JPH0548712A - Telephone set and telephone charging system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To confirm a telephone user and allow the calling of the telephone set without using coins nor a dedicated magnetic card and to charge the telephone call. CONSTITUTION:The telephone set 10 is equipped with a fingerprint reader 16 which reads a fingerprint of the operator. The read fingerprint is sent from a telephone exchange 21 to a computer 23 for fingerprint matching and when it is confirmed that the fingerprint is already registered, the calling by the operator is allowed. After the telephone call, the telephone exchange 21 charges the specific person corresponding to the fingerprint for the telephone call.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone that can make a call from a telephone box or the like without using coins.
The present invention relates to a telephone charge billing system when this telephone is used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In addition to the type of coin (coin) that has been conventionally used for public telephones, telephones that use magnetic cards exclusively for public telephones have been widely used. It is useful for long-distance calls and long-term calls that do not have coins or require a large amount of coins.

In a public telephone using coins, it is checked whether the inserted coin is suitable for making a call from the telephone, and if it is suitable, the exchange side is notified of the call from the public telephone. The exchange side recognizes that the call is sent from the public telephone and sends a coin storage signal to this public telephone side for each billing degree, and the public telephone side stores the coin every time it receives this signal. It has become.

In the case of a public telephone that uses a magnetic card, the main body of the telephone is equipped with a magnetic card reader and a mechanism for determining the data read, and the public telephone determines whether the magnetic card is suitable for making a call. I'm going. That is, if the magnetic card is a legitimate card used in a telephone and there is a frequency necessary for making a call, the call is permitted. Then, similarly to a public telephone using coins, the exchange is notified at this stage, and the remaining frequency of the magnetic card is subtracted for each charging frequency.

[0005]

However, when using a telephone that uses coins, there is a problem that a predetermined coin must be always carried. Also,
When making a long-distance call or a long-term call, it was necessary to prepare many coins in advance, which was a problem. Furthermore, when making a long-distance call, coins must be frequently inserted into the telephone, and there is a problem that it is not possible to calmly talk or take notes.

[0006] Further, in a telephone using a magnetic card,
I always had to carry a magnetic card for my phone. Moreover, especially those who frequently use telephones need to carry several magnetic cards in case the remaining card count is exhausted. However, in the so-called card society, it is necessary for people to carry along with other cards such as credit cards and cash cards, and there is naturally a limit to the number of magnetic cards dedicated to telephones that can be carried at one time. In addition, if various cards are held together, not only does it take time to select a magnetic card dedicated to the telephone from among these when making a call, but also the mistake of setting the wrong card in the telephone occurs.

Although public telephones have been described above, telephones other than public telephones have a problem in that when it is necessary to restrict outgoing calls to only specific persons, there is no effective measure against this. It was That is, for example, in the case of allowing only a limited number of people to make an international call or long-distance communication, only a method of giving such a function to a telephone placed on the desk of the person concerned can be adopted. It was impossible to control the calling of others from the telephone.

[0008] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a telephone capable of permitting an outgoing call from a telephone such as a public telephone without using a coin or a card.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a telephone charge billing system capable of billing the use of a telephone even when making a call without using a coin or a card.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a fingerprint reader, transmitting means for transmitting the read fingerprint to a predetermined destination through a telephone line, and the fingerprint from the destination described above are stored in advance. A telephone is equipped with a callable state setting means for setting a callable state when it is confirmed that the telephone is registered.

That is, in the telephone according to the first aspect, the fingerprint of the person who intends to make a call is read and the read fingerprint is transmitted to a predetermined destination such as a fingerprint collation center. Then, when it is confirmed from the destination that the fingerprint is registered in advance, the telephone is set in a state in which it can be transmitted, the sender is confirmed, and the use of the card is made unnecessary.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a fingerprint reader, transmitting means for transmitting the read fingerprint to a predetermined destination through a telephone line, and the fingerprint registered in advance from the destination. When it is confirmed that the outgoing call is possible, the available call state setting means, and when the call is made in the outgoing call possible state, the caller predetermined for the registered fingerprint. And a telephone charge charging means for charging a charge to the telephone charge charging system.

