

FIG. 2 shows that an identifier 44 is added to the beginning of a telephone number 48, and that the information 44 is inserted into a document 43.
It is shown. This identifier 44 is a telephone number 48
The information processing apparatus 10 searches the information 42 for the identifier 44 indicating the telephone number information, and identifies the information attached to the identifier 44 as the telephone number. can do.

Specifically, the identifier 44 is defined in a description format uniquely determined by the specifying means 32 in FIG. Then, the detecting unit 30 determines that the information having the uniquely determined description format is an identifier for detecting a telephone number, and identifies information accompanying the identifier as a telephone number.

Here, it is generally desirable to make the identifier 44 regular so as to be added to the beginning of the telephone number. Thereby, the detecting means 30 can easily recognize that the information following the specific identifier is a telephone number.
Further, following the telephone number 48, an end identifier 46 indicating the end of the telephone number, that is, the end of the processing of the telephone detection, is further determined in the specifying means 32, thereby making it possible to clarify the range of the telephone number. It is. This allows the detection means 30 to clearly identify its identifier 4
The information enclosed between the terminal number 4 and the terminal identifier 46 can be recognized as a telephone number, and the telephone number can be detected.

The process from detecting a telephone number in the information to making a call to the other party of the telephone number will be described step by step. When the information processing apparatus 10 reads information including an identifier for specifying a telephone number, the detecting means 30
Is a description format serving as an identifier defined by the specifying means 32,
When a so-called specific code is searched for and the code is detected, the number following the code is recognized as a telephone number.
Then, the recognized telephone number is displayed on the display means 36 by highlighting, underlining or color, or instead of displaying the telephone number, a part of the display means is turned on or blinked. Alternatively, the user is notified that the telephone number has been detected by making a comment such as that the telephone number has been detected.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a display on the display means 36. A telephone number 48 surrounded by identifiers 44 and 46 in FIG. 2 is displayed by underlining and highlighting. The user moves the cursor 49 to the highlighted telephone number 48 with input means such as a mouse,
When a telephone number is selected at that position by clicking the mouse or the like, the telephone calling means 34 is activated.

The activated telephone calling means 34 sends the detected telephone number 48 to the communication means 20 and instructs the other party of the telephone number 48 to make a telephone call.

The communication means 20 having received the telephone call instruction and the telephone number 48 of the other party from the telephone calling means 34, based on the telephone number 48, under the control of the communication control means 18, the communication connection means. By making a call via 16, the user can immediately talk to the other party without manually entering a telephone number. As shown by the broken line 21 in FIG.
A call means 20 for actually calling and enabling a call in accordance with the call command may be included to automatically establish a telephone call and establish communication.

The identifying means 32 described with reference to FIG. 2 uses the identifier 44 of FIG. 2 as a marker for identifying a telephone number. In addition, a telephone number is assigned to a predetermined specific location or specific area in the information. Identifying means 3 to exist
2, the detecting means 30 can determine the number of the specific part or the specific area as a telephone number in accordance with the specification of the specifying means 32, thereby enabling the telephone number detection. . For example, a telephone number is added to a header portion or an end portion of information such as an electronic mail.

Here, in the case of electronic mail information, conventionally, in addition to the name of the sender, a telephone number generally exists in a substantially fixed area in a signature column. Therefore, the detecting means 3
For 0, it is possible to specify the telephone number by using the signature column and searching for a numerical part in the area. Here, since the telephone number is almost always represented by a numerical value of 10 digits or more, it is also possible to detect the numerical value of 10 digits or more by recognizing it as a telephone number. The signature field may include a facsimile number in addition to a telephone number. In the case where a telephone number and a facsimile number coexist, TELxxxx-xxxxxx,
Identification such as FAXzz-zzzzzzzz (x and z are their numbers) is performed. Therefore, the detecting means 30 calculates T
Recognize the number following the characters such as EL, tel, telephone, etc. to identify the telephone number, or ignore the number following the characters, such as FAX, Facsimile, fax, etc.
By identifying numbers with more than three digits as phone numbers,
The telephone number can be detected almost certainly.

As mentioned above, the identification means and the identifier and the method for the detection means 30 to surely and easily detect the telephone number have been shown. However, the identification means is added or the telephone number is arranged in the specific area. May be separately provided. When the identifier is used, even if the user inserts the identifier and the telephone number at an arbitrary position in the information, the detecting means 3
0 is easily detectable, but when there is no identifier, it is desirable to use this adding means 40. Adding means 40
Thus, in order to add such an identifier, for example, the following procedure may be performed.

