JPH08111766A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To exclude wasteful dialing to the opposite terminal by managing the opposite terminal to which connection is not expected and prohibiting the acceptance of dialing of new transmission documents and transmission reservation documents to the opposite terminal. CONSTITUTION: A fail destination information managing part 4 stores and manages a destination that fails connection even by plural times of dialing or the destination from which no response by a prescribed procedure is returned as a dial failing destination. A fail destination retrieval part 3 retrieves whether or not the dial failing destination managed by the managing part 4 coincides with that of a new transmission document whose dialing is performed newly or that of the transmission document stored in a document information storage part 5, and prohibits the dialing of the transmission document depending on a retrieval result. In such a way, when connection to a desired destination is not expected, the working efficiency of this equipment can be improved by prohibiting the dialing of the transmission document for the destination from the first and excluding the wasteful dialing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine, and more particularly, to managing a destination which cannot be expected to be connected, and prohibiting or temporarily stopping the calling request to the destination and the calling of a transmission reserved document, which is wasteful. The present invention relates to a facsimile device capable of preventing outgoing calls.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional facsimile machine, when an operator inputs an incorrect telephone number and makes a call to a terminal other than the facsimile machine, such as a telephone, or when the other party's terminal does not have the ability to receive the call. A technique that prohibits re-calling to the other party's terminal and prevents useless calling is disclosed in JP-A-4-239260 and JP-A-3-213045. Also, in another facsimile apparatus, a technique is disclosed in which the operation of re-calling is prohibited when a call is made a predetermined number of times but the other terminal is not connected, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-184.
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 866.

[0003]

In the facsimile device disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, it is expected that communication will be successful in a partner terminal that is not capable of receiving transmission information, or a terminal other than the facsimile device such as a telephone. It only limits re-calls to non-existent terminals. Therefore, when a call is requested to the unsuccessful partner terminal, there is a problem that the unsuccessful partner terminal is called at least once. Further, if the information of the other party to whom the connection cannot be expected is not notified to another operator, the operator unknowingly makes a call to the other party's terminal, and unnecessary calling is repeated. There is a problem. In addition, when the above-mentioned operation is repeated, meaningless call-out operation is performed many times, the time for which the device is occupied by the call-out becomes long, and the use efficiency of the device decreases. There is. An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, manage the terminal of the other party to whom a connection cannot be expected, and prohibit the call request to the terminal of the other party and the acceptance of the call of the transmission reservation document. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus that prevents meaningless calling to the destination terminal.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 dials the destination and the failure information about the destination when the call to the destination is unsuccessful. The management means for storing and managing as destination information, the new transmission document for which a new call request is made, or the destination of the transmission reservation document stored in the storage section is unsuccessful in dialing managed by the management means. Search means for searching whether it is the same as the destination, and as a result of the search by the search means, it is determined that the new transmission document or transmission reservation document for which the call request is made is the same destination as the unsuccessful dial destination. In the case of a call, a calling prohibiting means for prohibiting calling of these documents is provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, among the unsuccessful dial destinations, the number of unsuccessful call originations to the destination to which the connection of the line can be expected is stored for each predetermined time zone, and the call status storage unit. In response to the instruction, a test calling unit for making a test call to the unsuccessful dial destination in a low load time period in which the number of unsuccessful callings stored in the calling status storage unit is small, and the test calling When the dial unsuccessful destination is connected by the call to the dial unsuccessful destination performed by the means, the first canceling means for canceling the call prohibition to the dial unsuccessful destination is provided.

According to the invention of claim 3, the display unit for displaying the unsuccessful dialing destination information managed by the managing means and the dialing unsuccessful destination information displayed on the display unit according to an operator's instruction. It is characterized in that it has a second releasing means for releasing the management.

