JP7644639B2 - Telephone systems, telephone control devices and recording devices - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a telephone system capable of automatically recording telephone conversations. This invention also relates to a telephone control device and a recording device that constitute this telephone system.

It has been customary to record telephone conversations so that they can be played back for later review. For example, Patent Document 1 (JP Patent Publication 2015-23424 A) discloses that in a telephone system known as a business phone, which consists of a main unit as a telephone control device and one or more telephones, telephone conversations are recorded under the control of the main unit.

In the telephone system of Patent Document 1, a recording device (recording server) is provided that operates as a terminal in relation to the main device and is managed by the main device for telephone calls in the same way as a telephone set, and the recording device is configured to record telephone call audio under the control of the main device.

In other words, in the telephone system of Patent Document 1, after a call path is created between the telephone and the other party, when the telephone user presses the call recording start button, the main unit also connects a call path between the telephone and the other party and the recording device, enabling a so-called three-way call, and the call audio between the telephone and the other party is also supplied to the recording device, and the recording device begins recording the call audio.

When the telephone user presses the call recording end button, the main unit sends the recording end instruction received from the telephone to the recording device, causing the recording device to end recording of the call voice.

JP 2015-23424 A

In recent years, the storage capacity of information storage devices such as HDDs and SSDs has increased, making it possible to record all telephone conversations regardless of who the caller is or the importance of the contents of the call. Taking this into consideration, it is possible to configure the system so that all telephone conversations are recorded automatically, even without the user issuing a recording command. This type of automatic recording can avoid situations where the contents of a call become important midway through the call and you realize you should have recorded it.

However, recording and saving all telephone conversations is wasteful. For this reason, it is desirable to configure the telephone system so that users can set whether or not to save automatically recorded telephone conversations.

For example, in the telephone system of Patent Document 1 mentioned above, if the main unit (telephone control device) is configured to automatically generate a call path between the main unit and a recording device when a call path between the telephone and the other party is generated, the recording device can start automatically recording the call voice. Then, if the telephone managed by the main unit has not yet performed a call disconnection operation, even if the call path between the other party and the telephone is disconnected due to the other party performing a disconnection operation, the call path between the other party and the recording device and the call path between the telephone and the recording device can be maintained, and the user of the telephone can be asked through this maintained call path whether or not to save the automatically recorded call voice, and a selection setting from the user can be accepted, so that only the necessary call voice can be saved.

However, when configured in this way, when a call is disconnected from a telephone managed by the main unit, the main unit disconnects the call paths, including the path between the recording device and the other party and the path between the recording device and the telephone, and therefore the system cannot accept a user request to set whether or not to save the call.

A telephone system may be configured to always save when the user does not select whether or not to save the recording. However, doing so can lead to the problem of recording and saving unnecessary voice calls that do not require saving, so the system is generally configured not to save automatic recordings at all. As a result, if the telephone device managed by the main unit disconnects the call, the voice call can no longer be saved.

To avoid this, always have the other party disconnect the call before disconnecting the call from the telephone managed by the main unit, and then have them finish setting whether or not to keep (save) the recording of the call audio before disconnecting the call from the telephone.

However, considering telephone etiquette that states "the caller should hang up first," asking the other party to hang up first is considered bad manners, and things often do not go as intended by the user of the telephone managed by the main unit. Furthermore, after the other party hangs up, the user of the telephone managed by the main unit may accidentally hang up before processing to save the call audio has been performed, in which case, as mentioned above, the call audio can no longer be saved.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a telephone system that can solve the above problems.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention of claim 1 comprises:
A telephone system comprising at least one telephone, a telephone control device that controls and manages a call between the telephone and a caller, and a recording device that records a call between the telephone and the caller under the control of the telephone control device,
When the recording device receives a notification based on a disconnection operation on the telephone from the telephone control device, the recording device temporarily stores the call voice from the start to the end of the call between the telephone and the other party as a recording data file, and notifies the telephone control device of the identification information associated with the temporarily stored recording data file and the telephone that made the call;
The telephone control device controls the telephone device linked to the identification information to notify whether or not to effectively save the temporarily stored recording data file, and when a notification is received from the telephone device that the temporarily stored recording data file will be effectively saved, the telephone control device notifies the recording device that the temporarily stored recording data file will be effectively saved.

