KR20020061747A - Method for Providing Telephone Directory Service Accompanying SMS Notification - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for informing a telephone number performing a short message service simultaneously is provided to accurately and easily save the informed telephone number without taking a note. CONSTITUTION: A telephone number information system receives an inquiry call(100). An inquiry call distribution unit assigns one attendant who is in the standby state for routing the inquiry call to a headset of the attendant(102). The attendant listens inquiry condition of the caller for searching a database and selecting the corresponding record(104). The inquiry call distribution unit combines an audio message from the telephone number of the corresponding record for providing information voice to the caller(106). The inquiry call distribution unit determines whether the inquiry call is originated from a cellular phone through a radiotelephone network(108). The inquiry call distribution unit determines whether the caller is the object of a short message service(110). The inquiry call distribution unit requests a short message service center to transmit a short message including a name of a person or an organization related to the informed telephone number and the telephone number(112). The short message service center provides the short message to a wireless exchange to transmit the short message to a terminal of the caller(114).

Description

Method for Providing Telephone Directory Service Accompanying SMS Notification

The present invention relates to a telephone number guide method, and more particularly, to a telephone number guide method for a portable terminal.

To make a phone call with the intended party using a telephone, you must dial the other party's phone number. If the caller does not know the recipient's phone number, the caller typically calls the directory assistance system to verify the desired recipient's phone number. At present, the guidance service provided by the telephone number guide system of the landline network is also available to mobile phone subscribers. When the mobile phone subscriber wants to use the telephone number guide service of the landline network, the area code and the telephone number guide system identification number are continuously dialed. For example, if the mobile phone subscriber wants to check the number of the landline telephone in the Seoul area, he dials "02 114" to access the Seoul area phone number guidance system.

In the state of being connected to the telephone number guide system, when the inquiry caller presents the name or name of the desired counterpart in response to the guide's inquiry, the guide will confirm the telephone number of the counterpart from the database. The confirmed telephone number is then synthesized into an audio message through the CTI device of the telephone company and provided to the caller.

However, a user who has been informed of a telephone number from the telephone number guide system frequently needs the telephone number later. If the above user has a proper note of the phone number, you can refer to the note, but if you do not write down the phone number or leave the note elsewhere, it is recommended to use the phone number service again. It is inevitable. In particular, in the case of a mobile phone, it is practically difficult to take a note on a paper because a phone number guide service of a wired telephone network is often used while moving a memo is inconvenient. In the case of frequent use of the telephone number guide service, especially when the same number is inquired repeatedly, the user's call charge burden is increased and psychological stress is generated, as well as the management costs for the telephone operator operating the telephone number guide system. There is a problem that the burden of operating costs for the system increases.

Since most mobile phones support the phone number memo function, this problem can be relatively easily solved when using this function. However, in practice, it is a cumbersome task for a mobile phone user to receive a telephone number guide service and then store the guided telephone number in the telephone and dial the number. Therefore, if the caller is in a hurry or thinks that the possibility of being informed of the number is not very high, then it is very unlikely that the cellular phone user will remember the informed phone number in the telephone. Therefore, it can be said that the phone number memo function of the cellular phone is hardly regarded as substantially suppressing the use of frequent phone number guidance service.

On the other hand, the telephone number guide system of the wired telephone network has been proposed to automatically connect to the corresponding phone number after the telephone number guide. However, in order to provide this service for mobile phone subscribers, it is expected to take considerable time for this to be implemented since negotiations must be made between the landline telephone company and the mobile phone service provider in terms of the calculation of the access fee and the distribution ratio of the call charges. In addition, automatic connection does not make sense when the called party is automatically connected to the call, and the automatic connection function is not necessary even if the caller wants to connect to the call immediately after receiving only the phone number guide. On the other hand, even if such a connection method is introduced, there is still a problem that if you use the corresponding number again in the future, you must receive the paid guide service again.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, when the user having a portable terminal using the telephone number guide service, by providing a telephone number to be guided through a short message service (SMS), the user received It is easy to save a phone number on one's own mobile terminal and make one-touch call to the stored phone number to improve the convenience of the user and to provide a phone number guide method that can prevent the query from being duplicated. It is a technical problem.

1 shows an overall configuration of a system suitable for implementing the present invention.

Figure 2 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of a phone number guide method made in the phone number guide system shown in FIG.

3 is a flow chart showing another embodiment of the telephone number guide method of the present invention in which the method of FIG. 2 is modified;

4 is a flowchart showing another embodiment of the telephone number guide method of the present invention, in which the method of FIG. 3 is modified.

