JP2988832B2 - Facsimile call transmission failure consulting equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile call transmission failure consulting apparatus, and more particularly, to international telephone exchange equipment and the like, which automatically identifies facsimile calls from ordinary voice calls and causes transmission failures in the facsimile calls. The present invention relates to a transmission failure consulting device for notifying a caller of the cause when the caller makes a call or consulting about the removal of the cause.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a subscriber has connected a facsimile apparatus to a subscriber line to perform facsimile communication with foreign countries. This facsimile communication has been dramatically increased as the number of transactions with foreign countries has increased, because of the convenience that requirements can be satisfied even when the other party is absent.

Conventionally, various kinds of communication such as facsimile communication and data communication have been exchanged in international telephone exchange facilities, but when both are facsimile terminals and transmission is not completed, a message displayed on the terminal is displayed. The subscriber only knew the result of the "transmission error" and had to retransmit until success.

[0004]

[0005] In facsimile communication on international telephone calls, if transmission is unsuccessful due to some cause or error, the problem is that the transmission is unsuccessfully repeated regardless of the number of transmission attempts without knowing the cause. there were.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile call transmission failure consulting apparatus capable of appropriately giving advice to a subscriber when a transmission failure occurs in facsimile communication, eliminating the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. It is in.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a facsimile call transmission failure consulting apparatus of a telephone exchange facility which can identify a facsimile call from a call on the call path. Means for analyzing the demodulated signal of the signal sound when it is identified as a sound, and comparing it with a facsimile transmission procedure, and means for detecting a cause of unsuccessful facsimile call based on the result of the comparison. And at least display means for displaying the contact information of the caller of the facsimile call and the cause of the failure, so that the cause of the transmission failure can be notified to the caller. is there.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the telephone exchange equipment determines whether the received call is a facsimile call, and if the call is a facsimile call, monitors the communication status. Then, if unsuccessful, the cause is detected.
Further, at least the cause and the contact information of the caller of the facsimile call are displayed on the display device. Therefore, appropriate consulting can be performed by notifying the cause of the transmission failure to the caller of the facsimile call from the telephone switching equipment as needed.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic hardware configuration of an example of a switching facility of an international telecommunications carrier to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a speech path of a voice-grade line, and reference numeral 2 denotes a service trunk for identifying, from an audio signal on the speech path 1, an audible signal sound for telephone exchange such as voice and busy tone, a facsimile signal sound and the like. Since the service trunk 2 is known as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-204652, a detailed description will be omitted.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a facsimile signal identification trunk for collecting a facsimile signal, monitoring a signal error, and measuring power, and demodulates an encoded and modulated facsimile signal transmitted on the communication path 1. The demodulation unit 5 continuously measures the power of the entire frequency band of the audio signal transmitted on the communication path 1 for a predetermined time, and measures the maximum value, the average value, and the minimum value of the power amount. A power measurement unit 6 collects a facsimile signal demodulated by the demodulation unit 4, collects a signal error check result, and collects a power amount measurement result from the all-band power measurement unit 5. It is.

[0010] Further, when the service trunk 2 identifies that the audio signal on the speech path 1 is a data sound such as a facsimile signal sound, the service trunk 2 analyzes the collection result of the facsimile signal collection unit 6. This is a facsimile communication determination unit that performs verification with a known facsimile transmission procedure and analyzes the communication state of facsimile communication such as noise level and communication signal level determination. The facsimile communication determination unit 7 also measures the communication time.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a communication path switch unit of the telephone exchange system for simultaneously switching a plurality of lines, and reference numeral 9 denotes a main control unit for controlling the entire telephone exchange system. Reference numeral 10 denotes a billing facility, and reference numeral 11 denotes a database that stores data such as a subscriber number, a call type, a voice call fee table, a facsimile fee table, and communication history for each subscriber. further,
Reference numeral 12 denotes, for example, a switchboard facility of a telecommunications carrier, 13 denotes a switchboard to which an operator or the like responds to a subscriber by voice, and the switchboard 13 has a display device for displaying information received by the switchboard facility 12. Have.

