JP2002261977A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve practical use of a kind of communication equipment by effectively using information contents after conversion and enabling store of information to individual users, regarding the communication equipment which can convert voice information to character information and output it or can convert image information to voice information and output it. SOLUTION: An image conversion part 7 which converts voice information stored in a voice information storing part 58 to character information to an answerphone 1 having facsimile function is installed. A voice conversion part 8 which converts image information stored in an image information storing part 68 to voice information is installed. An user wherein the information is to be received is judged on the basis of information after conversion, the information is stored in a memory which is assigned to the user out of memories assigned to individual users.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device typified by a telephone having an answering machine function and a facsimile memory receiving function. In particular, the present invention relates to an improvement in a communication device having a function of converting information (audio information or image information) into another information format.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2902
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 84-84, a telephone having an answering machine function and a facsimile memory receiving function is known. This type of telephone is equipped with a storage medium such as a magnetic tape or a volatile memory, and when a telephone is received when a user is absent or when a facsimile is received when the paper is out of paper, the voice information and image information are received. Can be stored in a storage medium. After the stored information is confirmed by the user, the information can be erased from the storage medium in response to the user's request. That is, when voice information is stored in the storage medium by the answering machine function, the user can reproduce the voice and delete the voice information from the storage medium. Further, when image information is stored in the storage medium by the facsimile memory reception function, the user can print the image information on a recording sheet and erase the image information from the storage medium.

[0003]

However, since the capacity of the storage medium provided in the telephone is limited,
There is a limit to the amount of audio information and image information that can be stored.
If the amount of received information exceeds the capacity of the storage medium without erasing the information stored in the storage medium, new information is added to a part of the information already stored. Is overwritten, and a part of information is lost.

[0004] For example, when the user has been absent for a long period of time, when the number of telephone calls received is large and the amount of voice information exceeds the capacity of the storage medium, the voice information already stored is stored. The new audio information is overwritten on a part of the audio information, and the user cannot recognize the presence of the missing audio information. Similarly, when the out-of-paper state continues for a long period of time, if the amount of facsimile reception information is large and the amount of image information exceeds the capacity of the storage medium, the image information already stored Is overwritten with new image information, and the user cannot recognize the presence of the missing image information.

As described above, in the conventional telephone, there is a possibility that the user cannot reliably confirm that information (voice information or image information) has been received for all information. .

In view of this point, the inventors of the present invention provide information relating to the content of the received voice (the content of the voice actually uttered by the sender; message message) and related information relating to the voice information (the message). Data such as the sender's name, sender's phone number, reception time, etc.) is converted into text information and printed on recording paper, or information related to the content of the received image (actually sent from the sender). Image content; facsimile content)
And related information related to the image information (data such as the name of the sender, the facsimile number of the sender, the reception time, the number of received facsimile, etc.) are converted into voice information, and a communication device that emits voice has already been proposed. (Japanese Patent Application 20
00-265611). In other words, even in a situation where new information is overwritten on a part of the stored information, the output form of the information can be converted and the information can be output in advance (by the user Even if you are absent, you can print out message messages and the like, and even if the paper is out of paper, you can output facsimile contents etc.), and confirm that information has been received. This allows the user to perform the operation reliably.

The inventors of the present invention have considered further improvements in order to enhance the practicability of this type of communication device. In general, home telephones and facsimile machines are shared by a plurality of users (family in the case of home). For this reason, it is preferable that a plurality of message messages stored by the answering machine function and a plurality of facsimile information stored by the facsimile memory receiving function can be retrieved for each user. Because it is not possible to recognize which user the information belongs to unless the message is reproduced or the facsimile information is printed, the information of other users must be extracted in order to extract the information addressed to the user. This is because there is a possibility that information that does not exist or that the user does not want others to know is inadvertently output. In other words, if it is determined which of the users sharing the communication device the information received by the communication device pertains to, and the information can be stored individually for each user, The utility of such communication devices can be further enhanced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to convert audio information into character information and output it, or convert image information into audio information and output it. Another object of the present invention is to improve the practicability of this type of communication device by making it possible to effectively use the information content after conversion and to store information for each user.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems-Summary of the Invention-In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides audio information (information related to audio content or related information related to the information).
To a communication device having means for converting image information into character information, and means for converting image information (information related to image contents or related information related to the information) into audio information, based on the converted information. The user who should receive the information is determined, and it is possible to determine which of the memories allocated to each user should store the converted information.