[0007]

According to the invention of claim 1, in the case of unsuccessful call such as not being connected to the called destination or not receiving a response by a predetermined communication procedure sent from the destination, dialing the destination is unsuccessful. The destination is managed by the management means. By the search means, the unsuccessful dial destination in the management means and the destination of the new transmission document for which a new call request is made or the destination of the transmission reservation document stored in the storage unit are the same destination. Search whether or not. Based on the result of the search, the calling prohibition means prohibits calling of a new transmission document or a transmission reservation document for which a call request is made to the same destination as the unsuccessful dialing destination. Therefore, it becomes possible to prohibit the calling of the document information to the same destination as the unsuccessful dial destination. Further, it becomes possible to prevent useless calling. According to the second aspect of the invention, according to the operator's instruction, a trial call is made to the unsuccessful dial destination for which the call is prohibited during the low load time zone, and the call is connected. In this case, a new transmission document or a transmission reservation document for the destination is transmitted, and after the transmission is completed, it is possible to cancel the call prohibition for the dial unsuccessful destination.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the unsuccessful dialing destination information once registered in the management means becomes unnecessary according to the operator's instruction, the dialing unsuccessful destination information is registered. It becomes possible to cancel.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of hardware of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, 11 is a main control unit composed of each of the components indicated by reference numerals 21 to 29 described later, 12 is a communication control unit composed of a communication control unit 30 and a line control unit 31, 13 is a key input unit 32 and An operation display unit including a display unit 33, 14 is a printer for printing document information, and 15 is a scanner for reading a document.

Reference numeral 21 is a C for controlling the entire facsimile apparatus.
PU, 22 is a ROM in which the CPU 21 stores a program for controlling the entire system of the facsimile apparatus, 23 is a RAM as a work area used by the control program, and 24 is the main controller 11 and the printer 14. A printer interface control circuit for connecting the main controller 11 and the scanner 15, a scanner interface control circuit for connecting the main controller 11 and the scanner 15, a coding / decoding circuit for coding and decoding an image signal, and an EEPROM 27. , 28 is the main controller 11
And a communication interface control circuit that connects the communication control unit 12 with the communication control unit 12, and an input / output control circuit 29 that connects the main control unit 11 and the operation display unit 13. The communication control device 3
0 controls communication according to the processing procedures of the G3 protocol and the G4 protocol, and detects an incoming call, a signal from a transmission destination, and the like. The line control device 31 controls connection and disconnection of a plurality of lines.

Next, FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a communication information input section for inputting communication information such as destination information and document information, 2a is a destination information storage section for storing the destination information input from the communication information input section 1, and 2b is the transmission information. A document information storage unit for storing document information such as a reserved document or a new transmission document, 3 is an unsuccessful destination search unit for searching an unsuccessful destination, and 4 is a destination for which dial transmission has failed due to an error or the like. Information is stored as dial unsuccessful destination information, and the unsuccessful destination information management unit 5 manages the information.
Is a test dial judgment unit for judging whether it is a test dial or a normal dial, 6 is a call origination impossible display unit for displaying that a call cannot be made, and 7 is a partner via the transmission / reception unit 9 according to the dial. A calling unit for making a call first, 8 stores a preset number of times of redialing preset, counts the number of times of redialing prescribed, and judges whether or not to redial according to the value, 9 Reference numeral 10 is a transmission / reception unit for transmitting / receiving document information and the like, and 10 is a success / failure determination unit for determining whether the call is successful or unsuccessful.

FIG. 3 is a specific example of the unsuccessful dial destination information stored in the unsuccessful destination information management unit 4. In the figure, 41 is, for example, 333-3333 and the other party's telephone number column in which the other party's telephone number is stored, 42
Indicates a communication failure factor information column in which a factor when communication is unsuccessful is stored. In the communication failure factor information column 42, for example, “busy” when the destination terminal is busy, reception capability If there is not, a factor such as “no reception capability” is stored. Reference numeral 43 indicates, for example, when the call to the other party stored in the other party's telephone number column 41 who can expect the line connection is unsuccessful, the number of times "busy" or the like
This is a calling status column stored for each day of the week or for each time zone. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram in which the destination information and the image information of a plurality of reserved transmission documents are stored in the form of links, and are stored in the document information storage unit 2b, for example. The destination information corresponds to the destination telephone number stored in the destination telephone number column 41 shown in FIG. 3, and a test dial flag for determining whether or not to make a test dial includes a test dial flag of the information. Included inside. This test dial flag is turned “on” when the communication failure factor is “busy”.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of this embodiment. First, in step S1, the operator inputs communication information of a desired destination, that is, a telephone number or the like, from the key input unit 32, and information such as image quality and mode is added. Further, the transmission original is the scanner 1
Read from 5. In step S2, the unsuccessful destination retrieval unit 3 reads out the destination information corresponding to the telephone number from the unsuccessful destination information management unit 4 and retrieves it. In step S3, as a result of the search in step S2, the destination information is an unsuccessful destination, and the unsuccessful destination information management unit 4
It is determined whether or not it is registered in. When this result is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S4, while when it is negative, the process proceeds to step S5. In step S4, it is determined whether the dial currently being performed is a test dial.
This determination is made based on whether or not the test dial flag in the destination information shown in FIG. 4 is "ON". If the determination in step S4 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, if the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S20 to display on the display unit 33 that the call to the destination cannot be made.

