KR20030019987A - Internet telephone conversation system, and method for taking a charge information for a telephone call on the system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An Internet call system based on a VoIP(Voice over Internet Protocol) and a method for acquiring billing information in the same are provided to accurately detect a 080 call time generated before starting a call between a sender and a recipient and compensate a communication charge error. CONSTITUTION: If a subscriber telephone(10) capable of connecting to a PSTN(Public Switched Telephone Network)(20) or a mobile communication network connects to a reception-side telephone(90) through an IP(Internet Protocol) network(60), a gateway(30) outputs generated CDR(Call Detail Record) information as billing information. A gatekeeper(40) discriminates a telephone number received from the subscriber telephone(10) through the gateway(30) and determines a reception-side IP side. A management server(50) receives subscriber identification information and a password from the gateway(30), and performs a subscriber authentication. The management server(50) calculates a charge according to a call on the basis of billing information received through the gateway(30), levies the calculated charge to a subscriber, and outputs received CDR information to the outside.

Description

INTERNET TELEPHONE CONVERSATION SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR TAKING A CHARGE INFORMATION FOR A TELEPHONE CALL ON THE SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to a communication network based on VoIP, and more particularly, to a method and system for acquiring charging information through a gateway.

Internet phone refers to real-time voice conversations between PC users over the Internet, and the demand for them is increasing due to low communication rates, and PC to PC, PC to phone, and phone to phone depending on the communication method. Divided into ways. Such Internet phones are becoming a phone-to-phone method, and the distinction from VoIP is gradually falling. Therefore, the Internet phone is included as an application technology or an application within a large category of VoIP.

With the spread of Internet phones, companies are building Internet call systems based on VoIP as shown in FIG. 1 to charge users. Referring to the charging process according to the currency in the system shown in Figure 1,

First, the user purchases a prepaid card issued by the Internet call system builder, and then requests an Internet phone call through the telephone 10 (which may be a telephone, home telephone or mobile telephone connected to an on-premises private exchange). (Use 080-***-****). In this case, the user corresponds to the subscriber identification number (ie, the pin of the prepaid card) in response to an automatic response message required by the gateway 30 (sometimes, the system is provided with a separate ARS in FIG. 1). Number) and password. When the authentication is completed by the subscriber identification number and password input, the user then enters the other party's telephone number requested by the gateway (30). Then, the gateway 30 inquires the IP address of the VoIP gateway or the H.323 terminal connected to the gatekeeper 40 based on the counterpart phone number input by the user. In response to the inquiry result, an attempt is made to connect to the destination VoIP gateway 70 through the IP network 60. According to the connection attempt, when the user makes a connection with the receiver's telephone 90 through the receiving side PSTN network 80, the user makes a call with the receiver. In such an internet call system, the management server 50 receives information on the talk time through the gatekeeper 40 and charges a call fee to the user. Call charges are charged by deducting the amount left on your prepaid card. You may also be charged on a post-paid basis.

As described above, in a VoIP-based communication network, an internet call request is received through a 080 service after a network operator issues a prepaid card. If the prepaid card customer uses the 080 service, he must respond to the ARS before dialing to make a call with the receiving party. have. In other words, the network operator has to pay the communication fee from the initial connection time to the actual call connection, so it is necessary to check the 080 call time until the start of the call and charge based on the checked data.

That is, in the conventional system, since the 080 call service is started between the caller and the gateway 30, communication charges are incurred. There is a contradiction that the network operator has to bear, and there may be a 080 fee error from the initial connection time to the actual call connection. You need to manage 080 call hours before the time. In addition, in the conventional system, since the billing information according to the talk time is transmitted through the gatekeeper 40, the network fee from the connection of the gateway 30 to the start of the call cannot be reflected in the billing system. In addition, in the conventional system, since the gatekeeper 40 has a burden of managing information on talk time, the burden on the gatekeeper 30 that is responsible for authentication, control, supervision, and traffic volume for traffic is increased. There are disadvantages.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to obtain a billing information acquisition method that can accurately establish a system for compensating for the communication charge error by accurately detecting the 080 call time accompanying the start of the call between the sender and the receiver in a VoIP-based communication network and its In providing a system.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a billing information acquisition method and system for acquiring a network usage time from a subscriber network start time to a call start time and reflecting it in a billing system in a VoIP based communication network. .

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for acquiring billing information from a gateway in a VoIP based communication network.

