Telephone Systems and Programs

Abstract

A telephone system and program are provided that can facilitate system design and setup, and can also simplify telephone line design. [Solution] The telephone system 3 has a number search unit 17 that, when there is a representative incoming call that specifies a representative telephone number, searches for the outside telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 assigned to the representative telephone number; a first number assignment unit 19 that assigns a pre-prepared calling outside number to the searched outside telephone number; a first notification request unit 21 that sends a push notification request to the push notification server 5, together with the calling outside number, to request that a push notification be delivered to the mobile phone terminal 7 corresponding to the searched outside telephone number to notify that there has been a representative incoming call; and a first call connection unit 25 that, when there is an incoming call specifying the calling outside number from the mobile phone terminal 7 that received the push notification, connects the mobile phone terminal 7 and the telephone terminal 9 that is the source of the representative incoming call so that they can communicate with each other.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a telephone system and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] A communication system that enables a mobile terminal to respond to a representative call has been known. For example, a telephone system disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a number search unit that searches for mobile phone numbers of electronic terminals belonging to a destination group when a representative call is received, an information sending unit that sends representative call information including the mobile phone numbers to a notification request unit, and a notification request unit that, when the representative call information is received, requests a push notification server to deliver a push notification indicating that a representative call has been received to the belonging electronic terminal. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7115797 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, a telephone control device performs call control, which is the processing of outgoing and incoming calls for external and internal telephone lines. Generally, a private branch exchange called a PBX (Private Branch Exchange) is used as such a telephone control device. The telephone control device is connected to a mobile phone network via FMC (Fixed-Mobile Convergence), allowing a mobile terminal to be used like an internal telephone.

[0005] In the above system, the PBX manages the numbering plan that determines which terminal device each number, such as an outside line number, an extension number, or a special number, is assigned to, and the design and configuration of the PBX requires high skill, and changing the design and configuration is also a lot of work. Furthermore, in order to use a mobile device as an extension telephone, an FMC contract and the installation of a dedicated app to make it an extension are required, making telephone line design complicated.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a telephone system and program that can facilitate system design and setup, and can also simplify telephone line design. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the telephone system of the present invention includes a number search unit that, when a representative incoming call is received that specifies a representative phone number, searches for the outside phone number of a mobile phone terminal assigned to the representative phone number; a first number assignment unit that assigns a pre-prepared first outside phone number for calling to the searched outside phone number; a first notification request unit that sends a first push notification request to a push notification server together with the first outside phone number, requesting that a first push notification be delivered to the mobile phone terminal corresponding to the searched outside phone number to notify that the representative incoming call has been received; and a first call connection unit that, when a call specifying the first outside phone number is received from the mobile phone terminal that received the first push notification, connects the mobile phone terminal and the caller of the representative incoming call so that they can communicate with each other.

[0008] In addition, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the program of the present invention causes a telephone system to execute the following steps when a call is received that specifies a representative telephone number: searching for the outside telephone number of a mobile phone terminal assigned to the representative telephone number; assigning a first outside telephone number for calling that has been prepared in advance to the searched outside telephone number; sending a first push notification request to a push notification server together with the first outside telephone number, requesting that a first push notification be delivered to the mobile phone terminal corresponding to the searched outside telephone number to notify that the call has been received; and when a call specifying the first outside telephone number is received from the mobile phone terminal that received the first push notification, connecting the mobile phone terminal and the caller of the call so that they can communicate. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to facilitate the design and setup of a telephone system and to simplify the design of telephone lines. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a communication system common to each of first to third embodiments. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of the telephone system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a registration screen when registering a notifying member in a notifying member management table. FIG. [Figure 4] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a member selection screen when registering a notifying member in a notifying member management table. FIG. [Figure 5] 4 is a sequence chart showing an example of control content executed by a telephone system, a push notification server, and a mobile phone terminal that constitute the communication system in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] 6A and 6B are diagrams showing examples of screens displayed on the display unit of the mobile phone terminal in steps S47 and S50 of FIG. 5. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of a telephone system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 8] 10 is a sequence chart showing an example of control content executed by a telephone system, a push notification server, and a mobile phone terminal that constitute a communication system in the second embodiment. [Figure 9] 9 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit of the mobile phone terminal in step S105 of FIG. 8. FIG. [Figure 10] 9A and 9B are diagrams showing examples of screens displayed on the display unit of the mobile phone terminal in steps S155 and S160 of FIG. 8. [Figure 11] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit of a mobile phone terminal in a modified example in which a user can specify a transfer destination when parking a call. FIG. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of a telephone system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 13] 11 is a sequence chart showing an example of control content executed by a telephone system, a push notification server, and a mobile phone terminal that constitute a communication system in the third embodiment. [Figure 14] 11 is a sequence chart showing an example of control content executed by a telephone system, a push notification server, and a mobile phone terminal that constitute a communication system in the third embodiment. [Figure 15] 14A and 14B are diagrams showing examples of screens displayed on the display unit of the mobile phone terminal in steps S267 and S270 of FIG. 13. [Figure 16] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a notification to a mobile phone terminal in a modified example in which the playback status of recorded data is notified to the user. FIG. [Figure 17] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on a display unit of a mobile phone terminal in a modified example in which a notifying member is notified by push notification that a message is being recorded. FIG. [Figure 18] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration when a telephone system is configured as, for example, a physical server. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiments, the same elements are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0012] <Overall configuration of communication system> 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a communication system 1 common to each of the first to third embodiments described below. In FIG. 1, connections between components are indicated by solid lines, regardless of whether they are wired or wireless connections.

[0013] The communication system 1 includes a telephone system 3, a push notification server 5 that distributes push notifications, a mobile phone terminal 7 provided to a notifying member to whom the push notification is to be distributed, and a telephone terminal 9 that is the source of a representative call. The mobile phone terminal 7 is a portable terminal device with telephone and communication functions, such as a smartphone, and is carried by each notifying member. There may be one or more mobile phone terminals 7. The telephone terminal 9 may be a fixed-line telephone or a mobile phone terminal.

[0014] The telephone system 3, the mobile phone terminal 7, and the telephone terminal 9 are connected via a telephone network 11. The telephone network 11 is, for example, a public telephone network or an IP telephone network. The telephone system 3, the push notification server 5, and the mobile phone terminal 7 are communicatively connected via a communication network 13. The communication network 13 is, for example, the Internet.

[0015] The telephone system 3 performs call control, which is the processing of making and receiving external telephone calls (i.e., processing of securing and disconnecting a communication path between the caller and the call recipient). An external telephone call is a voice call between a telephone terminal 9 and a mobile phone terminal 7, which is made through a telephone network 11 or the like. The telephone system 3 may be configured, for example, as a virtual server existing on the Internet (such as a cloud server that uses a server existing on the cloud on demand), or may be configured as a physical server.

[0016] The push notification server 5 distributes push notifications to each mobile phone terminal 7 of the notification members. A push notification is a notification sent using a communication method known as push technology, and indicates that a notification request is initiated by the sender. Upon receiving a push notification, the mobile phone terminal 7 displays the notification message on its screen, or outputs a sound or vibration. This allows the user of the mobile phone terminal 7 to check the notification message and, if necessary, respond to the notification message.

[0017] First Embodiment The first embodiment is an embodiment in which, when a representative call is received in the telephone system 3, which is a call that specifies a representative telephone number, a push notification indicating that a representative call has been received is sent to the mobile phone terminal 7 of the notifying member associated with the representative telephone number, allowing the notifying member to respond on behalf of the notifying member.

