JPH06216982A - Automatic redial communication terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain quick emergency communication without troubling the user by setting a repetitive limit number of times of automatic dialing and its interval to be an abbreviation dial. CONSTITUTION:The repetitive limit number of times of automatic dialing and its interval set to a 1st redial setting means 10 are set by a 2nd redial setting means 12 as an abbreviation dialing for emergency communication. Then a person designated by the entry operation is called by an automatic dial means 14. When the limit number of times of dialing by the means 12 is reached and the calling is failed, a call number check means 18 activates a succeeding time calculation means 20, and dialing by the means 14 is executed through the succeeding time calculation means 20 and a redial request means 22. Through the constitution above, emergent communication is quickly executed without troubling the user.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication terminal that makes an automatic call, and more particularly to a communication terminal that repeats an automatic call until communication is successful.

With the spread of facsimile machines, the amount of communication is rapidly increasing, and depending on the destination facsimile machine, the busy state is frequently established. Therefore, the operation of calling the facsimile machine is repeated.

Therefore, when the call destination is busy, there is no response, or when communication is abnormally terminated due to frequent occurrence of line errors, automatic call repetition is repeated at regular intervals. A facsimile machine having a redial function is prepared.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art A user presets a number of times (redial number) at which a repeat limit of automatic call is made and a repeat interval (redial interval) of automatic call in a facsimile machine.

If the destination is busy at the time of automatic call or if there is no response, or if communication is abnormally terminated halfway due to frequent occurrence of line errors, the facsimile device is preset. The next automatic call repeat interval is added to the time at that time, and the next call time is calculated and stored in the memory.

After this, when the time has passed and the current time reaches the next calling time, the facsimile machine again makes an automatic call and calls the same destination as the previous time, and the above operation succeeds in communication. Is repeated until.

However, when the number of repeated automatic calls reaches the preset number of calls, a list of non-delivery notifications and an alarm sound output operation are performed to notify the user of an incomplete transmission. Is emitted.

[0008]

The automatic call repeat interval (redial interval) is set to a certain extent,
For this reason, a transmission destination with a large amount of communication is often called by another until the next automatic call is made, and communication with its own terminal is kept waiting until the end.

Further, since the receiving operation is generally prioritized over the transmitting operation, if the incoming call is confirmed before the automatic calling is performed again, the next automatic calling is postponed until the reception is completed. .

Therefore, in the past, when an original should be sent urgently, the user manually performs a forced call immediately after confirming that the communication destination is busy.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a terminal of this type which enables quicker emergency communication without bothering the user. is there.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, a terminal according to the present invention is configured as shown in FIG. 1, and the terminal shown in FIG. A first redial setting means 10 for setting an interval according to an input operation, and a second redial setting for setting a number of times to be a repeat limit of automatic calling and a repeat interval for emergency communication shorter than the above interval according to an input operation. Means 12, automatic calling means 14 for automatically calling a communication partner designated by an input operation, automatic communication means 16 for starting communication with the called partner, and communication with the called partner. When the call fails, the number-of-calls checking means 18 for determining whether or not the number of times the other party has been called has reached one of the limit times specified in advance by the input operation.
Then, when the judgment result indicating that the number of calls of the communication partner has not reached one of the limit times, the next calling time is calculated by using one of the repeat intervals previously specified by the input operation. Next calling time calculating means 20 and re-call requesting means 2 for requesting the automatic calling means 14 to call the communication partner when the current time reaches the calculated time.
2, and a communication failure notification means 24 that outputs a communication failure notification when a determination result indicating that the number of calls of the communication partner has reached one of the limit times is obtained.