According to the invention of claim 1 in the above configuration, even if the user of the telephone disconnects the call, the telephone control device sends a notification based on the call disconnection operation on the telephone to the recording device. When the recording device receives this notification, it temporarily saves the call audio from the start to the end of the call between the telephone and the other party as a recording data file, and notifies the telephone control device of the identification information linked to the temporarily saved recording data file and the telephone that made the call.

Then, when the telephone control device receives the identification information, it controls the telephone device linked to that identification information to notify whether or not to effectively save the temporarily stored recording data file. If the user of the telephone device that has received this notification wishes to effectively save the temporarily stored recording data file, the user instructs the telephone device to that effect. Upon receiving this instruction, the telephone device sends a notification to the telephone control unit that the temporarily stored recording data file will be effectively saved. Upon receiving this instruction, the telephone control unit notifies the recording device that the temporarily stored recording data file will be effectively saved. Upon receiving this notification, the recording device executes the execution and saving of the temporarily stored call voice.

According to this invention, even if the user of a telephone device managed by a telephone control device disconnects a call, it is possible to retroactively save a recording of the call voice.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an embodiment of a telephone system according to the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a main unit as an example of a telephone control device constituting an embodiment of a telephone system according to the present invention; 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a recording device constituting an embodiment of a telephone system according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of a call processing sequence in an embodiment of the telephone system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of a call processing sequence in an embodiment of the telephone system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of a call processing sequence in an embodiment of the telephone system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of a call processing sequence in an embodiment of the telephone system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of a call processing sequence in an embodiment of the telephone system according to the present invention.

One embodiment of the telephone system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a telephone system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The telephone system in the example of FIG. 1 comprises a main device 1 as an example of a telephone control device, a number of telephones 21, 22, ..., 2n (n is an integer equal to or greater than 1), and a recording device 3.

The main unit 1, the multiple telephones 21 to 2n, and the recording device 3 are connected via a LAN (Local Area Network) 4. In this example, the recording device 3 is managed by the main unit 1 through calls, just like the extension telephone 2, and is configured to operate as a single terminal. Note that the telephones 21 to 2n are configured in the same way, and there may be only one unit instead of multiple units. In the following explanation, when there is no need to distinguish between the telephones 21 to 2n, they will be referred to as telephone (hereinafter referred to as extension telephone) 2.

The main unit 1 is also connected to a communication network 5 and is configured to control and manage calls between the other telephone (external telephone) 6 and the extension telephone 2. The communication network 5 includes an IP (Internet Protocol) network, as well as a public telephone network (PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network)) and a mobile phone network. The main unit 1 may be configured as a SIP (Session 1 Initiation 1 Protocol) server.

[Configuration example of main device 1]
The main unit 1 has a configuration as shown in Fig. 2. That is, the main unit 1 is configured by connecting an outside line interface 12, an internal line interface 13, a call control unit 14, a communication management unit 15, a call voice recording control unit 16, a telephone control unit 17, and a monitoring timer unit 18 via a system bus 10 to a control unit 11 constituted by a computer.

The external line interface 12 is connected to the communication network 5, and the internal line interface 13 is connected to the LAN 4.

The call control unit 14 performs call control for outgoing and incoming calls to outside lines through the communication network 5, and for outgoing and incoming calls between extension telephones 2 through the LAN 4. Since the main device 1 of the telephone system of this embodiment is configured to automatically record telephone conversation voices, the call control unit 14 controls the call so that, in the case of an outside call, a speech path is generated not only between the extension telephone 2 and the other telephone 6, but also between the extension telephone 2 and the recording device 3, and between the other telephone 6 and the recording device 3. Also, in the case of an internal call between extension telephones 2, a speech path is generated not only between the extension telephones 2, but also between each extension telephone and the recording device 3.