[0018] 2 is a block diagram showing an example of functions according to the first embodiment of the telephone system 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the telephone system 3 includes a line connection unit 15, a number search unit 17, a first number assignment unit 19, a first notification request unit 21, a first incoming call judgment unit 23, a first call connection unit 25, a notified member management table 27, a calling outside line number database 29, an assigned number management table 31, and a token management table 33.

[0019] The line connection unit 15 functions as a gateway that relays between the telephone network 11 and the telephone system 3. The line connection unit 15 accepts a representative call from the telephone terminal 9 that specifies a representative telephone number, and an incoming call from the mobile phone terminal 7 that specifies an outside line number for calling.

[0020] When there is a representative call, the number search unit 17 searches for the outside telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 assigned to the representative telephone number by referring to the notifying member management table 27. The notifying member management table 27 registers the outside telephone numbers of the mobile phone terminals 7 of the notifying members who are to be notified of the representative call for each representative telephone number in association with each other.

[0021] 3 and 4 are diagrams showing examples of a registration screen and a member selection screen when registering a notifying member in the notifying member management table 27. As shown in FIG. 3, the main telephone number member registration screen displays multiple main telephone numbers together with their names (e.g., department names). The user selects the main telephone number for which to register the notifying member and then operates the member selection button 35. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the user can select the main telephone number by checking the check box 37.

[0022] When the member selection button 35 is operated, the notifying member selection screen shown in Fig. 4 is displayed. As shown in Fig. 4, the notifying member selection screen displays the mobile phone numbers of multiple members along with, for example, their names and titles. After selecting a member, the user can associate the mobile phone number of the notifying member with the main telephone number and record it by operating the registration button 39. In the example shown in Fig. 3, the user can select one or more mobile phone numbers by checking the checkbox 41.

[0023] Returning to FIG. 2, the first number assigning unit 19 assigns a prepared calling outside number (an example of a first outside number) to the outside phone number searched by the number searching unit 17. Even if the number searching unit 17 searches for a plurality of outside phone numbers, only one calling outside number is assigned. In other words, one calling outside number is assigned to one representative incoming call. The calling outside number is an outside phone number that begins with, for example, 050 and can be contracted for a telephone line. A plurality of calling outside numbers are prepared in advance according to the size of the business operator, the number of representative phone numbers, etc., and are registered in the calling outside number database 29. The outside phone number and the calling outside number assigned to the outside phone number by the first number assigning unit 19 are associated with each other and registered in the assigned number management table 31 (an example of a first storage unit).

[0024] The first notification request unit 21 sends a push notification request (first push notification request) to the push notification server 5, requesting that a push notification (an example of a first push notification) be delivered to the mobile phone terminal 7 corresponding to the outside line telephone number searched by the number search unit 17 to notify that a representative call has been received, along with the outside line number for calling.

[0025] The push notification server 5 identifies the mobile phone terminal 7 to which the notification is to be sent by using a token. A token is an identification ID assigned to each mobile phone terminal 7. The token management table 33 stores, for each mobile phone terminal 7, the outside line telephone number of that mobile phone terminal 7 and the token in association with each other. The first notification request unit 21 refers to the token management table 33 to identify the token of the mobile phone terminal 7 corresponding to the outside line telephone number searched for by the number search unit 17, and generates a push notification request by specifying the token and a message to be sent by push notification. The first notification request unit 21 then transmits the generated push notification request to the push notification server 5 together with the calling outside line number.

[0026] A token is issued as follows: First, the mobile phone terminal 7 requests the push notification server 5 to register the mobile phone terminal 7. Next, the push notification server 5 registers the requesting mobile phone terminal 7 and issues a token. Next, the mobile phone terminal 7 sends the issued token to the telephone system 3. Next, the telephone system 3 associates the outside phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 with the token and registers them in the token management table 33.

[0027] When an incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling is received from a mobile phone terminal 7 that has received a push notification, the first incoming call judgment unit 23 refers to the assigned number management table 31 and judges whether the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 that is the caller is an outside line telephone number to which the outside line number for calling has been assigned.

[0028] When an incoming call specifying a calling outside line number is received from the mobile phone terminal 7 that has received the push notification, the first call connection unit 25 connects the mobile phone terminal 7 and the telephone terminal 9 that is the caller of the representative incoming call so that they can communicate with each other. Specifically, when the first incoming call judgment unit 23 judges that the outside line phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is an outside line phone number to which a calling outside line number is assigned, the first call connection unit 25 connects the mobile phone terminal 7 and the telephone terminal 9 so that they can communicate with each other. On the other hand, when the first incoming call judgment unit 23 judges that the outside line phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is not an outside line phone number to which a calling outside line number is assigned, the first call connection unit 25 does not connect the mobile phone terminal 7 and the caller of the representative incoming call.

[0029] FIG. 5 is a sequence chart showing an example of control content executed by the telephone system 3, the push notification server 5, and the mobile phone terminal 7 that constitute the communication system 1 in the first embodiment.

[0030] 5, in step S5, the line connection unit 15 of the telephone system 3 determines whether or not there is a representative incoming call specifying a representative telephone number. If there is no representative incoming call (step S5: No), the line connection unit 15 repeats step S5 until there is a representative incoming call. If there is a representative incoming call (step S5: Yes), the line connection unit 15 proceeds to the next step S10.

[0031] In step S10, the line connection unit 15 of the telephone system 3 notifies the number search unit 17 of the representative telephone number related to the representative incoming call.

[0032] In step S15, the number search unit 17 of the telephone system 3 refers to the notifying member management table 27 to search for the outside telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 of the notifying member assigned to the main telephone number notified in step S10. Note that step S15 is an example of a step of searching for the outside telephone number of the mobile phone terminal assigned to the main telephone number.

[0033] In step S20, the number search unit 17 of the telephone system 3 transmits to the first number assignment unit 19 the outside telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 of the notified member searched for in step S15 above.

[0034] In step S25, the first number assigning unit 19 of the telephone system 3 receives the outside telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 of the notified member transmitted in step S20, reads out one outside calling number that is not in use from the outside calling numbers registered in the database of outside calling numbers 29, and assigns it to the outside calling number. Note that step S25 is an example of a step of assigning a first outside calling number that is prepared in advance to the searched outside calling number.

[0035] In step S30, the first number assigning unit 19 of the telephone system 3 associates the outside telephone number of the notified member's mobile phone terminal 7 with the calling outside number assigned in step S25 above and writes the association into the assigned number management table 31.

[0036] In step S35, the first notification request unit 21 of the telephone system 3 refers to the token management table 33 to identify the token corresponding to the outside telephone number of the notifying member's mobile phone terminal 7, and generates a push notification request by specifying the token and a notification message indicating that an incoming call has been received at the main telephone number.

[0037] In step S40, the first notification request unit 21 of the telephone system 3 transmits the push notification request generated in step S35 to the push notification server 5 together with the calling external line number. Step S40 is an example of a step of transmitting the first push notification request to the push notification server together with the first external line phone number.

[0038] In step S45, in response to the push notification request received from the telephone system 3, the push notification server 5 distributes the push notification together with the calling outside line number to each of the mobile phone terminals 7 of all the notifying members.

[0039] In step S47, based on the received push notification, each mobile phone terminal 7 displays on the display unit a notification message indicating that an incoming call has been received at the main phone number.

