JPS59189B2 - Incoming call charge control method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a billing system in a telephone exchange.

Conventionally, when using a public phone, if the user only had a few coins with him, the call could be forcibly disconnected before the user had communicated the entire message due to lack of coins.

In addition, there was a request for companies to pay telephone usage charges when using telephones for business purposes during business trips. An object of the present invention is to enable billing to be performed on the called party side of a telephone user or a specific third party different from the called party (for example, a billing telephone number designated by a company), and to This prevents forced disconnections during calls due to lack of coins.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a switching center with a subscriber information search section, a registration code verification section, a billing information creation section, a billing information transfer section, etc. For public telephones, a blockage signal generator is installed in the switching center to stop transmitting the coin deposit signal, and the billing operation using the coin deposit signal, which was conventionally carried out on the public telephone side, is interrupted. It is characterized by

Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be explained using one embodiment with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the functions of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a processing flowchart when the present invention is applied to a billing control system for public telephones, and Fig. 3 is a subscription diagram when incoming call charges are applied. This is an example of subscriber information that may be placed in the subscriber information file.
FIG. 4 is a comparison diagram of the conventional process and the process of the present invention in public billing process.

An overview of the operation of a general electronic exchange will be explained with reference to FIG. General subscriber (or public telephone) A is subscriber circuit L
It is connected to exchange EXG3 via SC.

The status of the subscriber is detected in the subscriber circuit LSC and communicated to the central control unit CCl by a subscriber line scanning device (not shown). If the subscriber is a PB telephone, when the subscriber makes a call, a dial tone transmission trunk (not shown)
and the PB code receiving trunk REC. When the subscriber dials the telephone number of the called subscriber, the central control unit CC reads the dialing code from the receiving trunk REC, and receives the call based on the calling subscriber information and the called telephone number from the subscriber information storage drum DR. perform an analysis,
If the received code is a subscriber accommodated in another station, the outgoing trunk 0GT is captured, a relay control installation (not shown) is activated, and the other exchange EXG2 is activated.

When the other party's exchange EXG2 becomes ready for reception, it sends out the target called number through a number sending trunk (not shown). The exchange EXG3 is a billing station and receives billing information via the information transfer device TRM1,2. The billing station may be the same as the receiving station. The configuration of the present invention will be explained using FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 based on an embodiment regarding public charging.

User A who wants to charge incoming calls when using public telephones
However, when dialing a predetermined special number, the exchange EXG that detected that code in the receiving trunk REC
l transmits the first tone (sound) requesting the first code (cipher code) to the caller from the talk trunk TKYl, and caller A dials the first code registered in advance at the exchange from the public telephone. do. When the central control unit CC of the exchange EXGl scans the receiving trunk REC and finds that the dial code has been received, it analyzes the received code.

When it is determined that the received code is a special number, the central control device activates the detection unit DETl, checks whether the special number is configured as the first code in the detection unit, and performs an index for the second code. Start the search request unit COM. Search request part CO
M generates a search command and sends the first code to the search unit SER along with it.

The search unit SER stores in memory the second code (the called telephone number and the billing telephone number of the called party or a third party) stored in the file corresponding to the first code of the caller from the subscriber information file FILE. Read to MEM. The exchange EXGl connects the talk trunk TKY2 to the caller A, thereby allowing the caller to hear a second talk (tone) requesting the incoming telephone number. After confirming the second caller A, the caller A dials the intended incoming telephone number. When the exchange detects the incoming telephone number dialed by caller A via the receiving trunk REC, the incoming telephone number and memory M
The incoming phone number of the second code read in the EM is verified by the detection unit VERl, and if the result of the judgment does not match, the caller hears a busy tone (BT sound) and the dialed incoming phone number is invalid. Let me know. As a result of the determination, if the telephone numbers match, the process proceeds to a connection operation with the called subscriber.

If the called subscriber is free, the normal ringing state occurs.

When the called party answers, normally in the case of a call made from a public telephone, the billing program of the exchange creates a coin storage cycle commensurate with the number of calls between the caller and the called party, and a signal driving device (not shown) ), the public office equipment PlEQ is driven to generate a coin storage signal by reversing the polarity and send it to the public telephone.