This allows a so-called three-way call to be made possible, making it possible for the recording device 3 to record the call audio.

The communication management unit 15 manages each of the external and internal calls generated by the call control unit 14 through call control, and also manages information about the terminals currently in a call (the calling terminal, the receiving terminal, and the recording device 3).

The telephone call voice recording control unit 16 generates a control signal for controlling the recording operation of the recording device 3 and supplies it to the recording device 3. As will be described later, the control signal from the telephone call voice recording control unit 16 causes the recording device 3 to perform operations such as starting, ending, pausing, temporarily saving, and effectively saving the recording of the telephone call voice. Note that effectively saving here means a processing operation of releasing a paused state and officially saving a recording data file, or a processing operation of officially saving a recording data file that was temporarily saved.

In this embodiment, the recording data file of the call voice that is automatically recorded at the end of the call is stored in advance for each extension telephone 2 as follows:
(1) Be sure to save it.
(2) Select whether to save or not.
The setting information of the storage mode is associated with each extension telephone 2 and is stored and managed in the telephone call voice recording control unit 16. The telephone call voice recording control unit 16 controls recording and storage of the telephone call voice for each extension telephone 2 based on the setting information of the storage mode stored and managed.

The telephone control unit 17 has the function of generating control signals for controlling the turning on, blinking, and turning off of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) built into the keys of the extension telephone 2 as described below, and transmitting the control signals to the necessary extension telephones 2.

The monitoring timer unit 18 is for measuring the timeout time for waiting for a response from the extension telephone 2 when the user of the extension telephone 2 is prompted to select whether to save or not by, for example, blinking an LED built into the key at the end of a call on the extension telephone 2 in which the save mode is set to "(2) Select whether to save or not," as described below. In this example, the timeout time of this monitoring timer can be set to a specified time between 10 and 30 seconds.

The respective functional processes of the call control unit 14, communication management unit 15, call voice recording control unit 16, and telephone control unit 17 in the main device 1 shown in FIG. 2 can be configured as software functions executed by a program by the computer constituting the control unit 11.

[Example of the configuration of extension telephone 2]
As shown by the reference numeral 2n in FIG. 1, the internal telephone 2 comprises a handset HS, a numeric keypad 201 for inputting telephone numbers etc., a plurality of function keys 202 to which various functions are assigned, keys 203 for recording the voice of a call, and a display 204 consisting of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like.

In this example, the call voice recording related keys 203 are composed of keys such as a retroactive call recording key, which will be described later, and box keys corresponding to extension numbers. The retroactive call recording key is used to instruct the saving of call voice, and the box keys are used to instruct the playing of saved call recordings.

The function keys 202 and the call voice recording related keys 203 are equipped with LEDs inside, and the LEDs can be controlled to blink, light up, or turn off by control signals from the main unit 1.

[Example of configuration of recording device 3]
In this embodiment, the recording device 3 has a configuration as shown in Fig. 3. That is, the recording device 3 is configured by connecting a LAN interface 32, a call voice recording start control unit 33, a call voice saving control unit 34, a recording data file generating and holding unit 35, and a call voice file storage unit 36 via a system bus 30 to a control unit 31 configured by a computer.

LAN interface 32 is connected to LAN 4.

The recording data file generating and storing unit 35 has a function of decomposing the call voice information received through the LAN interface 32, in this example, the call voice packets, acquiring a voice signal, generating recording data from the voice signal, and generating a recording data file. Although not shown, the recording data file generating and storing unit 35 has a buffer memory for each extension telephone 2. Each buffer memory of the recording data file generating and storing unit 35 stores the call voice of the corresponding extension telephone 2 from the start of the call to the end of the call as one recording data file.

The call voice file storage unit 36 has storage areas (called boxes) B1, B2, ..., Bn for storing call voice recording data files corresponding to each of the extension telephones 21, 22, ..., 2n, and stores the recording data file designated for effective storage in the box of the specified extension telephone 2. The buffer memory of the recording data file generation and storage unit 35 described above temporarily stores the recording data file before effective storage in correspondence with the box of each extension telephone 2.

