Main device, program, and transmission control method

Abstract

To provide a click call transmission control technology capable of automatically selecting and transmitting an appropriate transmission mode.SOLUTION: A main device 1 acquires attribute information (at least one of information related to a terminal ID, an installed OS, a web browser used for transmission request operation, and a communication application program) of a transmission source (a data communication terminal 3 cooperating with a telephone terminal 2 or a portable terminal 4) of a transmission request in the case of receiving the transmission request accompanied with a transmission destination through a data communication network 7. Then, it determines a transmission mode to the transmission destination on the basis of the acquired attribute information. For example, it determines the transmission mode to a relay transmission mode in the case that the transmission source of the transmission request can perform relay transmission, and determines the transmission mode to a V-shaped transmission mode in other cases.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a main device, and more particularly to a transmission control technology for click-to-call.

Background Art

[0002] In a CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) system, click-to-call is used for transmission. Click-to-call includes a V-shaped transmission mode (Click To Callback) and a relay transmission mode (Click To Call). In the V-shaped transmission mode, a main device that receives a transmission request including the designation of a transmission destination via a data communication network makes a call via a telephone network to a telephone terminal associated with the source of this transmission request (the source itself may be this telephone terminal). If a response is received from this telephone terminal via the telephone network, a call is made via the telephone network to the telephone terminal of the transmission destination designated in this transmission request. In the relay transmission mode, if a main device that receives a transmission request including the designation of a transmission destination via a data communication network subsequently receives an incoming call from the source of this transmission request via the telephone network, a call is made via the telephone network to the telephone terminal of the transmission destination designated in this transmission request.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a CTI system that can select a transmission destination on a transmission operation screen displayed on a communication terminal such as a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Data Assistance), a PC (Personal Computer), or a tablet PC, and further specify whether to transmit in the V-shaped transmission mode or the relay transmission mode for the selected transmission destination.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The V-shaped transmission mode can be used with various telephone terminals such as landline telephones, mobile phones, and smartphones as the transmission source. However, when the main device makes a call to the transmission source, a communication path is established between the transmission source and the main device. Therefore, when using the external telephone network for the call between the main device and the transmission source, a call charge is generated on the main device side.

[0006] On the other hand, in the relay transmission mode, when a call arrives from the transmission source at the main device, a communication path is established between the transmission source and the main device. Therefore, even when using the external telephone network for the call between the main device and the transmission source, no call charge is generated on the main device side, and a call charge is generated on the transmission source side. Therefore, the call cost on the main device side can be reduced. In addition, when the transmission source can use the flat-rate service of the external telephone network, the total cost of the main device side and the transmission source side can be reduced. However, the transmission source is limited to devices capable of data communication such as mobile phones and smartphones. For this reason, there are also telephone terminals that cannot use the relay transmission mode.

[0007] In the technology described in Patent Document 1, whether to make a call in the V-shaped transmission mode or in the relay transmission mode is specified to the user via a call operation screen displayed on the communication terminal. For this reason, although the user should specify the relay transmission mode from the viewpoint of reducing the call cost on the main device side, there is a possibility that the user may incorrectly specify the V-shaped transmission mode, or may specify the relay transmission mode even though it is a communication terminal that cannot use the relay transmission mode, and thus may not be able to specify an appropriate transmission mode.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a click call transmission control technology capable of automatically selecting and transmitting an appropriate transmission mode.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, when the main device receives a call request accompanied by a designation of a destination from a communication terminal, it acquires attribute information of this communication terminal (at least one of terminal ID, installed OS (Operating System), Web browser used for the call request operation, and information regarding the communication application program). Then, based on the acquired attribute information, it determines the call mode to the destination. For example, when the communication terminal that is the source of the call request is capable of relay calling, the call mode is determined to be the relay call mode, and if not, the call mode is determined to be the V-shaped call mode. Note that even when the communication terminal that is the source of the call request is capable of relay calling, if a setting is made in advance that the V-shaped call mode should be adopted for that communication terminal, the call mode may be determined to be the V-shaped call mode.

