JPH09214642A - Charge switching method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [PROBLEMS] A billing switching method for switching between outgoing billing and incoming billing, which enables switching from free information provision to paid information provision even during a call. SOLUTION: While a caller 1 and a callee 11 of an information provider are connected via a network 20 which performs a charging process, the callee 11 is connected to the network 20 by a call charge request and an information charge request during a call. When the call charge setting request signal is transmitted, the network 20 announces the charge switching to the caller 1, and when the caller 1 accepts the call charge switching by continuing the call, the network 20 changes the charge destination to the caller 1.
, And a call origination setting confirmation signal is sent to the called party 11. Further, in response to the information charge billing setting request signal from the called party 11, the network 20 sends a billing switching announcement to the calling party 1, and when the calling party 1 continues the call state, billing of the information fee is started and the called party 11 is called. An information fee billing setting confirmation signal is sent.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a telecommunication network.
Between outgoing charges and incoming charges during a call through the talk
The present invention relates to a charge switching method for performing a change. Incoming billing service
Then, for example, dial "0120" + "contractor number"
Free dial (registered trademark) service
Called "region-limited incoming call billing service"),
Call charges are borne by the called party. Another fee collection service
For example, "0990" + "contractor number"
Dial Q ^TwoService (hereinafter referred to as "information fee collection agency
Called "service"), call charges and information
Fees and charges are charged to the caller.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a normal subscriber makes a call using a telecommunications network, the network side charges a fee corresponding to the call time and the call distance to the subscriber (caller).
Is what you do. In addition to such outgoing charges, there are incoming charges charged to the called party. This incoming call billing is billed on the network side for incoming calls to subscribers who have contracted with the telecommunications carrier in advance.

This incoming call billing service is, as described above,
When the caller dials, for example, “0120” + “contractor number”, the exchange that accommodates the caller,
"0120" is used to identify that the request is for an area-only incoming call billing service, and the service control station is given a "contractor number"
To transfer. The service control station converts the telephone number of the called party based on the "contractor number" and transfers this telephone number to the exchange. The exchange makes an exchange connection based on the telephone number, calls the called party, and responds to this called party by
A call path is formed between the caller and the callee who has made an incoming call charge contract, and the callee is charged.

[0004]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Various information providers (I
P; Information Provider) provides various kinds of information to general subscribers free of charge by using the area-only incoming call billing service, but the information may include information provided for a fee. However, subscribers of the regional limited incoming call billing service provide information free of charge because of the incoming call billing.

On the other hand, in the information fee collection agency service, etc., since the call is charged for transmission, the sender is charged including the information charge, and all information is provided for a fee. . Therefore, if the subscriber of the area-only incoming call billing service wants to provide the information for a fee, the subscriber is notified to dial the subscriber number of the fee collection agency service, and the caller needs to call again. It is an object of the present invention to switch between outgoing call charge and incoming call charge during a call depending on whether the called party is free of charge or paid for information.

[0006]

The billing switching method of the present invention is a billing switching method for switching billing for a caller 1 and a callee 11, and a caller 1 and a callee 11 via a network 20. Is connected to this network 2
When the called party 11 requests the switching of the charging status to the network 20, the network 20 notifies the calling party 1 of the charging status switching, and the network 20 charges the charging status. The state is switched.

The caller 1 and the callee 11 who is charged for the incoming call are connected via the network 20.
When the called party 11 makes a calling billing setting request for one or both of the call charge and the information fee to 0, the caller 1 is notified from the network 20 to switch the billing status, and this calling party is called. When 1 displays the willingness to switch the billing status such as continuous call, this network 2
0 switches to outgoing charging.

The caller 1 and the callee 11 who are charged for outgoing call are connected via the network 20.
When the called party 11 makes an incoming call charge setting request for either or both of the call charge and the information charge to 0, after the network 20 notifies the caller 1 of switching to the incoming call charge, The network 20 switches from outgoing billing to incoming billing.