When a call path is generated between the internal telephone 2 and the other telephone 6, or when a call path is generated between two internal telephones 2, the call voice recording start control unit 33 generates a call path between the recording device 3 and the other telephone 6, and between the recording device 3 and the internal telephone 2, in response to a call setting message sent from the main unit 1. At this time, the call setting message sent from the main unit 1 to the recording device 3 includes an instruction to record the call (instruction to start recording the call), the box number (box number) corresponding to the internal telephone 2 for which the call path is generated, and the setting information of the aforementioned storage mode (setting information of either (1) or (2) above).

The telephone call voice recording control unit 16 of the main device 1 holds correspondence information between the extension number of the extension telephone 2 and the box number of the telephone call voice file storage unit 36, and from this correspondence information, identifies the box number corresponding to the extension telephone 2 that created the call path and includes it in the call setup message sent to the recording device 3.

In addition, the recording device 3 may store correspondence information between extension numbers and box numbers, and the call setup message from the main device 1 may include the extension number instead of the box number.

Based on receiving the box number included in this call setup message, the telephone call voice recording start control unit 33 sends a recording start instruction to the recording data file generation and storage unit 35. Upon receiving this recording start instruction, the recording data file generation and storage unit 35 converts the telephone call voice received through the generated call path into recording data, stores the recording data in the buffer memory of the specified box number, and starts recording the telephone call voice recording data.

The call voice storage control unit 34 controls the effective storage of the recording data file stored in the buffer memory of the recording data file generation and storage unit 35 after the call is ended according to the storage mode setting information included in the call setup message.

When the setting information for the storage mode is the setting information (1) above, when the call voice storage control unit 34 receives a call path disconnection message from the main device, it stops recording the recording data to the buffer memory of the recording data file generation and storage unit 35, and transfers and stores the recording data stored in the buffer memory as a recording data file in the box with the corresponding box number in the call voice file storage unit 36.

The saved recording data file also stores the extension number of the internal telephone on which the call was made, the other party's telephone number, etc. (if the name corresponding to the telephone number is known from the telephone directory, that name may be included), and the duration of the call (date, time, and call start time and duration or end time).

Then, when the call voice storage control unit 34 finishes saving the recorded call voice data file, it notifies the main unit 1 of the box number where the call voice was saved, the number of files saved in that box, and the number of unplayed files. When there are unplayed files, the main unit 1 lights up the LED of the box key of the corresponding extension telephone 2 to notify the fact.

When the setting information for the storage mode is the setting information (2) above, the call voice storage control unit 34 performs different call voice storage control processing depending on whether the call disconnection operation is performed on the internal telephone 2 side or on the external telephone side of the other telephone 6. The control processing based on the call disconnection operation when the setting information is the above (2) is described in detail below together with the operation from the start to the end of the call.

The call voice storage control unit 34 also stores a guidance message that asks the internal user of the internal telephone 2 whether or not to save the recorded data file of the call voice, as described below, and also has a function of sending the guidance message in response to a sending request from the main unit 1.

The functional processes of the call voice recording start control unit 33, the call voice storage control unit 34, and the recording data file generation and storage unit 35 in the recording device 3 shown in FIG. 3 can be configured as software functions executed by a program by the computer constituting the control unit 31.

<Example of sequence for "Save mode (2) Select whether to save or not save.">
<<Example of a sequence when a call is disconnected on extension telephone 2>>
4 to 6, an example of a sequence in which a call disconnection operation is performed on the extension telephone 2 side will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the main unit 1 receives an outgoing call from the other telephone 6, it sends an incoming call notification to the extension telephone 2 of the called party. The extension telephone 2 then rings the ringer in response to a control signal from the main unit 1 contained in the incoming call notification, and blinks the LED on the line button to indicate the incoming call.

In response to this incoming call display, when the user of extension telephone 2 (hereafter referred to as extension user) performs an off-hook operation, such as by picking up the handset HS, extension telephone 2 returns an incoming call response to main unit 1. Main unit 1 sends this incoming call response to the other party's telephone 6, and as a result, main unit 1 creates speech path 1 between main unit 1 and extension telephone 2, and speech path 2 between main unit 1 and other party's telephone 6 (see dotted lines in Figure 4).

