Telephone system

• US 5,748,723 A
• Filed: 12/13/1996
• Issued: 05/05/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Corporation
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Corporation
• Inventors: Ayame, Shogo, Hanai, Katsuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Harry S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wolinsky, Scott
• Application Number:
  US08/766,279
• Time in Patent Office: 508 Days
• Field of Search: 379/198, 379/88, 379/58, 379/59, 379/60, 379/201, 379/265, 379/309, 379/266, 379/207, 379/211, 379/212, 379/216, 379/127, 379/89, 379/142, 379/225, 379/245, 379/246, 379/242
• US Class Current: 379/265.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/625 Arrangements in the private branch exchange

Abstract

A system and method for allocating an incoming call to a desired one of a plurality of destination candidates in response to data in at least one predetermined category concerning a caller, e.g. the area, the company or the department of the caller (a source address mode). There may be other modes such as a direct in line (DIL) mode and global mode. When a call is received by one of trunk circuits, the termination mode for the call is set for one associated with the trunk circuit that received the call. In case of the source address mode, the call is allocated to one of the destination candidates which is associated with the caller number or a part thereof. An association between a caller number (a part thereof) and a destination candidate is preferably achieved using a destination information table containing at least such information. In creating the table, designations of telephone or toll numbers of prospective callers are advantageously achieved by specifying data in at least one predetermined category concerning each caller.

Claims

1. A system for allocating an incoming call to a desired one of a plurality of destination candidates in response to data in at least one predetermined category concerning a caller of said incoming call in a private switched telephone system in which an exchange is connected to said plurality of destination candidates and has at least one trunk connected to a public switched telephone network (PSTN), said PSTN providing a source address of said caller with said incoming call, the allocating system comprising:

means for registering a correspondence between data in said at least one predetermined category concerning each of prospective callers and a desired one of said plurality of destination candidates to generate a destination information table, each record of said table containing as an entry an analysis target part of a source address of each of said prospective callers and further comprising at least an identification of said desired one of said destination candidates; and

means, activated after a completion of operation of said registering means, for allocating said incoming call to the destination candidate associated in said destination information table with the entry identical to said analysis target part of said source address provided from said PSTN.

2. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein each of a whole or part of said plurality of destination candidates is a group of extensional terminals under the control of an automatic call distribution (ACD) system, and each of the rest of said plurality of destination candidates is an extension terminal, and wherein said means for allocating said incoming call comprises:

means, responsive to a determination that said destination candidate to which said incoming call has been allocated is an ACD group, for controlling said exchange to connect said incoming call to one of extension terminals of said ACD group according to said ACD system.

3. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said registering means comprises:

first means for permitting a user to interactively select said data in said at least one predetermined category concerning each of prospective callers from a set of predetermined data in said at least one predetermined category to designate a first correspondence between said selected data of said prospective caller and at least a part of the source address associated with said prospective caller; and

second means, responsive to a selection of said data, for permitting the user to interactively select one of said plurality of destination candidates to which the user desires to allocate a call from said prospective caller to register a second correspondence between said at least a part of said source address associated with said prospective caller and an identification of said selected one of said plurality of destination candidates.

4. The system as defined in claim 3, wherein said registering means further comprises:

display means for displaying matters prepared by said first and second means; and

input means, used by said first and second means, for permitting the user to address a cursor to a desired matter and select said matter on the screen of said display means, wherein said first means includes a caller data table, each record of said caller data table comprising said data in said at least one predetermined category concerning each of said prospective callers and said at least a part of the source address of said each of said prospective callers, and wherein said second means includes a list of said plurality of destination candidates.

5. The system as defined in claim 3, wherein:

said at least one predetermined category is a district, a prefecture, a city or a town where a call is originated;

said data in said at least one predetermined category is a name of the district, the prefecture, the city or the town;

said analysis target part comprises a part of said source address which represents the district, the prefecture, the city or the town, and wherein said registering means further comprises means, responsive to an input by the user indicating a completion of a series of selections, for examining said at least part of said source address in all of said registered second correspondences to find successive digits which start from a head of said source address and consist of numbers common to all of said at least part of said source address for defining a number of said successive digits as a starting digit of said analysis target part (S) and to find a number of digits of a longest one of said at least part of said source address (N) for defining N-S as a length of said analysis target part, and means for extracting said analysis target part from each of said source address to generate said destination information table.

6. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said incoming call allocating means comprises:

means, responsive to which of said at least one trunk said incoming call has come through, for selecting one out of a plurality of predetermined termination modes; and

means, responsive to a determination that the selected one of said predetermined termination modes is a source address mode, for allocating said incoming call to the destination candidate associated in said destination information table with the entry identical to said analysis target part of said source address provided from said PSTN.

7. The system as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

at least a trunk circuit included in said private switched telephone system, each said at least a trunk circuit being connected to a different one of said at least one trunk, said trunk circuit that has terminated said incoming call being responsive to said incoming call for outputting a respective trunk identification;

a termination mode table having records, each said termination mode table record comprising an identification of each of said at least one trunk and a termination mode associated with said each of said at least one trunk, the identification of each of said at least one trunk being an entry of said each record;

means, responsive to a reception of said trunk identification, for selecting a predetermined termination mode associated with the entry identical with said trunk identification in said termination mode table.

8. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said at least one predetermined category is a district, prefecture, city or town where a call is originated;

said data in said at least one predetermined category is a name of the district, the prefecture, the city or the town; and

said analysis target part comprises a part of said source address representing the district, the prefecture, the city or the town.

9. The system as defined in claim 1, further comprising audio response means, activated when said allocating system is to make one of predetermined responses to said caller, for making said one of said predetermined responses in a synthetic voice in a language associated with said caller.

10. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said correspondence is between each of prospective departments of prospective enterprises and one of said plurality of destination candidates that is associated with said each of said prospective departments of prospective enterprises.

11. The system as defined in claim 10, further comprising:

means for displaying on a screen the names of department and enterprise, an area name or an individual name associated with said source address provided by said PSTN.

12. The system as defined in claim 10, further comprising:

means for outputting in synthetic voice the names of department and enterprise, an area name or an individual name associated with said source address provided by said PSTN.

13. The system as defined in claim 10, further comprising:

means for outputting in print the names of department and enterprise, an area name or an individual name associated with said source address provided by said PSTN.

14. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said correspondence is between an area covered by each of a plurality of departments in a shipping center and one of said plurality of destination candidates that is associated with said each of said plurality of departments.

15. The system as defined in claim 14, further comprising:

means for displaying on a screen the names of department and enterprise, an area name or an individual name associated with said source address provided by said PSTN.

16. The system as defined in claim 14, further comprising:

means for outputting in synthetic voice the names of department and enterprise, an area name or an individual name associated with said source address provided by said PSTN.

17. The system as defined in claim 14, further comprising:

means for outputting in print the names of department and enterprise, an area name or an individual name associated with said source address provided by said PSTN.

18. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said correspondence is between each of prospective enterprises and one of said plurality of destination candidates that is associated with said each of said prospective enterprises.

19. The system as defined in claim 18, further comprising:

means for displaying on a screen the names of department and enterprise, an area name or an individual name associated with said source address provided by said PSTN.

20. The system as defined in claim 18, further comprising:

means for outputting in synthetic voice the names of department and enterprise, an area name or an individual name associated with said source address provided by said PSTN.

21. The system as defined in claim 18, further comprising:

means for outputting in print the names of department and enterprise, an area name or an individual name associated with said source address provided by said PSTN.

22. The system as defined in claim 1, further comprising means responsive to an allocation by said incoming call allocating means for transferring said incoming call to a line, said line having a telephone number preset by a user in association with said source address provided by said PSTN.

23. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said source address provided by said PSTN is an originating phone number used in a facsimile transmission process in analog telephone public lines.

24. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said source address provided by said PSTN is an originating phone number in an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).

25. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said incoming call allocating means further comprises means for transmitting at least information on a source address transmitted from said PSTN to an external device.

26. The system as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

timer means for timing the present time;

time differential memory means for storing a time differential with respect to each area; and

local time calculating means for calculating the local time for a source address from the present time and the time differential with respect to the area of the source address.

27. The system as defined in claim 26, further comprising display means, wherein:

time information based on time differentials, carriage and postage information by countries, exchange rate information and tax information by countries are displayed by said display means.

28. The system as defined in claim 26, further comprising:

printing means for printing time information based on time differentials, carriage and postage information by countries, exchange rate information and tax information by countries.

29. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said each record of said destination information table further comprises the name of a country associated with said source address, each of said prospective callers, and information on the postage and the carriage to said country; and

the method further comprises means for providing information on the postage and the carriage of a country associated in said destination information table with said source address provided by said PSTN.

