JPH0964986A - Conference speech equipment and conference speech method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize conference speech for many persons with a minimum system configuration by selecting a state of a terminal equipment with respect to a conference speech. SOLUTION: At least one port in two-way speech ports 8a-8e is used for an output port to which plural hearing terminal equipments are connected with distribution. That is, a terminal equipment 4a of a conference sponsor is connected one to one to a speech port 8b of a conference trunk 7 via a line circuit 3 and a time division switch 2. Terminal equipments 4b, 4c of conference participants are connected one to one to speech ports 8c, 8d of the conference trunk 7 via the line circuit 3 and the time division switch 2. On the other hand, terminal equipments 4d-4f of plural conference hearing parties are connected distributingly to one speech port 8e of the conference trunk 7 via the line circuit 3 and the time division switch 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a private telephone exchange facility (hereinafter referred to as PBX) or a dealing telephone system, and more specifically, a conference telephone apparatus capable of holding a conference with an unspecified number of parties. And a conference call method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a conference call device for making a call with a plurality of parties at the same time uses a conference trunk provided in a digital switching device so that a plurality of terminal devices can be connected to each other for a call, and A general analog trunk such as a magnet telephone trunk is connected in duplicate in the private branch exchange facility by the number of terminal devices participating in the conference, and a conference call is made between the plurality of terminal devices.

However, in the conference call device using the conference trunk shown in the above-mentioned prior art, since one terminal device is connected to each port of the conference trunk,
As the number of people participating in the conference increases, the number of ports of the conference trunk corresponding to the number increases. Meanwhile, conference trunk 1
Since there is a limit to the connection capacity (number of ports) per one,
When a large number of people participate in the conference, it is necessary to provide a plurality of conference trunks, which causes a problem that the system becomes huge. In addition, in the device for connecting the analog trunks in the above-mentioned conventional manner, the call level and the sound quality are remarkably lowered as the number of the devices increases due to the mismatch of impedance conditions, and the same as the device using the conference trunk. , There was a problem that the number of analog trunks increased and the system became huge.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a large number of terminal devices are connected to a conference trunk of a private branch telephone exchange facility, and all the terminal devices connected to the trunk are connected. (EN) Provided is a conference communication device capable of listening to the contents of a conference and allowing only a required terminal device to participate in the conference, and capable of performing a conference call between a large number of terminal devices without being limited by the capacity of the conference trunk of a digital private branch exchange facility. With the goal.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a conference call device according to the present invention is a digital private branch exchange facility, in which all of the terminal devices that normally participate in a conference call are conference trunks of the conference call device. By making a branch connection to one of the ports so that the content of the conference can be heard, the number of terminal devices is limited only by the line capacity of the switching equipment without being limited by the capacity of the conference trunk.
Furthermore, when participating in a conference, that is, transmitting to a conference, by displaying the intention to participate in the conference from the terminal device, the terminal device is connected to the port of the conference trunk in a one-to-one manner to make a conference call. It was possible to talk to the person.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a conference call device accommodated in a digital private branch exchange (PBX) according to the present invention, and shows one situation where a conference call is being performed. FIG. 2 shows a situation in which one of the conference listening terminal devices shown in FIG. 1 participates in the conference, and the terminal devices that have participated in the conference until then shift to listening. 1 and 2, the conference call device includes a line control unit (LCU) 1 and a plurality of terminal units (TEL) 4a to 4f connected thereto. The line control device 1 includes a time division switch (TSW) 2 and a line circuit 3 to which each terminal device is connected.
, Trunk (TRK) 6 and Conference Trunk (CFT)
It consists of 7. The conference trunk 7 has a plurality of bidirectional call ports (P0 to P4) 8a to 8e, and the trunk 6 and the plurality of terminal devices 4a to 4f are connected via these ports during a conference call. Connected to each other.

The characteristic configuration of the conference call device of the present invention is as follows.
At least one of the two-way call ports 8a to 8e is used as an output port to which a plurality of listening terminal devices are branched and connected. That is, the terminal device 4a of the meeting convener has the line circuit 3 and the time division switch 2
1 to 1 to the call port 8b of the conference trunk 7 via. Conference participant terminals 4b and 4c
Are also connected to the call ports 8c and 8d of the conference trunk 7 via the line circuit 3 and the time division switch 1 in a one-to-one manner. On the other hand, the terminal devices 4d to 4f of the plurality of conference listeners are branched and connected to one communication port 8e of the conference trunk 7 via the line circuit 3 and the time division switch 2, respectively.

FIG. 3 is an external view showing an example of the external appearance of the terminal devices 4a to 4f connected to the conference call device according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal device 4 includes a dial display device 9, a line key 10, and an auto dial key 11.
1, a function key 12, a ten-key pad 13, and a telephone handset 14 for communication. To make a call from this terminal, press the line key 10 to capture the line and then use the numeric keypad 13
There is a method of dialing the selection signal by the method, and a method of pressing the auto dial key 11 in which the line to be captured and the selection signal are stored as data in advance. The latter has the advantage that you can call the other party with one touch.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the board surface of the terminal device 4 connected to the conference call device according to the present invention. The line key 10 accommodates lines such as office lines and leased lines.
The auto-dial key 11 stores dial data and the like of the other party who is frequently called. Also, the function key 12
Is a key for realizing functions such as hold and transfer. The status indicator 19 provided corresponding to each key is for displaying the usage status of each key, and is generally composed of a lamp such as an LED. It is also possible to display figures and characters on the key itself and display the usage status by turning on the lamp built in the key. Further, as a virtual line key for conference call, there are a conference key 15, an auto dial key 17 accommodating the other party for convening a conference, and a function key for switching between transmitting and listening to the conference. A conference switching key 16 is provided.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The operation of the conference call device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First of all,
Press the conference key 15 of the terminal device 4a to call the conference. At this time, the status display 1 corresponding to the conference key 15 of the other terminal devices 4b to 4f accommodating the conference key 15
By displaying the busy state, the user of another terminal device can recognize that the conference starts.
Subsequently, the convener calls out a selection signal for capturing the conference trunk 7 and a selection signal for calling the conference partner from the terminal device 4a. This is the method of directly dialing the selection signal by the ten keys 13 as described above.
Alternatively, it is performed by a one-touch method by pressing the auto dial key 17 in which the selection signal is stored in advance. When the other party responds, the conference convener's terminal device 4a
Is the call port 8b of the line circuit 3 and the conference trunk 7.
Also, it is connected to the other party through the call port 8a and the trunk 6.