FIG. 4 shows two windows 52 and 54 shown on the display means 36 of the information processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. The first window 52 is an input menu screen displayed by the adding means 40, and has an input section 56 for inputting a telephone number and an input section 58 for inputting names of information providers and senders. On the other hand, the second window 54
Is a screen for outputting and editing information 60 to which the telephone number is added. This second window 54 is used to display existing email application software or WWW.
It may be operated by a browser or other application software that handles documents.

If the user enters the name 59, for example, SONY,
After inputting, for example, 03-1234-5678 as the telephone number 57, the adding unit 40 sets the header of the information 60,
Alternatively, it is added or inserted at another specific place.

FIG. 5 shows an information file 62 in which the name 59 and the telephone number 57 input in FIG. 4 are added as a header to the head of information 60 such as a document or a drawing. Thereby, the detecting unit 30 of the information processing apparatus 10 that has received the information file 60 can detect the telephone number by searching the header area to which the adding unit 40 has added the telephone number.

The telephone number 03-1234-5678 shown in FIG.
Does not have an identifier added to it.
Instead of inserting and appending phone numbers at specific locations,
A telephone number with identifiers 44 and 46 as shown in FIG.
Can easily detect the telephone number from the information.

The detecting means 30 and the specifying means 3 described above
2. Each means of the telephone calling means 34 and the additional means 40 is an existing application software for creating and editing information and documents, for example, e-mail application software, application software having a word processing function, WWW, It may also be incorporated in a browser or the like, which can make it easier to add, insert, detect, and call a telephone number while handling information. Further, each of the units may be loaded as a software program from an external storage device to a storage area in the information processing device and executed according to the purpose. In this case, the broken line 21 in FIG.
As shown in the above, the telephone calling means 34 including the calling means 20 may be integrally programmed into application software such as a WWW browser, or may be individually programmed into an information processing apparatus and executed. It may be.

In the above description, a case has been described in which a telephone call is made to enable a telephone call with the other party. However, it is needless to say that the telephone call is established when communicating with another information processing apparatus. It is easy to guess that the communication can be used. Therefore, the term "call" as used herein can be applied to not only a call directly with a human but also a call through another information processing device.

Next, the information processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG.
Simplified mobile phone system (hereinafter PHS (Personal Han)
dy Phone System)). Nowadays, a so-called PHS built-in information processing apparatus has appeared, which has both a call function by PHS and a function as a personal information device (PDA (Personal Digital Assistants)).

FIG. 6 shows a hardware configuration of the PHS built-in information processing apparatus 70. CPU 71 is a ROM
Various processes are executed according to the program stored in 72. The RAM 73 appropriately stores programs and data necessary for the CPU 71 to execute various processes. The input unit 78 includes buttons,
A user can input predetermined commands and information to the CPU 71 via the interface 75 and the bus 74 by operating the switches and keys. The input unit 78 has a microphone for taking in a voice signal so that a voice call (conversation) can be made. The output unit 77 has a speaker, and can output voice of the other party of the telephone, a confirmation sound when inputting through the input unit, and the like. The display unit 76 includes a liquid crystal display device and the like.
Images, such as characters and figures, supplied via the PC. The communication circuit 80 includes transmission means and reception means, forms a communication link with a communication base called a base station via an antenna 79, and performs communication by radio waves. Although not shown, the PHS built-in type information processing device 70 further performs input / output with an external storage device such as a CD-ROM or a magnetic disk, and loads various application programs into the RAM 73 therefrom.
A configuration executable by the PU 71 can also be provided.

The PHS built-in information processing apparatus 70 executes, from the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 6, execution of various kinds of application software enabling processing of electronic mail and information supplied from the Internet such as a WWW server. Is possible. Similarly, the PHS built-in information processing device 7
0 is also a hardware configuration for executing the function of each block described according to FIG.

P having a function as a communication information terminal
An outline of a network configuration when information is exchanged by the HS built-in information processing device 70 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 shows a PHS 70 via an ISDN communication network 84 and a communication network 86 owned by an Internet service provider (hereinafter referred to as a provider) 85 to which the user of the PHS built-in information processing device 70 subscribes. Connected to the Internet 92.