During a call between the caller 1 and the called party 11 such as an information provider, for example, when the information provided by the called party 11 is charged, a request for switching the charging state is made to the network 20. In response to this billing state switching request, the network 20 notifies the caller 1 of the billing state switching by announcement or the like. When the caller 1 refuses to be charged, the caller disconnects by on-hook. When accepting the charge, the network 20 switches the charging state by continuing the call as it is or by performing confirmation input by pressing the hooking or the "#" key.

If the caller 1 charges a call charge, an information charge, or both of them while the caller 1 is in a call with the callee 11 who is charged for incoming call via the network 20, Make an outgoing billing setting request. The network 20 notifies the caller 1 of switching from the incoming charge state to the outgoing charge state, and the caller 1 continues the call as it is or by performing confirmation input by pressing the hooking or the "#" key. , Network 20
Can switch from the incoming billing state to the outgoing billing state and notify the called party 11 of the confirmation of the switching. Therefore, it is possible to provide pay information as well as free information during a call.

When the caller 1 and the callee 11 who are charged for outgoing call are in a call via the network 20, the callee and / or the information charge or both of them are free when the callee 11 receives a call to the network 20. Make a billing request. The network 20 notifies the caller 1 of switching from the outgoing charge state to the incoming charge state, and then switches from the outgoing charge state to the incoming charge state. Therefore, it is possible to shift to the regional incoming call billing service during a call.

[0012]

1 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a sender, 11 is a called party such as an information provider, and 2,
12 is an exchange forming a network, 3 and 13 are communication path switches (NW), 4 and 14 are announcement devices, and 5 are
15 is a charging table, 6 and 16 are central control units (C
C), 7 and 17 are main memories (MM), and 8 and 18 are signal receiving devices.

The billing tables 5 and 15 show the case where they are formed in the main memories 7 and 17, and show the subscribers SUB1, SUB2, ..., SUB1 accommodated in the exchanges 2 and 12.
1, SUB 12, ... Has a charging meter area for charging correspondingly. In the system in which the charging process is centralized, the charging tables 5 and 15 are provided in the centralized station of the network, and the charging information from each exchange is processed.

Further, since the call is normally charged for calling, the call charge of the caller 1 is added to the charge meter area of the charge table 5 corresponding to the caller 1 in correspondence with the call time and the call distance. Also, the call charge when the caller 1 makes a call with the callee 11 who is charged for the incoming call is the charge table 15 for the callee.
Will be added to the billing meter area.

FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram for explaining the embodiment of the present invention. In the state where the caller 1 and the callee 11 of the information provider are connected through the network 20 such as the exchanges 2 and 12, etc. Incoming call charge status. During this call, the called party 11 sends an outgoing charge setting request signal to the network 20 in order to make a call charge request and an information charge request, and the network 20 receives this outgoing charge setting request signal, The caller 1 is notified by announcement that the call charge will be switched from the incoming charge to the outgoing charge.

In FIG. 1, the outgoing call billing setting request signal from the called party 11 is received by the signal receiving device 18 of the exchange 12 and transferred to the central control device 16. The central control device 16 activates the announcement device 14 or transfers a call origination setting request signal to the exchange 2 in which the caller 1 is accommodated, so that the central control device 6 of the exchange 2 activates the announcement device 4. Then, the caller 1 is announced to switch to the call origination billing. At that time, if you want to charge the caller for the call charges after switching to outgoing billing, you only need to announce that you will switch to outgoing billing, but if you want to charge outgoing calls for call charges in the incoming billing state, The amount of money in the billing meter area corresponding to the called party in the table 15 is read out and notified to the calling party 1.

The caller 1 disconnects the line by on-hook when rejecting the call charge for this charge switch announcement. If the call billing is accepted, the call state is continued. The network 20 determines that the caller 1 is still in a call state even after a predetermined time has passed in response to the billing switching announcement, and thus it is determined that the caller 1 is willing to consent to the switching of the billing, and the incoming billing is switched to the outgoing billing. , And sends the outgoing charge setting confirmation signal to the called party 11. In this state, call charges will be charged and information charges will be free.

