JP2011010078A - Device and method for coping with unwanted call, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for coping with an unwanted call, which does not increase time and labor of a transmission source, and also copes with the unwanted call from a person.SOLUTION: The device for coping with an unwanted call is equipped with: an incoming call request receiving part; an automatic response DB; an automatic response DB collation part; an automatic response part; a response history DB; and a connection processing part. An incoming call request from a telephone number which is preliminarily recorded in the automatic response DB which is a blacklist is answered by voice automatic response, and to an incoming call request from a telephone number which is not recorded in the automatic response DB, a communication line between an originating telephone terminal and an incoming origin telephone terminal is connected.

Description

  The present invention relates to a nuisance call compatible device for filtering nuisance calls, a method thereof, and a program.

In recent years, nuisance calls such as sales and solicitation have increased rapidly. As the cause, the communication cost of IP communication performed via an IP (Internet Protocol) network is low, and automatic transmission is facilitated.
Conventionally, attempts have been made to prevent such annoying calls with telephone devices or devices that connect telephone devices. As an example, a telephone incoming call restriction method disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known.

  A conventional telephone incoming call restriction method will be briefly described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the telephone device 10 to which a conventional incoming call restriction method is applied. The telephone device 10 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, and a communication processing unit 13. The control unit 11 further includes an incoming request reception unit 11a, a question information transmission unit 11b, an answer determination unit 11c, and an incoming call. A control unit 11d and an incoming call notification unit 11e are provided.

  When receiving the incoming request from the caller, the incoming call request receiver 11a instructs the question information transmitter 11b to read the question information 12a from the storage unit 12 and transmit it to the transmitter. The answer determination unit 11c receives the answer information from the transmission source, determines whether or not the answer is correct by collating it with the correct answer stored in the storage unit 12, and if the answer is correct, the incoming control unit 11d is notified.

  The incoming call control unit 11d permits incoming call notification processing of the incoming call notification unit 11e only when a correct answer notification is received. That is, the telephone device 10 obtains an answer from the caller and performs an incoming call operation only when the answer is correct.

JP 2007-189539 A (FIG. 2)

In the conventional method, since the answer to the question is requested from the sender, there is a problem that the trouble of the sender increases. In addition, since the conventional method asks questions that do not require any prerequisite knowledge, it can be answered easily when the caller is a human being, so there is a problem that it is not possible to handle unsolicited calls made by humans. It was.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described points, and does not increase the trouble of the caller, and also provides a nuisance call compatible device, a method, and a program that can be handled even when the caller is a human being. The purpose is to provide.

  The nuisance call compatible device of the present invention includes an incoming call request reception unit, an automatic response DB (DB: database), an automatic response DB collation unit, an automatic response unit, a response history DB, and a connection processing unit. . The incoming call request receiving unit receives an incoming call request input from the caller telephone terminal via the communication network and obtains the caller telephone number. The automatic response DB records a specific telephone number. The automatic response DB collation unit collates the caller telephone number with a specific telephone number to determine whether or not the caller telephone number is included in the automatic response DB and outputs an automatic response instruction signal or a line connection instruction signal. Output. When the automatic response instruction signal is input, the automatic response unit makes an automatic voice response with the caller and records the call record in the response history DB. The connection processing unit connects the lines of the caller telephone terminal and the caller telephone terminal when a line connection instruction signal is input.

  According to the nuisance call compatible device of the present invention, the automatic response unit makes an automatic voice response to the incoming call request from the telephone number recorded in the automatic response DB. In response to an incoming call request from a new telephone number not recorded in the automatic response DB, the connection processing unit connects a line between the caller telephone terminal and the callee telephone terminal. Therefore, it is possible to deal with a nuisance call without taking time and effort to the caller, and it is also possible to deal with an incoming call request by a human.