[0013]

In the present invention, the repeat interval of automatic call can be arbitrarily shortened by the input operation by the terminal user. Therefore, the terminal of the communication destination can be promptly set before the other terminal receives a call to the self terminal or the terminal of the communication destination. Can be called.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of an automatic redial communication terminal according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The structure of the first embodiment is described with reference to FIG. 2, and its operation is described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. Image data obtained by compressing the original read data is shown in Fig. 2.
The telephone number information of the facsimile device to which the data is transmitted is given to the main control unit 30 of the above and is written in advance from the main control unit 30 to the storage unit 34 by the user operating the input operation unit 32.

In addition, the number of times N (e.g., 8 times), which is the limit of repetition of automatic calling, and the normal automatic call repetition interval T (for example, 3 minutes) are stored in the storage unit 34 according to the input operation of the user. Is written in advance via the main controller 30 (step 300 in FIG. 3).

When transmitting a document, the input operation section 32 is operated by the user, and the telephone number information (one-touch dial, speed dial information, etc.) of the document transmission destination is read from the storage section 34 to the main control section 30 in accordance with the operation. Be done.

Further, this telephone number information is transferred to the main controller 30.
From the main control unit 30 to the line control unit 38, and a line connection instruction signal is output to the line control unit 38. as a result,
A DC loop is formed and the tone detector 40 detects the dial tone of the exchange.

When the dial tone of the exchange is recognized by the main control unit 30 from the output of the tone detection unit 40, an instruction for calling is given from the main control unit 30 to the calling unit 36, whereby the type of connection line is determined. Dial mode (DPo
The dial signal of (rPB) is sent to the line via the line control unit 38.

When the transmission partner is called by the dial signal, a procedure signal is transmitted and received, and thereafter image data is sent from the main control unit 30 to the line via the line control unit 38 (step 302 in FIG. 3, FIG. 3). YE in step 304
S).

Further, when the busy tone of the exchange is detected by the tone detector 40 after the dial signal is transmitted, or the communication partner does not respond, or the communication ends abnormally in the middle due to frequent occurrence of line errors ( 3 (NO in step 304), the main controller 30 causes the display 42
Is controlled, and a display indicating that the automatic redial is on standby is displayed on the display unit 42.

If the original does not need to be sent urgently (NO in step 306 in FIG. 3), the user ignores the display on the display unit 42 at that time and leaves the facsimile apparatus.

The main control unit 30 includes a storage unit 34 and a timer unit 4
The calling interval T and the current time are read from 4 and the calling interval T is added to the current time to obtain the next calling time (step 308 in FIG. 3).

At this time, the telephone number information of the destination (one-touch dial,
It is stored in correspondence with calling information such as speed dial).
Further, the next call time is output to the timer unit 44 (step 310 in FIG. 3).

After that, the state of simply waiting until the next call time comes (step 312 in FIG. 3),
Meanwhile, the timer unit 44 constantly compares the current time with the next call time.

When the time when the next call should be made is reached, the fact is notified from the timer section 44 to the main control section 30 (YES in step 312 in FIG. 3), and the storage section 34 corresponds to this time. The stored telephone number information (calling information) is retrieved.

Further, by using the telephone number information, the same destination as the last time is called again, and when the calling is successful, the transmission of the image data is started (step 31 in FIG. 3).
4). However, also at this time, if the destination is busy, or if there is no response, or if the communication ends abnormally in the middle of communication due to frequent occurrence of line errors, the cumulative number of recalled calls is stored in the storage unit 34. It is matched with the set number N of recalls (NO in step 316 in FIG. 3, step 3
18).

When it is confirmed from the matching result that the cumulative number of recalled calls has not exceeded the preset number N of recalled calls (NO in step 318 of FIG. 3), the next call origination time is calculated again, Waiting for re-call (Fig. 3
NO in step 320).

Therefore, the automatic call is repeated until the transmission is successful or the accumulated number of re-calls reaches the preset number N of re-calls, and the accumulated number of re-calls is the preset number N of re-calls. Main control circuit 30 only when
The display unit 42 is controlled to notify the user that the original has not been transmitted (step 322 in FIG. 3, a list of non-delivery notifications and an alarm sound are output in many devices).