5 shows another example of a system suitable for implementing the present invention.

6 is a diagram illustrating types of program modules and database tables mounted in the short service providing server shown in FIG. 5;

7 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing a short service of the short service providing server illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6.

8 shows another example of a system suitable for implementing the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: user terminal 20: wireless telephone network

22: Central Gateway Switch (CGS)

24a to 24n: Mobile Switching Center (MSC)

28: Short Message Service Center (SMSC)

30: Short Message Service Server (SMSS)

40: landline network 42: Inter-gateway Switch (IGS)

44: city exchange 46: telephone number guidance system

52: database server 54: call distribution device

56a to 56m: agent terminal 80: short message service server

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem, the telephone number guide text message can be transmitted to the portable terminal owned by the user in the landline telephone operator to provide the telephone number guide to the user at the request of the user Provides a method of guiding telephone numbers. The landline telephone company (a) prepares in advance storage means for storing a plurality of telephone numbers and their owner information. (b) Upon receiving a telephone number inquiry number including a query condition from a user through a predetermined communication channel, (c) a specific telephone number corresponding to the query condition and its owner information are read out from the storage means. And (d) providing the specific telephone number to the user through the communication channel, and providing the specific telephone number and the owner information to the portable terminal through a text message service.

In one embodiment, the plurality of telephone numbers stored in the storage means are numbers for wired telephones subscribed to a wired telephone network, and the inquiry call is received from the portable terminal via a wireless communication network. Accordingly, the phone number guide method guides the mobile phone number to the portable terminal.

When the telephone number guide system of the landline telephone company accepts an inquiry call from the portable terminal, it is preferable to accept the identification number of the portable terminal together through a control signal line from the wireless communication network. In addition, at this time, it is preferable to further accept the application information on whether or not a predetermined text message service application for the portable terminal. When the application information is not received from the wireless communication network through the control signal line, the user may be asked to receive the text message service, and then the text message service may be provided only if the user agrees. If both the identification number and the application information do not exist, the user is queried to receive a text message service, and when the user agrees to the text message service, the user receives the identification number from the portable terminal.

The wireless communication network includes a text message service providing center capable of transmitting a text message to a portable terminal in response to an external text message service transmission request. In one embodiment, the telephone number guide system directly requests a short service providing center to transmit a text message including the specific telephone number and the owner information to the portable terminal having the identification number. However, in another embodiment, the telephone number guide system provides the specific agent system with the specific telephone number, owner information, and the identification number, allowing the agent system to request transmission to the short service provider.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for a landline telephone operator or a separate agent to guide a telephone number in a text message when the telephone number guide system of the wireline network provides voice guidance for an inquiry call. The text message service agent system is connected to a telephone number guide system. The telephone number guide system receives a telephone number inquiry from a portable terminal capable of receiving a text message via a wireless telephone network and corresponds to the inquiry condition included in the inquiry. A specific telephone number may be provided to the portable terminal through the wireless telephone network.

In providing the telephone number guide text message transmission service, the text message service agent system first receives (a) basic information including the specific telephone number, specific telephone number owner information, and an identification number of the portable terminal from the telephone number guide system. do. The agent system then asks the short service provider of the wireless telephone network to (b) send a text message containing the specific telephone number and owner information to the portable terminal with the identification number.

The agent system preferably includes storage means for storing telephone subscriber information classified into categories. In this case, in performing the step (b), the agent system determines whether a record related to the inquiry call is stored in the storage means based on the owner name included in the basic information. Ask the short service provider to send a text message including at least some of the information to the portable terminal. In this case, the agent system may generate a second text message separately from the first text message including the specific phone number and owner information, include the specific phone number and owner information, and a part of the related record, and include one text message. You can also generate a message. According to this method, it is possible to provide various texts in addition to the telephone number guided to the portable terminal user.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for providing a phone number guide text message service that can be implemented by a wireless telephone operator. The method for providing a phone number guide text message service may provide a wired telephone guide number provided by a landline telephone company as a text message or a wireless telephone guide number directly provided by a wireless telephone operator as a text message.

In the case where a landline telephone number provided by a landline telephone company is provided as a text message, a telephone number inquiry code including a inquiry condition is first received from a portable terminal, and then the telephone number inquiry number is a telephone number guidance system of a wireline telephone network. Route to. The telephone number guide voice signal including the voice signal relating to the specific telephone number corresponding to the inquiry condition is provided from the telephone number guide system to the portable terminal. At this time, the voice signal relating to the specific telephone number is converted into text data to restore the specific telephone number and provide a text message including the specific telephone number to the portable terminal.

