Abstract:
New functions are added to the existing telephone network to provide services of a telecommunications carrier which are intended to deter frauds and crimes committed using telephony. Also, the telephonic circumstances during the commitment of a fraud or crime are preserved to assist prevention of recommitment of a fraud or crime. A voice announcement indicating that a telephone conversation now started will be recorded is issued to a sender in advance. This offers a function that deters frauds and crimes by creating psychological resistance. A warning is issued to the recipient after performing a voiceprint check. The contents of telephone conversations during the commitment of a fraud or crime are played back to provide information necessary to take countermeasures against frauds and crimes.

Description:
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application JP2009-275057 filed on Dec. 3, 2009, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a system for deterring criminal acts performed via telephones (such as frauds), as well as for preventing recommitment of such criminal acts. 
         [0003]    As the network technology has improved, it has become possible to communicate both speech and non-speech information over the same network at the same time. Thus, merging of telephone networks and information communication networks has been realized. Furthermore, information about calls necessary for communications can be controlled on a network, as well as speech information. Communication control can be utilized easily and in various formats by interposing servers that provide communication services. 
         [0004]    However, with the development of the above-described telephone conversation technology on networks, there occur more and more nuisance calls and other problems such as frauds. Therefore, it has become important to take countermeasures against such nuisance calls. 
         [0005]    For example, JP-A-2007-159043 discloses a structure using an anti-nuisance call device which is inserted in the line when a call has arrived at the terminal device of a called party. If the anti-nuisance call device has determined that there is a nuisance call, a supporting person comes into assistance with the terminal device. Prior art references pertinent to the technique of the present invention include RFC2543, RFC2976, and RFC3261. 
         [0006]    With the above-described techniques, it is possible to assist the called party afterward. However, it is impossible to suppress the generation of criminal actions themselves. 
         [0007]    The problems with conventional, general telephone services are described in detail. One example of system configuration of the prior art telephone services is shown in  FIG. 19 , where if a call is made from a phone terminal  1901  of an originator toward a phone terminal  1902  of a recipient, a telephone connection is established via a network  1903 . A SIP server  1904 , an IVR server  1905  and a phone conversation recording server  1906  rarely function unless the destination is a communicating party that assumes some form of service provision or another such as the telecommunications carrier itself or an enterprise&#39;s call center. 
         [0008]    Where conversations between individuals are made, the IVR server  1905  or phone conversation recording server  1906  can be activated but it is difficult to clarify its purpose and advantages. The IVR server  1905  or phone conversation recording server  1906  is merely a means. In order to accept the server as a service provider, it is necessary to operate the server while clarifying its purpose and advantages. In the existing circumstances, neither the IVR server  1905  nor the phone conversation recording server  1906  is accepted into general use as a useful service for person-to-person conversations. 
         [0009]    Plural telecommunications carriers which provide conventional telephone functions offer various countermeasures and services against criminal acts such as nuisance calls. One of the typical countermeasures consists of storing the telephone number of a nuisance call once made and then automatically blocking the next incoming call. Another countermeasure is to reject any incoming call from an originator having a telephone number unknown to the recipient. A further countermeasure is to block any incoming call from a phone number not previously registered in the cell phone. 
         [0010]      FIGS. 20A and 20B  illustrate two examples of sequence of operations performed to carry out the prior art countermeasures against nuisance calls. The two examples are identical in that an incoming call rejection decision  2001  or  2003  and an incoming call rejection process  2002  or  2004  are performed. 
         [0011]    They are identical in service contents although different in service mechanism. The mere difference is whether it is provided to the called party as a carrier&#39;s service or as one function of the phone terminal of the called party. 
         [0012]    This service includes the incoming call rejection decision  2001  or  2003 . In particular, incoming calls from the telephone number of an originator who is regarded as a source of criminal acts (i.e., the number is already known to be used for criminal offenses) are rejected (prevention of recommitment of criminal acts). Otherwise, any incoming call from a telephone number which is not informed to the recipient or which is unknown to the recipient is regarded as malicious and its arrival is rejected without checking whether or not the communicative intent of the originator is malicious (unconditional rejection of incoming calls). 
         [0013]    In the incoming call rejection process  2002  or  2004 , telephone communications with the recipient are not established by sending back a message indicating a busy state to the originator, issuing a voice announcement indicating that the incoming call cannot be accepted, or routing the incoming call to a telephone answering service. 
         [0014]    Consequently, any countermeasure against a first criminal offense is not taken into consideration. Furthermore, there is the problem that if there is an incoming call from a telephone number unknown to the recipient but the call carries a non-malicious message, then the information that the recipient should accept cannot be obtained. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    The above-described problem can be solved by a phone conversation recording system for recording the contents of phone conversations between terminals in accordance with the present invention, the recording system having an incoming call connection server for controlling a call connection between the terminals, a voice message answering server for sending a voice message to the originator terminal, and a phone conversation recording server for recording the contents of the phone conversations between the conversationally communicating terminals. When a request for a call connection is received from the originator terminal, the call connection server routes the request to the voice message answering server, which in turn informs the originator terminal issuing the call connection request that the contents of phone conversations will be recorded. When phone conversations are performed between the originator terminal and the receiver terminal, the phone conversation recording server relays and records the contents of the conversations. 
         [0016]    The present invention makes it possible to deter criminal acts and to preserve and refer to information capable of reproducing criminal circumstances, if a criminal act was done, by adding new functions to the existing system. 
