JPH04291865A - Control system for automatic answering telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely record a message from a caller registered in advance and to retrieve the message for each caller when reproducing the incoming message. CONSTITUTION:A data memory 14 stores corresponding relation between a phone number and a recording area to record the incoming message and when there is a telephone call, a control part 11 for an automatic answering telephone set investigates whether the recording area is registered or not corresponding to the phone number of the caller. When the recording area is registered, the message from the caller is recorded in a registered person recording area 16b-1 and when the recording area is not registered, the message is recorded in a common recording area 16b-2. The phone number of the caller is recorded in the data memory 14 and when the prescibed phone number is inputted from a dial key part 12a in the case of reproduction, it is investihgated whether the same phone number as the phone number is stored in the data memory 14 or not. When it is stored, the message from the caller of the phone number is read out of a message recording part 16 and reproduced from a loudspeaker 13.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control system for an answering machine, and more particularly to a control system for an answering machine connected to a digital network having a function of notifying the telephone number of the calling party to the called party.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Answering machines are often used in homes and offices. An answering machine is generally equipped with a magnetic recording/playback device using recording tape, or a voice recording/playback device combining an IC memory card and a voice synthesis circuit, on which a response message can be recorded in advance. When a call arrives in the answering mode, a call path is automatically established, a response message is played back and sent to the line, and a message from the caller is recorded.

[0003] In such conventional answering machines, messages from callers are recorded in a recording area in order, and when the playback button is pressed during playback, the messages and recording times are read out in order from the recording area. Output from the speaker.

0004

[Problem to be solved by the invention] Answering machines have a limited number of messages that can be recorded from callers.
For this reason, even if a person who is considered important to the recipient attempts to record a message, if the recording area is full of messages, no more recording will be possible, and the person's message will not be recorded. There was a problem that forced me to cut it.

[0005] Also, during playback, a message is displayed for each caller's phone number.
Since messages cannot be searched, there is also the problem that messages from important people cannot be retrieved and reproduced preferentially.

From the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a control system for an answering machine that can secure a recording area for important callers and reliably record messages from the callers. That's true.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a control system for an answering machine that allows messages to be searched for each caller's telephone number during playback.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention. 11 is a control section of the answering machine, 12a is a dial key section of the answering machine, 13 is a speaker, 14 is a data memory, and 16 is a message recording section.

[0009]

[Operation] The storage section (recording area/caller number storage section) 14 of the data memory 14 records the correspondence between the caller's telephone number and the recording area where the message sent from the caller is recorded.
When a call arrives in the answering answering mode, the control unit 11 checks whether a recording area is registered in correspondence with the caller's telephone number notified from the digital network based on the correspondence relationship, and registers the recording area. is registered, the registrant recording area 16b-1 of the message recording section 16
The message from the caller is recorded in the common recording area 16b-2 if the message is not registered. In addition, the caller's telephone number notified from the digital network is stored in the storage section (message recorder telephone number storage section) 1 of the data memory 14.
4c, when a predetermined telephone number is input from the dial key section 12a during playback, it is checked whether the same telephone number as the input telephone number is stored in the storage section 14c of the data memory 14, and whether or not it is stored. If so, the incoming message from the caller of the telephone number is read out from the message recording section 16 and reproduced from the speaker 13.

[0010] From the above, since a recording area is secured for important callers, messages from callers considered to be important can be reliably recorded in the recording area, and messages - Since the phone number of the caller who recorded the message is memorized, it is possible to search for messages by caller phone number when playing back, and you can prioritize the messages of the person you want to hear. You can listen directly.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Overall Configuration FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is an answering machine as an ISDN terminal, 2 is an ISDN network, and 3 is a line.

In the answering machine 1, 11 is a CPU-built-in control unit that controls the entire answering machine, and 12 is a telephone unit of the answering machine, which includes a dial key unit 12a, a display unit 12b, a handset 12c, a communication circuit 12d, etc. We are prepared.

13 is a speaker, 14 is a data memory, 1
Reference numeral 5 denotes an answering function section, which includes a message recording section 16, and 17 is a line control section. In the data memory 14,
A response message/caller number storage section 14a, a recording area/caller number storage section 14b, and a message recorder telephone number storage section 14c are provided.

The message recording section 16 records a response message.
A message storage section 16a and a message recording area 16b are provided.