That is, according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the fingerprint is confirmed, the person who is predetermined for the fingerprint (not necessarily the sender) is charged for billing, and cash or a card is used. Allows billing when not used.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the personal identification number input means for inputting the personal identification number of the person who has read the fingerprint, the transmitting means for transmitting the personal identification number together with the fingerprint to the above-mentioned predetermined destination, and this destination. When it is confirmed from the beginning that the fingerprint has been registered in advance, provided that the PIN corresponding to the fingerprint matches from this destination,
The telephone according to claim 1 is provided with a callable state setting weighting means for setting a callable state.

That is, according to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the fingerprint, the coincidence of the personal identification number is set as a condition necessary for making a call from the telephone, and the fingerprint of another person is printed and abused, or his own fingerprint is corrected. Then, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a situation in which the call is made by matching the fingerprint of another person.

[0016]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to examples.

FIG. 1 shows an essential part of a circuit configuration of a telephone in one embodiment of the present invention. This phone 1
0 is a CPU (central processing unit) for performing various controls 1
It is equipped with 1. CPU 11 is a bus 1 such as a data bus
2, the ROM 13, the working memory 14, the telephone main body device 15, the fingerprint reading device 16, and the liquid crystal display unit 17 are connected. Here, the ROM 13 is a read-only memory, and stores programs for controlling each part of the telephone 10. The work memory 14 is a memory for temporarily storing various data, and is composed of a random access memory. The telephone main body device 15 is a portion having a function as an ordinary telephone and is provided with dial keys. Further, the telephone body 15 is connected through a telephone line 19 to an exchange not shown in the figure.

The fingerprint reading device 16 is a device for reading the fingerprint of the user of this telephone, and is composed of a glass plate (not shown) for pressing a finger and an image sensor for reading the fingerprint of the pressed finger. From the read image, the contour of the fingerprint is extracted by well-known image processing, and its binary data is temporarily stored in the working memory 14. The liquid crystal display unit 17 is adapted to display data necessary for operating instructions of the telephone 10.

FIG. 2 shows a fingerprint collation system using this telephone. The telephone set 10 includes a telephone exchange 2 through the line 19 from the above-mentioned telephone body device 15.
It is connected to 1. The telephone exchange 21 is connected to the fingerprint collation computer 23 in the fingerprint collation center 22 and collates the fingerprint sent from the telephone 10.

FIG. 3 shows how the telephone of this embodiment is controlled. When the handset (not shown) of the telephone main body device 15 shown in FIG. 1 is taken off hook (step S101; Y), the CPU 11 displays on the liquid crystal display unit 17 "Place your index finger" (step S102). When the operator of the telephone 10 places his or her index finger on the glass plate of the fingerprint reading device 16, a sensor (not shown) detects this (step S103; Y),
The image of the finger is read to extract the outline of the fingerprint (step S104). Then, when the contour can be extracted satisfactorily (step S105; Y), this image is displayed on the telephone exchange 2.
1 (FIG. 2) (step S106). On the other hand, if a satisfactory line drawing is not obtained due to image blurring or the like (step S; N), the process returns to step S102 to read the image again.

When the image is transmitted in step S106, the CPU 11 displays "Please release your finger" on the liquid crystal display unit 17 (step S107), and the telephone exchange 2
It waits for the reception of the result from 1 (step S108).
Then, when the result is received (Y), it is determined whether or not the caller's number is received (step S109), and when the caller's number is received, the dialing is performed on the liquid crystal display unit 17. Please display "(step S11)
0). After that, normal call processing is performed (step S111), and the work is ended (end).

On the other hand, when the result that the caller's number is not applicable is received in step S109 (N), the CPU
11 displays on the liquid crystal display unit 17 "I cannot talk" (step S112). In this case, when the operator returns the handset and goes on hook, this display ends (step S113), and all the work ends (end).

On the other hand, FIG. 4 shows how the telephone exchange is controlled. Telephone exchange 2 shown in FIG.
When the fingerprint image is received from the telephone 10, the device 1 performs collation with a large number of fingerprint images registered in the magnetic disk (not shown) of the fingerprint collation computer 23 (see FIG. 2) (step S202). ). At this time, it is free to secondarily process the image sent from the telephone 10.