Then, the main unit 1 sends a call setup message for recording the call to the recording unit 3. This call setup message for recording the call contains, as parameters, the service type: call recording, the box number corresponding to the internal telephone 2 that generated the call path 1, and the setting information for the save mode, either "(1) Always save" or "(2) Select whether to save or not save," as mentioned above.

When the recording device 3 returns a response to this call setup message to the main device 1, the main device 1 creates a call path 3 between the main device 1 and the recording device 3, creating a so-called three-way call. The recording device 3 then starts recording the call voice sent through the created call paths 1, 2, and 3. In the recording device 3, the above processing is performed by the call voice recording start control unit 33. The processing of the recording device 3 in the following sequence processing is performed by the call voice storage control unit 34.

When speech paths 1, 2, and 3 have been created and the recording device 3 is recording the call voice, and the internal user goes on-hook on the internal telephone 2 to end the call, the internal telephone 2 notifies the main unit 1 of the on-hook. Upon receiving this on-hook notification, the main unit 1 sends a disconnect message to the other telephone 6, and disconnects speech paths 1 and 2. The main unit 1 then further sends a release request message DISC (disconnect), which is a notification based on the disconnect operation of the internal telephone 2, to the recording device 3, requesting that speech path 3 be disconnected.

When the recording device 3 receives this release request message DISC (disconnect) from the main unit 1, it executes the following process as a function of the call voice storage control unit 34. That is, upon receiving the release request message from the main unit 1, the recording device 3 controls the recording data file generation and storage unit 35 to generate a recording data file containing the recording data of the call voice from the start of the call to the end of the call, and temporarily store it. The recording device 3 then sends to the main unit 1 a release message REL (release) in response to the release request message, and in this case, sends to the main unit 1 a retroactive recording ID notification including the ID (Identification) of the temporarily stored recording data file in the release message REL.

In this embodiment, the ID included in the retroactive recording ID notification includes the extension number of the extension telephone 2 that was in use up until that point, call duration information, and a serial number that is sequentially assigned to the recording data file.

When the main unit 1 receives a release message REL including a retroactive recording ID notification from the recording device 3, it sends a disconnection message to the recording device 3 and disconnects the communication path 3 between the main unit 1 and the recording device 3. After disconnecting the communication path 3, the main unit 1 sends a release completion message RELCOMP to the recording device 3.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, which is a continuation of the sequence in FIG. 4, the main unit 1 sends to the extension telephone 2 a retroactive call recording notification including control information for controlling the LED of the retroactive call recording key to flash, and starts the monitoring timer. As described above, the timer time monitored by the monitoring timer is a time set between 10 and 30 seconds, as described above.

In the extension telephone 2, this retroactive call recording notification controls the LED of the retroactive call recording key to flash. This flashing of the LED of the retroactive call recording key notifies the user that a temporarily saved recording data file of the retroactive call recording exists, and prompts the user to respond as to whether or not to save the call recording data.

When a user receives the notification from the flashing LED of the retroactive call recording key and presses the retroactive call recording key before the monitoring timer times out, the internal telephone 2 sends key information to the main unit 1 indicating that the retroactive call recording key has been pressed.

When the main unit 1 receives key information from the internal telephone 2 indicating that the retroactive call recording key has been pressed, it stops the monitoring timer and sends a retroactive call recording save notification to the recording device 3. This retroactive call recording save notification from the main unit 1 contains the retroactive recording ID contained in the retroactive recording ID notification contained in the release message from the recording device 3, and instruction information to save.

When the recording device 3 receives this retroactive call recording save notification, it effectively saves the temporarily saved recording data file by storing it in the box in the call voice file storage unit 36 that corresponds to the internal telephone 2 that was in the call, based on the retroactive recording ID included in the retroactive recording save notification. The recording device 3 then sends a save completion notification to the main unit 1. This save completion notification includes the box number corresponding to the internal telephone 2, the number of saved call voice recording data files, and the number of unplayed call voice recording data files.