[0040] In step S50, each mobile phone terminal 7 starts a dedicated application related to the representative incoming call notification and determines whether or not a response operation has been performed by the user. If a response operation has not been performed (step S50: No), the mobile phone terminal 7 executes other processing (not shown). If a response operation has been performed (step S50: Yes), the mobile phone terminal 7 proceeds to the next step S55.

[0041] In step S55, the mobile phone terminal 7 to which the answering operation has been performed makes a call to the telephone system 3 using the calling outside line number.

[0042] In step S60, the line connection unit 15 of the telephone system 3 determines whether or not there is an incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling from the mobile phone terminal 7. If there is no incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling (step S60: No), the line connection unit 15 ends the process. On the other hand, if there is an incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling (step S60: Yes), the line connection unit 15 proceeds to the next step S65.

[0043] In step S65, the first incoming call judgment unit 23 of the telephone system 3 determines whether the outside phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 that has received the incoming call is an incoming call from the notifying member. That is, the first incoming call judgment unit 23 refers to the assigned number management table 31 and determines whether the outside phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 that has received the incoming call is an outside phone number to which the calling outside number that has received the incoming call has been assigned. If the first incoming call judgment unit 23 determines that the outside phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is not an incoming call from the notifying member (step S65: No), the process proceeds to the next step S70.

[0044] In step S70, the first incoming call judgment unit 23 of the telephone system 3 rejects the incoming call to the mobile phone terminal 7. In other words, the first call connection unit 25 does not connect the mobile phone terminal 7 to the telephone terminal 9 that is the source of the representative incoming call. Thereafter, the telephone system 3 ends the processing.

[0045] On the other hand, in step S65, if the first incoming call judgment unit 23 judges that the outside phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is an incoming call from the notified member (step S65: Yes), the process proceeds to the next step S75.

[0046] In step S75, the first call connection unit 25 of the telephone system 3 connects the mobile phone terminal 7 and the telephone terminal 9 that is the call source of the representative incoming call so that they can communicate with each other. Step S75 is an example of a step of connecting the mobile phone terminal and the call source of the representative incoming call so that they can communicate with each other. Thereafter, the telephone system 3 ends the processing.

[0047] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 7a of the mobile phone terminal 7 in steps S47 and S50 of Fig. 5. As shown in the upper part of Fig. 6, when the mobile phone terminal 7 receives a push notification, it displays a notification message 43 on the display unit 7a. In the example shown in Fig. 6, the notification message 43 displays, for example, a message indicating that an incoming call has been made from the caller's phone number (090YYYYYY01) to the main phone number (03XXXXXX01). Note that instead of the caller's phone number and the main phone number, the names of the respective parties may be displayed.

[0048] When the user operates the notification message 43 in the above display state, a dedicated application related to the representative incoming call notification is started, and the response screen shown in the lower part of Fig. 6 is displayed. The response screen displays a response button 45, and when the user operates the response button 45, it is determined in step S50 of Fig. 5 that a response operation has been performed (step S50: Yes).

[0049] According to the first embodiment described above, when a representative incoming call is received that specifies a representative telephone number, the number search unit 17 of the telephone system 3 searches for the outside telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 assigned to the representative telephone number, the first number assignment unit 19 assigns a pre-prepared calling outside number to the outside telephone number searched by the number search unit 17, the first notification request unit 21 sends a push notification request to the push notification server 5, together with the calling outside number, to request that a push notification be delivered to the mobile phone terminal 7 corresponding to the outside telephone number searched by the number search unit 17 to notify that a representative incoming call has been received, and the first call connection unit 25 connects the mobile phone terminal 7 and the telephone terminal 9 that is the source of the representative incoming call so that they can make a call when a call specifying the calling outside number is received from the mobile phone terminal 7 that received the push notification.

[0050] In this way, a telephone system 3 can be constructed that allows a mobile phone terminal 7 that receives a push notification indicating a representative call to answer (pick up) the representative call without using an extension number or special number. Therefore, a PBX-less telephone system 3 can be realized. As a result, system design and configuration can be simplified, and changes to the design and configuration can also be made easily. Furthermore, because the mobile phone terminal 7 is not used as an internal telephone, there is no need for an FMC contract or the installation of a dedicated app for extensions, which simplifies telephone line design.

[0051] Furthermore, according to the first embodiment, the assigned number management table 31 stores the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 in association with the outside line telephone number for calling assigned by the first number assignment unit 19, and when there is an incoming call specifying the outside line telephone number for calling from the mobile phone terminal 7 that has received a push notification, the first incoming call judgment unit 23 refers to the assigned number management table 31 and judges whether the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 that is the caller is an outside line telephone number to which the outside line telephone number for calling is assigned, and when the first incoming call judgment unit 23 judges that the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is an outside line telephone number to which the outside line telephone number for calling is assigned, the first call connection unit 25 connects the mobile phone terminal 7 and the telephone terminal 9 that is the caller of the representative incoming call so that they can communicate, and when the first incoming call judgment unit 23 judges that the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal is not an outside line telephone number to which the outside line telephone number for calling is assigned, the first call connection unit 25 does not connect the mobile phone terminal 7 and the telephone terminal 9 that is the caller of the representative incoming call.

[0052] In this way, it is possible to reject an incoming call from a member who is not stored in the assigned number management table 31. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a wrong member from responding to a representative incoming call.

[0053] Second Embodiment The second embodiment is an embodiment in which, while one of the notifying members is talking to the telephone terminal 9 that is the originator of the representative incoming call, the call can be parked and transferred to another notifying member.

[0054] Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of functions according to the second embodiment of the telephone system 3. Although the telephone system 3 has the same functions as those of the first embodiment described above, Fig. 7 shows functions related to the second embodiment, and other functions are omitted as appropriate. In Fig. 7, functions similar to those of Fig. 2 described above are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

[0055] 7, the telephone system 3 includes a call holding unit 47, a second number assigning unit 49, a second notification requesting unit 51, a second incoming call determining unit 53, a second call connecting unit 55, and a call management table 57 in addition to the above-mentioned line connecting unit 15, the notifying member management table 27, the calling outside line number database 29, the assigned number management table 31, and the token management table 33. The forwarding destination accepting unit 65 will be described later.

[0056] When a hold request is received from the mobile phone terminal 7 in a state in which the mobile phone terminal 7 and the telephone terminal 9 that is the source of the representative incoming call are connected by the above-mentioned first call connection unit 25, the call hold unit 47 refers to the call management table 57 to search for a call assigned to the outside telephone number of the requesting mobile phone terminal 7 and puts that call on hold. In the call management table 57, when there is a telephone line in use, a call ID for identifying the call and the outside telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 of the member in use are registered in association with each other for each call.

[0057] The second number assigning unit 49 assigns a pre-prepared calling outside number (an example of a second outside number) to the outside number searched by the number searching unit 17, i.e., the outside number of the mobile phone terminal 7 assigned to the on-hold main telephone number. The calling outside number assigned by the second number assigning unit 49 is also an outside number that starts with, for example, 050 and can be contracted for a telephone line, similar to the calling outside number assigned by the first number assigning unit 19 in the first embodiment, and is registered in the calling outside number database 29. In the second embodiment, the same calling outside number as in the first embodiment may be assigned, or a different calling outside number may be assigned. That is, when a hold request is made from the mobile phone terminal 7, one calling outside number that is not in use is read from the calling outside number database 29 and assigned. As in the first embodiment, even if a plurality of outside telephone numbers are searched for by the number searching unit 17, only one calling outside number is assigned by the second number assigning unit 49. That is, one calling outside line number is assigned to one hold request. The outside line telephone number and the calling outside line number assigned to the outside line telephone number by the second number assigning unit 49 are associated with each other and registered in the assigned number management table 31 (an example of a second storage unit).