In FIG. 1, the central control unit 16 of the exchange 12 or the central control unit 6 of the exchange 2 monitors whether or not the caller 1 disconnects due to on-hook for a predetermined period of time. Is accepted, the call charge of the caller 1 is added to the billing meter area of the billing table 5 corresponding to the caller, and the billing process to the billing meter area of the billing table 15 corresponding to the callee is stopped. . Therefore, the caller 1 is in a state of making a call for a fee.

Next, the called party 11 sends an information fee charging setting request signal to the network 20. Network 20
The sender 1 receives the information charge billing setting request signal.
A billing switch announcement to the effect that the information fee will be billed is sent to. The sender 1 disconnects the line by on-hook in the case of rejecting the charging of the information fee in response to the charging switching announcement.

If the information fee is accepted, the call state is continued. Since the network 20 continues the call state even after the predetermined time has elapsed for the charge switching announcement, the network 20 determines that the intention to show consent to charge the information charge, starts charging the information charge, and The information charge accounting setting confirmation signal is sent to 11. In this state, the call charge and the information charge are charged.

In response to the above-mentioned billing switching announcement, the caller 1 confirms that he / she has accepted the switching to the outgoing billing state by confirming the hooking or pressing the "#" key. You can also In that case, the network 20 switches from the incoming charge state to the outgoing charge state only when the confirmation input is within the predetermined time, and when there is no confirmation input within the predetermined time, it is determined that the request is rejected. You can disconnect the line.

In FIG. 1, an information fee billing setting request signal from the called party 11 is received by the signal receiving apparatus 18 of the exchange 12, and is controlled by the central control apparatus 16.
Announcement device 14 or announcement device 4 of exchange 2
When the caller 1 keeps talking even after a predetermined time has passed, the central controller 1
6 notifies the exchange 2 in which the caller 1 is accommodated of the information charge notified from the callee 11 or the information charge set in advance in the charging table 15 or the like. The exchange 2 adds this information charge to the charge meter area corresponding to the sender 1 of the charge table 5. As a result, the caller 1 is charged with the call charge and the information charge.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are flowcharts of the embodiment of the present invention, showing the sequence of FIG. 2 as a flowchart, in which the caller 1 calls the callee 11 who is charged for incoming call (1) and is talking. After (2), the network determines whether or not the connection is disconnected (3), and when disconnected by on-hook, the communication path between the caller 1 and the callee 11 is released and the process ends.

Further, it is judged whether the billing switching request from the called party 11 during the call is a switching request to the outgoing billing or a switching request to the information fee billing (4). The process moves to (13), and in the case of a request for switching to the outgoing charge, the process moves to step (5). In the case of the request for switching to the outgoing charge, the outgoing charge setting request signal is sent from the sender 1 to the network (6), and the network announces to the sender 1 to switch to the outgoing charge (6).

The caller 1 confirms the switch to the call billing by the announcement and the call charges until then, and judges whether to accept or reject. The network judges whether or not the connection is disconnected (8), and in the case of disconnection by on-hook, it is a case where the outgoing charging is rejected, and after the normal disconnection processing (9) is performed, the processing ends.

In the case of accepting the outgoing charge, the call state is continued and an intention of consent is displayed, and the network adds a charge to the charge meter area of the charge table corresponding to the caller (10). Then, the network switches to the outgoing charge state (11) and notifies the called party 11 that the outgoing charge has been switched. This notification can be made by sending an announcement or a message.

In the case of a request to switch to the information fee billing, the callee 11 sends a call-out billing setting request signal to the network (13), and the network notifies the caller 1 of the switch to the call-out billing by announcement ( 14). The caller 1 confirms the announced amount of money, and if he / she agrees, the call state is continued as it is, and if he / she refuses, the call is disconnected (1
5). The network determines (16) whether it is disconnected,
In case of disconnection by on-hook, it is the case of refusal,
A normal disconnection process is performed (17), and the process ends.

