WO2002032061A1 - Telephone number external storage system - Google Patents

Abstract

Without increasing the capacity of storage means of a telephone, IP addresses of numerous parties are stored, and the user can call an IP telephone conveniently and quickly merely by inputting the nickname of a party registered in advance. The system comprises a personal profile server (12) connected with the Internet (11) and having for each user a file containing the personal information on the user and a telephone number storage server (15) connected with the Internet (11) and having for each user a file containing in advance the nickname of a party and the corresponding IP address.

Description

 Description Telephone number External storage system Technical field

 The present invention relates to a telephone number external storage system. Background art

 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a so-called IP telephone, which makes a voice call via an IP (internet) network, has been made possible. In this case, it is possible to make a voice call with the other party via the Internet, and convert the voice data from the telephone into digital communication data to perform compression or decentralization processing. A large amount of data can be communicated even with the line capacity. Therefore, the communication fee is inexpensive, and a large amount of data such as photos and videos can be communicated on the same line other than voice data from a telephone.

 By the way, as mentioned above, in order to make a voice call via an IP network, the voice data from the telephone is converted into digital communication data and compressed or demultiplexed, or digital communication is performed. Because both devices and software for converting data back to voice data are required for both, ordinary telephones could not be used directly.

For this reason, IP telephone services that can use ordinary telephones are provided by Jens and PSI. And, in the IP telephone service, a call is made via an exchange operated by a provider of the IP telephone service. In this case, since the voice data from the telephone is converted into digital communication data by the exchange and subjected to compression or decentralization processing, an IP telephone using a normal telephone is possible. However, in the IP telephone service, when making a call, it is necessary to input a telephone number of the exchange, a user ID number, a pin number (personal identification number), and the like in addition to the telephone number of the other party. In this case, for example, the telephone number of the exchange is 8 digits (digits), the user ID number is 6 to 8 digits, and the pin number is about 4 digits. If the telephone number of the other party is 10 digits, Entering a number of about 30 digits, it is difficult to remember the number to be entered. Although it is possible to store a number of about 30 digits to be entered in the storage means of the own telephone, if the telephone is a mobile phone, etc., since the storage means has a small capacity, a number having a large number of digits can be stored. It is impossible to store in large quantities.

 For this reason, telephone number service (D irectory service) systems such as Netme eting (Microsoft), CU-se eMe, and Internet Phone (VocalTech) are provided. . Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram of the telephone number service system. As shown in the figure, in the telephone number service system, each user's telephone, personal computer, and the like are connected to the Internet 11 via a wired or wireless public communication line. 101 is connected to the Internet 11 via a wired public communication line, a dedicated line or the like. Then, when making a call, the user accesses the directory server 101 via the Internet 11 and obtains a telephone number of a destination registered in the directory server 101, a telephone such as an exchange, or the like. Numbers, user ID numbers, pin numbers, etc. can be read. Therefore, when making a call using the IP telephone service, the user can obtain the number to be entered by accessing the directory server 101. You need to remember and record

However, if the number of accesses to the directory server 101 increases, that is, if the traffic increases, it takes a long time to connect, and the number to be entered must be entered. It cannot be obtained quickly.

 When using the Internet telephone service from an intranet or the like, a device called a gatekeeper (Gate-Keper) is provided to solve such a problem.

 FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional system using a gatekeeper.

 As shown in the figure, the gateway 121 is mainly provided in a LAN (localareane two rk) 122 in an organization such as a government office or a company, and is similar to a normal PBX (privater an chexch an ge). In addition to distributing external calls to internal telephones and exchanging internal telephones, the IP address of the other party is also registered.

 When making an IP call from a telephone 123a, 123b within the organization to an external party, the user enters a short registration number of a previously registered party, and the telephone 123a, 123b Is sent to the gatekeeper 121 via the LAN 122. Then, the gatekeeper 121 reads out the IP address corresponding to the registration number of the other party and automatically transmits the same, so that the telephones 123a and 123b can be connected to the telephone (not shown) of the other party. 1 can be connected via 1.