Next, the description will be continued in the case where the determination in step S3 is negative, that is, in the case of normal facsimile communication. In step S5, the telephone number is called from the transmitter / receiver 9 according to the instruction of the calling part 7, and in step S6, a calling tone (CNG) is output. In step S7, it is determined whether or not a response signal has been detected by the transceiver 9. If this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S8, and if not, the process proceeds to step S13. When the response signal is not detected and the time is over, the process proceeds to step S16. In step S8, the response signal is the called party identification tone (CED) / digital identification signal (DI
S) is determined. If this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to steps S9 and S10 to execute desired facsimile communication. On the other hand, if the determination in step S8 is negative, the process proceeds to step S14. When the communication in step S10 ends, it is determined again in step S11 whether or not the dial currently being performed is a test dial. When this determination is negative, that is, in the case of normal facsimile communication, the processing ends. On the other hand, in the affirmative case, the process proceeds to step S12, and the registration of the unsuccessful dialing destination information for the telephone number as shown in FIG.

Next, a case where the determination in step S8 is negative will be described. In step S14, it is determined whether the response signal is a busy tone. When this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S15, while when it is negative, the process proceeds to step S16. In step S15, the redial number control unit 8 determines whether or not the number of times of current dialing is less than or equal to the specified redial number stored in the redial number control unit 8. If this determination is affirmative, the process returns to step S2, dials again, and the processing operations after step S2 are repeated. On the other hand, if the result is negative, the process proceeds to step S16.

In step S16, the main control unit 1 determines the telephone number of the dial currently being performed based on the determination result of the unsuccessful destination retrieval unit 3 as a destination telephone number column in the unsuccessful destination information management unit 4. Register at 41. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, “333-333” is displayed in the destination telephone number column 41.
3 ". In step S17, the factor of communication failure is registered in the communication failure factor information column 42. This failure factor information is registered, for example, in step S13.
If the determination in step S14 is affirmative, or if the determination in step S14 is negative, it means that the destination terminal does not have the receiving capability, and therefore "no receiving capability" is registered in the communication failure factor information column 42. It If the determination in step S15 is affirmative, the destination terminal is busy and is registered as "busy". In step S18, it is determined whether or not the document information such as the transmission reservation document of the same destination or the new transmission document is stored in the document information storage unit 2b. If this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S19, and the call prohibition process is performed on the transmission reservation document of the same destination stored in the destination information storage unit 2a and the document information storage unit 2b, and the process proceeds to step S20. . On the other hand, in the case of negative, the process proceeds to step S20 as it is, and it is displayed on the display unit 33 that the calling to the instructed destination is impossible.

Next, regarding timed transmission, that is, transmission of a transmission reservation document or transmission by a test dial,
This will be described with reference to FIG. The test dial may be performed by an operator through an instruction from the key input unit 32, or may be performed periodically according to an instruction from the main control unit 11 or the like. First, in step S21, the communication information is input as in step S1, and the transmission time is set from the key input unit 32 according to an instruction from the operator. In step S22, it is determined whether or not the preset designated time has come at present. For example, when the clock unit provided in the transmission control device 1 reaches the designated time, this determination becomes affirmative, and the process proceeds to step S23.
In step S23, it is determined whether or not this time designated transmission is a test dial. This determination is affirmative when the test dial flag in the destination information shown in FIG. 4 is "ON", and the process proceeds to step S24, where the destination information whose test dial flag is "ON" is stored in the destination information storage unit. 2a, the process proceeds to step S5 shown in FIG. 5, and the processing operation after step S5 is performed. On the other hand, when the determination in step S23 is negative, step S shown in FIG.
2, the reservation transmission is started, and the processing operations of step S2 and thereafter are performed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the unsuccessful destination information management unit 4 stores and manages the management information regarding the connection availability of the plurality of destination terminals dialed once. , If the desired destination terminal does not connect even if the call is repeated a predetermined number of times, or if the desired destination terminal cannot be expected to connect, a call request and transmission reservation document for the destination terminal It is possible to prohibit the acceptance of the outgoing call, and prevent a meaningless outgoing call to the destination terminal. Further, even if another operator makes a call request without knowing the other party's terminal to which connection cannot be expected, the operator can be informed without making unnecessary call. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the operator from resetting the call request and re-calling. Also, since the facsimile machine does not perform a meaningless calling operation, the efficiency of use of the facsimile machine is improved.