[0010] For example, the present invention is a main device having a V-shaped call function and a relay call function, an attribute information acquisition means for acquiring the attribute information of the communication terminal when receiving a call request accompanied by a designation of a destination from the communication terminal, a call mode determination means for determining, as the call mode, either a V-shaped call mode for making a call using the V-shaped call function or a relay call mode for making a call using the relay call function based on the attribute information of the communication terminal acquired by the attribute information acquisition means, and a call processing means for making a call to the destination specified by the call request according to the call mode determined by the call mode determination means.

Effects of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, since the call mode to the destination is determined based on the attribute information of the source of the call request, when the source of the call request is a communication terminal capable of relay calling, the transmission mode is determined to be the relay call mode, and if not, the transmission mode is determined to be the V-shaped call mode, etc., and an appropriate call mode can be automatically selected and a call can be made.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the CTI system according to the present embodiment.

[0015] As shown in the figure, the CTI system according to the present embodiment includes a main device 1, a telephone terminal 2, a data communication terminal 3, and a mobile terminal 4 housed in the main device 1.

[0016] The telephone terminal 2 is a telephone terminal such as a fixed telephone and is housed in the main device 1 via a telephone network 6. The telephone terminal 2 does not have a data communication function and is therefore not compatible with the relay transmission mode and is only compatible with the V-shaped transmission mode.

[0017] The data communication terminal 3 is a data communication terminal such as a PC or a tablet PC that does not have a telephone function, and is accommodated in the main device 1 via the data communication network 7. Further, the data communication terminal 3 is associated with the telephone terminal 2, and the user of the telephone terminal 2 can use the data communication terminal 3 in cooperation with his or her own telephone terminal 2.

[0018] The mobile terminal 4 is a mobile phone terminal with a data communication function such as a smartphone or a mobile phone, and is accommodated in the main device 1 via each of the telephone network 6 and the data communication network 7. The mobile terminal 4 supports both the V-shaped call mode and the relay call mode.

[0019] The main device 1 supports click calls. When receiving a call request from an accommodated terminal (data communication terminal 3 or mobile terminal 4) via the data communication network 7, based on the attribute information of the transmission source of this call request, the main device 1 determines the call mode to be either the V-shaped call mode or the relay call mode. Specifically, if it is determined based on the attribute information of the transmission source of the call request that the transmission source of the call request is a terminal capable of relay call, it is determined to be in the relay call mode; otherwise, it is determined to be in the V-shaped call mode. Then, according to the determined call mode, a call is made to the call destination specified in the call request.

[0020] FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram for explaining the V-shaped call mode of the CTI system according to the present embodiment.

[0021] Assume that the data communication terminal 3 transmits a call request to the main device 1 via the data communication network 7 in accordance with a user's call request operation using a web browser, with the telephone terminal 5 as the destination and the telephone terminal 2 associated with the data communication terminal 3 as the source (S100). In response to this, the main device 1 acquires the attribute information of the data communication terminal 3 that is the source of the call request (S101). Specifically, from the meta information of the received call request, at least one of the terminal ID of the data communication terminal 3, the installed OS, the web browser used for the call request operation, and the information of the communication application program used for transmitting the call request is acquired as the attribute information of the data communication terminal 3. Then, based on the acquired attribute information, the call mode is determined to be either the V-shaped call mode or the relay call mode. Specifically, if the attribute information of the data communication terminal 3 meets at least one of the conditions 1 to 4 shown in Table 1 below, the call mode is determined to be the relay call mode, and if it does not meet any of them, the call mode is determined to be the V-shaped call mode.

[0022]

Table 1

[0023] Here, since the source of the call request is the data communication terminal 3 that does not have a telephone function, such as a PC or a tablet PC, its attribute information does not meet any of the conditions 1 to 4 shown in Table 1. Therefore, the main device 1 determines the call mode to be the V-shaped call mode (S102).

[0024] Next, the main device 1 sends a call (callback) to the telephone terminal 2 specified as the call source in the call request via the telephone network 6 (S103). When the telephone terminal 2 returns a response to the main device 1 via the telephone network 6 according to the user's response operation (S104), the main device 1 establishes a call path with the telephone terminal 2 (S105), and sends a call to the telephone terminal 5 specified as the call destination in the call request via the telephone network 6 (S106). When the telephone terminal 5 returns a response to the main device 1 via the telephone network 6 according to the user's response operation (S107), the main device 1 establishes a call path with the telephone terminal 5 (S108), and connects the call path with this telephone terminal 5 to the call path with the telephone terminal 2 to relay between the two call paths (S109). Thereby, a call between the telephone terminal 2 and the telephone terminal 5 becomes possible.