The processing of converting audio data into digital communication data and performing compression or decentralization processing, or converting digital communication data back into audio data is performed by the gateway 125. Therefore, the functions of the gatekeeper 121, the gateway 124, and the Internet telephone gateway 125 allow the user to make an IP call simply by inputting a short registration number of the other party. It is provided for the LAN 122 in the organization, requires ancillary equipment, and is expensive, so it is not suitable for individuals and small organizations. In addition, phones 123a and 123b are mobile phones If it is, it is virtually impossible to respond.

 Therefore, a technology has been developed that allows a normal mobile phone or the like to make a direct call to an IP phone without using the IP phone service as described above. On the other hand, IP addresses used in IP networks are dying due to the increase in the number of Internet users, so IPv4 (internet protocol version 4), which is the current IP standard using 32-bit IP addresses From now on, the transition to IPv6 (internet protocol protocol 6), a next-generation standard using 128-bit IP addresses, is being considered.

 In this case, it is virtually impossible for the user to memorize the 128-bit IP address, and if the user wants to store it in the storage means of the telephone, the capacity of the storage means needs to be greatly increased, and the cost becomes high. Will increase. In particular, if the telephone is a mobile phone, the IP address of a large number of destinations is stored because the size and cost of the device are greatly restricted and it is difficult to increase the capacity of the storage means. And it becomes extremely inconvenient.

 The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and can store a large number of IP addresses of destinations without increasing the capacity of a storage means of a telephone. It is an object of the present invention to provide a telephone number external storage system that can easily and quickly make an IP telephone call simply by inputting a short registration number or the like. Disclosure of the invention

For this purpose, in the telephone number external storage system of the present invention, a personal profile server connected to the Internet, and a file in which personal information for each use is stored in the storage means is set for each user, It is connected to the Internet and stores the nickname of the other party's telephone in the storage And a telephone number storage server set for each user.

 Then, the personal profile server forwards the nickname of the other party's telephone transmitted from the user's telephone to a telephone number storage server, and the telephone number storage server converts the received nickname to a corresponding IP address. The personal profile server converts the IP address and returns it to the personal file server.

 : Connect the user's telephone to the other party's telephone. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

 FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a telephone number external storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of the telephone number service system. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a system in which a conventional gate keeper is used. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a telephone number external storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is the Internet, 12 is a personal profile connected to the Internet 11 via a public communication line or a dedicated line. Server. The personal client file server 12 includes an unillustrated computing unit, a storage unit, a communication interface, and the like. In the storage unit, a file in which personal information of the user is stored is set for each user. Is done.

Here, the user is a person who has previously concluded a contract with a person who operates the personal profile server 12 and uses the personal profile server 12 based on the contract, and is, in principle, an individual. It may be an organization composed of multiple people, such as family members or groups, or a corporation or office such as a company. In addition, the above-mentioned personal information is, in principle, not disclosed, and will not respond to inquiries from anyone other than the user in principle. However, when the user is a corporation, etc., it can be disclosed at the will of the user.

 Further, when the user is an organization such as a family or a group, the personal information is shared between the members of the organization, and a file shared between the members and a file of each member individually However, it is also possible to set individual files that are not disclosed to other members.

 The personal profile server 12 also functions as a portal site that is an entrance to the Internet 11, and as described later, when the user makes an IP phone call, the personal profile server 12 first connects to the personal profile server 12. It is being done. Here, the IP phone means that a voice call is made via an IP (intelnetrotocol) network.

 Reference numeral 13 denotes a mirror server for reducing the load on the personal profile server 12, and is connected to the personal profile server 12. Here, the mirror server 13 includes a not-shown arithmetic unit, a storage unit, a communication interface, and the like, and a mirror (copy) of a file of the personal profile server 12 is stored in the storage unit.

 However, even if the mirror server 13 does not store the mirrors of all the files of the personal profile server 12, the mirrors of the index files of the personal profile server 12 and the mirrors of some or all of the cache memory are stored. It is only necessary to store one. The index file is similar to a so-called Sec-on-DNS, and the mirror server 13 can be compared to a DNS cache or a Web cache.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a telephone service server which is connected to the Internet 11 via a public communication line or a dedicated line. The telephone service server includes an unillustrated arithmetic unit, a storage unit, a communication interface, and the like. Provides services such as call forwarding and absence notification It is for. In addition, a function to convert the contents of an answering machine into text information can be provided.

