EXCHANGE SYSTEM FOR LINKING CALL FROM A PERSON ORDERING A VEHICLE TO A VEHICLE AMONG SEVERAL VEHICLES

Abstract: A telephone exchange system links a customer (1, 2) to a vehicle (10) chosen from among a number of vehicles. The system includes a computer system (3) that has means for receiving address data from the customer. The system identifies the address as a geographical location, wherewith each vehicle has a position sensing equipment (11) and radio communications equipment (12, 12') that keeps each vehicle (10) in communication with the computer system (3) for providing information relating to the current geographical location of each vehicle. The communications equipment may also be used to keep the computer system (3) informed as to whether or not the vehicle is available to a customer, and optionally also within which space of time the vehicle will be available to a customer. The computer system also includes means for choosing a vehicle from among a number of vehicles located within a chosen distance from the customer location. The system senses the vehicles available in a specific range from the customer location, with respect to direction of movement. The system is designed to choose from a number of vehicles cruising in said area that vehicle which moves in a direction that coincides the closest with the direction from the vehicle to the customer, for linking the vehicle to the customer.

Description: EXCHANGE SYSTEM FOR LINKING CALL FROM A PERSON ORDERING A VEHICLE TO A VEHICLE AMONG SEVERAL VEHICLES The present invention relates to an telephone exchange system for linking a call from a person ordering a vehicle to a vehicle among several vehicles, in accordance with the preamble of Claim 1. The invention thus relates to a telephone exchange system that functions to link a taxi customer with a taxi included in a fleet of taxis, for example. The person skilled in this art, however, will understand that the telephone exchange system can also be used in respect of other persons ordering other types of vehicle that belong to a fleet of vehicles. It is known in this particular technology to utilize a computer system that includes means for receiving information relating to the address of the person ordering the vehicle, i.e. the customer, and also means for identifying the address as a geographical location. It is also known to equip each vehicle with a position reading device, for instance a GPS receiver, and also with radio communication equipment that connects the vehicle with the computer system, so as to keep the computer system informed of the current geographical position of the vehicle, and also to inform the computer system whether the vehicle is free or not, and optionally to indicate the delay that can be expected before the vehicle is available to accept the booking. It is also known in this respect to provide the computer system with means for identifying those vehicles that are currently available or that will be available within a predetermined time period and that are located in a predetermined range from the geographical position of the customer. It is also known to provide the computer system with means for compiling in accordance with given criteria a queue list for those vehicles that are available in the customer area (within said pre-selected time period) . In respect of a telephone exchange system of the aforesaid kind, an object of the invention is to provide favourable selection criteria which will enable the system to choose from a number of taxis that are currently available in said area and that are located geographically at similar distances from the person ordering said taxi that vehicle which, in practice, has the shortest route or the shortest travel time to said person. This object is achieved in accordance with the invention with a telephone exchange system according to Claim 1. Further embodiments of the inventive telephone exchange system are set forth in the dependent Claims. According to one important feature of the invention, the computer system of the telephone exchange system is designed to receive at regular intervals from the individual vehicles information relating to the current movement direction of the vehicles. The computer system is also designed to evaluate the direction of the vehicles that are currently moving at generally the same distance from the customer, the direction between respective vehicles and the geographical position of said customer. The computer system is therewith designed to choose from these vehicles that vehicle whose direction of movement coincides closest to the direction from the vehicle concerned to the position of the customer concerned. The exchange system thus provides a link between a person ordering or booking a vehicle and a computer system that may be connected the vehicles and to one or more data bases that include position sensing devices which regularly sense the positions of said vehicles, to enable the movement and movement direction of said vehicles to be evaluated. A person ordering a taxi is able to call a vehicle booking centre (taxi station) via a telephone network and be linked directly to a vehicle which is currently free (or which will soon be free) and which lies closest to the geographical position of said person. This person/the customer can be linked in a known way with the aid of automatic speech control, through which the customer provides