JP2010147896A - Telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a telephone set that can response automatic answering according to a registered schedule by linking an automatic answering function with a schedule management function. <P>SOLUTION: The telephone set is provided with a call recording control section to perform ON/OFF control of the operation of the automatic answering section. The call recording section turns ON the operation of the automatic answering section when a user registered in the schedule is absent, for example, a time counting section detects the period of absence for trip. The call recording section determines the end of the period of absence on the basis of the absence information, that is, the last day of the trip when the absence is due to the trip. The voice showing the end of the period is prepared by voice synthesis or the like. Furthermore, the call recording control section controls the automatic answering function section so that the prepared voice may be included in an automatic answering message. Thus, the telephone set informs the communication partner of the absence period at call termination. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a telephone device that performs communication by being connected to a communication network, and more particularly to a telephone device that has both an answering machine function and a schedule management function.

  In recent years, with the development of communication infrastructure, various functions have been added to communication devices. For example, in the telephone apparatus, in addition to the telephone function, telephone apparatuses having a voice mail function and a schedule management function using an electronic calendar (hereinafter referred to as “calendar”) are widely used.

  The answering machine function automatically responds to an incoming call from the telephone line, that is, forms a DC loop, and sends a pre-recorded response message to the calling party. The voice signal from the caller is recorded as a message. Thereby, even when the incoming side is absent, the message from the outgoing side can be reproduced and confirmed later.

  The schedule management function is a function for accepting registration of a schedule from a user and displaying the schedule using icons and text on a screen including a calendar (hereinafter referred to as “calendar screen”). Thereby, the user can register a schedule such as going out and a meal in the telephone device, and can check the contents on the calendar screen at any time.

  The above two functions are independent functions. Therefore, conventionally, the operation of the answering machine function has not been affected by the contents of the schedule managed by the schedule management function. However, for example, when a schedule indicating the absence of the user (= absence period) is registered, such as a trip or a business trip, it is more desirable to switch the operation of the answering machine function according to the contents.

In relation to the above, in Patent Document 1, the system automatically shifts to a standby state using the answering machine function (hereinafter referred to as “answering machine mode”) at the time when the answering machine function should be activated, There has been disclosed a mobile phone that automatically shifts to a standby state for a normal call at a time to be released. In addition, this mobile phone has a function for the user to set in advance a response message according to the date and time of transition to the absence recording mode.
JP 2000-032121 A

  However, the mobile phone of Patent Document 1 requires a user to manually set a response message according to the date and time. For this reason, there has been a problem that setting takes time. In addition, when setting is forgotten or wrong, there is a problem that a response message is not transmitted or an undesirable response message is transmitted.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and requires user settings for the answering machine function by linking the answering machine function and the schedule management function, which are functions independent of each other. It is another object of the present invention to provide a telephone device capable of performing an answering machine response according to a registration schedule.

  In order to achieve the above object, a telephone device of the present invention comprises a communication unit that communicates by connecting to a communication network, and an answering machine unit that records an incoming call response and received voice when an incoming call is detected by the communication unit And a timepiece that measures the date and time, and a schedule management unit that receives input of schedule information and manages the schedule information, the absence information indicating the absence period of the user of the telephone device is An answering machine control unit is provided that operates the answering machine when the date and time that is included in the schedule information and is counted by the timekeeping unit is within the absence period.

  According to this configuration, the telephone device of the present invention includes a communication unit and an answering machine that transmits an incoming response message indicating absence when a communication is detected by the communication unit, and receives and records voice from the other party. Moreover, the time management part and the schedule management part which manages a user's schedule by a calendar etc. are provided. Furthermore, an answering machine control unit that controls ON / OFF of the operation of the answering machine unit is provided. The answering machine control unit turns on the operation of the answering machine unit when the time measuring unit detects that the absence period of the user registered in the schedule, for example, the period of absence due to travel, has been indicated. .

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the answering machine control unit determines the end of the absence period based on the absence information, creates a sound indicating the end of the period, and outputs a message including the sound when answering an incoming call The answering machine function unit is controlled so as to perform.

  According to this configuration, the absence recording control unit determines the last day of the trip based on the absence information if the absence is due to the end of the absence period, for example, due to a trip. Then, a speech indicating the end of the term is created by speech synthesis processing or the like. Further, the answering machine function unit is controlled so that the created voice is included in the answering message. As a result, the absence period is notified to the calling party when an incoming call is received.