Next, the transmission operation for low load time zone transmission will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step S31, activation of the low load time period transmission operation is requested. This request may be instructed by the operator from the key input unit 32, or may be periodically instructed by the main control unit 11 or the like. In step S32, it is determined whether or not this function, that is, the low load time zone transmission function is permitted. When this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S33, the destination information in the unsuccessful destination information management unit 4 is searched, and the process proceeds to step S34. On the other hand, in the case of negative, the series of processing operations is ended. In step S34, it is determined whether or not there is unsuccessful dial destination information (see FIG. 3) in the unsuccessful destination information management unit 4 that has been searched. If this determination is affirmative, step S
In step 35, the unsuccessful dial destination information is read.
On the other hand, if this determination is negative, the series of processing operations is ended.

In step S36, when the read dial failure destination information is redial, it is determined whether or not connection is possible. This judgment is such that the line may be connected when the call of the destination terminal ends, as in the case where the factor stored in the communication failure factor information field 42 of the dial failure destination information is "busy". If there is, it is judged as affirmative. On the other hand, when the above-mentioned factor is “no reception capability” or the like, the determination is negative when there is no possibility that the line will be connected even if the call of the partner terminal is terminated. In step S37, the calling time zone is set with reference to the calling status column 43. The calling time zone is, for example, as apparent from the calling status column 43, 0:00 to 6:00 on Monday and 18 on Tuesday.
Since the lines are most likely to be connected during each of the hours from 2:00 to 24:00 and from 0:00 to 6:00 on Wednesday (the low load time zone), these low load time zones are set. In step S38, the time within the low load time period is designated, and
It is registered in the destination information of the reserved transmission document shown in. For example, register as 0:00 on Monday. In step S39, it is determined whether or not there is the next destination information, that is, the unsuccessful dial destination information. If the determination is affirmative, the process returns to step S35 and the processing operations of steps S35 to S39 are repeated. On the other hand, in the case of negative, the process proceeds to step S22 shown in FIG. 6, and the same processing operation as that of the normal transmission reservation document transmission is performed. As described above, it is possible to send the image information for which communication was unsuccessful due to "busy" or the like during the low load time when the other party's terminal is least busy, and to prevent unnecessary redialing. It is possible to prevent the image information from being transmitted.

Next, the operation of canceling the registration of the unsuccessful dial destination information will be described with reference to FIG. First,
In step S41, the operator inputs the key input unit 32.
An instruction for canceling the unsuccessful destination information is input from. In step S42, the unsuccessful destination information management unit 4
Search for destination information in. Succeedingly, in a step S43, it is determined whether or not there is unsuccessful dial destination information (see FIG. 3) in the destination information. When this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S44, while when it is negative, the process proceeds to step S48. In step S44, the unsuccessful dial destination information is displayed on the display unit 33 so that the operator can recognize it. In step S45, it is determined whether or not to retain the dial failure destination information. This determination is made based on the presence / absence of a cancellation instruction from the key input unit 32 by the operator. If there is a cancellation instruction, the determination is affirmative, and if not, the determination is negative. If this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S46, and the holding of the dial unsuccessful destination information is released. On the other hand, in the case of negative, a series of processing operations is ended.

