JPH04273686A - Video telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To take proper correspondence by allowing a called party to command whether or not its own portrait is sent to a caller selectively and not sending its own portrait to the caller automatically at the reply when the called party does not desire to receive a call such as a wrong phone call, a mischievous call or invitation to moneymaking. CONSTITUTION:The caller number information service in an ISDN is utilized in the communication by a video telephone set and when a caller number stored in advance in a storage device 9 and a caller number 14 informed by a setup message 13 are coincident, a picture from a camera 1 is sent.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video telephone using an ISDN network.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art The transition from analog to digital has affected all fields, such as ISDN (Integrate
dService Digital Network
; service integrated digital network) is a specific example of a communications network. With ISDN, communication networks that traditionally were provided independently for each type of terminal, such as telephone networks, data communication networks, and fax networks, are integrated into one network, allowing a greater variety of services to be provided. Realized. For example, one of the services provided by ISDN is a caller ID notification service that notifies the called party of the caller's identification number, that is, the caller number. This service allows the receiving party to know the caller before answering, allowing them to take appropriate action.

[0003] Also, with the spread of ISDN, visual communication such as video telephones has recently been attracting attention. When communicating via a videophone, each person's face is displayed on the videophone, allowing callers and recipients who are far apart to communicate as if they were in the same room, making communication more human-like. .

0004

[Problem to be solved by the invention] In videophone calls, the called party cannot selectively instruct whether or not to send his or her image to the caller, so it is difficult to deal with errors such as mistaken calls, prank calls, solicitation for profiteering, etc. Even if you do not have one, your image will be automatically sent to the caller when you respond. As described above, videophone calls have the problem that the called party cannot know the caller before answering, and therefore cannot take an appropriate response.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to use ISDN's caller ID notification service in videophone communication, and to know the caller before the called party answers, so that appropriate measures can be taken. It is. Furthermore, it is possible to take appropriate measures even when the caller ID notification service is not used.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The video telephone of the present invention includes an imaging display means for capturing images and displaying images, and transmitting an image captured by the imaging display means and displaying the image on the imaging display means. a first transmitting/receiving means for receiving images for the purpose of communication, a transmitting/receiving means for inputting/outputting audio, a second transmitting/receiving means for transmitting audio from the transmitting/receiving means or receiving audio to the aforementioned transmitting/receiving means, and an image. a storage means in which an identifier that is permitted to be transmitted is stored in advance; a call setting means for setting up a call for transmission and reception by the second transmitting and receiving means in response to a message from a caller; determining means for determining whether or not the identifier notified by the user and the identifier stored in the storage means match; and when the determining means determines that they match, the first
The apparatus is comprised of a processing means for transmitting an image captured by the image capturing/displaying means to the recipient using the transmitting/receiving means.

[0007]

[Operation] The present invention is capable of capturing a video or displaying an image using the image capturing/displaying means, and transmitting the image captured by the image capturing/displaying means using the first transmitting/receiving means or displaying the image on the image capturing/displaying means. A second transmitting/receiving means transmits the audio from the transmitting/receiving means, receives the audio to the transmitting/receiving means, and receives a message from the caller. Accordingly, when a call is set up for transmitting/receiving using the second transmitting/receiving means, whether or not the identifier notified along with the message from the caller matches the identifier stored in advance in the storage means. If the result of this judgment is a match, the first transmitting/receiving means is used to transmit the image captured by the image capturing/displaying means to the recipient.

[0008]

[Example] Next, an example of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a video telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the entire structure includes a camera 1, a display screen 2 consisting of a CRT, etc., and an image CODEC.
3, ISDN interface unit 4, first information channel for audio 5, second information channel for images 6, signal channel 7, numeric keypad 8, storage device 9 for storing caller number;
Handset 10, CCITT recommendation μ-LAWPCM
It is composed of an audio CODEC 11 that is compliant with coding, and a control device 12 that controls all of these. In addition,
Call setup message 1 sent via signaling channel 7
3 includes the caller number 14.

[0010] Next, the operation of the thus configured videophone upon receiving a call will be explained with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0011] The operation at the time of receiving a call consists of the following steps. Note that the user registers the caller number in the storage device 9 in advance by operating the numeric keypad 8.

(1) In order to perform communication using the first information channel 5, the call setup message 13 from the caller is sent to the ISDN interface unit 4 via the signal channel 7.
(Step 1).

(2) The ISDN interface section 4 performs a series of processes regarding the call setup message 13, and at the same time sends the caller number 14 notified in the message 13 to the control device 12 (step 2).

(3) The control device 12 determines whether the caller number 14 sent from the ISDN interface section 4 is registered in the storage device 9 (step 3).

(4) If the caller number 14 matches the one registered in the storage device 9 (step 4), the control device 1
2 instructs the image CODEC 3 to transmit the image from the camera 1. This image is transmitted to the caller via the second information channel 6 (step 5).

(5) If the caller number 14 does not match the one registered in the storage device 9 (step 4), the control device 12 determines whether or not to send the image based on the user's instruction using the numeric keypad 8. (Step 6).

(6) When the user instructs to transmit an image by operating the numeric keypad 8 in step 6 (step 6), the control device 12 controls the image CODEC 3 to transmit the image from the camera 1. (Step 5).

(7) If the user does not instruct image transmission in step 6 (step 6), the control device 1
2 controls the image CODEC 3 not to transmit the image from the camera 1 (step 7).

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, it can also be used when the caller ID is not used. In this case, the user uses the numeric keypad to instruct whether or not to send an image after responding.

[0020]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, by using the caller's number, the called party can decide whether or not to send his or her own image to the caller before replying, so he or she can send an appropriate image to the caller. We can take action. Furthermore, even if the caller number is not used, the user can selectively instruct the transmission of images, so appropriate responses can be taken.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when receiving a call according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1...Camera, 2...Display screen, 3...Image CODEC, 4...
ISDN interface unit, 5...first information channel, 6...second information channel, 7...signal channel, 8...numeric keypad, 9...storage device, 10...handset, 11...audio CODEC, 12...control device, 13... Call setup message, 14...Caller number.

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claim 1: An image capturing and displaying means for capturing images and displaying images, and a first transmitting/receiving device for transmitting images captured by the image capturing and displaying means and receiving images to be displayed on the image capturing and displaying means. a transmitting/receiving means for inputting and outputting audio, a second transmitting/receiving means for transmitting audio from the transmitting/receiving means and receiving audio to the transmitting/receiving means, and an identifier that allows image transmission. a storage means in which is stored in advance, a call setting means for setting up a call for transmission and reception by the second sending and receiving means in response to a message from a caller, and an identifier notified at the time of setting up the call. and a determining means for determining whether or not the identifier stored in the storage means matches, and when the determining means determines that they match, the first transmitting and receiving means is used to display the image capturing and displaying means. 1. A video telephone, comprising: processing means for transmitting an image captured by the receiver to a called party. 2. Claim 1, wherein when the determination means determines that there is a discrepancy, it is possible to selectively instruct whether or not to send the image captured by the image capture and display means to the recipient. video phone. 3. When a call is set up for transmitting and receiving by the second transmitting and receiving means, it is possible to selectively select whether or not to transmit the image captured by the image capturing and displaying means to the called party. 2. The video telephone according to claim 1, wherein instructions can be given.