  In order to achieve the above object, the absence recording control unit determines whether or not the schedule information includes absent period information indicating a plurality of consecutive absent periods. A voice indicating the last term is created among a plurality of term of the absence period, and the answering machine function unit is controlled to output a message including the voice when an incoming call is answered.

  According to this configuration, the absence recording control unit determines whether or not the absence period information indicating a plurality of consecutive absence periods is included in the schedule information. If it is included, a sound indicating the last ending period among the ending periods of a plurality of absent periods is created. Further, the answering machine function unit is controlled so that the created voice is included in the answering message. Thereby, even when a plurality of absence periods are continuously present, an appropriate absence period is notified to the calling party.

  In order to achieve the above object, the telephone device of the present invention includes a recording unit that records information, the schedule management unit records the schedule information in the recording unit, and the answering machine control unit includes the recording unit. The schedule information is read from the section, and the operation of the answering machine section is controlled.

  According to this configuration, the schedule management unit records schedule information in a recording unit such as a memory. The answering machine control unit reads the schedule information from the recording unit, and performs the above-described control for the answering machine unit based on the read schedule information.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, when the absence period registered in the schedule arrives, it is possible to shift to the absence recording mode without requiring a user operation. For this reason, it is possible to reduce user operations and improve convenience, and to avoid forgetting to set a user's answering machine.

  Further, according to the configuration of the present invention, the other party who has heard the answering message can know the absence period of the user of the telephone device. Further, since the user does not need to manually create a voice indicating the absence period, it is possible to save the setting work.

  Further, according to the configuration of the present invention, when there are a plurality of absence periods in succession, the other party who has heard the absence message of the first absence period makes a call again in the next absence period and again another absence period. The situation of listening to the recording message can be avoided. For this reason, there is no annoyance to the other party.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, embodiment shown here is an example and this invention is not limited to embodiment shown here.
<1-1. About the configuration of the telephone system>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a telephone system including the IP telephone 1 (= telephone apparatus) according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This system is configured to include at least an IP telephone 1, a wired LAN 41, a PSTN network 51, a subscriber telephone 52, an SIP server 61, an IP telephone router 62, a gateway 63, and an IP telephone network 71.

  The IP phone 1 according to the present embodiment is a telephone device capable of voice communication via a telephone network by being connected to a wired LAN 41. The wired LAN 41 is a local network in which the IP phone 1, the IP phone router 62, the gateway 63, and the like are connected by wire. Each of the above devices can communicate with each other by being connected to the wired LAN 41. Examples of physical means constituting the wired LAN 41 include 10BASE-T (standardized as IEEE802.3i) and 100BASE-TX (standardized as IEEE802.3u) using a twisted pair cable.

  The SIP server 61 is a communication control device that uses SIP to control IP telephone communication in the wired LAN 41. SIP is a kind of call control protocol having a transfer function, a caller ID notification function, and the like, and has a feature that it takes less time to connect than a protocol of the same system. The SIP server has functions such as a register server in which an SIP client such as the IP telephone 1 registers an address, a proxy server that searches for an address on behalf of the client, and a redirect server that transfers a connection request received from the client to another address. ing.

  The IP telephone router 62 is a network relay device for interconnecting a plurality of IP networks. Specifically, the transfer is performed by analyzing a part of the protocol of the network layer (third layer) and the transport layer (fourth layer) in the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) reference model. In the present embodiment, the IP telephone router 62 has a role of connecting two IP networks of the wired LAN 41 and the IP telephone network 71 to each other.

  The gateway 63 is a protocol converter for interconnecting networks having different protocol systems. For example, the gateway 63 connects the wired LAN 41 and the PSTN network 51 and performs signal conversion using a signaling protocol such as SIP, thereby enabling communication between both networks.

The IP telephone network 71 is a communication network using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology for part or all of the telephone network. A so-called broadband line such as FTTH (Fiber To The Home) or ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is used as a communication line to be used. Note that VoIP is a technique in which voice is compressed by various encoding methods, converted into packets, and transmitted in real time over an IP network. As a result, the IP telephone network 71 can provide a videophone service for transmitting and receiving images in addition to a voice call service.
<1-2. IP phone internal configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the inside of the IP phone 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The IP phone 1 is a telephone device having a voice call function, an answering machine function, and a schedule management function. The IP phone 1 includes at least a control unit 11, a flash memory 12 (= recording unit), a display unit 13, an input unit 14, a communication unit 15, an answering data recording unit 16, a signal processing unit 17, a speaker 18, a microphone 19, and The timepiece circuit 20 (= time measuring unit) is included.