 Reference numeral 15 denotes a telephone number storage server connected to the Internet 11 via a public communication line or a dedicated line, comprising a not-shown arithmetic unit, a storage unit, a communication interface, and the like. Is a file in which a nickname and the corresponding IP address are stored in advance for each user.Here, the nickname is an ID that the user previously assigned to each of the other party's telephones. This is usually a sequence of letters, numbers, symbols, etc., of the order of two to three digits.

 Then, the telephone number storage server 15 mutually converts the nickname and the IP address in response to an inquiry from the personal profile server 12. That is, the telephone number storage server 15 functions as if it were a telephone directory or an address book. Such a function of the telephone number storage server 15 is used when connecting to the Internet network 11 and can be compared to a function of a domain name server for mutually converting a domain name and an IP address.

 The file set in the storage means of the telephone number storage server 15 may be set not for each user but for each organization such as a family and a group. In this case, the file functions as a telephone directory or address book shared between members of the organization.

Here, the personal profile server 12, mirror server 13, telephone service server 14 and telephone number storage server 15 may be an integrated server, but from the viewpoint of load distribution. It is desirable that the servers are so-called distributed servers that are independent of each other. In other words, access from each user is not concentrated on one server, but is distributed to each server, so that jamming (congestion) is suppressed even if the capacity of the line connected to each server is small. can do. Since the line connecting the servers has a larger capacity than a normal line, the communication between the servers is performed quickly even if traffic from the Internet 11 is increased due to a surge of accesses from users. .

 In this case, the respective servers execute the above-described functions by executing the daemon program while accessing each other via the line. For example, as in Httpd, a daemon program starts and executes a child process (childprocess) for each user.

 Also, 21a and 21b are telephones such as a mobile telephone and a stationary telephone which can be directly connected to the Internet 11 via a wired or wireless public communication line and can make an IP telephone call directly. The telephone 21a is used by the user A, and the telephone 21b is used by the user B, the other party. The telephones 21a and 21b are provided in large numbers, although they are omitted in the figure.

 Here, the telephones 21a and 21b are not limited to mobile phones, stationary phones, etc., but may be any as long as they can make an IP phone call directly and have a function of enabling voice communication. Any form such as an electronic organizer, personal computer, PDA, videophone, etc. may be used.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a sub-network connected to the Internet 11 via a public communication line or a dedicated line, such as a network such as a LAN (localareane two rk) in an organization such as a government office or a company. Also, the sub-network 22 includes a device such as a gatekeeper, reads out the IP address corresponding to the telephone number of the other party, automatically transmits the read-out IP address, and is normally connected to the sub-network 22. Phone 23 is connected to the other party's phone via Internet 11. Further, the subnetwork 22 performs a process of converting audio data into digital communication data to perform compression or decentralization processing, and a process of converting digital communication data back to audio data. Here, a large number of the telephones 23 are provided, and the telephones 23 may be of any form such as a mobile telephone, a stationary telephone, an electronic organizer, a personal computer, a PDA, and a videophone.

 Next, the operation of the telephone number external storage system having the above configuration will be described.

 As a first operation example, an operation in the case where user A calls user B using telephone 2lb using telephone 21a will be described.

 First, user A receives the IP address of personal profile server 12 and telephone 2

Send a short registered number, nickname, etc., registered in 1b, from the telephone 21a.

 Here, the IP address of the personal profile server 12 is 32 bits according to the current IP standard IPv4 (internet protocol protocol 4), and according to the next generation standard IPv6 (interne tprot oc olversi on 6). Since it is inconvenient to input every time a call is made, it is inconvenient to input each time a call is made. Desirable. In this case, the IP address of the personal profile server 12 itself is long, but since the number of IP addresses to be registered is only one, there is no shortage of storage capacity of the telephone 21a. .

