GB2286093A - Telephone answering device with paging function - Google Patents

Abstract

The telephone answering device (TAD) has a CPU 1 with a RAM 1 into which the owner can register his pager telephone number via a keypad 2. In response to such registration, the CPU 1 autodials the pager number to contact a paging center which responds with a paging instruction message which is recorded in a RAM 3 of the TAD's recording/playback unit 17. The RAM 3 also stores a conventional outgoing answering message and a message inviting a caller to page the called party. When an incoming call is received, the caller can record a message on the unit 17 in the normal manner. The caller also has the option, prompted by replay of the page inviting message, of alternatively or additionally paging the called party. If the caller chooses this option, the previously recorded paging center message is replayed asking the caller to key in his telephone number which is then stored in RAM 2 of CPU 1. The TAD then disengages the telephone line and goes into the paging routine (Fig. 4) in which the line is re-engaged, the number in RAM 1 is autodialed to contact the paging center, the caller's number in RAM 2 is transmitted to the paging center and the line is then disengaged. The paging center then calls up the TAD owner's pager to display thereon the number of the caller. When the caller listens to the replayed paging center message, it seems as if he were communicating directly with the paging center and he thus feels reassured that his message will reach its destination. <IMAGE>

Description

TELEPHONE ANSWERING DEVICE WITH PAGING FUNCTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a telephone answering device (TAD) with a paging function.

Although there are cases in which ROM based voice synthesis is utilized for outgoing messages, generally outgoing messages are personally recorded by the owner of the TAD using a microphone. In a conventional TAD which has a paging function, the owner has to personally record an outgoing message which provides directions for callers on how to use the paging function.

The aforementioned conventional TAD with paging function was limited in that even if it could execute the paging operation with certainty, the caller could not know for sure whether or not his message would reach its intended destination.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention achieves the aforementioned objective in the following manner: When the user first registers his own pager telephone number on the present invention, the present device automatically calls up a paging center. If the paging center responds with its announcement, that announcement will be automatically recorded on the present invention. The caller who listens to the announcement feels as if he were communicating directly with the paging center. Therefore, he may be assured as to whether or not his message could reach its destination.

When a ringing signal from a caller is detected, the present invention first transmits a conventional outgoing message previously recorded by the owner. If the caller would like to call up the pager, the caller transmits a predetermined signal and the present device will transmit an announcement of the paging center which was recorded earlier.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating registration of the pager number and recording of the paging center announcement.

Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating telephone answering operations of an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating paging operations.

Figure 5 is a table showing assignment of the operations keypad.

Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating setting of paging options while at home.

Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating setting of paging opt ions by remote control from an outside telephone.

Legend 1 = Microprocessor (CPU) 2 = Operation keypad 3 = NOR gate 4 = Tone decoder 5 = Waveform shaper 6 = Voice synthesizer 7 = Microphone 8-11, 18 = Amplifiers 12-16, 24 = Analog switch 17 = Recording and playback unit 19 = Speaker 20 = Telephone 21 = Line transformer 22 = Line monitor 23 = DTMF tone generator DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The following is an embodiment of the present invention and will be explained with reference to the drawings and flowcharts.

In Figure 1, numeral 1 is a microprocessor (CPU) which is comprised of read-only-memory (ROM) for storing the program to control the present invention and RAM-1 and RAM-2 for storing an autodialing number and telephone numbers of callers.

Symbols T/O -1 through I/0-3 are input/output ports. Symbols I-l through I-6 are input ports.

Symbols 0-1 through 0-12 are output ports. Symbol INT is an interrupt terminal.

Numeral 2 is a keypad on which various operation keys are arranged. Numeral 3 is a NOR gate. Numeral 4 is a tone decoder capable of detecting DTMF tone signals. A four-bit output from terminal OUT is applied to input port I-2.

Numeral 5 is a waveform shaper which enables audible signals such as voice and DTMF tones to be detected by the program. Numeral 6 is a voice synthesizer which provides feedback regarding the various operating means. Numeral 7 is a microphone which is used for recording response announcements.