-Solution Means- Specifically, a communication device shared by a plurality of users and capable of receiving voice information via a communication line is assumed. A conversion unit that converts received voice information into character information, and a receiving user that determines to which of the plurality of users the character information converted by the conversion unit relates to the communication device. Discriminating means, a plurality of user-specific information storage units assigned to each user, and a user-specific information storage unit receiving the output of the receiving user discriminating means and converting the converted character information to the user associated with the character information And storage means for storing the information in the storage device.

Further, another invention is based on the premise that a communication device shared by a plurality of users and capable of receiving image information via a communication line is provided. A conversion unit for converting the received image information into audio information; and a receiving user for determining which of the plurality of users the audio information converted by the conversion unit relates to. Discriminating means, a plurality of user-specific information storage units assigned to each user, and receiving the output of the receiving user discriminating means, converting the converted audio information into user-specific information storage units assigned to the users related to the audio information And storage means for storing the information in the storage device.

Based on these specific items, based on the converted information, the receiving user determining means determines which of the plurality of users the information is related to. That is, the user who should receive the information is determined. Then, the information is stored in the user-specific information storage unit assigned to the user related to the information.
As a result, the individual information storage unit stores individual information for each user assigned to each user. Therefore, when retrieving stored information, each user retrieves unnecessary information (information relating to other users) by retrieving information from the user-specific information storage unit to which the user is assigned. Inadvertent output of information that the user does not want to know can be suppressed.

As a specific example of the "voice information received via the communication line" in the present invention, "information relating to voice content actually uttered by the sender (hereinafter referred to as voice content information)" And one or both of information such as “sender's name”, “sender's phone number”, and “reception time” (hereinafter, referred to as related information) related to the audio content information. Further, as a specific example of “image information received via a communication line” in the present invention, “information relating to the content of a facsimile image actually sent from the sender (hereinafter, referred to as
This is referred to as image content information) and information such as “sender name”, “sender facsimile number”, “reception time”, and “number of facsimile receptions” related to the image content information. Related information).

The specific structure of the receiving user discriminating means is as follows. In other words, the receiving user determining means determines whether or not a specific phrase related to any user exists in the phrases included in the converted information, so that the information is included in a plurality of users. It is configured to determine which user it is related to. As a result, the information discriminating operation can be realized, and a highly reliable discriminating operation can be realized. Here, the phrase “phrase included in the information” is defined as “personal information included in the voice content information when voice information (voice content information or related information related to the voice content information) is received from the communication line. Name (sender name with the sender's name) "or" Reply-to phone number (phone number spoken by the sender) "converted to text information, and" Sender phone number "included in the related information above "
, And “reception time” converted to character information. In addition, it may be another “keyword (a phrase related to a common topic with an acquaintance)”. On the other hand, when image information (image content information or related information related to the image content information) is received from the communication line, the phrase “phrase included in the information” refers to the “personal name (image name)” included in the image content information. "Sender name written in") or "reply facsimile number (sender facsimile number written in the image)" converted to audio information, and "sender included in the above related information Facsimile number and reception time
And the "number of received facsimile" converted into voice information. In addition, it may be another “keyword (a phrase related to a common topic with an acquaintance)”.

Further, a shared information storage unit is provided, and if the information cannot be determined by the receiving user determination unit, the converted information is stored in the shared information storage unit. According to this, even information that cannot be stored in any of the user-specific information storage units can be stored without being erased, and loss of received information can be prevented.

Further, when the information stored in the information storage unit is output, if erasing means for erasing the information from the information storage unit is provided, unnecessary information can be stored for a long period of time. It is possible to avoid a situation in which the information is continuously stored in the storage unit, and it is possible to always secure a sufficient free space in the information storage unit. In addition, since there is no need for the user to delete information, a user-friendly communication device can be provided.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the present invention is applied to an answering machine with a facsimile function as a communication device.

-Description of Configuration of Telephone- FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an electrical configuration of a telephone 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the telephone 1 is connected by a line interface 2 to a communication line L connected to a partner telephone via an exchange (not shown). This line interface 2 has a communication line L
Of the communication line L
And a communication path with the other party's telephone is formed. Further, a handset 3 is connected to the line interface 2, and at the time of a normal call, a call is made between the handset 3 and the other party's telephone using the communication path.

An answering machine unit 5 and a facsimile communication unit 6 can be selectively connected to the line interface 2 via a selection switch 4. That is, the selection switch 4 is provided with a contact a, a contact b, and a contact c.
Are connected to the facsimile communication unit 6, respectively. The contact c is short-circuited. For this reason, when the selection switch 4 is connected to the contact a, the answering machine unit 5 is connected to the communication path, and when the selection switch 4 is connected to the contact b, the facsimile communication unit 6 performs communication. It is configured to be connected to a route. Hereinafter, each of the units 5 and 6 will be described.

