JPH11146067A - Telephone exchange with message information storage function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transfer stored message information represented in a PB signal (tone signal) as a digital signal receptible by an information processing unit such as a personal computer. SOLUTION: An input means 15A connects a terminal TA and a channel based on the arrival of a 1st specific dial signal from a plurality of terminals TA, and receives a PB signal from the terminal TA after the line connection. A conversion means 15B converts the PB signal received via the input means 15A into a digital signal. A storage means 17 stores the digital signal from the conversion means 15B as message information. The message information is transferred to a specific terminal TB based on the arrival of a 2nd specific dial signal from the specific terminal TB. Thus, the message from the terminal TA is received by the specific terminal TB such as an information processing unit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone exchange having a message information storing function having a function of storing and transferring message information from a telephone subscriber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a telephone exchange with a message information storage function having a function of storing message information by voice from a telephone subscriber and transferring the message information upon request. FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of this type of telephone exchange 1.

In FIG. 1, reference numerals 2 and 3 denote external and internal lines respectively connected to the telephone exchange 1, and reference numeral 4 denotes an input / output for converting between a voice signal on the external line 2 and a digital signal inside the telephone exchange 1. An interface (I / F) device, 8 is an input / output interface (I / F) device for converting between a voice signal on the extension 3 and a digital signal inside the telephone exchange 1, and 6 is an input / output I / F device A time-division switch which time-divisionally fetches an audio signal from each of the transmission lines input through 4 or 8 and combines them in the chronological order at the time of the fetching and sends them out to each line of the transmission destination; ,
The control unit 7 controls the operation of the input / output I / F devices 4 and 8 and the time division switch 6, a storage unit 7 for temporarily storing the audio signal time-divided by the time division switch 6, and the external line 2 Alternatively, it is a voice storage unit that stores message information based on a voice signal from the extension 3.

[0004] In the above-mentioned voice storage unit 9, 10
Is an interface (I / F) 10A for responding to an incoming call of a specific number "X" preset as a calling number for requesting accumulation (recording) or transfer (playback) of a message from a subscriber, and this interface A line processing unit including a code processing unit 10B that generates a message information by coding an audio signal input through the line processing unit 10A;
Reference numeral 2 denotes a storage unit that stores the message information generated by the line processing unit 10, and 11 denotes a line processing unit and the storage unit 1
2 is a control unit for controlling the operation with the control unit 2. The line processing unit 10 also has a function of decoding the message information read from the storage unit 12 and converting it into an audio signal.

Hereinafter, the operation of the conventional telephone exchange 1 shown in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When a call is made from the outside line 2 or the extension 3 (step S101), a line is called based on the call (step S102). At this time, if the calling number is not the specific number "X" for requesting the accumulation / transfer of the message (step S103; NO), the calling line is connected to the line of the corresponding calling number (S113). After this line connection, the call is terminated by on-hook (step S109).

If the call number is the specific number "X" (step S103; YES), an off-hook signal is sent to the voice storage unit 9 and the interface 10
A responds to the incoming call of the specific number “X”, and the line on which the call was made is connected to the voice storage unit 9 (step S104).
After this line connection, the subscriber selects the storage / transfer of the message by a PB signal or the like.

[0007] If the subscriber selects message storage (recording) (step S105; YES), the interface 10A gives the message by voice signal from the subscriber to the code processor 10B. The code processing unit 10B converts the audio signal from the interface 10A from analog to digital (step S10).
6), encoding processing is performed to generate message information (step S107). This message information is stored (data saved) in the storage unit 12 (step S10).
8) The call is terminated by on-hook (step S10)
9).

On the other hand, when the subscriber selects the message transfer (step S105; NO), the control unit 11
Reads out the data of the message information stored in the storage unit 12 (step S110), performs a decoding process by the line processing unit 10 (step S111), and performs digital / analog conversion to an audio signal (step S11).
2) The call is transmitted to the subscriber who requests the transfer, and the call is terminated by on-hook (step S109).

