JPH0897942A - Communication terminal device with talk time display function - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] By displaying a quantitative callable time in addition to the remaining number display, the user is made aware of the timing of the additional insertion of coins and the like, and the disconnection of the call is prevented in advance. [Arrangement] In an analog line communication terminal device having a function of accommodating at least one of a coin and a telephone card,
The charge processing control unit 7 calculates the remaining number corresponding to the coins inserted by the coin processing mechanism 8 and the telephone card inserted by the card reader mechanism 10, and the remaining number and the charge storage signal detection unit 5 during the call. Based on the charge storage signal from the exchange detected by the exchange, the available charge time is calculated based on the charge storage cycle during the call calculated by the charge storage cycle calculation means, and is displayed as a bar graph on the available call time display unit 13. .

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a general public telephone connected to an analog line, a public telephone dedicated to a telephone card, and a public telephone.
The present invention relates to a communication terminal device having a callable time display function, which can be applied to a 0-yen coin public telephone, a telephone card / coin combined public telephone, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a communication terminal device connected to an analog line, a general public telephone, a public telephone dedicated to a telephone card, a 100-yen coin public telephone and a telephone card /
There are coin-operated public telephones, etc. These conventional communication terminal devices have a function of accommodating at least one of a coin and a telephone card, and display the remaining number of the telephone card inserted from the card insertion slot, and the amount of coins inserted from the insertion slot. Is converted to a frequency and added to the remaining frequency to display the total residual frequency on the display unit.

For example, in the telephone card / coin combination public telephone shown in FIG. 4, a dial operation unit 2, a handset 3 and an emergency call button 4 are connected to a call control unit 1 connected to an analog line. One ends of the charge storage signal detection unit 5 and the remaining number signal transmission unit 6 are connected, and the other ends of the charge storage signal detection unit 5 and the remaining number signal transmission unit 6 are connected to the charge processing control unit 7, and the charge processing control unit 7 is connected. Further, the coin processing mechanism 8, the series circuit of the card reader control unit 9 and the card reader mechanism 10, and the remaining number display unit 11 are connected.

In this conventional communication terminal device, the user inserts one or both of a telephone card and a coin during a normal call except when the emergency operation button 4 is operated, and the dial operation unit 2 calls the destination telephone number. If the line is connected and the line is in a call state, a charge storage signal is sent from the exchange every predetermined time, and the charge storage signal is input via the call control unit 1 and the charge storage signal detection unit 5. The charge processing control unit 7 is instructed to reduce the frequency corresponding to the call charge from the remaining number of the telephone card for each predetermined time based on a predetermined fee system (for example, the remaining number perforation recording command by the card reader mechanism 10). Or issuing a command to collect coins corresponding to the call charge from the inserted coins, and a command to display the remaining number on the remaining number display unit 11. It has become way. At that time, the priority of the call charge collection is to collect from the telephone card first, and when the remaining number becomes 0, collect the inserted coins in ascending order (10 yen coin → 100 yen coin) Is common. At the end of the call, the card reader mechanism 10 is responsive to a command from the card reader controller 9.
The telephone card in which the remaining number of updates is recorded is returned, and the coin processing mechanism 8 returns uncollected coins.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned conventional example, only the remaining number (callable number) obtained based on the information on the inserted coins and the information on the remaining number of the inserted telephone card is displayed. Because
Even with the same remaining frequency, the callable time varies depending on the callee and the call time zone, so it is difficult to quantitatively grasp the actual callable time during a call just by looking at the display of the callable frequency only. Is. Therefore, especially when the call is a long-distance call with a short frequency reduction interval, prompt understanding of the available call time is required, and the timing of the coins to be added during the call is delayed and the charge is insufficient. There is a fear that the line connection will be cut off.

Here, in order to solve the above problem, a program for converting the remaining number into a callable time based on a destination telephone number and a call time zone is built in a communication terminal device,
A method of displaying the callable time when connecting the line is also conceivable, but this method requires updating the data of the program every time the fee system is revised, which requires a large maintenance cost and maintenance work. Disadvantageous and unrealistic.

[0007] When the line connection is made and the call is started, the exchange transmits the callable time information per one time to the communication terminal device, and the communication terminal device calculates and displays the callable time from the remaining number information. However, this method requires modification of the hardware / software of the existing switch to correspond to the above method, which is disadvantageous in terms of cost and is not realistic.

