JPH11317822A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the efficiency of communication by the communication equipment that makes a call sequentially to plural terminals connecting to a telephone line to make communication. SOLUTION: Relating to this communication equipment, when a table monitor means 26 detects it that a current date and time passes a call schedule date and time (y, d, t) set in a memory table 21, a call processing section 27 calls public telephone sets which have less failure numbers R with priority among public telephone sets to which a call schedule date and time before the current date and time is set. In the case that any reply is made from the public telephone sets in response to the call and the communication is finished, the call schedule date and time of the public telephone sets is deleted from the memory table 21. In the case that no reply comes from the public telephone set in response to the call and no communication is available because occurrence of a communication error, a failure number R of the public telephone set in the memory table 21 is incremented by one and the call schedule date and time is changed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication apparatus for communicating with a plurality of terminals connected to a telephone network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a public telephone system, FIG.
As shown in, and centrally manage a large number of public telephone 2 ₁ to 2 _n are connected to the telephone network 1 by a center apparatus 10 connected via a modem 3 to the telephone network 1.

[0003] The center device 10 is a personal computer or the like capable of serial communication, or download table information and parameters necessary for toll collection such as the public telephone 2 ₁ to 2 _n, the public telephone 2 ₁
To collect the call usage information and the like from to 2 _n, performs a call for each of the terminals 2 ₁ to 2 _n, and performing communication of information between a public telephone in response to this call.

When calling and communicating with such a large number of public telephones, it is difficult for an operator to perform a calling operation or the like for each public telephone.

For this reason, conventionally, the center apparatus 10 automatically makes a call to a public telephone in sequence to perform necessary communication.

As described above, the conventional center device 10 is provided with a memory table 11 as shown in FIG. 7 in order to automatically perform a calling process and an information communication process.

In this memory table 11, serial numbers Sn1 to SnN (serial numbers for management) unique to each public telephone to be managed and line numbers Dn1 to DnN (telephone numbers) to which each terminal is connected are stored. The scheduled call date and time (y, d,
t) can be set. Where y is the year,
d indicates the date and t indicates the time.

[0008] Then, for example, all public telephone 2 ₁ to 2
_{In the} case of downloading new information required for fee collection to _n , as shown in FIG. 7A, the operator wants to start downloading at the date and time (y ₀ , d
₀ , t ₀ ) to all the public telephones 2 in the memory table 11.
_{1 to} 2 _n are set in the scheduled call date and time fields, and the download information is set in another memory.

The center device 10 is provided at predetermined time intervals (for example, 1
(Every minute), the memory table 11 is checked, and a call is automatically started in ascending order of the serial number Sn for a public telephone set with a scheduled call date and time before the current date and time. Download information.

FIG. 7B shows the information on the scheduled call date and time in the memory table for the public telephones (for example, public telephones 2 ₁ and 2 ₂ ) for which the information download has been completed normally.
Erase as follows.

If the communication fails, as in the case where the terminal is busy and there is no response, or the information cannot be downloaded despite the response, as shown in FIG. 7 (c). The public telephone (for example, public telephone 2)
₍₃ , ₂₅ ,...) Scheduled call date and time (y ₀ , d ₀ , t ₀ )
And the date and time (y ₃ , d ₃ , t ₃ ) obtained by adding the retry interval ΔT to the date and time when the communication failure was confirmed, (y ₅ ,
d ₅ , t ₅ ),. Note that the retry interval ΔT is a time until a recall is made, for example, several minutes to 10 minutes.
It is preset to about a minute.

In this way, while calling and communicating in the order of the serial number, the time is changed to the public telephone 2 _3.
After the updated scheduled call date and time (y ₃ , d ₃ , t ₃ ), the center device 10 sets the smallest serial number among the public telephones with the scheduled call date and time before the current date and time. (In this case, a call is made to the public telephone 2 ₃ ), and the information is downloaded to the public telephone that has responded.

[0013] Similarly, for a public telephone whose information has been normally downloaded, the memory table 1
1 and the scheduled call date and time of the public telephone which failed in communication are sequentially updated from the current date and time to a date and time delayed by ΔT from the current date and time. By performing call processing, information is downloaded to all public telephones.