Numerals 8 through 11 are amplifiers. Numerals 12 through 16 and 2 are analog switches through which signals flow in the directions indicated by the arrows. Symbol "C" refers to a control terminal.

Numeral 17, which contains RAM-3, is a recording/playback unit for recording outgoing messages, a message from the paging center and messages from callers. Numeral 18 is an amplifier.

Numeral 19 is a speaker. Numeral 20 is a telephone.

Numeral 21 is a line transformer.

Numeral 22 is a line monitor for detecting ringing signals, reversal of polarity on the telephone line, an off-hook condition of the aforementioned telephone 20 and hang-ups from callers. Numeral 23 is a DTMF generator for autodialing.

Symbol Y-l is a relay with contact yl-l.

Symbols LED-1 through LED-5 are light emitting diodes which indicate operating modes.

Each of the keys of the aforementioned keypad 2, namely 0 through 9, "#" and "*" are allocated the functions as shown in Figure 5 (to be described later).

Revisterinq the Payer Number/Recordinq the Paainq Center Announcement Registration of the pager telephone number in the present device and recording of the announcement from the paging center will be described next with reference to Figures 1 and 2.

In order to switch to this operating mode, it is necessary to invoke the subroutine shown in Figure 2 by pressing the pound sign ("&num;") key and then the "2" key. (By pressing the "&num;" key before a number key, the function corresponding to that number may be activated as shown in Figure 5.) At Step 30, the following message is generated by voice synthesis and amplified: "Please enter the pager telephone number followed by a pound ("#") sign." More specifically, an address of voice synthesizer 6 is selected in accordance with a command from input/output port T/0-2 of CPU1 of Figure 1. The aforementioned voice synthesized message is simplified and applied to speaker 19 via amplifier 18 and analog switch 16.

In Step 31, the program switches the aforementioned keypad 2 number entry mode.

Next, RAM-1, which is the memory area allocated for this number entry, is cleared at Step 32. The address pointer for RAM-1 is initialized at Step 33 and RAM-1 is set to registration mode of Step 34.

At Step 35, the aforementioned pager telephone number can be inputted.

If a digit is entered, Step 35 becomes affirmative. For confirmation purposes, the entered number is announced by voice synthesis at Step 36. As long as a pound sign is not entered, Step 37 will become negative. At Step 38, the value of the aforementioned address pointer is incremented by 1.

Next, the program waits for entry of the next digit at Step 35.

If a pound sign is entered after a telephone number consisting of a predetermined number of digits is entered, Step 37 becomes affirmative and then registration mode is cancelled at Step 39.

At this point, the following voice synthesized message will be announced: "This number will be registered in this device as your paging number.

Please press the pound ("&num;") sign key or, if you would like to change the number, press the asterisk ("*") key now." In the case an asterisk is pressed, the program returns to Step 32 via Steps 41 and 42 and correction of the telephone number can be made.

If a pound sign is pressed, Step 41 becomes affirmative and relay Y-1, which is a load on output port 0-6, turns on and its contact yl-l closes. As a result, the telephone line (L1,L2) is engaged via line transformer 21 at Step 43.

When the telephone line is engaged, a dial tone arrives from the telephone exchange. The program detects this dial tone by means of the telephone line (L1,L2), amplifier 11, waveform shaper 5 and input port 1-1 at Step 44.

After detection of the dial tone, conventional autodialing is used (DTMF generator 23) to call up the paging center at Step 45. The autodialed number is the pager telephone number which was stored in the aforementioned manner. It should be noted that the pound sign is not transmitted, as its function is merely to indicate the end of the pager telephone number.

At Step 46, the response of the paging center is detected via line monitor 22 and NOR gate 3 due to a resultant change in the polarity of the telephone line. The recording unit (recording/playback unit 17 of Figure 1) is subsequently activated.

The announcement from the paging center can be recorded for 10 seconds, the aspiration of which causes the recording unit to be deactivated (Steps 47 through 50).