FIG. 2 shows a specific example of the service trunk 2 and the facsimile signal identification trunk 3. As shown, n + 1 service trunks 2 (n
Is a positive integer), and the facsimile signal identification trunk 3 is composed of m + 1 sets (m is a positive integer) of a demodulation unit 4, an all-band power measurement unit 5, and a facsimile signal collection unit 6. .

Here, the T30 standard communication protocol of facsimile communication will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The calling party dials the receiving party, and when the receiving party responds, the facsimile apparatus of the calling party outputs a 1100 Hz calling tone (CNG) indicating that it is a non-voice terminal. On the other hand, the receiving facsimile apparatus outputs a called party identification tone (CED) of 2100 Hz to indicate that the facsimile apparatus has responded, and then outputs digital identification signals (DIS signal and CSI signal). Notify the receiving side function and identification number. Upon receiving the digital identification signal, the calling side outputs a digital command signal (DCS signal and CIG signal) to notify the transmission condition and the identification number.

The DIS signal and the DCS signal include:
Device manufacturer country, device manufacturer, signal speed (14
400bps, 12000bps, 9600bps, 7
200 bps), size of recording paper (A4, B5, B
4, no restriction, etc.), presence / absence of an error correction function (ECM), mode correspondence (normal, fine), presence / absence and type of image compression mode (MH, MR), and the like. Also,
The CSI signal and the CIG signal include a terminal identification number (telephone number, company name, department name, etc.).

When the above communication is established, the facsimile machine on the calling side sends out a test signal by a training check (TCF). The facsimile machine on the receiving side
The receiving state of the training signal is returned. When training fails, an FTT signal is returned. When training succeeds, a CFR signal indicating reception preparation confirmation is returned. Upon receiving the CFR signal, the calling facsimile machine shifts to an operation of transmitting an image. When the image signal is transmitted for one page, a message end signal is transmitted. The message end signal includes an MPS signal for transmitting the next page without changing the transmission conditions, an EOM signal for transmitting the next page by changing the transmission conditions, and an EOP signal indicating that the transmission of the last page has been completed. and so on.

[0016] Upon receiving the message end signal, the receiving side outputs a message confirmation signal. This message confirmation signal is a signal for notifying the quality of the received image, an MCF signal indicating that the quality is good, an RTP signal indicating that the quality is slightly inferior, and an RT indicating that the quality is bad.
N signal. When the calling side receives the MCF signal after outputting the MPS signal, the calling side shifts to image transmission of the next page. On the other hand, when receiving the RTN signal, the image signal of the same page is retransmitted.

The above operation is performed, and the calling side outputs an EOP signal as the message end signal.
Upon receiving the CF signal, the calling side outputs a disconnection signal (DCN) to notify the end of facsimile transmission.

The above is the outline of the T30 standard communication protocol. The demodulation unit 4 of the facsimile signal identification trunk 3 demodulates each signal of the communication protocol and notifies the facsimile signal collection unit 6 of the demodulated signal. Further, the full-band power measuring unit 5 continuously measures the power of the entire frequency range of the audio signal for a predetermined time, and measures the maximum value, the average value, and the minimum value of the power amount. The facsimile communication determination unit 7 checks the progress of the facsimile communication by comparing the signal received from the facsimile signal collection unit 6 with each signal of a prescribed communication protocol. Further, the output result of the all-band power measuring unit 5 is checked. Then, it checks whether the facsimile communication was successful or unsuccessful, and investigates the cause of the unsuccessful communication. Also, the communication time is measured.
The results of these checks and the measurement results are stored in the main controller 9.
Is sent to the billing processing facility 10 via.

