JPS5946460B2 - Registered distributed billing method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a billing method (call frequency recording method) for subscriber dial-outgoing calls in a public telecommunications system.

The conventional billing method for calls made by subscriber dial in Japan is the so-called K method, in which a caller's frequency meter is incremented for each unit of billing time, and all call charges are charged to the calling subscriber. are doing.

However, with the widespread use of telephones and the diversification of usage patterns, it has become desirable to create a new telephone service in which part or all of the call fee is charged to the called party. Broadly speaking, these called-call charge services can be divided into so-called "response-type" services, in which calls from an unspecified number of callers to an unspecified number of callees are established based on the consent of the callee before or during the call. "Incoming call billing service" and specific callers (
There are two types of so-called ``contract-type incoming call billing services'' that automatically charge incoming calls upon the start of a call (service subscriber).

Conventionally considered methods for this contract-based call termination billing include the so-called "call rate meter" in which all call rates of incoming calls are automatically registered in the subscriber rate meter (hereinafter referred to as called party rate meter) of the receiving subscriber.
With the "contract-type complete incoming call billing system", the number of calls up to a predetermined fixed rate or a certain amount of time is registered on the callee number meter, and calls that exceed that number are switched to the caller number meter. There are two types of payment methods: the so-called ``contract-type distribution billing method'', in which the caller charges the fee during notifications necessary for the service, and the connection route for the call is re-arranged from the called party. There is a system in which the call fee is charged to the called party in the form of an outgoing call from the called subscriber. The present invention relates to the above-mentioned ``contract-type distribution billing'' or ``d'' revision, and first, the conventional method for long-distance calls will be explained with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, 1 is an originating subscriber telephone, 2 is an originating subscriber exchange, 3 and 10 are both outgoing trunks of the originating subscriber exchange, 4 and 11 are both incoming trunks of the outgoing toll exchange,
5 is a toll originating exchange, 6 and 12 are both outgoing trunks of the toll originating exchange, 7 and 13 are incoming trunks and special incoming trunks of the terminating subscriber exchange, 8 is the terminating subscriber exchange, 9 is the terminating subscriber telephone, 14 is a special register center connected to the input trunk 14 by a link, and 15 is a special input register connected to the special input trunk 13' by a link.

First, a general call is connected by the calling subscriber dialing the number of the called party. Originating subscriber telephone 1 - originating subscriber exchange 2 1 train 1 outgoing trunk 3 individual trunk 4
The route is one train 1 of the toll originating exchange 5, one outgoing trunk 6, one incoming trunk J, one train 1R of the terminating subscriber exchange 8, and the terminating subscriber's telephone set 9.

Then, if the calling subscriber knows that the called subscriber is a service subscriber, the call can be made by first dialing the special number and then dialing the called party number as in a normal call. The connection is made to the calling subscriber telephone 1.
1 Train of 2 of exchange 2 1 Exiting trunk 10 Single trunk 11 1 2b train of exchange 5 1 Exiting trunk 12 - 1.1 Special incoming trunk 13 1 Train of 2f of exchange 8 1 Route of incoming subscriber telephone 9 It will be done.

Caller billing in this case is carried out in the same manner as in the general connection, and the special register center 14 belonging to the incoming trunk 11 naturally knows its billing index.

The special register center 14, like a general register center, has the functions of transmitting connection information for the called subscriber 9 to the subsequent exchange and also transmitting a billing index. On the other hand, the special input register 15 installed in this special train can receive this billing index information. When there is an incoming call on the train of the special entry trunk 13, the special entry register 15, which is captured via the link, receives billing information from the previous station and transfers this to a counting circuit attached to the special person trunk (not shown). At the same time, the special entry trunk 13 and the called subscriber's telephone set 9 are connected using the called party number in a known manner.

When the called subscriber 9 answers, the call is started and the counting circuit is activated to start registering the subscriber frequency meter of the called subscriber 9 in accordance with the billing index. As the call progresses and the call rate or call time reaches the value preset in the counting circuit, the counting circuit activates and sends a response indication to the previous station for the first time after the start of the call. At the station, the calling subscriber 1 is charged exactly the same as in the normal case, and at the same time, the calling subscriber 9 is stopped being charged.