(Explanation of the answering machine unit 5) The answering machine unit 5 includes an answering machine circuit 51 for controlling transmission of a pre-recorded response message to a communication path or storage of voice information from the other party's telephone. It has. The answering machine circuit 51 has a voice information amplifier 54 via an A / D converter 52 for converting analog voice information into digital voice information and a D / A converter 53 for converting digital voice information into analog voice information. , A related information amplifier 55 and a response reproducing unit 56 are connected. The voice information amplifier 54 amplifies voice information (voice content information) such as a business message received from the other party's telephone via the communication path. The related information amplifier 55
It amplifies information related to voice content information, which is a signal such as calling side information from the other party's telephone that is received via the communication path. Examples of the related information include data such as “name of sender (other party)”, “telephone number of sender”, and “reception time”. The response reproduction unit 56 extracts a response message registered in advance in a voice information storage unit 58 to be described later and sends it to the answering machine circuit 51, thereby sending the response message to the other party's telephone.

A voice information storage unit 58 as voice information storage means is connected to the voice information amplifier 54, the related information amplifier 55, and the response reproduction unit 56 via a voice information changeover switch 57. That is, the audio information changeover switch 57 is provided with a contact a, a contact b, a contact c, and a contact d. The contact a has the audio information amplifier 54, the contact b has the related information amplifier 55, and the contact c has the contact c. Are connected to the response reproducing unit 56, respectively. The contact d is short-circuited. For this reason, when the voice information changeover switch 57 is connected to the contact a, the voice content information such as a message from the other party's telephone amplified by the voice information amplifier 54 is stored in the voice information storage unit 58. When the voice information changeover switch 57 is connected to the contact b, the voice related information from the partner telephone amplified by the related information amplifier 55 is stored in the voice information storage unit 58. I have.
When the voice information changeover switch 57 is connected to the contact c, a response message registered in advance in the voice information storage unit 58 is taken out by the response reproduction unit 56 and transmitted to the other party's telephone. It has become. Note that a magnetic tape or a volatile memory (a so-called flash memory) is employed as the audio information storage unit 58.

The audio information storage section 58 is connected to a speaker 59 as a voice generating means via a mute switch 59a and a D / A converter 59b. The mute switch 59a switches between supply and non-supply of voice information based on the message (voice content information) and voice-related information stored in the voice information storage unit 58. The mute switch 59a is turned on. In this case, the audio information is converted into analog audio information by the D / A converter 59b, and is emitted to the outside as audio by the speaker 59.

(Description of Facsimile Communication Unit 6) The facsimile communication unit 6 includes a facsimile communication circuit 61 for performing a communication protocol for transmission and reception in facsimile communication, compression and decompression of image information, and modulation / demodulation.
The FAX communication circuit 61 includes an image output switch 6
2, a recording paper printing unit 63 as printing means and A /
A D converter 64 is connected to be selectively switchable.
That is, the image output changeover switch 62 is provided with a contact a, a contact b, and a contact c.
However, the A / D converter 64 is connected to the contact b. The contact c is short-circuited. Therefore, when the image output changeover switch 62 is connected to the contact a, an image is formed on the recording paper based on the image information expanded by the FAX communication circuit 61, and the image output changeover switch 62 is set to the contact a. b, the image information is A /
The digital conversion is performed by the D converter 64.

The A / D converter 64 is connected to an image information amplifier 65 and a related information amplifier 66.
The image information amplifier 65 amplifies the image content information expanded and digitally converted by the FAX communication circuit 61. The related information amplifier 66 amplifies information related to image content information, which is a signal such as calling side information from the other party's facsimile, which is received using a communication path at the time of facsimile reception. This related information includes:
"Sender's name", "Sender's facsimile number",
Data such as “reception time” and “number of facsimile receptions” are included.

An image information storage section 68 as image information storage means is connected to the image information amplifier 65 and the related information amplifier 66 via an image information switch 67. That is, the image information switch 67 is provided with a contact a, a contact b, and a contact c. The contact a is connected to the image information amplifier 65, and the contact b is connected to the related information amplifier 66. The contact c is short-circuited.
Therefore, when the image information changeover switch 67 is connected to the contact a, the image information amplified by the image information amplifier 65 is stored in the image information storage section 68, and the image information changeover switch 67 is connected to the contact b. When connected, the image related information amplified by the related information amplifier 66 is stored in the image information storage unit 68. Note that a volatile memory is employed as the image information storage unit 68. The image information storage unit 68 is connected to the recording paper printing unit 63 via a print output switch 63a.
The printing operation on the recording paper is performed by outputting the stored image information and the related information to the recording paper printing unit 63 by the facsimile output operation by the user.