Next, the operation of the switching facility having the above-described configuration will be described. When the main control unit 9 of the telephone exchange system detects the input of the call, it performs an operation of capturing the outgoing line and setting a communication path in the switch unit 8 by a well-known exchange connection operation.
At the same time, it instructs the facsimile communication determination unit 7 to start monitoring the communication path 1. Further, the caller is identified by the calling telephone number.

The facsimile communication judging section 7 which has received the activation instruction transmits a plurality of receivers (0 to 0) shown in FIG.
n) and one of the facsimile signal collecting units (0 to m) is selected and captured, and an activation instruction is given to them to start monitoring the communication path 1. Further, the facsimile communication determination section 7 provides a connection path for monitoring the communication path of the corresponding call to the selected and captured receiver, the demodulation section under the facsimile signal collection section, and the full band power measurement section. Is instructed to the main control unit 9 to set the switch unit 8 in the switch unit 8. When the facsimile signal collecting unit receives the start instruction of the communication channel monitoring, it starts the monitoring timer, and controls the demodulation unit and the full band power measurement unit to monitor the communication channel 1 for the time specified by the monitoring timer. .

When a facsimile signal encoded and modulated into an audio signal appears even in one direction on the communication path 1 during the communication path monitoring state, the demodulation unit 4 automatically detects the facsimile signal and outputs it. Notify the signal collection unit 6. The facsimile signal collecting unit 6 reads the demodulated facsimile signal in the order of detection, checks whether this signal is a signal defined in a publicly known manner, and, if undefined, compares this signal with the previously received facsimile signal. With the relative time of Further, the demodulation unit 4 checks the frame check sequence of the facsimile signal, and when a data frame error is detected, the facsimile signal collection unit 6 reads and stores the data frame error.

The all-band power measuring unit 5 has a threshold value. If there is no sound at the time of starting the measurement of the electric energy, the measurement is started from the time when the sound is changed to a sound. Further, when the sound changes from sound to silence during the measurement continuation time, the measurement is immediately interrupted, and the measurement result of the electric energy measured until immediately before the interruption is automatically reported to the facsimile signal collection unit 6. On the other hand, if there is a sound at the time of starting the measurement of the electric energy, the all-band power measuring unit 5 starts the measurement from the point of time when the sound is silenced. Is interrupted, and the measurement result of the electric energy measured until immediately before the interruption is automatically reported to the facsimile signal collecting unit 6.

The facsimile communication judging section 7 analyzes the collected result, compares it with a known facsimile transmission procedure, searches for an arbitrary facsimile signal set in advance, and performs the following (1)
The main control unit 9 is notified of the information (1) to (3).

(1) Facsimile information on the transmitting side and receiving side (the information is included in the digital identification information and the digital command information) (a) The terminal manufacturer's country name (Japan, United States, United Kingdom, etc.) (b) Terminal manufacturer name (c) Terminal identification number (telephone number, company name, etc.) (2) Communication conditions (this information is included in the digital identification information and digital command information) (a) Initial (B) Recording paper size (c) Error correction function (ECM) (d) Mode compatible (normal, fine) (e) Image compression mode and type (MH, MR,
(3) Transmission result (a) If transmission is successful, the number of transmissions, transmission speed, and time required for image transmission (transmission time for each image) (b) Transmission failure (b) -1) Unsuccessful page, time required for image transmission (b-2) Opportunity for unsuccessful (before training, during training, during image transmission, after image transmission, etc.) (b -3) Cause of failure (failure of training, poor image reception condition, disconnection of line due to unreceivable image, etc.) (b-4) Transmission speed The main control unit 9 sends the above information from the facsimile communication determination unit 7 When received, the information is transferred to the billing equipment 10. Upon receiving these pieces of information, the billing processing facility 10 registers the information in the database 11 for each contractor. When the transmission is unsuccessful, the main control unit 9 sets the above (3)
The information about the cause of the transmission failure in (b) and the information necessary for consulting are notified to the switchboard facility 12.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step S1, the accounting processing equipment 10 determines whether or not the current call is a facsimile call from the notification information from the main control unit 9. If this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S2 to determine whether this facsimile call has failed transmission. If this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S3, and it is determined whether or not the operation has failed n or more times (n is a positive integer, for example, n = 3) within a predetermined time. If this determination is negative, the process ends. On the other hand, in the case of affirmative, the process proceeds to step S4, where the accounting processing equipment 10 sends consulting information including the unsuccessful factor of the transmission to the switchboard equipment 11. Upon receiving the consulting information, the switchboard facility 11 displays the information on the switchboard 12. In step S5, the operator (operator) calls back the contractor's telephone number and performs consulting such as trouble investigation and quality control. The reason why n is not set to 1 is that if consultation is performed every time transmission is unsuccessful, the subscriber is rather troublesome.

