JPS63275257A - Utility rate display method for data communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the needs for calculating a rate and generating a detailed statement by calculating the utility rate of data communication service on a prescribed condition, providing a rate payment means and recording and outputting the rate which has been paid whenever an equipment is used, data and the like as the detailed statement. CONSTITUTION:At the time of document transmission or copying, the utility rate of the service is calculated on the prescribed condition and displayed in a display before a processing starts. In case the rate is paid on the other hand, the prescribed processing is executed and the rate which has been paid at every processing, the date and the like are recorded and outputted as the utility detailed statement. In the case of controlling the sales results of service business and showing a user the utility detailed statement of the rate and the like as conventional, a trouble for a clerk to calculate the rate and to hand-write the utility detailed statement is eliminated.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a method for displaying usage fees of a data communication terminal when charging a usage fee to a user when a data communication terminal device is installed and a data transmission service is provided. Regarding the method.

[Prior Art] One of the well-known data communication terminal devices is a facsimile device. Until now, facsimile machines have generally been installed mainly in offices and used only by the office staff. However, in recent years,
For example, stationery stores and the like have installed facsimile machines to provide document transmission services to general customers.

When providing such a transmission service, the store must pay communication fees to NTT depending on the time the telephone line is used and the distance to the destination. Therefore, the customer is charged a device usage fee and a communication fee, which are set according to the number of originals, for example.

For this purpose, the clerk operates a facsimile machine to process the outgoing call according to the user's request, while also measuring the communication time, calculating the communication fee by referring to a pre-prepared rate list for each destination area, and calculating the communication fee. , the transmission service usage fee is determined by adding the predetermined equipment usage fee.

In this way, conventionally, when providing document transmission services, clerks had to operate facsimile machines and calculate fees, as well as manage the sales results of the services and inform users of fees, etc. When showing usage details, it was troublesome to have to create a statement each time.

In addition to facsimile machines, there are other types of data communication terminals that can provide data transmission services for users, such as Teletex, but these also have the same troubles.

[Objective] In view of the above points, it is an object of the present invention to provide a usage charge display method for data communication terminals that does not require calculation of charges or preparation of usage statements in data communication service operations.

[Configuration] To this end, the present invention calculates and displays usage charges for data communication services under predetermined conditions on a display, and also includes a charge payment means for delivering the charges, which is delivered each time the device is used. Various information such as charges and dates are recorded and output as usage statements.

Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a reading unit 1 reads the transmitted document at a predetermined line density and extracts image information, and a line buffer 2 temporarily stores the extracted image information for one line. C0
The DEC (encoding/decoding unit) 3 encodes image information to be transmitted and decodes image information received in accordance with the Gm standard recommended by CCITT. The line buffer 4 temporarily stores one line of received image information, and the recording section 5 records the image information on recording paper.

The image memory 6 temporarily stores image information to be transmitted. The modem 7 transmits and receives transmission procedure signals under the control of the transmission procedure control section 8, and also modulates image information to be transmitted and demodulates image information received. Note that this modem 7 supports 9600BPS, 7200BPS,
It has the function of transmitting data at four types of transmission speeds: 48008PS and 24008PS, and by modem training performed in the transmission control procedure, it sequentially falls back to the transmission speed that can be transmitted from 9600BPS, and is set to one of the transmission speeds. . The NCU (network control unit) 9 performs outgoing operations such as seizing a line and sending out a selection signal that is a dial number, and detects incoming calls and performs incoming calls. The automatic transmitter 10 outputs a predetermined selection signal at this time.

The information counting unit 11 detects all encoded image information to be transmitted, that is, the amount of data stored in the image memory 6. The communication time counting section 12 calculates the communication time with the destination before starting the transmission operation. here,
When the amount of data is D, the time required for the transmission control procedure is To, and the data transmission speed is S, the communication time T0 is determined by the following equation.

T, = (D/S) + T1... (1) Above time T0
is slightly different depending on whether the document has only one page or multiple pages, but is calculated based on the average number of pages for the amount of data.

The device operating time counting unit 13 measures the device operating time from the start of operation by the user operating the facsimile device until the end of transmission in document transmission service processing, and the device operating time from the end of copying in document copying service processing. This is to actually measure. The device usage fee calculation unit 14
The basic fee and service fee for each of the above service processes are calculated based on preset conditions.

The telephone number storage section 15 stores the telephone number of the destination to be called, and the unit charge storage section 16 stores the communication charge per unit time when calling from the installation location of this facsimile machine to all over the country, that is, the communication charge to be paid to NTT. This is to store the call charge and obtain the communication charge per unit time to the other party based on the above-mentioned call destination telephone number. The communication charge calculation unit 17 calculates the charge per unit time and the communication time T.
. The communication charges are calculated based on the above.

The display control unit 18 adds up the calculated communication fee, the basic fee, and the service fee, if necessary, and displays the transmission service usage fee to be charged to the user on the display unit 19. On the other hand, the display section 19 is a device capable of displaying characters, such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display.