[0014]

However, as described above, in a conventional apparatus for performing a recall process for a public telephone that has failed in communication in the order of serial numbers, a call to a public telephone that has repeatedly failed in communication is always made. Priority is given, and communication to a public telephone having a large serial number is delayed.

To solve this, a retry interval ΔT
May be set longer (for example, 30 minutes or 60 minutes), but since this retry interval is a common setting item for all outgoing call processing performed by the center device, for example, the outgoing call processing for several public telephones is performed. The interval between recalls when the call is made becomes too long, and communication efficiency is reduced.

Further, without using the automatic recall process for the public telephone for which communication has failed, the operator makes the communication when the call processing for all the public telephones registered in the memory table 11 has been completed. A method of newly setting the scheduled call date and time corresponding to the failed public telephone is also conceivable, but this requires the operator to be always on standby.

It is an object of the present invention to solve these problems and to provide a communication device capable of efficiently performing communication with a terminal while effectively using automatic recall processing.

[0018]

In order to achieve the above object, a communication apparatus according to the present invention is connected to a telephone line via a modem and communicates with a plurality of terminals connected to the telephone line. A communication device for performing: a telephone number of the plurality of terminals, a memory for storing a scheduled call date and time and the number of communication failures, terminal information setting means for setting a telephone number of the terminal in the memory, A scheduled call date and time setting means for setting the scheduled call date and time of the terminal in the memory, a clock circuit for outputting the current date and time, and a terminal having the scheduled call date and time set in the memory, Calling means for reading out the telephone numbers of the terminals before the current date and time in a predetermined order and outputting them to the telephone line via the modem, and response detection for detecting a response from the terminal to the telephone number output from the calling means Means and said response detection Communication between the information communication means for communicating information with the terminal that responded when the response is detected by the means and the terminal having the telephone number output to the telephone line from the calling means is performed. Success / failure determining means for determining success or failure; scheduled call date / time erasing means for erasing, from the memory, a scheduled call date / time of the terminal determined to be successful by the success / failure determination means; A failure frequency counting means for counting the number of failures of the terminal determined to have failed in the communication by the determination means and recording the count result in the memory; and a terminal determining that the communication has failed by the success / failure determination means. A scheduled call date and time changing means for changing the scheduled call date and time to a date and time obtained by adding a predetermined retry interval to the communication failure date and time, wherein the calling means includes a terminal having a scheduled call date and time earlier than the current date and time. of Chi, the telephone number of fail count is less terminal is configured to output preferentially into the telephone line.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the center device 10 described above.
1 shows the configuration of a center device 20 as a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention for managing a plurality of public telephones (terminals) 2 ₁ to 2 _n connected to the telephone network 1. I have.

The center device 20 is constituted by a personal computer, and has a telephone line 1 via a modem 3.
It is connected to the.

In the memory table 21 of the center device 20, similarly to the memory table 11, the public telephone serial numbers Sn1 to SnN to be managed and the line numbers Dn to DnN (telephone numbers) to which the public telephones are connected are stored. )
Are stored in advance in association with each other, and the scheduled call date and time (y, d, t) can be set for each public telephone.

The memory table 21 can store the number of times of communication failure (the number of times of failure) R for each public telephone.

The scheduled call date and time setting means 22 sets the scheduled call date and time for each public telephone in the memory table 21 by operating a keyboard (not shown) or the like. The setting of the scheduled call date and time can be performed collectively to set the same date and time for all the public telephones registered in the memory table 21 at once, and to individual setting to individually set each public telephone. Has become.

Communication contents setting means 23 stores contents of communication to be performed with a public telephone to be called from a communication contents memory 24.
For example, transmission of information in a download mode, collection of information in an upload mode, and the like are designated.

The clock circuit 25 outputs the current date and time data. The table monitoring means 26 is provided for the memory table 21
The presence / absence of the scheduled call date and time and the date and time are checked at predetermined time intervals (for example, every one minute). It is determined whether or not the date and time is before the current date and time data. If a scheduled call date and time is set before the current date and time data, a flag F for changing the output order of the telephone numbers is set to 1, for example.

The outgoing call processing section 27 is a telephone number sorting means 2
8 and a scheduled call number memory 29 and a telephone number sending means 30.

The telephone number sorting means 28 sets the flag F to 1
Is set to, the priority is given to the telephone number of the public telephone having the smaller number of failures R among the public telephones whose scheduled call date and time in the memory table 21 is earlier than the current date and time, and the serial number is given to the public telephone having the same number of failures R. Are read out in ascending order and stored in the outgoing call telephone number memory 29 in order from the initial address.

