JPH0759008B2 - Conference call system - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a so-called telephone conference system in which a conference is held in the form of simultaneous participation by a plurality of people through a telephone line.

[Conventional technology]

In the conventional conference call system, all the incoming call lines participating in the conference call are connected so as to allow two-way communication so that all participants can freely talk.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, in the case of the above-described conventional conference call system, if other participants forcibly interrupt and talk while specific participants are talking to each other, the voices of the other participants may overlap and the conversation may become inaudible. was there. Also,
Since each participant can call freely without any restrictions, some participants may forcibly monopolize the conversation and other participants may lose the opportunity to open their opinions. It was

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and the purpose thereof is to automatically switch the available lines automatically at regular intervals to prevent interruption of the call due to interruptions and the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide a telephone conference system capable of smoothly advancing a telephone conference while giving the people the opportunity to speak evenly.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the telephone conference system of the present invention is provided with a plurality of office lines for telephone conference participants, a two-way call terminal capable of both transmission and reception, and a connection to the two-way call terminal. A call / monitor switching circuit equipped with a monitor-only terminal that can only monitor the station line, and a call path in which the incoming curve can be freely exchange-connected to the bidirectional call terminal of the call / monitor switching circuit or the monitor-only terminal A switch and a predetermined specific incoming call line are used as main lines, the main line is fixedly connected to the bidirectional call terminal of the call / monitor switching circuit, and other incoming call lines other than the main line are in the order of call reception. In accordance with the above, the call / monitor switching circuit is sequentially switched to and connected to the bidirectional call terminal of the call / monitor switching circuit, and the call other than the call receiving line connected to the bidirectional call terminal is connected to the call / monitor. Switching times It is for an exchange control circuit for controlling switching the channel switch to connect to a monitor dedicated terminal, characterized by comprising a.

[Work]

The conference participant who has received the call on the main line is connected to the bidirectional call terminal of the call / monitor switching circuit. Also, when there is an incoming call to a station line other than the main line, the order of arrival is stored in the exchange control circuit, and the incoming / outgoing line is bidirectionally called by the call / monitor switching circuit at regular time intervals according to the order of incoming calls. Switch to the terminals one after another and connect. Therefore, the conference participants on each incoming line can talk with the conference participants on the main line one after another at regular intervals according to the order of incoming calls.

Furthermore, the exchange control circuit is
The other remaining incoming line which is not connected to the bidirectional call terminal at the time of the switching connection is connected to the monitor dedicated terminal of the call / monitor switching circuit. Therefore, each incoming call line, except when it is possible to talk on its own, conducts a conversation between conference participants on the main line connected to the bidirectional call terminal through the dedicated monitor terminal of the call / monitor switching circuit and other incoming call lines. It can only be monitored, and it will not be possible to interrupt the conversation as before.

As a result, in the telephone conference system of the present invention, there is no possibility that the voice is overlapped by interruption and the conversation content becomes inaudible unlike the conventional case, and the conference participants can feel their opinions and opinions when they can talk. You will be able to speak, and the conference call will proceed smoothly.

〔Example〕

 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a telephone conference system according to the present invention. The telephone conference system of this embodiment is provided with N office lines, and up to N persons, which is equal to the maximum number of office lines, can participate in the telephone conference.

Office line circuits 1 _{1 to} 1n are trunk circuits for receiving incoming calls from conference call participants.
1 ₁ 1n conference call office line 2 ₁ to 2n for participants are connected, the other end of each station line circuit is connected to the channel switch 3. Participants A to N in the conference call each have their own telephone 4 ₁
By dialing to 4n, it is connected to the telephone conference system through the office line 2 ₁ to 2n. It should be noted that any _{one of the} office lines 21 to 2n is designated as a main line for a conference call moderator or a main guest, as will be described later.

The call / monitor switching circuit 5 includes bidirectional call terminals a and b and a monitor-dedicated terminal c so that telephones connected to the bidirectional call terminals a and b can perform bidirectional call.
A telephone connected to the monitor-dedicated terminal c is a two-way call terminal.
It is only possible to monitor the call content of the telephone connected to a and b.

The audio broadcasting device 6 includes a tape reproducing device, a voice synthesizing device, and a CD.
The player is a device that broadcasts information about the conference call system, music for waiting for conference participants, and the like, and is connected to the call path switch 3 via the line input interface 7.

The communication path switch 3 is used for the above-mentioned station line circuits 1 _{1 to} 1n,
It is an exchange circuit for freely switching and connecting between the monitor switching circuit 5 and the line input interface 6.

The exchange control circuit 8 is composed of a microcomputer or the like, has a predetermined specific incoming call line as a main line, and the main line is fixedly connected to the two-way call terminal a of the call / monitor switching circuit 5 Called lines other than the line are sequentially switched and connected to the bidirectional call terminal b of the call / monitor switching circuit at a predetermined time interval according to the order of incoming calls, and the called station connected to the bidirectional call terminal b. The incoming call line other than the line is a circuit for switching and controlling the call path switch 3 so as to connect to the monitor dedicated terminal c of the call / monitor switching circuit 5.