[0009]

According to the above-mentioned conventional telephone exchange, the message is input and transmitted as a voice signal, so that the subscriber receives a plurality of messages and confirms the contents. You need to listen to the messages individually. Therefore, as the number of messages increases, it takes a lot of time to check the contents,
Human error is likely to occur in listening to the message, and the task of confirming the message becomes inefficient.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and accumulates message information represented by a PB signal and transfers the message information as a digital signal receivable by an information processing device such as a personal computer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a telephone exchange with a message information storage function, which can make message confirmation work more efficient.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has the following arrangement to achieve the above object. That is, according to the present invention, based on the arrival of a first specific dial from a plurality of terminals, a line is connected to a source terminal of the first specific dial, and after the line is connected, the PB from the source terminal is connected. (Pus
h Button) input means for inputting message information consisting of signals, conversion means for converting the PB signal input via the input means into a predetermined digital signal, and storage means for storing the digital signal from the conversion means And a transfer means for connecting a line to the specific terminal based on an incoming second specific dial from the specific terminal and transferring the digital signal stored in the storage means to the specific terminal.

Further, the conversion means of the present invention includes a PB signal for identifying a type of a PB signal input through the input means.
Signal identification means; and digital signal storage means for storing a digital signal corresponding to the type of the PB signal in advance and outputting a digital signal corresponding to the type of the PB signal based on the identification result of the PB signal identification means. It has the structure provided with.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In each of the drawings, common elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a telephone exchange 13 with a message information storage function according to the present embodiment. The telephone exchange 13 with a message information storage function shown in FIG. 2 has a message storage unit 14 in addition to the configuration of the conventional telephone exchange 1 shown in FIG.
It is characterized by storing and transferring message information expressed by a signal (tone signal).

In the following description, it is assumed that a specific number "Y" (first specific dial) is set in advance as a call number for requesting the accumulation of message information by a PB signal, and the message information Number "Z" as a calling number to request the transfer of
(2nd specific dial) is assumed to be set in advance.

In the configuration of the above-mentioned message storage unit 14 shown in FIG. 1, 15 is an interface 15A to be described later.
And a PB / D conversion unit 15B, a line processing unit 15A
Connects the line with the terminal TA of the specific number "Y" based on the incoming of the specific number "Y" from the plurality of terminals TA connected to the outside line 2, and after the connection of the line, An interface (input means) for inputting message information composed of a PB signal from the terminal TA; 15B, a PB / D converter (conversion means) for converting the PB signal input via the interface 15A into a predetermined digital signal; 1
7 is a storage unit (storage means) for storing the digital signal obtained by the line processing unit 15, and 16 is a line processing unit 15
The operation of the specific terminal TB connected to the extension 3 is controlled, and the line is connected to the specific terminal TB based on the arrival of the specific number “Z” from the specific terminal TB connected to the extension 3. It is a control unit (transfer unit) that transfers a signal to the specific terminal TB.

As shown in FIG. 2, the PB / D conversion section 15B includes a PB signal identification section 15a (PB signal identification section 15a) for identifying the type of the PB signal input via the interface 15A.
Signal identification means), and a digital signal storage unit 15b (digital signal storage means) in which digital signals corresponding to the types of PB signals are stored in advance. The digital signal storage unit 15b stores the identification result of the PB signal identification unit 15a. Is configured to output a digital signal corresponding to the type of the PB signal based on.

A terminal TA is connected to the outside line 2 as a message transmission source. For example, a telephone (push phone) is used as the terminal TA. Also, extension 3
Is connected to a specific terminal TB as a message transmission destination, and an information processing device such as a personal computer is used as the specific terminal TB.