If the incoming call charge is specified, the blocking signal generator C of the switching center
In order to stop sending out the storage signal from SlG, switch section S
W is activated and the transmission of the accommodation signal is stopped by stopping the polarity reversal relay operation of the public station equipment PlEQ.

At the same time as the transmission of the accommodation signal is stopped, the central control unit CC activates the charging processing switching unit CHCNT to perform charging processing at the originating exchange EXGl.

When the on-hook of the calling phone is detected, the signal editing unit GEWE on the switching side records the calling phone number, the incoming phone code,
Information such as the billing telephone number and billing frequency value obtained by the second code is edited in accordance with the transmission format, and the billing information of the user is transferred to the billing telephone number accommodating station EXG3 by the transfer devices TRM1 and TRM2.

The above subscriber information is the first key information shown in FIG.
The code is composed of a called telephone number as a second code determined from the key information, and a billing telephone code of a third party that is the same as the called telephone number.

Multiple incoming phone numbers can be registered. For example, when charging for incoming calls to a company, etc., by providing one incoming call charge for a plurality of telephone numbers owned by the company, only one piece of key information is required. The subscriber information configured as described above is stored in the subscriber information file FILE.

Compared to the conventional method, this method as explained above is ranked 4th.
As shown in the figure, by using a special number, it is possible to distinguish between general calls and calls for incoming call charges, and receiving and verifying the encryption code and incoming telephone number also prevents unauthorized use.

For billing during calls, public phone users must insert coins each time a collection number is sent from the station.
In this system, since the storage signal is stopped, the user does not need to insert a coin except when transmitting for the first time. Therefore, by adopting this method, the following effects can be obtained. (stomach)
When using a public phone, there will no longer be forced disconnections during calls due to lack of additional coins.

(b) When using a public telephone, the hassle of exchanging coins and depositing coins while on the phone is eliminated.

(c) When using long-distance calls, there is no need to worry about having coins or paying bills.

(d) Eliminates the need to bill companies for telephone usage fees during business trips.

Based on the above, by equipping telephone exchanges with the above functions, the terminals of general telephones and public telephones currently in use can be used as they are without any changes, and the terminals can be used as is, regardless of the amount of money on hand. Because users can use their phones with peace of mind, phone usage does not increase.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a system block diagram of the incoming call charging control system of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a flowchart of the processing of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a block diagram of subscriber information, and Fig. 4 is a conventional caller FIG. 4 is a comparison diagram of billing processing and called party billing processing of the present invention. A...Public telephone (calling side), B...
Telephone (receiving side), EXGl, 2, 3... 1 exchange, TKYl... - Talk trunk, TKY2...
・・・・Talking trunk, PlEQ・・・・Public in-office equipment, SW・・・・Public billing switch section, CS
IG: blockage signal generation unit, DETl: signal detection unit, COM: search request unit, VERI
...Verification section, CHCNT...Charging processing switching section, CENE...Signal editing section, FILE...
...1.Subscriber information file, SER...search unit, MEM...memory, TRMl, 2...
...Transfer device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. By providing a telephone exchange with a function for searching subscriber information, a function for verifying registration codes, a function for creating billing information, and a function for transferring billing information, when using a telephone, it is possible to By sending the special number and encrypted code dialed by the person to the exchange, the system searches for the called party telephone number and billing telephone number corresponding to the encrypted code registered in advance in the subscriber information file of the exchange. An incoming call billing control system characterized by transferring billing information to a billing telephone number accommodation station after the call ends if the incoming telephone number matches the incoming telephone number sent by the caller. . 2. The incoming call billing control system according to claim 1, wherein the billing telephone number corresponding to the encryption code is a telephone number that matches the called party's telephone number. 3. The incoming call billing control system according to claim 1, wherein the billing telephone number corresponding to the encryption code is a third party's telephone number different from the called party's telephone number. 4. If the caller is a public telephone, the incoming call billing control system as set forth in claim 1 is characterized in that by stopping the sending of the coin collection signal to the public telephone, subsequent billing is incoming call billing. .