[0058] The second notification request unit 51 sends a push notification request (an example of a second push notification request) to the push notification server 5, together with the calling outside number assigned by the second number assignment unit 49, to request that a push notification (an example of a second push notification) be delivered to the mobile phone terminal 7 corresponding to the outside phone number searched by the aforementioned number search unit 17, i.e., the mobile phone terminal 7 of the notifying member corresponding to the on-hold main phone number, to notify that the main call has been put on hold.

[0059] When an incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling is received from a mobile phone terminal 7 that has received a push notification, the second incoming call judgment unit 53 refers to the assigned number management table 31 and judges whether the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 that is the caller is an outside line telephone number to which the outside line number for calling has been assigned.

[0060] When there is an incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling from the mobile phone terminal 7 that received the push notification, the second call connection unit 55 connects the mobile phone terminal 7 to the telephone terminal 9 that is the caller of the representative incoming call that has had the call put on hold. Specifically, when the second incoming call judgment unit 53 judges that the outside line phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is an outside line phone number to which a outside line number for calling has been assigned, the second call connection unit 55 connects the mobile phone terminal 7 to the telephone terminal 9 that is the caller of the representative incoming call that has had the call put on hold. On the other hand, when the second incoming call judgment unit 53 judges that the outside line phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is not an outside line phone number to which a outside line number for calling has been assigned, the second call connection unit 55 does not connect the mobile phone terminal 7 to the telephone terminal 9 that is the caller of the representative incoming call that has had the call put on hold.

[0061] FIG. 8 is a sequence chart showing an example of control content executed by the telephone system 3, the push notification server 5, and the mobile phone terminal 7 that constitute the communication system 1 in the second embodiment.

[0062] In Fig. 8, it is assumed that the mobile phone terminal 7 is in a call with the telephone terminal 9 that is the source of the representative incoming call, by the same control as in the first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 8, in step S105, the mobile phone terminal 7 determines whether or not the user has performed a call park hold operation. If the call park hold operation has not been performed (step S105: No), the mobile phone terminal 7 continues the call. If the call park hold operation has been performed (step S105: Yes), the mobile phone terminal 7 proceeds to the next step S110.

[0063] In step S110, the mobile phone terminal 7 transmits a park hold request to the telephone system 3. The park hold request is transmitted using, for example, a company code registered at the time of initial setup of a dedicated application related to representative call notification and the outside telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 on which the park hold operation was performed. Note that the park hold request may also be transmitted using an outside line for calling.

[0064] In step S115, the call holding unit 47 of the telephone system 3 refers to the call management table 57 to search for the call to be held that is assigned to the outside telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 that has requested the park hold.

[0065] In step S120, the call holding unit 47 of the telephone system 3 holds the call found in step S115, and disconnects the mobile phone terminal 7 that requested the park hold.

[0066] In step S125, the call holding unit 47 of the telephone system 3 plays a hold tone on the telephone terminal 9 that is the originator of the representative incoming call.

[0067] In step S130, the second number assignment unit 49 of the telephone system 3 reads out one unused calling outside line number from the calling outside line numbers registered in the calling outside line number database 29, and assigns it to the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 of the notified member related to the on-hold representative call.

[0068] In step S135, the second number assignment unit 49 of the telephone system 3 associates the outside telephone number of the notified member's mobile phone terminal 7 with the calling outside number assigned in step S130 above and writes the association into the assigned number management table 31.

[0069] In step S140, the second notification request unit 51 of the telephone system 3 refers to the token management table 33 to identify the token corresponding to the outside telephone number of the notifying member's mobile phone terminal 7, and generates a push notification request by specifying the token and a notification message indicating that the representative call has been put on hold.

[0070] In step S145, the second notification request unit 51 of the telephone system 3 transmits the push notification request generated in step S140 to the push notification server 5 together with the calling outside line number.

[0071] In step S150, in response to the push notification request received from the telephone system 3, the push notification server 5 distributes the push notification together with the calling outside line number to each of the mobile phone terminals 7 of all the notifying members.

[0072] In step S155, based on the received push notification, each mobile phone terminal 7 displays on the display unit a notification message that the representative incoming call has been put on hold.

[0073] In step S160, each mobile phone terminal 7 starts a dedicated application related to the representative incoming call notification and determines whether or not a response operation has been performed by the user. If a response operation has not been performed (step S160: No), the mobile phone terminal 7 executes other processing (not shown). If a response operation has been performed (step S160: Yes), the mobile phone terminal 7 proceeds to the next step S165.

[0074] In step S165, the mobile phone terminal 7 to which the answering operation has been performed makes a call to the telephone system 3 using the calling outside line number.

[0075] In step S170, the line connection unit 15 of the telephone system 3 determines whether or not there is an incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling from the mobile phone terminal 7. If there is no incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling (step S170: No), the line connection unit 15 ends the process. On the other hand, if there is an incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling (step S170: Yes), the line connection unit 15 proceeds to the next step S175.

[0076] In step S175, the second incoming call judgment unit 53 of the telephone system 3 determines whether the outside phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 that has received the incoming call is an incoming call from the notifying member. That is, the second incoming call judgment unit 53 refers to the assigned number management table 31 and determines whether the outside phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 that has received the incoming call is an outside phone number to which the calling outside number that received the incoming call has been assigned. If the second incoming call judgment unit 53 determines that the outside phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is not an incoming call from the notifying member (step S175: No), the second incoming call judgment unit 53 proceeds to the next step S180.

[0077] In step S180, the second incoming call judgment unit 53 of the telephone system 3 rejects the incoming call to the mobile phone terminal 7. In other words, the second call connection unit 55 does not connect the mobile phone terminal 7 to the telephone terminal 9 that is the source of the representative incoming call whose call has been put on hold. Thereafter, the telephone system 3 ends the processing.

[0078] On the other hand, in step S175, if the second incoming call judgment unit 53 judges that the outside phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is an incoming call from the notified member (step S175: Yes), the process proceeds to the next step S185.

[0079] In step S185, the second call connection unit 55 of the telephone system 3 connects the mobile phone terminal 7 and the telephone terminal 9 that is the call source of the representative incoming call that has had its call put on hold so that they can communicate with each other. Thereafter, the telephone system 3 ends the processing.

[0080] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 7a of the mobile phone terminal 7 in step S105 of Fig. 8. As shown in Fig. 9, the display unit 7a of the mobile phone terminal 7 that is currently talking to the telephone terminal 9 that is the source of the representative incoming call displays information such as the telephone number of the source and the duration of the call, as well as a park hold button 59. When the user operates the park hold button 59, it is determined in step S105 of Fig. 8 that a park hold operation has been performed (step S105: Yes).

[0081] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 7a of the mobile phone terminal 7 in step S155 and step S160 of Fig. 8. As shown in the upper part of Fig. 10, when the mobile phone terminal 7 receives a push notification, it displays a notification message 61 on the display unit 7a. In the example shown in Fig. 10, the notification message 61 displays, for example, a message indicating that an incoming call from the caller's telephone number (090YYYYYY01) to the main telephone number (03XXXXXX01) is on hold. Note that instead of the caller's telephone number and the main telephone number, the names of the respective numbers may be displayed.