1 is a view for explaining a charging process in a typical Voice of Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication network.

2 is a block diagram of the configuration of the Internet call system based on VoIP according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is an operation flowchart of the gateway 30 for explaining the charging information acquisition process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is an operation flowchart of the management server 50 for acquiring and charging the charging information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Internet call system based on VoIP according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object,

A gateway for outputting call detail record (CDR) information generated when the subscriber's telephone which is connected to the public telephone network or the mobile communication network with the receiving telephone through the IP network is billed; A gatekeeper for determining a receiving IP address by determining a telephone number received from a subscriber telephone through the gateway; And a management server that receives subscriber identification information and a password from the gateway, performs subscriber authentication, and calculates a fee according to a call based on the charging information received from the gateway, and charges the subscriber to the subscriber.

Internet call system based on VoIP according to another embodiment of the present invention,

A gateway having an automatic answering function and outputting call detail record (CDR) information generated when a subscriber telephone connected to a public telephone network or a mobile communication network via an IP network is connected to a receiving telephone; A gatekeeper for determining a receiving IP address by determining a telephone number received from a subscriber telephone through the gateway; The subscriber identification information and password are received from the gateway to perform subscriber authentication, and the call detail record (CDR) information received from the gateway is classified and stored as 080 call time information and call time information, and outputted to the call time information. And a management server for calculating a fee according to the subscriber.

And the Internet call system of the present invention according to another embodiment,

A gateway having an automatic answering function and outputting call detail record (CDR) information generated when a prepaid card subscriber telephone connected to an internal switching network is connected to a receiving telephone through an IP network; A gatekeeper for determining a receiving IP address by determining a telephone number received from a subscriber phone through the gateway; receiving subscriber identification information and a password from the gateway, performing subscriber authentication, and received from the gateway; And storing and outputting call detail record (CDR) information into 080 call time information and call time information, but calculating and charging a charge according to call time information to the subscriber.

In addition, the billing information acquisition method in the Internet call system having at least a gateway for connecting the subscriber phone with the receiving phone through the IP network network, and a management server for billing the subscriber based on call detail record (CDR) information,

Checking if there is an internet dial-up request from the subscriber telephone;

Recording a network access start time of a subscriber according to the access request response;

Attempting connection with a counterpart gateway according to whether the subscriber has completed authentication;

Checking whether connection information is received through the counterpart gateway;

Recording the connection information reception time;

Checking whether drop information is received through the counterpart gateway;

Recording the drop information reception time;

And transmitting call detail record (CDR) information in which at least the subscriber's network access start time, connection information reception time, and drop information reception time are recorded, to the management server.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

2 is a block diagram of a configuration of the Internet call system based on VoIP according to an embodiment of the present invention and its surrounding configuration.

As shown in FIG. 2, the Internet call system according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a gateway 30, a gatekeeper 40, and a management server 50.

The gateway 30 is generated when the prepaid card subscriber telephone 10 having the ARS function is connected to the receiving telephone 90 through the IP network 60 through the prepaid card subscriber telephone 10 connected to the PBX. The call detail record (hereinafter, referred to as CDR) information is output to the management server 50. At least subscriber information (caller information) is recorded in the CDR, and includes network connection start time information and connection information reception time for calculating 080 call time. And since the drop information reception time for calculating the call time is included, the management server 50 to be described later may calculate the call time by the difference in the reception time of the connection information and the drop information.

In FIG. 1, the gateway 30 has an ARS, but may be separated into a separate system. The ARS requests information for subscriber authentication in response to a subscriber's Internet dial-up request and is used to request an input of a counterpart, that is, a receiving telephone number. In addition, although FIG. 1 illustrates a prepaid card telephone 10 in a private switching network connected to a PSTN network, a subscriber telephone that can be connected to a mobile communication network or a PSTN network may be exemplified.

The gatekeeper 40 determines the receiving IP address by determining the telephone number received from the subscriber telephone through the gateway 30. The gatekeeper 40 also has some functional differences depending on the system, but is generally responsible for traffic authentication, control, supervision, and traffic volume identification.