Control procedure for circuit-switched calls In ISDN, as shown in FIG. A request message) is sent to the called telephone 2b via the ISDN network. (2
) The ISDN network sends a CALLPROC (call setup processing notification) to the originating telephone, and (3) when the call setup processing is completed, a ring tone sounds and the ISDN
Message ALT while calling the calling party phone via the network
Send an ER. After that, (4) If the called party picks up the handset and answers (off-hook), the called party's telephone is set to CON.
N (response notification) is notified to the calling side telephone via the ISDN network. And (5) ISDN network CONN ACK
(confirmation notification) is sent to the called phone, and a communication path is established between the calling phone and the called phone.

[0016] S in the calling procedure of the ISDN network
The ET UP message includes the caller's telephone number and is displayed on the display of the called party's telephone.

Message recording section In the response message storage section 16a of the message recording section 16, the first to third areas A1 to A3 are divided into the first to third areas A1 to A3 for each caller.
~An area for recording a third special response message,
The fourth area A4 is for the fourth message (common response message).
This is the area where you can record. In addition, in the other party's message recording area 16b, the first to third areas A1 to A3
is the registrant recording area 16b-1, which records the message sent from the caller (incoming message) when there is a call from a caller with a pre-registered phone number, and records the message sent from the caller. 4th to 10th areas A4 to A10 are common recording area 1
6b-2, and when the incoming message from an unregistered person and the registrant recording area 16b-1 is full, the incoming message from a registered person is stored.

The response message/caller number storage section 14a of the data memory data memory 14 stores the caller's telephone number TEL No. and response messages A1, A2, and A3 are registered, and when a call is received from the caller of the telephone number in the answering machine response mode, the corresponding response message is recorded in the message recording section 16.
The response message is read out from the response message storage section 16a and sent to the caller.

The recording area/caller number storage section 14b of the data memory 14 stores a telephone number TEL No. The correspondence between the caller and the recording area for recording messages (incoming messages) sent from the caller of the telephone number is registered. In the embodiment, only a telephone number is registered in the recording area/caller number storage section 14b, and incoming messages from the caller of the telephone number are stored in the first to second registers in the registrant recording area 16b-1.
The information is stored in the third areas A1 to A3 in order, and when the registrant recording area 16b-1 is full, the common recording area 16b-
2, are registered in the fourth to tenth areas A4 to A10 in order.

The first to tenth areas A1 to A of the message recorder telephone number storage section 14c in the data memory 14
10, the other party's message in the message recording section 16 is recorded.
The telephone numbers of callers registered in A1 to A10 of the digital registration area 16b are respectively registered. Note that A1 to A10 of the message recorder telephone number storage section 14c correspond to A1 to A10 of the message recording section 16b, respectively.

Overall Control (a) Response Message Recording Procedure FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the recording procedure for storing a response message in the response message storage section 16a of the message recording section 16.

[0022] While pressing the answering machine button, press the handset 12.
When c is raised (step 101), a ping-pong sound is output from the handset 12c, and the answer button lamp flashes (step 102).

[0023] Next, release the answering machine button and select the recording areas A1 to A4 numbers (message
(step 103).

In this state, when a response message is input by voice from the handset 12c, the control section 11 stores the response message in a designated recording area of the response message storage section 16a (step 104). ).

When the input of the response message is completed and the stop button is pressed down (step 105), the message is
The message number is displayed on the display section 12c (step 106), and the handset is returned to complete the registration of one response message (step 107). Note that the first response message is
~4th 4 types of messages can be registered, 4th message
The message becomes a common response message.

(b) Response message/caller number registration procedure FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the response message/caller number registration procedure. Caller's phone number TEL No. To register the correspondence between
Press down the registration key provided in a (step 201), then input the caller's phone number (step 2).
02), enter the message number (step 203)
.

[0027] As a result, the control unit 11 displays the input caller telephone number and message number on the display unit 12b (step 204), confirms the number by looking at the display (step 205), and confirms that the number is incorrect. If so, press the delete key (step 206) and enter the caller's telephone number and message number again.

If the correct caller phone number and message number are displayed, press the registration key (step 2).
07). By pressing this registration key, the control section 11 stores the correspondence between the response message number and the caller's telephone number in the response message/caller number storage section 14a (step 208).

Thereafter, similarly, the correspondence between the message number and the caller number is registered in the response message/caller number storage section 14a. In addition, the response message/caller number storage section 14
It is also possible to register a plurality of caller numbers in each of A1 to A3 of a.

(c) Response message sending process FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the response message sending process when a call is received on the answering machine in the answering machine response mode.

When a call is placed on the answering machine, a SET UP signal is sent to the telephone. The control unit 11 is SET
The caller's telephone number included in the UP message is fetched (step 301).

Next, the control section 11 checks the correspondence between the response message and the caller's telephone number registered in the response message and caller number storage section 14a, and sends a response message corresponding to the caller's telephone number. It is determined whether the message is stored in the response message storage section 16a (steps 302 to 30).
4).