The charge payment unit 20 is for the user to pay the usage fee in coins or banknotes, and the charge counting unit 21 is for counting the paid amount. The difference calculation unit 22 is for refunding a predetermined difference from the fee refund unit 23 when the paid amount exceeds a predetermined usage fee.

The history information storage unit 24 stores information such as communication destination 9 date 9 time 9 communication time, usage fee breakdown, and other information each time this facsimile device is used.

The image information conversion unit 25 has a character generator,
In order to record the above information stored as code information in the recording section 5, the character code is converted into character pattern information.

The operation unit 26 is used to input an instruction 9 to read a transmission document, input a calling optical telephone number, and issue an instruction to start transmission processing or a copy instruction. The system control unit 27 controls each of the above units, collects a predetermined usage fee, and executes a predetermined document transmission or copy process.

The facsimile device of this embodiment has the above configuration and is installed in an unmanned place, such as a public telephone, and the user can operate the facsimile device himself when he wants to use it and pay a predetermined fee each time he wants to use it. It is capable of transmitting and copying originals.

When performing transmission processing using this facsimile device, the user first sets the transmission document on the reading section 1, inputs the destination telephone number on the operation section 24, and performs a startup operation (process 31), as shown in FIG. ). As a result, the system control unit 27
Under the control of , the reading unit 1 is activated, and the read image information is encoded by C0DIllC3 and sequentially stored in the image memory 6 (processing 32). The information counting section 11 counts and counts the amount of data sequentially stored in the image memory 6 and detects the total amount of data to be transmitted.

The communication time counting unit 12 calculates the above (1) based on the amount of data, the data transmission speed, and the time required for the transmission control procedure.
) Calculate the communication time using the formula. In this case, the data transmission rate is determined by the transmission control procedure after the start of communication processing, so here, the lowest data transmission rate is 2400B.
Calculated using PS. On the other hand, the unit charge storage unit 16 calculates, for example, the communication charge per second from the input telephone number of the other party. The communication fee calculation unit 17 calculates the necessary communication fee by multiplying the communication fee per unit time by the communication time.

The device usage fee calculation unit 14 outputs a preset basic fee and service fee, for example, as a document transmission process.

The display control unit 18 calculates the usage fee C0 by adding each of the above fees and the communication fee (processing 33).
As shown in the figure, the basic charge (aL communication charge (b in the figure)
), the service fee (C in the figure), the transmission service usage fee (d in the figure) which is the sum of these, and the destination telephone number (e in the figure) are displayed (processing 34).

The user pays the usage fee displayed on the display section 19 through the fee payment section 20. The charge counting unit 21 counts the paid charges. The difference calculation unit 22 checks the result (process 35). If the fee is paid here (processing 3
5 Y), if necessary, control the fee refund unit 23 to return the change.

Next, the automatic calling section 10 reads the destination telephone number from the telephone number storage section 15 and controls the NCU 9 to perform a predetermined calling process. When the other party's facsimile machine responds, a predetermined transmission process begins (process 36).

At the beginning of this transmission process, the transmission procedure control section 8 executes a predetermined transmission control procedure. In this transmission control procedure, the receiving side executes modem training using a signal sent from the transmitting side. As a result, one of the four types of data transmission speed is determined depending on the line state at that time.

The system control unit 27 monitors the progress of the transmission control procedure (Process 37), and when the transmission speed is determined (Y in Process 37),
The determined transmission speed S1 is compared with the transmission speed 24008PS used in the charge calculation (processing 38). Here, when the transmission speed S1 is not 2400 BPS (N in process 38)
, the communication charge 01 is calculated at the transmission speed S1 in the same manner as described above (process 39). Then, the difference between the previously calculated charge C8 and the current charge C1 is calculated, and the difference is refunded by the charge payment unit 20 (processing 40). At this time, the display section 19
will display the price calculated this time.

In parallel with the above processes 37 to 40, the modem 7 performs a process of transmitting the image information stored in the image memory 6, but the system control unit 27 monitors the completion of the transmission (
Processing 41). On the other hand, if the transmission speed S1 is 2400 BPS (Y in process 38), the process immediately begins.

Here, when the transmission process is finished (Y in process 41)
The destination 2 communication time, device operating time, fee breakdown, and other information in the above transmission process are input from each section and stored in the history information storage section 24 (process 42).

Further, each of these pieces of information is converted into character information by the image information converting section 25 and outputted to the recording section 5 via the line buffer 4. As a result, the recording unit 5 outputs the usage statement for the document transmission service.

Figure 4 shows an example of the usage statement that is output here, and includes the name of each item, as well as the usage fee (f in the diagram), 2 destinations (g in the diagram, gL communication time (h in the diagram), 9 communication time). (I
The breakdown of L usage charges is the basic charge (j in the same figure), the communication charge (k in the same figure), and the service charge (1 in the same figure) dated 9th (l1 in the same figure).
1) Then, the name of the company (n in the figure) that provides this service is recorded (process 43). This usage statement is output and the transmission process ends.

On the other hand, if the fee is not paid in the above manner (N in process 35), the transmission process ends there. Further, when the calling process is started and the destination line is busy or there is no response even after calling for a certain period of time, the fee refund unit 23 refunds the paid fee.