         [0017]    The other objects and methods of achieving the objects will be readily understood in conjunction with the description of embodiments of the present invention and the drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of a whole system according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  shows a functional diagram of phone terminals and a network; 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  shows a functional diagram of a handle server; 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  shows a functional diagram of an SIP server; 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  shows a functional diagram of an IVR server; 
           [0023]      FIG. 6  shows a functional diagram of a phone conversation recording server; 
           [0024]      FIG. 7  illustrates a subscriber information table in the handle server; 
           [0025]      FIG. 8  illustrates a flowchart depicting a sequence of processing steps of a subscriber information registration routine; 
           [0026]      FIG. 9  illustrates a sequence of processing steps of the subscriber information registration routine; 
           [0027]      FIG. 10A  illustrates the contents of a phone conversation recording table stored in the server; 
           [0028]      FIG. 10B  illustrates the contents of a registered voiceprint table stored in the server; 
           [0029]      FIG. 11  illustrates a flowchart depicting a sequence of processing steps for a phone conversation recording routine; 
           [0030]      FIG. 12  illustrates a flowchart depicting a sequence of processing steps of a voiceprint check routine; 
           [0031]      FIG. 13  illustrates a sequence of processing steps of the phone conversation recording routine; 
           [0032]      FIG. 14  illustrates a flowchart depicting a sequence of processing steps of a recorded phone conversation playback routine; 
           [0033]      FIG. 15  illustrates a sequence of processing steps of the recorded phone conversation playback routine; 
           [0034]      FIG. 16  illustrates a subscriber information table in an SIP server; 
           [0035]      FIG. 17  illustrates a subscriber information table in a phone conversation recording server; 
           [0036]      FIG. 18  illustrates a table depicting an example of a set of recording deletion criteria; 
           [0037]      FIG. 19  shows a block diagram depicting one prior art system; and 
           [0038]      FIGS. 20A and 20B  illustrate two examples of sequence of operations for taking the prior art countermeasure against nuisance calls. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0039]    It can be expected that criminal acts will be deterred and that losses due to recommitment of criminal acts by the same fraudster will be suppressed by adopting the inventive configuration described herein. 
         [0040]    The telecommunications carrier vocally informs the originator that the phone conversation will be recorded and then the incoming call is accepted. Thus, it is expressed clearly in advance that a vocal recording constituting a proof will be made. This urges a malicious originator to recognize a decrease in the anonymousness, making him wary of arrest and punishment. As a result, he would be compelled to be refrained from committing a criminal act. In this way, criminal acts would be deterred. 
         [0041]    In order to suppress losses due to recommitment of crimes by the same fraudster or criminal, voiceprint data obtained from the newest speech recording is compared against voiceprint data extracted from speech recordings of past crimes. When a hit is obtained or the probability of coincidence is in excess of a given value, a warning is given to the recipient or system administrator. Thus, repeated criminal acts by the same fraudster can be deterred based on information obtained from past recordings. 
         [0042]    Therefore, criminal circumstances are preserved as reproducible information to which reference can be made. This secures recording of criminal acts. Furthermore, information necessary in analyzing the modi operandi of crimes and groping for a countermeasure is made more objective than information derived from memory of defrauded persons. In addition, voiceprint data necessary to prevent recommitment of criminal acts as described later can be extracted. 
         [0043]    A mode of practice of the present invention is hereinafter described with reference to the drawings. The configuration of the whole system and each component or device are described.  FIG. 1  shows the whole system configuration according to the invention. The system is an SIP (session initiation protocol)-based IP telephony service network. In the present embodiment, servers  104 ,  105 ,  106 , and  107  are added to and coordinated with an existing network  103 , thus affecting communications between a phone terminal  101  of an originator and a phone terminal  102  of a recipient. 
         [0044]    The originator in  FIG. 1  indicates any one of the general public who wants to establish a telephone conversation with the recipient. The recipient in  FIG. 1  is a person who receives the services of the present invention. Incoming calls from an originator destined to a non-subscriber recipient are handled according to the existing telephone service procedures. 
         [0045]    Existing devices or equipment may be intact used respectively as the phone terminal  101  used by the originator, the phone terminal  102  used by the recipient, and the network  103  via which phone conversations are communicated. The handle server  104  acts as a user interface when the subscriber receives the services of the present invention. The handle server  104  offers environments under which service settings are registered or updated to the subscriber, and acts also as a port through which the subscriber replays and listens to the contents of the recorded phone conversations. The handle server functions preserve and manage the contents of settings for each individual subscriber. When an addition or alteration to the settings is made, the handle server transmits the update information to the SIP server  105  and the phone conversation recording server  107 . 
         [0046]    When there is an incoming call on the subscriber, the SIP server  105  makes a decision as to whether operations for providing services should be performed. The SIP server  105  has the functions of the existing SIP server to which the functions of a decision and a judgment (i.e., a decision made as to whether the destination of the incoming call is a subscriber to the services of the present invention and a condition judgment previously set by the subscriber with the handle server using the telephone number of the originator) are added. If the result of the condition judgment is that the processing of services is made to progress, call control is transferred to the IVR server  106 . If the result is that the services are not applied, the present server continues the normal telephonic services. 
         [0047]    The IVR (interactive voice response) server  106  once receives the incoming call routed from the SIP server  105 , issues to the originator a voice message that the contents of the phone conversation will be recorded, and then routes the call to the phone conversation recording server  107 . 
         [0048]    The phone conversation recording server  107  establishes the call received from the IVR server  106 . That is, the server  107  causes the recipient to accept the call. The call connection is maintained until the call is disconnected, and the contents of the phone conversation are recorded. After the disconnection of the call, the recorded voice information is stored in the database of the server itself. The server  107  extracts voiceprint data about the originator and compares it against the voiceprint data about registered persons under surveillance. If a hit is obtained or the rate of coincidence is in excess of a given value, a warning is delivered to the system administrator and to the recipient. 
         [0049]    In the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , there are mounted the individual servers  104 - 107 . These servers do not need to be physically separate servers. Instead, they may be realized by their equivalent functions present on a network. Therefore, some of the functions of the individual servers  104 - 107  may be realized by a physically single server. 
         [0050]    The components of the above-described system are next described.  FIG. 2  shows the structures of the phone terminals of the originator and of the recipient, as well as the network. The phone terminal  101  of the originator and the phone terminal  102  of the recipient are identical in functions associated with the present invention. 
         [0051]    The function used by the sender for transmission to ask the recipient to receive an incoming call when a phone conversation is performed via the network  103  is defined as a transmitter portion  201 . The function used to inform the recipient that the phone terminal is receiving the request for acceptance of the incoming call is defined as a receiver portion  202 . The function which is used by the recipient to perform a phone conversation with an originator after recognizing the request for acceptance of the incoming call and which is employed to establish and maintain the call until the end of the conversation and to control the disconnection of the call is defined as a conversational portion  203 . The functions illustrated in  FIG. 2  are realized by existing techniques. The network  103  is the whole equipment realized by the existing techniques and includes a function of controlling the call between the phone terminal of the sender and the phone terminal of the recipient within the network. 
         [0052]      FIG. 3  shows the structure of the server having the handle server functions which act as a user interface when the subscriber receives the services of the present invention. The handle server functions offer environments in which the subscriber registers or updates service settings. When the subscriber replays and listens to the contents of the recorded phone conversations, the handle server functions act as a port. Additionally, the handle server functions preserve and manage the contents of the settings for each individual subscriber. When there is an addition or alteration to the settings, the handle server functions transfer the update information to the SIP server functions and to the phone conversation recording server functions. 