[0025] FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram for explaining the relay call mode of the CTI system according to the present embodiment.

[0026] Assume that the mobile terminal 4 sends a call request to the main device 1 via the data communication network 7 with the telephone terminal 5 as the call destination and the mobile terminal 4 as the call source according to the user's call request operation using the Web browser (S120). In response to this, the main device 1 acquires the attribute information of the mobile terminal 4 which is the transmission source of the call request (S121). Specifically, at least one of the terminal ID of the mobile terminal 4, the installed OS, the Web browser used for the call request operation, and the information of the communication application program used for the transmission of the call request is acquired as the attribute information of the mobile terminal 4 from the meta information of the received call request. Then, based on the acquired attribute information, the call mode is determined to be either the V-shaped call mode or the relay call mode. Specifically, if the attribute information of the mobile terminal 4 meets at least one of the conditions 1 to 4 shown in Table 1 above, the call mode is determined to be the relay call mode, and if it does not meet any of them, the call mode is determined to be the V-shaped call mode.

[0027] Here, since the sender of the call request is a mobile phone with a data communication function such as a smartphone or a mobile phone, the attribute information thereof corresponds to any one of the conditions 1 to 4 shown in Table 1. Therefore, the main device 1 determines the call mode to the relay call mode (S122).

[0028] Next, the main device 1 transmits a relay call notification to the mobile terminal 4 specified as the sender in the call request via the data communication network 7 (S123). In response to this, the mobile terminal 4 sends a call to the main device 1 via the telephone network 6 (S124). Then, when the main device 1 receives an incoming call from the mobile terminal 4, it sends a call to the telephone terminal 5 specified as the call destination in the call request via the telephone network 6 (S125). Then, when the telephone terminal 5 returns a response to the main device 1 via the telephone network 6 according to the user's response operation (S126), the main device 1 returns a response to the mobile terminal 4 via the telephone network 6 (S127). Thereby, the main device 1 establishes a call path with the telephone terminal 5 and a call path with the mobile terminal 4 respectively (S128, S129), and connects these call paths to each other to relay between the two call paths (S130). Thereby, a call between the mobile terminal 4 and the telephone terminal 5 becomes possible.

[0029] Next, the details of the main device 1 constituting the CTI system according to the present embodiment will be described.

[0030] As described above, a telephone terminal such as a landline phone can be used for the telephone terminal 2, a data communication terminal without a telephone function such as a PC or a tablet PC can be used for the data communication terminal 3, and a mobile phone terminal with a data communication function such as a smartphone or a mobile phone can be used for the mobile terminal 4. Since these are all existing ones, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

[0031] FIG. 4 is a schematic functional configuration diagram of the main device 1.

[0032] As shown in the figure, the main device 1 includes a telephone network interface unit 10, a data communication network interface unit 11, a call control unit 12, a relay unit 13, a click call control unit 14, an outgoing call request receiving unit 15, an attribute information acquisition unit 16, and an outgoing call mode determination unit 17.

[0033] The telephone network interface unit 10 is an interface for connecting to the telephone network 6, and the data communication network interface unit 11 is an interface for connecting to the data communication network 7.

[0034] The call control unit 12 performs call control processing in cooperation with the telephone terminal 2 or the mobile terminal 4 via the telephone network interface unit 10, thereby establishing a call path via the telephone network 6 between these terminals 2, 4 and the call partner.

[0035] The relay unit 13 relays the call between the telephone terminal 2 or the mobile terminal 4 and the call partner via the call path established by the call control unit 12.

[0036] The click call control unit 14 controls the call control unit 12 to make an outgoing call according to the outgoing call mode (V-shaped outgoing call mode or relay outgoing call mode) determined by the outgoing call mode determination unit 17.