In the case of providing a text message of a wireless telephone guide number directly provided by a wireless telephone company, the operator prepares a storage means for storing a plurality of telephone numbers and their owner information in advance. When receiving a telephone number inquiry message including the inquiry condition from the portable terminal, the specific telephone number and its owner information corresponding to the inquiry condition are read out from the storage means and the specific telephone number is provided to the portable terminal. Then, a text message including the specific phone number and the owner information is provided to the portable terminal.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 1 shows the overall configuration of a system suitable for implementing the present invention. 1 shows a wireless telephone network 20 and a wired telephone network 40.

A plurality of wireless switchboards 24a to 24n are connected to the central gateway switch 20 of the wireless telephone network 20. A plurality of base stations 26 are connected to each of these radio switches 24a to 24n, and at least one short message service server (SMSS) 30 for providing a short message service is a short message service center (SMSC). Short Message Service Center, 28). The short service server 30 maintains a short service subscriber database and provides an interface with external information providers (IPs). The short service center 28 is interfaced with the switch of the wireless telephone network by the common line (SS No. 7) signaling method and transmits the data provided by the short service server 30 to the subscriber station. On the other hand, the central switch 20 is connected to a gateway switch (IGS: Inter-gateway Switch) 42 of the wired telephone network 40 by a common line (No. 7) signal system.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, each wireless switch 24a to 24n includes a home subscriber register (HLR) for storing information (eg, a service type and a home exchange ID requested by the subscriber) about subscribers in the region. A visited subscriber register (VLR) is installed, which is a database for subscribers outside the exchange, that is, visited subscribers. In particular, according to the present invention, the subscriber information of the HLR is a service that is notified by the short-term service of the telephone number to be guided when each subscriber receives the landline telephone number guidance through the (area code) 114 dialing (hereinafter, the short notice service). Information about whether or not the application is made. When a subscriber who subscribes to the guide telephone number notification service wants to receive a landline telephone number guidance, the wireless switchboard (24a to 24n) that mediates the inquiry call indicates the subscriber's telephone number and whether to apply for short notification service. The caller information including the flag is transmitted to the wired telephone network 40 through a control signal.

On the other hand, the landline network 40 includes a gateway exchange 42, a city exchange 44 that can be electrically connected to the gateway exchange 42, and a telephone number guide system 46. In FIG. 1, for convenience of description, there is only one city exchange 44 and the city exchange 44 is directly connected to the gateway exchange 42. However, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains actually connect to a wired telephone network. It will be appreciated that there are a number of such exchanges, these exchanges are hierarchically connected to each other, and the local exchange 44 is connected to the gateway exchange 42 through several telephone stations. In addition, although only one telephone number guide system 46 is shown in the wired telephone network 40 in FIG. 1, the telephone number guide system 46 may be provided in units of each local exchange 44 or selected by a wire telephone operator. It is also known that it can be centralized and operated according to. Accordingly, the connection relationship between the gateway switch 42, the city switch 44, and the telephone number guide system 46 in Fig. 1 is merely shown for convenience of explanation and should be understood as illustrative only.

The telephone number guide system 46 includes its own database (DB) server 52, an inquiry call distribution device 54, and a plurality of counselor terminals 56a to 56m. Each of the agent terminals 56a to 56m includes a computer (not shown) for retrieving telephone number data from the DB server 52 and a voice transceiver such as a headset (not shown) for consultation with the caller. do. Each computer of the counselor terminals 56a to 56m is connected to the DB server 52 through the data bus 58 to transmit and receive signals according to a network protocol such as Ethernet or TCP / IP. In addition, the inquiry call distribution device 54 may be connected to the DB server 52 and / or the counselor computer through the data bus 58. Each headset of the counselor terminals 56a to 56m may be connected to the terminal of the call originator via the voice call 59 via the call distribution device 54 and the exchange 44. In addition, although not shown in FIG. 1, the telephone number guide system 46 controls the operation of the DB server 52 and / or the connection control with the call distribution device 54 and / or the short service server 30 described later. It may also include a main frame or a host that performs an interface separately.

The hardware of the inquiry call distribution device 54 may be implemented based on a conventional CTI device. However, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the software of the inquiry call distribution device 54 implements the function of determining whether the inquiry call originator is the subject of the short notification service and the function of outputting the basic data required to provide the short notification service. Includes modules for In addition, in the preferred embodiment, the inquiry call distribution device 54 is connected to the short service server 30 of the wireless telephone network through a dedicated line. The inquiry call distribution device 54 analyzes the caller information included in the control signal of the inquiry call before and after the telephone number voice guidance, and determines whether the caller is a short service provider. If the caller is a short message service provider, the inquiry call distribution device 54 provides the caller phone number to the short message service server 30 through a dedicated line together with a guide phone number inquired by the caller and its owner's name (name). In addition, the information on the caller terminal can be transmitted through the short message service.

