JPS6350247A - Collect call automatizing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make an operator unnecessary by automatically starting a tariff meter in the receiver side by an exchange in response to the acknowledgement signal sent from a telephone set in the reception side. CONSTITUTION:When a transmitter orally requests a collect call to a receiver during speaking and the receiver acknowledges it, the receiver operates a push dial 11 to send the acknowledgement signal to the exchange. In the exchange, an acknowledgement signal detecting circuit 18 detects this acknowledgement signal to start a receiverside meter starting circuit 20. Then, a preliminarily selected tariff meter in the receiver side is started. Simultaneously, the acknowledgement signal detecting circuit 18 sends a collect call switching signal from a collect call switching signal generating circuit 16 to the telephone in the transmission side. In the telephone set in the transmission side, a signal discriminating circuit 9 detects the collect call switching signal and gives the detection signal to a line connection control circuit 5. The line connection control circuit 5 holds the telephone line in the connected state independently of the signal from a coin detecting circuit 7 or a card detecting circuit 8.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] This invention relates to collect call automation equipment, and in particular to equipment for automating the processing necessary when making a so-called collect call between a calling party telephone and a receiving party telephone. Regarding.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, the method for processing collect calls (calls paid by the recipient) is that the caller first applies to the central office for a collect call, and in response, the operator of the switchboard calls the other party's office. , the telephone line was connected with the consent of the other station.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the conventional collect call processing method as described above. Hereinafter, the conventional collect call processing method will be explained in more detail along the operational steps shown in FIG.

At Step S, the caller calls the telephone office and informs the operator of the request for a collect call and the telephone number, name, etc. of the other party. Accordingly, the operator calls the other party.

Step S2: When the other party, that is, the recipient answers the phone,
The operator informs the recipient of the request for a collect call and connects the telephone line.

Step S4: A call is made between the sender and the receiver.

Step S5; The call ends and the handset goes back to 0N-HOOK.
When this occurs, the telephone line will be disconnected.

Step S6: The telephone office bills the recipient for the telephone charge.

Step S7: The recipient pays the telephone charge.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in the past, operators handled collect calls, so telephone offices had to keep a large number of operators on standby at all times in preparation for collect call requests. There was a problem that it was not possible.

In addition, with the conventional collect call processing method, if you want to switch to a collect call because you run out of coins during a call, you must first hang up and apply for a collect call to the switchboard, which is both cumbersome and There was also the problem of large time loss.

This invention was made in response to these conventional problems, and allows for automatic processing of collect calls without the need for an operator at all, as well as the ability to switch to collect calls while continuing the call. The purpose is to provide automated collect call equipment.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the collect call automation equipment according to the present invention, the receiving telephone is a push-dial telephone, and the exchange receives a specific push as a collect call acknowledgment signal from the receiving telephone during a call. The apparatus is provided with an acknowledgment signal detection means for detecting that a dial signal has been transmitted, and a charge meter activation means for activating a charge meter on the receiving side in response to reception detection by the acknowledgment signal detection means. It is.

[Operation] In this invention, when the receiver understands the change to a collect call and operates the push dial on the receiver's telephone and sends a specific push dial signal to the exchange,
This push-dial signal is detected by the acknowledgment signal detection means of the exchange.

In response to this detection, the rate meter activation means automatically activates the recipient's rate meter.

[Embodiment] FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 are block diagrams showing a calling side telephone, a receiving side telephone, and a central office exchange, respectively, which constitute one embodiment of the present invention. Note that, as an example, a public telephone is used as the calling side telephone.

As for the system configuration, the calling side telephone and the receiving side telephone are connected to an exchange via a telephone line, and this exchange controls the opening/closing of the telephone line between the calling side and the receiving side and performs processing for collect calls.

First, referring to FIG. 2, the calling side telephone includes a handset 1, a push-button type push dial 2, and a ringing buzzer 3 for generating a ringing tone.

The handset 1 and push dial 2 are connected to a telephone line via a switch 4. The ringing buzzer 3 is directly connected to the telephone line. Opening and closing of the switch 4 is performed by a line connection control circuit 5.

This line connection control circuit 5 includes an 0FF-HOOK detection circuit 6 that detects that the handset 1 is taken off the hook;
A coin detection circuit 7 that detects insertion of a coin and a card detection circuit 8 that detects insertion of a telephone card are connected. Further, a signal discrimination circuit 9 is connected to the line connection control circuit 5. This signal discrimination circuit 9 is for discriminating a collect call switching signal sent from an exchange via a telephone line.