When the main unit 1 receives this storage completion notification, it sends a retroactive call recording end notification to the internal telephone 2. This retroactive call recording end notification includes a control signal to turn off the flashing LED of the retroactive call recording key, and a control signal to turn on the LED of the box key.

When the internal telephone 2 receives this notification that the retroactive call recording has ended, it turns off the flashing LED of the retroactive call recording key and turns on the LED of the box key. The internal user knows that the retroactive call recording has been completed by the LED of the retroactive call recording key being turned off, and knows that there is a recording data file of unplayed call audio by the LED of the box key being turned on.

Although detailed explanation is omitted, when the box key is pressed, the internal telephone 2 sends a request to the main unit 1 to play the recorded voice data file including its own extension number, and can obtain and play the recorded voice data file stored in the box of the recording device 3.

The above explanation is for the case where the internal line user presses the retroactive call recording key before the monitoring timer times out, but in this embodiment, if the monitoring timer times out without the internal line user pressing the retroactive call recording key, this is treated as an indication of the intention not to save retroactive call recordings. An example sequence for when the monitoring timer times out is shown in FIG. 6. This example sequence in FIG. 6 is a sequence following the sequence in FIG. 4. Note that the system may be configured to notify the main unit 1 of the intention not to save retroactive call recordings by operating a specific operation key before the monitoring timer times out.

As shown in FIG. 6, after the monitoring timer starts, if the monitoring timer times out without the user, who has been notified by the flashing LED of the retroactive call recording key, operating the retroactive call recording key, the main unit 1 sends a retroactive call recording end notification to the extension telephone 2. This retroactive call recording end notification includes a control signal that turns off the flashing LED of the retroactive call recording key. Upon receiving this retroactive call recording end notification, the extension telephone 2 turns off the flashing LED of the retroactive call recording key.

Then, the main unit 1 sends a retroactive recording non-save notification to the recording device 3. This retroactive call recording non-save notification from the main unit 1 includes the retroactive recording ID included in the retroactive recording ID notification included in the release message from the recording device 3, and instruction information to not save the recording.

When the recording device 3 receives this notification that the retroactive call recording will not be saved, it will erase the temporarily saved recording data file.

When the recording device 3 sends the release message REL including the recording ID back to the main device 1 in response to the release request message DISC from the main device 1, if the main device 1 sends a release completion message RELCOP but does not send any subsequent instruction signal, in this embodiment, the recording device 3 effectively saves the temporarily stored recording data file in the call voice file storage unit 36. This is to prevent the internal line user from unintentionally losing the recording data file of the call voice.

<<Example of a sequence when the call is disconnected on the other party's telephone 6>>
7 and its sequel, FIG. 8, a sequence example in which a call disconnection operation is performed on the other party's telephone 6 side will be described.

As shown in FIG. 7, the sequence in which communication paths 1, 2, and 3 are generated based on an outgoing call (call) from the other telephone 6, and the recording device 3 enters a state in which the call voice is being recorded, is the same as that shown in FIG. 4.

In this state, when the call is disconnected on the other party's telephone 6 side, in this embodiment, the main unit 1 disconnects the speech path 2, but maintains the speech path 1 between the main unit 1 and the extension telephone 2 and the speech path 3 between the main unit 1 and the recording device 3. The main unit 1 then sends a pause request to the recording device 3 to temporarily halt the recording of the call voice (pause state).

The recording device 3 returns a pause response to the main device 1 in response to the pause request from the main device 1, and places the call voice recording operation that has been performed from the start of recording to that time in the recording data file generation and storage unit 35 in a temporary stop state (pause state).The recording device 3 then sends a pause notification to the main device 1 to notify it that the call voice recording operation has been placed in a pause state.

When the main unit 1 receives this pause notification from the recording device 3, as shown in FIG. 8, it sends a guidance sending request to the recording device 3 to send a guidance message inquiring whether or not to save the call voice to the extension user of the extension telephone 2.