The operation of the telephone conference system having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the following explanation, the main line to which the moderator is connected is the station line 2
₂ (hereinafter, mainly referred to line 2 ₂₎ rely on, the conference moderator is assumed to be adapted to the phone to the main line 2 _2.

Now, any of the conference participants A, C to N other than the moderator B,
For example, if there is a call from the conference participants A to office line 2 ₁ (step S1), the office line circuit 1 ₁ receives this and sends the call information to the switching control circuit 8. The exchange control circuit 8 controls the call path switch 3 based on the incoming call information, and first connects to the audio broadcasting device 6 as shown in FIG. 3 (a) (step S
2) Providing guidance to the participants on how to use this telephone conference system and music for waiting for the conference.

Furthermore, to determine whether the incoming call to any of the main line or other office line other than the main line (step S3), and the main line 2 ₂ Other office line 2 _1, 2 ₃ in the case of incoming call to ~2n As shown in FIG. 4 (a), the number of the called station line 2 ₁ is stored and stored in the first stack in the waiting order of the queue (step S
Four). Note that FIG. 4 is displayed by using conference participant names A to N corresponding to the station line in place of the station line number for the sake of easy understanding.

Then, replace the control circuit 8 checks whether there is an incoming call at least in the main line 2 ₂ and other office line 2 _1, 2 ₃ or 1 line in to 2n (step S5), and the start of the conference call Determine if possible. In the above example, only _one of the conference participants A (station line 2 ₁ ) is receiving the call, and it is impossible to start the conference call. Therefore, the process returns to step S1, and subsequently waits for the arrival of other participants and the moderator for the conference call.

The above process is repeated every time there is an incoming call. For example, suppose that all of the conference participants A, C to N have calls to join the conference one after another in the order of their signs, and if the last one is the call from the moderator B, all of them will receive the call. The connection state of the speech path switch 3 at that time is as shown in FIG. 3 (b), and the contents of the queue at this time are as shown in FIG. 4 (b). Moderator B does not enter the queue.

When the conference call participants are convened as described above, and at least one of the moderator B and the other conference participants A, C to N receives a call, the process is performed. The process proceeds to S6 (step S5), and the conference call by the conference call system is automatically started.

That is, when entering the conference call mode after step S6,
Exchange control circuit 8, the first main line 2 ₂ presenter B, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), is connected to two-way communication terminal a call / monitor switching circuit 5 (step S6). Next, the conference participant A (terminating station line 2 ₁ ) having the first waiting order is selected from the queue shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3C, the conference / connector 5 is connected to the bidirectional call terminal b of the call / monitor switching circuit 5 and the conference participants C to N having the second or lower waiting order are dedicated terminals for monitoring of the call / monitor switching circuit 5. Connect to c (step S7).

Thus, the main line 2 ₂ of the moderator B and waiting rank 1st incoming office line 2 ₁ conference participant A lead enables two-way communication, free between the presenter B and the conference participant A Can have a conversation (step S8). At this time, the second waiting order
The second and subsequent conference participants are connected to the monitor-dedicated terminal c and can only monitor the conversation between the conference participant A and the moderator B, but cannot interrupt the conversation. Therefore, the conference participant A during a call is not interrupted by the other conference participants such as interruption as in the conventional case.

The exchange control circuit 8 monitors whether there is an incoming call from a new conference participant even during the call (step S9). After the participation guidance is provided by connecting to the audio broadcasting device 6 in the same manner as described above, the call / monitor switching circuit 5 is connected to the monitor-dedicated terminal c, and the line number of the new conference participant is stored in the queue. Put in the waiting order at the end (step S1
0).

When the conversation between the conference participant A and the moderator B progresses and a predetermined time (for example, 1 minute) elapses (step S1
1) The switching control circuit 8 refers to the queue shown in FIG. 4 (b) and determines whether or not there is a conference participant having the second waiting order (step S12). If there is no second conference participant in the waiting list, that is, conference participant A at the moment.
If only two of the moderator and the moderator B participate in the conference call, the conference participant A and the moderator B are maintained in the two-way communication state as they are.

On the other hand, if there is a second conference participant in the waiting order (step S12), as shown in FIG. 4 (c), the conference queue of each conference participant is moved up one by one and is currently in a call. After a conference participant A is put at the end of the queue (step S13), the conference participant A is switched from the bidirectional call terminal b of the call / monitor switching circuit 5 to the monitor dedicated terminal c (step S14). .

After connecting the conference participant A to the monitor-dedicated terminal c as described above, the process returns to step S7 again, and this time, FIG. 4 (c).
The same processing operation as described above is executed according to the new queue of As a result, as shown in FIG. 3D, the conference participant C and the moderator B who have moved up to the first waiting position
Is connected so that two-way communication is possible, and other conference participants including the conference participant A who ended the call are connected to the monitor state.

