Emergency call processing apparatus and method in private switching system

Abstract

An emergency call processing apparatus and method in a private switching system according to certain embodiments is available for some emergency telephone numbers, such as 119 and 911, set for emergency. A private branch exchange has more extension subscribers than office lines, and thus the extension subscribers share the office lines. If an emergency outgoing call is attempted when all of the office lines are busy, priority is given to the emergency outgoing call, and one of the busy lines is forcibly intercepted so that the emergency outgoing call can be processed. In particular, when an extension terminal is set in a locking mode, an emergency call can be processed without inconveniently disabling the locking mode through the input of a password, and thus the emergency can be easily coped with. Then, the emergency outgoing call can be easily processed, even if all of the lines are busy or the subscriber terminal is set in the locking mode.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the invention, and many of the attendant advantages thereof, will be readily apparent as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference symbols indicate the same or similar components, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an emergency call processing apparatus and network links thereof in a private branch exchange system according to the invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are flowcharts illustrating an emergency call processing method in a private branch exchange system according to the invention.

Claims

1. An emergency call processing method in a private switching system, comprising the steps of: upon receiving a telephone number for call origination from a user in a locking mode, determining whether the received telephone number matches at least one preset emergency telephone number; andwhen the received telephone number matches said at least one preset emergency telephone number, disabling the locking mode and transmitting an outgoing call corresponding to the received telephone number to a private branch exchange.

2. The emergency call processing method according to claim 1, wherein the determining step comprises: when the received telephone number from the user does not match any emergency telephone number, displaying digit values of the received telephone number by masking;comparing the digit values of the received telephone number sequentially with digit values of a password for disabling the locking mode; andwhen the digit values of the received telephone number match the digit values of the password, disabling the locking mode and transmitting the digit values of the received telephone number to the private branch exchange.

3. The emergency call processing method according to claim 2, wherein the displaying step comprises: when the received telephone number matches at least one of the emergency telephone numbers, displaying the digit values of the received telephone number without masking.

4. An emergency call processing method in a private switching system, comprising the steps of: when digit values of a telephone number for call origination received from a private subscriber terminal match digit values of at least one preset emergency telephone number, determining whether an available line exists at present; andwhen the available line does not exist at present, intercepting at least one occupied line according to a preset priority, allocating said intercepted at least one occupied line for emergency call origination, and transmitting an emergency outgoing call via the allocated line.

5. The emergency call processing method according to claim 4, wherein the preset priority comprises at least one of a priority according to line-occupied time and a priority according to line number set for emergency call origination.

6. An emergency call processing method in a private switching system, comprising the steps of: at a subscriber terminal, upon receiving a telephone number for call origination from a user in a locking mode, determining whether the received telephone number matches at least one preset emergency telephone number;when the received telephone number matches said at least one preset telephone number, at the subscriber terminal, disabling the locking mode and transmitting digit values of the received telephone number to a private branch exchange;at the private branch exchange, upon receiving the digit values from the subscriber terminal, determining whether a line available for emergency call origination corresponding to the received digit values exists; andwhen the line available for emergency call origination does not exist at present, at the private branch exchange, intercepting at least one occupied line according to a preset priority, allocating said intercepted at least one line for emergency call origination, and transmitting an emergency outgoing call via the allocated line.

7. The emergency call processing method according to claim 6, wherein the determining step comprises: when the received telephone number from the user does not match any emergency telephone number, displaying digit values of the received telephone number by masking;comparing the digit values of the received telephone number sequentially to digit values of a password for disabling the locking mode; andwhen the received telephone number matches the digit values of the password, disabling the locking mode and transmitting the digit values of the received telephone number to the private branch exchange.

8. The emergency call processing method according to claim 7, wherein the displaying step comprises: when the received telephone number matches at least one emergency telephone number, displaying the digit values of the received telephone number without masking.