[0082] When the user operates the notification message 61 in the above display state, a dedicated application related to the representative incoming call notification is started, and the park hold response screen shown in the lower part of Fig. 10 is displayed. The park hold response screen displays a park hold response button 63, and when the user operates the park hold response button 63, it is determined in step S160 of Fig. 8 that a response operation has been performed (step S160: Yes).

[0083] According to the second embodiment described above, when a hold request is received from the mobile phone terminal 7 while the mobile phone terminal 7 and the telephone terminal 9 that is the source of the representative incoming call are connected by the first call connection unit 25, the call holding unit 47 of the telephone system 3 searches for a call assigned to the outside line telephone number of the requesting mobile phone terminal 7 and holds the call, the second number assignment unit 49 assigns a pre-prepared calling outside line number to the outside line telephone number searched by the number search unit 17, the second notification request unit 51 sends a push notification request to the push notification server 5, together with the calling outside line number, to request that a push notification be delivered to the mobile phone terminal 7 corresponding to the searched outside line telephone number to notify that the representative incoming call has been put on hold, and the second call connection unit 55 connects the mobile phone terminal 7 to the telephone terminal 9 that is the source of the representative incoming call whose call has been put on hold, when an incoming call specifying the calling outside line number is received from the mobile phone terminal 7 that received the push notification.

[0084] In this way, a telephone system 3 can be constructed that, without using an extension number or special number, when one of the notifying members places a call on hold while talking to the caller of a representative incoming call, delivers a push notification to the mobile phone terminal 7 indicating that the call is on hold and transfers the call to another member.

[0085] Furthermore, according to the second embodiment, the assigned number management table 31 stores an outside line telephone number and an outside line number for calling assigned by the second number assignment unit 49 in association with each other. When a call specifying an outside line number for calling comes from a mobile phone terminal 7 that has received a push notification, the second incoming call judgment unit 53 refers to the assigned number management table 31 and judges whether the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 that is the caller is an outside line telephone number to which the outside line number for calling has been assigned. If the second incoming call judgment unit 53 judges that the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is an outside line telephone number to which the outside line number for calling has been assigned, the second call connection unit 55 connects the mobile phone terminal 7 to the telephone terminal 9 that is the caller of the representative incoming call that has placed the call on hold, and if the second incoming call judgment unit 53 judges that the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is not an outside line telephone number to which the outside line number for calling has been assigned, the second call connection unit 55 does not connect the mobile phone terminal 7 to the telephone terminal 9 that is the caller of the representative incoming call that has placed the call on hold.

[0086] In this way, it is possible to reject an incoming call from a member who is not stored in the assigned number management table 31. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a held representative incoming call from being transferred to a different member.

[0087] In the second embodiment, the user may be allowed to specify a forwarding destination when parking a call. In this modification, as shown in Fig. 7, the telephone system 3 includes a forwarding destination receiving unit 65. When a hold request is received from the mobile phone terminal 7, the forwarding destination receiving unit 65 displays a list of outside telephone numbers searched by the number searching unit 17 or a list of users corresponding to the outside telephone numbers, and receives the specification of the forwarding destination. In this case, the second number assigning unit 49 assigns a calling outside number to the outside telephone number of the forwarding destination specified by the forwarding destination receiving unit 65, and the second notification requesting unit 51 transmits a push notification request to the push notification server 5 together with the calling outside number, requesting that a push notification be delivered to the mobile phone terminal 7 corresponding to the forwarding destination specified by the forwarding destination receiving unit 65.

[0088] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 7a of the mobile phone terminal 7 in this modification. As shown in the upper part of FIG. 11, the display unit 7a of the mobile phone terminal 7 that is currently in a call with the telephone terminal 9 that is the originator of the representative call displays information such as the caller's telephone number and call duration, as well as a park hold button 59. When the user operates the park hold button 59, a list screen of the outside telephone numbers of the notified members shown in the lower part of FIG. 11 is displayed. The user can specify the forwarding destination by selecting the outside telephone number of the forwarding destination on the list screen and then operating the confirm button 67. In the example shown in FIG. 11, the user can select the outside telephone number of the forwarding destination by checking the check box 69. Note that instead of a list of the outside telephone numbers of the notified members, a list of the notified members' names, etc. may be displayed.

[0089] According to this modification, when a hold request is received from the mobile phone terminal 7, the forwarding destination receiving unit 65 displays a list of outside telephone numbers searched by the number searching unit 17 or a list of users corresponding to the outside telephone numbers, and receives the designation of the forwarding destination. The second number assigning unit 49 assigns a calling outside number to the outside telephone number of the designated forwarding destination, and the second notification requesting unit 51 sends a push notification request to the push notification server 5, together with the calling outside number, requesting that a push notification be delivered to the mobile phone terminal 7 corresponding to the designated forwarding destination.

[0090] In this way, a call related to a parked call can be transferred to a specific member, which saves the member who placed the call on hold the trouble of calling or calling the member to whom the call is to be transferred, thereby improving convenience.

[0091] Third Embodiment In the third embodiment, when a representative call is not answered for a predetermined period of time or longer and an absence message is recorded, a push notification is sent to the notifying member's mobile phone terminal 7 to inform them that a message has been recorded, allowing the notifying member to listen to the recorded message.

[0092] Fig. 12 is a block diagram showing an example of functions according to the third embodiment of the telephone system 3. Although the telephone system 3 has the same functions as those in the first embodiment described above, or the same functions as those in the first and second embodiments, Fig. 12 illustrates functions related to the third embodiment, and other functions are omitted as appropriate. In Fig. 12, functions similar to those in Fig. 2 described above are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

[0093] 12, the telephone system 3 includes, in addition to the above-mentioned line connection unit 15, notified member management table 27, calling outside line number database 29, assigned number management table 31, and token management table 33, a message recording unit 71, a third number assigning unit 73, a third notification requesting unit 75, a third incoming call determining unit 77, a data identifying unit 79, a data reproducing unit 81, and a recorded message management table 83. The reproduction status determining unit 89 and the reproduction status notifying unit 91 will be described later.

[0094] The message recording unit 71 records a message input from the telephone terminal 9 that is the originator of the representative call when the representative call remains unanswered for a predetermined period of time or longer.

[0095] The third number assigning unit 73 assigns a prepared calling outside number (an example of a third outside number) to the outside number searched by the number searching unit 17, i.e., the outside number of the mobile phone terminal 7 assigned to the main phone number where the message was recorded. The calling outside number assigned by the third number assigning unit 73 is also an outside number that starts with, for example, 050 and can be contracted for a telephone line, similar to the calling outside number assigned by the first number assigning unit 19 in the first embodiment and the calling outside number assigned by the second number assigning unit 49 in the second embodiment, and is registered in the calling outside number database 29. In the third embodiment, the calling outside number assigned may be the same as in the first or second embodiment, or a different calling outside number may be assigned. That is, one calling outside number that is not in use at the time the message is recorded is read from the calling outside number database 29 and assigned. As in the first and second embodiments, even if the number search unit 17 finds a plurality of outside telephone numbers, only one outside calling number is assigned by the third number assignment unit 73. That is, one outside calling number is assigned to one recorded message. The outside telephone number and the outside calling number assigned to that outside telephone number by the third number assignment unit 73 are associated with each other and registered in the assigned number management table 31 (an example of a fourth storage unit). Furthermore, the outside telephone number, the outside calling number assigned to that outside telephone number by the third number assignment unit 73, and a recording ID for identifying the recorded data of the message are associated with each other and registered in the recorded message management table 83 (an example of a third storage unit).

