Patent ID: 7180983

Claim:
A communication network system provided with a guidance notification apparatus for notifying guidance information to at least one of origination and destination terminal units having a telephone function via a switchboard; wherein the origination terminal unit comprises: storage means for storing a first country code corresponding to the language understandable to the owner of the origination terminal unit; and sending means for sending the first country code stored in the storage means when a destination telephone number is sent from the origination terminal unit; and the guidance information notification apparatus comprises: first acquisition means for acquiring a first country code from the origination terminal unit via the switchboard; second acquisition means for acquiring a telephone number from the switchboard; conversion means for, with the use of the first country code with which at least one language used in a country or a country district can be identified, converting the acquired telephone number into the first country code based on the correspondence relationship between a telephone number pre-associated with the first country code and the telephone number acquired by the second acquisition means; a database in which the first country code is stored in association with guidance information in the language; selection means for selecting the guidance information associated with the first country code which has been converted by the conversion means, from the database; notification means for notifying the guidance information selected by the selection means to the terminal unit via the switchboard; notification necessity/unnecessity determination means determines whether a notification of guidance information is necessary or unnecessary based on a notification necessity/unnecessity specification signal generated by the switchboard and sent from the switchboard; and, notification order setting means to direct the order for notification of guidance information based on the notification order direction signal sent from switchboard by a direction from a communication operator or user when it is determined that notification of guidance information is necessary.