In this way, calls can be charged to the caller until a fixed fee or a fixed time, and calls made after that are charged to the caller, and this method can also be applied to local calls. As described above, in the conventional contract-type distribution billing system, the incoming call charge frequency is registered in the subscriber frequency meter of the service subscriber by the function of a special input register such as a special input trunk shared by a specified number of service subscribers. Therefore, the fixed rate or fixed time for each incoming call can only be set at a fixed value established by the telephone operating company, and the service subscriber can of course change the service provision period or service provision to any value that the service subscriber desires. It is completely impossible to meet the needs of service subscribers who desire a flexible incoming call billing service that is tailored to the area and company structure of the company.

．． 2. The fact that incoming call charges are registered together with the service subscriber's outgoing call charges has been criticized as a pre-modern method that cannot meet the demands of modern society, where there is a strong demand for the presentation of details of call charges. There is a risk of receiving

Furthermore, in order to perform incoming call charges, it is necessary to provide a separate route from the originating local exchange to the terminating local exchange, which is completely independent of the normal connection route, and to install appropriate special equipment at the terminating local exchange. 3. Providing this service to telephone stations across the country would require a huge amount of equipment and construction costs.

Providing such separate routes and special equipment nationwide for incoming call charges, which are extremely limited in terms of 4-traffic traffic, is inefficient and uneconomical.

There are drawbacks such as.

In order to overcome these drawbacks, the present invention uses a data center and data communication network as a support system in which the requests of service subscribers can be registered arbitrarily, and installs a special charging trunk and its related equipment in the originating switching center. Through organic cooperation between related devices and data centers, detailed incoming call billing information is recorded individually, making it possible to perform excellent registration-type distributed billing that can meet the diverse needs of service subscribers. An embodiment of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the registered distributed billing system of the present invention, and shows an example of a subscriber dial type long distance call for a calling subscriber belonging to a crossbar type local exchange. In the figure, 21 is an originating subscriber's telephone, 22 is a crossbar type originating subscriber exchange, 23 is a special output trunk of the originating subscriber exchange, 24 is a register center connected to the special output trunk 23 by a link, 25 is a trunk line, 26 is a special incoming trunk (special billing trunk) of the originating relay exchange;
27 is a link, 28 is an information processing device, 29 is a call frequency recording circuit for incoming billing (terminating call billing frequency meter) attached to the billing trunk 26, 30 is a party number recording circuit attached to the billing trunk 26, and 31 is a service. Information processing device 2 equipped with a data bank that stores various data registered in advance by subscribers.
8 and a data center connected by a data communication network, 3
2 is the originating relay exchange, 33 and 34 are the special notification trunks and normal outgoing trunks of the originating relay exchange, 35 is the receiving subscriber's telephone, and 36 is the data on the upper limit number of calls for which incoming call charges are allowed (hereinafter simply referred to as the upper limit number). 37 is a charging pulse circuit; 38 is a charging switching circuit attached to charging trunk 26; 39 is a subscriber frequency of a calling subscriber. (caller frequency meter). Now, the originating subscriber first receives a special number, for example 1X, from the originating subscriber's telephone 21.
If you dial Y, the exchange 22 will switch to the special outgoing trunk 23.
The special output trunk 23 activates the register center 24 via the link.

When the register center 24 issues a second ring tone to prompt the calling subscriber 21 to dial the called party number and receives the same, the line is extended to the charging trunk 26 via the trunk line 25, and the charging trunk 26 The information processing device 28 is activated via the link 27. The activated information processing device 28 immediately reads the index of the incoming call charge frequency meter 29 that returns to 0'' via the link 27, and determines that the index is 0, and the operation at this point is related to the connection of the call. Then, when the register center 24 sends out the received called party number, the information processing device 28 sends it to the special outgoing trunk 23, the trunk line 25, and the billing trunk 26.
and temporarily stores it through the link 27, and writes it into the called party number recording circuit 30 through the link 27. At the same time, it attaches the connection inquiry instruction code fixedly stored in its built-in ROM and the outgoing MA code. This is transferred via a data communication network (not shown) to the data center 31 that manages the called party number, that is, the registration data of the service subscriber regarding the call. The data center 31 stores the incoming telephone number (called party number) registered in advance by the service subscriber based on the contract for receiving the incoming call billing service, the service provision period, and the area in which the service is provided, i.e., incoming calls to the service subscriber. It is equipped with a data bank that stores necessary data such as the MA code of the MA that allows outgoing billing calls, and the upper limit frequency for each MA that allows incoming billing for incoming billing calls, in other words, incoming billing restriction information. , data center 31
The center device verifies whether or not the inquired call can be connected by comparing the data received from the information processing device 28 with the data registered in the data bank.