The operation of the telephone exchange 13 according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, focusing on the message storage unit 14, which is a feature of the present invention. When a call is made from the outside line 2 to which the terminal TA is connected (step S101), a line is called based on the call (step S102). At this time, if the calling number is a specific number “X” requesting storage / transfer of message information by voice signal (step S103; YE)
S), the same process as that of the above-described conventional device 1 is executed by the voice storage unit 9 (steps S104 to S11).
2).

If the call number is not the specific number "X" (step S103; NO), but is the specific number "Y" requesting the storage of the message information by the PB signal (step S201; YES), the message storage unit 14 Performs the following processing.

That is, when a specific number “Y” is received from the terminal TA, the message storage unit 14
, An off-hook signal is sent to connect the terminal TA to the line (step S202). Interface 1
5 receives the PB signal coming from the terminal TA after this line connection, and gives it to the PB / D converter 15B. The PB / D converter 15B converts the PB signal from the interface 15A into a digital signal (Step S203).

Here, the operation of the PB / D converter 15B will be described in more detail. The PB / D signal identification unit 15a, which is a part of the preceding stage of the PB / D conversion unit 15B, identifies the type of the PB signal from the interface 15A. As a method of this identification, for example, a PB signal identification method generally used in telephone exchanges, such as a frequency identification method in which a PB signal is frequency-separated by a band filter, can be used. The PB / D signal identification unit 15a outputs a code signal that is set in advance to indicate the type of the PB / D signal as an identification result of the PB / D signal.

On the other hand, the digital signal storage unit 15b, which is the latter stage of the PB / D conversion unit 15B, stores the above-mentioned code signal representing the type of the PB / D signal as an address and stores the terminal T
Digital signals assigned to codes such as the push button numbers “0 to 9” and the symbols “*, #” in A are stored in advance. This digital signal is
Any arrangement may be used as long as the code of each push button of the terminal TA can be specified.

The digital signal storage unit 15b stores PB / D
Based on the code signal from the signal identification unit 15a, the digital signal stored at the address represented by the code signal is output. This digital signal is saved in the storage unit 17 as message information in the storage unit 17 (step S204), and the call is terminated by on-hook (step S109). Similarly, message information from a plurality of terminals TA is stored in the storage unit 17.

As described above, the message information stored in the storage unit 17 is composed of a digital signal allocated to the code of the push button of the terminal TA.
Therefore, if a conversion rule (conversion table) between the combination of the sign of the push button and the character or the number character is determined between the source and the destination of the message, the sender of the message can perform the conversion. By combining the push button codes “0 to 9, *, #” according to the rules, a message that can be decrypted at the destination can be created.

As an example of the above conversion rule, for example, the combination of the sign of the push button “12”, “6”
1 ”,“ 85 ”, and“ 13 ”are“ O ”,
Assuming that the characters “ha”, “yo”, and “u” are represented, a digital signal composed of an array of push button codes “12618513” becomes message information that means “good morning”.

Next, an operation when a specific number "Z" requesting transfer of message information from a specific terminal TB arrives will be described. If the call number from the specific terminal TB connected to the extension 3 is neither “X” nor “Y” (step S103; NO to step S201; NO), and is a specific number “Z” (step S205; YES), Is performed.

That is, when there is an incoming call of the specific number "Z" from the specific terminal TB, an off-hook signal is sent to the message storage unit 14 based on the incoming call, and the line is connected to the specific terminal TB (step S206). . After this line connection, the control unit 16 reads the digital signal stored as message information from the storage unit 17, and performs data transfer of the message information to the specific terminal TB (step S207). Thereafter, the call ends by on-hook (step S109).

The specific terminal TB receiving the transfer of the message information (digital signal) manages this as data,
The data is converted into characters and numbers according to a predetermined conversion rule and output to a CRT or a printer. The user of the specific terminal TB reads a message from the output contents.

Next, if the calling number is a specific number "X",
If it is neither "Y" nor "Z" (step S10
3; NO to step S201; NO to step S20
5; NO), the line on which the call was made is connected to the line of the corresponding call number (S113). Thereafter, the call ends by on-hook (step S109).

