JPH10173780A - Telephone answering system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide an efficient telephone response service with a finite number of response terminals in a telephone response system. SOLUTION: A call connection control unit connects a plurality of incoming calls for a specific telephone number to a plurality of terminals A and B. The waiting call reception processing unit notifies the calling user of the expected waiting time of the response by voice because there is no available terminal at the time of receiving the call, and prompts the user to input a waiting form information of receiving a return call or calling again later. It acquires and generates management information (calling number, scheduled service time, etc.) necessary for providing the service including instruction input. The waiting call management table stores management information necessary for providing the service for each waiting call. The queuing call service processing unit periodically monitors the management information in the queuing call management table, reads out the management information of the queuing call at the scheduled service time, and executes the corresponding call connection service.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone answering system, and more particularly to a telephone answering system capable of connecting a plurality of incoming calls for a specific telephone number to a plurality of answering terminals, respectively, to enable simultaneous answering. Today, companies and the like adopt this kind of telephone response system to promptly respond to a plurality of inquiries and order calls (0120-xxxx) from a large number of customers by a plurality of receptionists, thereby improving services. I'm trying. However, since the number of receptionists (response terminals) is limited, efficient operation of the system (especially, smooth provision of communication lines) is desired.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the prior art. In the drawing, X and Y are telephones of subscribers (customers), 1 and 2 are terminal equipment (EO), 100 is a public network, and 3 is a private branch exchange. (PB
X), 4 is a communication path switch (SW), 5 is a terminal corresponding unit (TIF), A to D are telephone response terminals (telephones), 6
Is an office line interface (NIF) consisting of office line trunks, 7 is P
B signal processing unit (PBU), 8 is a sound supply device (VG
U), 9 are control buses, 10 is a main control unit (CC) for performing PBX main control (line connection control), and 11 is a main memory (M
M).

[0003] This type of telephone answering system is usually a PBX.
3 is provided so as to be added to or integrated with the CC 10 and the MM 11, and includes a telephone response processing unit 22 that performs a waiting call processing and a management table 23 that stores information necessary for the waiting processing. In such a configuration, for example, when the subscriber X dials 0120-xxx from the telephone X, the call reaches EO2 via the public network 100. Upon receiving this, EO2 captures one unused office line among the m office lines previously allocated for telephone number 0120-xxx, and
The call is terminated at PBX3. On the other hand, in PBX3, n (for example, n = 4 <
m) Telephones A to D are assigned, and an incoming call from telephone X is connected by CC10 to one of the vacant telephones A to D. However, since the number of reception terminals (recipients) is limited, if all telephones A to D are busy or the like, the receptionist cannot respond to incoming calls thereafter.

In such a case, the conventional telephone response processing unit 22
Can notify the waiting user of the expected waiting time to which the call will be connected by voice guidance, or receive a call from outside the city in consideration of the distance (outside / in the city) of the calling number. They provided a service that preferentially connects incoming calls.

[0005]

However, in any of the above services, a caller who has been waiting for an incoming call has no choice but to wait for the answering telephone to become available without disconnecting the call. Such call holding not only wastes the use of the public network but also imposes a call charge on the caller or on the telephone response system operation side in the case of free dial 0120-xxx. Also,
Even if a call is made again in accordance with the voice guidance (for example, a long waiting time), if there is another new incoming call, the call may not be immediately connected even if the call is made again. In particular, immediately after a product advertisement is broadcast, product inquiries and order calls are flooded, and in recent years, software question reception and response services are constantly flooded with question calls, and even if calls are made many times, calls can be made. There is no connection.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has as its object to provide a telephone answering system capable of providing an efficient telephone answering service with a limited number of answering terminals (recipients). Is to provide.