First, if it is determined that the connection is not possible as a result of the verification, the data center 31 sends a connection failure signal to the information processing device 28.

The information processing device 28 that received this information uses its own built-in ROM.
The special notification trunk connection instruction code fixedly stored in the memory is read out and transferred to the originating relay exchange 32 using a known method for recovery, and the originating relay exchange 32 connects the line to the special notification trunk 33 to prevent incoming billing calls. The calling subscriber 21 is informed that the notification is possible. Note that the calling subscriber 21 may not know that the called party number has been changed. If an attempt is made to talk, the line is connected via the outgoing trunk 34 to a normal notification trunk of the terminating subscriber exchange (not shown) to which the terminating subscriber 35 belongs, using the same procedure as in the case where connection is possible, which will be described later. It is a good idea to provide the data center 31 and the information processing device 28 with a function to provide number guidance. Next, if it is determined that the connection is possible as a result of the verification, the data center 31 sends a connection possible signal and the upper limit frequency regarding the originating MA to the information processing device 28.

The information processing device 28 that received this writes the upper limit frequency to the upper limit frequency meter 36 via the link 27, and also writes the temporarily stored called party number to the originating relay exchange 36 by a known method.
2, the originating relay exchange 32 extends the line to the terminating subscriber 35 via the outgoing trunk 34. The called subscriber 35 responds and the billing trunk 26 receives the signal;
The billing pulse circuit 37 issues a billing pulse for each unit billing time according to the call distance, and the incoming call billing frequency meter 29 receives the pulses via the billing switching circuit 38 and sequentially adds up the call frequency, which is different from a normal call connection. Similarly, this method is based on a known method, but in this case, the response signal of the called subscriber 35 and the charging pulse emitted every unit charging time are not sent to the preceding station.
Therefore, the caller frequency meter 39 has not yet started registration.

A call is started in response to a response from the incoming subscriber 35, and at the same time the incoming call billing frequency meter 29 starts accumulating the call frequency, the billing switching circuit 38 monitors the index of the incoming call billing frequency meter 29 and the index of the upper limit frequency meter 36. When the two indexes match, the billing switching circuit 38 switches the direction in which the billing pulse is sent from the incoming billing frequency meter 29 to the charging trunk 26, stops the incoming billing frequency meter 29 from accumulating the frequency, and performs subsequent billing. The pulse is sent to the special output trunk 23 of the originating subscriber exchange via the billing trunk 26 and the trunk line 25, and the frequency is registered in the caller frequency total 39 by a known method.

In this way, the number of calls for incoming billing calls is determined by the number of incoming billing charges 29 until the service subscriber, that is, the subscriber 35 who receives the call, has registered in advance a certain number of calls, or a number corresponding to a certain call time. If the call frequency exceeds that number, it will be divided and recorded in the caller frequency total 39, but if the call ends before the actual call frequency exceeds the pre-registered upper limit frequency, the frequency of the caller frequency total 39 will be recorded. Of course, there is no registration and all call charges are charged to the called party. When the call ends, the charging trunk 26 uses the information processing device 2 again under the action of two signals: that signal and the previously received called party response signal.
8 via link 27. The activated information processing device 28 immediately reads the index of the incoming call charge frequency meter 29 via the link 27 as in the case of a telephone call connection, but in this case, the index 01 is not present, so if it is distinguished, the operation at this point is as follows. I know that this is a collection and transfer of incoming billing information. Then, the time at that point (which generally corresponds to the end time of the call) is recorded by a separately provided function, and the called party number is read from the called party number recording circuit 30 via the link 27, In addition to the called party number and the index of the incoming call charge frequency meter 29, that is, the three incoming call charge information of the incoming call charge frequency and the end time, the outgoing call M which is fixedly stored in the self-contained ROM
A total of five pieces of information, including the A code and the incoming call billing information transfer instruction code, are sent to the called party number via a data communication network (not shown).
That is, the information processing device 28 is restored by transferring the registration of the service subscriber related to the call to the data center 31 that manages the call and storing it in an incoming call billing information storage device (not shown) within the data center. The billing trunk 26 and its associated circuits have already been restored after the called party number has been read out. If the calling subscriber disconnects the call before the called subscriber responds or when the notification trunk is connected, the billing trunk 26 restarts the information processing device 28 because the called party response signal is not returned. Because it is simply restored without any trouble,
Various devices, including the information processing device 28, are not made to operate unnecessarily.