         [0053]    The handle server functions are composed of functions realized by existing techniques and functions associated with the present invention. The former functions realized by the existing techniques are implemented by a network interface (NW I/F) portion  301  and a server control portion  302 . The network interface portion  301  performs communications with other servers. The server control portion  302  controls the whole process of the server. The functions associated with the invention are implemented by a subscriber information management portion  303  and a recording content referring portion  304 . The subscriber information management portion  303  manages information about the settings of the service subscribers and acts as a user interface. In addition, the management portion  303  expands the registered and updated setting information into the SIP server  105  and into the phone conversation recording server  107 . 
         [0054]    The recording content referring portion  304  functions as a user interface in a case where a service subscriber replays and listens to the recorded phone conversations. The referring portion  304  asks the recording server  107  to route the information about the conversation to be replayed and receives the information. Then, the referring portion plays back the contents of the conversation. 
         [0055]      FIG. 7  shows a subscriber information table used by the server having the handle server functions. The subscriber information table holds information necessary to sort phone conversations to which the services of the present invention are applied and information about the destination when a warning is produced. Besides, the details of the contents of the services for each subscriber such as settings of criteria by which recordings of the contents of phone conversations are deleted are recorded. The handle server functions act to keep the subscriber information table used by the other server functions up to date. 
         [0056]    The subscriber information table used by the handle server functions is a master table for the subscriber information table used for the other server functions. The other server functions simply refer to a table holding a copy of the contents of the master table and do not add, erase, alter, or otherwise process information. In terms of certain server functions, the information held in the subscriber information table is not different in meaning from the information held in the master table. 
         [0057]    Where plural server functions including the handle server functions are realized on a single physical server, it is not necessary to create a subscriber information table for each individual server function. Since each server function refers to the subscriber information table managed by the handle server functions, transfer of update information between servers via the network is dispensed with. 
         [0058]    Therefore, in both subscriber information table used by each server function and subscriber information table of the handle server functions (i.e., the master table), identical reference numerals are used to indicate identical components of each table. 
         [0059]    The components of the subscriber information table of  FIG. 7  are now described. A personal ID  701  is an identification number uniquely assigned to each subscriber. A single ID is given to each one subscriber. However, to permit a single subscriber to have plural phone lines, plural telephone numbers can be linked to a single ID. When a subscriber replays and listens to the contents of recorded phone conversations, a search is done using his personal ID  701  as the main key. 
         [0060]    A password  702  giving information for identifying the subscriber himself is used together with a personal ID when a subscriber checks or modifies the contents of the subscriber information table, for example, via a website. Recording deletion criteria  703  hold the types of deletion criteria and the settings of quantitative data that supplement the contents of the criteria to permit old recordings under certain conditions to be deleted. 
         [0061]    One example of content of the recording deletion criteria  703  is shown in  FIG. 18 . The reason why plural deletion criteria are provided is to prevent a malicious person from finding out the period of the recording deletion. Type  712  in  FIG. 18  is a value derived from conditions under which a deletion decision is made (items  713 ) to facilitate processing of the conditions on the server. Values  714  and  715  of  FIG. 18  are parameters complementarily used to quantitatively define the conditions under which the deletion decision is made. The type  712  and the values  714  and  715  are converted into numerical values and set into the recording deletion criteria  703 . 
         [0062]    For example, where type  712 =0, value  714 =0, and value  715 =no value (or 0) are set into the recording deletion criteria  703  as shown in  FIG. 18 , phone conversation recordings are deleted in turn from the oldest one when the total time of phone conversation recordings of the subscriber has exceeded 100 hours, until the total time including the newest recording of phone conversation becomes less than 100 hours. 
         [0063]    A voiceprint check request  704  makes a decision for each subscriber as to whether or not a voiceprint check is done after a recording of a phone conversation. The contact address  705  of a recipient holds the contact address (such as an e-mail address) of the subscriber when a warning has been issued. The following is information linked to each telephone line for the subscribers. In the illustrated example, one subscriber can subscribe to up to two telephone lines. Active line numbers  706  and  709  set telephone numbers of subscribers to which the services of the present invention are applied. 
         [0064]    Recording-unserviced line numbers  707 ,  708 ,  710 , and  711  means that if the telephone number of the destination of the call is coincident with any one of the active phone line numbers but the telephone number of the originator is coincident with any one of these unserviced line numbers, then the services of the present invention are not applied. When the subscriber does not want to record the contents of the phone conversation with a certain originator, information indicating this is set. 
         [0065]    The configuration of the server having the SIP server functions is shown in  FIG. 4 . The SIP server functions make a decision as to whether the services of the present invention are applied or normal telephonic services are continued when an incoming call to a subscriber occurs from an unspecified originator. The SIP server functions are composed of the functions realized by the existing techniques and functions associated with the present invention. 
         [0066]    The functions realized by the existing techniques are implemented by a network interface portion  401  and a server control portion  402 . The network interface portion  401  performs communications with other server. The server control portion  402  controls the whole process of the SIP server. The functions associated with the present invention are implemented by a subscriber information registration portion  403 , a condition decision portion  404 , a subscriber check portion  405 , a service application decision portion  406 , and a transfer portion  407 . The subscriber information registration portion  403  causes the subscriber information expanded from the handle server  104  to be registered or updated into the database in the SIP server. 
         [0067]    When there is an incoming call from an originator, the condition decision portion  404  routes the call to the IVR server  106  and makes a decision as to whether the services are applied or the normal telephonic services are continued. The condition decision portion  404  has the subscriber check portion  405  and the service application decision portion  406  to confirm the conditions in further detail. 
         [0068]    The subscriber check portion  405  makes a decision as to whether the telephone number of the destination matches any one of the telephone numbers of the service subscribers registered in the subscriber information. If the subscriber check portion  405  has determined that the destination has a subscriber&#39;s telephone number, the service application decision portion  406  makes a decision as to whether the telephone number of the originator is set as a telephone number which is registered in the subscriber information and to which phone conversation recording is not applied. 
         [0069]    If the condition decision portion  404  has determined that the application of the services is carried out, the transfer portion  407  routes call control to the IVR server  106 .  FIG. 16  shows a subscriber information table used by the server having the SIP server functions. The SIP server functions make a decision as to whether or not the services of the present invention are applied, using the telephone number of the destination of the call, the telephone number of the originator, and the subscriber information table. 