The telephone number sending means 30 reads out the telephone numbers stored in the outgoing call telephone number memory 29 in order from the initial address, and outputs the read telephone numbers to the modem 3 via the serial interface 31. Call the public telephone connected to the line of the number.

The telephone number transmitting means 30 outputs the telephone number of the initial address of the telephone number memory 29 when the telephone number is stored in the telephone number memory 29, and then outputs a response detecting means to be described later. At 32, when no response is detected, and when the information communication by the information communication means 33 is completed regardless of success or failure, the telephone number of the next address is read.

The response detecting means 32 detects whether or not there is a response from the public telephone called by the calling processing unit 27.

When the response detecting means 32 detects a response from the public telephone, the information communication means 33 communicates with the responding public telephone in accordance with the contents set in the communication contents memory 24, At the end of the communication, an end signal according to the success or failure of the communication is output.

The success / failure judgment means 34 receives the detection result of the response detection means 32 and the end signal from the information communication means 33,
The calling processor 30 determines whether information communication with the called public telephone has succeeded or failed, and outputs the result of the determination.

The scheduled call date and time erasing means 35 erases the scheduled call date and time in the memory table 21 of the public telephone with which the communication was successful when the success / failure judging means 34 determines that the communication was successful. The erasure of the date and time data is performed by writing a specific character code (for example, a character-or E) other than a number.

The failure frequency counting means 36 is
4, when it is determined that the communication has failed, the number of failures R in the memory table 21 of the public telephone in which the communication has failed is incremented by one.
Only update to increase.

When the success / failure judging means 34 determines that the communication has failed, the scheduled call date / time changing means 37 sets the scheduled call date / time of the memory table 21 of the public telephone in which the communication failed to the current date / time as the retry interval ΔT Update at the date and time that was added.

The scheduled call date and time changing means 37
The retry interval ΔT is changed according to the number of failures. For example, if the number of failures R of the public telephone for which communication has failed is updated to 1 by the failure number counting means 36, the retry interval is set to ΔTa (for example, 2 minutes), and if the number of failures R is updated to 2, Set the retry interval to ΔTb (for example, 4 minutes)
When the number of failures R is updated to 3 or more, the retry interval is set to ΔTc (for example, 8 minutes).

The terminal information setting means 38 sets the serial number and line number of the managed public telephone in the memory table 21 by operating a keyboard (not shown).

FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts showing the processing procedure of the center device 20. Hereinafter, the operation of the center device will be described with reference to this flowchart.

It is assumed that the serial number and line number of the managed public telephone are stored in the memory table 21 in association with each other (terminal information setting means 3).
8).

As shown in steps S1 to S4 in FIG. 2, the center device 20 determines whether there is a scheduled call date and time in the memory table 21 at predetermined time intervals (for example, one minute), of date and time, as the current date and time previously monitors whether new or has occurred, in order to download the same information for all the public telephone 2 ₁ to 2 _n, for example managed, originating As shown in FIG. 4A, the scheduled call date and time (y ₀ ,
d ₀ , t ₀ ) is set and the download information is set in the communication content memory 25, and if the current date and time passes the scheduled call date and time (y ₀ , d ₀ , t ₀ ), the data before the current date and time is changed Since it has newly occurred, the flag F is set to 1 (table monitoring means 26).

When the flag F is set to 1, the telephone number in the memory table 21 is stored in the call-sending telephone number memory 2 of the call processing unit 27 as shown in steps S11 to S13 in FIG.
9 and the flag F is reset to 0 (telephone number sorting means 28).

At this time, the value of the number of failures R of all public telephones registered in the memory table 21 is 0, which is the initial value.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5A, the telephone numbers Dn1 to DnN of the public telephones are stored in the outgoing call telephone number memory 29 in the order of the serial numbers.

When the telephone number is stored in the outgoing call telephone number memory 29, the telephone number Dn1 having the initial address A = 1 is read out and output to the modem 31, as shown in steps S14 and S15, and the public telephone 2 _1. Is called (telephone number sending means 30).