When the call state is continued, it is determined that there is an intention to approve the call, and the charges up to this point are set by the sender 1
(18), the incoming call billing state is switched to the outgoing billing state, and the recipient 11 is notified that the outgoing billing has been switched (20). Thereby, information can be provided for a fee.

FIG. 5 is a sequence explanatory view of the charge switching to the sender 1 of the information charge according to the embodiment of the present invention, and through the receiver 11 of the information provider and the network 20 in the area limited incoming charge service. When the caller 1 is connected and talking, the call charge and information charge are free. In this state, when the caller 1 requests specific information such as a product catalog from the callee 11, if the specific information is to be provided for a fee, the information charge request setting signal by the information charge request is sent to the network. Send to 20.

In accordance with the information fee charging setting request signal, the network 20 sends to the sender 1 an announcement of charging switching for charging the information. If the caller 1 refuses to charge the information in this case, the caller 1 disconnects by on-hook.
When accepting, the call state is continued or confirmation input is performed as described above.

When the call state continues for a predetermined period of time or when there is a confirmation input, the network 20 determines that the user has consented, starts charging the information fee, and sets the information fee charging to the called party 11. Send a confirmation signal. Receiving party 11 starts to provide pay information by receiving the information fee charging setting confirmation signal. In this state, the caller 1 is in a call state in which the call charge is free and the information charge is paid.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the case where the incoming charge state is switched to the outgoing charge state is shown, but the outgoing charge state can be switched to the incoming charge state. For example, in the case where the information provider is free of charge for specific information in a state where the call is billed as in the case of the information fee collection agency service, when the caller 1 requests this free information, the called party 11 Is
The network 20 sends an incoming call charge setting request signal to the network 20, notifies the caller 1 that the outgoing call charge is switched to the incoming call charge, then switches from the outgoing call charge state to the incoming call charge state, and the called party 11 An incoming call charge setting confirmation signal is sent to.

Further, the called party 11 can also operate to switch to the incoming call billing only for a specific customer during a call. Further, the announcement for notifying the caller 1 of the switching of the charging state is configured to be sent from the device of the called party 11, and the charging setting request signal is sent to the network 20 which performs the charging process according to the consent display of the calling party 1. It is also possible to adopt a configuration for sending.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, the caller 1 and the callee 1 are connected via the network 20 which performs the charging process.
1 is connected, and a request signal for switching the charging state such as an outgoing charging setting request signal, an information fee charging setting request signal, an incoming charging setting request signal, an information fee charging cancellation setting request signal from the called party 11 during a call. By the network 20, the caller 1 is notified of the switching of the charging state, and when switching to the outgoing charging, the charging state is switched when the calling party 1 has consented. In the service as well, there is an advantage that it is possible to provide specific important information by switching to an outgoing charging state in which the information fee can be charged as in the information fee collecting agent service.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sequence explanatory diagram of an example of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a sequence for switching charging of an information fee to a sender according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Caller 11 Callee 20 Network

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tamotsu Inoue 1015 Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor, Kazuhiko Ogawa 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Within the corporation

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A billing switching method for switching billing for a caller and a callee, wherein the caller and the callee are connected via a network, and the billing process is performed in the network. When the called party makes a request to switch the billing status to
A billing switching method, wherein the network switches the billing state after notifying the caller of the billing state from the network. 2. The caller and the callee for the incoming call charge are connected via the network, and the callee for the caller sets an outgoing call charge setting request for one or both of a call charge and an information charge. When the call is performed, the network notifies the caller of the switching of the charging state, and when the caller indicates the willingness to switch the charging state by continuing the call, the network switches to the calling charging. The charge switching method according to claim 1, characterized in that. 3. An outgoing call charge sender and a called party are connected via the network, and the called party issues an incoming call charge setting request to the network for either or both of a call charge and an information charge. 2. The charging switching method according to claim 1, wherein, when the operation is performed, after the network notifies the caller of switching to incoming call billing, the network switches from outgoing call billing to incoming call billing.