[0096] The third notification request unit 75 sends a push notification request (an example of a third push notification request) to the push notification server 5, together with the calling outside number assigned by the third number assignment unit 73, to request that a push notification (an example of a third push notification) be delivered to the mobile phone terminal 7 corresponding to the outside phone number searched by the aforementioned number search unit 17, i.e., the mobile phone terminal 7 of the notifying member corresponding to the main phone number where the message was recorded, to notify that a message has been recorded.

[0097] When an incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling is received from a mobile phone terminal 7 that has received a push notification, the third incoming call judgment unit 77 refers to the assigned number management table 31 and judges whether the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 that is the caller is an outside line telephone number to which the outside line number for calling has been assigned.

[0098] When an incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling is received from the mobile phone terminal 7 that has received the push notification, the data identification unit 79 refers to the recorded message management table 83 and identifies the recorded data corresponding to the outside line number for calling. Specifically, when the third incoming call judgment unit 77 judges that the outside line number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is an outside line number to which the outside line number for calling is assigned, the data identification unit 79 identifies the recorded data corresponding to the outside line number for calling. On the other hand, when the third incoming call judgment unit 77 judges that the outside line number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is not an outside line number to which the outside line number for calling is assigned, the data identification unit 79 does not identify the recorded data corresponding to the outside line number for calling.

[0099] The data playback unit 81 plays the recorded data identified by the data identification unit 79 to the mobile phone terminal 7. At this time, the data playback unit 81 may play guidance that guides the user through a process corresponding to a specific operation by the user. For example, a first operation by the user (e.g., #1) may enable a call back to be made to the mobile phone terminal 9 that is the source of the representative call. Furthermore, a second operation by the user (e.g., #2) may enable the recorded data to be played again. Furthermore, a third operation by the user (e.g., #3) may enable the playback status of the recorded data to be reset to "unlistened to." Furthermore, a fourth operation by the user (e.g., #4) may enable the recorded data to be erased. Note that when the first operation is performed, a push notification for a call back may be delivered to each mobile phone terminal 7 of the notifying member by the same control as in each embodiment. In this case, the user may enable a call back by operating a call back button (not shown) displayed in response to the push notification.

[0100] 13 and 14 are sequence charts showing an example of control content executed by the telephone system 3, the push notification server 5, and the mobile phone terminal 7 that constitute the communication system 1 in the third embodiment.

[0101] 13, in step S205, the line connection unit 15 of the telephone system 3 determines whether or not there is a representative incoming call specifying a representative telephone number. If there is no representative incoming call (step S205: No), the line connection unit 15 repeats step S205 until there is a representative incoming call. If there is a representative incoming call (step S205: Yes), the line connection unit 15 proceeds to the next step S210.

[0102] In step S210, the line connection unit 15 of the telephone system 3 notifies the number search unit 17 of the representative telephone number related to the representative incoming call.

[0103] In step S215, the number search unit 17 of the telephone system 3 refers to the notifying member management table 27 to search for the outside telephone number of the notifying member's mobile phone terminal 7 assigned to the main telephone number notified in step S210 above.

[0104] In step S220, the number search unit 17 of the telephone system 3 transmits to the third number assignment unit 73 the outside telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 of the notified member searched for in step S215 above.

[0105] In step S225, the telephone system 3 determines whether the representative call has remained unanswered for a predetermined time or longer. If the representative call is answered within the predetermined time using the same control as in the first embodiment (step S225: No), the telephone system 3 connects the call (not shown). On the other hand, if the representative call has remained unanswered for a predetermined time or longer (step S225: Yes), the telephone system 3 proceeds to the next step S230.

[0106] In step S230, the telephone system 3 plays back guidance to the telephone terminal 9 that is the source of the representative call, requesting that the caller record a message. The guidance may be, for example, "Our lines are currently busy. Please leave a message."

[0107] In step S235, the message recording unit 71 of the telephone system 3 records the message input from the telephone terminal 9 of the call originator of the representative call.

[0108] In step S240, the third number assignment unit 73 of the telephone system 3 receives the outside telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 of the notified member sent in step S220, reads out one outside calling number that is not in use from the outside calling numbers registered in the outside calling number database 29, and assigns it to the outside calling number.

[0109] In step S245, the third number assigning unit 73 of the telephone system 3 associates the outside telephone number of the notified member's mobile phone terminal 7 with the calling outside number assigned in step S240 and writes the association into the assigned number management table 31.

[0110] In step S250, the third number assignment unit 73 of the telephone system 3 associates the outside telephone number of the notifying member's mobile phone terminal 7, the calling outside number assigned in step S240 above, and the recording ID of the message recorded in step S235 above, and writes them into the recorded message management table 83.

[0111] In step S255, the third notification request unit 75 of the telephone system 3 refers to the token management table 33 to identify the token corresponding to the outside telephone number of the notifying member's mobile phone terminal 7, and generates a push notification request by specifying the token and a notification message indicating that an unattended message has been recorded for the representative call.

[0112] In step S260, the third notification request unit 75 of the telephone system 3 transmits the push notification request generated in step S255 to the push notification server 5 together with the calling outside line number.

[0113] In step S265, in response to the push notification request received from the telephone system 3, the push notification server 5 distributes the push notification together with the calling outside line number to each of the mobile phone terminals 7 of all the notifying members.

[0114] In step S267, based on the received push notification, each mobile phone terminal 7 displays on the display unit a notification message that a missed call message for the representative call has been recorded.

[0115] In step S270, each mobile phone terminal 7 starts a dedicated application related to the representative incoming call notification and determines whether or not a listening operation has been performed by the user. If a listening operation has not been performed (step S270: No), the mobile phone terminal 7 executes other processing (not shown). If a listening operation has been performed (step S270: Yes), the mobile phone terminal 7 proceeds to the next step S275.

[0116] In step S275, the mobile phone terminal 7 on which the listening operation has been performed makes a call to the telephone system 3 using the outside line number for calling.

[0117] 14, in step S280, the line connection unit 15 of the telephone system 3 determines whether or not there is an incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling from the mobile phone terminal 7. If there is no incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling (step S280: No), the line connection unit 15 ends the process. On the other hand, if there is an incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling (step S280: Yes), the line connection unit 15 proceeds to the next step S285.

[0118] In step S285, the third incoming call judgment unit 77 of the telephone system 3 determines whether the outside phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 that has received the incoming call is an incoming call from the notifying member. That is, the third incoming call judgment unit 77 refers to the assigned number management table 31 and determines whether the outside phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 that has received the incoming call is an outside phone number to which the calling outside number that received the incoming call has been assigned. If the third incoming call judgment unit 77 determines that the outside phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is not an incoming call from the notifying member (step S285: No), the process proceeds to the next step S290.

[0119] In step S290, the third incoming call judgment unit 77 of the telephone system 3 rejects the incoming call to the mobile phone terminal 7. That is, the data identification unit 79 does not identify the recorded data corresponding to the calling outside line number. Thereafter, the telephone system 3 ends the process.

[0120] On the other hand, in step S285, if the third incoming call judgment unit 77 judges that the outside phone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is an incoming call from the notified member (step S285: Yes), the process proceeds to the next step S295.

[0121] In step S295, the data identification unit 79 of the telephone system 3 refers to the recorded message management table 83 to identify the recorded data corresponding to the calling outside line number.

[0122] In step S297, the data playback unit 81 of the telephone system 3 plays back the recorded data identified in step S295 to the mobile phone terminal 7. Thereafter, the telephone system 3 ends the process.