         [0070]    This subscriber information table is identical in configuration, content, and meaning to the subscriber information table in the handle server. Pieces of information not used by the SIP server functions are indicated by diagonal lines. A check is made if the telephone number of the destination of the call is present in the active line number  706  or  709  in the subscriber information table. Furthermore, if it is confirmed that the number of the originator does not exist in the unserviced line numbers  707 ,  708 ,  710 , or  711 , then the services of the present invention are applied. 
         [0071]    The configuration of the server having the IVR server functions is shown in  FIG. 5 . The IVR server functions once receive the call routed from the SIP server  105  and issue a voice announcement to the originator to the effect that the contents of the telephonic conversation will be recorded. Then, the IVR server functions route the call to the phone conversation recording server  107 . The IVR server is composed of functions realized by the existing techniques and functions associated with the present invention. The functions realized by the existing techniques are implemented by a network interface portion  501  and a server control portion  502 . The network interface portion  501  performs communications with other server. The server control portion  502  controls the whole process of the IVR server. The functions associated with the present invention are implemented by an announcement portion  503  and a transfer portion  504 . 
         [0072]    The announcement portion  503  receives the call routed from the SIP server  105 , once causes the IVR server  106  to accept the call from the sender, and issues a voice announcement to the sender to the effect that recording will be started after the acceptance of the call by the recipient and the conversation recording will be stored. More specifically, a prerecorded voice announcement is played back and sent into the phone terminal  101  of the sender. Then, call control is transferred to the next transfer portion  504 . The transfer portion  504  routes the call to the phone conversation recording server  107 . The IVR server functions use no data table. 
         [0073]      FIG. 6  shows the configuration of the server having the phone conversation recording server functions. The phone conversation recording server functions establish the call received from the IVR server  106  (i.e., prompt the recipient to accept the call), maintain the connection until the call is disconnected, and record the contents of the conversation. After the disconnection of the call, the recorded speech information is registered and stored in the database of the server itself. Voiceprint data about the originator is extracted and compared with the voiceprint data about the registered persons under surveillance. 
         [0074]    When a hit is obtained or the rate of coincidence is higher than a given value, a warning is issued to the system administrator and to the recipient. The phone conversation recording server is composed of functions realized by the existing techniques and functions associated with the present invention. The functions realized by the existing techniques are implemented by a network interface portion  601  and a server control portion  602 . The network interface portion  601  performs communications with other server. 
         [0075]    The server control portion  602  controls the whole process of the phone conversation recording server. The functions associated with the present invention are implemented by a phone conversation recording management portion  603 , a phone conversation recording portion  604 , a voiceprint data registration portion  605 , a voiceprint check portion  606 , a phone conversation list creating portion  607 , and a phone conversation recording transfer portion  608 . The phone conversation recording management portion  603  records the recorded speech data and ancillary information and performs various kinds of processing on the speech recording table (such as information addition, saving, search, and erasure). The present functions provide control of the functions of the phone conversation recording server, give instructions about operation of various functions activated along the flow of processing, and transmit and receive information. 
         [0076]    The phone conversation recording portion  604  stores data about speech during a phone conversation into the server. After the end of the conversation, the recording portion  604  passes information to be registered to the phone conversation recording management portion  603 . In the present example where a network is assumed, speech uttered by the sender toward the recipient and speech uttered by the recipient toward the sender are each taken as an independent speech and recorded. Therefore, two speech data sets are created for one session of telephone conversation. 
         [0077]    The voiceprint data registration portion  605  performs various kinds of processing (such as addition, saving, search, and deletion) on the registered voiceprint table in which voiceprint data obtained in the past from fraudsters and criminals are stored. The addition and deletion of voiceprint data are not allowed to be done at will by service subscribers from a viewpoint of protection of personal information. Rather, these operations are done only on the authority of the server administrator or service administrator. Addition or deletion of information to or from the registered voiceprint table may be done at any time. The processing for the addition or deletion is a simple operation for adding or deleting a record to or from the database and so a flowchart and a description of a sequence of operations for such processing are omitted herein. 
         [0078]    The voiceprint check portion  606  extracts voiceprint information from the sender speech data registered in the recording table, compares the extracted voiceprint information against the voiceprint information in the registered voiceprint table, and makes a decision as to whether there is a hit. If the result of the decision is that there is a hit or the rate of coincidence is higher than a given value, a warning is issued to the contact address of the recipient and to the service administrator, together with the result of the decision. 
         [0079]    When a service subscriber refers to the recordings of phone conversations via the handle server  104 , the phone conversation list creating portion  607  creates a list of records in the recorded speech table, where the service subscriber is registered as a recipient, and sends the list back to the handle server  104 . The contents of the list of the phone conversations sent back do not contain speech data, taking account of the influence on the communication band. 
         [0080]    When a service subscriber has made a request for playback of a phone conversation that he wants to hear via the handle server  104 , the phone conversation recording transfer portion  608  routes the corresponding sender speech data and recipient speech data to the handle server  104 .  FIG. 17  shows a subscriber information table used by the server having the phone conversation recording server functions. The conversation recording server functions use the subscriber information table in storing post-recording phone conversation data and ancillary information, making a decision as to whether voiceprint is checked, or deriving information about the contact address upon issuance of a warning. 
         [0081]    The subscriber information table of  FIG. 17  is identical in configuration, content, and meaning to the subscriber information table in the handle server. The pieces of information not used by the phone conversation recording server functions are indicated by diagonal lines.  FIGS. 10A and 10B  show a speech recording table and a registered voiceprint table, respectively, used by the phone conversation recording server  107 . The speech recording table stores the recordings of phone conversations made by the phone conversation recording server, together with ancillary information such as date. When a subscriber makes a request for confirmation or playback, information about the corresponding phone conversation is offered to the handle server. 
         [0082]    The registration voiceprint table holds samples of voiceprints extracted from the speeches of past fraudsters and criminals. Voiceprints extracted from post-recording speech data about the sender are compared against the samples of voiceprint held in the registered voiceprint table and a confirmation is made as to whether a hit is obtained. 
         [0083]    The components of the phone conversation recording table of  FIG. 10A  are next described. A recording ID  1001  is a number automatically assigned uniquely from the server for each recording of a session of phone conversation, and is used for identification of the recording of each individual phone conversation. A recipient of interest has the personal ID  701  in the subscriber information table. The value of the personal ID  701  is put in a cell of a personal ID  1002 , and is used to extract the recording of the corresponding subscriber when the recording of the phone conversation is replayed and listened to. Cells of phone conversation start time  1003  and conversation time  1004  hold the date and time at which a recording of a phone conversation was made and the conversation time. A cell of receiver line number  1005  holds the telephone number of the subscriber whose incoming call has been accepted. 