The management server 50 receives the subscriber identification information and the password from the gateway 30 as a billing server to perform subscriber authentication, and uses the 080 call time information and the CDR information received from the gateway 30. It is classified and stored as call time information. Accordingly, the administrator can modify the billing system with reference to the 080 call time information outputted in the form of printing or display. In addition, the management server 50 calculates a fee according to the call based on the call time information received in real time and charges it to the subscriber. Although the billing method may selectively use a prepaid or postpaid method, in the embodiment of the present invention, it is assumed that the prepaid card is used. The management server 50 includes at least a subscriber DB for subscriber authentication and a DB for 080 call time and call time management.

On the other hand, a payment system server 95 accessible via the IP network 60 exists to charge the prepaid card according to the subscriber's request. The payment system server 95 has to be changed according to the card payment or the mobile phone payment method, but since this is a known technology, the payment system server 95 will be referred to as the payment system server 95. That is, the payment system server 95 issues the approval information based on the subscriber information received when the payment inquiry request is received from the management server 50, so that the subscriber can conveniently use the prepaid card through the management server 50 on the web. Can be used after charging.

Finally, in FIG. 1, the receiving VoIP gateway 70 may be connected through the IP network 60, and the VoIP gateway 70 may be connected to the receiving party's telephone 90 again through the PSTN 80 network. .

Hereinafter, operations of the gateway 30 and the management server 50 for acquiring the charging information in the system having the above-described configuration will be described.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the gateway 30 for explaining a charging information acquisition process according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a management server for acquiring and charging charging information according to an embodiment of the present invention. 50 is an operation flowchart respectively.

Referring to FIG. 3, first, the gateway 30 proceeds to step 110 when an Internet dial-up request (step 100) is received from a subscriber phone, which is a prepaid card buyer, and records the subscriber's network connection start time in call detail record (CDR) information. do. In this case, the prepaid card purchaser will generally require an Internet dial-up using 080. In step 120, the gateway 30 requests an ARS response to the subscriber phone, that is, subscriber information (prepaid card pin number) and a password for identifying the subscriber. In response to the request, when the subscriber inputs his or her purchased subscriber information and his / her registered password, the gateway 30 transmits it to the management server 50 so that subscriber authentication (step 130) is performed. If it is determined that the subscriber is registered from the management server 50, the gateway 30 requests the input of the other party's telephone number to be called. Accordingly, the gateway 30 receives the counterpart phone number according to the subscriber's input in step 140. When the counterpart phone number is received as described above, the gateway 30 inquires the IP address of the counterpart VoIP gateway (G / W) 70 for connecting the counterpart phone number input from the subscriber through the gatekeeper 40 (step 150). And attempts to connect with the other party's VoIP gateway 70 according to the inquired result (step 160).

Thereafter, the gateway 30 checks whether connection information is received through the counterpart gateway 70 (step 170). Since the connection information is information indicating the call start state with the other party, the 080 call time can be calculated by knowing the connection information reception time from the network connection start time. Therefore, when the connection information is received in step 170, the gateway 30 proceeds to step 180 to calculate the 080 call time and records it in the CDR. The gateway 30 continuously checks whether drop information is received through the counterpart gateway 70 (step 190). Since the drop information is information indicating the disconnection state of the call, the call time can be calculated by knowing the connection information receiving time and the drop information receiving time.

If the drop information is received in step 190, the gateway 30 proceeds to step 200, and calculates a call time using the connection information reception time and the drop information reception time and records it in the CDR. And by transmitting the CDR, the call detail information to the management server 50, the management server 50 is able to establish a fee system in consideration of the average time of 080 talk time. For reference, caller information, call time, 080 call time, receiving telephone number, and the like are recorded. In addition, for real time charging, the gateway 30 regularly transmits the talk time to the management server 50 until the drop information is received. This is to manage the currency to be within the remaining amount when using the prepaid card. That is, the management server 50 may receive the call time during the call through the gateway 30 to check the prepaid card remaining amount to control the call. Of course, when the remaining amount of money is exhausted, the call can be blocked by controlling the gateway 30. Depending on the system, the gatekeeper 40 may be controlled to block the call.

Hereinafter, an operation of the management server 50 that receives the charging information from the gateway 30 performing the above-described operation and charges and manages the 080 call time will be described.

Referring to FIG. 4, the management server 50 first receives subscriber information from the gateway 30 in step 300 and receives subscriber information according to the subscriber request. If the password and subscriber information entered as a result of the search match the registered information, the management server 50 proceeds to step 320 and transmits the authentication result to the gateway 30. Thereafter, the management server 50 checks whether the call time is received from the gateway 30 (step 330), and if there is no call time reception, checks whether the CDR is continuously received (step 350). If a CDR is received without receiving talk time, the caller is either rejecting the call or not answering the call before the call is made. In this case, only CDRs recorded with only 080 call hours are received.

