Telephone system using information transmission means such as internet and the like

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to a telephone system in which at least one side of a person making a call makes a call via the Internet, VPN (details will be described later), a dedicated line, or the like by using a dedicated terminal, and a billing system for the telephone system.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

The voice communication system, which is generally called a telephone, is implemented by a public telephone line consisting of a dedicated analog line or a digital line represented by ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network). This public telephone line call system establishes a call state by ensuring various connection states between the caller and the receiver. Therefore, the larger the physical distance between the caller and the receiver, the more the call is made. It becomes difficult to secure a connection for establishment, that is, a communication path. For this reason, a distance system has been introduced for the above-mentioned communication charges (call charges) using public telephone lines, and the call charge charging system is set so that the longer the distance, the higher the charge.

【0003】

For example, in the case of frequent calls to overseas branch offices of a company, it is said that the call charge may be a huge amount such as 1 million yen or several million yen per month depending on the call time. In view of this point, Internet telephones using the Internet are attracting attention as a new voice communication means. For this Internet phone, in addition to the provider fee paid to the connection provider (provider), the call charge is only the domestic line usage fee for connecting to the Internet, so the charge required for the call is for a long-distance call using a public telephone line. It will be much cheaper in comparison. In addition, this system is particularly advantageous when talking to a specific party such as an overseas branch office as in the above case.

【0004】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, while Internet telephones have the above advantages, they need to be able to make calls at any time, so they make Internet telephone calls with a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "personal computer") that makes calls. It is necessary to keep the other personal computer running at all times and to make the server of each provider always accessible.

【0005】

In addition, since a call is made by operating a personal computer, it is necessary to operate a keypad and a mouse, and the operability is clearly inferior to that of a normal telephone. Furthermore, since various software is already installed on the personal computer before installing the software for the Internet telephone, the load on the CPU of the personal computer becomes large and the consistency between these software and the software for the Internet telephone is maintained. This has become difficult, and there are problems of performance deterioration such as generation of noise, interruption of sound, and graininess of sound.

【0006】

[Means for solving problems]

In view of this point, the inventors have proposed a terminal dedicated to the Internet telephone as a means of retaining the above-mentioned advantages of the Internet telephone as it is and solving the problems of the Internet telephone. The present invention relates to an Internet telephone system configured to more effectively exert the functions of the Internet-only terminal.

【0007】

Here, first, an outline of a terminal dedicated to Internet telephones (hereinafter referred to as "IP telephone") will be described. As an example of the configuration of an IP phone, it is configured as a digital phone that conforms to TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol), which is the standard protocol of the Internet, and voice standard protocols such as H323 Ver2. Instead, use the IP address you use on the Internet as your phone number. In addition, its appearance is basically the same as that of a normal telephone, and the LCD screen, dial button, speed dial button, redial button, etc. make it possible to easily talk to the other party with almost the same operation as a conventional telephone. Has been done.

【0008】

The first configuration of the present invention is a call system using an IP telephone, which is a dedicated terminal for this Internet telephone, and the IP telephone is installed in at least one of those who make a call via the Internet. By doing so, it is possible to make a call via the Internet, and the call charge of the caller who installed the IP phone is calculated by a calculation means using the billing database and the member database that records the call status of the member. The billing is configured, for example, a call charge database that sets a flat rate for each area (call target area) where the other party exists, regardless of the call time, and a call charge discount that discounts the call charge according to the number of call areas. By appropriately combining the database and the member introduction discount database when introducing a new member, a flat rate is charged regardless of the call time, or a variable rate is charged according to the call time zone or the total call time. It is a telephone call system using the Internet and a billing system in the system, which is characterized by being configured as a method of performing.

【0009】

Further, the second configuration of the present invention is to connect the public telephone line and the Internet and make a call when one party of the call via the Internet uses a telephone using a normal public telephone line. It is a telephone system using the Internet, characterized in that it has a telephone system management means called a gateway server, a gateway keeper, or a callway manager that identifies whether or not a caller and a receiver are registered members.