Next, with reference to FIG.
, a push dial 11 , and a calling buzzer 12 . The push dial 11 is connected to a telephone line via a switch 13. This switch 13 is opened and closed in conjunction with a hook 14 on which the receiver 10 is placed. Call buzzer 1
2 is directly connected to the telephone line.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, the central office exchange includes a hand dial detection circuit 15 and a collect call switching signal generation circuit 16 connected to the telephone line connected to the calling side telephone, and a telephone line connected to the receiving side telephone. , and a line connection switch 19 inserted between the telephone line of the calling side telephone and the telephone line of the receiving side telephone. In addition, the exchange
A receiver side meter activation circuit 20 is included. The other party dial detection circuit 15 is a circuit for detecting the other party's dial signal transmitted from the calling side telephone, and its output is given to the line connection switch 19 as an opening/closing control signal, and the receiving side charges. It is given to the receiver side meter activation circuit 20 as a selection signal for selecting a meter. Furthermore, the output of the destination dial detection circuit 15 is given to the calling control circuit 17 as an activation signal. This call control circuit 1
7 has a function of transmitting a calling signal to the receiving telephone and a function of detecting that the receiving party has answered at the receiving telephone. The acknowledgment signal detection circuit 18 is a circuit for detecting an acknowledgment signal for a collect call transmitted from a receiving telephone.

In addition, in this embodiment, a push-dial signal with a dual tone configuration (combining two frequency components) is used as the acknowledgment signal in order to clearly distinguish it from the voice signal, so it is difficult to detect the acknowledgment signal. The circuit 18 has a function of determining this dual tone. However, since conventional push-dial exchanges already have a built-in function to discriminate between dual tones, this function can also be used in the acknowledgment signal detection circuit 18, making it possible to implement the system without making any major changes to the equipment. It is possible. The output of the acknowledgment signal detection circuit 18 is given to the collect call switching signal generation circuit 16 and the receiver side meter activation circuit 20. The collect call switching signal generation circuit 16 is a circuit for transmitting a collect call switching signal to the originating telephone in response to the output of the acknowledge signal detection circuit 18. The receiver side meter activation circuit 20 is a circuit for activating the receiver side charge meter in response to the output of the acknowledgment signal detection circuit 18.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the operations and processes performed on the calling side, the telephone office, and the receiving side, respectively, when making a collect call in the above embodiment.

First, referring to FIG. 1, an outline of the operation when making a collect call in the above embodiment will be explained. Note that the following explanation will be made along the operational steps shown in FIG.

Step S11: First, the caller dials the telephone number of the other party from the calling side telephone and performs a calling operation. depending on,
The exchange transmits a ringing signal to the receiving telephone, and in response, the receiving telephone outputs a ring tone.

Step S12: When the recipient responds, the exchange connects the calling side telephone line and the receiving side telephone line.

Step S13: A call is made between the calling side and the receiving side.

Step S14: During a call, when the caller runs out of coins or cards, for example, the sender requests the receiver to make a collect call. This collect call request is
It is done orally during a phone call.

Step S15: When the receiver understands the collect call request from the caller, he operates the push dial on the receiver's telephone to send an acceptance signal to the exchange. The central office exchange receives this acknowledgment signal and switches the rate meter to the recipient's side. This automatically switches from a normal call to a collect call.

Step 816: The call continues with the call switched to a collect call.

Step S17: When the call ends, the handset of the calling side telephone or the receiving side telephone is turned ON-HOOK, and in response, the telephone line is disconnected at the exchange. The exchange also stops the charge meter on the recipient side.

Step 818: The central office instructs the recipient in step S.
Charges will be charged after switching on 15th.

Step S19: The recipient pays the billed fee.

Next, in the above embodiment, the operations performed individually by the sending telephone, the default telephone, and the exchange will be explained in more detail.

Operation of the calling side telephone The caller raises the handset 1 to send 0FF-HOO.
K detection circuit 6 outputs a signal to 0FF-I (00. Also, by inserting a coin or a card, coin detection circuit 7 or card detection circuit 8 outputs a coin detection signal or a card detection signal. Line Connection control circuit 5
When the 0FF-HOOK signal and the coin or card detection signal are input to the line connection control circuit 5, the line connection control circuit 5 closes the switch 4 and connects the telephone line to the calling side telephone.

Next, the caller operates the push dial 2 to call the other party. When the other party answers the call, the call begins.

