JPS6340070B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a billing system for facsimile communications.

Billing for telephone calls in telephone networks is based on information proportional to the line holding time from the detection of a line loop formed between the calling subscriber and the called subscriber to the detection of the line being released. . That is, in a step-by-step exchange or a crossbar exchange, after detecting the line loop, billing pulses are counted until line release is detected, and in an electronic exchange, the line loop detection time and the line release detection are counted. Find the communication time and minutes from the time,
The call fee was charged by dividing the amount by the unit time to calculate the frequency.

In facsimile communication, even after the line is connected between the sender and receiver, there is a possibility that the facsimile terminal may not be ready for reception due to a power outage, paper shortage, etc., and the communication may end up being unsuccessful. However, the charging system used in conventional telephone networks has the disadvantage that it is unreasonable to charge even for communication that has not been established.

As a billing method that compensates for this drawback, there is a method that performs billing processing after confirming the end of communication (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1973-
4508) is also somewhat effective, but
In such a system, if the power of the terminal is turned off after the communication is established and the communication is about to end, the end of the communication cannot be confirmed even though the information has been sent to the receiving terminal, resulting in an unreasonable situation in which charges cannot be made. .

Furthermore, conventional billing methods based on "time" have the disadvantage that terminals with different transmission speeds charge different amounts of information even though they transmit the same amount of information.

This invention proposes a new billing method to improve the drawbacks of the prior art as described above. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to charge a fee according to the amount of image signal of the communication established in facsimile communication. The objective is to provide a reasonable charging method for charging.

The gist of the configuration of the present invention is that in a facsimile storage and conversion system consisting of a facsimile terminal, a switch, and a facsimile storage and conversion device, a communication path from the terminal to the storage and conversion device via the switch is caused by a calling operation from a calling terminal. has been established,
When an image signal of a predetermined unit amount (for example, one page of a manuscript) or less is sent from the transmitting terminal to the storage/conversion device and stored, the storage/conversion device instructs the exchange to communicate with the receiving terminal. In the system, in which a communication channel is established between the receiver terminals, and upon receiving a reception ready signal from the receiver terminal, the stored image signal of the predetermined unit amount or less is transferred to the receiver terminal. The device is equipped with a means for measuring the amount of image signals transferred to the receiving terminal by receiving a reception ready signal sent from the receiving terminal, and is configured to charge depending on the amount of communication. At the point.

Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The figure is a block diagram for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, and shows a facsimile storage and conversion system. In the figure, 1 is a facsimile terminal, 2 is an exchange, 3 is a facsimile communication control information transmitting/receiving device, 4 is a central control device, 5 is a facsimile reception control device, 6 is an image signal file, 7 is a traffic counter, and 8 is a facsimile machine. This is a transmission control device, and the above-mentioned devices 3 to 8 collectively constitute a facsimile storage and conversion device S. Connections between each device are as shown in the figure.

The operation will be described below with reference to the drawings.

When the facsimile terminal 1 requests storage and conversion to send out an image signal, the exchange 2 transmits the information necessary for storage and conversion (caller number, destination number, terminal model, etc.) via the facsimile communication control information transmitting/receiving device 3. At the same time, the facsimile terminal 1 and the facsimile reception control device 5 are connected.

The central control device 4 notifies the facsimile reception control device 5 of the model of the other party's terminal, and
Instructs to start reception control operation.

The facsimile reception control device 5 performs the reception control operation of the instructed model, and the facsimile reception control device 5
It requests the central control unit 4 to send out the image signals, and also requests the central control unit 4 to store the sent image signals. It also requests the traffic counter 7 to start measuring the traffic.

The central control device 4 manages the image signal file 6 and stores the image signals transmitted from the terminal 1 in an empty file. Communication amount counter 7
starts counting the amount of facsimile communication (for example, the number of scanning lines).

When the facsimile reception control device 5 detects the end of reception of a certain unit amount of image signals, for example, the end of reception of one page of the original or the end of communication, the facsimile reception control device 5 sends a page end signal or a communication end signal to the central processing unit 4. do.
When the central control device 4 receives the report of completion of reception of the first page of the transmitted manuscript, it reads the contents of the communication amount counter 7, resets the counter 7, and
The contents, ie, the amount of communication, are stored. Also, it notifies the exchange 2 of the destination number previously received from the exchange 2 via the facsimile communication control information transmitting/receiving device 3;
Depends on the line connection to the other party's terminal. Upon receiving notification from the exchange 2 that the connection to the other party has been completed, the central control unit 4 notifies the facsimile transmission control unit 8 of the model of the other party's terminal and instructs it to start transmission control operations. When the central controller 4 receives a report of completion of reception of each page after the second page of the transmitted manuscript, the central controller 4 reads the contents of the traffic counter 7 in the same way as before, resets the counter 7, and updates the contents. Memorize the amount of communication. Then, it again instructs the facsimile transmission control device 8 to perform a transmission control operation.

The facsimile transmission control device 8 performs a transmission control operation for the designated model, and when it detects a reception preparation completion signal from the destination facsimile terminal to which it should transmit, it reports it to the central control device 4 and ends the control operation.

When the central control device 4 receives the report of the detection of the terminal reception ready signal, it starts transmitting the previously accumulated image signal from the image signal file 6 via the facsimile transmission control device 8, and first sends the image signal to the communication volume counter 7. The communication amount stored by reading is converted into a numerical amount in billing units and is notified to the exchange 2 as billing information. In this way, the central control device 4 will charge depending on the amount of signals transferred to the receiving terminal based on the reception ready signal received from the receiving terminal, so that a reasonable billing method can be adopted. can be realized.

As explained above, according to the billing method according to the present invention, in facsimile communication,
This method has the advantage that reasonable billing is possible by charging only the amount of communication that has been established.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, and is a block diagram of a facsimile storage and conversion system. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Facsimile terminal, 2... Exchange, 3... Facsimile communication information transmitting/receiving device, 4... Central control device, 5... Facsimile reception control device, 6... Image signal file, 7... Communication amount counter, 8... Facsimile transmission control device, S ...Facsimile storage and conversion device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A facsimile terminal, a switching device, and a facsimile storage and forwarding device are connected, and the originating facsimile terminal requests the switching device to perform storage and forwarding, and the switching device sends information necessary for the storage and forwarding to the facsimile storage and forwarding device. By transmitting , a communication path is established from the originating terminal to the storage and forwarding device via the exchange, and in response to a transmission request from the storage and forwarding device, the image signal is sent from the originating terminal to the storage and forwarding device and is stored. Then, the storage and forwarding device measures the amount of image signals and instructs the switching device to establish a communication path from the receiving facsimile terminal to the storage and forwarding device via the switching device, and the storage and forwarding device prepares for reception from the receiving terminal. This is a facsimile storage/conversion system that transfers the accumulated image signal to the receiving terminal upon receiving a completion signal, and the storage/converting device receives the reception ready signal from the receiving terminal. A facsimile communication charging method characterized by charging depending on the amount of image signals transferred to the computer.