That is, the inquiry call distribution device 54 requests the short message service server 30 of the wireless telephone network 20 to transmit a short message including a guide telephone number and its owner's name (name) to the caller's telephone number. do. Accordingly, the caller terminal 10 regenerates the voice signal received from the telephone number guide system 46 through the call channel and outputs it to the speaker, thereby receiving a short message and allowing the caller to store it. The short message transmitted by the present invention may include brief information about an address, a location, etc., as well as a guide telephone number. In the case of providing the address information, the inquiry call distribution device 54 further receives address data from the DB server 52 and provides this data. On the other hand, in the case of providing the location information or the road guide information, the inquiry call distribution device 54 has a separate server for separately operating the map data and map recognition program in addition to the DB server 52 shown in FIG. It is desirable to be able to secure such data at least externally. In addition, if the subject associated with the guidance telephone number has a domain name suitable for the wireless application protocol (WAP) or the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) to the World Wide Web (WWW), it will also have a WAP address or a WEB address and provide it. It may be.

The process of performing the telephone number guide method of the present invention in such a system will be described in detail. First, in a preferred embodiment, a mobile phone subscriber who wants to be provided with a short message service at the time of phone number guide by the present invention applies for a short notice service service to a wireless telephone company in advance. However, as described below, in another embodiment of the present invention, such a service application may be made to a landline telephone company or a separate telephone number guide short transmission company. In addition, in another embodiment of the present invention, the telephone number guide system 46 of the wired telephone network individually checks whether the service is provided to the user each time each user inquires a telephone number without requiring such a pre-application procedure. Short notification services may also be provided.

In the preferred embodiment, when the user terminal 10 transmits a telephone number inquiry call, the inquiry call is applied to the exchange 24a via the base station 26. When the exchange 24a receives the inquiry call, it first requests and receives a subscriber profile from the HLR. In this case, when the subscriber is a visitor, the exchange 24a sends a message to the HLR to which the subscriber belongs by using routing information stored in a signaling transfer point (STP) through a signaling network to receive a subscriber profile. In the state of obtaining the subscriber profile, the exchange 24a includes the caller information including the subscriber's telephone number and the short notification service application information in the control signal, and transmits the inquiry call via the central switch 22 to the wired telephone network ( 40 is sent to the gateway exchange 42 of. The gateway exchange 42 identifies the area code included in the inquiry and connects the inquiry to the city exchange 44 in the region, and the city exchange 44 connects the inquiry to the telephone number guide system 46 again. Let's do it.

2 shows an embodiment of a phone number guide method performed in the phone number guide system 46. Upon receiving an inquiry call (step 100), the inquiry call distribution device 54 of the telephone number guide system 46 assigns one of the agents in the waiting state to route the inquiry call to the agent's headset (second step). Step 102). Accordingly, a call channel between the caller, that is, the subscriber of the mobile phone 10 and the counselor, is established. After listening to the inquiry condition from the user, the counselor searches a database through his computer and selects a corresponding record (step 104). In response to the record selection, the inquiry call distribution device 54 synthesizes an audio message from the telephone number of the record and provides the guide voice to the user (step 106).

On the other hand, after the audio synthesis and guidance voice provided, the inquiry call distribution device 54 determines whether the inquiry call is sent from the mobile phone 10 through the wireless telephone network 20 (step 108). When it is determined in step 108 that the inquiry call originated from the cellular phone 10, the inquiry call distribution device 54 determines whether the caller is a short notification service subject based on the caller information received through the control signal (110). step). If the caller is a short notification service provider, the inquiry call distribution device 54 converts the short message including [name / name of the person / group related to the guided telephone number] and [guided telephone number] to the [caller telephone number]. The request is made to the short service center 28 via the short service server 30 through a dedicated line to be transmitted (step 112). The short message service center 28 provides the short message to the radio switch 24a so that the short message is transmitted to the caller terminal 10 (step 114). If it is determined in step 108 that the inquiry call is not transmitted from the cellular phone 10 or in step 11 it is determined that the caller is not the short notification service subject, the telephone number guide procedure is terminated.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the telephone number guide method of the present invention, in which the method of FIG. 2 is modified. When the user who applied for the short message notification service of the present invention receives the voice guidance, the time difference from receiving the short message is smaller is preferable, and when the time difference between the voice guidance and the short text reception is increased to a certain level or more, the short message notification service is useful. This can be reduced. In this respect, it is important to shorten the processing time from generating a short message to sending it to the receiver. In the embodiment of Fig. 3, the short text generation operation is started just before the voice guidance is performed so that the short text can be generated and transmitted while the guide voice is provided.

