JPS63139462A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To inform a user of a content of a display by giving meaning to the display of result or printed contents of a charging meter by the kind of communication mode, and discriminating an expressing method. CONSTITUTION:Communication charge calculation impossible, chargeable or free are decided depending on the telephone number being called. In case a caller's number is s special number, since the above-said categories are intermingled each other in a manner such that the use of facsimile network or train telephone is impossible to calculate, information service and ambulance call are free of charge, and time information service and weather forecasting service are chargeable, they are formed in a table. And a data corresponding to a caller's telephone number is picked our. If it is a service whose charge is impossible to be calculated, the result is expressed likeYen****, if free of charge, the expression is Yen0000. In such a way, mark *, a numeral, or a void column are used for the expression of an output display or printing. As a result, a user can easily recognize the content of charge.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to a communication device having a communication charge calculation function.

[Conventional example]

Conventional billing needles are sold in many models, either alone or incorporated into facsimile communication devices, telephones, etc., but all of them output only numerical values, and there are cases where billing, non-charging, or charges cannot be calculated. The division was not clear. Also, some intelligence accounts leave the same output field blank, but this is only when the amount is τ, and the user cannot know why it is blank or whether the amount is; Furthermore, when dumping records all at once, there is a drawback that it is very difficult to read.

In addition, normally, the billing needle of the estimated billing method based on the telephone number,
Its computing power is limited, and only general communication on public communication lines is subject to charges; for example, in the case of mobile communication such as trains and automobiles, data networks, and facsimile communication networks, this is treated as non-calculable. In most cases, billing calculations cannot be performed. In such cases, conventionally, the output amount field was set to "0" or left blank. In addition, in the case of an incoming call, the receiving party is usually not charged and the fee is free, but even in such cases, the output amount field has conventionally been "0" or blank, making it indistinguishable from the above-mentioned case where the charge cannot be calculated. There was a drawback.

(Purpose) The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional system, to enable the user to easily know the billing details by simply sorting the output, and to make it easy to see the contents even when dumping the results all at once. It's about doing.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile machine according to this embodiment.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a network control unit (NCU) for connecting a line 7 (public line network or private line network) to the telephone 8 side or the modem 2 side.

Note that the NCU 1 includes a circuit for detecting a call signal from the line,
It is comprised of a dialing circuit for sending a dialing signal (tone dialing signal or pulse dialing signal) to the line, a relay for switching the connection of the circuit 7 to the telephone 8 side and the modem 2 side, etc. The NCUI switches relays in response to a relay switching signal from the control section 3, and also outputs a dial signal in accordance with dial number data output from the control section 3. When the NCUI detects a calling signal from the line 7, it outputs a calling detection signal to the control unit 3.

2 demodulates the signal from the line 7 (image signal and facsimile communication procedure signal) and outputs it to the control section 3, and also modulates the signal from the control section 3 (image signal and facsimile communication procedure signal) and outputs it to the NCU 1. This is a modem that sends data to the line via

Reference numeral 3 denotes a control section that controls the entire facsimile machine.

The control unit 3 includes peripheral devices of the microcomputer such as a CPU 3a which is a microcomputer, a read-only memory (ROM) 3b storing a control program for the CPU 3a, and a random access memory (RAM) 30 for storing data of fffi. It is composed of

The control unit 3 determines the procedure signal of the facsimile communication procedure recommended by CCITT and sends it to the line.

Further, the control section 3 encodes the image signal from the reading section 4 and outputs it to the modem 2, and decodes the image signal from the modem 2 and outputs it to the recording section 5. The encoding/decoding method may be, for example, a modified Huffman (HH) method or a modified read (MR) method.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a reading unit that reads the original, and the reading unit 4 is a CC
D (solid-state image sensor) Consists of a line sensor, a binarization circuit, a document transport motor, etc.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a recording section for recording images, and the recording section 4 is constituted by a printer or the like normally used in facsimile machines.

Reference numeral 6 denotes an operation display section for operating the facsimile machine, which is composed of a plurality of manual key switches, a key scanning circuit, a display such as a liquid crystal display for displaying various information, and a display drive circuit. . The operation display section 6 outputs the detected key signal to the control section 3 upon detecting the human force on the key.

The operation of this embodiment will be explained below based on the above configuration.

First of all, there are several types of major communication charges, and the most frequently used one is for regular communication using instant dial calls on general subscriber lines, and the estimated billing method based on telephone number is only for that large type. Most of them correspond to

Therefore, in the case of communication via a facsimile network, communication by car or ship, etc., charges cannot be calculated because the fee system is different.

Normally, connection to such communication lines is made using a specific telephone number, so in the case of the estimated billing method based on the telephone number, it is determined whether or not charges can be calculated based on the given telephone number. I can do it. FIG. 5 shows the operation flow of the program routine of the CPU 3a of this embodiment. After the program starts, the SIS determines the communication fee, whether it is incalculable, whether it is charged, or whether it is free, based on the telephone number that has been called.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the flow of the determination program, and the subroutine name is FCAG.

A normal telephone number consists of an area code, local code, and subscriber number, as shown in Figure 3.
Excluding the first 0 of the area code, the following digits are A, B, C, etc.
... is assigned an alpha head, and it is customary to call each digit by the code name of this alphabet, so we will follow that convention here as well. Moreover, what is shown in FIG. 4 is an example of the bit configuration of the flag used in this embodiment, and the contents are as shown in the figure. Further, in the following, each bit of this flag will be expressed as Fbx, and for example, if bit 2 of the flag is 1, it will be expressed as FB,=1. In FIG. 2, when the program flow starts, the flag bit F80 is first read in Sl.
"" F B? Set all to 0. Next, the input telephone number is loaded into the register in step 52, and it is determined in step S3 whether the first digit of the telephone number is 1 or 0. Here, if it is 0, the process moves to S4 and it is determined whether the A code is 0 or not.