[0007]

The above-mentioned problem is solved, for example, by referring to FIG.
Is solved. That is, the telephone answering system of the present invention (1) comprises: a call connection control unit 30 for connecting a plurality of incoming calls for a specific telephone number to a plurality of terminals A and B respectively to enable simultaneous answering; When there is no vacant terminal at the time of receiving a call to the unit, the calling user is notified via the call connection control unit of the estimated waiting time at which the call can be answered, and the user receives a call back or later. Prompt for input of information in the form of a meeting including recall,
A queuing call reception processing unit 40 for acquiring and generating management information necessary for providing the service including the instruction input; an instruction input of the acquired queuing mode; a scheduled service time obtained based on the notified predicted waiting time And, if necessary, periodically monitor the queued call management table 60 for storing, for each queued call, management information necessary for providing the service including the calling number of the source user, and the management information of the queued call management table, and schedule the service. A waiting call service processing unit 50 for reading out the management information of the waiting call at the time and executing the corresponding call connection service via the call connection control unit.

According to the present invention (1), by providing a service of a return call or a redial call, the burden of keeping the user waiting can be relieved, and unnecessary line holding can be reduced, and the user or the telephone answering system operation side can be provided. The call charge burden can be reduced. Also, a series of waiting calls are stored in the management table 6.
0, and the designated service is sequentially executed by the service processing unit 50 at each service scheduled (reserved) time. Can digest well. Further, it is possible to systematically disperse time-intensive service requests, and to provide an efficient telephone answering service with a small number of receptionists.

Preferably, in the present invention (2), in the above-mentioned present invention (1), the waiting call service processing section 50 waits for a return call from the management information of the waiting call at the scheduled service time. When the form information is detected, a call is made to the calling number of the calling user and the call is connected to the answering terminal. Therefore, in this case, the user can receive the telephone answering service substantially at the scheduled service time without having to call back again.

Preferably, in the present invention (3), in the above-mentioned present invention (2), the waiting call service processing unit 50 waits for a certain period of time because the called party is busy or does not answer. Call back later. Therefore, the service once generated can be efficiently and reliably executed. If the service once generated is reliably consumed in this way, recalls from the same user can be prevented, and the total congestion of the telephone service can be reduced.

Preferably, in the present invention (4), in the above-mentioned present invention (3), the waiting call service processing unit 50 stores the management information of the return call in which the number of recurring calls becomes a predetermined number or more in the waiting call management table. Delete from 60. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate useless waiting call service stagnation at an early stage and to effectively use a line for another user.

Also, preferably, in the present invention (5), in the above-mentioned present invention (1), the waiting call reception processing unit 40 determines that the incoming call is re-established near the scheduled service time and the incoming call is received. Is directly changed to the form of the waiting call. By the way, according to the present invention (1), a scheduled service time is sequentially assigned to each waiting call, and basically, a telephone answering service is executed at each scheduled service time. However, in reality, there are cases where a waiting call is disconnected in the middle, a return call is deleted due to the absence of the call again, or a redial call does not come near the scheduled service time. That is, this corresponds to reservation cancellation. In such a case, the average waiting time per call is left, so that subsequent waiting calls need to be packed up. The waiting call that can be hastened is a call waiting as it is.

[0013] According to the present invention (5), a recall call that has been received near the scheduled service time is changed to a waiting call as it is, so that the service processing unit 50 may be connected earlier. This leads to improved services and effective use of lines (service terminals). Also preferably, in the present invention (6), in the above present invention (1), the waiting call reception processing unit 40 determines that the call connection control unit 3
0, the calling user is notified by voice that he / she wants to redial near the scheduled service time.

[0014] Therefore, no rush service is provided. Also preferably, in the present invention (7), in the present invention (6), the queuing call reception processing unit 40
After notifying that it is desired to redial near the scheduled service time, the user is prompted to re-enter the waiting mode, and the management information can be changed.