That is, when the agent selects the record corresponding to the inquiry condition in step 104, the inquiry call distribution device 54 sends the inquiry call from the cellular phone 10 through the wireless telephone network 20 before providing the guide voice. In step 126 and step 128, it is determined whether or not the sender is the target of the short notification service. When the caller is a short notification service providing subject, the inquiry call distribution device 54 transmits the short content described above and the short message recipient phone number to the short message service server 30 so that the short message transmission process proceeds (130 and the second). Step 132). Then, the inquiry call distribution device 54 proceeds to the audio synthesis and guidance voice provision (step 134). Since steps 126 to 130 take little time, according to the present embodiment, processing time can be shortened by the time for which the guide voice is provided, compared to the embodiment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the telephone number guide method of the present invention, in which the method of FIG. 3 is modified. When the wireline telephone operator implements the telephone number guide method of FIG. 2 or 3, cooperation or cooperation with the wireless telephone operator is inevitable. That is, as described above, in order to implement the above methods, the radiotelephone service provider stores information on whether or not to apply for a short notification service in the subscriber information of the HLR for each subscriber. The information must be provided to the landline operator along with the calling party number. The embodiment of FIG. 4 is suitable to be executed when such a preparation procedure or a cooperative agreement is not made, and each time a call is received, the telephone number guidance system 46 inquires whether the user receives a short notification. Provide short text to the desired user. In this case, the landline provider may charge an additional fee for each short message.

In detail, referring to FIG. 4, in step 104, when the agent searches for and selects a record corresponding to the inquiry information, the inquiry call distribution device 54 provides the inquiry call with the wireless telephone network 20 before providing the guide voice. In step 146, it is determined whether the mobile phone 10 has been sent from the mobile phone 10. If the inquiry call is from the cellular phone 10, the inquiry call distribution device 54 sends a simple guide message to the user terminal 10 and inquires whether to use the short notification service (step 148). ). If the user presses the short notification service selection key, for example, "**" in step 150 after hearing the query, the inquiry call distribution device 54 inputs the short text described above and the short recipient telephone number into the short text service server. In step 30, the short transmission process is performed (steps 152 and 154). Next, the inquiry call distribution device 54 proceeds with audio synthesis and guidance voice (step 156). On the other hand, if the user presses any key after listening to the contents of the query or while listening, the audio synthesis and guide voice are immediately provided, considering that they do not intend to use the short notification service.

In an embodiment in which the embodiment of FIG. 4 is modified, the guide message transmission process 148 may be performed before presenting the inquiry condition to the counselor, or while the counselor searches for the telephone number after presenting the inquiry condition. On the other hand, the wireless telephone company may not provide the caller ID (Caller ID) as well as information on whether or not to apply for a short notice service to the landline telephone provider. Therefore, in another embodiment of the modified embodiment of FIG. 4, the inquiry call distribution device 54 may be provided with the terminal number directly from the inquiry call originator. That is, in step 150, when the user listens to the content of the question and selects the short message notification service, the inquiry call distribution device 54 instructs the telephone number input and then accepts the key input pressed by the user.

5 shows another example of a system suitable for implementing the present invention. 5, in addition to the wireless telephone network 20 and the wired telephone network 40, a short service providing server 80 which mediates short transmission between them is also shown. In such a system, the operator of the short service providing server 80, under the cooperative system with the operator of the wired telephone network 40, is not merely a short transmission of the information telephone number but more comprehensive quality information as described below. Will be provided. Of course, the landline telephone company may directly operate the short message service providing server 80.

In the system of Fig. 5, the short message service providing server 80 is connected to the guide call distribution device 54 and the short message service server 30 through dedicated lines for each. The guide call distribution device 54 forms a predetermined frame for the guide phone number, its owner's name (name) and the caller's phone number and provides it to the short message service providing server 80. Short service providing server 80 has its own industry-specific / regional mutual database, and if the phone number owner name corresponds to a certain category among data received from web server 48, the relevant data is extracted from the database. The record is processed in a separate short form or several records in a message form and provided to the user terminal 10 via the wireless telephone network 20.