According to the telephone exchange 13 according to the present embodiment described above, the users of the plurality of terminals TA can compose a message by combining the codes of the push buttons and store the message in the telephone exchange. Further, the user of the specific terminal TB can manage the message information stored in the telephone exchange 13 as data by receiving and processing the information with an information processing device such as a personal computer. By outputting the message to the user, the contents of the message can be visually confirmed.

Further, according to the above-described telephone exchange 13 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to eliminate missed or missed hearings that occur when a message is received by voice. If this telephone exchange 13 is used, for example, as an information transmission system for managing the attendance and leaving of office workers and for regular communication, it is possible to transmit information efficiently and reduce the time spent for communication by conversation. can do.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the message information from the plurality of terminals TA is stored in the storage unit 17 without being associated with the transmission source. However, the user of each terminal TA Embeds the identification code of the sender in the message information, the user of the specific terminal TB,
The source of the message information can be known. Therefore, in this case, it is possible to display a plurality of messages collectively in correspondence with the transmission source.

Further, if the telephone exchange 13 according to the above-described embodiment is provided with a function of displaying the telephone number of the transmission source on the specific terminal TB of the transmission destination, the message information is added to the telephone number of the transmission source. It can be stored in the storage unit 17 in association with the data. Therefore, in this case, the user of the specific terminal TB can be notified of the source of the message information without incorporating the above-mentioned identification code into the message information.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the message from the terminal TA connected to the outside line 2 is transmitted to the extension 3
The case where the terminal TA and the specific terminal TB are connected to any one of the lines that can be connected by the telephone exchange 13 has been described by taking as an example the case of transferring to the specific terminal TB connected to Good.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a telephone is used as the terminal TA for transmitting a message. However, any terminal capable of outputting a PB signal may be used. For example, the terminal TA has a function of connecting to a telephone line. A personal computer may be used as the terminal TA.

[0037]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. That is,
According to the invention, a plurality of terminals TA originating a message
Is converted to a digital signal and stored, and this is transferred to the specific terminal TB.
The message information represented by the signal can be stored, and can be transferred as a digital signal that can be processed by an information processing device such as a personal computer.

Further, since the conversion means (PB / D converter 15B) is configured to identify the type of the PB signal and output a digital signal corresponding to the type of the PB signal, the PB signal is used as the code of the push button. The digital signal can be converted to a digital signal assigned in advance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a telephone exchange with a message information storage function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a PB / D converter (15) constituting a telephone exchange having a message information storage function according to an embodiment of the present invention;
It is a block diagram which shows the structure of B).

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the telephone exchange having the message information storage function according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional telephone exchange having a message information storage function.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of a conventional telephone exchange having a message information storage function.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 external line, 3 internal line, 4,8 input / output interface device, 5,16 control unit, 6 time division switch, 7,1
7 storage unit, 9 voice storage unit, 13 telephone exchange with message information storage function, 14 message storage unit, 15
Line processing unit, 15A interface, 15BP
B / D converter.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A connection between a terminal of a first specific dial and a line based on an incoming call of a first specific dial from a plurality of terminals, and after the connection of the line, a PB ( (Push Button) input means for inputting message information, a conversion means for converting a PB signal input through the input means into a predetermined digital signal, and a storage means for storing the digital signal from the conversion means And a transfer means for connecting a line to the specific terminal based on an incoming second specific dial from the specific terminal and transferring the digital signal stored in the storage means to the specific terminal. Telephone exchange with message information storage function. 2. The PB signal identification means for identifying a type of a PB signal input via the input means, and a digital signal corresponding to the type of the PB signal, wherein the conversion means stores the digital signal corresponding to the type of the PB signal in advance. 2. A telephone exchange having a message information storage function according to claim 1, further comprising digital signal storage means for outputting a digital signal corresponding to the type of said PB signal based on the identification result of said PB signal identification means.