  The control unit 11 is a central processing unit for performing overall control of communication control processing (voice data transmission / reception, outgoing call execution, incoming call detection, etc.) by controlling each part of the IP phone 1. The control unit 11 is a functional unit realized by executing a program on the arithmetic processing device included in the control unit 11. As a functional unit, an answering machine function unit 11 a (= answer machine unit), an answering machine operation control unit 11 b, and a schedule A management unit 11c is provided.

  The absence recording function unit 11a monitors whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the incoming call by the communication unit 15 was detected, and responds when the predetermined time has elapsed. As a result, an automatic response to an incoming call is performed without requiring a user operation. Then, the response message recorded in the recorded message data recording unit 16 is sent to the calling side.

  Further, the voice recording function unit 11a waits for a voice signal from the calling side and records the received voice signal in the voice recording data recording unit 16 as a message. Note that the answering machine function unit 11a determines execution / non-execution of the operation based on an instruction from the answering machine operation control unit 11b.

  The absence recording operation control unit 11b confirms the contents of the schedule information recorded in the flash memory 12 when the time counted by the time measuring unit 20 becomes a predetermined time (for example, when it becomes 0:00 pm), A message recording operation according to the contents of the schedule is instructed to the message recording function unit 11a. Specifically, it is determined whether a schedule indicating the absence of the user (= absence period), for example, a trip or a business trip, exists in the schedule corresponding to the date and time when the content confirmation is performed. If it exists, an instruction to enable the answering machine function is given to the answering machine function unit 11a.

  Whether or not the schedule indicates absence is determined by, for example, performing a character string analysis of text data input on a schedule editing screen 80 (FIG. 7) described later. For example, a character string that is determined to be absence, such as “travel departure” or “business trip departure”, is determined and recorded in the flash memory 12 or the like. The answering machine operation control unit 11b searches the schedule information using these character strings as search keys. When the character string of the search key is included in the schedule information, the day when the corresponding schedule information is registered is regarded as the absence start date.

  Alternatively, the determination may be made by analyzing an icon input on the schedule edit screen 80. In this case, attribute information is previously added to the icon and recorded in the flash memory 12. In the attribute information, for example, attribute information indicating start of absence is added to an icon indicating departure from travel, and attribute information indicating end of absence is added to an icon indicating return home. The absence recording operation control unit 11b refers to the attribute information to determine the absence start date and the absence end date (= the end of the absence period).

  The schedule management unit 11c accepts a change or new creation of schedule information recorded in the flash memory 12 from the user. For example, when a predetermined button included in the input unit 14 is pressed on the calendar screen 90 (FIG. 4), the schedule management unit 11 c displays the schedule editing screen 80 (FIG. 7) on the display unit 13. The schedule management unit 11 c reflects the editing instruction received on the schedule editing screen 80 in the schedule information and overwrite-records it in the flash memory 12.

  The flash memory 12 is a medium for temporarily recording various data held by the IP phone 1. The flash memory 12 serves as a buffer memory for temporarily recording processing data when various control processes are performed by the control unit 11, instruction commands received from the user, and the like. The present invention also has a role of recording schedule information.

  The display unit 13 displays various information held by the IP phone 1, such as a caller telephone number at the time of incoming call, to the user. The display unit 13 uses, for example, a small display device that consumes less power, such as a liquid crystal panel. The input unit 14 is for a user to perform various operations for performing communication using the IP phone 1, for example, input of a telephone number of a partner with whom a call is made. The input unit 14 is generally composed of a plurality of operation buttons such as numeric buttons and redial buttons.

  The communication unit 15 is a communication interface for connecting the IP telephone 1 to a telephone line. The communication unit 15 can perform incoming processing and outgoing processing of voice calls by communicating with the SIP server 61 connected to the network.

  The answering machine data recording unit 16 is a recording medium for recording voice data such as voice guidance used by the answering machine function unit 11a when an incoming call is received and a message message received by the answering machine function unit 11a from a communication partner. It is also possible to record voice data for the voice recording operation control unit 11b to perform voice synthesis processing.

  The signal processing unit 17 performs a decoding process on the audio data input by the communication unit 15. The audio signal obtained by the decoding is given to the speaker 18. In addition, the signal processing unit 17 performs a predetermined encoding process on the audio signal input from the microphone 19 to generate audio data / FAX data, and supplies the audio data / FAX data to the communication unit 15. As a result, the audio data is transmitted to an external communication device or the like connected via the PSTN network 51.