However, if a talk time is received followed by a CDR, both the talk time and the 080 talk time are recorded in the received CDR. In this case, of course, the charge is received in real time (step 340). In conclusion, the management server 50 stores the information recorded in the CDR received in step 360 in the billing data DB, thereby charging the billing information generated according to the Internet dial-up request, that is, 080 call time information and actual call time information. It will be able to save in DB, and then print or print call history or 080 call time by the command of administrator.

Therefore, the Internet call system builder or service provider can manage the 080 call time, and can benefit from billing from the network connection start time through the gateway 30, thereby overcoming the charge error that may occur in the conventional system. Will be.

Meanwhile, although not described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the management server 50 may charge the prepaid card through a mobile phone payment or a credit card payment according to a prepaid card buyer, that is, a subscriber's request on the web. In this case, when the payment approval inquiry is made through the payment system server 95 accessible through the IP network 60 and the authorization information is obtained therefrom, the prepaid card is charged online by charging the remaining amount of the prepaid card of the registered subscriber. It can also support.

As described above, since the present invention can obtain the billing information for billing through the gateway, various analysis data can be created to make up for the management loss by reflecting the charge error portion according to the 080 call time in the actual call rate. In addition, since the network connection start time can be calculated accurately, there is an advantage in establishing an accurate tariff system.

In addition, since the call time history managed by the gatekeeper can be deleted, the gatekeeper responsible for authentication, control, supervision, and traffic volume analysis can be reduced.

On the other hand, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, which are merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention should be defined only by the appended claims.

Claims (6)

In the Internet call system based on VoIP, A gateway for outputting call detail record (CDR) information generated when the subscriber's telephone which is connected to the public telephone network or the mobile communication network with the receiving telephone through the IP network is billed; A gatekeeper for determining a receiving IP address by determining a telephone number received from a subscriber telephone through the gateway; Receives subscriber identification information and password from the gateway to perform subscriber authentication, calculates a charge for the call based on the billing information received from the gateway, charges it to the subscriber, and outputs the received call detail record information to the outside. Internet management system comprising a; In the Internet call system based on VoIP, A gateway having an automatic answering function and outputting call detail record (CDR) information generated when a subscriber telephone connected to a public telephone network or a mobile communication network via an IP network is connected to a receiving telephone; A gatekeeper for determining a receiving IP address by determining a telephone number received from a subscriber telephone through the gateway; The subscriber identification information and password are received from the gateway to perform subscriber authentication, and the call detail record (CDR) information received from the gateway is classified and stored as 080 call time information and call time information, and outputted to the call time information. Internet management system comprising a; management server that calculates a fee according to the subscriber. In the Internet call system based on VoIP, A gateway having an automatic answering function and outputting call detail record (CDR) information generated when a prepaid card subscriber telephone connected to an internal switching network is connected to a receiving telephone through an IP network; A gatekeeper for determining a receiving IP address by determining a telephone number received from a subscriber telephone through the gateway; The subscriber identification information and password are received from the gateway to perform subscriber authentication, and the call detail record (CDR) information received from the gateway is classified and stored as 080 call time information and call time information, and outputted to the call time information. Internet management system comprising a; management server that calculates a fee according to the subscriber. 4. The Internet telephony system of claim 3, further comprising a payment system server for charging a prepaid card upon subscriber request. The method of claim 3 or 4, wherein the call detail record (CDR) information includes network connection start time information and connection information reception time for 080 call time calculation, and drop information reception time and subscriber information for call time calculation. Internet call system, characterized in that at least included. A method for obtaining billing information in an internet calling system, comprising at least a gateway for connecting a subscriber phone with a receiving phone via an IP network network and a management server for billing a subscriber based on call detail record (CDR) information. Checking if there is an internet dial-up request from the subscriber telephone; Recording a network access start time of a subscriber according to the access request response; Attempting connection with a counterpart gateway according to whether the subscriber has completed authentication; Checking whether connection information is received through the counterpart gateway; Recording the connection information reception time; Checking whether drop information is received through the counterpart gateway; Recording the drop information reception time; And transmitting call detail record (CDR) information of at least the subscriber's network access start time, connection information reception time, and drop information reception time to the management server. How to get information.