JP2000324268A - Isdn correspondence charging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To construct a center management system for charging, which realizes a function allowing each terminal to hear a charged state by using a received sub address information element all the time and can notify more accurate and various information in accordance with a charging information request generated by each terminal side at all times. SOLUTION: This ISDN correspondence communication equipment has an ISDN interface control part 1, which transmits and receives messages with an ISDN network, a message analyzing part 2 which analyzes charging and the received message of charging hearing and a communication function control part 3 which controls a telephone of charging related communication and a data communication function. It further has a charging information inputting part 4, which inputs data used for charging management, a charging information storing means 5 for storing charging information and a charging controlling part 6 which analyzes the received sub address message of a charging information inquiry call and performs the processing of each charging information, and response and automatic notification by the analysis of user regulation correspondence.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ISDN (Integr
ated Service Digital Network = Integrated Service Digital Network) The present invention relates to an interface communication terminal device, and more particularly to an ISDN-compatible communication device which manages communication charge information at a stage of concentrating a plurality of terminals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, there has been an invention which has a function of automatically counting communication charges of each terminal and checking a charge information, but lacks a notification timing of information and a method of storing information. One example is described in JP-A-09-289545. The communication charge management system described in this publication uses a user / user information element, and if a charge limit for a terminal has been requested in advance, when a call for which communication charge has occurred at each terminal ends, that terminal automatically In general, charging information is notified to a center management device, and based on the data, return control information and the like are returned to each terminal.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional ISDN-compatible communication device for billing management notifies billing information to the center management device after the end of a call at each terminal, and bills the billing information when it becomes a state related to regulation. Since the center issues a regulation-related instruction to the information, the information notification from the center management device cannot occur until the detection of the accumulated charge excess, and it does not correspond to the display of the charge information for each terminal. Each terminal had to always store the billing information data.

An object of the present invention is to realize a function of enabling each terminal to listen to a charging status at any time by using a destination sub-address information element, to respond to a charging information request generated at each terminal side at any time, and to realize a more accurate function. It is an object of the present invention to construct an ISDN-compatible communication device having a billing information center management system function capable of notifying various information.

[0005] Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the need for a charging device used up to now on each terminal side, and the present invention can provide a charging management system that solves the conventional problems.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An ISDN-compatible communication device according to the present invention is interposed between a plurality of communication terminals and an ISDN exchange and has an ISDN basic interface.
An N-compatible communication device, an ISDN interface control unit for transmitting / receiving a message to / from an ISDN network, analyzing a received message, detecting charging information, and immediately searching for a charging information request from an ISDN terminal under management. A message analysis unit that performs notification and display instructions by calculation processing, a communication function control unit that controls communication functions of communication systems including telephone and data communication, and a charging information input unit that inputs data used for charging management. A charging information storage unit for storing charging information, a charging control unit for controlling charging information, and a display unit for displaying an output of the message analyzing unit.

Further, when a charging event occurs, there is provided a means for automatically notifying the corresponding charging information to the ISDN terminal which has generated the charging event, and the communication function control unit also handles facsimile communication. Is a preferred embodiment.

Further, one of the features of the present invention is that the charging information includes a comparison between an allowable limit of the total charging and a cumulative amount for each terminal of the specific terminal group and for the whole of the specific terminal group. It is.

[0009] Further, the message analysis unit includes an ISDN
Controls outgoing and incoming calls corresponding to a unique destination sub-address pattern, and also notifies the terminal to the terminal, extracts the generated communication charging information that is automatically transferred as a result, stores it in the charging information storage unit, and stores it in the charging information storage unit. The presence or absence of a billing information acquisition request is detected from the information element, and the contents of the requested billing information are analyzed. In addition, for each terminal of the specified terminal group and for the terminal group, revision of the allowable limit of total charging or terminal use restriction is performed by setting input to the charging information input unit.

[0010]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an ISDN-compatible communication device according to the present invention.

This ISDN-compatible communication device controls an ISDN interface control unit 1 for transmitting / receiving a message to / from an ISDN network, a message analyzing unit 2 for analyzing a received message of a billing information request, and a telephone and data communication function. A billing information input unit 4 for inputting data used for billing management, a billing information storage unit 5 for storing billing information, and a billing control unit 6 for controlling billing information. Having.