As shown in processing S16 to S19, when the public telephone 2 ₁ responds to this call, the download of information is performed (information communication unit 33), when the communication is successful, the memory table 21 call date and time of the public telephone 2 ₁ is erased as shown in (b) of FIG. 4 (calling date and time erasing means 35).

As described above, the scheduled call date and time of the public telephone whose communication has been normally completed are sequentially deleted.

As shown in steps S20 to S24, when a call or communication to the public telephone fails, as shown in FIG. 4C, the public telephone ₂₅ which failed in the communication fails. The number of failures R is incremented and updated by 1 (failure number counting means 36), and a retry interval corresponding to the updated value of the number of failures R is selected from ΔTa, ΔTb, ΔTc, and the calling of the public telephone ₂₅ is performed. The scheduled date and time is obtained by adding the retry interval to the date and time when the communication failure is confirmed from the initial values (y ₀ , d ₀ , t ₀ ) (y ₅ ,
(d ₅ , t ₅ ) (call originating date / time changing means 3)
7).

If the flag F remains in the reset state and all telephone numbers have not been read out as in steps S25 to S27, the read address A of the call-sending telephone number memory 29 is updated by one. Then, the process returns to step S15, and the same processing as described above is performed.

In the meantime, in the processing S1 to S4, the call origination time in the memory table 21 is changed to the flag F
Is reset to 1, the process returns to step S12, and among the telephone numbers of the public telephones for which the scheduled call date and time is set, the telephone number of the public telephone having the smaller number of failures R is given priority and the number of failures R is the same. , The telephone number of a public telephone having a small serial number is given priority,
9 are sequentially written from the initial address.

[0049] For example, at the time when the current date and time has passed the call date and time of the public telephone _{2 5 (y 5, d 5} , t 5), calling the communication of up to public telephone 2 ₁₀ is completed, 2 in the meantime one of when the communication to the public telephone 2 _5, 2 ₇ has failed, as in FIG. 4 (d), the at failure count R 1 of the public telephone 2 _5, 2 _7, number of failed public telephone 2 ₁₁₊ since R is 0, the call will telephone number memory 29, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the telephone number Dn11 the public telephone 2 ₁₁ is stored in the initial address, followed public telephone 2 _{12-2 n} telephone number Dn12~DnN is stored, and finally so that the telephone number Dn5 the public telephone 2 ₅ are stored.

[0050] It should be noted that, since the call-scheduled date and time of the public telephone 2 ₇ is a current or after the date and time, not recorded in the calling plan phone number memory 29.

After the rearrangement of the telephone numbers in the telephone number memory 29, the telephone numbers in the telephone number memory 29 are read out again from the initial address and the public telephone is called. Will be done.

Therefore, until all of the calls to the public telephones 2 ₁ to 2 _n registered in the memory table 21 have completed _one round, the outgoing call to the uncalled public telephone is prioritized, and the communication fails. No recall is made to the public telephone.

Then, at the stage when the call has completed one round, as shown in FIG. 4E, the scheduled call dates and times of all the public telephones with which communication has succeeded are deleted, and the M public telephones 2 with which communication has failed have been deleted. ₅ , 2 ₇ ,..., 2 _n-1 are respectively set to (y ₅ , d ₅ , t ₅ ), (y ₇ , d ₇ , t ₇ ),.
(Y _n−1 , d _n−1 , t _n−1 ), and the number of failures R is all 1.

If the scheduled call time before the current date and time is set in these scheduled call dates and times, the flag F is set and the call scheduled telephone number memory 29 is stored in the memory (FIG. 5). As shown in c), among the public telephones for which communication has failed, the public telephone 2 in which the scheduled call time before the current date and time is set.
_{5, 2 7, ..., 2} n-1 of the telephone number Dn5, Dn7, ...,
Dn (N-1) is to be stored in order, the telephone number Dn5, Dn7, ..., Dn ( N-1) pay phones 2 ₅ is read out in the order of, 2 _7, ..., 2 _n Recalling and communication processing for _-1 are performed in the same manner as described above.

In the same manner, the re-calling and the communication process are repeated until the communication with all the public telephones succeeds.

As described above, as the number of recalls increases, the number of public telephones to be communicated decreases. For example, when only one public telephone becomes a target of recall, Repeated calls to the telephone are made continuously.

Also, unlike the case where information is downloaded to all public telephones, even if the communication target is only a specific public telephone, there is a possibility that re-calling to the public telephone is continuously performed.