Hereinafter, the numerical values of each code A to C will be expressed as A=O. If A=O, it is a telephone number with two leading zeros, and this corresponds to an international call. Here, this is treated as an inability to calculate charges (international charges may be calculated), and FB = 1 and the process returns to this routine. If S
If A=O is not determined in step S5, then it is determined whether A-1 is established in step S5, and if A=1 is not determined in step S6.
Similarly in S7, A=3. It is determined that A=4, and if both are not satisfied, it is treated as a normal long-distance communication, Fb2=1, and the process returns to this routine. If A=1 in S5, then it is determined in 313 whether B=2 or not, and if this is satisfied, then C-0 is determined in S14. If it is C-0, the phone number is 0120 and it corresponds to a toll-free call, so the charge cannot be calculated, so in S15 F
Set BI=1 and return to this routine. If 313. S
At step 14, if B-2 and C=O, respectively, this is normal long-distance communication, so at step 59, Fb2=1 and the process returns to the main routine. Also S6. A 3.0 each in S7. If either A=4 is satisfied, then B=O is determined in step 58, and if this is satisfied, the call is made to a car phone, so it is assumed that the charge cannot be calculated, and the call is made in step S15. So, FIS,=
Set to 1. If the first digit of the telephone number is not 0 in S3, this is a local call, so it is then determined in 310 whether or not it is a special number. If not, it is normal local communication and the Atsugi routine is returned to. A=1 in SIO
In this case, the calling number is a special number, so in this case, there are cases where charges cannot be calculated, such as facsimile networks, train telephones, etc., or there are no charges, such as directory assistance, ambulances, etc., or hourly information, etc.
There is a mixture of paid services and other services such as weather forecasts. The data contents shown in FIG. 6 are set for each telephone number by taking into consideration the flag contents shown in FIG. 4 in advance.

Therefore, the contents of Fig. 6 are made into a table as data, and the SLL picks out the data contents for the calling number.
12, the retrieved data content X and the flag FbO~7
, and return to this routine using it as a new flag. When the subroutine of S16 is skipped, S1
In step 7, the flag bo is determined, and if FbO=1, it is impossible to calculate the charge, so the program enters a display and print routine S21 in which the result is ¥*****, and the program ends. S17
If Fb0=0, the process moves to S18 and it is determined whether the fee is free or not.

If the same judgment bit bl is Fbl=1, it is free, so ¥
The program moves to the display and print routine S23 of 0000 and ends. Also, if Fb+=O in S18, the communication fee is charged, the fee is calculated in S19, and then S
At step 20, the calculation results are displayed and printed, and the program ends.

In addition, in the case of normal incoming calls (excluding toll-free calls, credit calls, etc.), there is no charge for incoming calls, so these calls are displayed and printed to distinguish them from cases where the call is free of charge. The amount column shall be left blank. FIG. 7 shows the program operation flow in that case. When the program starts, it is determined in S24 whether the call is an outgoing call or an incoming call. If it is determined that the call is outgoing, the program returns to the starting point shown in FIG. The program will jump. If it is determined in S24 that there is an incoming call, the program returns to S25, a routine for displaying and printing a blank field in the amount field, and the program ends. Also used in this example,
The flag bit Fh2 for long-distance and long-distance communication is used in the charge calculation routine of S19.

In the embodiments described above, * marks, numbers, and blank spaces are used as the output display or print results, but the present invention is not limited to these, and any expression that can simply indicate the content may be used. In addition, in the special number determination routine, a method using tabulated data was used, but this method is different from S5 to S8. S13~S1
4, in which each digit is determined individually, may also be used.

Further, in this embodiment, an example of a billing needle using an estimated billing method based on a telephone number is shown, but the present invention may be applied to a billing meter that directly sends billing pulses from a communication line and counts them. Further, the output may be display and/or print, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied both to a billing meter alone and to a communication terminal device incorporating the billing meter.

In this embodiment, charges can only be calculated for normal communication on general communication lines, excluding calls to car telephones and facsimile networks.
Although we treated the others as impossible, it is possible to calculate multiple fee structures, and for example, ¥＊＊＊＊: A
indicates that the charge for normal communication cannot be calculated, and is ¥0000:
B can also be applied to individual systems, such as representing a car phone charge of 0 yen.

[Effects] As described above, by implementing the present invention, the result display or printed content of the billing meter is given meaning depending on the communication form, and the content is made clear to the user by differentiating the display method. It has the effect of letting people know, and it also has the effect of making it easier to see when dumping the results all at once.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

゛Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this embodiment, Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this embodiment.
3 is a diagram showing an example of a telephone number; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of flag bit arrangement; FIG. 5 is a flowchart of billing calculation and output; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing special numbers and flag data contents, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart of incoming call determination and output. 1 is NCU, 2 is modem, 3 is control unit, 3a is CPtJ
, 3b is ROM, 3c is RAM. 4 is a reading section, 5 is a recording section, 6 is an operation display section, 7 is a line,
8 is a telephone.

Claims (1)

[Claims] It has a means for calculating a communication charge, and an output means for outputting the charge data calculated by the calculation means, and the output means divides the display of the amount into three forms: charging, non-charging, and non-charging, and A communication device characterized by display or print output.