As a result of the collation, if it matches with one of the images of the registered fingerprints (Y), the number of the chargeable person (usually the sender, henceforth called the sender) registered corresponding to the image is registered. Reply to the telephone 10 (step S20)
3). When the dial number is transmitted in step S110 described above (step S204;
Y), the call is connected (step S205). After this,
When the call ends (step S206; Y), the call charge is calculated from the call distance and the call time, and the caller is charged (step S207). On the other hand, step S20
When it does not match any of the registered images in 2 (N), the telephone 10 is returned that there is no corresponding image (step S208), and the work is ended (END).

The control of the public telephone and the telephone exchange has been described above. However, even for telephones installed in homes or offices, it is possible to permit calling to a specific telephone by registering a fingerprint. .. Further, in the embodiment, after processing the image on the telephone, it is given to the computer for fingerprint matching, but the telephone side only reads the image, and all the processing is performed on the computer side. Good. Further, in the embodiment, the identification of the person himself / herself was performed only by the fingerprint. However, if it is necessary to prevent the possibility of modifying the fingerprint to avoid the billing of telephone charges, further input of the personal identification number is required. You may request it.

[0026]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the fingerprint reading device, the transmitting means for transmitting the read fingerprint to the predetermined destination through the telephone line, and the fingerprint from the destination are transmitted. Since the telephone is equipped with a call-enabled state setting means for setting the call-enabled state when it is confirmed that the call is registered in advance, it is possible to permit or reject the call from any telephone. There is an effect that you can. Further, since the fingerprints are collated, there is an advantage that the identity of the person can be accurately confirmed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a fingerprint reader, a transmitting means for transmitting the read fingerprint to a predetermined destination through a telephone line, and the fingerprint registered in advance from the destination. When it is confirmed that the outgoing call is possible, the available call state setting means is set, and when the call is made in the outgoing call possible state, the predetermined fingerprint is set for the registered fingerprint. Since the telephone fee charging system for charging the person to be charged is provided in the telephone fee charging system, the person can be confirmed and the fee can be charged without owning a coin or a magnetic card. Moreover,
Compared with using other human characteristics such as voice or signature, the result is not affected by health and has the advantage of being accurate.

Further, according to the third aspect of the invention, the identification number is used together with the fingerprint so that the person can be confirmed. Therefore, a print of the fingerprint of another person can be obtained or a brush or the like can be used for the own fingerprint. Even if an attempt is made to make a correction and bill the telephone charge to another person, the PIN code of the other person cannot be input, so that such an operation can be prevented.

[Detailed Description of Drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of a circuit configuration of a telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing a fingerprint matching system using this telephone.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing how the telephone of this embodiment is controlled.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing how the telephone exchange of this embodiment is controlled.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Telephone 11 CPU 13 ROM 14 Working Memory 15 Telephone Main Unit 16 Fingerprint Reader 21 Telephone Switch 23 Fingerprint Matching Computer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A fingerprint reader, transmitting means for transmitting the read fingerprint to a predetermined destination through a telephone line, and when it is confirmed from the destination that the fingerprint is registered in advance. A telephone set comprising a callable state setting means for setting a callable state. 2. A fingerprint reader, transmitting means for transmitting the read fingerprint to a predetermined destination through a telephone line, and when it is confirmed from the destination that the fingerprint is registered in advance. An available call state setting means for setting an outgoing call possible state, and a telephone charge for charging a predetermined person for the registered fingerprint when a call is made in the outgoing call possible state A telephone charge billing system comprising: a billing unit. 3. A personal identification number input means for inputting a personal identification number of a person who has read the fingerprint, a transmitting means for transmitting the personal identification number together with the fingerprint to the predetermined destination, and the fingerprint from the destination in advance. When it is confirmed that it is a registered one, it is provided with a callable state setting weighting means for setting a callable state on the condition that the password corresponding to the fingerprint matches from this destination. The telephone according to claim 1, characterized in that