A virtual line key (conference key) 15 for conference call is accommodated in all the terminal devices that are going to make a conference call. The convener calls the terminal device 4 when starting the conference.
A call is made using the conference key 15 of a, and a selection signal is transmitted by some method such as dial operation (the selection signal includes a special number for capturing the conference trunk),
Make a call by calling the other party such as an extension or an office line. At this time, the other terminal devices 4b to 4f can join the conference by pressing the conference key 15, but in this state, these terminal devices are connected to one port 8e of the conference trunk 7 and the conference contents are displayed. You can only listen to it. Since there is no limit to the number of terminal devices that can be listened to due to the configuration and nature of the time division time switch, the content of the conference can be listened to by all the terminal devices accommodated in the PBX.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the terminal device 4c speaking to the conference finishes speaking, the conference switching key 16 is operated to output a signal indicating the conference leaving to the conference communication device. The conference call device that has received this signal connects the line circuit 3 to which the terminal device 4c is connected to the branch call port 8e of the conference trunk 7. On the other hand, when trying to speak to the conference from the terminal device 4d that has been listening to the conference until now, a specific operation is performed from the terminal device 4d, for example, the conference switching key 16 is pressed to make Issue a meeting participation order, which means to participate in. When the conference call device recognizes the conference participation command, it connects the line circuit 3 to which the terminal device 4d is connected to the two-way call port 8d of the conference trunk 7 on a one-to-one basis, and transmits from the state of only listening. Switch to a state where you can also.

However, the number of terminals that can shift to the conference participation state is the capacity of the conference trunk (the number of bidirectional ports).
When the intention to speak is lost, it is necessary to promptly return to the listening-only state by pressing a specific operation, for example, the conference switching key 16 again.

As described above, the conference call device according to the present invention has a plurality of two-way call ports, means for recognizing a conference participation command issued from the terminal device, and the conference when the conference participation command is recognized. A means for connecting the terminal device issuing the participation instruction to the two-way call port of the conference trunk on a one-to-one basis,
And a means for branch-connecting at least one branch call port of the conference trunk to one or more terminal devices without the conference participation instruction.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention,
After the conference call is started by the conference convener, the conference key can be pressed from another terminal device to press the conference key, but in this state, only the contents of the conference can be heard. Since the number of terminal devices to be monitored is unlimited due to the nature of the digital trunk, the contents of the conference can be heard by all the terminal devices accommodated in the PBX. Further, when trying to speak to the conference, by performing a specific operation, the state in which only listening is switched to the state in which transmission is possible. However, the number of terminals that can enter this state is limited by the capacity of the conference trunk. By switching the state of the terminal device for the conference call in this way, a conference call with a large number of people can be realized with a minimum system configuration as compared with the conventional case.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conference call device of a digital private branch exchange facility according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the conference call device of the digital private branch exchange facility according to the present invention after the connection is changed.

FIG. 3 is an external view of a terminal device connected to the conference call device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a board surface of a terminal device connected to the conference call device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 line control unit (LCU) 2 time division switch (TSW) 3 line circuit (LIN) 4 terminal device (TEL) 6 trunk (TRK) 7 conference trunk (CFT) 8 call port (8a to 8e) 9 dial display device 10 Line Key 11 Auto Dial Key 12 Function Key 13 Numeric Keypad 14 Handset for Call 15 Conference Key 16 Conference Switching Key 17 Conference Destination Auto Dial Key 18 Station Line Key 19 Status Indicator

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A conference call device, which is accommodated in a digital private branch exchange facility, has a conference trunk to which a plurality of terminal devices are connected and has a plurality of two-way call ports, and is accommodated in the digital private branch telephone exchange facility. A means for recognizing a conference participation command from a terminal device, and a means for connecting the terminal device, which has issued the conference participation command when the conference participation command is issued, with the bidirectional call port of the conference trunk on a one-to-one basis. And a means for branch-connecting at least one branch call port of a conference trunk to one or more terminal devices without a conference participation command, the conference call apparatus accommodated in a private branch exchange facility. 2. The conference call device accommodated in the private branch exchange facility according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device includes a virtual line key for conference call, a conference key, and a key for selecting attendance or listening to the conference. . 3. A conference call method of a conference call device, which is accommodated in a digital private branch exchange facility, to which a plurality of terminal devices are connected, and which comprises a conference trunk having a plurality of two-way call ports, comprising: A conference call method, characterized in that at least one of them is a branch call port that is branch-connected to a plurality of terminal devices, and a terminal device that intends to make a conference call is branch-connected to the branch port. 4. The conference call method according to claim 4, wherein the terminal device is connected to the two-way call port on a one-to-one basis by receiving a conference participation command from a terminal that participates in the conference.