[0037] The outgoing call request receiving unit 15 receives an outgoing call request accompanied by the designation of the destination and the source via the data communication network interface unit 11 from the data communication terminal 3 or the mobile terminal 4.

[0038] The attribute information acquisition unit 16 acquires the attribute information of the source of the outgoing call request received by the outgoing call request receiving unit 15. Specifically, at least one of the terminal ID of the source of the outgoing call request, the installed OS, the Web browser used for the outgoing call request operation, and the information of the communication application program used for the transmission of the outgoing call request is acquired from the meta information of the received outgoing call request as the attribute information of the source of the outgoing call request.

[0039] The transmission mode determination unit 17 determines the transmission mode (V-shaped transmission mode or relay transmission mode) for the transmission request received by the transmission request reception unit 15 based on the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition unit 16. Specifically, if the attribute information of the transmission source of the transmission request meets at least one of the conditions 1 to 4 shown in Table 1 above, the transmission mode is determined to be the relay transmission mode, and if it does not meet any of them, the transmission mode is determined to be the V-shaped transmission mode.

[0040] Note that the functional configuration of the main device 1 shown in FIG. 4 is realized either hard by an integrated logic IC such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or realized software by a computer such as a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). Alternatively, in a general-purpose computer such as a PC equipped with a CPU, a memory, an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk and a flash memory, and a communication interface such as a NIC (Network Interface Card), the CPU loads a predetermined program from the auxiliary storage device onto the memory and executes it to be realized as a process.

[0041] FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts for explaining the transmission process of the main device 1.

[0042] This flow starts when the transmission request reception unit 15 receives a transmission request from the data communication network 7 via the data communication network interface unit 11.

[0043] First, the call request receiving unit 15 notifies the received call request to the attribute information acquisition unit 16. In response to this, the attribute information acquisition unit 16 acquires the attribute information of the transmission source of the call request from the meta information of the notified call request (S200). Specifically, at least one of the terminal ID of the call request source, the installed OS, the web browser used for the call request operation, and the information of the communication application program used for the transmission of the call request is acquired as the attribute information of the transmission source of the call request. Then, the acquired attribute information is notified to the call mode determination unit 17 together with the transmission source of the call request and the information of the destination and the source included in this call request.

[0044] In response to this, the call mode determination unit 17 determines the call mode based on the attribute information of the transmission source of the call request notified from the attribute information acquisition unit 16. First, the call mode determination unit 17 determines whether the terminal ID is included in the attribute information (S201). If it is included (YES in S201), it is determined whether this terminal ID is a mobile number (S202). And if the terminal ID is a mobile number (YES in S202), the call mode is determined to be the relay call mode (S209). On the other hand, if the terminal ID is not included in the attribute information (NO in S201), or even if it is included but it is not a mobile number (NO in S202), the process proceeds to S203.

[0045] Next, in S203, the call mode determination unit 17 determines whether the information of the installed OS is included in the attribute information. If it is included (YES in S203), it is determined whether this installed OS is an OS for mobile terminals (mobile phones, smartphones) such as Apple's iOS (trademark) or Google's Android (trademark) (S204). And if the installed OS is an OS for mobile terminals (YES in S204), the call mode is determined to be the relay call mode (S209). On the other hand, if the information of the installed OS is not included in the attribute information (NO in S203), or even if it is included but it is not an OS for mobile terminals (NO in S204), the process proceeds to S205.

[0046] Next, in S205, the transmission mode determination unit 17 determines whether the attribute information includes information on the Web browser used by the user of the transmission request source for the transmission request operation. If it is included (YES in S205), the transmission mode determination unit 17 determines whether this Web browser is a browser for a mobile terminal (mobile phone, smartphone) such as Apple's Safari (trademark) or Google's Google Chrome (trademark) (S206). If the Web browser is a browser for a mobile terminal (YES in S206), the transmission mode is determined to be the relay transmission mode (S209). On the other hand, if the attribute information does not include information on the Web browser (NO in S205), or if it is included but is not a browser for a mobile terminal (NO in S206), the process proceeds to S207.

