JPH08204833A - Multipath connection method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To realize a multipath connection method applicable to mass information services or telephone voting services using intelligent networks. [Structure] Prior to the start of the project, an advance pass is set up by the exchange to the plan provider, and the pass is retained until the end of the project. [Effect] Since multipath is set before the start of the project, a large number of incoming calls can be accepted at the start of the project. In addition, it is possible to avoid the situation where the multi-path is canceled and the information source provided by the plan provider is restored while the plan is continuing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is used for a special telephone service using an intelligent network. In particular, it relates to call connection control technology.

[0002]

^2. Description of the Related Art Various services utilizing an intelligent network such as dial Q ² (registered trademark) and free dial (registered trademark) are known. A conventional example will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 7 is intelligent
It is a whole network lineblock diagram. Intelligent
In the network, in order to obtain data for supporting various special services, a method has been adopted in which the subscriber line exchange GC makes an inquiry to the network service control station NSP for each call from the telephone terminal. Control station NSP
It is difficult to respond to inquiries each time because of the limitation of the processing capacity and the line capacity in the middle. Therefore, by temporarily transferring the data from the network service control station NSP to the subscriber line exchange GC, the problem of increased traffic required for inquiries to the network service control station NSP is addressed. The outline is shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a transfer state from the network service management station NSSP to the subscriber line exchange GC. In this way, the network service control station NSSP, which is a node higher than the network service control station NSP, can directly transfer the data to the subscriber line exchange GC.

A large amount of information service is provided in such an intelligent network that enables various services. A conventional example will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram of a mass information service. As a preliminary preparation, the service content of the contractor is set in the network service management station NSSP from the terminal device of the mass calling center. The network service management station NSSP is a network service control station N.
Subscriber line exchange GC in the service area via SP
Transfer the service contents to.

The user dials a mass calling number (a number that the user wants to hear). In the subscriber line exchange GC, the first call (at the time of the first call) for the corresponding number is connected to the plan provider terminal IP via the relay exchange ZC. In the subscriber line exchange GC, the transit exchange ZC, and the destination subscriber line exchange GC, when the second and subsequent calls to the corresponding numbers occur successively, the node performs multipath distribution connection. As a result, even if a large amount of calls are made, the sound source on the project provider side can be serviced with only one line. here,
In the multipath distribution connection, since the call (voice) is a digital signal, the distribution connection is made by copying the signal. Services are stopped or restarted, traffic notification and other instructions are given to the plan provider terminal IP through the packet network (customer control).

FIG. 10 is a view conceptually showing the structure of the mass information service shown in FIG. For the sound source device (hereinafter referred to as IP sound source) prepared by the plan provider,
Information is provided by multiple connections from each telephone terminal. That is, in the mass information service, the information (guidance, etc.) is provided to the caller by connecting a plurality of connection request calls to the IP sound source prepared by the plan provider and the like by multipath. If the IP sound source that has become unavailable is not connectable, all calls that are requested to be connected until the IP sound source is restored will encounter a busy terminal, resulting in busy tone connection.

[0006] Further, in the telephone voting service for voting by a telephone terminal, when the telephone voting is accepted, a fixed guidance "Thank you. I received your call" is sent from the network side. There are other opinions from the plan providers and users, such as "I'm disheartened" and "I want to respond with a voice of personality", and I want a multi-connection to an IP sound source that allows the plan provider to freely set the language even in the telephone voting service. Has been done.

[0007]

However, in the special service such as the telephone voting service in which the peak traffic occurs almost at the same time as the start of the planning, as described above, the multipath by the first incoming call is being set. Alternatively, the number of calls that the IP sound source encounters during the recovery and makes a busy tone connection is so large that the conventional method cannot be applied.

As a factor for restoring the IP sound source, when the connected multipath is disconnected (the incoming call is interrupted), the busy tone is connected to the IP sound source from the communication network side, and the IP sound source talks about the busy tone. It may be possible to detect the middle tone and try to recover.