[0123] Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 7a of the mobile phone terminal 7 in step S267 and step S270 of Fig. 13. As shown in the upper part of Fig. 15, when the mobile phone terminal 7 receives a push notification, it displays a notification message 85 on the display unit 7a. In the example shown in Fig. 15, the notification message 85 displays, for example, a message indicating that a message has been recorded from the name of the caller (XXXX) to the name of the main telephone number (XX Sales Department). Note that the caller's telephone number or the main telephone number may be displayed instead of the name of the caller or the name of the main telephone number.

[0124] When the user operates the notification message 85 in the above display state, a dedicated application related to the representative incoming call notification is started, and the message listening screen shown in the lower part of Fig. 15 is displayed. A message listening button 87 is displayed on the message listening screen, and when the user operates the message listening button 87, it is determined in step S270 of Fig. 13 that a listening operation has been performed (step S270: Yes).

[0125] According to the third embodiment described above, the message recording unit 71 of the telephone system 3 records a message when a representative call remains unanswered for a predetermined period of time or longer, the third number assignment unit 73 assigns a pre-prepared calling outside number to the outside phone number searched by the number search unit 17, the recorded message management table 83 associates and stores the outside phone number searched by the number search unit 17, the calling outside number, and the recorded message data, the third notification request unit 75 sends a push notification request to the push notification server 5, together with the calling outside number, to send a push notification to the mobile phone terminal 7 corresponding to the searched outside phone number to notify that a message has been recorded, and the call outside number, and when an incoming call specifying the calling outside number is received from the mobile phone terminal 7 that received the push notification, the data identification unit 79 refers to the recorded message management table 83 and identifies the recorded data corresponding to the calling outside number, and the data playback unit 81 plays the identified recorded data for the mobile phone terminal 7.

[0126] In this way, a telephone system 3 can be constructed in which a push notification that an missed message has been recorded for a representative call is delivered to the mobile phone terminal 7 without using an extension number or special number, and the message can be listened to from the mobile phone terminal 7.

[0127] Furthermore, according to the third embodiment, the assigned number management table 31 stores an outside line telephone number in association with a calling outside line number assigned by the third number assignment unit 73, and when a call specifying a calling outside line number is received from a mobile phone terminal 7 that has received a push notification, the third incoming call judgment unit 77 refers to the assigned number management table 31 and judges whether the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 that is the caller is an outside line telephone number to which the calling outside line number has been assigned, and when the data identification unit 79 judges that the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is an outside line telephone number to which the calling outside line number has been assigned, it identifies the recorded data corresponding to the calling outside line number, and when it judges that the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal 7 is not an outside line telephone number to which the calling outside line number has been assigned, it does not identify the recorded data corresponding to the calling outside line number.

[0128] In this way, it is possible to refuse playback of recorded messages by members who are not stored in the assigned number management table 31. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a different member from playing back a recorded message related to a representative call.

[0129] In the third embodiment, the user may be notified of the playback status of the recorded data. In this modification, as shown in Fig. 12, the telephone system 3 has a playback status determination unit 89 and a playback status notification unit 91. When an incoming call specifying a calling outside line number is received from the mobile phone terminal 7 that has received the push notification, the playback status determination unit 89 determines whether the recorded data corresponding to the calling outside line number is being played or has already been played. When the playback status determination unit 89 determines that the recorded data is being played or has already been played, the playback status notification unit 91 notifies the mobile phone terminal 7 that the recorded data is being played or has already been played.

[0130] Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of notification to the mobile phone terminal 7 performed in this modified example. In the example shown in Fig. 16, when the user operates the message listening button 87 on the message listening screen shown in the upper part, if the recorded data has already been played, a guidance message indicating that other members have already listened is played, as shown in the lower part of Fig. 16. Note that instead of playing the guidance, a message indicating that other members have already listened may be displayed on the display unit 7a.

[0131] According to this modified example, when an incoming call specifying an outside line number for calling is received from a mobile phone terminal 7 that has received a push notification, the playback status determination unit 89 determines whether the recorded data corresponding to the outside line number for calling is being played or has already been played, and when it is determined that the recorded data corresponding to the outside line number for calling is being played or has already been played, the playback status notification unit 91 notifies the mobile phone terminal 7 that the recorded data is being played or has already been played.

[0132] This prevents multiple members from making duplicate return calls to the telephone terminal 9 that is the source of the representative incoming call.

[0133] Furthermore, in the third embodiment, the notifying member may be notified by a push notification that a message is being recorded, not only after the message recording has been completed. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 7a of the mobile phone terminal 7 in this modification. As shown in the upper part of FIG. 17, when the mobile phone terminal 7 receives a push notification, it displays a notification message 93 on the display unit 7a. In the example shown in FIG. 17, the notification message 93 displays, for example, a message indicating that a message from the caller's name (XXXX) to the name of the main telephone number (XX Sales Department) is being recorded. Note that the caller's telephone number or the main telephone number may be displayed instead of the caller's name or the name of the main telephone number. When the user operates the notification message 93 in the above display state, a dedicated application related to the main call notification is launched, and the notification screen shown in the lower part of FIG. 17 is displayed.

[0134] 2, 7, and 12 are not limited to these examples of division of processing, and may be processed by further subdivided processing units, or by a smaller number of processing units (for example, one processing unit). Furthermore, the functions of the above-mentioned processing units may be implemented by a program executed by a processor such as a CPU (see FIG. 18 described later), or part of the functions may be implemented by hardware such as a dedicated integrated circuit or electric circuit.

[0135] <Example of telephone system hardware configuration> Fig. 18 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration in which telephone system 3 is configured as, for example, a physical server. As shown in Fig. 18, telephone system 3 includes, for example, CPU 301, ROM 303, RAM 305, dedicated integrated circuit 307 configured for a specific application such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), input device 313, output device 315, recording device 317, drive 319, connection port 321, and communication device 323. These components are connected to each other via bus 309, input / output interface 311, etc. so that signals can be transmitted between them.

[0136] The program can be recorded in, for example, the ROM 303, the RAM 305, or a recording device 317 such as a hard disk.

[0137] The program may also be temporarily or permanently (non-temporarily) recorded on a removable recording medium 325, such as a magnetic disk such as a flexible disk, various optical disks such as CDs, MO disks, and DVDs, or a semiconductor memory. Such recording medium 325 may also be provided as a so-called package software. In this case, the program recorded on the recording medium 325 may be read by the drive 319 and recorded on the recording device 317 via the input / output interface 311, the bus 309, etc.

[0138] The program may also be recorded, for example, on a download site, another computer, or another recording device (not shown). In this case, the program is transferred via a communication network 13 such as the Internet, and the communication device 323 receives the program. The program received by the communication device 323 may then be recorded in the recording device 317 via the input / output interface 311, the bus 309, or the like.

[0139] The program may also be recorded in, for example, an appropriate externally connected device 327. In this case, the program may be transferred via an appropriate connection port 321 and recorded in the recording device 317 via the input / output interface 311, the bus 309, etc.

[0140] 2, 7, and 12. In this case, the CPU 301 may, for example, directly read and execute the program from the recording device 317, or may execute the program after first loading it into the RAM 305. Furthermore, when the CPU 301 receives the program via the communication device 323, the drive 319, or the connection port 321, the CPU 301 may directly execute the received program without recording it in the recording device 317.

[0141] Furthermore, the CPU 301 may perform various processes as necessary based on signals and information input from an input device 313 such as a microphone, mouse, keyboard, etc. (not shown).