The PHS built-in information processing device 70 is connected to the antenna 79 of FIG.
A communication link is established with a predetermined base station of the plurality of base stations 82 via. The PHS built-in information processing device 70 to which the communication link has been made can access the Internet 92 through the gateway 88 used by the provider 85. Therefore, the PHS built-in information processing device 70 can search for information provided by any one of the WWW servers 94 connected to the Internet 92, and can communicate with another processing device 96 connected to the Internet 92. Information can be exchanged by e-mail or the like. Note that the server 90 connected to the provider communication network 86 is a DNS server that manages an address for the PHS built-in information processing device 70 to make an Internet connection via the provider 85 or a PHS built-in information processing device 70. Mail servers that provide mail, news, and other information,
It is a server such as a news server.

When the PHS built-in information processing apparatus 70 retrieves information of the WWW server 94 and directly calls a provider that provides WWW server information from the telephone number incorporated in the information, the information is included in the information. Must have means for telephone identification according to the invention. here,
When adding a telephone number together with the identifier described with reference to FIG. 2 as an example, it is more advantageous and convenient to use a tag used in HTML (HyperText Markup Language).

An HTML tag is a basic description format when describing an HTML file in a text format.
This is a character string surrounded by <> symbols. The structure is a <tag name> character string </ tag name>, and the function given the tag name affects the enclosed character string. For example, the tag <B> SONY </ B> indicates that the tag S
ONY is displayed in bold style (bold). Note that <tag name> is called the start tag,
</ Tag name> is called an end tag. However, some tags have only a start tag but no end tag.

Here, each WWW browser prepares a plurality of tags separately extended from tags having new functions other than the basic tags in addition to the basic tags to enhance the functions. Therefore, we define a new tag that extends this further,
It can be used as an identifier (see FIG. 2) which is one of the specifying means 32 (see FIG. 1). For example, specifying means 3
In step 2, a <TEL></TEL> tag is defined as an identifier, and a telephone number is inserted between them. As a result, the detecting means 30 (see FIG. 1) can easily recognize the telephone number. Further, telephone calling means 34
(See FIG. 1) is set so that when a location indicated by <TEL></TEL> is selected, a call is made to the number inserted during that time. As a result, the user can make a call to the other party without inputting any telephone number. As described above, since the detecting means 30, the specifying means 32, and the telephone calling means 34 are incorporated in the WWW browser in the tag format, the application processing means does not need to be provided separately from the WWW browser.

Next, an example of a procedure from when a provider of information provided by the WWW server provides information including telephone information using the above-described tag, and until a user of the PHS calls the provider from the information. Will be described below.

First, the provider of the WWW server has an HTML
<TEL> 03-1234-5678 <// TEL> is inserted as a text document into the HTML text constituting the file.

Here, for example, <TEL></TEL> is set in advance so that the character string in it is displayed in bold on the screen output.

On the other hand, the PHS built-in information processing device 70
After making a communication connection to the Internet, the HTML file of the WWW server connected to the Internet is received using HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). Then, the PHS built-in information processing device 70
Is <TEL> 0 among the received HTML files.
3-1234-5678 <TEL> is detected.
The detected telephone number 03-1234-5678 is displayed in bold in the HTML file displayed on the screen, so that the user can easily confirm the telephone number.

When the user wants to call the other party of the telephone number, as described with reference to FIG. 3, move the cursor on the display to the position of the telephone number and click And the like. The selected telephone number is the telephone calling means 3 incorporated in the WWW browser.
4 (see FIG. 1) is sent to the communication means 20 (see FIG. 1) together with a telephone call command. At this time, since the wireless line is being used for the Internet connection, the calling means 20 automatically disconnects the wireless line, and thereafter makes a telephone call based on the telephone number sent, as shown in FIG. Communication circuit 80
And communication with the other party through the antenna 79. Incidentally, in a PHS built-in type information processing apparatus which can use two wireless lines at the same time, it is not necessary to disconnect such communication, and it is possible to make a call on another line.

In the above, the tag is set to <TEL><//TEL>
However, the present invention is not limited to this expression method. Further, the output function on the screen is not limited to the direct telephone display or the bold (bold) display, and another comment display may be performed.

