Method for preventing interruption and end of voice speech via web, and system for preventing interruption and end of voice speech using the method

Abstract

To prevent unintended interruption and end of a voice speech via Web.SOLUTION: A system comprises a Web server and a voice server which establishes a session of a voice speech between a user terminal and a telephone of an operator via a private branch exchange and prevents interruption and / or end of a voice speech which is started via Web. The voice server comprises: means for establishing the session of the voice speech between the user terminal and the telephone of the operator in response to pressing a speech icon of a speech screen, which is displayed on the user terminal by an access of a user to a Web site, and transmitting to the terminal a hold release key which releases holding in a case where the telephone of the operator is held; and means for receiving a notification that the user terminal detects non-display of the speech screen, reporting a non-display state of the speech screen and transmitted from the user terminal, and transmitting a first notification that the speech screen is in the non-display state to the user terminal and the telephone of the operator.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for preventing unintended interruptions and terminations of voice calls when making a voice inquiry via WebRTC (Web Real Time Communication) on a smartphone, PC, etc. to a call center that sells products, etc., and to a system that uses the method to prevent interruptions and terminations of voice calls. [Background technology]

[0002] Companies that manufacture and sell products, providers of services such as hotel reservations, credit, and home delivery, and public institutions (hereinafter referred to as "businesses") have traditionally had call centers that handle inquiries about products and services over the telephone. Calls from users (consumers) are routed through the call center's private branch exchange (PBX) and arrive at a telephone used by one of the operators there, and the operator handles the user's inquiry over the telephone.

[0003] When a user visits the website of a company that sells products and wants to know more about the products or services listed there, they call or email the contact number listed on the website. However, inquiries by email do not provide the desired information in real time. On the other hand, inquiries by phone are connected directly to a call center operator, so the desired information can be obtained in real time. However, unlike email, there is a problem in that telephone charges are incurred. Inquiries can also be made by free calls (for example, to phone numbers beginning with 0120), but the problem is that even though the calls are free for the user, the company must cover the telephone charges.

[0004] Meanwhile, recent increases in the speed of Internet lines and the development of WebRTC (Web Real Time Communication) technology that enables real-time communication within Web pages have made it possible to make calls between Web browsers without causing voice delays, etc. With such voice calls between Web browsers via the Internet (also referred to as Internet telephones in this specification), there is no need to pay telephone charges according to the duration of calls, etc., and therefore the use of Internet telephones that do not use the public switched telephone network (PSTN) is rapidly increasing.

[0005] With voice calls using WebRTC (hereafter referred to as Web voice calls), a user can browse a company's website using a device (hereafter referred to as a terminal) such as a smartphone, desktop computer, laptop, or tablet, which has at least the ability to browse websites and execute software for the Web voice call system. By pressing an inquiry button on the website or scanning a two-dimensional code, a call screen will be displayed, and the user will be connected to a call center and can begin a voice call with an operator.

[0006] A problem with Web voice calls is that if the call screen displayed on the terminal screen during a voice call goes invisible for a certain period of time, the voice call with the call recipient is interrupted and then terminated. In this specification, the "hiding of the call screen" includes the case where the terminal screen disappears (goes dark) and the case where the call screen transitions to the screen of another application. The case where the terminal screen goes dark is due to a function set for the terminal to reduce battery consumption, and the case where the call screen transitions to the screen of another application is due to a user operation (including an erroneous operation).

[0007] In addition to the above, the call screen will also be hidden if the user accidentally presses the power button. The Web voice call will end after a certain period of time has elapsed since the call screen was hidden, but because Web voice calls do not involve the sharing of phone numbers, there is a problem in that after the voice call ends, the call cannot be resumed with the original caller.

[0008] The following Non-Patent Document 1 describes, as countermeasures to prevent the smartphone screen from going dark, a method for setting a time to reduce battery consumption, a method for disabling automatic lock, and a method for turning off low power mode. Also, the following Non-Patent Document 2 describes "causes and countermeasures for smartphone screens going dark" with almost the same content as Non-Patent Document 1.

