JPS5915592B2 - Phone test method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in telephone testing systems, particularly in storage program controlled automatic switching systems housing telephones that receive billing signal pulses from a switching system during outgoing connecting calls.

Generally, when an outgoing connection is made from a public telephone, the calling telephone receives billing signal pulses from the exchange system at intervals determined by the rate system during the call and stores coins.

Further, a telephone equipped with an in-home billing rate display function can operate a subscriber's in-home billing rate display attached to the telephone by using the billing signal pulse, and can instantly know the call charge. An example of a conventional test method for various operations associated with reception of billing signal pulses of the telephone in a storage program controlled automatic switching system accommodating this type of telephone will be explained with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, the tester inserts money into the public telephone T under test, makes a call, and dials a specific test number (for example, IXY), and the public telephone T connects to the test trunk TT via path 1 within the call path switch network SW. connected to. When the tester performs a predetermined operation such as redialing or hooking from the public telephone set T under test, the test trunk TT sends one charging signal pulse to the public telephone set T under test. The public telephone set under test T receives the charging signal pulse and stores one accumulated coin. However, if the telephone under test T is a public telephone capable of making long-distance calls, it will have the function of receiving billing signal pulses sent from the exchange system at intervals determined by the rate system during calls and storing accumulated coins. However, according to the test trunk TT, only an operation test is performed for the first arriving charging signal pulse.
In order to compensate for this deficiency, it is possible to equip the test trunk with a function to automatically send out multiple billing signals, but for this purpose, it is necessary to install a sending pulse counting circuit, a pulse sending stopping circuit, etc. in the test trunk. This makes the circuit configuration complicated and expensive. In addition, in order to more reliably confirm the functionality of the telephone, if the number of billing signal pulses sent out is made variable, for example, if the number of billing signal pulses equal to the number of redialed digits performed by the tester is sent out, additional charges may be added. This requires a circuit for counting the received digits, a circuit for accumulating the counting results, and a circuit for comparing the number of pulses counted by the pulse sending counting circuit with the received and accumulated dial digits, which further impairs economic efficiency. Another example of the conventional method is a method in which the telephone under test makes an outgoing connection similar to a general call connection and receives billing signal pulses from the exchange system.

Such a test method will be explained using another apparatus shown in FIG. Call another telephone A housed in the own station from the public telephone T under test, and call the charging trunk CHTl.
A connection path is formed via the trunk IOT within the local office and routes 2 and 3 within the call path switch network SW, and the signal distribution device S
According to instructions given from the central controller CC via D, charging signal pulses are periodically sent from the charging trunk CHT to the public telephone set under test T. In addition, the telephone B accommodated in the other station EX is called, and a connection path is formed via the charging trunk CHTζ output trunk 0GT1, the route 4 in the call path switch network SW, the trunk line L for the other station, etc., and the same A charging signal pulse is periodically sent from the charging trunk CHT' to the public telephone set T under test. When performing an operation test of the public telephone set under test T using charging signal pulses that arrive periodically through these connections, the called telephone set A
Or, not only the extra communication path equipment leading to B is occupied, but also the charging frequency is actually registered and accumulated in the exchange system, so the coins stored in the public telephone T under test during the test are used repeatedly. This makes it impossible for testers to prepare a large number of coins. The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional telephone test method, and to be able to thoroughly test the functions of the telephone under test regarding reception of billing signal pulses, while also eliminating unnecessary setting of connection paths and registration of billing frequency. The aim is to realize an easy telephone testing method that does not require storage.

The purpose of this is to provide a test device in a storage program controlled automatic switching system that houses a telephone that receives billing signal pulses during an outgoing connection call, which can be connected via a call path switch network by dialing a specific number from the telephone. , means for the test device to receive a predetermined operation signal sent from the telephone under test and transmit it to a central control device; This is achieved by providing a means for transmitting from the test device to the telephone under test. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a test method for functions related to billing signal pulse reception of a public telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, when the tester inserts money into the public telephone T under test and makes a call, the central control unit CC sends the outgoing call register 0R to the public telephone T under test through the route within the channel switch network SW. Connect via 5. When the tester dials a specific number (for example, 1XY) after listening to the dial tone DT sent from the transmission register 0R, the transmission register 0R receives the specific number 1XY and transfers it to the central control unit CC via the scanning device SCN. . Central control unit CC receives reception number 1
XY is determined to be for test connection, the public telephone set under test T and the test equipment TSTE are connected via route 6 in the call path switch network, and route 5 set earlier is released. Test equipment TS
The TE returns a special signal tone SDT to the public telephone set under test T to notify that test preparation is complete. After listening to the special signal tone SDT, the tester performs a predetermined operation, for example, dialing a single digit, in order to prompt the test device TSTE to send out a charging signal pulse, and the test device TSTE receives the re-dial and performs scanning. It is forwarded to the central control unit CC via the device SCN. The central control unit CC identifies the redial reception of the test equipment TSTE and sends the test equipment T via the signal distribution device SD.
The STE is driven to send a fixed number (for example, 6) of billing signal pulses to the public telephone T under test at a period suitable for the test (for example, 10 seconds). The tester observes the receiving operation of the public telephone T to be tested in response to the charging signal pulse and the storing operation of accumulated coins to confirm normality. The role of each device in the above process is shown in FIG. As described above, the tester can test the operation of the public telephone set under test T upon reception of the charging signal pulse, not only for the first time, but also for charging signal pulses continuously received during a call. Note that this test connection has nothing to do with the exchange system's billing frequency registration, so the coins stored during the test can be collected and used repeatedly. Furthermore, if the tester wants to check the number of coins stored in the public telephone T under test by varying the number of incoming billing signal pulses, a signal is transferred from the testing device TSTE to the central control device CC via the scanning device SCN. Means is provided for sending out billing signal pulses of a number equal to the number of redialed digits dialed by the tester.