The figure which shows an example of how to use the nuisance call corresponding | compatible apparatus 100 of this invention. The figure which shows the operation | movement flow of the outline of the nuisance call corresponding | compatible apparatus 100. FIG. The figure which shows the function structural example of the nuisance call corresponding | compatible apparatus 100. FIG. The figure which shows the operation | movement flow of the nuisance call corresponding | compatible apparatus 100. FIG. The figure which shows the function structural example of the automatic response part 37. FIG. The figure which shows the function structural example of the nuisance call corresponding | compatible apparatus 200 of this invention. The figure which shows the operation | movement flow of the nuisance call corresponding | compatible apparatus 200. FIG. The figure which shows the function structural example of the nuisance call corresponding | compatible apparatus 300 of this invention. The figure which shows the operation | movement flow of the nuisance call corresponding | compatible apparatus 300. FIG. The figure which shows the function structure of the telephone apparatus 10 disclosed by patent document 1. FIG.

Before describing the embodiments of the present invention, the idea of the present invention will be described.
[Concept of this invention]
FIG. 1 shows an example of how the nuisance call compatible device 100 of the present invention is used. The nuisance call compatible device 100 of the present invention communicates between a caller telephone terminal 50 that communicates in both directions across a public communication network 40 and a plurality of caller telephone terminals 20a to 20n (hereinafter abbreviated as 20). In this example, it is placed between the caller telephone terminal 20 and the public communication line network 40 for the purpose of preventing incoming incoming calls.

  FIG. 2 shows a schematic operation flow of the nuisance call compatible device 100. The nuisance call handling apparatus 100 receives an incoming call request input from the caller telephone terminal 50 via the public communication line network 40 (step S32). And it is collated whether the telephone number of the transmission origin is recorded on the automatic response DB which recorded the specific telephone number registered beforehand (step S33).

  When the telephone number of the caller is recorded (Y in step S33), the nuisance call compatible device 100 does not transmit an incoming call request to the caller telephone terminal 20 and makes an automatic voice response with the caller telephone terminal 50. This is performed (step S37). When the telephone number of the caller is not recorded in the automatic response DB (N in step S33), the nuisance call compatible device 100 performs a process of connecting a communication line between the caller telephone terminal 50 and the caller telephone terminal 20. This is performed (step S35).

  In other words, the nuisance call handling apparatus 100 of the present invention responds to incoming calls from a specific telephone number recorded in advance in the black list (automatic answering DB) with an automatic voice response, and receives incoming calls from other telephone numbers. It is intended only for calls. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate nuisance calls without taking time and effort to the caller, and it is also possible to accept incoming call requests from new callees.

  The public communication line network 40 may be not only a telephone communication line but also an IP network. In this case, as shown by a broken line in FIG. 1, a caller PC (Personal Computer) 60 or an IP telephone terminal is connected to the nuisance call compatible device. Even in an IP network, the technical idea of the present invention can be applied without any change. In the following description, the public communication line network 40 is used as a telephone line communication network 40.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same reference numerals are given to the same components in a plurality of drawings, and the description will not be repeated.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the functional configuration of the nuisance call compatible device 100 of the present invention. The operation flow is shown in FIG. The nuisance call compatible device 100 includes a network side transmission / reception unit 31, an incoming call request reception unit 32, an automatic response DB collation unit 33, an automatic response DB 34, a connection processing unit 35, a terminal side transmission / reception unit 36, and an automatic response. Unit 37, response history DB 38, and control unit 44. The nuisance call compatible device 100 is realized by a predetermined program being read into a computer constituted by, for example, a ROM, a RAM, and a CPU, and the CPU executing the program.

The network side transmission / reception unit 31 and the terminal side transmission / reception unit 36 are general ones that interface with the communication network side and the terminal side, respectively. Further, since it is not a main part of the present invention, description thereof will be omitted.
The incoming call request receiving unit 32 receives an incoming call request input from the caller telephone terminal 50 (not shown in FIG. 3) via the communication network 40, and obtains the caller telephone number (step S32). The caller telephone number can be obtained by a method usually used in a general number display service.

  The automatic response DB 34 records a specific telephone number. The specific telephone number is a telephone number of a destination to be rejected. In other words, it hits the black list. The automatic response DB collation unit 33 collates the caller telephone number obtained by the incoming call request reception unit 32 with a specific telephone number recorded in the automatic response DB 34 to determine whether the caller telephone number is included. And an automatic response instruction signal or a line connection instruction signal is output (step S330).