The clock circuit 22 is a circuit for measuring the current time, and for example, uses a crystal resonator that performs oscillation output at a predetermined frequency. The clock circuit 22 manages not only time information but also calendar information related to the calendar such as the current month and day.
<1-3. Calendar screen>
Here, the configuration of the calendar screen 90 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the screen diagram of FIG.

  FIG. 4 is an example of a calendar screen 90 for the user to specify the date for registering the schedule. The calendar screen 90 is configured to include a date display area 91, a schedule display area 92, and an operation button display area 93. The date display area 91 includes a current day mark 94 indicating the current day and a cursor 95 that can be operated by the user.

  The cursor 95 can be moved up and down and left and right by a cross key or the like provided in the input unit 14. The schedule for the date on which the cursor 95 overlaps is displayed in the schedule display area 92. The schedule display area 92 can display a schedule icon 96 and text data indicating the schedule.

  When a predetermined button of the input unit 14 is pressed while the cursor 95 is overlapped with a predetermined date, a schedule edit screen 80 shown in FIG. 7 is displayed. The schedule edit screen 80 includes a title display area 81 and a schedule edit area 82. In the schedule edit area 82, it is possible to register / edit a schedule by text editing or icon registration / deletion. When the registration is completed, the screen returns to the calendar screen 90, and the registered schedule icon 96 and text data indicating the schedule are displayed in the schedule display area 92.

  When registering a schedule, it is not necessary to register both the schedule icon 96 and text data, and it is possible to register a schedule using only one of them.

  5 and 6 show a calendar screen 90 in a state where a schedule for traveling from October 24 to October 28 is registered by the above-described schedule registration. As shown in FIG. 5, a schedule icon 96 and text data indicating a trip departure are registered in the October 24 schedule. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a schedule icon 96 indicating the return home and text data are registered in the October 28 schedule.

In the above case, a triangle mark and an inverted triangle mark are displayed in the date display area 91. The triangle mark is an image indicating a date on which a schedule indicating absence start, for example, a schedule such as travel departure is registered. The inverted triangle mark is an image showing a date on which a schedule indicating the end of absence, for example, a schedule such as a trip home is registered. When the above registration is performed, the absence recording operation control unit 11b determines that October 24 to October 28 is an absence period (= absence period).
<1-4. Answering machine processing>
Here, the answering machine process of the IP phone 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the answering machine processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This process can be started at an arbitrary timing in a state where the power of the IP phone 1 is activated.

  After the start of this process, the answering machine operation control unit 11b determines whether or not an instruction to cancel the answering machine mode is detected in step S110. The cancellation instruction is issued, for example, when the user cancels the absence recording cancellation button included in the input unit 14.

  When the cancellation instruction is not detected, the process proceeds to step S130 described later. When the cancellation instruction is detected, the answering machine operation control unit 11b instructs the answering machine function unit 11a to stop the answering machine function in step S120. As a result, the absence mode is canceled. If the answering machine mode has already been canceled, the answering machine operation control unit 11b does not need to perform any particular processing.

  Next, the absence recording operation control unit 11b determines whether or not a predetermined time has arrived in step S130. As the predetermined time, for example, it is desirable to set a time zone in which the home / absence state is likely to change before and after, for example, 0:00 (noon) every day as the predetermined time. If the arrival of the predetermined time has not been detected, the process proceeds to step S110 again to continue monitoring.

  When the arrival of the predetermined time is detected, the answering machine operation control unit 11b acquires the current date by the clock circuit 20 and the schedule information of the corresponding date from the flash memory 12 in step S140. Further, in step S150, the absence recording operation control unit 11b determines whether any schedule is registered in the acquired schedule information.

  When the schedule is not registered, that is, when the schedule information on the corresponding date is empty information, the process proceeds to step S110. If the schedule is registered, the absence recording operation control unit 11b determines in step S160 whether or not the schedule is a type of schedule indicating the start of absence from the user.

  In the case of the schedule indicating the absence start, the absence recording operation control unit 11b searches for the absence end date corresponding to the absence start date from the schedule information in step S180. As a search method, for example, the latest absence end date on the date after the absence start date is regarded as the corresponding absence end date.