6 illustrates types of program modules and database tables mounted in the short service providing server 80. The database 82 includes a cross-index table 84, a company information table 86, and a subscriber table 88, and the application program 90 includes a DB management module 92, a search module 94, and a short service start. Module (SMS Initiator module 96) and WAP content processing module 98.

In the database 82, the cross-index table 84 stores cross-index data by company and by region. The cross-index data held by the short service service server 80 is preferably edited and prepared around an industry where a phone number is frequently guided through a phone number guide system, such as a call taxi, a gas station, a hotel, a restaurant, a large discount store, and the like. Do. The business information table 86 stores a name and a phone number, a location, a brief map or directions for each business indexed in the mutual index table 84, and the business has its own WAP page or WEB page. In one case, the address is stored together. The subscriber table 88 stores information on a member who has separately applied for membership, and may additionally store information on a user who frequently uses the telephone number guide service.

In application 90, DB management module 92 allows an operator to add, modify, or delete new records in database 82. The search module 94 receives the guide telephone number, its owner's name (name) and the caller's telephone number from the guide call distribution device 54 of the wired telephone network for each user who has requested the telephone number guide to the telephone number guide system 46, If the guided telephone number owner name falls within a certain category, then the database 82 is searched for relevant data records. If there is a relevant record, the short message service start module 96 generates a separate short message and provides the detected record to the user terminal 10 via the wireless telephone network 20. On the other hand, if a member registered separately as a terminal owner such as a PDA, for example, is a call originator or if such member requests a service via the wireless Internet by the WAP protocol regardless of the telephone number guidance, the WAP content processing module 98 The related record is processed into a message form and provided to the user terminal 10 via the radiotelephone network 20.

FIG. 7 illustrates a process in which the short service providing server 80 illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 provides a short service.

Upon receiving the guide phone number, the owner's name (name) and the caller's phone number from the guide call distribution device 54 of the landline telephone company, the web server of the short message service providing server 80 provides this data to the search module 94. (Step 200). The search module 94 determines whether the guide telephone number owner name corresponds to a certain category (step 202), and then searches the database 82 (step 204) if it corresponds to the predetermined category. First, the mutual index table 84 is searched to determine whether there is a record that is determined to be in the same area because the telephone number and the station number that are voice guided are similar or are related to the dictionary. If there is such a related record (step 206), specific data about the record is selected from the company information table 86 and called (step 208). In this case, it is preferable to select only two or three records so as to maximize the benefits of information without causing inconvenience to the user and to reduce the burden of the short-term service fee paid to the wireless telephone service provider (step 208). When the record selection is completed, the short service server 30 is requested to transmit a short message including [Guided Phone Number Owner Name] and [Guided Phone Number] to the [Calling Phone Number] for each record. (Step 210).

8 shows another example of a system suitable for implementing the present invention. In the example of FIG. 8, the method for providing a phone number guide short message service of the present invention is provided by a wireless telephone provider irrespective of a landline telephone operator. That is, the telephone number guide system 346 of the wired telephone network, in particular, the call distribution device 354 provides only the normal voice guide service regardless of the short message service. In the wireless communication network 320, the voice-to-text converter 360 is provided or connected to the switch 24a. The voice-to-text converter 360 converts the voice guidance message provided by the telephone number guidance system 346 of the wireline network into text, and provides the text converted voice guidance message and the caller's telephone number to the short message service center 28. The short-term service can be made to the user terminal 10. In such a case, it is desirable that the telephone number owner's name be provided in a blank or in the form of a serial number so that the user can edit it. In addition, the wireless telephone company may establish a separate DB by acquiring data on its own or by acquiring data from another telephone book provider, and provide the real name of the telephone number owner guided based on the DB together with the telephone number in a short sentence. . Various types of speech-to-text conversion algorithms have already been proposed, and in particular, since the telephone number guidance voice provided by the telephone number guidance system 346 of the landline network is synthesized from text and has a constant and simple pattern, the telephone number guidance speech Can be easily converted from text with high accuracy.

Those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains will understand that the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features. For example, in the above description, the wireless telephone network and the wired telephone network are described based on the existence of one, but in fact, a plurality of the wireless telephone network and the wired telephone network may exist. In particular, when a short service is performed by a separate short service providing server 80 as in the system shown in FIG. 5, the server 80 is a mobile phone subscribed to any of a plurality of wireless telephone networks. It can provide services to its holders. In addition, although the above description has been based on the cellular type "mobile phone", the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be applied to any type of wireless terminal capable of using voice communication and short message service. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to all types of portable terminals capable of receiving data through a network even though voice communication is not possible.