  The automatic response unit 37 performs an automatic voice response with the caller telephone terminal 50 when the automatic response instruction signal output from the automatic response DB collation unit 33 is input (step S371). Then, the call record is recorded in the response history DB 38 (step S372).

  The connection processing unit 35 connects the communication line between the caller telephone terminal 50 and the caller telephone terminal 20 when the automatic response DB collation unit 33 outputs a line connection instruction signal (step S35). The connection process (step S35) and the automatic response process (step S371) are maintained until the control unit 44 detects the end of the call (N in step S44).

  The automatic response DB verification unit 33 may be provided with a number non-notification call detecting unit 332 so that an automatic response instruction signal is generated immediately when the incoming call request is a number non-notification. By providing the number non-notification call detection means 332, it is possible to deal with a nuisance call without a telephone number notification.

Here, FIG. 5 shows an example of the functional configuration of the automatic response unit 37 and the operation will be described in more detail. The automatic response unit 37 includes a voice dialogue processing unit 371 and a voice recording unit 372. The voice dialogue processing unit 371 includes a voice synthesis unit 371a and a voice recognition unit 371b.
When an automatic response instruction signal is input, the voice interaction processing means 371 performs an automatic voice response between the caller telephone terminal 50 and the voice synthesizing means 371a and the voice recognition means 371b.

  For example, the voice synthesizing means 371a synthesizes a voice such as "I can't answer the phone right now. I'll call you back later. Please tell me your name and business." If the incoming call request is non-notification of the number, a voice such as “Please inform me of the telephone number” may be added and synthesized. The voice interaction processing means 371 transmits the synthesized voice to the caller telephone terminal 50.

  Then, the voice recognition unit 371b controls the operation of the voice synthesis unit 371a so as to recognize the voice from the caller telephone terminal 50 and generate the next synthesized sound corresponding to the voice. As described above, the voice dialogue processing in which the voice synthesizing unit 371a and the voice recognition unit 371b work together can automatically deal with voice without causing the calling party to feel uncomfortable. Further, instead of the voice synthesizing means 371a, a voice reproducing means for reproducing a human voice recorded in advance may be used. Moreover, you may use the automatic response based on a pushbutton input from a DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) signal instead of the speech recognition means 371b. The DTMF signal is a sound transmitted each time a button is pressed on a push-type telephone terminal or the like. The voice recording unit 372 records the voice automatic response call in the response history DB 38. The call record recorded in the response history DB 38 can be heard later like a general answering function. In addition, since the voice reproduction function of the answering machine function is a general one, the illustrated explanation is omitted. Here, the call record may include the caller telephone number.

  Further, the automatic response unit 37 may be provided with classification means 373 for classifying the voice information obtained by the voice dialogue processing into the speaker information, the business or the like and recording it in the response history DB 38. The classification means 373 uses voice recognition results for answers to questions regarding names, telephone numbers, and business, such as “Please give me your name”, “Please have your phone number”, and “Please have your business”. Classify and record in the response history DB 38. In addition, a user interface may be provided so that the caller telephone number included in the call record can be easily registered in the automatic response DB 34. Note that the voice synthesizing means 371a and the voice recognition means 371b are also conventional general ones.

  Further, the text resulting from the voice recognition by the voice recognition unit 371b may be recorded in the response history DB 38. In that case, a text recording unit 374 for recording the voice recognition result text information output from the voice recognition unit 371 b in the response history DB 38 is provided in the automatic response unit 37.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the functional configuration of the nuisance call support device 200 of the present invention. The operation flow is shown in FIG. The nuisance call compatible device 200 is configured to switch a call with the calling side telephone terminal 50 to an automatic voice response when a transfer instruction signal is input from the incoming telephone terminal 20.
The nuisance call support device 200 is obtained by adding the function configuration of the transfer acceptance processing unit 41 and the immediately preceding number inquiry unit 42 to the function configuration of the nuisance call support device 100 described above. Other functional configurations are the same as those of the nuisance call compatible device 100.

  The transfer acceptance processing unit 41 waits for a transfer instruction signal input from the caller telephone terminal 20 after the connection processor 35 connects the communication line between the caller telephone terminal 50 and the caller telephone terminal 20 (step S41). When the transfer instruction signal is input, the automatic response unit 37 is instructed to start an automatic voice response (Y in Step S41), and the immediately preceding number inquiry unit 42 is instructed to inquire about the immediately preceding telephone number (Step S42).