information through the medium of the telephone keypad, in accordance with the following routine: a) Press # 1 if you wish to be connected to the nearest taxi. b) Press # 2 if you wish to be connected to the operator. c) Press # 3 if you wish to book a vehicle. d) Press # 4 if you have an x-directory number. e) Press # 5 if you want the speech guide message repeated. The computer system may incorporate an address register which is able to supply geographical positions corresponding to the addresses, so that a customer's address can be translated to geographical co-ordinates. The customer's address can be identified by sensing the customer's telephone number in the telephone system and information as to the geographical location of the customer can be obtained via a data base that couples the telephone number of an address service. Alternatively, the customer himself/herself can give his/her own address in an automatic speech guide procedure, wherewith the computer system is able to establish the customer's geographical position on the basis of this information. When the geographical position of the customer is known, it is possible to establish the distance area from the position of the customer and to sense which vehicles are located within this area. A queue list can be compiled from those vehicles that are free or that have indicated that they will be free within a certain time period. It may be so that among the vehicles in this ranking list, there are two cruising vehicles that are located roughly equidistantly from the customer, i.e. are located within a range of a magnitude predetermined by the customer. According to the present invention, there is chosen from among these cruising vehicles that vehicle whose direction of movement is nearest from the vehicle concerned to the geographical position of the customer. The computer system is designed to calculate the current direction of movements of the vehicles continuously, and also to calculate the direction of the vehicles to a geographical position determined by a customer, and also to effect the choice of vehicle in accordance with said criterion. If no vehicles are found available in the established area, the computer system can function to extend the area and make a new search for available vehicles located nearest the customer. The position sensing devices of the individual vehicles, e.g. in a GPS system, may be coupled to the computer system by radio links, to enable said system to keep an account of the geographical position of the vehicles, and possibly also the movement of said vehicles and the direction in which they move. When all vehicles in the fleet are equipped with radio communications equipment for communicating with the central and normally stationary part of the telephone exchange system, billing, accountancy (book-keeping) , fare meters, administrative routines, and so on, can be handled by the computer system, wherewith the individual driver of a vehicle is able to carry out these operations, i.e. billing, accountancy, administrative routines, etc., from the vehicle interface. The computer system of the telephone exchange system may be in contact with the interfaces of respective vehicles, via the radio communications system, so as to enable the driver of the vehicle to give information as to when the vehicle concerned can be expected to be free to accept an order, to book a vehicle in a queue system, to transfer messages from the vehicle driver to the exchange system, to enable the driver to accept or refuse a commission that has been linked from a customer to the vehicle in question via the telephone exchange system. Furthermore, each vehicle may be equipped with a security system/safety alarm that monitors the driver of the vehicle, the vehicle itself, and the equipment installed in the vehicle, and to deliver an alarm, also via the radio communications system to the computer system of the exchange system. The exchange system may also includes that enable a monitor of the computer system to forward customer calls to respective vehicles in the event of a possible overload situation. Naturally, it is also possible within the scope of the invention to establish a direct telephone connection between the customer and the driver of the vehicle chosen by the exchange system, primarily to enable direct communication with the customer and the driver of the chosen vehicle. The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to an exemplifying embodiment thereof and also with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of an inventive telephone exchange system. A telephone call from a stationary telephone 1 or from a mobile telephone 2 is passed to a telephone exchange system that includes a computer system 3 which is designed for speech control by the telephone customer or subscriber 1, 2. The computer system is connected with data bases 4, 5 which include address registers and geographic co-ordinates corresponding to address data. The computer system 3 is also coupled to equipment 6 that notes the telephone number from which the customer calls via a stationary telephone, and is able to bring forward the address of the customer's telephone with the aid of a corresponding data base 61, and therewith establish the geographical position of the telephone. The computer 3 is also controlled by a set of choice criteria, defined in the unit 7. These choice criteria decide which