Therefore, it is possible to appropriately cope with a flexible service request of a user. Also preferably, in the present invention (8), in the above-mentioned present invention (1), the waiting call service processing unit 60 retrieves the management information of the redialing call for which the scheduled service time has passed a predetermined time or more from the waiting call management table 60. delete. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate useless waiting call service stagnation at an early stage and to effectively use a line for another user.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts throughout the drawings. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a telephone answering system according to the embodiment. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 12 denotes a telephone answering processing unit which executes the telephone answering process of FIGS. Various management tables for storing necessary control information shown in FIG. 6 and a real-time clock device (RTC) 14 for measuring an actual time. Figure 7 for other parts
Same as.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining various management tables according to the embodiment. FIG. 6A shows the storage structure of the terminal management table. As shown, the communication path switch 4
The information ST indicating the states of the response terminals A to D is recorded for each correspondence of the terminal accommodation positions en = a to d. In the figure, each represents: empty state: busy state: unacceptable state. The unacceptable state includes a state in which the unacceptable state cannot be accepted due to the absence of the acceptor. The receiver informs the PBX 3 of the fact by a special number when leaving the seat, and upon receiving the notification, the CC 10 changes the terminal state ST to a reception impossible state. The telephone response processing unit 12 treats the terminal in the same manner as the busy state. Of course,
It is possible to cancel the reception impossible state with a special number. The idle state and the busy state are managed and updated by the CC 10.

FIG. 6B shows an area for storing the average waiting time TW. The average waiting time TW is obtained by, for example, (average response time per call) × (the total number of calls in the queue + 1) and is stored in the storage area for the average waiting time.
Note that +1 includes the average response time of the call currently being processed. The average response time per call is the content of the response in advance,
Statistically determined and set according to the number of receptionists, service hours, and the like. For example, when the number of receptionists is two, two persons can be processed for each service reception time, so that the average reception time per call can be about 1/2 of one service reception time. If the number of receptionists is three, it can be reduced to about 1/3. Further, this value can be changed during the service depending on the service time zone, the rotation of the number of receptionists, and the occurrence status of the queue (size of the queue). Such a process is performed by an average waiting time management process (not shown).

FIG. 6C shows the storage structure of the waiting call management table. The queued call management table is
Each queuing call management block has a nesting structure, and its head block is indicated by the queue pointer QPTR. In each management block, NLAD: Link address of next block WTYP: Waiting form EN: Trunk accommodation position of waiting call ORGN: Calling number of incoming call SRVT: Scheduled service time RCTR: Retry counter In the waiting mode WTYP, mode information of "wait as it is", "return call", and "call back" is recorded. The service scheduled time SRVT is obtained by adding the average waiting time TW to the time at the time of registration of the waiting call. The retry counter RCTR counts the number of retries when a call (return call) from the PBX 3 ends abnormally.

In addition to the queuing call management table, an empty block having the same block size as that of the queuing call management table is nested, and the first block is indicated by the idle pointer IPTR. This is called an empty table. When a waiting call occurs, one block of the empty table is removed and nested in the waiting call management table. When a waiting call is deleted, one management block in the waiting call management table is removed and nested in an empty table.

FIGS. 3 to 5 are flowcharts (1) to (3) of the telephone response processing according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 shows a telephone response process (corresponding to the waiting call reception processing unit 40 in FIG. 1).
When there is an incoming call from the subscriber to, for example, 0120-xxxx, an input is made to this processing. It should be noted that this processing includes a part of processing of a call connection service to an empty terminal provided by the call connection control unit 30 (CC10 in FIG. 2) of FIG.

In step S1, a calling number of the subscriber is obtained. This calling number can be automatically obtained via the D channel in the case of the ISDN line, and can be automatically obtained from the office side (independently of the subscriber's PB signal operation) even in the analog line in the near future. In step S2, the queuing call management table is referred to, and in step S3, it is determined whether or not the incoming call is a recall. If "call back" is registered in the waiting call management table, and its calling number ORGN matches the acquired calling number, it is a call called again. In the case of a recall call, in step S4, the service scheduled time SRVT of the management block is compared with the current time to determine whether or not the service scheduled time is reached.