【0010】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

When viewed from a specific area as a starting point, a unit of Internet telephone system is constructed between this area and a different area. In this way, an Internet telephone system is constructed with each region, and the call charge in the region that is the starting point is, for example, a flat rate, by call time zone, or total call time, etc. for each unit of the Internet telephone system. You will be charged based on.

【0011】

A gateway server is installed in one area of the Internet telephone system, and the gateway server recognizes whether or not the caller and receiver in the Internet call system are members, and the line is available only when both are members. To connect.

【0012】

[Example]

Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of the Internet telephone system of the present invention, which is configured between city a in country A (for example, Tokyo in Japan) and city a in country B (for example, Taipei in Taiwan). As an example, a telephone system in which the above-mentioned IP telephone is installed is installed on the a city side of country A, and a normal telephone system using a public telephone line is installed on the a city side of country B.

【0013】

In country A and city a shown in Fig. 1, the code F indicates a corporate member and H indicates an individual member. First, the corporate member F has a large number of IP telephones IPT1 to IPTn, and these IP telephones are connected to the server 2 of the Internet service provider (provider) via the in-house router 1. On the other hand, the IP telephone IPT of the individual member H is connected to the server 2 via, for example, a dial-up router 3.

【0014】

On the other hand, in country B a city, a gateway server (hereinafter simply referred to as "gateway") installed by a company that configures and sponsors the Internet telephone system (hereinafter referred to as "service provider") via server 4 of the Internet connection company in country B. (Details of the configuration will be described later) are connected. In the configuration shown in the figure, the server (communication server) 4 that mainly provides the communication function and the gateway 5 are configured as separate and independent servers, but it is also possible to configure them as a single server that fulfills both functions. Is.

【0015】

In the city a of country B, among those who are members of the service provider, for example, large members such as companies have installed a large number of telephones. In this case, a large number of public telephone telephones consisting of T1 to Tn can be connected to the gateway via an in-house router 6. If VPN (Vertual Private Network) 7 is set for this public telephone line NTL, the public telephone line NTL can be used as a practically dedicated line. An individual member's telephone T is also connected to the gateway 5. By installing such gateways in, for example, B city b city, C country a city, etc., the Internet telephone system is configured for each region.

【0016】

Next, the operating state of the Internet telephone system described above will be described focusing on the operation of the gateway 5. For example, a case where a corporate member of country A city a calls using the IP telephone IPT2 to call country B city a will be described. In this case, an IP address is assigned to each member of country B and city a, and this IP address is entered in the IP telephone IPT2. In this case, it is of course possible to input the IP address with one button operation by setting the shortened dial.

【0017】

By inputting a predetermined IP address, this signal is input from router 1 and server 2 to gateway 5 via Internet IP via server 4 in country a city of B. The gateway 5 determines whether or not the input IP address belongs to the registered member by the designated address confirmation means 9 (see FIG. 2) and the IP address database 8 that stores the member's IP address. If this designated address belongs to a member, the domestic telephone number corresponding to the designated IP address is registered by the domestic line number registration database 11 and the domestic line number confirmation means 10 that register the domestic telephone number corresponding to the IP address. Select a number and use this domestic telephone number to connect to the specified telephone via the public telephone line NTL.

【0018】

In this case, data for identifying each of the public line telephones T1 to Tn, for example, the model and serial number of each of these telephones T1 to Tn, or when the LAN board is mounted on these telephones. , The address assigned in advance to the ROM mounted on this LAN board (hereinafter, the data that identifies these individual telephones is referred to as "MAC address") is registered in the MAC address database 13, and this MAC address. May be used to identify the other party in addition to the IP address.