  The immediately preceding number is the telephone number of the caller telephone terminal 50. Only the telephone number information of the caller telephone terminal 20 is included in the transfer instruction signal that the caller telephone terminal 20 inputs to the nuisance call compatible device 200. Therefore, when the transfer instruction signal is input, the nuisance call support device 200 cannot know the telephone number of the caller telephone terminal 50.

  Accordingly, the immediately preceding number inquiry unit 42 inquires about the telephone number of the transmission source of the communication line recorded in an external private branch exchange (not shown) and obtains the telephone number. If the telephone number is not notified, the telephone number obtained from the private branch exchange may be recorded in the automatic response DB 34.

  In this way, the nuisance call compatible device 200 makes it possible to switch to an automatic voice response in the middle of a call when it is determined that the call with the caller once connected is a nuisance call. For example, suppose it was an unwanted sales nuisance call. Such a salesman may not be able to hang up because he / she does not show a chance to hang up the phone, but the nuisance call compatible device 200 can switch to an automatic voice response without hesitation. Further, when the salesman calls from the same telephone number again, an automatic voice response is available, and the response to the telephone that is repeatedly called from the salesman using the same telephone number can be reduced.

  In that case, it is preferable to prepare a synthesized voice that does not make it rude to the other party in the voice synthesizing means 371a in the automatic response unit 37. For example, “Thank you for the call. The person in charge can't take your hand right now, so please give me a request. I ’ll call you later.” By using such synthetic voices that do not be rude to the other party, the possibility of making the other party feel uncomfortable even if it is not a nuisance call can be reduced. Such synthesized speech may be prepared with a plurality of transfer instruction signals and different contents depending on the type.

  As described above, in the nuisance call compatible device 200, since a line is connected to an incoming call request from a new phone number not registered in the black list, it does not take time and effort to the other party. Even in the case of human beings, there is little to make the other person feel uncomfortable. If the received call is a nuisance call, an incoming call request from the same telephone number as the nuisance call can be handled by an automatic response.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the functional configuration of the nuisance call compatible device 300 of the present invention. The operation flow is shown in FIG. The nuisance call support device 300 is obtained by adding the function configuration of the response history transmission unit 39 and the caller information DB 43 to the function configuration of the nuisance call support device 200.
The incoming caller information DB records the telephone numbers of a plurality of incoming caller telephone terminals and mail addresses corresponding to the incoming caller telephone numbers. When the control unit 44 detects the end of the call (step S44), if there is a call record of an automatic voice response, the response history transmission unit 39 refers to the incoming caller information DB 43 and calls recorded in the response history DB The record is transmitted to the destination telephone terminal 20 (step S39).

  In this way, in the nuisance call compatible device 300, if there is a call record when the call is ended, it is immediately transmitted to the called telephone terminal. The call record is voice information or text information. Such call record information may be sent to the caller by e-mail. Therefore, the nuisance call support device 300 can quickly respond to calls that are not nuisance calls.

  The method and apparatus of the present invention described above are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Note that the processes described in the above method and apparatus are not only executed in time series according to the order of description, but may also be executed in parallel or individually as required by the processing capability of the apparatus that executes the processes. Good.

  The nuisance call compatible device has been described on the incoming side, but the technical idea can also be applied to an apparatus that prohibits nuisance calls from being made on the outgoing side. That is, the nuisance call compatible device can be easily transformed into a device that can make a call only to a registered partner. In that case, the apparatus is arranged between the caller telephone terminal 50 and the communication network 40 in FIG. In the present invention, the black list is registered in the automatic response DB 34. However, a connection DB including a white list of telephone numbers to be connected without performing an automatic response may be provided.

  Further, when the processing means in the above apparatus is realized by a computer, the processing contents of functions that each apparatus should have are described by a program. Then, by executing this program on the computer, the processing means in each apparatus is realized on the computer.