Next, when the user wants to copy a document, the user sets the document on the reading section 1 and issues a copy instruction in the same manner as described above. ``Thereby, the device usage fee calculation unit 14 outputs the basic fee and service fee calculated under the conditions set in advance as the copy fee. The display control unit 18 displays those charges on the display unit 19.

The user then pays the fee to the fee payment section 20.

Upon payment of the fee, the image information of the original is read, and the read image information is output to the recording unit 5.
The original content is copied onto recording paper.

At this time, each piece of information other than the transmission destination and communication fee is stored in the history information storage section 24 in the same manner as described above. Further, such information is recorded on recording paper in a format similar to that shown in FIG.

On the other hand, if a person at a company or store that provides such service work using this facsimile machine wants to check the daily service usage record, for example, he or she may use the operation section 2 as appropriate.
When the history information output instruction is given in step 6, the history information storage unit 2
The information stored in 4 is recorded by the recording unit 5 and output as a service usage history table.

Figure 5 shows an example of the output of this service usage history table, in which each item name and date (m in the figure) are shown.
, Destination (g in the same figure) y When copying, the display (o in the same figure)
L communication time (h in the same figure) 2 communication hours (x in the same figure L usage fee (
Figure f), the breakdown of which is the basic charge (Figure j), communication charge (Figure K), service charge (Figure 1), etc., as a list, and the total of each charge (Figure P), respectively. recorded.

As described above, in this embodiment, when transmitting or copying a document, the usage fee for the service is calculated under certain conditions before the start of processing and displayed on the display, and when the fee is paid, a predetermined As the process is executed, the paid fee, date, etc. are recorded and output as a usage statement for each process.

As a result, when managing the sales performance of a service business or showing usage details such as charges to users as in the past, the troublesomeness of calculating charges and handwriting usage statements for store clerks and the like is eliminated.

It is also possible to affix the shop's seal on the usage statement and use it as a receipt.

Furthermore, since a service usage history table can be output as necessary, business management becomes easier.

In the above embodiment, the usage statement is output at the end of the process, but it can also be output after the process 40 in FIG. 2. In addition, in the figure, the communication time is calculated when the transmission speed is determined, and the usage fee is calculated again based on this.
If the usage fee is calculated again based on the communication time actually measured in step 3, it is possible to obtain an accurate fee according to the actual communication fee. Further, although the basic fee and service fee are fixed for each of the transmission process and the copy process, they may be obtained depending on the operating time of the device.

Furthermore, if the transmission process is interrupted due to a transmission error after the predetermined fee has been paid, the fee may be obtained in accordance with the percentage of images that were successfully transmitted.

By the way, although the case of a facsimile machine has been described above, it is natural that similar effects can be obtained by applying the present invention when such a data transmission service is provided by, for example, teletex.

[Effects] As explained above, according to the present invention, the service usage fee is calculated under predetermined conditions and displayed on the display, while the fee and various information obtained each time the device is used is displayed on the usage statement. Since it is recorded and output as , for store clerks etc.
There is no longer a need to handwrite usage statements to calculate charges, manage sales results of service operations, or show usage details such as charges to users.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a facsimile device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the facsimile device, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of displaying transmission service usage charges, and FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an output example of a document transmission service usage statement, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an output example of a service usage history table. 1...Reading unit, 2, 4...Line buffer, 3...
・C0DEC (encoding/decoding unit), 5...recording unit, 6
... Image memory, 7... Modem, 8... Transmission procedure control unit, 9... NCU (Network control unit), 10...
Automatic transmission unit, 11... Information amount counting unit, 12... Communication time counting unit, 13... Device operating time counting unit, 14...
・Device usage fee calculation unit, 15...Telephone number storage unit, 1
6...Unit charge storage unit, 17...Communication charge calculation unit,
18... Display control section, 19... Display section, 20...
Charge payment unit, 21... Charge counting unit, 22... Difference calculation unit, 23... Charge refund unit, 24... History information storage unit, 25... Image information conversion unit, 26... Operation unit, 27
...System control section. Deputy Agent Patent Attorney Crest 1) Makoto - Figure 2 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A destination specifying means for specifying a destination, an input means for inputting data to be transmitted, a data transmitting means for transmitting the input data, and a use for calculating usage fees for data transmission services under predetermined conditions. A fee calculation means, a fee display means for displaying the calculated usage fee on a display, a fee payment means for paying the usage fee, and a record for recording and outputting the paid amount and other information on recording paper as a usage statement. 1. A usage fee display method for a data communication terminal, characterized by comprising: (2) In claim 1, the recording means is characterized in that the recording means records and outputs the amount of money paid within an arbitrarily set period and other information together as a usage history management table on recording paper. A usage fee display method for data communication terminals. (3) In claim 1, the data communication terminal is a facsimile machine having a copy function of recording and outputting an original image on recording paper, and the usage fee calculation means calculates usage fees for a copy service. A usage charge display method for a data communication terminal characterized by being equipped with a calculation function.