vehicle 10 in a fleet of vehicles shall be chosen to transport the customer concerned. Each vehicle 10 has a GPS- receiver 11, and each vehicle 10 is in contact with the computer system 3 via a radio communications system 12, 12', said GPS-receiver 11 also being coupled to said radio communications system. The choice criteria are set-up so that those vehicles that are apparently available are given a certain range ranking, and the first vehicle in the rank order is offered the job of transporting the customer. Naturally, the vehicle can refuse the commission, wherewith the offer is passed to the next driver in the ranking list. Those vehicles that are considered for a commission will be located within a predetermined distance area or range from the position of the customer, wherewith the geographical positions of the vehicles are sensed continuously by the GPS- equipment 11 and the positions of said vehicles forwarded to and registered in the computer system 3 or its peripheral equipment, via the radio communications system 12, 12'. This enables the direction in which the vehicles 10 travel to be evaluated continuously in a calculation device 71, said calculation device 71 also functioning to calculate the direction from the customer to the vehicles 10 within said area. When two or more cruising vehicles are located at the same distance from the customer, on the basis of chosen criteria, o the calculating device 41 will decide which of these vehicles 10 travels in a direction which coincides nearest with the direction from said vehicle to the customer, this vehicle being given priority with respect to linking said vehicle with the customer. When a vehicle 10 has accepted a commission, the customer is informed to this effect and the vehicle 10 may, of course, connect directly with the customer in order to obtain further information with respect to the customer's address, if so required. In the case of customers using mobile telephones, the choice criteria may be based on the communications central position of the mobile telephone and, of course, also on other information that can be obtained through the automatic speech-controlled interplay between customer and computer system 3. Since each vehicle 10 is constantly in radio communication with the computer system 3, the vehicles may be equipped with a computer terminal that includes a billing program, accounting program, word processing program, administrative transfer program, and have sufficient capacity to enable, for instance, the following programs to be developed: i) "soon free" function ii) queue system iii) zone information iv) messages v) yes/no button for accepting/refusing commission Each vehicle will also preferably be provided with a security system (alarm) for protecting both the driver and the equipment installed in the vehicle. This alarm may, of course, be coupled to the computer system 3.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A telephone exchange system for linking a customer (1, 2) to a vehicle (10) from among several vehicles, wherein the system includes a computer system (3) that has means for receiving address data from the customer and for identifying the address as a geographical location, wherein each vehicle has position sensing equipment (11) , and radio communications equipment (12, 12') that keeps each vehicle (10) in communication with the computer system (3) for providing information concerning the current geographical position of each vehicle, wherein the communications equipment is also used to keep the computer system (3) informed as to whether or not the vehicle is available for a commission, and optionally within which space of time the vehicle will be available to a customer, and wherein the computer system includes means for choosing a vehicle from among several vehicles located within a chosen distance from the position of the customer, characterized in that the exchange system functions to sense the vehicles available in a specific range from the position of the customer in respect of direction of movement; and in that said system is designed to choose from a number of vehicles cruising in said area that vehicle which moves in a direction that coincides the closest with the direction from the vehicle to the customer, for linking said vehicle with said customer. 2. A system according to Claim 1, characterized in that each vehicle (10) includes a computer terminal that communicates with the computer system (3) of said exchange system, wherein the computer terminal may be constructed to form a fare meter in said vehicle. 3. A system according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the each vehicle (10) has an alarm device that may be adapted to monitor the driver of the vehicle, equipment installed in the vehicle, etc.; and in that said alarm device communicates with the computer system (3) via the communications system; and in that the computer system is adapted to register the position of the vehicle at the time at which an alarm is triggered. 4. A system according to Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the vehicle-mounted computer terminal is adapted to communicate with the computer system (3) of the exchange system via the communications system.

Inventors: SIRMANSHAHI AFSHIN, SIRMANSHAHI, AFSHIN
Applicants: SIRMANSHAHI AFSHIN, SIRMANSHAHI, AFSHIN
Application year: 1997
Main classification: G01G1
IPC codes: G07B13, G08G1