JPH0316065B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a call selection device in a switched network, and more particularly to a call selection device for protecting subscribers from prank calls and mistaken calls in a telephone switched network.

In public communication networks, as a result of allowing incoming calls from unspecified parties, the receiving party has no choice but to respond even if it is a party that it does not like, resulting in various problems. For example, in 1981, the number of nuisance calls such as prank calls and harassing calls exceeded 100,000, according to a survey conducted by the Telecommunications Corporation, and has become a major social problem. For example, in the case of data processing, at a data communication center connected to the public telephone network, in order to prevent trouble, the center verifies the key number (password) sent from the caller after an automatic response, and if it is correct. However, it is practically impossible to use this method for general residential telephones, and telephone calls are the only way to deal with nuisance calls. The reality is that people change their numbers so that they are not listed in the telephone directory, and that they use a dual numbering system. However, these methods have the disadvantage that they require verification of the situation in which they are being inconvenienced and obtain the consent of the telecommunications corporation, and are inconvenient. Also, JP-A-54-
As described in No. 152906 and No. 55-11668, when a call is received from a switched network, a message is sent to call a predetermined specific number, and if this specific number is correct, Determine whether or not
A method has also been proposed in which a ring tone is emitted for an incoming call only when the number is correct. In these systems, an audio frequency signal is sent to input a specific secret number, which is done by operating a button on a pushphone. Therefore, in this system, at least the telephone on the calling side must be of the pushphone type, which has the disadvantage that its applications are limited and it is often inconvenient in practice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide a call selection device for a switched network that can be easily implemented using any terminal function.

The present invention provides an incoming call selection device that connects a terminal function only for a specific caller in response to an incoming call from an unspecified caller between a switching network and a terminal function connected thereto. means for automatically responding to a plurality of voice questions and sequentially transmitting a plurality of voice questions; a means for detecting and storing voice answers from the caller to each of the questions; and means for generating an incoming call permission signal when the two match, and means for connecting the terminal function to the switching network in response to the incoming call permission signal. It is.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the incoming call selection device of the present invention in which a telephone switching network is used as the switching network and a telephone is used as the terminal function. Telephone 1 is configured to be connectable to telephone switching network 3 via incoming call selection circuit 2 . This incoming call selection circuit 2 includes a switch 4 that can be manually switched.
The switching arm 4a is connected to the exchange network 3, and the first contact 4
b is connected to telephone 1, and second contact 4c is connected to relay 5.
It is connected to the switching arm 5a of. Therefore, when the changeover switch 4 is turned to the first contact 4b side, the telephone 1 operates as a normal telephone and generates a ring tone in response to a call from the exchange network 3. will be connected to.

The first contact 5b of the relay 5 is connected to the incoming call detection section 6, and the second contact 5c is connected to the transmitting/receiving section 7 and the disconnection detecting section 8. The incoming call detecting section 6, the transmitting/receiving section 7, and the disconnection detecting section 8 are connected to the control section 9, and the announcing section 10 is also connected to the transmitting/receiving section 7.

Next, how incoming call selection is performed in this example will be explained with reference to the diagram shown in FIG. When the subscriber desires the incoming call selection mode, first manually move the changeover switch 4 to the second contact 4.
Switch to the c side. In this state, the switching arm 5a of the relay 5 is connected to the contact 5b as shown in FIG. If there is an incoming call from the switching network 3, the incoming call detection section 6 detects this and notifies the control section 9 of the incoming call via the line 11. At this time, the control section 9
operates the relay 5, switches and connects the switching arm 5a to the contact 5c, and connects the transmitting/receiving section 7 and the disconnection detecting section 8 to the exchange network 3. As a result, the incoming call selection circuit 2 enters a state equivalent to the off-hook state of a telephone capable of responding to the switching network 3. Subsequently, the control section 9 sends a command to the announcement section 10 via the line 12 to notify the originating subscriber that an incoming call is currently being selected. This announcement can be, for example, something like, "We are currently talking to only the person who answered the question correctly." The sending of this information will be referred to as "notification 1 sending."

Next, the control section 9 sends a "send question 1" command C ₁ to the announcement section 10 via the line 12.
In response to this command C ₁ , the announcement unit 10 generates a voice information signal Q ₁ representing, for example, the number 1, “ichi”, and sends this to the switching network 3 via the transmitter/receiver unit 7 . The control unit 9 monitors for a certain period of time _T1 the response of the originating subscriber in response to this inquiry, for example, a response of "yes". The transmitter/receiver section 7 detects when a voice input of a certain level or higher is received, and transmits it to the control section 9 via the line 13. The control unit 9 detects whether or not a response detection signal is supplied from the transmitter/receiver unit 7 during the above-mentioned fixed period T ₁ , for example, 1 second, and records the state at a predetermined storage location in the memory M (FIG. 2). Store in _M1 . In other words, if there is a response of "Yes" to the call "I", the logical value is "1".
is stored in the storage location _M1 of the memory M, and if there is no response, a logical value "0" is stored.

After the period T ₁ has elapsed, the control section 9 again sends the "Question 2 Send" command to the announcement section 10, announces "N" representing the number 2, and transmits the transmitting/receiving section 7, the relay 5, the switch 4, and the switch. It notifies the originating subscriber via the network 3, detects whether there is a response to this call during the period _T2 , and stores the second part in the memory M.
Store in storage location _M2 .