         [0084]    A cell of a transmitter line number  1006  holds the telephone number of the originator. Cells of sender speech data  1007  and recipient speech data  1008  hold a reproducible audio data set in which two speeches (respectively uttered by the sender and recipient) within one session of telephone conversation are separately recorded. If voiceprint data  1011  held in the registered voiceprint table contains a data set that can be judged to match any voiceprint extracted from the sender speech data  1007 , then the value of a voiceprint ID  1010  of that voiceprint data is recorded in a cell of alert log  1009 . 
         [0085]    The components of the registered voiceprint table of  FIG. 10B  are next described. The voiceprint ID  1010  is a uniquely assigned number and acts as a main key in the registered voiceprint table. The voiceprint data  1011  is used for comparison with the voiceprint extracted from the recording of the phone conversation of the originator. Cells of ancillary information  1012  hold samples of voiceprints extracted from the speeches of past fraudsters and criminals. That is, the cells of ancillary information  1012  hold information necessary to identify the fraudster or criminal corresponding to the voiceprint data  1011 . 
         [0086]    The services of the present invention consist of three independent routines: subscriber information registration routine, phone conversation recording routine, and recording playback routine. The contents of the routines are described below. 
         [0087]    The subscriber information registration routine is used to cause information necessary before the service subscriber accepts the services to be registered in the carrier. A service subscriber logs in the handle server  104  and registers necessary information. The registered contents are reflected in the cells  701 - 711  of the subscriber information table of  FIG. 7 . After establishment of the contents of the registration, the handle server  104  expands the necessary information into the SIP server  105  and into the phone conversation recording server  107 . 
         [0088]      FIG. 8  illustrates a flowchart for executing the subscriber information registration routine, the flowchart including steps  801 - 807 .  FIG. 9  illustrates a sequence of operations (steps)  901 - 912  of the subscriber information registration routine. In the following description of the processing illustrated in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , it is assumed that a service subscriber uses the phone terminal  102  in performing communications with the handle server  104 . 
         [0089]    The flow of processing is described with reference to the flowchart of  FIG. 8 . First, at step  801  of  FIG. 8 , the handle server  104  communicates information (personal ID  701  and password  702 ) enabling settings necessary for a service subscriber to receive the services of the present invention. In particular, the following processing is performed. 
         [0090]    The subscriber information management portion  303  included in the handle server  104  adds a new record to the subscriber information table within the server. The management portion  303  registers the values of the personal ID  701 , password  702 , line number  706  used by the service subscriber, and active line number  709  (in a case where plural lines are used) into the newly added record. The other values are set to values arbitrarily set by the carrier or to null values (i.e., the cells are empty and have no values). 
         [0091]    The subscriber information management portion  303  communicates the personal ID  701  and password  702  to the service subscriber via e-mail or other means. The processing performed thus far is the operation  901  of  FIG. 9 . The steps  801  and  901  are performed only once before the service subscriber receives the services and first logs in the handle server  104 . In a case where the service subscriber already performed the subscriber information registration routine once, the steps  801  and  901  are omitted. 
         [0092]    At steps  801  and  901 , the handle server  104  does not expand information contained in new records in the subscriber information table into the SIP server  105  or into the phone conversation recording server  107 . The expansion of the information is carried out when the service subscriber updates the subscriber information and furthermore the request is reflected in the following processing. 
         [0093]    Then, at step  802  of  FIG. 8 , the service subscriber logs in the handle server  104 . The subscriber information management portion  303  in the handle server  104  confirms that the combination of the entered personal ID and password matches one of the combinations in the records within the subscriber information table ( FIG. 7 ) in the server. If the confirmation is done successfully, a message indicating completion of authentication and a menu prompting registration and update of the set information are sent back to the service subscriber. This process corresponds to steps  902  and  903  of  FIG. 9 . 
         [0094]    Then, at step  803  of  FIG. 8 , the service subscriber updates the contents of the corresponding record in the subscriber information table ( FIG. 7 ) within the server through the menu presented from the handle server  104 . The subscriber information management portion  303  in the handle server  104  receives the information in the record required to be updated by the service subscriber through the menu, and enters updating information and contents into the record of the subscriber information table of the server shown in  FIG. 7 . Information that can be updated by the service subscriber includes password  702 , recording deletion criteria  703 , voiceprint check request  704 , contact address  705  of the recipient, and unserviced line numbers  707 ,  708 ,  710 , and  711  for each active line number. This updating operation corresponds to step  904  of  FIG. 9 . 
         [0095]    Then, at step  804  of  FIG. 8 , the service subscriber asks the handle server  104  to establish the information in the updated record (i.e., to update the record in the subscriber information table). This corresponds to step  905  of  FIG. 9 . In response to the request from the service subscriber, the subscriber information management portion  303  in the handle server  104  updates and establishes the information in the corresponding record within the subscriber information table shown in  FIG. 7 . This corresponds to step  906  of  FIG. 9 . 
         [0096]    Then, at step  805  of  FIG. 8 , the handle server  104  expands the contents of update of the subscriber information table into the SIP server  105 . Where the handle server  104  and SIP server  105  coexist as virtual servers on the same physical server, the subscriber information table to which the two servers make reference is the common table within the same physical server and so the SIP server  105  does not perform the following routine for updating the subscriber information table. Control goes to the next processing without performing step  805 . 
         [0097]    Where the handle server  104  expands the update information into the SIP server  105 , the subscriber information management portion  303  in the handle server  104  sends the update information about the subscriber information table to the subscriber information registration portion  403  of the SIP server  105 . This corresponds to step  907  of  FIG. 9 . 
         [0098]    In response to the update information, the subscriber information registration portion  403  of the SIP server  105  updates the information in the subscriber information table within the server. This corresponds to step  908  of  FIG. 9 . 
         [0099]    Then, at step  806  of  FIG. 8 , the handle server  104  expands the contents of the updated subscriber information table into the phone conversation recording server  107 . Where the handle server  104  and phone conversation recording server  107  coexist as virtual servers on the same physical server, the subscriber information table to which the two servers make reference is the common table within the same physical server and so the conversation recording server  107  does not perform the following routine for updating the subscriber information table. Control goes to the next processing without performing step  806 . 