In addition, although FIG. 1 shows that the call distribution device 54 of the wired telephone network is connected to the short service server 30 of the wireless telephone network through a dedicated line, the call distribution device 54 of another embodiment of the present invention is provided. It may be connected to a separate web server owned by a landline telephone company, and the web server may provide the short message transfer request traffic to the short service server 30 through the Internet. Also, in the modification of Fig. 5, the call distribution device 54 is connected to a separate web server, and the short message service providing server 80 receives the short message traffic from the web server through the Internet, and then again through the Internet. Short transmission may also be requested to (30). The call distribution device 54 and the short message service providing server 80 may be connected by a dedicated line, and the short message service providing server 80 and the short message service server 30 may be connected via the Internet. In addition, those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs will be understood that the specific configuration or topology of each communication network is slightly different, and thus the method of the present invention can be adapted without changing the technical idea.

Meanwhile, in the above description, the guidance telephone number is provided to the inquiry call originator terminal through a short message service. However, in another embodiment of the present invention, it may be pushed to the originator terminal by WAP push. This embodiment is particularly useful when the short service server 30 is connected to the call distribution device 54 or the short service providing server 30 via the Internet, as described in the description of the above modification. Can be. In this case, the pushed telephone number information may be provided to the caller terminal from the wireline telephone provider's web server via the wireless telephone provider's WAP proxy server, or written in WML (Wireless Markup Language) and operated by the wireline telephone operator. It may be provided to the calling party terminal directly from a Wireless Telephony Application (WTA) server. In addition, such a web server or WAP proxy server or WTA server may be operated by a separate agent corresponding to the short service providing server 80 described above. When providing a text message by a short message service, the user can move the message to his / her phonebook and store it. However, when using the WAP push method, a separate subscriber-specific directory directory is created in the server. You can save it so that users can refer to it when they connect.

On the other hand, in the above embodiments, the user provided the short-term service of the present invention after the user applied for the service in advance or individually asked for the user's consent, but in another embodiment of the present invention, the radiotelephone service provider It may be operated by granting a special number. In other words, when a predetermined number, for example, "** 02 114" is received in advance, the wireless telephone exchange 24a wishes to perform a short message service as a telephone number guide service request of a landline telephone located in Seoul. It is possible to display such a service in a control signal in routing the call to the telephone number guide system 346 of the wire telephone network. Such a modification can be applied to all embodiments including those illustrated through FIGS. 1 to 8.

On the other hand, in the above description, the description has been made mainly on the case of guiding a landline telephone number subscribed to a landline telephone network, but the present invention can also be applied to the case of guiding a wireless telephone number. The telephone number guide service is not currently provided for the number of the wireless telephone, but in the future, the telephone number guide service by voice may be performed in the same manner as the landline telephone for the wireless telephone, in which case the present invention may be applied to the text message. Can be done in parallel. Since a specific method for implementing this can be easily implemented by those skilled in the art based on the above description, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

On the other hand, the operator implementing the present invention accepts a request for the transmission of a short telephone number through the Internet in parallel with or independently of guiding the telephone number in a text message for an inquiry, and in response to providing the telephone number short message to the portable terminal. You may. In this case, the user can access the homepage of the operator through the Internet using his data terminal, search all the phone numbers of the people he / she wants to download, and select and then download a plurality of records in a batch. . Such an application is also easily implemented by those skilled in the art, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Therefore, the above-described embodiments are to be understood as illustrative in all respects and not as restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown by the following claims rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

As described above, the present invention provides a phone number guided to a user using a phone number guide service using a mobile phone through a short message service. Accordingly, the user can reduce the inconvenience of the memo while moving and can save the guided phone number accurately and easily on his terminal. Therefore, the user can make a one-touch call using the stored phone number, and can prevent the query from being duplicated. Therefore, the user's convenience is improved.

By reducing the number of duplicated queries, users can reduce mobile phone usage fees and information service fees, save time for phone number queries, and free themselves from the psychological stress caused by duplicated queries. do. In particular, in the case where the short message service providing server of the present invention provides such a service, by securing a plurality of related telephone numbers, it is possible to widen the range of choice of the service to be obtained and purchase a higher quality product.

In addition, a landline telephone company that implements a phone number guide service can optimize the system for the phone number guide, thereby optimizing the system construction cost and the management cost.