9. The emergency call processing method according to claim 6, wherein the preset priority comprises at least one of a priority according to line-occupied time and a priority according to line number set for emergency call origination.

10. The emergency call processing method according to claim 6, further comprising the step of: synchronizing and registering said at least one preset emergency telephone number between the subscriber terminal and the private branch exchange when carrying out one of initially registering, additionally registering, initially deleting, and additionally deleting said at least one preset emergency telephone number.

11. The emergency call processing method according to claim 10, wherein the synchronizing and registering step comprises: at the subscriber terminal, upon receiving a request for one of emergency telephone number registration and emergency telephone number deletion from the user via a user interface of the subscriber terminal, updating a database of the subscriber terminal according to information relative to a requested emergency telephone number, and transmitting emergency telephone number update information to the private branch exchange; andat the private branch exchange, updating an emergency telephone number database of the private branch exchange according to the emergency telephone number update information transmitted from the subscriber terminal, and transmitting the updated information to a second terminal to synchronize with the second terminal.

12. The emergency call processing method according to claim 10, wherein the synchronizing and registering step comprises: at the private branch exchange, upon receiving a request for one of emergency telephone number registration and emergency telephone number deletion from the user, updating a database of the private branch exchange according to information relative to the requested emergency telephone number, and transmitting emergency telephone number update information to the subscriber terminal to synchronize with the subscriber terminal.

13. An emergency call processing method in a private switching system, comprising the steps of: at a subscriber terminal, upon receiving a telephone number for call origination from a user, determining whether a locking mode is set;at the subscriber terminal, when the locking mode is not set, transmitting digit values of the received telephone number to a private branch exchange;at the private branch exchange, upon receiving the digit values of the received telephone number from the subscriber terminal, comparing the received digit values of the received telephone number to digit values corresponding to emergency telephone numbers previously stored;at the private branch exchange, when the received digit values of the received telephone number match the digit values corresponding to at least one of the emergency telephone numbers previously stored, determining whether a line available for emergency call origination exists; andat the private branch exchange, when the line available for emergency call origination does not exist at present, intercepting at least one occupied line according to a preset priority, allocating said intercepted at least one occupied line for emergency call origination, and transmitting an emergency outgoing call via the allocated said intercepted at least one occupied line.

14. The emergency call processing method according to claim 13, wherein the preset priority comprises at least one of a priority according to line-occupied time and a priority according to line number set for emergency call origination.

15. The emergency call processing method according to claim 13, further comprising: synchronizing and storing an emergency telephone number between the subscriber terminal and the private branch exchange when carrying out one of initially registering, additionally registering, initially deleting, and additionally deleting each of the emergency telephone numbers.

16. The emergency call processing method according to claim 15, wherein the synchronizing and registering step comprises: at the subscriber terminal, upon receiving a request for one of emergency telephone number registration and emergency telephone number deletion from the user via a user interface of the subscriber terminal, updating a database of the subscriber terminal according to information relative to a requested emergency telephone number, and transmitting emergency telephone number update information to the private branch exchange; andat the private branch exchange, updating an emergency telephone number database of the private branch exchange according to the emergency telephone number update information transmitted from the subscriber terminal, and transmitting the updated information to a second terminal to synchronize with the second terminal.

17. The emergency call processing method according to claim 15, wherein the synchronizing and registering step comprises: at the private branch exchange, upon receiving a request for one of emergency telephone number registration and emergency telephone number deletion from an operator, updating a database of the private branch exchange according to information relating to a requested emergency telephone number, and transmitting emergency telephone number update information to the subscriber terminal to synchronize with the subscriber terminal.

18. An emergency call processing apparatus in a private switching system, comprising a call processing unit which, when a telephone number for call origination inputted by a user in a locking mode matches at least one preset emergency telephone number, disables the locking mode and transmits an outgoing call corresponding to the inputted telephone number to a private exchange branch.