         [0100]    Where the SIP server  105  and the phone conversation recording server  107  coexist as virtual servers on the same physical server, the subscriber information table to which the two servers make reference is the common table within the same physical server and so the recording server  107  performs the following routine for updating the subscriber information table only for information  703 ,  704 , and  705  necessary for the phone conversation recording routine. 
         [0101]    Where the handle server  104  expands the update information into the phone conversation recording server  107 , the subscriber information management portion  303  of the handle server  104  sends update information about the subscriber information table to the phone conversation recording management portion  603  of the phone conversation recording server  107 . This corresponds to step  909  of  FIG. 9 . 
         [0102]    In response to the update information, the phone conversation recording management portion  603  of the phone conversation recording server  107  updates the information in the subscriber information table within the server. This corresponds to step  910  of  FIG. 9 . 
         [0103]    Then, at step  807  of  FIG. 8 , the service subscriber terminates the update menu about the subscriber information, the menu being provided from the handle server  104 , and makes a check as to whether the subscriber logs out. If the subscriber logs out, the subscriber information management portion  303  in the handle server  104  terminates the subscriber information registration routine. This corresponds to step  911  of  FIG. 9 . 
         [0104]    The subscriber information management portion  303  in the handle server  104  performs step  912  of  FIG. 9  to carry out a logout operation by leaving behind information occurring before and after the update in the log. If the subscriber does not log out, the subscriber information management portion  303  in the handle server  104  determines that the subscriber information table updating routine is continued, and control returns to step  803 . In the phone conversation recording routine, if there is an incoming call to the service subscriber, a decision is made based on conditions and settings as to whether the services of the present invention are applied. If the decision is that the services should be applied, a voice announcement indicating that the phone conversation will be recorded is issued to the recipient. The conversation is recorded. The recording is registered in the recording table. A voiceprint check is performed. 
         [0105]      FIG. 11  illustrates a flowchart depicting the phone conversation recording routine, the flowchart including steps  1101 - 1114 .  FIG. 12  illustrates a flowchart depicting a Voiceprint Check subroutine including steps  1201 - 1202 . The Voiceprint Check subroutine is a part of the phone conversation recording routine. Step  1113  of  FIG. 11  corresponds to steps  1201 - 1205  of  FIG. 12 .  FIG. 13  illustrates a sequence of operations  1301 - 1316  of the phone conversation recording routine. In the following description, it is assumed that the originator and recipient use the phone terminals  101  and  102 , respectively. 
         [0106]    The flow of processing is described by referring to the flowcharts of  FIGS. 11 and 12 . First, at step  1101  of  FIG. 11 , if an originator attempts to make a telephone call to a recipient, an incoming call occurs. The SIP server  105  detects the call from the originator. This detection is the function intrinsic to the SIP server  105 . This corresponds to the operation  1301  of  FIG. 13 . 
         [0107]    The next processing consists of steps  1102  and  1103  of  FIG. 11 . A decision is made as to whether the services of the present invention should be applied in response to the generated call. For this purpose, the condition decision portion  404  in the SIP server  105  compares the information about the call (i.e., the telephone number of the recipient and the telephone number of the originator) with the information contained in the subscriber information table within the server. 
         [0108]    The condition decision portion  404  in the SIP server  105  has a function of performing two checks. One is implemented by the subscriber check portion  405  that makes a decision as to whether the telephone number of the destination is a telephone number registered by a service subscriber. The other is implemented by the service application decision portion  406  that makes a decision as to whether the telephone number of the originator matches any one of the unserviced telephone numbers which is set by the service subscriber and to which the services of the invention are not applied. 
         [0109]    Then, at step  1102  of  FIG. 11 , the SIP server  105  makes a decision as to whether the telephone number of the destination matches the telephone number of any one of the service subscribers. The subscriber check portion  405  in the condition decision portion  404  of the SIP server  105  makes a check as to whether the telephone number of the destination is coincident with information  706  about the active line number  1  or information  709  about the active line number  2  in the subscriber information table in the server. If there is a coincident record, control proceeds to the next step  1103 . 
         [0110]    If no match is found, it is determined that the telephone number of the destination is not any one of the line numbers used by the service subscribers and that the services of the present invention are not applied. Control then proceeds to normal telephonic services. That is, control goes to step  1114  of  FIG. 11 . 
         [0111]    Then, at step  1103  of  FIG. 11 , the SIP server  105  makes a check as to whether the services of the present invention should be applied to the telephone number of the originator. The service application decision portion  406  in the condition decision portion  404  of the SIP server  105  makes a check as to whether the telephone number of the originator matches any one of the line numbers  707 ,  708 ,  710 , and  711  registered as unserviced numbers in the corresponding record of the subscriber information table within the server. 
         [0112]    If there is a match, it follows that the telephone number of the originator is a number for which phone conversation recording is set to be unnecessary by the service subscriber. Therefore, it is determined that the services of the present invention are not applied to this telephone number. Control proceeds to normal telephonic services. That is, control goes to step  1114  of  FIG. 11 . 
         [0113]    If no match is found, the telephone number of the originator is judged to be a telephone number to which the services of the invention are applied. Control proceeds to the next step  1104  of  FIG. 11 . Steps  1102  and  1103  of  FIG. 11  correspond to the operation  1302  of  FIG. 13 . 
         [0114]    Then, at step  1104  of  FIG. 11 , the SIP server  105  routes the call to the IVR server  106  in order to issue a voice announcement to the originator to the effect that the contents of the phone conversation will be recorded. The transfer portion  407  of the SIP server  105  passes call control to the announcement portion  503  of the IVR server  106 . At this time, the transfer portion  407  of the SIP server  105  also passes the address information about the conversation recording server  107  to which the call is routed by the IVR server  106  after the execution of the voice announcement. This corresponds to the operation  1303  of  FIG. 13 . 
         [0115]    Then, at step  1105  of  FIG. 11 , the IVR server  106  receives the call routed from the SIP server  105 , once causes the IVR server  106  to accept the incoming call, and issues a prerecorded voice announcement to the originator to the effect that “The contents of the phone conversation will be recorded.” 
         [0116]    The announcement portion  503  of the IVR server  106  receives the call routed from the transfer portion  407  of the SIP server  105  and once causes the announcement portion  503  of the IVR server  106  to accept the call. The call is established between the originator and the IVR server  106 . The announcement portion issues the prerecorded voice announcement “The contents of the phone conversation will be recorded.” to the originator. Then, control proceeds to the next step. This corresponds to the operation  1304  of  FIG. 13 . 