【0019】

That is, after confirming the other party by the designated address confirmation means 9, the MAC address confirmation means 12 may further identify the other party, and then the domestic line number confirmation means 10 may be used to dial up the domestic telephone line. With this configuration, even if the IP address is stolen by a non-member, the Internet telephone system cannot be used unless the MAC addresses match. If this MAC address is also registered in addition to the IP address of the other party to the caller's IP telephone, the IP address and MAC address can be transmitted with a single touch using the speed dial system.

【0020】

If the other party or the other party's machine can be confirmed in this way, dial up to the other party's machine by the connection means 14 to secure the call status. Although the startup state of the call state between the caller and the receiver has been explained in detail as described above, in reality, these procedures are performed in an extremely short time, and the call state is usually established within a few seconds after the call is made. It is possible to make a call equivalent to or faster than a domestic call using a public telephone line. The case of calling from country B city a to country A city via gateway 5 will be described later.

【0021】

When calling from country A city a to country B city a as described above, the call charge is charged to the member of country A city a. This billing system will be described below.

【0022】

In FIG. 3, a member database 15 for recording the usage status of this telephone system is provided for members who have subscribed to the Internet telephone system. In order to support various billing systems, the member database 15 is input with the following data, for example. Reference numeral 15A is data on the number of registered areas. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, when there are three registered areas to be called, for example, country B a city, country B b city, and country C country a, the registered area. It is stored as the number 3. This data is particularly effective when a fixed charge system is adopted as the billing method.

【0023】

15B is the member introduction data, and the number of members who joined the Internet telephone system by the introduction of the person is registered. 15C indicates the number of times from the first charge of the call charge (for example, monthly) to the current charge. 15D is the data of the call time zone, which is effective data when the call charge is changed according to the call time zone. Reference numeral 15E indicates total call time data, for example, total call time data from the previous charge to the time of the current charge.

【0024】

By using the above member database 15, members can select their preferred billing method for the call charges of the Internet telephone system. That is, the service provider sets a billing system equal to the member's request by the billing method setting means 16. For example, when the fixed billing method is set, the calculation is performed using the registered area number data 15A and the billing is performed. This fixed billing method can basically be calculated by multiplying the fixed call charge for one area by the number of registered areas, but by introducing various discount systems to this fixed billing method, this telephone call will be made to members. It is also possible to make the system more attractive.

【0025】

Figure 4 shows an example of discounts in a fixed billing system. Including the following examples, billing shall be made monthly. First of all, the fixed charge is basically a fixed amount of N yen per area, but it is also possible to set a discount in response to the increase in registered areas. The data of this discount method is set for the discount database 17 corresponding to the number of registered regions shown in FIG. In addition to this database 17, all other databases related to billing, which will be described later, are configured so that their settings can be changed by the setting changing means 23.

【0026】

In FIG. 4, blocks such as city A and city a in Japan indicate the registered call target area, and the numbers in parentheses to the right of the block indicate the registration order of each area. In this discount system, the discount is implemented from the registration of the third area, the discount fee is a yen, the fifth and sixth are the higher discount amount of b yen, and the last is the final discount amount of c yen. A discount amount of c yen is set regardless of the region. The final discount amount of c yen is set to 2/3 of the fixed amount of N yen, or half of the fixed amount of N yen as shown in the figure, taking into consideration the number of members and the usage status of the Internet telephone system. .. That is, in the fixed charge system that takes this discount system into consideration, it is calculated by the calculation means 18 using the registered area number data 15A of the member database 15 in FIG. 3 and the discount database 17 corresponding to the number of registered areas in which the discount system is set in advance. In addition, the billing means 19 will be billed by the method requested by the member, such as direct debit and mailing of the invoice.

【0027】

In addition, if a discount is set by referral of a new member, including the billing system described later, the final billing amount is calculated from the referral discount amount / discount period setting database 20 and the billing frequency data 15C of the member database 15. calculate. For example, if you set "10% discount on monthly call charges for 3 months for each new member referral", the discount rate will be calculated from the number of new member referrals recorded in the member referral data 15B, and this member referral data 15B. Set a new referral discount period (for example, new referral discount implementation from the 15th billing to the 17th billing) from the member referral time data and billing frequency data 15C recorded in, and this new referral from the total amount Charge after deducting the discount amount.

