Telephone switchboard apparatus and method of controlling the same

• US 20070019628A1
• Filed: 06/22/2006
• Published: 01/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Tahara, Yasufumi
• Application Number:
  US11/472,526
• Publication Number:
  US 20070019628A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/04 for emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/123 where the packet-switched network is an Internet Protocol Multimedia System-type network
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/1275 Methods and means to improve the telephone service quality, e.g. reservation, prioritisation or admission control

Abstract

A telephone switchboard apparatus including a communications control unit which exchanges IP audio data with IP telephone terminals, an MG resource which converts the IP audio data to non-IP audio data, and vice versa, and an MG resource managing unit which manages and controls the MG resource, wherein, when a call from any one of the IP telephone terminals is found to be an emergency call, the MG resource managing unit secures and allocates the MG resource to transmission of the emergency call.

Claims

1. A telephone switchboard apparatus comprising:

a communications control unit which exchanges IP audio data with IP telephone terminals;

an MG resource which converts the IP audio data to non-IP audio data, and vice versa; and

an MG resource managing unit which manages and controls the MG resource,

wherein, when a call from any one of the IP telephone terminals is found to be an emergency call, the MG resource managing unit secures and allocates the MG resource to transmission of the emergency call.

2. The telephone switchboard apparatus according to claim 1, the MG resource managing unit transmits data representing a use condition of the MG resource to any one of the IP telephone terminals, thereby causing a display control unit of the IP telephone terminal to display the use condition of the MG resource.

3. The telephone switchboard apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, when the MG resource is available, the MG resource managing unit secures the MG resource in accordance with an instruction transmitted from the display control unit.

4. The telephone switchboard apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, when the MG resource is unavailable, the MG resource managing unit reserves the MG resource in accordance with an instruction transmitted from the display control unit.

5. The telephone switchboard apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a memory unit is further provided, which stores at least one of three data items identifying each IP telephone terminal, security level of the terminal and priority of the terminal, respectively, and the MG resource managing unit refers to the data item stored in the memory unit, upon receiving an instruction from the display control unit of each IP telephone terminal, and executes the instruction when the instruction is found valid on the basis of the data item referred to.

6. The telephone switchboard apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the MG resource managing unit refers to the data item stored in the memory unit, upon receiving a plurality of instructions at the same time from the display control unit of each IP telephone terminal, and reserves IP telephone terminals in sequence in an descending order of priority when the instructions are found valid.

7. The telephone switchboard apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the MG resource managing unit cancels reservation of the MG resource upon receiving a reservation-canceling instruction from the IP telephone terminal.

8. A method of controlling a telephone switchboard apparatus comprising a communications control unit which exchanges IP audio data with IP telephone terminals, an MG resource which converts the IP audio data to non-IP audio data, and vice versa, and an MG resource managing unit which manages and controls the MG resource, said method comprising:

determining whether a call from any one of the IP telephone terminals is an emergency call; and

securing and allocating the MG resource to transmission of the emergency call.