         [0117]    Then, at step  1106  of  FIG. 11 , the IVR server  106  routes the call to the phone conversation recording server  107 . The transfer portion  504  of the IVR server  106  routes the call to the conversation recording portion  604  of the recording server  107 , based on the address information about the recording server  107 , the address information being passed from the transfer portion  407  of the SIP server  105 . This corresponds to the operation  1305  of  FIG. 13 . 
         [0118]    Then, at step  1107  of  FIG. 11 , the phone conversation recording server  107  receives the call from the IVR server  106 , establishes the call with the service subscriber at the destination, and accumulates telephone conversations as speech data while interposed as a relay point for the telephone conversations. After receiving the call from the transfer portion  504  of the IVR server  106 , the phone conversation recording portion  604  of the recording server  107  causes the recipient (i.e., a service subscriber) to accept the incoming call and establishes the call between the originator and the recipient. This corresponds to the operations  1306 ,  1307 , and  1308  of  FIG. 13 . 
         [0119]    After the call is established and a telephone conversation is started, the conversation recording portion  604  of the conversation recording server  107  accumulates the contents of the phone conversation as reproducible speech data while being located at the relay point for the phone conversation between the originator and the recipient. This corresponds to the operation  1309  of  FIG. 13 . 
         [0120]    With respect to speech data, speeches are classified into two types of speech. One type of speech is uttered from the originator to the recipient (only the speech of the originator) and the other type is uttered from the recipient to the originator (only the speech of the recipient). The two types of speech are recorded separately. With the present technology, when a telephone conversation is made via a network, it is possible to record speech for each individual utterer. Furthermore, the conversational circumstances can be reproduced by playing back both types of speech at the same time. 
         [0121]    In addition, during the Voiceprint Check subroutine ( FIG. 12 ), when voiceprint of the originator is extracted from speech data, it is easy to judge whose voiceprint the speech data indicates in cases where a speech data set is available for each speech uttered. Where speech from the originator and speech from the recipient are mixed in speech data, the voiceprint of the recipient (i.e., a service subscriber) will also be extracted, and it will be necessary to discriminate it from the voiceprint of the originator. Where only speech from the originator exists, only the voiceprint of the originator is extracted. 
         [0122]    At step  1108  of  FIG. 11 , if the phone conversation recording server  107  detects the end of a phone conversation, the server ends the recording of the conversation and disconnects the call. The phone conversation recording portion  604  of the recording server  107  detects the end of the conversation (e.g., the handset of the originator or recipient is put down or the disconnecting button is depressed), terminates the accumulation of speech data, and disconnects the call. These operations correspond to operations  1310 ,  1311 ,  1312 , and  1313  of  FIG. 13 . 
         [0123]    At steps  1109 ,  1110 , and  1111  of  FIG. 11 , the phone conversation recording server  107  deletes the oldest one of the records of the service subscriber from the speech recording table of  FIG. 10A  in accordance with the recording deletion criteria selected by the subscriber and adjusts the number of records in the recording table. Then, the server adds a record including the new speech data. 
         [0124]    At step  1109  of  FIG. 11 , the phone conversation recording portion  604  of the conversation recording server  107  searches the records of the pertinent service subscriber for any records infringing the recording deletion criteria  703  before new speech data is added to the recording table. 
         [0125]    The search process is described in detail below. The phone conversation recording portion  604  of the conversation recording server  107  searches the subscriber information table in the server for the record containing the personal ID  1002  of the recording table which matches the personal ID  701  of the record in the speech recording table of the corresponding service subscriber. 
         [0126]    Then, a decision is made as to whether the detected record of the recording table infringes the record deletion criteria  703  set by the service subscriber. In the operation  1110  of  FIG. 11 , if there are any records of the recording table that infringe the recording deletion criteria  703 , the phone conversation recording portion  604  of the recording server  107  deletes the records in turn from the oldest one. 
         [0127]    At step  1111  of  FIG. 11 , after the execution of step  1110  or when any record infringing the recording deletion criteria  703  does not exist in the speech recording table, the phone conversation recording portion  604  of the phone conversation recording server  107  adds a record containing new speech data to the recording table. 
         [0128]    The following values are put in the record added to the speech recording table. The phone conversation recording portion  604  creates the recording ID  1001  such that this ID exists uniquely within the server. The personal ID  701  of the corresponding service subscriber is put in the cell of the personal ID  1002 . The phone conversation start time  1003 , conversation time  1004 , receiver line number  1005 , and transmitter line number  1006  are derived from the call information. With respect to the sender speech data  1007  and recipient speech data  1008 , speech data obtained by steps  1107  and  1108  is registered. A null value is entered as a default value in the alert log  1009 . Steps  1109 ,  1110 , and  1111  of  FIG. 11  correspond to the operation  1314  of  FIG. 13 . 
         [0129]    Then, at step  1112  of  FIG. 11 , the phone conversation recording server  107  checks if the service subscriber has provided a setting to perform a voiceprint check. The voiceprint check portion  606  of the phone conversation recording server  107  checks the value of the voiceprint check request  704  in the record having a personal ID coincident with the personal ID  701  of the service subscriber, the record being in the subscriber information table in the server. 
         [0130]    If the value of the voiceprint check request  704  has been checked, the next Voiceprint Check subroutine  1113  of  FIG. 11  which is illustrated particularly in  FIG. 12  is carried out. If the value of the voiceprint check request  704  has not been checked, the phone conversation recording routine is terminated without performing the Voiceprint Check subroutine. 
         [0131]    If the result of the decision  1112  of  FIG. 11  is that the Voiceprint Check subroutine is performed, the Voiceprint Check subroutine  1113  of  FIG. 11  is carried out. The Voiceprint Check subroutine  1113  is particularly illustrated in the flowchart of  FIG. 12 . The Voiceprint Check subroutine corresponds to the operation  1315  of  FIG. 13 . The Voiceprint Check subroutine is next described in detail. The whole Voiceprint Check subroutine is performed by the voiceprint check portion  606  of the phone conversation recording server  107 . 
         [0132]    At step  1201  of  FIG. 12 , the speech recording table is searched for the record which has the personal ID  1002  coincident with the personal ID of the corresponding service subscriber and which has the newest conversation start time  1003 . The voiceprint data about the originator is extracted from the sender speech data  1007  contained in the found record. 