Although the description has been made up to the detection of the telephone number included in the WWW browser information and the telephone call, the above tag can be similarly applied to the electronic mail. For example, WW provided by each company today
The W browser can transmit an e-mail to which an HTML file is added. Then, since the contents can be read out in the HTML screen display format, the H
As in the case of reading a TML file, detection of a telephone number and selective telephone calling by the user are possible.

[0048]

According to the present invention, it is possible to immediately confirm the telephone number of the information provider or the caller from the obtained information, and to simply activate the new telephone application software without starting any new application software. It is possible to make a telephone call to the other party and make a call immediately by simply selecting the location. Furthermore, when a communication information processing terminal having a plurality of communication lines can be connected to a variety of advanced information networks in the future, in parallel with the exchange of e-mails and the search for information, the communication It is also possible to exchange new information with another communication information processing terminal through a telephone call or a line immediately connected according to the present invention. Therefore, in a more advanced information society, it is possible to quickly respond to a large amount of generated information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of functional blocks of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing information inserted into a document 43 by adding an identifier 44 according to the present invention to the head of a telephone number 48;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example in which a result of detecting a telephone number is displayed on a display means 36;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing two windows 52 and 54 displayed by the adding means according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an information file 62 in a case where a name 59 and a telephone number 57 are added as a header to the head of information 60 such as a document or a drawing.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a hardware configuration of a simplified portable telephone system (PHS) capable of executing the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a network configuration when information is exchanged by a PHS.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the concept of a network configuration that allows information to be exchanged via the Internet.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1 ₁ , 1 _N PC 2 Public telephone network 3, 3 ₁ , 3 _N gateway 4 Internet 5, 5 ₁ , 5 _N WWW server, 10 Information processing device 12 Application processing means, 14 User interface means 16 Communication connection Means 20 Talking means, 30 Detecting means, 32 Identifying means 34 Telephone calling means, 36 Display means, 38 Input means, 43 Document 42 Information, 44 Identifier 46 Termination identifier, 48, 57 Telephone number 52 First window, 54 2 window, 56 phone number input section, 57 phone number, 58
Name input unit 59, name, 60 documents, 70 PHS built-in information processing device, 71 CPU,
72 ROM 73 RAM, 74 bus, 75 interface, 76 display unit 77 output unit, 78 input unit, 79 antenna, 8
0 communication circuit 82 base station, 84 ISND communication network, 85 provider 92 Internet, 94 WWW server, 96
Processing equipment

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A communication connection means for connecting to a communication network, a detection means for detecting a telephone number from information handled when executing predetermined application software, and a telephone number detected by the detection means Display means for displaying that fact, and telephone call means for making a telephone call via the communication connection means based on the telephone number detected by the detection means, Processing equipment. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined identifier is added to said telephone number, and said detecting means detects said telephone number based on said predetermined identifier. 3. The telephone number according to claim 1, wherein the telephone number exists in a predetermined area in the information, and the detecting unit detects a number existing in the area as the telephone number. Information processing device. 4. The telephone number is provided with a predetermined tag in a description format of a hypertext markup language (HTML), and the detecting means detects the telephone number based on the predetermined tag. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 5. A detecting step of detecting a telephone number described in a predetermined description format from obtained information, a displaying step of displaying that the telephone number has been detected, and detecting the telephone number in response to an input instruction. An automatic calling step of automatically calling the telephone number detected in the step. 6. The information processing method according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined description format is a telephone number and an identifier added thereto. 7. The information processing method according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined description format describes a telephone number in a predetermined area in the information. 8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined description format is such that a predetermined tag in a description format of a hypertext markup language (HTML) is added to a telephone number.
An information processing method according to claim 1. 9. A detecting step for detecting a telephone number described in a predetermined description format from the obtained information; a displaying step for displaying that the telephone number has been detected; A medium storing a program readable and executable by a computer, comprising an automatic calling step of automatically calling a telephone number detected in the detecting step. 10. The medium according to claim 9, wherein the predetermined description format is a telephone number and an identifier added to the telephone number. 11. The computer-readable and executable program according to claim 9, wherein the predetermined description format describes a telephone number in a predetermined area in the information. Medium. 12. The computer-readable computer according to claim 9, wherein the predetermined description format adds a predetermined tag in a hypertext markup language (HTML) description format to a telephone number. A medium in which an executable program is stored.