Problems of this conventional example will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the problems of the conventional example. As shown in FIG. 11A, when the caller hears the information and disconnects the line, if no other caller is calling the IP sound source (that is, an incoming call arrives). If not), the called local exchange GC connects the busy tone (BT) to the IP sound source. Upon receipt of this, the IP sound source shifts to a cue or other recovery state. At this time,
Even if another caller makes a call, connection cannot be established because the IP sound source is being restored, and as shown in FIG. 11 (b), the calling subscriber line exchange GC gives a busy tone to the caller. Is connected and the caller cannot hear the information. After the IP sound source is restored, the information is again provided from the IP sound source to the newly calling caller.

As described above, depending on the IP sound source, the recovery time is considerably long, and the busy tone is connected to the caller who called during that time, and the service cannot be provided. In addition, with services such as telephone voting services that require a peak connection request almost at the same time as the start of planning, even for a large number of callers even during multipath setting that is performed when the first incoming call is received. It is possible that the busy tone is connected.

The present invention has been made against such a background. By setting a pre-multipath to a plan provider by an exchange before the start of a plan and holding the multipath until the end of the plan, It is an object of the present invention to provide a multipath connection method that can reliably send guidance to a call from a user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a multipath connection method in which the multipath is not disconnected while the planning is continued.

[0012]

The present invention is characterized in that a multipath is set from a certain time to a certain time regardless of whether there is an incoming call or not, according to a prior meeting with a plan provider.

That is, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a plurality of exchanges capable of multi-connection in which a plurality of incoming lines are connected to a single outgoing line and an incoming call received at each of these exchanges. It is a multipath connection system including a connection line for connecting to one sound source and a control means for controlling the exchange and the connection line.

Here, a feature of the present invention is that the control means includes means for controlling connection between a preset line of the incoming lines and the sound source before an incoming call arrives. Where it is. As a result, it is possible to set up a multipath and wait before the project starts. Therefore, it can be used for mass information service or telephone voting service.

It is preferable that the sound source is voice information, the preset lines are lines corresponding to subscriber telephone numbers, and the connection control means is activated by an operation input.

It is preferable that the means for controlling connection includes means for releasing the connection between the exchange and the connection line at a preset time or by an operation input. As a result, the multi-pass can be canceled after the project ends.

A second aspect of the present invention is a mass information service system including the multipath connection system.

A third aspect of the present invention is a telephone voting service system including the multipath connection system.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is an exchange comprising an incoming line to which a plurality of incoming calls are respectively connected, an information sound source, and connecting means for connecting the output of this information sound source to the incoming call terminal. It is a device.

Here, the feature of the present invention resides in that the connection means connects the output of the information sound source to the input side line and releases the output according to the instruction information from the host device regardless of the presence or absence of the incoming call. There is a means to do so.

[0021]

[Operation] Multi-path can be set before the start of the project in accordance with a prior meeting with the plan provider. For example, by using it for a mass information service, even if the incoming call is interrupted, the plan can be continued. It is possible to avoid a situation where the caller is in the busy tone connection without the IP sound source being restored. Alternatively, by using the telephone voting service, the IP sound source can be connected to a large number of incoming calls that arrive almost simultaneously with the start of the project.

The sound source is voice information, and preset lines correspond to subscriber telephone numbers, respectively, and the caller can request line connection by the subscriber telephone number.

In addition, according to a prior meeting with the plan provider, the setting of multipath can be canceled after the plan is completed.

The exchange may be provided with a timer function to set or release the multipath.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration and operation of an embodiment of the present invention.

According to the present invention, a plurality of subscriber line exchanges GC capable of multi-connection in which a plurality of input side lines are connected to a single output side line and incoming calls respectively received by the subscriber line exchanges GC are provided. This is a multipath connection system provided with a connection line connected to one IP sound source, a subscriber line exchange GC, and a network service control station NSP as a control means for controlling the connection line.

Here, a feature of the present invention is that the network service management station NSSP has means for controlling connection between a preset line of the incoming lines and an IP sound source before an incoming call arrives. It's in the place of preparation.

The IP sound source is voice information, the preset lines are lines corresponding to subscriber telephone numbers, and the network service control station NSP is activated by an operation input.