  The program describing the processing contents can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium may be any recording medium such as a magnetic recording device, an optical disk, a magneto-optical recording medium, and a semiconductor memory. Specifically, for example, as a magnetic recording device, a hard disk device, a flexible disk, a magnetic tape or the like, and as an optical disk, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a DVD-RAM (Random Access Memory), a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only). Memory), CD-R (Recordable) / RW (ReWritable), etc., magneto-optical recording medium, MO (Magneto Optical disc), etc., semiconductor memory, EEP-ROM (Electronically Erasable and Programmable-Read Only Memory), etc. Can be used.

  The program is distributed by selling, transferring, or lending a portable recording medium such as a DVD or CD-ROM in which the program is recorded. Further, the program may be distributed by storing the program in a recording device of a server computer and transferring the program from the server computer to another computer via a network.

  Each means may be configured by executing a predetermined program on a computer, or at least a part of these processing contents may be realized by hardware.

Claims (8)

An incoming call request receiving unit that receives an incoming call request input from a source telephone terminal via a communication network and obtains a source telephone number;
An automatic response DB that records a specific telephone number;
An automatic response that compares the caller telephone number with the specific telephone number to determine whether the caller telephone number is included in the automatic response DB and outputs an automatic response instruction signal or a line connection instruction signal A DB verification unit;
An automatic response unit that, when the automatic response instruction signal is input, performs an automatic voice response with the caller and records the call record in the response history DB;
A connection processing unit for connecting a line between the caller telephone terminal and the callee telephone terminal when the line connection instruction signal is input;
An apparatus for supporting nuisance calls. In the nuisance call support device according to claim 1,
In addition, an external private branch exchange is inquired of the previous telephone number to obtain the telephone number, and the telephone number inquiry unit for registering the telephone number in the automatic response DB;
With the transfer instruction signal from the caller telephone terminal as an input, the automatic response unit is instructed to start an automatic voice response with the caller, and the immediately preceding number inquiry unit is instructed to inquire about the immediately preceding telephone number. A transfer acceptance processing unit;
An apparatus for responding to nuisance calls, comprising: In the nuisance call corresponding device according to claim 1 or 2,
The automatic response unit is
Voice synthesizing means and voice recognition means are provided, the voice response processing is performed with the caller telephone terminal using the automatic response instruction signal as input, and the information obtained by the voice dialogue processing is used as speaker information, requirements, etc. The apparatus for dealing with nuisance calls is characterized by further comprising classification means for classifying by (1) and recording in the automatic response DB. The nuisance call support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Furthermore, the incoming caller information DB in which the telephone number of the incoming caller telephone terminal and the mail address corresponding to the incoming caller telephone number are recorded,
A response history transmitting unit that refers to the incoming caller information DB and transmits the call record to the incoming caller telephone terminal;
An apparatus for responding to nuisance calls, comprising: The nuisance call support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The automatic response DB verification unit
An apparatus for responding to nuisance calls, comprising: a non-notification call detection unit that generates the automatic response instruction signal when an incoming call request for a non-notification call is detected. An incoming call request receiving unit which receives an incoming call request input from a source telephone terminal via a communication network and obtains a source telephone number;
The automatic response DB collation unit automatically determines by checking whether or not the caller telephone number is included in the automatic response DB in which the caller telephone number and the specific telephone number are collated and the specific telephone number is recorded. An automatic response DB verification process for outputting a response instruction signal or a line connection instruction signal;
An automatic response process in which an automatic response unit performs a voice automatic response with the sender when the automatic response instruction signal is input, and records the call record in the response history DB;
A connection processing step for connecting a line between the caller telephone terminal and the callee telephone terminal when the line connection instruction signal is output;
Annoying phone support method with In the junk call handling method according to claim 6,
Further, the immediately preceding number inquiry unit inquires the external private branch exchange about the immediately preceding telephone number to obtain the telephone number, and immediately registers the telephone number in the automatic response DB.
The transfer acceptance processing unit inputs the transfer instruction signal from the caller telephone terminal, instructs the automatic response unit to start an automatic voice response with the caller, and calls the immediately preceding number inquiry unit immediately before A transfer acceptance process instructing a number inquiry;
A method for dealing with nuisance calls, comprising:   An apparatus program for causing a computer to function as the nuisance call compatible apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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