More specifically, when the arrival time of a recall is RCT, SRVT-α ≦ RCT ≦ SRVT
In the case of + β, it is determined as the scheduled service time. SRVT-
α is α (for example, 5) from the scheduled service time SRVT.
Minutes before, SRVT + β is the scheduled service registration time SR
Represents β (eg, 10) minutes after VT. If the determination in step S4 is the scheduled service time, the waiting state WTYP of the subscriber is changed to "wait as it is" in step S5. Note that the call is preferentially connected in an RTC interrupt process of FIG. 5 (corresponding to the waiting call service processing unit 50 of FIG. 1) described later. In other words, the subscriber of the "recall" is treated preferentially if the call is recalled near the scheduled service time SRVT.

However, according to the determination in step S4, the RCT
In the case of <SRVT-α, re-starting is too early. If it is too early, the caller is notified of the scheduled service time SRVT of the management block by voice in step S6. Then, in this case, for the convenience of the user's service form change request, the user is prompted to input a re-instruction of the response form. In step S7, the flag F is set to 1 (recall incoming call), and in step S8, a waiting call registration process of FIG. 4 described later is executed (CALL).

If it is determined in step S3 that the call is not a re-call, the call is a new call. In the case of a new incoming call, in step S10, it is determined whether or not there is a waiting user by referring to the waiting call management table. If the content of the queue pointer QPTR is Null, there is no waiting user. If there is no waiting user, the terminal management table is referred to in step S11, and it is determined in step S12 whether or not there is a vacant terminal. Step S if there is a vacant terminal
In step 13, one empty terminal is captured, and the column of the state ST in the terminal management table is updated to busy. In step S14, the incoming call is connected to the capturing terminal. Thus, incoming calls when the call is not busy are immediately connected to the terminal.

When the telephone response to the incoming call is terminated and the call is disconnected, the column of the state ST in the terminal management table is changed to empty by a response termination process (CC10) (not shown). If there is a waiting user in step S10, or if there is no vacant terminal in step S12, the process proceeds to step S15. In step S15, the caller is notified by voice of the average waiting time WT of the service at that point in time, and prompts the user to input an instruction in a response format. In step S16, the flag F is set to 0 (new incoming call), and in step S17, the waiting call registration process of FIG. 4 is executed (CALL).

FIG. 4 shows a queued call registration process. Although not shown, this process is slightly different between F = 0 (new call) and F = 1 (call back). First, processing for a new call will be described. Step S2
At 1, the timer is started and the PB signal input by the sender is received. In step S22, it is determined whether or not the instruction is to wait as it is.
To obtain the office line side terminal (office line trunk) number of the incoming call. In step S30, one empty block is captured,
In this block, management information (waiting form WTYP, trunk number EN, scheduled connection time SRVT) necessary for executing the waiting service is recorded, and the obtained management block is nested in the waiting call management table.

If it is determined in step S22 that the instruction is not a waiting instruction, it is determined in step S23 whether the instruction is for a recall. In the case of a recall call instruction, the termination of the incoming call is waited for in step S28, and when disconnected, the trunk is opened in step S29. Therefore, the incoming call is not reserved, and effective use of the line and reduction of the subscriber charge burden are achieved. In step S30, one empty block is captured, and management information (waiting form WTYP, originating number ORGN, scheduled reception time SRVT of the redial call) necessary for executing the service of the redial call is recorded in the block. Nest the obtained management block in the waiting call management table.

If it is determined in step S23 that the instruction is not a recall call, it is determined in step S24 whether a return call instruction is given. In the case of a return call instruction, the termination of the incoming call is waited for in step S28 as described above, and when disconnected, the trunk is opened in step S29. Also in this case, the incoming call is not reserved, and effective use of the line and reduction of the subscriber fee burden are achieved. It should be noted that the call charge when the return call is executed is separately charged to the caller.
In step S30, one empty block is captured, and management information necessary for executing the return call service (return call wait mode WTYP, transmission number ORGN, return call scheduled time SRVT, retry counter RCT) is captured in the block.
R = 0), and the obtained management block is nested in the waiting call management table.

If it is determined in step S24 that there is no return call instruction, it is determined in step S25 whether the incoming call is disconnected. If the user disconnects the call without clarifying the waiting mode, it is considered that the call (service) is abandoned. In this case, the incoming call is disconnected (trunk is opened) in step S27, and the process exits without performing any registration.