Claims (14)

A method of providing a telephone number guide to a user at the request of a user who owns a portable terminal capable of receiving a text message, (a) providing storage means for storing a plurality of telephone numbers and their owner information; (b) receiving a telephone number inquiry code including a query condition from the user through a predetermined communication channel; (c) reading a specific telephone number corresponding to the inquiry condition and its owner information from the storage means; And (d) providing the specific telephone number to the user through the communication channel and providing the specific telephone number and the owner information to the portable terminal through a text message service; Telephone number guide method comprising a. The method of claim 1, The plurality of telephone numbers stored in the storage means in step (a) are numbers for wired telephones subscribed to a wired telephone network. In step (b), accept the inquiry call from the portable terminal via a wireless communication network, Accordingly, a phone number guide method for guiding a phone number for a landline telephone to the portable terminal. The method of claim 2, wherein step (b) Receiving an identification number of the portable terminal from the wireless communication network; Telephone number guide method further comprising. 4. The telephone number guide method according to claim 3, wherein in the step (b), the mobile terminal further accepts application information on whether the mobile terminal has a predetermined text message service application together with the identification number of the mobile terminal. The method of claim 3, Querying the user to receive the text message service; The phone number guide method further comprises, so that the specific phone number and the owner information is provided to the portable terminal through the text message service only in the step (d). The method of claim 2, Querying the user to receive the text message service; Requesting the user to enter an identification number of the portable terminal when the user agrees to the text message service; And Accepting the identification number from the portable terminal; Telephone number guide method further comprising. The mobile communication network of claim 2, wherein the wireless communication network includes a text message service providing center capable of transmitting a text message to the portable terminal in response to an external text message service request. And in step (d), requesting the short message service center to transmit a text message including the specific telephone number and the owner information to the portable terminal having the identification number. The mobile communication network of claim 2, wherein the wireless communication network includes a text message service providing center capable of transmitting a text message to the portable terminal in response to an external text message service request. In step (d), the specific telephone number, the owner information, and the identification number are provided to a predetermined agent system, so that the agent system includes the specific telephone number and the owner information for the short message service providing center. And a telephone number guide method for requesting a text message to be transmitted to the portable terminal having the identification number. A telephone number for receiving a telephone number inquiry call from a portable terminal capable of receiving a text message via a wireless telephone network and providing a specific telephone number corresponding to the inquiry condition included in the inquiry call to the portable terminal through the wireless telephone network. In the text message service agent system connected to the information system, (a) receiving basic information including the specific telephone number, the specific telephone number owner information, and the identification number of the portable terminal from the telephone number guide system; And (b) requesting a short message service providing center of the wireless telephone network to send a text message including the specific telephone number and the owner information to the portable terminal having the identification number; Phone number guide text message transmission service providing method comprising a. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein before step (a) Providing storage means for storing telephone subscriber information classified into a predetermined category; Step (b) is Character based on the owner's name included in the basic information, determining whether a record associated with the inquiry code is stored in the storage means, and if there is the related record, a character including at least part of the information about the related record Requesting the short service providing center to send a message to the portable terminal; Phone number guide text message transmission service providing method comprising a. The method of claim 10, wherein step (b) Requesting the short-service service center of the wireless telephone network to transmit a first text message including the specific telephone number and the owner information to the portable terminal; And Requesting the short service provider to send a second text message to the portable terminal, the second text message including at least some of the information about the related record; Phone number guide text message transmission service providing method comprising a. The method of claim 10, In step (b), a telephone number for requesting the short message service providing center to transmit a text message including the specific telephone number, the owner information, and at least some of the information about the related record to the portable terminal. How to provide a guided text messaging service. A wireless telephone system connected to an external landline telephone network having a telephone number guide system and connected to a portable terminal capable of receiving text messages, Receiving a telephone number inquiry code including a query condition from the portable terminal; Routing the telephone number inquiry call to the telephone number guide system of the wireline telephone network; Allowing a phone number guide voice signal including a voice signal relating to a specific phone number corresponding to the inquiry condition to be provided from the phone number guide system to the portable terminal; Restoring the specific telephone number by converting a voice signal relating to the specific telephone number into text data; And Providing a text message including the specific telephone number to the portable terminal; Phone number guide text message service providing method comprising a. In a wireless telephone system that can be connected to a portable terminal capable of receiving text messages, Providing storage means for storing a plurality of telephone numbers and their owner information; Receiving a telephone number inquiry message including a query condition from the portable terminal; Reading a specific telephone number corresponding to the inquiry condition and its owner information from the storage means; Providing the specific telephone number to the portable terminal; And Providing a text message including the specific telephone number and the owner information to the portable terminal; Phone number guide text message service providing method comprising a.