[0047] Next, in S207, the transmission mode determination unit 17 determines whether the attribute information includes information on the communication application program. If it is included (YES in S207), the transmission mode determination unit 17 determines whether this communication application program is a program for a mobile terminal (mobile phone, smartphone) (S208). If the communication application program is a program for a mobile terminal (YES in S208), the transmission mode is determined to be the relay transmission mode (S209). On the other hand, if the attribute information does not include information on the communication application program (NO in S207), or if it is included but is not a program for a mobile terminal (NO in S208), since it does not meet any of the conditions 1 to 4 shown in Table 1 above, the transmission mode is determined to be the V-shaped transmission mode (S210).

[0048] When the transmission mode determination unit 17 determines the transmission mode as the relay transmission mode in S209, it notifies the click call control unit 14 to that effect, together with the transmission source, destination, and the information of the transmission source notified from the attribute information acquisition unit 16. In response to this, the click call control unit 14 transmits a relay transmission notification to the transmission source of the transmission request via the data communication network interface unit 11 (S220). Further, the click call control unit 14 notifies the call control unit 12 of a relay transmission reservation accompanied by the designation of the destination and the transmission source (S221).

[0049] In response to this, the call control unit 12 waits for a call to arrive from the transmission source designated in the relay transmission reservation via the telephone network interface unit 10 (S222). Then, when a call arrives from the transmission source, it makes a call to the destination designated in the relay transmission reservation via the telephone network interface unit 10 (S223). And when a response is received from the destination (YES in S224), it returns the response to the transmission source via the telephone network interface unit 10 (S225). Thereby, a communication path is established with each of the transmission source and the destination (S226).

[0050] Next, the relay unit 13 relays between the communication path with the transmission source and the communication path with the destination established by the call control unit 12 (S227). Thereby, communication between the transmission source and the destination becomes possible.

[0051] On the other hand, when the transmission mode determination unit 17 determines the transmission mode as the V-shaped transmission mode in S210, it notifies the click call control unit 14 to that effect, together with the information of the destination and the transmission source notified from the attribute information acquisition unit 16. And the click call control unit 14 notifies the call control unit 12 of a V-shaped transmission activation accompanied by the designation of the destination and the transmission source (S230).

[0052] In response to this, the call control unit 12 makes a call to the calling source via the telephone network interface unit 10 (S231). Then, when a response is received from the calling source (YES in S232), a call path with the calling source is established (S233). Then, the call control unit 12 makes a call to the called destination via the telephone network interface unit 10 (S234). Then, when a response is received from the called destination (YES in S235), a call path with the called destination is established (S236).

[0053] Next, the relay unit 13 relays between the call path with the calling source and the call path with the called destination established by the call control unit 12 (S237). Thereby, a call between the calling source and the called destination becomes possible.

[0054] The above describes one embodiment of the present invention.

[0055] In this embodiment, when the main device 1 receives a call request accompanied by the designation of a called destination (telephone terminal 5) via the data communication network 7, it acquires the attribute information of the transmission source of this call request, and determines the call mode to the called destination based on the acquired attribute information. Therefore, according to this embodiment, when the transmission source of the call request is a communication terminal capable of relay call, the call mode is determined to be the relay call mode, and when it is not, the call mode is determined to be the V-shaped call mode, etc., and an appropriate call mode corresponding to the transmission source of the call request can be automatically selected and a call can be made.

[0056] For example, in the present embodiment, as the attribute information of the transmission source of the call request, at least one of the terminal ID, the installed OS, the Web browser used for the call request operation, and the information regarding the communication application program is acquired. If the acquired attribute information meets at least one of the conditions 1 to 4 shown in Table 1 above, the call mode is determined to be the relay call mode. If it does not meet any of them, the call mode is determined to be the V-shaped call mode. By doing so, when the transmission source of the call request is a communication terminal capable of relay transmission, the call mode can be determined to be the relay call mode, and when it is not, the call mode can be determined to be the V-shaped call mode, so that the call cost on the main device 1 side can be reduced. In addition, when the call source (telephone terminal 2, mobile terminal 4) can use the flat-rate service of the telephone network 6, the total cost on the main device 1 side and the call source (telephone terminal 2, mobile terminal 4) side can be reduced.

[0057] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist thereof.