19. The emergency call processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the call processing unit comprises: a memory for storing, in a digital format, said at least one preset emergency telephone number and a password for disabling the locking mode;a display unit for displaying digit values of the inputted telephone number by masking; anda controller which, when the inputted telephone number from the user does not match any said at least one preset emergency telephone number, masking the digit values of the inputted telephone number, controlling the display unit to display the digit values of the inputted telephone number, comparing the digit values of the inputted telephone number sequentially with digit values of the password for disabling the locking mode, and when the digit values of the inputted telephone number match the digit values of the password, disabling the locking mode and transmitting the digit values of the inputted telephone number to the private branch exchange.

20. The emergency call processing apparatus according to claim 19, wherein, when the inputted telephone number in the locking mode matches said at least one preset emergency telephone number, the controller controls the display unit to display the digit values of the inputted telephone number without masking.

21. An emergency call processing apparatus in a private switching system, comprising a call processing module which, when digit values of a telephone number for call origination received from a private subscriber terminal match digit values of at least one preset emergency telephone number, determines whether an available line exists at present, and when the available line does not exist at present, the call processing module intercepts at least one occupied line according to a preset priority, allocates the intercepted at least one occupied line for emergency call origination, and transmits an emergency outgoing call via the allocated line.

22. The emergency call processing apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the call processing module comprises a memory for storing information relative to said at least one preset emergency telephone number and the preset priority for intercepting said at least one occupied line.

23. The emergency call processing apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the information relative to the preset priority comprises at least one of priority information according to line-occupied time and priority information according to line number set for emergency call origination.

24. A private switching system, comprising: a subscriber terminal which, when a telephone number for call origination inputted by a user in a locking mode matches at least one preset telephone number, disables the locking mode and transmits digit values of the inputted telephone number; anda private branch exchange which, upon receiving the digit values of the inputted telephone number from the subscriber terminal, determines whether an available line exists at present, and when the available line does not exist at present, the private branch exchange intercepts at least one occupied line according to a preset priority, allocate the intercepted at least one occupied line for emergency call origination, and transmits an emergency outgoing call via the allocated line.

25. The private switching system according to claim 24, wherein the subscriber terminal comprises: a memory for storing, in a digital format, emergency telephone numbers and a password for disabling the locking mode;a display unit for displaying digit values corresponding to the inputted telephone number by masking;a controller which, when the inputted telephone number from the user does not match any one of the emergency telephone numbers, masks the digit values of the inputted telephone number and controls the display unit to display the digit values of the inputted telephone number, and when the inputted telephone number matches the password, the controller disables the locking mode and transmits the digit values of the inputted telephone number sequentially to the private branch exchange.

26. The private switching system according to claim 25, wherein, when the inputted telephone number matches at least one of the emergency telephone numbers, the controller controls the display unit to display the digit values of the inputted telephone number without masking.

27. The private switching system according to claim 25, wherein the preset priority comprises at least one of priority information according to line-occupied time and priority information according to line number set for emergency call origination.

28. A private switching system, comprising: a subscriber terminal which, upon receiving a telephone number for call origination inputted by a user when a locking mode is not set, transmits digit values of the inputted telephone number;a private branch exchange which, upon receiving the digit values of the inputted telephone number from the subscriber terminal, when the received digit values match digit values corresponding to at least one of emergency telephone numbers previously stored, determines whether a line available for emergency call origination exists, and when the line available for emergency call origination does not exist at present, the private branch exchange intercepts at least one occupied line according to a preset priority, allocates the intercepted at least one occupied line for emergency call origination, and transmits an emergency outgoing call via the allocated line.

29. The private switching system according to claim 28, wherein the private branch exchange comprises a memory for storing information relating to the emergency telephone numbers and information relating to the preset priority.

30. The private switching system according to claim 29, wherein the information relating to the preset priority comprises at least one of priority information according to line-occupied time and priority information according to line number set for emergency call origination.