In step S47, it is determined whether or not there is the next destination information, that is, the unsuccessful dial destination information,
If the determination is affirmative, the process returns to step S44 and the processing operations of steps S44 to S47 are repeated. On the other hand, if the result is negative, the process proceeds to step S48 and the corresponding destination information,
That is, after displaying that there is no unsuccessful dial destination information on the display unit 33, the series of processing operations is terminated. As described above, when the unsuccessful dialing destination information once registered in the unsuccessful destination information managing unit 4 becomes unnecessary, the dialing unsuccessful destination information is automatically registered by the operator's instruction. It can be canceled, and it is possible to prevent the capacity of the unsuccessful destination information management unit 4 from becoming insufficient even if the unsuccessful dial destination information increases.

[0023]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the invention of claim 1, the management means manages the management information relating to the connection permission / inhibition of a plurality of destination terminals once dialed. It is possible to prohibit the call request to the partner terminal registered in the management means and the acceptance of the call of the transmission reservation document, and to prevent meaningless call to the partner terminal. Also, when another operator makes a call request without knowing the other party's terminal that is not expected to be connected, the fact can be notified by a display etc. to prevent the operator from making unnecessary calls. can do. Therefore, it becomes possible to reduce the time that the facsimile device is occupied by a meaningless call, and it is possible to improve the use efficiency of the facsimile device.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, once the unsuccessful dialing destination information registered in the managing means becomes unnecessary, the dialing failure is made by the operator's instruction at a low load time. When a call is sent to a successful destination on a trial basis and this call is connected, the transmission document of the unsuccessful dialing destination is transmitted, and after the transmission is completed, the calling prohibition to the unsuccessful dialing destination is automatically performed by the releasing means. Even if the number of unsuccessful dial destination information increases, the allowable amount of the management means is not exceeded, and it is possible to prevent the storage capacity of the management means from running out. Further, according to the invention of claim 3, if the dial failure destination information once registered in the management means becomes unnecessary according to the instruction of the operator, the registration of the dial failure destination information is canceled. be able to. For this reason, in the case where it is registered as the unsuccessful dialing destination information for some reason, but it does not correspond to the unsuccessful destination information due to subsequent improvements, it is possible to promptly deal with it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing functions of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of hardware of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of unsuccessful dial destination information.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram in which destination information and image information of a plurality of reserved transmission documents are stored in a link form.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of time designated transmission.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of low load time period transmission.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation for canceling registration of dial unsuccessful destination information.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication information input part, 2a ... Destination information storage part, 2b ... Document information storage part, 3 ... Unsuccessful destination information search part, 4 ... Unsuccessful destination information management part, 5 ... Test dial determination part, 6 ... Call origination is impossible Display unit, 7 ... Calling unit, 8 ... Redial number control unit, 9 ... Transmission / reception unit, 10 ... Success / failure determination unit.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Nobuyuki Obayashi 3-7-1, Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture Fuji Zerox Co., Ltd. (72) Yutaka Uehara 3-7-1, Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture Fuji Inside Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A function of temporarily storing a read transmission document in a storage unit, and calling the transmission document to a desired destination according to a predetermined communication procedure in response to a call request from an operator or a control unit. When a call is made to the destination and the connection is not established, in a facsimile device having a redial function for re-calling, when the call to a certain destination is unsuccessful, the destination and the unsuccessful information about this destination are displayed. The management means that stores and manages the dialing failure destination information and the destination of the new transmission document for which a new call request is made or the transmission reservation document stored in the storage unit is managed by the management means. Retrieval means for retrieving whether or not it is the same as the unsuccessful dial destination, and as a result of the retrieval by the retrieving means, the new transmission document or transmission reservation document for which the call request is made is downloaded. A facsimile machine, comprising: a calling prohibiting means for prohibiting calling of these documents when it is determined that the destination is the same as the unsuccessful destination. 2. A calling status storage unit that stores the number of times of unsuccessful calling to a destination among the unsuccessful dial destinations that can be expected to connect to a line for each predetermined time period, and the calling status according to an operator's instruction. Test calling means for making a trial call to the dial unsuccessful destination during a low load time period when the number of times of unsuccessful call origination stored in the storage unit is small; and a dial unsuccessful destination performed by the test calling means. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: first canceling means for canceling the call prohibition to the unsuccessful dialing destination when the unsuccessful dialing destination is connected by the calling to the. . 3. A display section for displaying the unsuccessful dialing destination information managed by the managing means, and a second section for canceling the management of the unsuccessful dialing destination information displayed on the display section according to an operator's instruction. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a releasing unit.