During the call, the caller requests the receiver to make a collect call, and if the receiver agrees to this request, the exchange performs the process of switching to a collect call, and the exchange sends a collect call switching signal via the telephone line. It will be sent to you. The signal discrimination circuit 9 detects this collect call switching signal and provides the detection signal to the line connection control circuit 5. When the line connection control circuit 5 receives the detection signal from the signal discrimination circuit 9, it maintains the telephone line in a connected state regardless of the signal from the coin detection circuit 7 or the card detection circuit 8.

At this time, the line connection control circuit 5 stops the time monitoring circuit included in the coin detection circuit 7 or the time monitoring circuit included in the card detection circuit 8, and returns the remaining coins after the call ends.

The ringing buzzer 1 is activated by the ringing signal sent from the operational exchange of the receiving telephone.
A ring tone is generated from 2. When the receiver picks up the receiver 10 and answers, the switch 13 is closed and the telephone line is connected. Thereafter, a telephone conversation is made between the caller and the caller, and when the caller requests a collect call during the call, the receiver operates the push dial 11 and sends an acceptance signal to the exchange. That is, a signal from a specific key on the push dial 11 is predetermined as a collect call acceptance signal.

By the way, the frequency range that can be used on a telephone line is fixed, and it must be assumed that the voice frequency during a call covers this entire band. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures to prevent the acknowledgment signal sent from the receiving telephone to the exchange from malfunctioning with the voice signal. As described above, in this embodiment, the push dial signal of the push dial 11 is used as the acknowledgment signal. Since this push-dial signal has a dual-tone configuration (combining two frequency components), it can be distinguished from a voice signal very clearly. Therefore, the above embodiment has the advantage that malfunctions caused by audio signals can be prevented.

Operation of the Exchange A dialing signal sent from the telephone on the calling side is detected by the destination dial detection circuit 15, and a calling signal is sent from the call control circuit 17 to the station number on the destination side. At this time, the destination dial detection circuit 15 selects the rate meter of the destination station in the receiver side meter activation circuit 20 based on the dial signal of the destination station. Call control circuit 17
detects that the other party has responded and stops calling.

Here, when the caller requests the receiver to make a collect call, and the receiver accepts the request and the receiver's telephone sends an acknowledge signal, the acknowledge signal detection circuit 18 detects this acknowledge signal. , activates the meter activation circuit 20 on the recipient side. This activates the preselected recipient's rate meter. At the same time, the acknowledgment signal detection circuit 18 causes the collect call switching signal generation circuit 16 to send out a collect call switching signal to the originating telephone.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the exchange automatically performs the necessary processing for collect calls in response to the acknowledgment signal sent from the receiving telephone, so the operator is not required to It is possible to process collect calls without any intervention at all.Therefore, there is no need to have a large number of operators on standby at the central office.
Significant savings in labor and personnel costs can be achieved.

Further, according to the present invention, since it is possible to switch to a collect call while continuing the call, there is no need to hang up the phone and then apply for a collect call as in the past, thereby reducing time loss and complicated application processing. It can be eliminated.

Furthermore, in this invention, since a push-dial signal with a dual tone configuration is used as the acknowledgment signal sent from the receiving telephone to the exchange, the distinction between the acknowledgment signal and the voice signal is extremely clear, and the exchange Malfunctions can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the operations and processes performed on the calling side, the central office, and the receiving side when making a collect call in an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are schematic block diagrams showing the configurations of a transmitting telephone, a receiving telephone, and a central office exchange, respectively, which constitute one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a conventional collect call processing method. In the figure, 1 and 10 are handsets, 2 and 11 are push dials, 5 is a line connection control circuit, and 6 is 0FF-
HOOK detection circuit, 7 is a coin detection circuit, 8 is a card detection circuit, 9 is a signal discrimination circuit, 15 is a dial detection circuit, 16 is a collect call switching signal generation circuit, 17 is a call control circuit, 18 is an acknowledgment signal detection circuit, Reference numeral 19 indicates a line connection switch, and 20 indicates a receiver side meter activation circuit. (2 other people) Also consider Figure 1 and Figure 4 in detail, Figure 5.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A facility for automating processing required for collect calls when a call is made between a calling side telephone and a receiving side telephone via an exchange at a central office, the receiving side telephone comprising: The telephone includes a push-dial function, and the exchange includes: an acknowledgment signal detection means for detecting that a specific push-dial signal as a collect call acknowledgment signal has been transmitted from the receiving side telephone during a call; and the acknowledgment signal detection means. charge meter activation means for activating a charge meter at a recipient in response to detecting receipt of said acknowledge signal.