【0028】

Next, for the above-mentioned fixed billing method, for example, when a billing system for changing the call charge according to the call time zone is set, the call time zone and the call time are determined by the call time zone / call time data 15D of the member database 15. Check, for example, AM9: 01 ~ PM3: 00, PM3: 01 ~ PM9: 00, PM9: 01 ~ AM3: 00, AM3: 01 ~ AM9: 00, etc. Set to 21 and calculate the call charge from the total of each call time in each time zone.

【0029】

In addition, as a modification of the fixed billing system, there is also a method of charging only by the total call time regardless of the number of call areas. In this case, a fixed amount is charged regardless of the number of registered areas up to the preset total call time. Then, the billing amount is calculated based on the total talk time data 15E of the member database 15 and also by using the talk time excess database 22 when the total talk time exceeds the set total time. It should be noted that even in these hourly charges, it is possible to implement the member introduction discount and the like. It is also possible to appropriately change the settings of the databases 17, 20, 21, and 22, which are the basis of billing, by the setting changing means 23.

【0030】

The case where the member of country A city a in Fig. 1 becomes the caller in the Internet telephone system has been described above, but in the system of Fig. 1, it is also possible to make a call by a telephone using a public telephone line.

【0031】

That is, in FIGS. 1 and 2, when a member of country B city a calls a member F of country A city a using a public telephone line, for example, using a telephone T3, the order is as follows. First, the telephone T3 outputs the IP address of the member F of the city a in the country A to the gateway 5 via the public telephone line NTL. In this case, the gateway 5 first confirms the domestic telephone number from the output telephone by the line number confirmation means 10 ́ and the domestic line number database 11 ́. These databases 10 ́ and 11 ́ are basically the same databases as the domestic line number confirmation means 10 and the domestic line number registration database 11, and these databases 10 and 11 also serve as the databases 10 ́ and 11 ́. Is also possible.

【0032】

If the caller's telephone number is not registered at this stage, the connection means 23 is turned off and the line is not connected. On the contrary, when this telephone number is registered, it is determined as the next step whether or not the IP address of the other party specified is registered. Address confirmation means 24 and IP address registration database 25 Judging from the above, if the IP address is a registered IP address, the connection means 26 is turned ON and the IP telephone of the predetermined member F in the city a city of A country that is always connected to the server 2 is connected via the Internet IP. In the case of this call as well, as in the case described above, the time actually required for the call state to be established is as short as several seconds. It should be noted that, in this way, the charge for the call charge when the city a in country B is the source is naturally performed by the charge system on the side of country B.

【0033】

[Effect of the invention]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to make a call between specific areas at an extremely low cost and with a simple operation, and it is possible to freely set a method for charging a call charge.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

It is a system system diagram which shows an example of the Internet telephone system of this invention.

[Figure 2]

It is a block diagram which shows the configuration example of a gateway server.

[Fig. 3]

It is a billing block diagram which shows an example of the billing system which concerns on this invention.

[Fig. 4]

It is a block diagram which shows an example of the fixed charge system which is one of the charge systems which concerns on this invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 router 2, 4 servers 3 Dial-up router 5 gateway 15 Member database 15A Number of registered areas data 15B Member introduction data 15C Billing count data 15D call time zone / call time data 15E Total talk time data 16 Billing method setting means 17 Discount database for the number of registered regions 18 Computational means 20 Referral discount amount / discount time database 21 Call time zone billing database 22 Overtime talk database 23 Setting change method F Corporate member H individual member IP internet IPT1 ~ IPTn IP phones NTL payphone line T1 ~ Tn Public telephone line telephone