         [0133]    At step  1202  of  FIG. 12 , the voiceprint data extracted at step  1201  is compared against the voiceprint data  1011  contained in the registered voiceprint data, and a record of the registered voiceprint data having a matching probability in excess of a given value is searched for. 
         [0134]    At step  1203  of  FIG. 12 , a decision is made as to whether the registered voiceprint data found by the searching contains any records satisfying the conditions. If there are any pertinent records, control goes to step  1204 . If there are no pertinent records, it is determined that there is no match with the voiceprints of the past fraudsters and criminals. Consequently, the Voiceprint Check subroutine is terminated. 
         [0135]    At step  1204  of  FIG. 12 , a notice is given via e-mail, pop-up window, or other means to the server administrator or system administrator to the effect that a phone conversation matching the voiceprint of any one past fraudster or criminal took place with a high probability, together with other information (i.e., the voiceprint ID  1010  in the registered voiceprint table, ancillary information  1012 , and recording ID  1001  in the speech recording table). 
         [0136]    At step  1205  of  FIG. 12 , a notice is given by e-mail or other means to the service subscriber to the effect that a phone conversation matching the voiceprint of any one past fraudster or criminal took place with a high probability, together with the information about the recording ID  1001  in the speech recording table. Then, the voiceprint ID  1010  of the voiceprint data set in the registered voiceprint table which gives the highest matching probability is recorded in the alert log  1009  of the speech recording table. After the end of step  1205 , the Voiceprint Check subroutine is terminated. Steps  1204  and  1205  of  FIG. 12  correspond to the operation  1316  of  FIG. 13 . 
         [0137]    The recording playback routine is used to permit the service subscriber to replay and listen to speech recorded in the conversation recording server  107  at will.  FIG. 14  illustrates a flowchart depicting the recording playback routine, the flowchart including steps  1401 - 1406 .  FIG. 15  illustrates operations  1501 - 1512  of the recording playback routine. The routine is now described according to the flowchart of  FIG. 14 . In the following processing, it is assumed that the service subscriber communicates with the handle server  104  using the phone terminal  101 . 
         [0138]    First, at step  1401  of  FIG. 14 , the service subscriber logs in the handle server  104 . The subscriber information management portion  303  in the handle server  104  checks that any record in the subscriber information table within the server contains a combination matching the combination of the entered personal ID and password. If the check is done successfully, a message indicating completion of authentication and a menu prompting execution of the recording playback routine are sent back to the service subscriber. These steps correspond to operations  1501  and  1502  of  FIG. 15 . 
         [0139]    Then, at step  1402  of  FIG. 14 , the service subscriber asks for playback of the speech recording through the menu provided from the handle server  104 . The subscriber information management portion  303  in the handle server  104  transfers control to the recording content referring portion  304 . This corresponds to the operation  1503  of  FIG. 15 . 
         [0140]    Then, at step  1403  of  FIG. 14 , the handle server  104  asks the phone conversation recording server  107  to create a list of speech recordings of the service subscriber of interest. The recording content referring portion  304  in the handle server  104  asks the phone conversation list creation portion  607  of the recording server  107  to extract corresponding records from the speech recording table using the personal ID as a key and to create a list of the sender speech data  1007  and items of records other than the recipient speech data  1008 . This process corresponds to the operation  1504  of  FIG. 15 . 
         [0141]    In response to the request for creation of the list, the phone conversation creation portion  607  of the phone conversation recording server  107  extracts corresponding records from the speech recording table and sends back the list of the sender speech data  1007  and record items other than the recipient speech data  1008  to the recording content referring portion  304  in the handle server  104 . This process corresponds to the operation  1505  of  FIG. 15 . 
         [0142]    Because the sender speech data  1007  and recipient speech data  1008  are larger in data size than the other items, speech recordings are downloaded from the handle server  104  at step  1405  only when the service subscriber asks the speech to be played back. Then, the contents of the conversation are played back. 
         [0143]    Then, at step  1404  of  FIG. 14 , the handle server  104  provides the list of recordings obtained at step  1403  to the service subscriber. The recording content referring portion  304  in the handle server  104  provides the contents of the recording list (items of information  1001 ,  1003 ,  1004 ,  1005 ,  1006 , and  1009  indicating that the personal ID of the service subscriber matches one personal ID  1002  in the speech recording table) to the service subscriber. This step corresponds to the operation  1506  of  FIG. 15 . 
         [0144]    Then, if the service subscriber has asked for replay of the contents of the phone conversations in the list at step  1405  of  FIG. 14 , the handle server  104  issues a request to the phone conversation recording server  107  to route the corresponding speech data. After completion of transfer of the speech data from the recording server  107  to the handle server  104 , the contents of the conversations are played back. 
         [0145]    The recording content referring portion  304  in the handle server  104  asks the phone conversation recording transfer portion  608  of the phone conversation recording server  107  to route the sender speech data  1007  and recipient speech data  1008  of the corresponding record while using the recording ID  1001  of the record for which replay of the conversation contents is required by the service subscriber. This step corresponds to the operations  1507  and  1508  of  FIG. 15 . 
         [0146]    In response to the request for transfer of the speech data from the recording content referring portion  304  in the handle server  104 , the phone conversation recording transfer portion  608  of the phone conversation recording server  107  forwards the sender speech data  1007  and recipient speech data  1008  in the record having the corresponding recording ID in the speech recording table to be routed. This step corresponds to the operation  1509  of  FIG. 15 . 
         [0147]    The phone conversation recording transfer portion  608  of the phone conversation recording server  107  plays back the obtained sender speech data  1007  and recipient speech data  1008  simultaneously for the service subscriber, thus carrying out the replay of the contents of the phone conversation. This step corresponds to the operation  1510  of  FIG. 15 . 
         [0148]    Then, at step  1406  of  FIG. 14 , a decision is made as to whether the service subscriber has terminated the update menu for the subscriber information provided from the handle server  104  and logs out. If the subscriber logs out, the recording content referring portion  304  in the handle server  104  performs a logout operation. That is, it deletes all of the list and speech data routed in from the recording server  107  out of the memory of the server. Thus, the recording playback routine is terminated. These steps correspond to the operations  1511  and  1512  of  FIG. 15 . If the subscriber does not log out, the recording content referring portion  304  in the handle server  104  determines that the recording playback routine is continued. Then, control returns to step  1404 . 
         [0149]    It should be further understood by those skilled in the art that although the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes and modification may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.