The message analysis unit 2 detects the billing notification for each communication, records the billing notification for each corresponding terminal, and
It immediately determines and responds to a billing information request from an ISDN terminal under the management of an N-compatible communication device, performs search / calculation processing, and notifies billing information in a form that does not require special communication costs.

The ISDN interface control unit 1
The communication function control unit 3 controls all the events of “calling,” “incoming,” “connection,” and “disconnection” for charging-related communication with the SDN network. And data communication control.

The charging information input unit 4 is capable of inputting a maximum allowable charging limit setting for all communications for each terminal group under management and a maximum total amount setting for each terminal.
Can be stored.

Further, the message analysis unit 2 is configured to transmit the I
The SDN-compatible communication device controls “transmission” and “reception” corresponding to a specific destination sub-address pattern in the ISDN communication service. Further, the “actually charged communication cost” notified when the communication is disconnected is extracted from the ISDN message, and the information is stored in the charging information storage unit 5.

The billing control unit 6 includes the billing information storage unit 5
Based on the information stored in the terminal, a limit determination of the total charge amount of a specific terminal group and a check of the maximum total charge amount for each terminal are performed. These information checks are performed when an information acquisition request from each terminal is detected, and provide information to the requesting terminal.

Next, the operation of the ISDN-compatible communication device will be described with reference to FIGS. The charging information storage unit 5 stores the maximum allowable charging amount for all terminals of a specific terminal group and the maximum allowable charging amount for each terminal, which are input from the charging information input unit 4. The information elements include an instruction to display the accumulated billing information and initialization of the accumulated billing information.

As shown in FIG. 2, a Q.Q. is transmitted between the ISDN communication apparatus of the present invention and an ISDN exchange. The outgoing call is connected by performing the procedure specified in 931. Such Layer 1, Layer 2 and Q.3. The processing group that controls the 931 procedure is the ISDN interface control unit 1.

Call setting message 8 from charging information requesting terminal
Is connected to the ISDN-compatible communication device of the present invention via the ISDN exchange by message 9, and the call setting acceptance message 1
0 is returned to the requesting terminal. ISD by message 9
The N compatible communication device sends the call message 11 to the requesting terminal as a call message 12 via the ISDN exchange.

The specific destination subaddress information element (see FIG. 3) included in the incoming call setup message 9 from the charging information requesting terminal in this operation sequence is read by the message analysis unit 2.
And store it in the charging information storage unit 5 as well. The specific destination sub-address information element also includes a message in which the presence or absence of a billing information acquisition request and communication billing information at the end of a call are set, and in the present invention, based on this information, immediate billing information is used. Notify each terminal. Further, the accounting information set in the destination sub-address is notified to the accounting control unit 6, so that the accumulated accounting information can be calculated.

The charging control unit 6 manages the group cumulative charging information of each terminal group managed by each specific terminal and the terminal cumulative charging information of each terminal under the management of the specific terminal. The restriction determination is performed on the maximum allowable billing value for each group input from the unit 4 and the maximum allowable billing value for each terminal in the county when the incoming message with the destination subaddress is received. In particular, in terms of "immediate charging information" to be solved by the present invention, the charging status based on the information stored in the charging control unit 6 with respect to the requesting terminal at the timing described above. Can be analyzed and the situation can be notified. Further, real-time billing information can be notified to the user through the display unit 7.

From the viewpoint of the management system, when an incoming call with a specific destination sub-address for receiving information is received, the maximum allowable billing value for all terminals of the terminal group to which the terminal belongs and the maximum allowable charge value for each terminal in the terminal group are determined. The charging control unit 6 determines whether or not the accumulated charging amount has reached each of the allowable charging values.

When the ISDN-compatible communication device receives the destination subaddress message, it automatically releases the release completion message 12 via the ISDN interface control unit 1.
Is sent to the requesting terminal as a disconnection message 14 via the ISDN exchange. In response to this, the requesting terminal returns the release message 15 to the ISDN exchange, and receives the release setting message 15 from the exchange.