[0009] However, although both Non-Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 2 describe a setting method for preventing the smartphone screen from going dark, they do not describe a method for preventing interruption or termination of a Web audio call. Therefore, there is no description of a method for dealing with interruption or termination of a voice call caused by a user's screen operation to switch to another application screen during a Web audio call. At present, there is no prior art in either non-patent documents or patent documents that prevents a call from being interrupted or terminated during a Web audio call. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0010] [Non-Patent Document 1] https: / / www.softbank.jp / support / faq / view / 11914 [Non-Patent Document 2] https: / / www.android.com / intl / ja_jp / articles / 80 / Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0011] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for preventing unintended interruptions and / or terminations of voice calls, for example, when making a voice inquiry via WebRTC (Web Real Time Communication) on a smartphone, PC, etc. to a call center that sells products, etc., and a system for preventing unintended interruptions and / or terminations of voice calls using said method. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] In order to solve the above problems, the first aspect of the present invention is a method for preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call via a web browser between a telephone of an operator at a company's inquiry desk and the user terminal by pressing an inquiry icon displayed on the user terminal having a web browser function, the method displaying a call screen on the user terminal and pressing a call icon on the call screen, the method comprising: the voice server transmits a hold release key for releasing the hold when the operator's telephone is placed on hold when transmitting the call screen to the user terminal; When the user terminal detects that the call screen is not displayed during the voice call, the user terminal notifies the voice server that the call screen of the user terminal is not displayed; The method for preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call via the Web is characterized in that the voice server sends a first notification to the user terminal and the operator's telephone to notify the interruption and / or termination of the voice call.

[0013] The voice server has WebRTC (Web Real Time Communication) functionality and is connected via a network to the company's private branch exchange (PBX) equipped with Computer Telephony Integration (CTI), so that the operator's telephone rings with call data from the voice server, and real-time communication between the user and the operator is carried out via the web. Calls made via web browsers communicate using WebRTC, a standard function of web browsers, so voice calls can be made using only the web browser without the need to install a plug-in or download a native app.

[0014] If the call screen remains hidden for a certain period of time despite the first notification being sent, the microphone is muted by a function provided on the user terminal, such as a smartphone or tablet, depending on the model. This results in a state in which the operator cannot hear the user's voice even though the voice communication line between the user terminal and the operator is connected, while the user can hear the operator's voice.

[0015] When the microphone is muted, the user terminal notifies the voice server that the user terminal is muted, and the voice server preferably transmits a second notification to the user terminal and the operator's telephone, informing the user that the voice call will be interrupted and / or terminated due to the continuation of the muted state. Here, the first notification, the second notification, and the third notification described below are not limited to notifications by sounds such as sound A, sound A', sound B, sound B', sound C, and sound C', but may also be messages sent by push notification if the receiving device is capable of receiving them.

[0016] If the call screen remains hidden despite the second notification being sent, it is preferable for the user terminal to inform the user and the operator of the continued hidden state by a third notification, and to put the operator's telephone on hold to prevent disconnection of the connection between the voice server and the telephone.

[0017] If the call screen remains hidden despite the transmission of the first notification and the second notification, the call screen of the user terminal may stop working. In such a case, it is not possible to transmit a notification by sound to the user terminal, and it is also not possible to transmit an instruction to put the operator's telephone on hold from the user terminal. Therefore, it is preferable that the voice server transmits a push notification (message) to the user terminal to prompt the user to return to the call screen and to put the operator's telephone on hold, thereby preventing the disconnection between the voice server and the telephone.

[0018] The return of the call screen by either the third notification or the push notification is used as a trigger to send a hold release key from the user terminal to the voice server, and the hold on the operator's telephone is released. This resumes the voice call between the user terminal and the telephone. Note that if the call screen does not return even by the push notification, the voice call between the user terminal and the operator is completely terminated after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0019] In order to solve the above problems, the second aspect of the present invention is a system that includes a user terminal having a web browser function, a web server that opens a company's website, a private branch exchange provided in the company, and a voice server that establishes a voice call session over a network between the user terminal and an operator's telephone connected via the private branch exchange, and prevents interruption and / or termination of a voice call that has been started over the web between the user terminal and the operator's telephone, the voice server is means for establishing a voice call session between the user terminal and the operator's telephone when the user accesses the website and presses a call icon on a call screen displayed on the user terminal, and for transmitting to the terminal a hold release key for releasing the hold when the operator's telephone is placed on hold; The system for preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call is characterized in that the user terminal detects that the call screen is not displayed, receives a notification sent from the user terminal informing the user that the call screen is not displayed, and sends a first notification to the user terminal and the operator's telephone that the call screen is in a not displayed state.