30. The system as defined in claim 29, further comprising display means, wherein:

time information based on time differentials, carriage and postage information by countries, exchange rate information and tax information by countries are displayed by said display means.

31. The system as defined in claim 29, further comprising:

printing means for printing time information based on time differentials, carriage and postage information by countries, exchange rate information and tax information by countries.

32. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said each record of said destination information table further comprises the name of a country associated with said source address, each of said prospective callers, and information on an exchange rate with respect to said country; and

the method further comprises means for providing information on the exchange rate on a country associated in said destination information table with said source address provided by said PSTN.

33. The system as defined in claim 32, further comprising display means, wherein:

time information based on time differentials, carriage and postage information by countries, exchange rate information and tax information by countries are displayed by said display means.

34. The system as defined in claim 32, further comprising:

printing means for printing time information based on time differentials, carriage and postage information by countries, exchange rate information and tax information by countries.

35. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said each record of said destination information table further comprises the name of a country associated with said source address, each of said prospective callers, and tax information on said country; and

the method further comprises means for providing tax information on a country on the basis of said source address provided by said PSTN.

36. The system as defined in claim 35, further comprising display means, wherein:

time information based on time differentials, carriage and postage information by countries, exchange rate information and tax information by countries are displayed by said display means.

37. The system as defined in claim 35, further comprising:

printing means for printing time information based on time differentials, carriage and postage information by countries, exchange rate information and tax information by countries.

38. The system as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

operation suspending means operative when the source address is originated from a mobile telephone for suspending allocation operation of said incoming call allocating means.

39. The system as defined in claim 38, further comprising:

means operative when the operation suspending means suspends allocation operation of said incoming call allocating means for displaying the suspension of control operation.

40. The system as defined in claim 38, further comprising:

means operative when the operation suspending means suspends allocation operation of said incoming call allocating means for reporting the suspension of control operation in synthetic voice.

41. The system as defined in claim 38, further comprising:

means operative when the operation suspending means suspends allocation operation of said incoming call allocating means for reporting the suspension of control operation in print.

42. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

each of said plurality of destination candidates is one of an extension telephone and facsimile set.

43. The system as defined in claim 42, further comprising means for emitting light when said incoming call is allocated to one of said facsimile sets.

44. The system as defined in claim 42, wherein said exchange of the private switched telephone system comprises a private branch exchange (PBX), said PBX comprising a channel switch and a controller with a main memory, the private switched telephone system further comprising a console in communication with said controller, and wherein:

said means for allocating said incoming call is included in said controller;

said registering means is included in said console, and further comprises means, responsive to an input indicating a completion of a series of registrations, for transferring said generated destination information table and analysis target part defining information to said console; and

said transferred generated destination information and analysis target part defining information are stored in said main memory of said console.

45. The system as defined in claim 42, wherein said exchange of the private switched telephone system is provided with a controller with a main memory, and wherein:

said means for allocating said incoming call is included in said controller;

said registering means is included in at least one of said plurality of said destination candidates, and further comprises means, responsive to an input indicating a completion of a series of registrations, for transferring said generated destination information table and analysis target part defining information to said console; and

said transferred generated destination information and analysis target part defining information are stored in said main memory of said console.

46. A system for allocating an incoming call to a desired one of a plurality of destination candidates in response to data in at least one predetermined category concerning a caller of said incoming call in a private switched telephone system in which an exchange is connected to said plurality of destination candidates, each of said plurality of destination candidates being an extension terminal or a group of extension terminals, said exchange having at least one trunk connected to a public switched telephone network (PSTN), said PSTN providing a source address of said caller with said incoming call, the allocating system comprising:

means for registering a correspondence between data in said at least one predetermined category concerning each of prospective callers and a desired one of said plurality of destination candidates to generate a destination information table, each record of said table containing as an entry an analysis target part of a source address of each of said prospective callers and further comprising at least an identification of said desired one of said destination candidates;

means, activated after a completion of operation of said registering means, for allocating said incoming call to the destination candidate associated in said destination information table with the entry identical to said at least an analysis target part of said source address provided from said PSTN; and

means, responsive to a determination that said allocated destination candidate is one of said groups, for automatically distributing said incoming call to one of extension terminals of said one of said groups that has terminated a smallest number of incoming calls among idle ones of said extension terminals.