In this way, the present invention provides a special billing trunk and information processing device having ancillary circuits specific to the service at the originating switching center in the automatic telephone switching network, and allows service subscribers to use the data communication system as a support system in advance. Based on the registered data, it is determined whether a call can be connected or not, and the call fee is divided between the called party charge, which allows detailed recording, and the conventional caller charge, which is a lump-sum method. Application of the invention is not limited to the system configuration shown in FIG. 2; 1. Application of the invention is not limited to the system configuration shown in FIG. Design changes.

2. Design changes related to general connections in order to apply the present invention to calls within a closed number area.

3. Design change for converting some of the circuits attached to the special charging trunk according to the present invention into independent common equipment.

This also extends to all design changes that do not impair the essence of the present invention.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the equipment for the telephone exchange that is directly related to single-split billing is located only in the calling exchange. No modification or addition of equipment is required, and the data communication system as a support system can be widely shared with other services using data communication or the original data communication service, resulting in great economic effects.

2. Detailed call charge records with practical effects can be easily obtained using simple techniques and low costs, and the requests of service subscribers who wish to obtain detailed records regarding call charges can be easily met.

3. Since the distributed billing according to the present invention is established based on various data set arbitrarily by the service subscriber and registered in advance, the present system appeals to users as a new and user-oriented telephone service. Telephone operating companies can expect a significant increase in revenue.

There are other effects.

Next, in the above embodiment, the upper limit frequency meter and the incoming call charge frequency meter are used to extract the incoming call charge frequency, but the upper limit frequency meter is omitted and the functions of the incoming call charge frequency meter, related circuits, and related devices are used. Next, another embodiment will be described which achieves the same functions and effects as the previous embodiment by making slight changes.

Figure 3 is a system configuration diagram showing this embodiment, and is a related partial diagram showing differences from the previous embodiment shown in Figure 2, and the figure numbers and explanations are the same as in Figure 2. Therefore, the explanation will be omitted.

Differences from the previous embodiment will be explained below with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the incoming call charge frequency meter 29 is an electronic memory type full scale return type frequency recording circuit in which all bits are set to 11 degrees in the initial state, and the bit string (hereinafter referred to as frequency memory) is A 1-bit flag memory may be added at the beginning.

The flag memory has all bits of the frequency memory set to ``1''.
In the initial state, it is set to ``1'', otherwise it is set to ``O''.The case where the flag memory is added will be explained below.When two calls are connected or when a call ends, the charging trunk 26 is linked. Information processing device 2 via 27
8, the information processing device 28 accesses the incoming call charge frequency meter 29 via the link 27 and first reads its flag memory.

If the read bit is "1", it knows that the state is "call connection" and performs the necessary operations for call connection without reading the following frequency memory. The bit read again is ``0''
If so, it knows that the state is "end of call, transfer of incoming call billing information", reads the following frequency memory, and performs other operations necessary for transferring incoming call billing information. 3. The upper limit frequency sent when the data center 31 verifies the data transferred from the information processing device 28 and determines that connection is possible is the incoming call charge frequency total 29.
The frequency memory is rewritten from all pits 1'' to the value corresponding to the upper limit frequency, and the flag memory is also changed to ('1'
It changes from 5 to 3゛0''.

4. The recording of call frequency in the incoming call charge frequency meter 29 is different from the addition method of the previous embodiment, and is a subtraction method in which the index is decreased by 1" for each charging pulse.

5. The billing switching circuit 38 starts monitoring the index in the frequency memory of the incoming call billing frequency meter 29 at the same time as recording the call frequency, and switches the billing circuit when the index reaches "0"", that is, all bits reach "0"".

6, the index of the frequency memory of the incoming call charging frequency meter 29 read out by the information processing device 28 as explained in Section 2 is 3.
, 4 and 5, it is not the actual frequency of incoming call charging (incoming call charging frequency), but the difference between the upper limit frequency and the incoming call charging frequency.