Announcements vary among paging centers. A typical example would be "Hello! You have reached a such-and-such paging center. Please enter one of the messages prescribed by our company using the keys of your telephone. When you have finished entering the message, press the pound sign key.

In this embodiment, the time allocated to recording the announcement is 10 seconds. However, it should be noted that it is also possible to use mechanisms other than a timer, such as a one that stops the recording in response to detection of a silence following the announcement.

When recording of the announcement stops in the aforementioned manner, the aforementioned recording/playback unit 17 is deactivated at Step 50.

The user may then input his message word by word or a single digit of the telephone number at a time using keypad 2 at Step 51. The output of keypad 2 is applied to the telephone line (L1,L2) by means of DTMF generator 23 at Step 52.

Since Step 53 will remain negative as long as a pound sign is not entered, the aforementioned Steps 51 and 52 will be repeated. When inputting of the aforementioned telephone number is concluded and a pound sign key is pressed, Step 53 becomes affirmative. In Step 54, engagement of the telephone line is cancelled by turning off relay Y-l and the subroutine is concluded.

Next, when the paging center carries out the paging operation, it will display a message (in this case, a caller's telephone number) on the display of the pager (not shown in the drawing).

Since the caller in the aforementioned case is the page owner, the device can be checked to see whether it is working properly.

It should be noted that a registration key may be installed in place of the aforementioned pound sign key as well as a stop key in place of the aforementioned asterisk key.

Answerina Mode Operations Next, by pressing the "8" key on keypad 2 (see Figure 5), the subroutine shown in Figure 3 is invoked and the device is set to answering mode.

In Figure 1, when a ringing signal is received via a telephone line, it is detected by the program via line monitoring circuit 22 and input port I-3, and Step 60 because affirmative as a result.

At this point relays Y-l turns on, which causes the telephone line to be engaged via contact yl-l and line transformer 21 (Step 61). Incoming of ringing signals is then terminated and a conversation channel is established.

Next, in response to a command from input/output port I/0-1, recording and playback unit 17 is activated in a playback mode. Then transmissions of an outgoing message, which has been previously stored in RAM-3, commences at Step 62. The outgoing message is transmitted via analog switch ld, amplifier 10 and line transformer 21 onto the telephone line.

The outgoing message includes the following: "If you would like to page me, please press the pound sign key now and wait for further instructions." If the caller presses the pound sign key during this outgoing message, a DTMF tone corresponding to the pound sign key will be transmitted. Since the program will detect it via line transformer 21, amplifier 11, tone decoder 4 and input port I-2, Step 64 will become affirmative. Next, transmission of the outgoing message is terminated halfway at Step 71 and transmission of the paging center announcement, which was recorded in RAM-3 as shown above, is commenced at Step 73.

When transmission of this announcement is concluded at Step 74, a command from output port 0-13 switches the device to DTMF tone input mode. The caller's message, in this case a telephone number or the like, can be then inputted at Step 75.

For the convenience of callers who are familiar with paging operations and do not need to listen to the entire outgoing message, it is possible to have a design which allows a caller to skip the outgoing message by inputting a given code, pressing a given key, or the like.

Next, the address pointer for RAM-2 is initialized at Step 76 in order that digital codes representing aforementioned DTMF tones can be stored in RAM-2. At Step 77, a test is performed to determine whether a DTMF tone representing a single digit has been inputted. As long as a DTMF tone is not inputted, a test will take place at Step 81 to determine whether or not the caller has placed his telephone (not shown in the drawings) on-hook.

If a DTMF tone representing a single digit is detected by the program via input port I-2, amplifier 11 and tone decoder 4, Step 77 becomes affirmative.

In order that the inputted number can be confirmed by the caller, the aforementioned DTMF tone representing a single digit is voice synthesized and transmitted to the telephone line via input/output port I/0-2, voice synthesizer 6, analog switch 2, amplifier 10 and line transformer 21 at Step 78. Then the digital code corresponding to the DTMF tone is stored in RAM-2 at Step 79.