[0020] The voice server has WebRTC (Web Real Time Communication) functionality and is connected via a network to the company's private branch exchange (PBX) equipped with Computer Telephony Integration (CTI), and the operator's telephone rings with call data from the voice server, and real-time communication between the terminal and the operator is carried out via the web browser. Web browser calls communicate using WebRTC, a standard function of web browsers, so voice calls can be made using only the web browser without the need to install a plug-in or download a native app. Effect of the Invention

[0021] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method for preventing unintended interruptions and terminations of voice calls when making a voice inquiry via the web on a smartphone, PC, etc. to a call center that sells products, etc., and a system for preventing unintended interruptions and terminations of voice calls using said method. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system for preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call via the Web according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram (Seq1 to Seq3) showing an example of interactions between a user and an operator in the system for preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call via the Web according to the present embodiment. [Diagram 3]4A to 4C are sequence diagrams (Seq4-1, Seq4-2, Seq5) showing interactions between a user and an operator in a system for preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call via the Web according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 6 is an example of an inquiry screen and a call screen displayed on a user terminal according to the present embodiment. [Diagram 5] 13 is an example of a call screen displayed on a user terminal according to the present embodiment, a push notification screen notifying a user of a call interruption, and a call screen displayed when the call is resumed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0023] System for preventing interruption and / or termination of web voice calls 11 users 12 User terminal 20 Communication Control Server 21 Web Server 22 Voice Server 30. Call Center 31 Operator 32 Private Branch Exchange (PBX) 33 Telephone 40 Internet 42 Network 50 Public Switched Telephone Network 51 Telephone DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0024] The embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the outline of the configuration of a system for preventing interruption and termination of a voice call via the Web, which is one embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] A system S for preventing interruptions and terminations of voice calls via the Web is composed of a corporate Web server 21 connected to a user 11 and a user terminal 12 via the Internet 40, a voice server 22 for controlling calls of the user terminal 12 via the Internet, and a corporate call center 30 having an in-house telephone exchange 32 connected via a network 42.

[0026] The user terminal 12 has a browser function and is assigned a unique IP address, such as a private IP address or a global IP address, via, for example, the server of an Internet service provider. The corporate Web server 21 is the website of a company that manufactures and sells the product or the like about which the user 11 enquires. Along with the product, the website displays an icon for enquiring to the company's call center.

[0027] The voice server 22 connects to the user terminal 12, and when the user presses an inquiry icon displayed on the company's website, displays a call screen on the web browser of the user terminal 12. When the user presses the call icon on the call screen, the voice server 22 connects to the user terminal 12 and transmits call data to the private branch exchange 32.

[0028] Call center 30 is equipped with an internal branch exchange 32, a number of operators 31 working there, and telephones 33 used by the operators 31. Examples of businesses that operate call center 30 include companies that manufacture and sell products, accommodation facilities, businesses that provide services such as booking and canceling tickets for events and concerts, and public institutions.

[0029] The private branch exchange 32 is connected to the network 42, and is assigned a unique IP address, for example, a global IP address. A call from the user 11 is received by the private branch exchange 32 at a telephone 33 used by an available operator 31. The private branch exchange 32 is also connected to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 50, and can handle telephones 51 of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) in addition to Internet telephones, and when a call is received, the telephone 33 of the available operator 31 rings.

[0030] 2 is a sequence diagram (Seq1 to Seq3) of an embodiment showing interactions between a user and an operator in a system S for preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call via the Web according to the present embodiment. A method for preventing interruption and termination of a voice call by a system S for preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call via the Web according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

[0031] Seq1 in Fig. 2 shows the sequence up to the start of a voice call between the user 11 and the operator 31. First, the user 11 accesses the website (homepage) of a company that manufactures and sells the product about which the user wishes to inquire, using a user terminal 12, which is a device that has at least a function for browsing websites and a function for executing software for a Web voice call system, such as a smartphone, a desktop computer, a notebook computer, or a tablet terminal. The web page on which the product about which the user wishes to inquire is listed displays an "inquiry icon" as shown in Fig. 4(a), and by pressing this "inquiry icon," the call screen as shown in Fig. 4(b) is displayed on the user terminal 12 (S1, S2).