If it is determined in step S25 that the incoming call has not been disconnected, it is determined in step S26 whether a timeout has occurred. If not, the process returns to step S22 to wait for the reception of the PB signal. In the case of a timeout, the incoming call is forcibly disconnected in step S27, and the process exits. In the case of the above-mentioned time-out, it may be interpreted as a waiting intention display. In this case, step S27
Instead of proceeding to step, the process proceeds to step S31, and information necessary for executing the waiting service (waiting mode WTYP, trunk number EN, scheduled connection time SRVT) is registered in the same manner as described above.

If the wait instruction is re-entered in step S22 when F = 1 (recall incoming call), the wait mode WTYP and trunk number EN are not changed in step S30. However, there is no change in the scheduled connection time SRVT. The service schedule time once obtained is maintained. Similarly, when the return call instruction is input again in step S23, there is no change in the scheduled service time. If the incoming call is disconnected in step S25,
Since step S30 is not performed, the original management data is maintained as it is. The same applies when a timeout occurs in step S26. If a timeout occurs in step S26, it is clear that the service is not abandoned due to the incoming call again, so it may be interpreted as a waiting intention display as it is, and the process may proceed to step S31.

FIG. 5 shows a real-time clock (RTC) interrupt process. This process is performed every time the RTC 14 counts, for example, one second to several seconds (the waiting call service process 50 in FIG. 1).
). In step S41, the terminal management table is referred to, and in step S42, the presence or absence of a vacant terminal is checked. If there is no vacant terminal, the service cannot be executed, so the process proceeds to step S51, and the necessary waiting call management table is updated. This update includes service limit time S
This includes deletion of a management block for a re-call that has exceeded RVT + β, and deletion of a management block for a return call that has exceeded the retry limit. If the waiting call is disconnected in the middle, the CC 10 notifies the fact and the management block is deleted in the RTC interrupt processing. In this way, unnecessary waiting calls are effectively prevented from staying.

If it is determined in step S42 that there is a vacant terminal, in step S43, the next executable service is extracted by referring to the waiting call management table. The next service that can be executed is basically a service waiting as it is at the scheduled service time or a return call service at the scheduled service time. As for the service of the redial call at the scheduled service time, the service can not be used until the caller calls again,
Incoming calls that have been changed to waiting calls as a result of being redialed near the scheduled service time in the processing of step S5 in FIG. 3 are included in the waiting services that have reached the scheduled service times.

In practice, the scheduled service time assigned to each incoming call at the time of registration of each waiting call is assigned by shifting at least the average response time per call for each incoming call. No competition can occur between Therefore, the next executable service is easily extracted based on the scheduled service time. But,
As will be described later, the return call is retried if it fails, so that the retry can be interrupted with respect to the subsequent service sequence. Scheduled service time limit SR
If a re-call is not received within VT + β, the subsequent scheduled service times may be advanced correspondingly to prevent the occurrence of a vacant state. This service that can be hastened is a service that is waiting as it is. Therefore, the call waiting as it is is extracted even before the scheduled service time when there is no other competing service.

Thus, a call waiting as it is may be serviced before the expected waiting time announced by voice at the time of registration. In this way, it is possible to execute the service appropriately in accordance with the service form and to quickly connect the waiting call as it is, thereby achieving an effective use of the line. Step S44
Then, the process branches based on the extracted call waiting mode WTYP. If the extracted call waiting mode WTYP is the waiting mode as it is, in step S45, the station line side terminal (station line trunk) number in the management block is captured. In step S49, the empty terminal is captured, and the state ST of the terminal management table is updated to busy. At this point, a voice guidance to connect the call to the waiting subscriber may be output. In step S50, the incoming call waiting is connected to the captured terminal. In step S51, since the incoming call waiting is connected, the management block in the waiting call management table is deleted.