By repeating the above operation one after another, each conference participant is connected to the moderator B one after another in units of a predetermined fixed time (for example, 1 minute), and each conference participant is connected to the moderator B when the call is possible. Can speak Therefore, each conference participant can be given equal opportunity to speak in the order of incoming calls, and the conference call can be smoothly advanced.

If necessary, a predetermined push tone (for example, “*”) of the telephone is made to correspond to a predetermined command code (for example, “secret talk mode command”) in advance, so that, for example, the above-mentioned conference participant A and the moderator. If both A and B press the push button "*" of the telephone at hand during the call of B, as shown in Fig. 3 (d), A and B in the call join other conferences. It is also possible to change the connection to the so-called secret-talk mode state in which the person talked about. In this case, since other conference participants cannot be monitored, it is sufficient to automatically connect to the audio broadcasting device 6 and play guidance such as entering the confidential talk mode or music, and wait in the waiting mode.

FIG. 5 shows a concrete circuit example of the call / monitor switching circuit 5 of the telephone conference system. In the figure, the white arrows indicate the direction in which the audio signal flows.

The voice signal a ₁ (the same symbol as the terminal is used to clarify the correspondence with the terminal. The same applies to the other terminals) input from the input terminal a ₁ of the bidirectional communication terminal a is input to the adder 71 and the subtractor 72. ing. Voice signal b ₁ input from the input terminal b ₁ of the bidirectional communication terminal b
Is input to the adder 71 and the subtractor 73. The audio signal c ₁ input from the input terminal c ₁ of the monitor-dedicated terminal c is input to the adder 71 and the subtractor 74.

In addition, the input terminal c ₁ of the monitor-dedicated terminal c is grounded in order to cut off all audio signals input to the input terminal c _1.
It has been dropped to 0 (silence).

As a result of the respective audio signals a ₁ , b ₁ , c ₁ being connected in the above-mentioned state, the audio signal b ₁ + c ₁ = at the output of the subtractor 72, that is, the output terminal a ₂ of the bidirectional communication terminal a. b ₁ (∵c ₁ = 0) is obtained, and the voice signal b ₁ input from the input terminal b ₁ of the bidirectional communication terminal b is output. At the output of the subtractor 73, that is, the output terminal b ₂ of the bidirectional communication terminal b, the audio signal a ₁ + c ₁ = a ₁ (∵
c ₁ = 0) is obtained, and the traveled voice signal a ₁ is output from the input terminal a ₁ of the bidirectional communication terminal a. Therefore, a two-way call for transmitting and receiving can be performed between the telephones connected to the two-way call terminals a and b.

On the other hand, at the output of the subtractor 74, that is, the output terminal c ₂ of the monitor-dedicated terminal c, the voice signals a ₁ + b ₁ are obtained, and the bidirectional communication terminal a
The addition signal of the voice signal b ₁ input from the input terminal a ₁ of the input terminal b ₁ and the input terminal b ₁ of the bidirectional communication terminal b is output. Therefore, the telephone connected to the monitor-dedicated terminal c is
It is only possible to monitor the phone call connected to a and b.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is clear from the above description, when the telephone conference system of the present invention is used, a plurality of conference participants are sequentially switched and connected to the moderator in the order of their incoming calls in units of a predetermined time. Since it is configured so that it can only monitor the conversation between the moderator and other participants except when the moderator is connected to the caller, the normal speaker can be interrupted by someone other than the speaker. Will not become inaudible.

In addition, some conference participants will not monopolize the conversation, and other conference participants will not lose the opportunity to express their opinions. Can proceed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the telephone conference system of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the operation of the embodiment, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a connection state of a speech path switch in the embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a queue, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a concrete circuit example of a call / monitor switching circuit. 1 _{1 to} 1n …… station line circuit, 2 _{1 to} 2n …… station line, 3 …… communication line switch, 4 _{1 to} 4n …… telephone, 5 …… call / monitor switching circuit, 8 …… exchange control circuit, A to N ... Conference participants.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-3-201658 (JP, A) JP-A-2-67858 (JP, A) JP-A-1-162464 (JP, A) JP-A-62-1 294367 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A monitor which can monitor only a plurality of office lines for participants in a conference call, a bidirectional call terminal capable of both transmitting and receiving and a station line connected to the bidirectional call terminal. A call / monitor switching circuit equipped with a dedicated terminal, a call path switch that allows the incoming call line to be freely interchangeably connected to the bidirectional call terminal of the call / monitor switching circuit or a dedicated monitor terminal, and a predetermined specific incoming call The main line is used as a main line, and the main line is fixedly connected to the two-way call terminal of the call / monitor switching circuit, and the receiving line other than the main line is fixed at a predetermined time interval according to the order of reception. The call / monitor switching circuit is sequentially switched and connected to the bidirectional call terminal, and other incoming call line other than the incoming call line connected to the bidirectional call terminal is connected to the monitor-only terminal of the call / monitor changeover circuit. You said The phone conference system, characterized in that an interchangeable control circuit for controlling switching the road switch.