The network service management station NSSP includes means for releasing the connection between the subscriber line exchange GC and the connection line at a preset time or by an operation input.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1A, at the stage before the start of planning, the advance multipath setting trigger is the schedule activation of the network service management station NSSP that manages the planning data, and the start of service provision. 10 minutes before, the pre-multipath setting instruction is given to the calling subscriber line exchange GC.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), when a call is made from the user during the planning continuation, an incoming call is connected to the already set (preliminary) multipath. I do. Even if there is no call from the user at this point, the preset multipath is still active, so the IP
The sound source never recovers.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1 (c), when the planning is completed, the network service management station NSSP again issues a pre-multipath release instruction.

A mass information service will be described as an example. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing plan data created by the network service management station NSSP based on the information input from the customer terminal. The originating area code is an area code in which this mass information service can be used, and can be arbitrarily designated by the plan provider. The network service management station NSSP extracts the exchange GC to be planned and provided from the originating area code and transfers the connection data (FIG. 3) described later.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing connection data transferred to the exchange GC of the plan provider. The pre-multipath setting flag becomes "1" (setting) when the pre-multipath setting of the present invention is completed. The service start flag is
It becomes "1" (start) when this project is started. Also,
The through cycle and the repeating cycle are the time (through cycle) for connecting the incoming call of the service telephone number to a predetermined IP sound source after the exchange GC receives a service start instruction from the network service management station NSSP, and the next through start. The time (repetition cycle) is defined, and each exchange GC executes the operation of thru->pause-> thru based on this time.

(Operation of Network Service Management Station NSSP) Next, the network service management station NSS based on these data
The operation of P and the exchange GC will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the network service management station NSSP. The connection data is created from the plan data created based on the data input from the customer terminal of the contractor (Sa1). This data creation process differs from the conventional one in that the telephone number of the IP sound source is added to the planning data and the connection data, and that the pre-multipath setting flag is added to the connection data. Next, the created connection data is sent to the subscriber line exchange GC of the plan provider. The subscriber line exchange GC extracts from the originating area code of the plan data as described above (Sa2). Next, the plan data service start time and the network service management station NSSP
When the clock time of the network service management station NSSP reaches a time slightly before the service start time (for example, 10 minutes before the service start time), or manually from the contractor's terminal in advance. When the multipath setting is sent (Sa3), each exchange GC is instructed to set the advance multipath via the network service control station NSP (Sa).
4). Next, the service end time of the plan data is compared with the clock time of the network service management station NSSP, and when the clock time of the network service management station NSSP exceeds the service end time, or the plan provider terminal IP (IP terminal) When the advance multipath release is manually sent from (Sa5),
Each subscriber line exchange GC through the network service control station NSP
To instruct to release the advance multipath (Sa6).

(Operation of Switch GC) FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the subscriber line switch GC of the plan provider. When the "connection data" transmitted from the network service management station NSSP is received (Sb1), the connection data is stored in the memory (Sb2). Network Service Management Station NSSP
When the "pre-multipath setting instruction" transmitted from the network service control station NSP is received from the server (Sb3), connection is performed by using the internal resource for the telephone number of the IP sound source of the connection data, and the IP sound source is connected. The advance multipath is set (Sb4). Next, when a premultipath release instruction is received from the network service management station NSSP (Sb5), the premultipath to the IP sound source is canceled (Sb8).

When accessing the information of the IP sound source during the implementation of the plan, the caller has a predetermined service number (0180-XX
(XXXX), the service telephone number is received by the subscriber line exchange GC, and the service number dialed by the caller referring to the connection data matches the service telephone number of the connection data (Sb6). If the pre-multipath setting flag of the connection data is "1" (setting), the multipath already set is connected (Sb7).
The multipath connection method is the same as the conventional incoming multipath connection method.

As described above, the network service management station NSSP instructs the subscriber line exchange GC to set the multipath in advance based on the service start time of the plan data, and in the subscriber line exchange GC, from the network service management station NSSP. The multipath to the IP sound source is not canceled until the multipath setting instruction is received from the network service management station NSSP and the multipath setting cancellation command is received from the network service management station NSSP in advance. Therefore, unlike the prior art, even if there is no outgoing call to the IP sound source, the multipath to the IP sound source will not be released.

Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a telephone voting service will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a telephone voting service.
There is a "telephone voting service" as a service for multipath connection of a large number of calls to an IP sound source. What is the telephone voting service?
This service accepts choices of answers to questions through several service telephone numbers and immediately provides the number of received answers to the plan provider.

The total number of responses is calculated by the network service control station NSP.
Polls the report of the number of answers from the subscriber line exchange GC, and the subscriber line exchange GC that receives the polling returns the number of responses in sequence. When the network service management station NSSP receives a request for counting the number of answers from the terminal of the plan provider, the subscriber line exchange GC sends the number of answers already collected to the network service management station NSSP.

In addition to the above, the subscriber line exchange GC provides the guidance "Thank you. The call was accepted" from the IP sound source 2 that is fixedly assigned. There is. In the present invention, since the multipath is set in advance and the multipath is not released until the multipath release instruction is received, there is no problem that the connection to the IP sound source cannot be disabled as described in the mass information service.

Further, in the present invention, since the connection data to be transferred to the subscriber line exchange GC is provided with the "IP sound source telephone number" for presetting the multipath, other than the fixedly allocated IP sound source 2. It is possible to connect to the IP sound source 3 prepared by the project provider, and it is possible to provide a service corresponding to the request of the project provider that "I want to respond with the voice of the personality". Also, in the telephone voting service, there are several service telephone numbers AN1 and AN corresponding to options.
, ..., ANn are prepared, so that connection data is also prepared for each service telephone number. Therefore, by setting a different telephone number of the IP sound source for each service telephone number, it is possible to provide guidance corresponding to the plan provider's request.

As described above, the connection data of the present invention has "I
Since the “P sound source telephone number” is provided, it is possible to connect to the IP sound source 3 prepared by the plan provider other than the fixedly assigned IP sound source 2.

Also, since the connection data is prepared for each service telephone number corresponding to the answer, it is possible to set a different telephone number of the IP sound source for each service telephone number, and to provide guidance corresponding to the request of the plan provider. Can be provided.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By setting the advance multipath to the plan provider with the exchange before the start of the plan and holding the multipath until the end of the plan, it is possible to reliably send the guidance to the call from the user. According to the present invention, the multipath is not disconnected while the planning is continued. Therefore, the guidance can be surely sent to the call from the user.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration and operation of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing plan data created by a network service management station based on information input from a customer terminal.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing connection data transferred to an exchange of a plan provider.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a network service management station.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the subscriber line exchange of the plan provider.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a telephone voting service.

FIG. 7 is an overall configuration diagram of an intelligent network.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a transfer state from a network service management station to a subscriber line exchange.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram of a mass information service.

10 is a diagram further conceptually showing the mass information service shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the problems of the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2, 3 IP sound source BT busy tone GC subscriber line switch IP planning provider terminal NSP network service control station NSSP network service management station NW common line signaling network ZC relay switch

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kenji Aoyagi 1-6, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Masataka Kato 1-6, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Fumiaki Okawara 1-6, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Jun Funasako 1-1-6, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of exchanges capable of multi-connection in which a plurality of incoming lines are connected to a single outgoing line, and a connection line for connecting an incoming call received at each of the exchanges to one sound source. In a multipath connection system comprising the exchange and a control means for controlling the connection line, the control means connects a preset line of the incoming lines and the sound source before an incoming call arrives. A multipath connection method characterized by comprising a control means. 2. The multi-source according to claim 1, wherein the sound source is voice information, the preset lines are lines corresponding to subscriber telephone numbers, and the connection control means is activated by an operation input. Path connection method. 3. The connection control means includes means for releasing the connection between the exchange and the connection line at a preset time or by an operation input.
The described multipath connection method. 4. A mass information service system including the multipath connection system according to claim 3. 5. A telephone voting service system including the multipath connection system according to claim 3. 6. An exchange apparatus comprising an incoming line to which a plurality of incoming calls are respectively connected, an information sound source, and a connecting means for connecting the output of the information sound source to the incoming call terminal, wherein the connecting means is An exchange apparatus comprising means for connecting and releasing the output of the information sound source to the ingress line according to instruction information from a higher-level device regardless of whether or not the incoming call is received.