When the recording device 3 receives this guidance sending request, it returns a guidance sending response to the main device 1 and sends the above guidance message to the extension telephone 2 via the speech path 3 and speech path 1 held via the main device 1, causing the handset HS to play a guidance message asking whether or not to save the call audio.

When the internal line user hears this guidance message through the receiver of the handset HS, he or she presses the retroactive call recording key if they wish to save a recording data file of the call voice. In response, the internal line telephone 2 sends the key information of the retroactive call recording key that was pressed to the main unit 1.

When the main unit 1 receives key information from the extension telephone 2 indicating that the retroactive call recording key has been pressed, it sends a retroactive call recording save notification to the recording device 3. This retroactive call recording save notification from the main unit 1 includes the box number corresponding to the extension telephone 2 and instruction information to save.

When the recording device 3 receives this retroactive call recording save notification, it cancels the pause state, stops recording, and effectively saves the recorded data file by storing it in the box corresponding to the internal telephone 2 that was in the call in the call voice file storage unit 36. The recording device 3 then sends a save completion notification to the main unit 1. This save completion notification contains the box number corresponding to the internal telephone 2, the number of saved call voice recording data files, and the number of unplayed call voice recording data files.

When the main unit 1 receives this storage completion notification, it sends a retroactive call recording end notification to the extension telephone 2. This retroactive call recording end notification includes a control instruction signal to turn on the LED of the box key.

When the extension telephone 2 receives this notification that the retroactive call recording has ended, it turns on the LED on the box key. The extension user can tell from the LED on the box key that there is a recording data file of unplayed call audio.

When the internal user puts the phone on-hook, the internal telephone 2 notifies the main unit 1 of the on-hook. The main unit 1, which receives the on-hook notification, sends a disconnect message to the internal telephone 2 and disconnects the call path 1.

Then, the main unit 1 sends a release request message DISC to the recording unit 3, requesting disconnection of the speech path 3. Upon receiving this release request message DISC from the main unit 1, the recording unit 3 sends a release message REL to the main unit 1 in response to the release request message DISC.

When the main unit 1 receives the release message REL from the recording device 3, it sends a disconnection message to the recording device 3 and disconnects the communication path 3. After disconnecting the communication path 3, the main unit 1 sends a release completion message RELCOMP to the recording device 3.

If the internal line user who has heard the guidance message does not want to save the recorded data file of the call voice, he or she presses a key other than the retroactive call recording key that is associated with a non-save instruction. The internal line telephone 2 sends the key information of the non-save instruction key to the main unit 1.

When the main unit 1 receives the key information of this non-save instruction key, it sends a notification to the recording device 3 that the retroactive call recording data will not be saved. When the recording device 3 receives a notification from the main unit 1 that the retroactive call recording data will not be saved, it cancels the pause (pause state) and erases the recording data stored in the buffer memory.

Then, the main device 1 sends a release request message DISC to the recording device 3 and performs a sequence to disconnect the communication paths 2 and 3.

In the sequence examples of Figures 7 and 8, there are cases where a disconnection operation is performed on the extension telephone 2 side before a guidance message is sent to the extension telephone 2 based on a disconnection operation on the other telephone 6 side. In such a case, in this embodiment, the sequence after the extension user performs an on-hook operation as described using Figures 4 to 6 is executed, and the process of retroactive call recording by the extension user is executed.

Therefore, even if the internal line user performs a disconnect operation following a disconnect operation on the other telephone 6, the internal line user can go back and save the recorded data file of the call voice.

Note that the sequence examples described above using Figures 4 to 6, 7, and 8 are for cases where the call is made from the other telephone 6, but the call may also be made from the extension telephone 2.

[Effects of the embodiment]
As described above, in the telephone system of the above embodiment, even if the call is disconnected on the internal telephone, the recorded data from the start to the end of the call can be retroactively saved.

In addition, according to the above embodiment, even if the extension telephone is used to disconnect the call after the other telephone is used to disconnect the call, the recorded data from the start to the end of the call can be saved retroactively.