The user ID number, pin number, etc. of the telephone 21a registered in advance in the personal profile server 12 are also stored and registered in advance in the storage means of the telephone 21a, and are automatically registered. It is desirable to be transmitted. The nickname is usually a string of about 2 to 3 digits of characters, symbols, numbers, etc., and is easy to input, so that the user A may enter it every time a call is made. Further, since the capacity of the storage means of the telephone 21a does not become insufficient, the storage means of the telephone 21a may be stored in advance and registered. Next, after the telephone 21a is connected to the personal profile server 12 by transmitting the IP address, the user ID number, the pin number, etc. of the telephone 21a, and the nickname of the telephone 21b are personal. Sent to profile server 12.

 Subsequently, upon receiving the user ID number, the pin number, etc. of the telephone set 21a and the nickname of the telephone set 21b, the personal profile server 12 sends the nickname to the mirror server 13 if necessary. By accessing, it is determined whether or not the user ID number, the pin number, and the like of the telephone 21a are registered.

 Next, when the personal profile server 12 determines that the telephone number is registered, the personal profile server 12 sets services such as an answering machine, a telephone transfer, and an absence notification for the telephone 21b corresponding to the nickname. The telephone service server 14 is inquired as to whether or not it is in use.

 When the service is not set, the personal profile server 12 transfers the nickname of the telephone set 21 b to the telephone number storage server 15.

 Next, upon receiving the transferred nickname of the telephone set 21b, the telephone number storage server 15 converts the nickname into the IP address of the telephone set 21b. Then, the IP address of the telephone set 21 b is returned to the personal profile server 12.

 Subsequently, upon receiving the returned IP address of the telephone 21b, the personal profile server 12 connects the telephone 21a to the telephone 21b. In this case, the personal profile server 12 functions as a portal site for the telephone set 21a. Thus, the user A can use the telephone 21a to talk with the user B using the telephone 21b via the internet connection network 11.

Next, as a second operation example, user A uses telephone 2 1a and telephone 2 3 The operation when making a call to user C who uses is described. The description of the same operation as the first operation example is omitted.

 First, the user A transmits the IP address of the personal profile server 12 and the nickname registered in advance of the telephone 23 from the telephone 21a. When the telephone number storage server 15 receives the nickname of the telephone set 23 transferred from the personal profile server 12, the telephone number storage server 15 stores the nickname in the IP address of the subnetwork 22 and the subnetwork 22. For example, the telephone number 23 is converted into a telephone number of the telephone 23, such as an extension number. Then, the IP address of the telephone 23 is returned to the personal profile server 12.

 Next, upon receiving the returned IP address, the personal profile server 12 connects the telephone set 21a to a device such as a gateway in the subnetwork 22. Then, a device such as the gate keeper connects the telephone 21 a to the telephone 23 based on the telephone number of the telephone 23 in the sub-network 22.

 Next, as a third operation example, a case is described in which user A uses telephone 21a to call telephone 21b on which services such as answering machine, call forwarding, and absence notification are set. The operation will be described. The description of the same operation as the first and second operation examples is omitted.

 First, the personal profile server 12 determines whether or not a service such as answering machine, telephone transfer, absence notification, etc. is set for the telephone 21b corresponding to the nickname of the telephone 21b. Contact 1 4 Then, when any of the services is set, the telephone service server 14 returns a notification to the personal profile server 12 to that effect.

Here, when the answering machine service is set, the personal profile server 12 returns an answering machine message to the telephone set 21a. And If a message to be recorded is transmitted from the telephone 21a accordingly, the message is transferred to the telephone service server 14. Subsequently, the telephone service server 14 stores the message in the storage means.

 When the telephone transfer service is set, the personal profile server 12 reads the transfer destination IP address stored in the storage means of the telephone service server 14 and corresponds to the IP address. Connect phone 21 a to the transfer destination phone.

 Furthermore, when the absence notification service is set, the personal profile server 12 returns an absence notification to the telephone set 21a.

 As described above, in the telephone number external storage system according to the present embodiment, the nickname and the corresponding IP address are stored in advance in the storage means of the telephone number storage server 15, and the registered file is used. The telephone number storage server 15 is set for each user, and converts the nickname and the IP address to each other in response to an inquiry from the personal profile server 12. That is, the telephone number storage server 15 functions as if it were a telephone directory or an address book.