[0058] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the main device 1 acquires, as the attribute information of the transmission source of the call request, at least one of the terminal ID of the transmission source of the call request, the installed OS, the Web browser used for the call request operation, and the information regarding the communication application program used for the transmission of the call request. If the acquired attribute information meets at least one of the conditions 1 to 4 shown in Table 1 above, the call mode is determined to be the relay call mode. If it does not meet any of them, the call mode is determined to be the V-shaped call mode. However, the present invention is not limited to this. If a setting is made in advance that the V-shaped call mode should be adopted for the transmission source of the call request, even when the acquired attribute information meets at least one of the conditions 1 to 4 shown in Table 1 above, the call mode may be determined to be the V-shaped call mode. By doing so, the call mode of the transmission source of the call request can be determined more flexibly.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0059] 1: Main device 2: Telephone terminal 3: Data communication terminal 4: Mobile terminal 5: Telephone terminal 6: Telephone network 7: Data communication network 10: Telephone network interface unit 11: Data communication network interface unit 12: Call control unit 13: Relay unit 14: Click call control unit 15: Outgoing call request receiving unit 16: Attribute information acquisition unit 17: Outgoing call mode determination unit

Claims

1. A main device having a V-shaped transmission function and a relay transmission function, comprising: attribute information acquisition means for acquiring attribute information of the communication terminal when receiving a transmission request accompanied by designation of a transmission destination from the communication terminal; transmission mode determination means for determining, as a transmission mode, either a V-shaped transmission mode in which transmission is performed using the V-shaped transmission function or a relay transmission mode in which transmission is performed using the relay transmission function based on the attribute information of the communication terminal acquired by the attribute information acquisition means; transmission processing means for performing transmission to the transmission destination designated by the transmission request in accordance with the transmission mode determined by the transmission mode determination means. The main device is characterized by the above.

2. The main device according to claim 1, wherein: the attribute information acquisition means acquires at least one of identification information of the communication terminal, information on the operating system installed in the communication terminal, information on the Web browser of the communication terminal, and information on the communication application program of the communication terminal as the attribute information of the communication terminal; the transmission mode determination means determines the transmission mode to be the relay transmission mode if at least one of the following conditions is met: the identification information of the communication terminal is a mobile phone number, the operating system installed in the communication terminal is for a mobile terminal, the Web browser of the communication terminal is for a mobile terminal, and the communication application program of the communication terminal is for a mobile terminal; and determines the transmission mode to be the V-shaped transmission mode if none of the above conditions is met. The main device is characterized by the above.

3. The main device according to claim 2, wherein: the transmission mode determination means determines the transmission mode to be the V-shaped transmission mode if the communication terminal is pre-set to adopt the V-shaped transmission mode, regardless of whether at least one of the following conditions is met: the identification information of the communication terminal is a mobile phone number, the operating system installed in the communication terminal is for a mobile terminal, the Web browser of the communication terminal is for a mobile terminal, and the communication application program of the communication terminal is for a mobile terminal. The main device is characterized by the above.

4. A program for causing a computer to function as a main device having a V-shaped transmission function and a relay transmission function, When receiving a transmission request accompanied by designation of a destination from a communication terminal, an attribute information acquisition means for acquiring attribute information of the communication terminal; A transmission mode determination means for determining, as a transmission mode, either a V-shaped transmission mode in which transmission is performed using the V-shaped transmission function or a relay transmission mode in which transmission is performed using the relay transmission function, based on the attribute information of the communication terminal acquired by the attribute information acquisition means, and Causing the computer to function as a transmission processing means for performing transmission to the destination specified by the transmission request in accordance with the transmission mode determined by the transmission mode determination means A program characterized by the above.

5. A transmission control method for a main device having a V-shaped transmission function and a relay transmission function, comprising: When receiving a transmission request accompanied by designation of a destination from a communication terminal, Acquiring attribute information of the communication terminal, Determining, as a transmission mode, either a V-shaped transmission mode in which transmission is performed using the V-shaped transmission function or a relay transmission mode in which transmission is performed using the relay transmission function, based on the acquired attribute information of the communication terminal, and Performing transmission to the destination specified by the transmission request in accordance with the determined transmission mode A transmission control method characterized by the above.

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