In order to store in memory the next digital code for the DTMF tone representing the next digit, the address pointer is incremented by 1 at Step 80 and the program returns to Step 77 where it waits for the next DTMF tone to be entered for a predetermined time period (for example, two seconds) When the caller concludes inputting his message (in this case his telephone number), he places his telephone (not shown) on-hook.

The program detects the resulting on-hook condition via input port I-6 and line monitor 22. As a result, Step 81 will become affirmative. The aforementioned DTMF input mode will then be cancelled at Step 82 and the telephone line will be disengaged when relay Y-l turns off at Step 83.

In the immediately proceeded case, the caller stopped the outgoing message by pressing the pound sign key during transmission of the outgoing message and subsequently entered his telephone number.

However, it is also possible for the caller to wait for incoming recording message mode to begin (Step 66), transmit his message to be recorded, and press the pound sign key (Step 68) to cancel incoming message recording mode so that he could enter his telephone number. It should be further noted that if the caller does not press the pound sign key, only recording of the incoming message will take place (Steps 65, 66, 67, 69 and 70).

Basic ODerations If the pound sign key had been pressed as shown above, disengagement of the telephone line will take place at Step 83. Then the subroutine "Paging" shown in Figure 4 is invoked at Step 84 in order to call up the pager.

At Step 90, the telephone line is engaged when relay Y-l turns on.

When a dial tone from the telephone exchange (not shown in the drawings) is detected at Step 91, the pager is called up using the aforementioned autodialing feature at Step 92. The paging center responds and the program detects this response by means of line monitor 22 at Step 93. When the conclusion of the announcement "Please input your message" is detected (Steps 94 and 95), the message which was stored in RAM-2 (in this case, a caller's telephone number) is converted to DTMF tones and transmitted onto the telephone line by DTMF tone generator 23 in accordance with a command from output port 0-12 at Step 96.

Relay Y-1 is subsequently turned off, causing the telephone line to be disengaged and the subroutine is concluded. The program returns to at Step 60, where the present device is restored to standby mode.

Next, the paging center will call up in the conventional manner the pager (not shown in the drawings) which was autodialed in the aforementioned Step 92 and display the message of the aforementioned Step 96 on the display section (not shown in the drawings) of the pager.

Pains Options The present invention enables the following three paging functions to be carried out either manually, when the user is at home, or remotely, when he is calling from a remote telephone: 1) "Page all" 2) "Page upon caller's request" or 3) "Cancel paging." The aforementioned material which was described with reference to the flowchart of Figure 3 corresponds to the aforementioned second function, "Page upon caller"s request." In Figure 1, keypad 2 has a "paging options" key (not shown in the drawings). If this key is pressed manually or the corresponding command is entered from a remote telephone, the subroutine of Figure 6 is invoked.

Alternatively, if the "1" key on keypad 2 (not shown in the drawings) is pressed or the corresponding command is entered from a remote telephone, Step 100 becomes affirmative. At Step 101, the device is set to "Page all" mode in which paging operations take place each time a caller records an incoming message (ICM). This is for notifying the user that an incoming message is recorded on the telephone answering device. In addition, LED-5 is lit up (Step 102).

Although there is no flowchart detailing this mode exclusively, the steps which are carried out in this mode will be described with reference to Figure 3. After the outgoing message transmission at Step 63, a beep tone will be transmitted at Step 65 and the device enters incoming message recording mode at Step 66. The caller's incoming message is then recorded.

When the caller hangs up, the on-hook condition of the caller's telephone is detected at Step 81 and the telephone line is disengaged at Step 83. Then the paging operation is carried out at Step 84, but the step is which the caller's telephone number is transmitted (Step 96 of Figure 4) is ignored in this case. It should be noted that if "page upon caller's requests" function is not selected, a conventional outgoing message would be transmitted from RAM-3.

Such an out going message would not contain any reference to pressing the pound sign key.

If the "2" key (not shown in the drawings) is pressed, at the next Step 106 the device is set to "page upon caller's request" mode, in which paging takes place only when the caller presses the pound sign key. In this mode, LED-^ is lit at Step 107.

If the "3" key (not shown in the drawings) is pressed, paging operations are cancelled at Step 111 and LED-3 is lit at Step 112.

The aforementioned settings can also be carried out by the user using a remotely located telephone as shown in Figure 7. A detailed description thereof will be omitted. However, it should be noted that a security code has to be previously registered at home using keypad 2.

If the user calls up the present device using a remote telephone and presses the asterisk ("*") key during transmission of the outgoing message, the subroutine shown in Figure 7 will be invoked. Then if the security code is inputted, the aforementioned settings can be performed.

As shown above, with the present invention, if a caller inputs DTMF tones in accordance with the outgoing massage of the telephone answering device, he can hear a recording of the paging center's announcement which was recorded beforehand. As a result, the caller can perform the operations for paging the user easily and feel confident that the paging was successful.

Furthermore, the present invention contributes greatly to reliable operation, since it is possible to confirm operation of the paging device after recording the paging center announcement.

Claims (1)

1. A telephone answering device with a paging function, said device comprising: means for recording a user's outgoing message and an announcement from a paging center; means for awaiting a ringing signal from a caller; means for engaging a telephone line and transmitting said user's outgoing message onto the telephone line upon detection of said ringing signal; means- for transmitting said paging center announcement; means for storing a message being sent by said caller in accordance with said paging center announcement; means for disengaging the telephone line once after storing said caller's message, then engaging the telephone line again, and autodialing a predetermined pager telephone number in order to page the pager; means for transmitting said stored message to said paging center; and means for disengaging the telephone line after completion of transmitting said stored message.

2. A telephone answering device with a paging function as set forth in claim 1, wherein said paging center announcement is transmitted when a predetermined signal for paging said pager is detected, said predetermined signal being sent by the caller in accordance with said user's outgoing message.

3. A telephone answering device with a paging function as set forth in claim 1, wherein said stored message is transmitted to said paging center after said paging center responds to said autodialing operation.

4. A telephone answering device with a paging function as set forth in claim 1, said device further comprising means for recording an incoming message from a caller after completion of transmitting said user's outgoing message.

5. A telephone answering device with a paging function as set forth in claim 1, said paging center announcement is automatically recorded after said pager's telephone number is registered in said device.

6. A telephone answering device with a paging function as set forth in claim 1, wherein it is possible to set any one of the following three paging option means while at home or during remote control operation; means for preventing activation of paging function even if an incoming message from a caller is received; means for paging said pager only when a signal from a caller is received after completion of transmitting said pager center announcement; and means for paging said pager each time an incoming message from a caller is received.

7. A telephone answering device with a paging function as set forth in claim 6, said device further comprising means for automatically selecting any one of a plurality of outgoing messages corresponding to said three paging option means.

8. A telephone answering system for enabling a calling party to page a called party via a paging center, comprising: a paging registration means responsive to a registration signal from said called party for recording a paging message from said paging center; a paging information means responsive to a first control signal from said calling party for transmitting said paging message to said calling party, and a paging engagement means responsive to a second control signal from said calling party for engaging said paging center in paging said called party.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said first control signal comprises a paging activation signal to request said called party to be paged.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein said second control signal is provided in response to said paging message.

11. The system of claim 8 further comprising message recording means for recording an incoming message from said calling party.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said paging center is engaged when said incoming message is recorded.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein said paging engagement means transmits said incoming message to said paging center.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein said registration signal comprises a paging identification signal that enables said paging center to identify said called party.

15. A method of interacting between a telephone answering device and a paging center, comprising the steps of: recording by said telephone answering device a control message from said paging center; reproducing said control message by said telephone answering device in response to a first control signal from said caller; recording an incoming message by said telephone answering device in response to a second control signal from said caller; and transmitting said incoming message from said telephone answering device to said paging center.

26. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of reproducing an outgoing message by said telephone answering device to enable said caller to page a called party.