The tester listens to the special signal sound SD sent from the test equipment TSTE.
After listening to T, the user dials the required number of charging signal pulses (for example, 5) from the public telephone set T to be tested. Test equipment TST
E receives the dialed digits and forwards them via the scanning device SCN to the central control unit CC. , the central control unit CC determines the received dial digit 5, drives the test device TSTE by 1 via the signal distribution device SD, and causes the test device TSTE to send five billing signal pulses to the public telephone set T under test. The tester can confirm whether the public telephone T under test receives the charging signal pulse five times without error and stores five accumulated coins. As is clear from the above description, according to this embodiment, in the storage program controlled automatic switching system, by dialing the test specific number 1XY from the public telephone T to be tested, connection is made to the test equipment TSTE, and the central control unit performs the test. Drive the device to send a predetermined number or a number designated by the tester of billing signal pulses to the public telephone T under test, and test the public telephone T under test's reception of billing signal pulses and coin storage operation. I can do it.

Note that FIG. 2 is merely one embodiment of the present invention, and for example, as shown in FIG. 3, it is conceivable to share the re-dial reception function of the test equipment TSTE with the existing transmission register 0R'.

In FIG. 3, when the public telephone T under test dials the test specific number 1XY, the test equipment TSTE
is the route 6 between the public telephone set under test T and the call path switch network SW.
At the same time, the testing device TSTE is also connected to the sending register 0R' via a path 7 in the call route switch network SW.

Subsequent re-dials sent from the public telephone T under test are received by the outgoing register 0R/ via the testing device TSTE and transferred via the scanning device SCN to the central control unit CC. Therefore, the central control unit CC has a simple storage program control structure because the path through which it receives dialed numbers is limited to the transmission register. The subsequent operations are performed in the same manner as in FIG. In addition, test specific number 1 illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Although various changes may be made to the number of billing signal pulses to be transmitted in the XY1 fixed number, 6, and the billing signal pulse transmission period of 10 seconds, the effects of the present invention will not change.
Furthermore, the operation performed by the tester in order to send out a certain number of billing signal pulses from the test device TSTE is not limited to dialing a single number; for example, the effect of the present invention does not change even if an operation such as hooking is performed. Note that the telephone under test is not limited to public telephones; for example, the present invention can provide similar effects to any telephone that receives billing signal pulses from the switching system, such as a telephone equipped with a function to display in-home billing frequency. . As described above, according to the present invention, in an automatic switching system controlled by a storage program, an operation test regarding reception of billing signal pulses of a telephone can be performed without setting unnecessary connection paths or registering and accumulating billing frequencies. A telephone testing scheme can be realized that can be easily implemented for pulses.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows an example of a conventional telephone test method;
The figure shows a telephone test method according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a telephone test method according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the roles of each device in FIG. 2. In the figure, T...Public phone under test, A, B
...Telephone, SW...Call path switch network, CC...Central control unit, SD...
Signal distribution device, CHT, CHTk...Charging trunk, IOT...Internal trunk, 0GT...
...Exit trunk, TT...Test trunk, EX
・・・・・・Other stations, 0R, 0R'-・・・Transmission register, SCN...Scanning device, TSTE...
...Test equipment, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...
·route.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a storage program controlled automatic switching system accommodating a telephone that receives a billing signal pulse during an outgoing connection call,
A test device is provided that can be connected via a call path switch network by dialing a specific number from the telephone, and the test device receives a predetermined operation signal sent from the telephone under test and transmits it to the central control device. and means for causing the central control unit to send a plurality of billing signal pulses from the test device to the phone under test based on the operation signal through storage program processing. 2. The telephone test method according to claim 1, wherein the number of billing signal pulses sent from the test device to the telephone under test is a predetermined constant number. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the number of billing signal pulses sent from the testing device to the telephone under test is equal to the number of dials made by the telephone under test to prompt the telephone under test to send billing signal pulses. Telephone test method.