[0142] Then, CPU 301 outputs the results of the above processing from output device 315. Furthermore, CPU 301 may transmit the processing results via communication device 323 or connection port 321, as necessary, or may record the results in recording device 317 or recording medium 325.

[0143] In addition to the above, the methods according to the above embodiments and the methods according to the modifications may be used in appropriate combination.

[0144] Although not specifically illustrated, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications within the scope of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0145] 1. Communication Systems 3. Telephone System 5 Push notification server 7. Mobile phone terminals 9 Telephone terminals 11 Telephone network 13. Communication Network 15 Line connection section 17 Number Search Unit 19 First Number Assignment Unit 21 1st notification request section 23 First incoming call determination unit 25 First call connection part 27 Notification Member Management Table 29 Calling external line number database 31 Allocation number management table (an example of the first storage unit, second storage unit, and fourth storage unit) 33 Token Management Table 47 Call Holding Section 49 Second Number Assignment Department 51 2nd notification request section 53 2nd incoming call determination unit 55 Second call connection part 57 Call Management Table 65 Transfer destination reception section 71 Message Recording Section 73 Third Number Assignment Department 75 Third notification request section 77 Third incoming call determination unit 79 Data Identification Section 81 Data playback unit 83 Recorded message management table (an example of the third storage unit) 89 Playback status determination unit 91 Playback status notification section

Claims

1. a number search unit that searches for an outside telephone number of a mobile phone terminal assigned to a representative telephone number when a representative call is received, the outside telephone number being a call that designates the representative telephone number; a first number assigning unit that assigns a first external telephone number for calling that is prepared in advance to the retrieved external telephone number; a first notification request unit that transmits a first push notification request to a push notification server together with the first external phone number, the first push notification request requesting that a first push notification be delivered to the mobile phone terminal corresponding to the searched external phone number to notify that the representative call has been received; a first call connection unit that, when an incoming call specifying the first external telephone number is received from the mobile phone terminal that has received the first push notification, connects the mobile phone terminal and a call originator of the representative incoming call so that the call can be made; A telephone system having:

2. a first storage unit that stores the external telephone number and the first external telephone number assigned by the first number assigning unit in association with each other; a first incoming call determination unit that, when an incoming call specifying the first external phone number is received from the mobile phone terminal that has received the first push notification, refers to the first storage unit and determines whether the external phone number of the mobile phone terminal that is a caller is the external phone number to which the first external phone number is assigned, The first call connection unit When it is determined that the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal is the outside line telephone number to which the first outside line telephone number is assigned, the mobile phone terminal and the caller of the representative incoming call are connected so that they can communicate with each other, and when it is determined that the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal is not the outside line telephone number to which the first outside line telephone number is assigned, the mobile phone terminal and the caller of the representative incoming call are not connected. The telephone system of claim 1 .

3. a call holding unit that, when a hold request is made from the mobile phone terminal while the mobile phone terminal and the call originator of the representative incoming call are connected by the first call connection unit, searches for a call assigned to the outside telephone number of the requesting mobile phone terminal and holds the call; a second number assigning unit that assigns a second external telephone number for calling prepared in advance to the external telephone number searched by the number searching unit; a second notification request unit that transmits a second push notification request to the push notification server together with the second external phone number, the second push notification request requesting that a second push notification be delivered to the mobile phone terminal corresponding to the searched external phone number to notify that the representative call has been put on hold; a second call connection unit that connects the mobile phone terminal to the call originator of the representative call that has been put on hold when an incoming call specifying the second external telephone number is received from the mobile phone terminal that has received the second push notification; 10. The telephone system of claim 1, further comprising:

4. a second storage unit that stores the external telephone number and the second external telephone number assigned by the second number assigning unit in association with each other; a second incoming call determination unit that, when an incoming call specifying the second external telephone number is received from the mobile phone terminal that has received the second push notification, refers to the second storage unit and determines whether the external telephone number of the mobile phone terminal that is a caller is the external telephone number to which the second external telephone number is assigned, The second call connection unit When it is determined that the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal is the outside line telephone number to which the second outside line telephone number is assigned, the mobile phone terminal is connected to the caller of the representative incoming call that has put the call on hold, and when it is determined that the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal is not the outside line telephone number to which the second outside line telephone number is assigned, the mobile phone terminal is not connected to the caller of the representative incoming call that has put the call on hold.

4. The telephone system of claim 3.

5. a forwarding destination receiving unit that, when the hold request is made from the mobile phone terminal, displays a list of the outside telephone numbers searched by the number searching unit or a list of users corresponding to the outside telephone numbers, and receives a designation of a forwarding destination; The second number assignment unit assigning the second external telephone number to the external telephone number of the designated forwarding destination; The second notification request unit sending the second push notification request, which requests that the second push notification be delivered to the mobile phone terminal corresponding to the specified forwarding destination, to the push notification server together with the second external telephone number; 5. A telephone system according to claim 3 or 4.

6. a message recording unit that records a message when the representative call remains unanswered for a predetermined period of time or more; a third number assigning unit that assigns a third external telephone number for calling prepared in advance to the external telephone number searched by the number searching unit; a third storage unit that stores the outside telephone number retrieved by the number retrieval unit, the third outside telephone number, and the recorded message data in association with each other; a third notification request unit that transmits, to the push notification server, a third push notification request, together with the third external phone number, to request that a third push notification be delivered to the mobile phone terminal corresponding to the searched external phone number, for notifying that the message has been recorded; a data identification unit that, when an incoming call specifying the third outside line telephone number is received from the mobile phone terminal that has received the third push notification, refers to the third storage unit and identifies the recorded data corresponding to the third outside line telephone number; a data playback unit that plays back the identified recorded data on the mobile phone terminal; 10. The telephone system of claim 1, further comprising:

7. a fourth storage unit that stores the external telephone number and the third external telephone number assigned by the third number assigning unit in association with each other; a third incoming call determination unit that, when an incoming call specifying the third external phone number is received from the mobile phone terminal that has received the third push notification, refers to the fourth storage unit and determines whether the external phone number of the mobile phone terminal that is a caller is the external phone number to which the third external phone number is assigned, The data specifying unit When it is determined that the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal is the outside line telephone number to which the third outside line telephone number is assigned, the recorded data corresponding to the third outside line telephone number is identified, and when it is determined that the outside line telephone number of the mobile phone terminal is not the outside line telephone number to which the third outside line telephone number is assigned, the recorded data corresponding to the third outside line telephone number is not identified.

7. The telephone system of claim 6.

8. a playback status determination unit that, when an incoming call specifying the third external telephone number is received from the mobile phone terminal that has received the third push notification, determines whether the recorded data corresponding to the third external telephone number is being played or has already been played; a playback status notification unit that notifies the mobile phone terminal that the recorded data corresponding to the third external telephone number is being played or has been played when it is determined that the recorded data corresponding to the third external telephone number is being played or has been played; 8. The telephone system of claim 6 or 7, further comprising:

9. When a call is received that specifies a representative telephone number, a step of searching for an outside telephone number of a mobile phone terminal assigned to the representative telephone number is performed; a step of allocating a first external telephone number for calling that has been prepared in advance to the retrieved external telephone number; sending a first push notification request to a push notification server together with the first external telephone number, the first push notification request requesting that a first push notification be delivered to the mobile phone terminal corresponding to the searched external telephone number to notify that the representative call has been received; when an incoming call specifying the first external telephone number is received from the mobile phone terminal that has received the first push notification, connecting the mobile phone terminal and a caller of the representative incoming call so that they can communicate with each other; A program that causes the telephone system to execute

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