According to the present invention, a quantitative display, which is an index for grasping the available call time, is provided separately from the remaining number display.
The object is to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0009]

To this end, the structure of claim 1 of the present invention is, as shown in the concept of FIG.
In an analog line communication terminal device having a function of accommodating at least one of a telephone card, a residual number calculation means for calculating a residual number corresponding to the accommodated coins and a telephone card, and a charge storage signal from an exchange during a call are detected. Charge storage signal detection means, charge storage cycle calculation means for calculating the charge storage cycle during the call based on the charge storage signal, and call availability for calculating the call available time based on the charge storage cycle and the remaining number It is characterized by comprising time calculation means and callable time display means for displaying the callable time.

In the above description, it is preferable to use a bar graph proportional to the time axis for the display in order to realize an index by which the user can immediately and quantitatively grasp the callable time.

[0011]

According to the structure of claim 1 of the present invention, when the user makes a call by inserting at least one of a coin and a telephone card into the analog line communication terminal device, the coin stored by the remaining number calculating means is used. And the remaining number corresponding to the telephone card is calculated, the charge storage signal detection means detects the charge storage signal from the exchange during the call, and the charge storage period calculation means stores the charge during the call based on the charge storage signal. The cycle is calculated, the callable time calculating means calculates the callable time based on the charge storage cycle and the remaining number, and the callable time display means displays the calculated callable time. By looking at the display, it is possible to immediately know the available time, and the line connection may be cut off due to the delay of the coin or telephone card to be added. It is prevented.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment of the communication terminal device with the available call time display function of the present invention. The same parts as those in the conventional example of FIG. In this first embodiment, the present invention is applied to a telephone card / coin combined public telephone as a communication terminal device for analog lines. It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to other analog line communication terminal devices such as a general public telephone, a public telephone dedicated to a telephone card, and a 100-yen coin public telephone.

The difference of the first embodiment from the conventional example is that a charge storage signal period detection unit 12 is added between the charge storage signal detection unit 5 and the charge processing control unit 7 as shown in FIG. At the same time, the callable time display unit 13 is added to connect to the charge processing control unit 7. Here, the charge storage signal period detection unit 12 receives the charge storage signal transmitted from the exchange (not shown) via the call control unit 1 and the charge storage signal detection unit 5, and receives a plurality of charge storage signals. The interval, that is, the charge storage period is detected (calculated), and the callable time display unit 1
3 displays in real time the callable time obtained by the control program of FIG. 3 described later. Even if the talkable time display unit 13 is provided alone, it can be merged with the remaining number display unit 11 to display the remaining number and the talkable time in one display surface, for example, the remaining number can be digitally represented as the talkable time. Therefore, they may be displayed at the same time.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a control program of the available call time display control executed during a call in the first embodiment. Needless to say, normal charge management control (including remaining number display) is performed by executing a control program (not shown). In FIG. 3, first, in step 51, it is determined whether or not a telephone card has been inserted. If the card has been inserted, the remaining frequency is read in step 52, and if it has not been inserted, step 52 is skipped.
In the next step 53, it is determined whether or not a coin has been inserted, and if there is a coin, the type of coin is identified in step 54 to obtain the total amount, and the total amount is converted to a frequency. If there is no coin, step 54 is skipped. To do. Then, in step 55,
The frequencies of steps 52 and 54 are added to calculate the total residual frequency. This total remaining number represents a single remaining number if only one of the telephone card and the coin is inserted.

In the next step 56, as a result of the user inputting the destination telephone number from the dial operation unit 2 after inserting one or both of the telephone card and the coin, the line is connected according to the response of the other party and the call state is established. Determine whether or not In this determination, if the call state is not established due to busy or the like, the control is terminated as it is, and if the call state is established, in step 57, the charge storage signal issued from the exchange is read, and in step 58 the charge is set. The reception interval of the storage signal, that is, the charge storage cycle is calculated. In addition, every time the call charge (charging frequency) increases and the above-mentioned charge collection period elapses, the charge collection process (reduce the remaining number of the phone card, in the order of telephone card → 10 yen coin → 100 yen coin, The remaining number display of the remaining number display unit 11 is updated, and the remaining number signal sending unit 6 sends the remaining number signal to the call control unit 1.