47. A method for allocating an incoming call to a desired one of a plurality of destination candidates in response to data in at least one predetermined category concerning a caller of said incoming call in a private switched telephone system in which an exchange is connected to said plurality of destination candidates and has at least one trunk connected to a public switched telephone network (PSTN), said PSTN providing a source address of said caller with said incoming call, the method comprising the steps of:

registering a correspondence between data in said at least one predetermined category concerning each of prospective callers and a desired one of said plurality of destination candidates to generate a destination information table, each record of said table containing as an entry an analysis target part of a source address of each of said prospective callers and further comprising at least an identification of said desired one of said destination candidates; and

after said registering step, allocating said incoming call to the destination candidate associated in said destination information table with the entry identical to said analysis target part of said source address provided from said PSTN.

48. The method as defined in claim 47, wherein each of a whole or part of said plurality of destination candidates is a group of extensional terminals under the control of an automatic call distribution (ACD) method, and each of the rest of said plurality of destination candidates is an extension terminal, and wherein said step for allocating said incoming call comprises a step of:

controlling said exchange, in response to a determination that said destination candidate to which said incoming call has been allocated is an ACD group, to connect said incoming call to one of extension terminals of said ACD group according to said ACD method.

49. The method as defined in claim 47, wherein said registering step comprises:

(1) permitting a user to interactively select said data in said at least one predetermined category concerning each of prospective callers from a set of predetermined data in said at least one predetermined category to designate a first correspondence between said selected data of said prospective caller and at least a part of the source address associated with said prospective caller; and

(2) permitting the user, in response to a selection of said data, to interactively select one of said plurality of destination candidates to which the user desires to allocate a call from said prospective caller to register a second correspondence between said at least a part of said source address associated with said prospective caller and an identification of said selected one of said plurality of destination candidates.

50. The method as defined in claim 49, wherein said first step comprises the steps of:

displaying choices comprising said data and a guidance prompting the user to select one of said choices, said choices being displayed from a caller data table, each record of said caller data table comprising said data in said at least one predetermined category concerning each of said prospective callers and said at least a part of the source address of said each of said prospective callers; and

permitting the user to address a cursor to a desired one of said displayed choices and to select said desired one, and wherein said second step comprises the steps of;

displaying choices, from a list of said plurality of destination candidates, and a guidance prompting the user to select one of said choices, said choices comprising said destination candidates; and

permitting the user to address a cursor to a desired one of said displayed choices and select said desired one.

51. The method as defined in claim 49, further comprising the steps of:

determining that said at least one predetermined category is a district, a prefecture, a city or a town where a call is originated;

determining that said data in said at least one predetermined category is a name of the district, the prefecture, the city or the town;

determining that said analysis target part comprises a part of said source address which represents the district, the prefecture, the city or the town, wherein said registering step further comprises the steps of;

examining, in response to an input by the user indicating a completion of a series of selections, said at least part of said source address in all of said registered second correspondences to find successive digits which start from a head of said source address and consist of numbers common to all of said at least part of said source address for defining a number of said successive digits as a starting digit of said analysis target part (S) and to find the number of digits of the longest one of said at least parts of said source address (N) for defining N-S as a length of said analysis target part; and

extracting said analysis target part from each of said source address to generate said destination information table.

52. The method as defined in claim 47, wherein said incoming call allocating step comprises the steps of:

selecting one out of a plurality of predetermined termination modes, in response to which of said at least one trunk said incoming call has come through; and

allocating said incoming call, in response to a determination that the selected one of said predetermined termination modes is a source address mode, to the destination candidate associated in said destination information table with the entry identical to said analysis target part of said source address provided from said PSTN.

53. The method as defined in claim 47, wherein said step of

selecting one out of a plurality of predetermined termination modes comprises a step of:

selecting a predetermined termination mode, in response to a reception of a trunk identification from a trunk circuit which has received said incoming call, said selected predetermined termination mode being associated with the entry identical with said trunk identification from a termination mode table, each record of said termination mode table comprising an identification of each of said at least one trunk as an entry and further comprising a termination mode associated with said each of said at least one trunk.

54. The method as defined in claim 47, further comprising the steps of:

determining that said at least one predetermined category is a district, prefecture, city or town where a call is originated;

determining that said data in said at least one predetermined category is a name of the district, the prefecture, the city or the town; and

determining that said analysis target part comprises a part of said source address representing the district, the prefecture, the city or the town.