After being disconnected, the ISDN-compatible communication device automatically sends a call with a specific destination sub-address (call setting message 17) via the ISDN interface control unit 1 to the requesting terminal that has issued the request again, and
The exchange connects the requesting terminal with the call setup message 18 and
The call setting acceptance message 19 is received from the SDN exchange, and connection with the requesting terminal can be established by the call messages 20 and 21. The ISDN-compatible communication device transmits the request to each terminal or to the terminal to which the terminal belongs. Provide charging status information to all terminals in the group. afterwards,
When the requesting terminal is disconnected, the line is disconnected by exchanging the management messages of the release completion message 22, the disconnection message 23, the release message 24, and the release completion message 25.

However, in order to specify the terminal that issued the request, the terminal needs to add its own address at the time of the request (originating).

The revision and cancellation of the regulation are performed by setting the new allowable maximum charging value for each network, setting the new allowable maximum charging value for each terminal, and accumulating the charging information, which are input to the charging information input unit 4. Is performed by initialization.

In the present invention, the target is mainly a terminal having a telephone communication function and a data communication function.
The present invention can also be applied to an ISDN communication device having a facsimile function.

Further, in the present invention, when an inquiry about charging information is received from each terminal under the management of the ISDN-compatible communication device, the terminal has a function of notifying the terminal of the latest information. By automatically notifying each terminal whenever a change in the latest billing information is detected,
In terms of immediacy, accurate processing of information at each terminal can be realized more quickly. Examples of information processing vary depending on each terminal, but include information display on a display device prepared in each terminal and LED lighting.

[0029]

The first effect is to provide a terminal with accurate, instantaneous, and billing information that does not require special communication costs by using a destination subaddress information element in an ISDN communication service. This can eliminate the necessity of storing communication charges on each terminal side.

The reason is that in the conventional charging management method, each charging information is inevitably obtained and stored in each terminal, whereas in the present invention, as described above, the information using the specific destination subaddress information element is used. This is because, by providing the information, unified and accurate information can be provided to each terminal, so that it is possible to reduce physical resources for storing information in each terminal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an ISDN-compatible communication device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sequential chart of charging information listening by the ISDN-compatible communication device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of a destination subaddress message.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 ISDN interface control unit 2 message analysis unit 3 communication function control unit 4 charging information input unit 5 charging information storage unit 6 charging control unit 7 display unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An IDN having an ISDN basic interface interposed between a plurality of various communication terminals and an ISDN exchange.
An SDN-compatible communication device, comprising: an ISDN interface control unit for transmitting / receiving a message to / from an ISDN network; analyzing a received message, detecting charging information, and immediately responding to a charging information request from an ISDN terminal under management. A message analysis unit for searching, performing calculation processing, notifying, and instructing display, a communication function control unit for controlling communication functions of communication systems including telephone and data communication, and data used for charging management. An ISDN-compatible communication device comprising: a charging information input unit for inputting; a charging information storage unit for storing charging information; a charging control unit for controlling charging information; and a display unit for displaying an output of a message analyzing unit. 2. The ISDN-compatible apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for automatically notifying, when a charging event occurs, the corresponding charging information to the ISDN terminal which has generated the charging event. 3. The ISDN-compatible communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication function control unit includes a facsimile communication function control. 4. The charging information according to claim 1, wherein the charging information includes a comparison between a permissible limit amount for each terminal of a specific terminal group and a total charging amount of the entire terminal group and a current total amount. The ISDN-compatible communication device according to claim 1. 5. A means for performing message transmission / reception control corresponding to a destination subaddress pattern of ISDN when receiving a charging information request, detecting and processing charging, and determining whether a charging information acquisition request is received from the destination subaddress information element. 2. The ISDN-compatible communication device according to claim 1, further comprising: means for detecting; and means for analyzing the contents of the requested charging information. 6. The charging terminal according to claim 1, wherein the revision of the allowable limit of the total charging for each terminal of the specified terminal group and the total charge allowable limit of said terminal group or the terminal use restriction is performed by setting input to the charging information input section. ISDN compatible communication device.