  Then, the voice recording operation control unit 11b creates a voice recording message indicating the voice mail end date by voice synthesis or the like. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, if the latest absence end date is October 28, an answering message such as “I am away now. I will return home on October 28.” Create by voice synthesis.

  Next, in step S190, the message recording operation control unit 11b instructs the message recording function unit 11a to execute the message recording function using the message recording message created above. Thereby, the transition to the absence recording mode is performed. If the mode has already been shifted to the answering machine mode, only the answering message message is changed.

  Returning to step S160 and explaining it, if it is not a schedule indicating the absence, the absence recording operation control unit 11b determines in step S170 that the schedule indicates the end of the absence of the user, such as a return date from a trip. It is determined whether or not the schedule indicates.

  If the schedule indicates the absence, the process proceeds to step S120, and the absence recording mode is canceled. If it is not a schedule indicating the absence of absence, the process proceeds to step S110 and monitoring is continued. This processing described above ends when, for example, the power supply of the IP phone 1 is stopped. Or the form which enabled it to receive the execution stop instruction | indication of this process from a user may be sufficient.

  According to the present embodiment described above, since the other party who has heard the answering message can know the period during which the user of the IP phone 1 is away, convenience is improved. In addition, when the absence period arrives without requiring user operation, the mode shifts to the absence recording mode, so that it is possible to avoid the user from forgetting to set the absence recording.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<2-1. About the configuration of the telephone system>
Since it is the same as that of 1st embodiment, description is abbreviate | omitted.
<2-2. IP phone internal configuration>
The apparatus configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, but a part of the function of the absence recording operation control unit 11b is different.

  The answering machine operation control unit 11b of the second embodiment confirms whether or not a schedule indicating the absence start is registered on the latest answering end date when creating the message recording message. If registered, the absence end date corresponding to the absence start (hereinafter referred to as “second absence end date”) is confirmed. Furthermore, it is confirmed whether or not a schedule indicating the absence start is registered on the second absence end date. This confirmation is repeated, and when the absence end date that has not been registered is confirmed, the absence end date is set as the last absence date (= the last period of absence). Then, a message recording message indicating the last day of absence is created.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, it is assumed that a schedule for a business trip departure is registered on the latest absence end date (October 28). In this case, the next absence end date (October 30) after returning home from the business trip becomes the second absence end date. On October 30, no triangle mark is registered, that is, no schedule indicating absence is registered, so October 30 is the last day of absence. As a result, when October 24th, which is the first day of absence, arrives, a voice message is created indicating the final day of absence, “I am away now. I will be home on October 30”. .
<2-3. Calendar screen>
Since it is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description is omitted.
<2-4. Answering machine processing>
Here, the answering machine processing of the IP phone 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, about the process of the same content as 1st embodiment, description shall be abbreviate | omitted by adding the same number.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the answering machine processing according to the second embodiment of the present invention. About step S110-step S160, it is the same content as FIG. 3 of 1st embodiment.

  In step S160, if there is a schedule indicating the absence start in the current day schedule, the absence recording operation control unit 11b confirms the absence period in step S165, and <2-2. The last day of absence is determined by the determination method shown in <Internal Configuration of IP Phone>. For example, in the case of FIG. 9, when October 24 arrives, it is determined that October 30 is the last day of absence.

  Next, in step S185, the absence recording operation control unit 11b creates an absence recording message indicating the last date of absence, and the process proceeds to step S190. Note that if an answering machine message has already been created and it is not necessary to create it again, no answering message message is created. For example, on October 28 in FIG. 9, since October 24 has arrived and an answering message having October 30 as the last day of answering has already been created, no answering message is created.

  Returning to step S160, when there is no schedule indicating absence from the current day schedule, the absence recording operation control unit 11b determines in step S170 whether the current day schedule is a type of schedule indicating the absence of absence. To do.

  If it is not the schedule indicating the absence, the process proceeds to step S110. Thereby, the absence recording mode is not canceled and the absence recording mode is continued. If the schedule indicates the absence, the process proceeds to step S120, and the absence recording mode is canceled.

According to the embodiment described above, for example, a caller who has heard an answering machine message makes a call again on the scheduled return home date (= the answering end date) for another next outing schedule. You will be able to avoid the problem of feeling annoyed by listening to the message.
[Other embodiments]
The present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments and examples. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea. be able to.

  Therefore, the present invention can also be applied to the following embodiments.