Here, if the manuscript is to be sent urgently, the user operates the input operation unit 32 at the time when the communication by the first call fails or at the time when the communication by any re-call fails. Then, the emergency communication mode is selected (YES in step 306 in FIG. 3).

When the emergency communication mode is selected, the main control unit 30 controls the display unit 42 to switch the display of the display unit 42 to the screen for setting the recalling interval t for emergency, and to display the emergency call. The call interval t (for example, 30 seconds) is input to the main control unit 30 from the input operation unit 32.

The calling interval t is also stored in the storage unit 34 (step 324 in FIG. 3). When an invalid value (0) is input, the call origination interval T of the call is stored in the storage unit 34 as the emergency call origination interval t.

Next, the emergency call interval t is added to the current time to calculate the next call time (step 326 in FIG. 3). This calling interval is stored in a new area of the storage unit 34 together with the telephone number information and is output to the timer unit 44 (step 310 in FIG. 3).

After that, when the next call time comes, the destination is called again. If this communication fails and the cumulative number of recalled calls does not reach the set number of recalled calls N, the next call time is calculated using the emergency call interval t, and the call waiting state is resumed. Becomes

As described above, the automatic call is repeated at the short call interval t specified by the user until the transmission is successful or the number of re-calls reaches the set number N (FIG. 3).
Steps 326, 310, 312, 314, 316,
318, 320).

For example, when the set number N of re-calls is '8' and the emergency transmission interval t is "30 seconds" at the first transmission failure, 1 am
When set at 0:20:30, automatic call attempts are made up to eight times every 10 seconds from 10:20:30 to a successful manuscript transmission.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the destination can be called up more quickly, so that the user can leave the call up to the facsimile machine and perform other tasks. The configuration of the second embodiment is described with reference to FIG. 4, and the operation thereof is described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 5 and 6.

This facsimile apparatus has a memory transmission function, and when the memory transmission mode is selected by the user operation of the input operation unit 32 (step 500), information necessary for calling for all destinations (timer) is displayed. Information including the presence or absence of transmission and confidential communication is included), and image data to be transmitted is set in the storage units 34 and 46, respectively.

Further, the calling interval t is set for the items to be urgently transmitted (the above, step 50).
2,306,504,506,508). Then, the transmission order is determined so that the urgent items are preferentially transmitted (step 510). After that, the same automatic redial operation as in the first embodiment is performed for all the destinations (step 512).

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the other terminal can be called more reliably and quickly by setting the repeat cycle of the automatic call to be short, the user can leave the terminal for the emergency transmission of the manuscript and perform other business.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a structural explanatory view of a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 30 main control unit 32 input operation unit 34 control information storage storage unit 36 calling unit 38 line control unit (NCU) 40 tone detection unit 42 display unit 44 timer unit 46 image information storage storage unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first redial setting means (10) for setting a number of times and a repeating interval to be a limit for repeating automatic calling according to an input operation, and a number of times to be a repeating limit for automatic calling and shorter than the interval. Second redial setting means (12) for setting a repeat interval for emergency communication in accordance with an input operation, automatic calling means (14) for automatically calling a communication partner designated by the input operation, and called party When the communication with the automatic communication means (16) for starting communication between the called party and the called party fails, the called number of the called party is set to one limit number which is designated in advance by the input operation. The number of calls checking means (18) for determining whether or not the number of calls has been reached, and the input operation when the determination result indicating that the number of calls of the communication partner has not reached one limit And a next call time calculation means (20) for calculating the next call time using one of the repeat intervals previously designated by the above, and a call of the communication partner when the current time reaches the calculated time. Recall request means (22) for requesting the automatic call means (14) and a communication failure notification output when a judgment result indicating that the number of calls of the communication partner has reached one of the limit times is obtained. An automatic redial communication terminal, comprising: a communication failure notifying means (24) for performing.