 Therefore, without increasing the storage capacity of the telephones 21a, 21b, and 23, the IP addresses of many destinations are stored, and the user enters a short nickname of the destination registered in advance. You can easily and quickly make an IP phone call.

In this case, the capacity of the storage means of the telephone number storage server 15 is usually much larger than the capacity of the storage means of the telephone sets 21a, 21b, 23, so that an extremely large number of nicknames should be stored. In addition, since the mirror server 13 is connected to the personal profile server 12, the load on the personal profile server 12 can be reduced. it can. Further, after the telephone 21 a of the user A is connected to the personal profile server 12, the personal profile server 12 accesses the telephone number storage server 15 and receives the IP address of the telephone 21 b of the other party. Then, the telephone 21a is connected to the telephone 21b, so that traffic to the telephone number storage server 15 is reduced. Since the communication between the servers is performed in cooperation with the servers, no load is applied to the telephones 21a and 21b.

 It should be noted that the line connecting each server has a larger capacity than a normal line, so that communication between the servers can be performed quickly even if access from users is flooded and traffic on the Internet 11 increases.

 Furthermore, the personal profile server 12, the mirror server 13, the telephone service server 14, and the telephone number storage server 15 are independent of each other and form a so-called distributed server. Are distributed to each server without being concentrated on one server. Therefore, even if the capacity of the line connected to each server is small, occurrence of a jam can be suppressed. In particular, since the personal profile server 12, the telephone service server 14, and the telephone number storage server 15 are independent, the function of each server can be changed and enhanced independently and easily.

 Furthermore, since each of the servers executes a daemon program while accessing each other via a line, and the daemon program starts and executes a child process for each user, it is possible to easily perform load distribution. Can be.

 In addition, when the function of each server is changed, enhanced, or the like, it can be easily performed by operating from the Internet 11.

Furthermore, in the telephone number external storage system according to the present embodiment, since a single system performs various functions, TCO (total cost of man age) is reduced. In addition, there is no need for ancillary equipment and the cost is low, so that individuals and small organizations can use it without financial burden. In addition, maintenance can be further facilitated by incorporating the above-mentioned components into the Internet service provider (ISP) system. Furthermore, if each server is distributed to a plurality of IPS systems, even if one of the above IPS systems goes down, it can be recovered by another IPS. Can be improved. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified based on the gist of the present invention, and they are not excluded from the scope of the present invention. Industrial applicability

 As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the telephone number external storage system is connected to the Internet, and the file in which the personal information S of the user is stored in the storage means is stored for each user. A personal profile server set to the user and a file that is connected to the Internet and stores in advance the nickname of the other party's telephone and the corresponding IP address in the storage means are set for each user. It has a phone number record server.

 Then, the personal profile server transfers the nickname of the other party's telephone transmitted from the user's telephone to a telephone number storage server, and the telephone number pathological server converts the received nickname to a corresponding IP address. The personal profile server converts the data and returns it to the personal file server. The personal profile server connects the telephone of the user to the telephone of the other party based on the returned IP address.

In this case, the IP address of a large number of destinations is stored without increasing the capacity of the storage means of the telephone, and the user simply and simply inputs a short nickname of the destination registered in advance, which is simple and convenient. You can make an IP phone call quickly. Furthermore, since the personal profile server and the telephone number storage server are independent of each other and form a so-called distributed server, access from users is prevented. Instead of being concentrated on one server, it is distributed to each server. Therefore, even if the capacity of the line connected to each server is small, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a jam.

Claims

The scope of the claims  1. (a) a personal profile server that is connected to the Internet and in which a file in which personal information of the user is stored in the storage means is set for each user;  (b) a telephone number storage server, which is connected to the Internet and in which a file in which a telephone name of a destination telephone and its corresponding IP address are stored in advance in a storage means is set for each user;  (c) the personal profile server transfers the nickname of the other party's telephone transmitted from the user's telephone to a telephone number storage server,  (d) the telephone number storage server converts the received nickname into a corresponding IP address and returns it to the personal profile server;  (e) the personal profile server connects the user's telephone to a destination telephone based on the returned IP address; PD