If the determination in step S1 is negative, the process proceeds to step S8, where the communication time is measured. Next, in step S9, a charge calculation is performed by applying the voice communication charge table. If the determination in step S2 is negative, that is, if the transmission is successful, the process proceeds to step S6, and the communication time is measured as in step S8. Subsequently, in step S7, a billing calculation is performed by applying a facsimile fee table. This facsimile fee table is a unique fee table different from the voice communication fee table.
Empirically, the facsimile transmission is often the case where only one sheet is transmitted. For example, by making the transmission of the first sheet of transmission original cheaper than applying the voice communication fee table, For facsimile senders,
It can be convenient. Alternatively, consideration can be given to charging only pages that have been successfully transmitted, and not charging pages that have not been successfully transmitted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to notify a subscriber who has failed transmission a plurality of times within a given time period of the cause or to consult for removing the cause. The effect is that consulting can be performed. In addition, it is also expected that an employee of a telecommunications carrier can visit a subscriber as needed to provide more friendly and appropriate advice.

[0028]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to notify a caller who has failed in facsimile transmission of the cause and to teach a countermeasure for eliminating the cause. There is an effect that the feeling of anxiety held by the user can be eliminated. Further, the cause of the transmission failure can be eliminated early, and the subsequent facsimile transmission can be successfully performed, thereby improving the communication service.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when transmission is unsuccessful a plurality of times within a certain period of time, it becomes possible for the communication carrier to provide consultation to the caller. You can perform consulting work without feeling annoying.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the caller can be consulted kindly from the exchange of the communication carrier to the caller, and the communication service can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic hardware configuration of a switching facility to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing details of a part of the switching equipment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a T30 standard communication protocol of facsimile communication.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Call path, 2 ... Service trunk, 3 ... Facsimile signal identification trunk, 4 ... Demodulation part, 5 ... All-band power measurement part, 6 ... Facsimile signal collection part, 7 ... Facsimile communication determination part, 8 ... Call path switch part , 9 ... main control unit, 10
... Charge processing equipment, 11 ... Database, 12 ... Exchange equipment, 13 ... Exchange equipment.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H04M 3/42 H04M 3/22 H04N 1/00 H04N 1/32 H04M 3/60 H04M 11/00 H04M 3 / 00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] In a facsimile call transmission failure consulting device of a telephone exchange facility capable of distinguishing a facsimile call from a call on a communication path, a signal sound on the communication path is identified as a data sound.
In this case, the demodulated signal of the signal sound is analyzed and the facsimile transmission
Means for comparing with the sending procedure, means for detecting the cause of the failure of the facsimile call based on the result of the comparison , and display means for displaying at least the contact information of the caller of the facsimile call and the cause of the failure A facsimile call transmission failure consulting apparatus, characterized in that the transmission cause can be notified to the caller. 2. A facsimile call transmission failure consulting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the transmission is unsuccessful a plurality of times within a predetermined time, at least the contact information of the caller of the facsimile call is displayed on the display means. A facsimile call transmission failure consulting device characterized by displaying a cause of failure and an unsuccessful cause. 3. The facsimile call transmission failure consulting device according to claim 1, wherein the display device is a display device of a switching board of a communication carrier.