[Other embodiments or modifications]
In the above-described embodiment, the main unit as a telephone control device and the recording device are shown as devices each having an independent housing, but the board substrate constituting the main unit and the board substrate constituting the recording device may also be incorporated into a single housing.

Although LAN4 has been described as being configured as a wired LAN, it may be a wireless LAN, or may be connected via a modular cable instead of a wired LAN.

1...Main unit, 2, 21, 22..., 2n...Telephone, 3...Recording device, 4...LAN, 5...Communication network, 6...Destination telephone

Claims (6)

A telephone system comprising at least one telephone, a telephone control device that controls and manages a call between the telephone and a caller, and a recording device that records a call between the telephone and the caller under the control of the telephone control device,
When the recording device receives a notification based on a disconnection operation on the telephone from the telephone control device, the recording device temporarily stores the call voice from the start to the end of the call between the telephone and the other party as a recording data file, and notifies the telephone control device of the identification information associated with the temporarily stored recording data file and the telephone that made the call;
The telephone control device controls the telephone device linked to the identification information to notify the telephone device of whether or not to effectively save the temporarily stored recording data file, and when the telephone device notifies the recording device that the temporarily stored recording data file will be effectively saved, the telephone control device notifies the recording device that the temporarily stored recording data file will be effectively saved. When the telephone control device creates a speech path between the telephone and the other party, the telephone control device also creates a speech path between the telephone control device and the recording device, so that the recording device records the speech of the call;
the notification based on the call disconnection operation on the telephone side, which the recording device receives from the telephone control device, is a release request message;
2. The telephone system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information is included in a response message to the release request message and is notified from the recording device to the telephone control device. When the telephone control device receives a disconnection message due to a disconnection operation by the other party of the call before the telephone device side performs a disconnection operation of the call path, the telephone control device disconnects the call path between the other party and the telephone control device, but maintains the call paths between the telephone control device and the telephone device and the recording device, and temporarily suspends the recording operation of the recording device;
The telephone control device, which receives an instruction to save the paused voice of the call from the telephone before the telephone side performs a call path disconnection operation, executes the saving of the paused voice of the call in the recording device;
The telephone system according to claim 2, characterized in that when the telephone control device detects a call path disconnection operation on the telephone side before receiving an instruction from the telephone to save the paused call audio, the telephone control device sends the notification based on the call path disconnection operation on the telephone side to the recording device. 2. The telephone system according to claim 1, wherein the telephone control device and the recording device are incorporated into a single device. A telephone control device in a telephone system, comprising at least one telephone, a telephone control device for controlling and managing a call between the telephone and a call on the other side, and a recording device for recording a call voice between the telephone and the other side based on the control of the telephone control device, wherein the recording device temporarily stores the call voice from the start to the end of the call between the telephone and the other side as a recording data file when the recording device receives a notification based on a call disconnection operation on the telephone side from the telephone control device, and notifies the telephone control device of the temporarily stored recording data file and identification information associated with the telephone that made the call and the recording data file,
A telephone control device characterized in that, when receiving the identification information from the recording device, the telephone set linked to the identification information is controlled to notify whether or not to effectively save the temporarily stored recording data file, and when receiving a notification from the telephone set that the temporarily stored recording data file will be effectively saved, the telephone control device notifies the recording device that the temporarily stored recording data file will be effectively saved. A recording device in a telephone system including at least one telephone, a telephone control device that controls and manages a call between the telephone and a caller, and a recording device that records a call between the telephone and the caller under the control of the telephone control device,
A call voice from the start of a call on the telephone to the end of the call is temporarily stored as a recording data file, and when a notification based on a call disconnection operation on the telephone side is received from the telephone control device, identification information linked to the temporarily stored recording data file and the telephone device that made the call is added and notified to the telephone control device;
The telephone control device controls the telephone linked to the identification information to notify the telephone of whether or not to effectively save the temporarily stored recording data file, and when a notification is received from the telephone of the intention to effectively save the temporarily stored recording data file, the telephone control device transmits a notification to the recording device of the intention to effectively save the temporarily stored recording data file.

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