Such questions are asked from numbers 1 to 10, responses to each question are detected, and the results are stored in storage locations _M1 to _M10 of the memory M, respectively.

In the case shown in Figure 2, the question "san(3)",
It is set to allow incoming calls only when there is a response to ``Go (5)'' and ``Kiyu (9)'', and not allow incoming calls in any other case. This setting is made using the deep switch D provided in the control section 9.
This is done by switching the contacts D ₃ , D ₅ , and D ₉ .
This is very convenient because the user can arbitrarily set a specific response. With these settings, as shown in Figure 2, ask "san",
The response “hai” immediately after “go” and “kiyuu”
When A ₃ , A ₅ , A ₉ are detected, a logical value "1" is stored in storage locations M ₃ , M ₅ , M ₉ of memory M,
A logic value "0" will be stored in the other storage locations. Control unit 9 after the last period T ₁₀ has elapsed
A comparator C installed in the comparator C compares the state of the deep switch D and the state of the memory M, and if a match is detected, it is determined that the incoming call is permitted, and the control section 9 sends a drive signal to the ring tone generating section 14. , for example, to make a bell ring. The called party who hears this ringing tone can manually switch the changeover switch 4 to the contact 4b side to make a call. On the other hand, if no match is detected in the comparator C, the control section 9 sends a "send notification 3" command to the announcement section 10 via the line 12, for example, "We will not talk at this time. Please wait at another time." Please call again.'', the connection is cut off, and the relay 5 is returned to the state shown in FIG. 1, and the announcer 10 is also returned to its initial state to standby for the next call.

On the other hand, the incoming call is allowed and the switch 4 is connected to contact 4b.
When switched to , this state is detected by the disconnection detector 8.
detects the disconnection and sends a disconnection detection signal to the control unit 9 via line 15. At this time, the control unit 9 resets the incoming call selection circuit 2 to the initial state, and sets the relay 5 to contact 5.
At the same time, the announcement section 10 is returned to its initial state.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but can be modified in many ways.

In the embodiment described above, when it is determined that the incoming call is permitted, the ring tone generator 14 is driven and the switch 4 is manually switched to the contact 4b side in response to the ring tone. Instead of driving the telephone 1, the ringing tone generating device of the telephone 1 may be driven. In this case, the switch 4 may be automatically switched by turning off the telephone.
In this case, it is also possible to detect the on-hook of the telephone and reset the incoming call selection circuit 2 to its initial state.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, if the incoming call is not permitted, the announcement section 10 sends out a notification to that effect, but the incoming call selection circuit 2 may also be provided with an answering machine recording device and a request to record the requirements may be made. can.

In addition, in the above example, "1" to "10"
In response to the 10 questions, the decision to accept a call is made only when 3 answers match. However, in order to tolerate errors caused by accidental answer errors by the calling subscriber or noise to a certain extent, Of the two answers,
For example, if both are correct, it is determined that the incoming call is permitted, thereby providing some leeway. Furthermore, in the example described above, the control unit 9 sends a command to send a question to the announcer unit 10 each time, but after the announcer is activated by the control unit, the announcer may send a notification to the control unit to send a question. Questions can be sent or asked one after another at predetermined fixed time intervals, and any procedure for sending questions may be used as long as individual answers to each question can be identified.

In the embodiments described above, the incoming call selection circuit is installed at the subscriber's home, but it can also be installed at the telephone exchange or in between. However, in this case, it is necessary to send out a new ringing signal to make the telephone in the subscriber's home ring when it is determined that the incoming call is permitted.

Further, in the embodiments described above, a telephone is used as the terminal function, but the terminal function can also be other functions. For example, if the playback function of an answering machine is made into a terminal function, only a specific person who can answer questions correctly can listen to the recorded contents of the answering machine over the phone from anywhere. Furthermore, if home electronics equipment has a terminal function, it is also possible to perform remote control such as selectively issuing commands over the phone from a location.

As described above, the incoming call selection device in a switched network of the present invention automatically responds to an incoming call, sends out an inquiry, detects a response to this, and only when the answer matches a predetermined response By allowing incoming calls, you can select incoming calls with a simple configuration, and especially when answering by voice information, there is no need for special equipment such as a pushphone, which has a practical effect. is very large.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the incoming call selection system of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation thereof. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Telephone, 2... Incoming call selection circuit, 3... Telephone exchange network, 4... Changeover switch, 5... Relay, 6... Incoming call detection section, 7... Transmitting/receiving section, 8... Switching detection section, 9... Control section, 10... Announcement section, 11, 12, 13, 1
5...Line, 14...Ring tone generator, M...Memory,
D...Deep switch, C...Comparator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Between a switching network and a terminal function connected to the switching network, in a call selection device that connects the terminal function only for a specific caller in response to an incoming call from an unspecified caller, automatic means for sequentially transmitting a plurality of voice questions in response to the question; means for detecting and storing voice answers from the caller to each of the questions; and means for generating an incoming call permission signal when the two match, and means for connecting a terminal function to the switching network in response to the incoming call permission signal. Incoming call selection device.