However, an automatic continuous call to the same terminal is allowed only up to a predetermined number of times (for example, three times) within a predetermined time (for example, three minutes) according to the provisions of the line. If the setting is fixed as short as 30 seconds, the retry interval for one public telephone violates the line regulation.

For this reason, in this embodiment, as described above, the retry interval ΔT is increased each time the number of retries is increased from the time that satisfies the regulation. Controlling the interval.

As described above, the center device 20 of the embodiment is
Is to give priority to calls with a small number of communication failures, so that even when communicating with a large number of public telephones sequentially, re-calling a public telephone that repeatedly fails communication may cause a call to another public telephone. There is no delay in calling and efficient communication can be performed.

Further, since the re-call process itself is always effective, and the retry interval does not need to be set longer than necessary, efficient communication can be performed even when communicating with a specific public telephone. You.

In the above embodiment, the calling sequence for public telephones having the same number of failures is in the order of the serial number unique to the public telephone. However, the calling sequence for public telephones having the same number of failures is arbitrary. You may order them by phone number.

Further, in the above embodiment, communication between a plurality of public telephones connected to a telephone line is performed by one line (1
However, the center device may be connected to M lines via a plurality of M (M is, for example, 4 to 16) modems and M public telephones may be called.

In the above-described embodiment, the communication device of the present invention is applied to the center device that communicates with a plurality of public telephones via a telephone line. However, a terminal other than the public telephone connected to the telephone line is used. The present invention can be similarly applied to a communication device that communicates with a communication device.

[0065]

As described above, the communication apparatus according to the present invention preferentially calls a terminal having a small number of communication failures when it is time to recall a terminal that has failed communication. Therefore, even when communication is sequentially performed with a large number of terminals, a call to another terminal that repeats a communication failure does not delay a call to another terminal, and efficient communication can be performed.

Further, since the recall process itself is always effective, and the retry interval does not need to be set longer than necessary, efficient communication can be performed even when communicating with a specific terminal. I can do it.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a memory diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a memory diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a public telephone system.

FIG. 7 is a memory diagram for explaining the operation of the conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 _{1 to} 2 _n Public telephone 3 Modem 20 Center device 21 Memory table 22 Scheduled calling date / time setting means 23 Communication contents setting means 24 Communication contents memory 25 Clock circuit 26 Table monitoring means 27 Call processing unit 28 Phone number sorting means 29 Calling Scheduled call number memory 30 Phone number sending means 31 Serial interface 32 Response detecting means 33 Information communication means 34 Success / failure judging means 35 Call scheduled date / time erasing means 36 Failure count counting means 37 Call scheduled date / time changing means 38 Terminal information setting means

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] June 8, 1998

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All figures

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 2

[Fig. 5]

[Fig. 1]

[Fig. 3]

[Fig. 4]

[Fig. 6]

[Fig. 7]

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A communication device connected to a telephone line via a modem and communicating with a plurality of terminals connected to the telephone line, comprising: telephone numbers of the plurality of terminals; And a memory for storing the number of communication failures; terminal information setting setting means for setting the telephone number of the terminal in the memory; and scheduled call date and time setting means for setting the scheduled call date and time of the terminal in the memory. A clock circuit for outputting the current date and time; and a terminal having a scheduled call date and time set in the memory.
Calling means for reading out the telephone numbers of the terminals whose scheduled call dates and times are earlier than the current date and time and outputting them to the telephone line via the modem; and a response from the terminal to the telephone numbers output from the call means. Response communication means for communicating information with a terminal which responded when a response was detected by the response detection means; and Success / failure determining means for determining whether communication with the terminal having the telephone number is successful or unsuccessful; and erasing the scheduled call date and time of the terminal determined to be successful by the success / failure determining means from the memory. A scheduled call date and time erasing means, a failure frequency counting means for counting the number of failures of the terminal determined as having failed in the communication by the success / failure determination means, and recording the count result in the memory; A scheduled call date and time changing means for changing the scheduled call date and time of the terminal determined to have failed communication by the means to a date and time obtained by adding a predetermined retry interval to the communication failed date and time; A communication device characterized in that, of the terminals whose scheduled call date and time are earlier than the current date and time, the telephone number of the terminal with the least number of failures is preferentially output to the telephone line.