The extracted call queuing mode WTYP
Is a return call, the calling number in the management block is extracted in step S46, and the caller is called. In the step S47, it is determined whether or not there is a response. If the called party hooks off the handset during the call, there is a response. At this point, voice guidance for connecting the call to the answering terminal may be output to the called party of the return call. In step S49, the empty terminal is captured, and the state ST of the terminal management table is updated to busy. Step S
At 50, the originating call of the return call is connected to the captured terminal. In step S51, since the return call has been connected, the management block in the waiting call management table is deleted.

If it is determined in step S47 that the called telephone is busy or has not responded for a predetermined time, there is no response. In step S501, the retry counter RCTR of the management block is incremented by one. In addition, for example, 5 minutes is added to the scheduled service time SRVT of the management block. In the above embodiment, an example of application to a PBX has been described.
It can be applied to communication devices other than the BX.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it is to be understood that various changes can be made in the configuration, control, processing procedures, and combinations thereof, without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Not even.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to relieve the user from the burden of waiting as it is by providing a return call or recall call service, reduce line holding, and reduce the call charge burden. It is also possible to deliberately distribute service requests that are concentrated in time,
Efficient telephone answering service can be provided with a limited number of answering telephones (recipients).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a telephone answering system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart (1) of a telephone response process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart (2) of a telephone response process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart (3) of a telephone response process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating various management tables according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, terminal equipment 3 private branch exchange (PBX) 4 communication path switch (SW) 5 terminal corresponding unit (TIF) 6 local line corresponding unit (NIF) 7 PB signal processing unit (PBU) 8 voice supply unit (VGU) 9 Control bus 10 Main control unit (CC) 11 Main memory (MM) 12 Telephone response processing unit 13 Various management tables 30 Call connection control unit 40 Queued call reception processing unit 50 Queued call service processing unit 60 Queued call management table 100 Public network A ~ D Telephone response terminal (telephone) X, Y telephone

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A call connection control unit for connecting a plurality of incoming calls for a specific telephone number to a plurality of terminals, respectively, to enable simultaneous response, and the absence of a vacant terminal at the time of receiving a call to the call connection control unit. Along with notifying the calling user of the estimated waiting time that can be answered by voice to the calling user via the call connection control unit, and prompting the user to input information in a waiting mode including receiving a return call or calling again later, A queuing call reception processing unit that acquires and generates management information necessary for providing the service including the instruction input, an instruction input of the acquired queuing mode, a scheduled service time determined based on the notified estimated waiting time, and A queued call management table for storing, for each queued call, management information necessary for providing the service including a calling number of the calling user, if necessary; A queued call service processing unit that periodically monitors management information in the call management table, reads management information of the queued call at the scheduled service time, and executes a corresponding call connection service via the call connection control unit; A telephone response system comprising: 2. The waiting call service processing unit, upon detecting waiting form information indicating that a return call is to be received from the management information of the waiting call at the scheduled service time, calls the calling number of the calling user. 2. The telephone answering system according to claim 1, wherein the telephone answering system is connected to an answering terminal. 3. The telephone answering system according to claim 2, wherein the waiting call service processing unit re-starts the call after a lapse of a predetermined time because the called party is busy or has not answered. 4. The telephone answering system according to claim 3, wherein the waiting call service processing unit deletes, from the waiting call management table, management information of the return call in which the number of recurring calls has exceeded a predetermined value. 5. The queuing call reception processing unit changes the management information of the incoming call to a queuing call form as it is when a recall call arrives near the scheduled service time. 1 telephone answering system. 6. The waiting call reception processing unit, by receiving a call back before the vicinity of the scheduled service time, notifies the calling user via the call connection control unit by voice to the vicinity of the scheduled service time. 2. The telephone answering system according to claim 1, wherein the user is notified that the call is to be made again. 7. The queuing call reception processing unit, after notifying that it is desired to make a call again near the scheduled service time, prompts the user to re-enter the queuing mode, and enables the management information to be changed. 7. The telephone response system according to claim 6, wherein: 8. The telephone answering system according to claim 1, wherein the waiting call service processing unit deletes, from the waiting call management table, management information of the re-established call whose scheduled service time has passed a predetermined time or more.