  (A) In the above-described embodiment, the arrival of the predetermined time has been described as an example of the timing when the answering machine operation control unit 11b confirms the contents of the schedule and instructs the answering machine function unit 11a. It is also possible to check the contents of the schedule. For example, the schedule content may be confirmed when an incoming call is detected, and an operation instruction may be given to the recorded message function unit 11a based on the confirmation result.

  (B) In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the functional units and data related to the answering machine processing are provided in the IP phone 1 has been described as an example. However, a part of them is connected via a network such as a telephone network or a LAN. The form implement | achieved by the connected external device may be sufficient. For example, the schedule information referred to by the schedule management unit 11c may be recorded in an information processing apparatus (such as a network server) existing on the network. Thereby, for example, when the user changes the contents of the schedule information, it is possible to change the schedule information referred to by a plurality of telephone devices in a lump. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble of changing the contents of the schedule information for each unit.

  (C) In the above embodiment, the IP phone 1 is taken as an example of the telephone device having the answering machine function of the present invention. However, if the telephone device is connected to the telephone communication network and can make a voice call, An embodiment in which the present invention is implemented in an apparatus other than the above may be employed. For example, it may be implemented in a communication application executed on a parent / child phone, Internet phone, mobile phone, car phone, PDA or notebook computer.

  (D) In the above embodiment, various functional units of the IP phone 1 related to the answering machine function of the present invention are realized by executing a program on an arithmetic processing unit such as a microprocessor. May be realized by a plurality of circuits.

  (E) In the above embodiment, the absence recording mode is canceled when the last day of absence is reached (step S120 in FIG. 3). However, the cancellation may not be performed on the last day of absence. In this case, when the last day of absence is reached, only the message recording message is changed while the absence mode is continued. For example, the message is changed to a normal message message that does not include the date and time, such as “I am away now”. Thereby, for example, even when the user's return home is postponed, the answering machine function can be used.

  (F) In the above embodiment, the absence period is designated by date, but the absence period may be set by designation of date and time including time. For example, a schedule including time information such as “12:30 travel home” can be registered in the schedule of October 28. In this case, the answering machine control unit 11b creates a voice message “I am away now. I will return home at 12:30 on October 28”, and transmits it as a response message when an incoming call is received.

  (G) In the second embodiment, it is considered that there are a plurality of consecutive absence periods when the absence end date and the absence start date overlap, but the absence start date is the day after the absence end date. May be considered as having a plurality of consecutive absence periods. For example, taking FIG. 9 as an example, if a schedule for business trips from October 29, which is the next day of October 28, to October 30, is registered, when October 24 arrives, “I am away. I will be home on October 30.”

These are block diagrams which show the structure of the telephone apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are block diagrams which show the structure of the telephone system which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are the flowcharts which show the answering machine process which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are screen figures which show the calendar screen which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are screen figures which show the calendar screen which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are screen figures which show the calendar screen which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are screen figures which show the schedule edit screen which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are the flowcharts which show the answering machine process which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention. These are screen figures which show the calendar screen which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 IP phone (telephone equipment)
11a Answering machine function (answering machine)
11b Answering Record Operation Control Unit 11c Schedule Management Unit 12 Flash Memory (Recording Unit)
13 Display Unit 14 Input Unit 15 Communication Unit 16 Answering Record Data Recording Unit

Claims (4)

A communication unit that communicates by connecting to a communication network;
An answering machine that performs incoming call response and recording of received voice when an incoming call is detected by the communication unit;
A timekeeping section that measures the date and time,
In a telephone device including a schedule management unit that accepts input of schedule information and manages the schedule information,
When the absence information indicating the absence period of the user of the telephone device is included in the schedule information, and the date and time counted by the timing unit is within the period of the absence period, the answering machine unit is operated. A telephone device comprising an answering machine control unit.   The answering machine control unit determines the end of the absence period based on the absence information, creates a voice indicating the end of the period, and outputs a message including the voice when answering an incoming call. The telephone device according to claim 1, wherein the telephone device is controlled.   The absence recording control unit determines whether or not absent period information indicating a plurality of consecutive absent periods is included in the schedule information, and if included, 2. The telephone device according to claim 1, wherein the voice mail indicating the last end of period is created in step (b) and the answering machine function unit is controlled to output a message including the voice when an incoming call is answered. A recording unit for recording information;
The schedule management unit records the schedule information in the recording unit;
The telephone device according to claim 1, wherein the answering machine control unit reads the schedule information from the recording unit to control the operation of the answering machine unit.

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