Therefore, when the information processing device 28 transfers the incoming call billing information to the data center 31, the data center 31 compares it with the data registered in the data bank and determines the difference between the upper limit, variable, and the transferred index. The incoming call billing frequency is obtained and stored in the incoming call billing information storage device along with other data. As explained in detail above, this embodiment has a simplified configuration compared to the previous embodiment by consolidating and increasing the functionality, and the features of the present invention are not changed at all. The scope of application is also exactly the same as in the previous embodiment.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the callee charges the specified charge for one call or the charge up to the time based on free data registered in advance by the service subscriber in a detailed record manner. It is possible to meet the new demands of subscribers regarding telephone calls, and it can also be applied to non-voice communications such as data communications other than telephone calls.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a conventional contract type distributed billing system, FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the registration type distributed billing system of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1... Originating subscriber's telephone set, 2... Originating subscriber exchange, 3 and 10... Both outgoing trunks 64 of the originating subscriber exchange, and 11... Both incoming trunks of the toll originating exchange, 5 ... Toll exchange, 6} and 12...Both outgoing trunks of toll exchange, 7 and 13...
Incoming trunks and special incoming trunks of terminating local exchanges,
8... Incoming subscriber's exchange, 9... Incoming subscriber's telephone, 14... Special register center, 15... Special entry register, 21... Outgoing subscriber's telephone, 22... Crossbar type calling Subscriber exchange, 23...Special outgoing trunk of originating subscriber exchange, 24...Register center, 25.
... Trunk line, 26... Special entry trunk (special billing trunk) of originating relay exchange, 27... Link, 28.
. . Information processing device, 29 . . . Call frequency recording circuit for incoming call charging (incoming call charging frequency meter), 30 . . . Called party number recording circuit, 31 . . . Data center, 32 . 33 and 34... Special notification trunk death and normal outgoing trunk of originating relay exchange, 35... Incoming subscriber's telephone, 36... Upper limit frequency recording circuit for incoming call charges (upper limit frequency meter), 37... Billing pulse circuit, 38...Charging switching circuit, 39...Subscriber frequency meter (caller frequency meter) of the originating subscriber.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A data center and a data center equipped with a data bank in which a specific receiving subscriber who has subscribed to a service that charges a fixed fee or a fee corresponding to a certain amount of time for a call charge is registered in advance. A data communication system connecting telephone offices is prepared as a support system for an automatic telephone switching network, and a calling exchange in the automatic telephone switching network is equipped with a special billing trunk and an information processing device, and the special billing trunk includes:
A called party number recording circuit, a first frequency meter for receiving and recording from the data center the upper limit frequency for allowing incoming call charges, a second frequency meter for recording the actual call frequency for incoming call charges, and a billing switching circuit are attached. When the called party number of the specific incoming subscriber arrives, the information processing device writes the number into the called party number recording circuit and compares it with the data in the data bank with the data center to determine whether connection is possible. If the connection is possible, the upper limit frequency for the specific incoming subscriber from the data center is written in the first frequency meter, and the call frequency after connection is calculated in the second frequency meter, and billing is performed. The switching circuit monitors the index of the first frequency meter and the second frequency meter, and when the indexes match, the call frequency accumulation is switched to the caller frequency meter from now on, and the call frequency accumulated by the second frequency meter is A registration type distributed billing system characterized in that the called party number written in the called party number recording circuit is transferred to a data center and billed to the called party. 2 Connecting a data center with a data bank in which a specific receiving subscriber who has signed a contract for a service that charges a fixed fee or a fee equivalent to one foot hour for incoming calls, and a data center and a telephone office. A data communication system is prepared as a support system for an automatic telephone switching network, and a calling exchange in the automatic telephone switching network is equipped with a special billing trunk and an information processing device, and the special billing trunk includes a called party number recording circuit, A first frequency meter and a charging switching circuit are attached to receive and record the upper limit frequency for allowing incoming call charging from the data center, and when the specific incoming subscriber number arrives, the information processing device records the number as the called party number. In addition to writing in the circuit, the data center is checked against the data in the data bank to check whether the connection is possible, and if the connection is possible, the upper limit frequency for the specific incoming subscriber from the data center is set. The call frequency after connection is written to the first frequency meter, and the call frequency after connection is subtracted from the written upper limit frequency.The billing switching circuit monitors the index of the first frequency meter, and the subsequent call frequency accumulation is performed because the index is zero. switching to the caller frequency meter, transmitting the call frequency indicated by the first frequency meter to the data center together with the called party number written in the called party number recording circuit;
A registered distribution billing method that charges the recipient.