[0032] When the user 11 presses the "Call" icon displayed on the web browser screen of the user terminal 12 (S3), call data is sent from the user terminal 12 to the voice server 22 (S4), and the voice server 22 calls the private branch exchange 32 of the call center 30 (S5).

[0033] The private branch exchange 32 rings the telephone 33 of the operator 31 who is available to respond (S6, S7) according to a predetermined procedure, and when the operator 31 responds, the telephone 33 is connected to the user terminal 12 via the voice server 22 (S9, S10, S11). If the telephone 33 is placed on hold, the private branch exchange 32 sends a hold release key to the user terminal 12 to release the hold (S11), and a voice call via the Web between the user terminal 12 and the telephone 33 of the operator 31 is initiated.

[0034] 2 shows a sequence when the screen of the user terminal 12 becomes invisible during a voice call via the Web. When the screen of the user terminal 12 becomes invisible (S12), the user terminal 12 notifies the voice server 22 that the call screen has become invisible (S13). The detection and notification of the disappearance are incorporated into the call screen transmitted by the Web server 21 to the user terminal 12, for example, into the program for the call screen using JavaScript.

[0035] Here, "not displaying the call screen" includes cases where the screen of the user terminal disappears (goes dark) and cases where the call screen transitions to the screen of another application. The screen of the user terminal goes dark because it is set to reduce battery consumption, and the call screen transitions to the screen of another application when the user opens another application during a call or when the screen of the user terminal changes due to an unintended operation.

[0036] When the voice server 22 receives a notification that the call screen will continue to be hidden (S13), it transmits sound A to the user terminal 12, which is a first notification informing the user terminal 12 and the telephone 33 that the voice call may be interrupted and terminated, and transmits sound A' to the telephone 33 (S14, 15). When the call screen is returned to by the first notification (sound A) shown in Seq2, the call between the user and the operator is resumed at that point. Since sounds A and A' are the first warning bells, relatively soft notification sounds are preferable. Here, in this embodiment, notifications by sounds such as sound A, sound A', sound B, sound B', sound C, and sound C' are used as the first notification, the second notification described below, and the third notification, but these notifications may be sent by push notification if the receiving device (user terminal 12, telephone 33) can receive them.

[0037] Seq3 in Fig. 2 shows a sequence in the case where the call screen remains hidden despite the notification of the A sound. If the call screen remains hidden despite the notification of the A sound, the microphone is muted (S16) by a function provided in the user terminal 12 depending on the model. As a result, even though the voice line between the user terminal 12 and the operator's telephone 33 is connected, the operator cannot hear the user's voice, but the user can hear the operator's voice.

[0038] When the microphone is muted, the user terminal 12 notifies the voice server 22 that the user terminal 12 is in a muted state (S17), and the voice server 22 transmits a B sound, which is a second notification to the user terminal 12 to inform the user that the voice call may be interrupted and terminated if the muted state continues, and transmits a B' sound to the operator's telephone 33 (S18, S19). When the second notification (B sound) shown in Seq 3 causes the screen to return to the call screen, the call between the user and the operator is resumed at that point.

[0039] Seq4-1 in Fig. 3 shows a sequence in which the call screen is not displayed for a predetermined period of time despite the transmission of sound B. When the call screen is not displayed for a predetermined period of time despite the transmission of sound B, an instruction to put the telephone 33 on hold is sent from the user terminal 12 to the voice server 22 (S20). The voice server 22 sends a third notification (sound C) to the user terminal 12 informing that the call may be interrupted and ended, and also sends sound C' to the telephone 33, putting the telephone 33 on hold (S21).

[0040] Seq4-2 in Fig. 3 shows a sequence in which the call screen remains hidden despite the notification of sounds A and B, and the call screen of the user terminal 12 stops operating. When the call screen stops, a sound notification cannot be sent to the user terminal. Also, since a hold instruction cannot be sent from the user terminal to the operator's telephone, when the voice server 22 detects that the call screen has stopped (S22), it uses this as a trigger to send a push notification (message) shown in Fig. 5(b) to the user terminal (S23), prompting the user to return to the call screen and putting the operator's telephone on hold, thereby preventing the connection between the voice server and the telephone from being cut off.