In the next step 59, the available call time, which is an index indicating how long the call can be continued after that point, is calculated based on the total remaining number and the charge storage period. The calculation of this talk time is
For example, the callable time per call is calculated from the call frequency collected during the charge storage period, and the callable time corresponding to the call remaining time is calculated by multiplying the callable time per call by the call remaining time obtained in step 55. Do it. In the next step 60, the callable time is indicated by the callable time display unit 1.
Display in 3.

Here, it is preferable to use a bar graph proportional to the time axis as the display because it serves as a guide for allowing the user to immediately and quantitatively grasp the available communication time. In a certain area, for example, 8: 00-2
The charge for the time period of 3:00 is 23:00 for 60 seconds / 10 yen.
If the charge for the time zone of ~ 8:00 is 80 seconds / 10 yen, the number of seconds that can be multiplied by 10 yen will change when talking over both time zones (calls from 7:59:30 to 8:00:50) Therefore, if the callable time is digitally displayed in units of seconds, the accuracy will be slightly degraded, but a digital display or the like may be used as a guide for the callable time. At that time, the bar graph is to be decreased step by step at each charge storage cycle in response to the charge being collected at each charge storage cycle. The bar graph may be continuously decreased by the average decrease amount per unit time obtained by dividing the decrease amount during the charge accumulation period by the charge accumulation period. It will decrease linearly with the passage of time, and it will be possible to display the actual call time.

In the above, step 5
1 to 55 correspond to the residual frequency calculation means, and steps 57 to 6
0 corresponds to a charge storage signal detection means, a charge storage cycle calculation means, a callable time calculation means, and a callable time display means, respectively.

In the communication terminal device with the callable time display function of the first embodiment, the bar graph display is performed on the callable time display portion 13 even if the user does not perform an operation such as data input on the terminal device side. By looking at the bar graph display, it is possible to immediately understand how long the call can be continued without inserting coins or telephone cards, so the telephone can be disconnected before the line connection is cut off. It is possible to endeavor to end the call within the callable time by inserting a card or coin or by clearly indicating a highly important message.
As a result, a more efficient and reliable call becomes possible compared to the conventional example in which only the remaining number is displayed. In addition, if the program that converts the remaining number into the callable time based on the destination telephone number and the call time zone is built into the communication terminal device, the program data will be updated when the charge system is revised, and the hardware / software of the exchange will be changed. Since it is not necessary to add or change the above, it is possible to realize the above-mentioned callable time display function at an extremely low cost.

[0020]

As described above, according to the configuration of claim 1 of the present invention, when a user inserts at least one of a coin and a telephone card into the communication terminal device for analog line to make a call, The frequency calculation means calculates the remaining frequency corresponding to the coin and the telephone card, and the charge storage signal detection means detects the charge storage signal from the exchange during the call,
The charge storage cycle calculation means calculates the charge storage cycle during the call based on the charge storage signal, and the call available time calculation means calculates the call available time based on the charge storage cycle and the remaining number, and is calculated. Since the available call time display means displays the available call time, the user can immediately know the available call time by looking at the display, and the timing of inserting the coin or telephone card to be added is delayed. It is possible to prevent the line from being disconnected. Further, at that time, since it is not necessary to add or change the hardware / software to the existing communication equipment such as an exchange, it is possible to construct the communication system having the above-mentioned talk time display function at an extremely low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment of a communication terminal device with a callable time display function of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a control program of callable time display control executed during a call in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication terminal device of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 call control unit 2 dial operation unit 3 handset 5 charge storage signal detection unit 6 residual number signal transmission unit 7 charge processing control unit 8 coin processing mechanism 9 card reader control unit 10 card reader mechanism 11 residual number display unit 12 charge storage signal Cycle detection unit 13 Callable time display unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An analog line communication terminal device having a function of accommodating at least one of a coin and a telephone card, and a residual number calculating means for calculating a residual number corresponding to the accommodated coin and a telephone card, and a switch during a call. Charge storing signal detecting means for detecting the charge storing signal, charge storing cycle calculating means for calculating a charge storing cycle during the call based on the charge storing signal, and a call based on the charge storing cycle and the remaining number A communication terminal device with a callable time display function, comprising: a callable time calculation means for calculating a callable time; and a callable time display means for displaying the callable time. 2. The communication terminal device with a callable time display function according to claim 1, wherein the display uses a bar graph proportional to a time axis.