[0033] A response message is sent in response to the caller's telephone number.
If the message is stored in the first recording area A1, the first response message is sent, and if the message is stored in the second recording area A2, the second response message is sent and the message is transferred to the third recording area. If stored in A3, a third response message is sent (steps 305-307).

However, if no response message is registered corresponding to the caller's telephone number, the fourth area A4
The common response message stored in is sent out (step 308).

(d) Recording area/caller telephone number registration procedure FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the recording area/caller telephone number registration procedure. In order to store a message (incoming message) sent from a caller with a predetermined phone number in the special registrant recording area 16b-1, the caller's phone number must be stored in the recording area/caller phone number in advance. It must be registered in the storage section 14b.

For this registration, first, the registration key provided on the key section 12a is pressed down (step 401), and then the caller's telephone number is input (step 402). Thereby, the control unit 11 displays the input caller telephone number on the display unit 1.
2b (step 403), check the number by looking at the display (step 404), and if it is incorrect, press the delete key (step 405) and enter the caller's telephone number again.

[0037] If the correct caller telephone number is displayed, the registration key is depressed (step 406). By pressing this registration key, the control section 11 stores the caller's telephone number in the recording area/caller's telephone number storage section 14c (
Step 407).

Thereafter, the caller's telephone number is similarly registered in the recording area/caller's telephone number storage section 14b.

(e) Incoming message recording processing FIG. 8 is a flow chart of incoming message recording processing when a call is received on the answering machine in the answering machine response mode.

When a call is placed on the answering machine, a SET UP signal is sent to the telephone. The control unit 11 is SET
The caller's telephone number included in the UP message is fetched (step 501).

Next, the control section 11 checks whether the caller's telephone number is registered in the recording area/caller's telephone number storage section 14b (step 502), and if it is not registered, stores it in the common recording area 16b-2 (step 502). step 503),
If the registrant is registered, it is checked whether there is recording space in the registrant recording area 16b-1, in other words, whether three incoming messages have been recorded (step 504), and if there is recording space, the registrant It is stored in the recording area 16b-1 (step 505), and if there is no recording space, it is stored in the common recording area 16.
Store in b-2.

After the recording is completed, the control section 11 stores the caller's telephone number and recording area in the message recorder's telephone number storage section 14c.
(step 506).

(f) Message reproduction Figure 9 shows the message reproduction.
FIG. In the answering answering mode, in order to play back an incoming message stored in the message recording section 16, the user presses the playback button and then key-inputs the caller's telephone number (step 601).

The control section 11 checks whether the input caller telephone number is stored in the message recorder telephone number storage section 14c (step 602), and if it is stored, the message from the caller is recorded. Message recording area 16
b and output it from the speaker 13 (step 60).
3) If the message is not stored, a comment "No message" is made (step 604).

Incidentally, if the caller number is not entered by key, the incoming messages are played back in order from the beginning of the other party's message recording area 16b. Although the present invention has been described above with reference to examples, the present invention can be modified in various ways according to the gist of the present invention as described in the claims, and the present invention does not exclude these modifications.

[0046]

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, since a message recording area is secured corresponding to a telephone number,
Messages from callers considered to be important can be reliably recorded in the recording area.

Further, according to the present invention, since the telephone number of the caller who recorded the message is stored, it is possible to search for the message by caller's telephone number during playback.
You can preferentially listen to the messages of the people you want to hear directly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram explaining the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of ISDN circuit-switched call control procedures.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a response message recording procedure.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a response message/caller telephone number registration procedure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of response message sending processing.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a recording area/caller telephone number registration procedure.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of incoming message recording processing.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of message reproduction processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

11. Control unit 12a of answering machine. Dial key unit 13 of answering machine. Speaker 14. Data memory 16. Message recording unit.

Claims (2)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A control method for an answering machine connected to a digital network that has a function of notifying the telephone number of the caller to the called party, the telephone number of the caller and the message sent from the caller. When a call is received in answering answering mode, check whether the recording area is registered in correspondence with the caller's phone number notified from the digital network, and check if the recording area is A control system for an answering machine, characterized in that if the caller's message is registered, the message from the caller is recorded in the recording area, and if it is not registered, the message is recorded in a common recording area. [Claim 2] In a control method for an answering machine connected to a digital network having a function of notifying the called party of the telephone number of the calling party, the telephone number of the calling party notified from the digital network is stored and during playback. , When a predetermined phone number is input, it is checked whether the same phone number as the input phone number is stored, and if it is stored, the incoming message from the caller of the phone number is played back and output. A control method for an answering machine characterized by: