JP2000083102A - Voice storage system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the operability relating to hearing of a specific message arrived in a message arrival object terminal. SOLUTION: This voice storage system has a message terminal 12a, a message arrival object terminal 12b and a voice storage device 20 including a mail box memory 21 that stores a voice message from the message terminal to the message arrival object terminal. The voice storage deice 20 is provided with a caller number identification section 24 that identifies a caller number in response to access from the message terminal, a designation number identification section 25 that identifies a designation number from the message arrival object terminal, and a microcomputer that stores a voice message from the message terminal and a caller number relating to the message terminal to the mail box memory in cross reference to each other, reads a voice message relating to the caller number corresponding to the designation number in response to an access from the message arrival object terminal from the mail box memory and transmits the voice message to the message arrival object terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a voice storage system known as a voice mail service such as an advanced answering service.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a voice mail system as such a voice storage system, for example, a plurality of communication terminals and a voice storage device are connected via a public network, and a plurality of mailboxes in the voice storage device are connected. Are respectively assigned to the communication terminals of the mailbox subscribers.

For example, when a communication terminal (hereinafter, referred to as a message receiving terminal) of a mailbox subscriber receives an incoming call (access) from another communication terminal (hereinafter, referred to as a message terminal), the user of the message receiving terminal is referred to as a user. Even if the message receiving target terminal cannot respond to this incoming call due to absence or the like, the incoming call to the message receiving target terminal by this message terminal is automatically transferred to the voice storage device, and the A voice message from the message terminal is stored in the contract mailbox of the message receiving target terminal.

When the voice receiving device accesses the voice storage device from the message receiving target terminal, the voice storing device reads out the voice message from the message terminal from within the contract mailbox of the message receiving target terminal, and reads the voice message. The message is sent to the message receiving terminal.

[0005] As described above, according to the conventional voice mail system, even if the message receiving target terminal cannot answer the incoming call from the message terminal to the message receiving target terminal, the user of the message terminal can perform the predetermined mail of the voice storage device. By storing the voice message in the box, the user of the message receiving terminal can hear the voice message from the message terminal.

However, according to the voice mail system as the conventional voice storage system, when a plurality of voice messages are stored in a mailbox from a plurality of message terminals for the message receiving target terminal, the message receiving target A situation has arisen in which the terminal user cannot hear a specific voice message among these voice messages by one-touch operation.

Therefore, in order to cope with such a situation, the storage numbers are assigned in the storage order of the voice messages and stored in the mailbox, and the user of the message receiving target terminal responds to the specific voice message. By inputting the storage number, a specific voice message can be heard.

[0008]

However, according to such a conventional voice mail system as a voice storage system, a user of a message receiving target terminal inputs a storage number corresponding to a specific voice message. Although a specific voice message can be heard, the user of the message receiving terminal cannot hear the specific voice message without knowing the storage number corresponding to the individual voice message. However, there is a possibility that the operability of the message receiving terminal may be significantly impaired, and the user burden on the message receiving terminal may be increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to improve the operability of a message receiving target terminal required for listening to a specific message of the message receiving target terminal while improving the user burden. It is an object of the present invention to provide a voice storage system capable of greatly reducing noise.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a voice storage system according to the present invention has a message terminal, a message receiving target terminal, and a storage for storing a voice message from the message terminal to the message receiving target terminal. A voice storage system comprising: a voice storage device comprising: a voice storage device, wherein the voice storage device responds to an access from a message terminal; A storage control unit for storing a voice message from a terminal and a caller number relating to the message terminal in a storage unit in association with each other; a designated number identification unit for identifying a designated number from the message receiving target terminal; The designated number identified by the designated number identifying means according to the access from the target terminal Reading from the memory means a voice message related to the caller number corresponding to the one in which a control means for transmitting the voice message to the message intended recipient terminals.

Therefore, according to the voice storage system of the present invention, the voice message relating to the caller number corresponding to the designated number from the message receiving target terminal is read out from the storage means, and this voice message is stored in the message receiving target terminal. Since the transmission is performed, the operability of the message receiving target terminal required for listening to the specific voice message can be improved, and the burden on the user can be greatly reduced.

That is, the user of the message receiving terminal can hear a specific voice message from a plurality of voice messages by a simple operation.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A voice storage system according to claim 1 of the present invention has a voice having a message terminal, a message receiving target terminal, and storage means for storing a voice message from the message terminal to the message receiving target terminal. A voice storage system having a storage device, wherein the voice storage device, in response to access from a message terminal, a caller number identification means for identifying a caller number of the message terminal; and a voice from the message terminal. A message and a storage control unit for storing a caller number relating to the message terminal in a storage unit in association with the storage unit; a designation number identification unit for identifying a designation number from the message reception target terminal; According to the access, it corresponds to the designated number identified by the designated number identifying means. It reads a voice message related to the followers number from the storage means, and having a control means for transmitting the voice message to the message intended recipient terminals.

The message terminal and the message receiving terminal are connected to, for example, a voice storage device via a public network, and the message terminal is a terminal for transmitting a voice message, and the message receiving terminal is a message receiving terminal. Is equivalent to a terminal on the side that receives a voice message from this message terminal by contracting with a voice storage device.

The caller number identification means corresponds to, for example, a caller number identification section for identifying a caller number of a message terminal in response to access from a message terminal via a caller number service of a public network. is there.

The storage means corresponds to a mailbox memory for storing the voice message from the message terminal and the message sender number indicating the sender number of the message terminal in association with each other.

The storage control means corresponds to a microcomputer for storing and controlling the storage means.

The designated number identifying means corresponds to a designated number identifying section for identifying a designated number inputted from the message receiving terminal.

The designated number corresponds to, for example, a number that matches the sender number of the message terminal that is the source of the voice message. The designated number may be a local number in the caller number of the message terminal, and can be set as appropriate.

The control means reads out from the storage means a voice message relating to a caller number corresponding to the designated number identified by the designated number identifying means in response to an access from the message receiving terminal. This corresponds to, for example, a microcomputer and a communication unit that transmits a message to a message receiving target terminal.

Therefore, according to the voice storage system of the first aspect of the present invention, a voice message related to a caller number corresponding to a designated number from a message receiving target terminal is read from the storage means, and the voice message is received. Since the notification is made to the target terminal, it is possible to greatly reduce the burden on the user while improving the operability of the message receiving target terminal required for listening to the specific voice message.

In other words, the user of the message receiving terminal can hear a specific voice message from a plurality of voice messages by a simple operation.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the voice storage system according to the first aspect, the control means stores the voice message related to the caller number corresponding to the designated number. If it is determined that the message does not exist in the terminal, a warning message is transmitted to the message receiving target terminal.

The warning message corresponds to a message notifying that there is no voice message related to the caller number corresponding to the designated number in the storage means.

Therefore, according to the voice storage system of the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, there is no voice message related to the caller number corresponding to the designated number in the storage means. Is determined, a warning message is sent to the message receiving target terminal, so the user of the message receiving target terminal
By hearing this warning message, it is possible to smoothly recognize that there is no voice message of the caller number corresponding to the designated number.

Hereinafter, a voice mail system according to an embodiment of the voice storage system of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration inside the voice mail system shown in the present embodiment.

The voice mail system 10 shown in FIG.
For example, a plurality of communication terminals 12, for example, a message terminal 12a, a message receiving target terminal 12b, etc., and a voice storage device 20 are connected via a public network 11 such as ISDN, and a plurality of mailbox memories 21 in the voice storage device 20 are connected. Are assigned to the communication terminals (message receiving target terminals) 12b of the mailbox subscribers.

The voice storage device 20 includes a communication unit 22 for communicatively connecting to the public network 11, a guide message memory 23 storing a guide message to be described later, and a transmission terminal of the communication terminal receiving the voice storage device 20. A caller number identification unit 24 for identifying a caller number, a designated number identification unit 25 for identifying a designated number input at a message receiving target terminal 12b described later, and a plurality of voice messages from each message terminal 12a are stored. Mailbox memory 2
1, a predetermined time timer 26 for measuring a predetermined time, and a microcomputer 27 for controlling the entire voice storage device 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mailbox memory 21 shows a box number area 31 for storing a box number for identifying a plurality of mailboxes 21a assigned to each contract terminal, and a telephone number of the contract terminal. A subscriber number area 32 for storing a subscriber number; a message sender number area 33 for storing a message sender number indicating the telephone number of the message terminal 12a;
It has a message reception time area 34 for storing a message reception time indicating the recording time of the voice message from 2a, and a voice message area 35 for storing a voice message from the message terminal 12a.

In the guidance message memory 23, for example, a message recording guidance message that prompts the user of the message terminal 12a to input a voice message, or a specific voice message to the user of the message receiving terminal 12b is specified. It is assumed that a designated number input guide message for prompting entry of a designated number, an NG message notifying that there is no voice message corresponding to the designated number, and the like are stored.

Next, the operation of the voice mail system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the microcomputer 27 of the voice storage device 20 in the message recording process of the voice mail system 10 according to the present embodiment.

The message recording process shown in FIG. 3 means that the voice message from the message terminal 12a is stored in the contract mailbox 21a of the message receiving target terminal 12b of the voice storage device 20, and the message terminal 12a related to the voice message is stored. This is a process of storing the caller number of the user in association with the voice message.

The microcomputer 2 of the voice storage device 20 shown in FIG.
7, it is determined whether or not an incoming call (access) from the message terminal 12a has been detected (step S11).
If an incoming call from the message terminal 12a is detected, it is determined whether or not a caller ID from the message terminal 12a has been received via the caller ID identifying unit 24 (step S12).

If the caller number is received from the message terminal 12a, the caller number is stored in the corresponding mailbox 21a in the mailbox memory 21 (step S13). A message recording guidance message prompting the recording of a voice message is output from the guidance message memory 23 (step S14), and recording of the voice message from the message terminal 12a is started (step S1).
5) It is determined whether or not the recording of the voice message from the message terminal 12a has been completed (step S).
16).

If the recording of the message from the message terminal 12a is completed, the voice message is stored in the voice message area 35 in the predetermined mailbox 21a in association with the caller number of the message terminal 12a stored in step S13. (Step S17), this means that the message recording processing operation has been completed.

In step S17, as shown in FIG. 2, the voice message is stored in the voice message area 35 in the predetermined mailbox 21a, and the recording time of the voice message is stored in the message reception time area 34 as the reception time. Thus, the caller number of the message terminal, the voice message, and the p reception time are stored in the predetermined mailbox 21a.

If the caller ID cannot be received from the message terminal 12a in step S12,
As usual, a message recording guidance message prompting the user of the message terminal 12a to input a message recording is output (step S18), and recording of the voice message from the message terminal 12a is started (step S1).
9) It is determined whether or not recording of the voice message has been completed (step S20).

If the message recording is completed, the voice message is stored in the voice message area 35 in the corresponding mailbox 21a (step S2).
1), the message recording process ends.
In step S21, the voice message and the reception time of the voice message are stored in the mailbox 21a as shown in FIG.

If an incoming call from the message terminal 12a has not been detected in step S11, the message recording process ends.

As described above, according to the message recording process shown in FIG. 3, the voice message from the message terminal 12a and the caller number of the message terminal 12a are stored in the mailbox 21a of the voice storage device 20 in association with each other. be able to.

Next, the voice message output process will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the microcomputer 27 of the voice storage device 20 in the voice message output processing of the voice mail system 10 according to the present embodiment.

The voice message output process is to store the voice message from the message terminal 12a in the mailbox 21a while detecting the access from the message receiving target terminal 12b to the voice storage device 20. This is a process for transmitting not only all voice messages in the message but also transmitting only a specific voice message to the message receiving target terminal 12b according to a predetermined operation.

The microcomputer 27 shown in FIG.
1 from the message receiving terminal 12b, which is the contract terminal of the mailbox 21a, from the voice storage device 20
It is determined whether an incoming call (access) to is detected (step S31). This message receiving terminal 12
b, it is determined whether a voice message is stored in the mailbox 21a corresponding to the message receiving target terminal 12b (step S).
32).

If a voice message is stored in the mailbox 21a, a message designation number input prompting the user of the message receiving target terminal 12b to input a designation number for instructing reproduction of only a specific voice message in the mailbox 21a. Guidance message memory 23
(Step S33), and the predetermined time timer 2
6 is set (step S34), and it is determined whether or not the predetermined time timer 26 has timed out (step S34).
35). The predetermined time timer 26 corresponds to a timer that monitors the input of a designated number from the message receiving terminal 12b.

If it is determined in step S35 that the timer 26 has not expired, it is determined whether or not the designated number has been received from the message receiving terminal 12b (step S36). This message receiving terminal 1
If the designated number from 2b has been received, a search is made from the mailbox 21a for a caller number that matches the designated number (step S37), and a voice message corresponding to the caller number that matches the designated number is sent to the mail. Box 2
It is determined whether it is within 1a (step S38).

If there is a voice message corresponding to the caller number matching the designated number in this mail box 21a,
The voice message is read, and the voice message is output to the message receiving terminal 12b (step S3).
9), the designated playback command is sent to the message receiving terminal 12;
b is determined (step S40).
The designated reproduction command is a request command for listening to a specific voice message by further inputting a designated number.

If the designated reproduction command has not been received in step S40, the processing operation of the voice message output processing ends.

If no voice message corresponding to the caller number matching the designated number is found in the mailbox 21a in step S38, the user of the message receiving target terminal 12b is notified that there is no corresponding message. An NG message is output from the guidance message memory 23 to the message receiving terminal 12b (step S41), and the process proceeds to step S32.

If a designated reproduction command has been received in step S40, the process similarly proceeds to step S32.

If the timer 26 has timed out for a predetermined time in step S35, it is determined that the designated number has not been input within the predetermined time, and all voice messages in the corresponding mailbox 21a are read out. All of these voice messages are output to the message receiving terminal 12b (step S42), and the voice message output process ends.

If there is no incoming call from the message receiving terminal 12b in step S31, or
If there is no voice message in the mailbox 21a at 32, the voice message output process ends.

According to the voice message output process shown in FIG. 4, when the access from the message receiving terminal 12b to the voice message from the message terminal 12a stored in the mailbox 21a is detected, the storage is performed. In addition to outputting all the voice messages in the message, the voice message corresponding to the caller number corresponding to the designated number input at the message receiving target terminal 12b is read, and this voice message is used as a specific voice message. It can be output to the receiving terminal 12b.

That is, according to the present embodiment, the voice message from the message terminal 12a is transmitted to the mailbox 2
Since the caller number is also stored in association with the voice message when storing the voice message in 1a, the voice message can be specified by the caller number.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the user of the message receiving terminal 12b only needs to input a designated number that matches the caller number corresponding to the specific voice message that he / she wants to hear. You can quickly hear a specific voice message from.

In the above-described embodiment, an operation unit may be provided on the message receiving terminal 12b side, for example, so that a designated reproduction command can be input by one-touch operation. It goes without saying that the input may be performed by the user.

In the above embodiment, a specific voice message is searched by matching the designated number from the message receiving terminal 12b with the caller number of the message terminal 12a. May be searched for a specific voice message by matching with the local number in the caller number, and the setting can be changed as appropriate.

[0057]

According to the voice storage system according to the first aspect of the present invention configured as described above, a voice message related to a caller number corresponding to a designated number from a message receiving target terminal is read from the storage means. Since this voice message is notified to the message receiving target terminal, the operability of the message receiving target terminal required for listening to a specific voice message can be improved, and the user's burden can be greatly reduced.

That is, the user of the message receiving terminal can listen to a specific voice message from a plurality of voice messages by a simple operation.

According to the voice storage system of the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, there is no voice message related to the caller number corresponding to the designated number in the storage means. If a warning message is sent to the message receiving target terminal, the user of the message receiving terminal listens to this warning message and hears the voice of the caller ID corresponding to the designated number. It is possible to smoothly recognize that there is no message.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a voice mail system showing an embodiment of a voice storage system of the present invention, particularly a schematic configuration inside a voice storage device.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a memory map inside a mailbox memory inside the voice storage device of the voice mail system shown in the present embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of a microcomputer of the voice storage device in a message recording process of the voice mail system shown in the present embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the microcomputer of the voice storage device in the voice message output processing of the voice mail system shown in the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 voice mail system (voice storage system) 12a message terminal 12b message receiving target terminal 20 voice storage device 22 communication unit (control means) 21 mailbox memory (storage means) 24 caller number identification unit (caller number identification means) 25 Designation number identification unit (designation number identification means) 27 Microcomputer (storage control means, control means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A voice storage system comprising: a message terminal; a message receiving target terminal; and a voice storage device having a storage unit for storing a voice message from the message terminal to the message receiving target terminal. The apparatus, in response to access from the message terminal, associates a caller number identification means for identifying a caller number of the message terminal, a voice message from the message terminal, and a caller number relating to the message terminal. Storage control means for storing in a storage means, designation number identification means for identifying a designation number from the message receiving target terminal, and, in response to access from the message receiving target terminal,
Control means for reading out a voice message related to a caller number corresponding to the specified number identified by the specified number identification means from the storage means, and transmitting the voice message to a message receiving target terminal. Voice storage system. 2. The control means transmits a warning message to a message receiving terminal when it is determined that there is no voice message related to the caller number corresponding to the designated number in the storage means. The voice storage system according to claim 1, wherein