[0041] Seq5 in Fig. 3 shows a sequence in which the call screen shown in Fig. 5(c) is returned to and the call is resumed by the operation of the user 11. The call screen is returned from a hidden state to a displayed state by the notification of a C sound shown in Seq4-1 or a push notification shown in Seq4-2, and the user presses the call resume icon or the call screen is returned, which triggers a hold release key to be sent to the voice server 22 (S26), the hold on the telephone 33 is released (S27), and the call between the user terminal 12 and the telephone 33 is resumed (S28). Note that if the call screen is not returned to even by the push notification, the voice call between the user and the operator ends after a predetermined time has elapsed.

Claims

1. A method for preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call via the Web that is started between a telephone of an operator at a company's inquiry desk and the user terminal via a voice server by pressing a call icon on a user terminal having a Web browser function, the method comprising: the voice server transmits a hold release key for releasing the hold when the operator's telephone is placed on hold when transmitting the call screen to the user terminal; When the user terminal detects that the call screen is not displayed during the voice call, the user terminal notifies the voice server that the call screen of the user terminal is not displayed; A method for preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call via the Web, characterized in that the voice server sends a first notification to the user terminal and the operator's telephone informing them that the voice call will be interrupted and / or terminated.

2. The method for preventing interruption and / or termination of voice calls over the Web as described in claim 1, characterized in that if the call screen remains hidden and the microphone of the user terminal is muted even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the sending of the first notification, the user terminal notifies the voice server of the muted state of the microphone, and the voice server sends a second notification to the user terminal and the operator's telephone to inform that the voice call will be interrupted and / or terminated.

3. The method for preventing interruption and / or termination of voice calls via the Web as described in claim 2, characterized in that the return of the call screen due to the first notification or the second notification is triggered to resume the voice call between the user terminal and the operator's telephone.

4. The method for preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call via the Web as described in claim 2, characterized in that if the call screen remains hidden even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the sending of the second notification, the voice server sends a third notification to the user terminal and the operator's telephone and puts the operator's telephone on hold.

5. The method for preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call via the Web as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that, when the call screen stops working, the voice server sends a push notification to the user terminal requesting the return of the call screen.

6. The method for preventing interruption and / or termination of voice calls via the Web as described in claim 5, characterized in that the third notification or the return of the call screen by the push notification is triggered, the release key is sent to the voice server, and the voice call between the user terminal and the operator's telephone is resumed by releasing the hold on the operator's telephone.

7. A system comprising a user terminal having a web browser function, a web server for establishing a company's website, a private branch exchange provided in the company, and a voice server for establishing a voice call session via a network between the user terminal and an operator's telephone connected via the private branch exchange, the system preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call started via the web between the user terminal and the operator's telephone, the voice server is means for establishing a voice call session between the user terminal and the operator's telephone when the user accesses the Web site and presses a call icon on a call screen displayed on the user terminal, and for transmitting to the terminal a hold release key for releasing the hold when the operator's telephone is placed on hold; A system for preventing interruption and / or termination of voice calls via the Web, characterized in that the user terminal detects that the call screen is not displayed, receives a notification sent from the user terminal informing the user that the call screen is not displayed, and sends a first notification to the user terminal and the operator's telephone that the call screen is not displayed.

8. The system for preventing interruption and / or termination of voice calls via the Web as described in claim 7, characterized in that when a notification is received from the user terminal that the microphone of the user terminal is muted after a predetermined time has elapsed since the sending of the first notification, the system is further characterized by comprising a means for sending a second notification to the user terminal and the operator's telephone to inform that the voice call will be interrupted and / or terminated.

9. The system for preventing interruption and / or termination of voice calls via the Web as described in claim 8, further comprising a means for resuming the voice call between the user terminal and the operator's telephone by triggering the return of the call screen due to the first notification or the second notification.

10. The system for preventing interruption and / or termination of voice calls via the Web as described in claim 8 is characterized in that, when a notification is received indicating that the call screen will continue to be hidden after a predetermined time has elapsed since the sending of the second notification, a third notification is sent to the user terminal and the operator's telephone, and the operator's telephone is put on hold.

11. The system for preventing interruption and / or termination of a voice call via the Web as described in claim 10, characterized in that it is characterized by having a means for sending a push notification requesting the restoration of the call screen of the user terminal when the stop of the call screen is detected.

12. The system for preventing interruption and / or termination of voice calls via the Web as described in claim 11, characterized in that it is characterized by having a means for receiving the hold release key sent from the user terminal as a trigger of the third notification or the return of the call screen due to the push notification, and releasing the hold on the operator's telephone.

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