An original reading section 69 is connected to the FAX communication circuit 61. The document reading section 69 sequentially reads FAX documents set on a document tray (not shown), converts the documents into electric signals, and transmits the electric signals to the FAX communication circuit 61.

(Explanation of Configuration for Information Conversion) Telephone 1
Includes an image conversion unit 7 and a sound conversion unit 8 as conversion means for converting the sound information and the image information stored in the storage units 58 and 68. Hereinafter, these configurations will be described.

The image conversion section 7 is connected to the audio information storage section 58 via the image conversion switch 71. Then, when the image conversion switch 71 is turned on, the image conversion unit 7 takes out the business message (voice content information) and the voice related information stored in the voice information storage unit 58 and converts them into character information. It has become.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the image conversion unit 7 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image conversion unit 7. The image conversion unit 7 includes a voice input unit 72, a voice recognition unit 73, a voice dictionary 74, a reading dictionary 75, and a score providing unit 7.
6, a character candidate storage unit 77, an input control unit 78, and a character candidate selection unit 79.

The voice input unit 72 converts the voice information received from the voice information storage unit 58 into a form that can be processed. The voice recognition unit 73 analyzes the voice information received from the voice input unit 72, obtains acoustic parameters, recognizes the input voice as one-character reading while checking the voice dictionary 74, and as a result of the recognition, It outputs the reading candidates up to the order and the likelihood of each. The speech dictionary 74 describes how kanji, kana, symbols, and the like are pronounced using a basic unit of speech recognized by the speech recognition unit 73. For example, when a phoneme is recognized as a unit, it is described as a phoneme sequence.
As a result, in practice, the sum of on-reading and kun reading, including the second level of kanji, is 3,000 to 5,000.

The construction of the reading dictionary 75 may define a plurality of readings for a character, or may define a plurality of characters for a reading. Actually, a pointer in a memory corresponding to the character or the reading may be stored instead of the character or the reading itself.

The scoring unit 76 refers to the reading dictionary 75 and assigns a score to a character candidate corresponding to a reading candidate based on the likelihood. Character candidate storage unit 77
Stores the history of the reading candidates received from the voice recognition unit 73 together with the score.

The input control unit 78 selects character candidates in an order determined in consideration of the character candidate scores stored in the character candidate selection unit 79.

A character memory 102 is connected to the image converter 7 via a converted character output switch 101. The character memory 102 stores the character information converted by the image conversion unit 7, and includes a plurality of areas 102 as shown in FIG.
A to 102Z. These areas 102A
-102Z are a plurality of user-specific information storage units 102A, 1
02B, 102C,... And one shared information storage unit 102
Z. Each user-specific information storage unit 102
A, 102B, 102C,... Are memory areas allocated to a plurality of users sharing the telephone 1. Then, a receiving user discriminating means 92, which will be described later, discriminates which of the plurality of users the converted character information relates to. The corresponding user-specific information storage units 102A, 102B, 102C,
The character information is stored in. On the other hand, when it is not possible to determine the character information by the receiving user determining means 92, that is, when it is not possible to determine which user the converted character information relates to, This is an area where information is stored.

Further, the character memory 102 is connected to a recording paper printing unit 63 via a character information output switch 103. That is, the character information output switch 103 is turned on.
By the operation, the character information extracted from the specific information storage units 102A to 102Z in the character memory 102 is printed out. This character memory 102
The print output of the character information from the specific information storage units 102A to 102Z in the
A password for extracting character information from the information storage units 102A to 102Z is set, and the character information is printed out from one of the information storage units 102A to 102Z by inputting the password.

Next, the voice conversion unit 8 will be described. The voice conversion unit 8 is connected to the image information storage unit 68 via a voice conversion switch 81. When the voice conversion switch 81 is turned on, the voice conversion unit 8 takes out the image content information and the image-related information stored in the image information storage unit 68 and converts them into voice information.

An audio memory 105 is connected to the audio converter 8 via a converted audio output switch 104. The voice memory 105 stores the voice information converted by the voice conversion unit 8, and has a plurality of areas 105A as shown in FIG.
Ｚ105Z. These areas 105A-
105Z includes a plurality of user-specific information storage units 105A and 105A.
5B, 105C,... And one shared information storage unit 105Z.
And consists of Each user-specific information storage unit 105
A, 105B, 105C,... Are memory areas allocated to a plurality of users sharing the telephone 1. Then, it is determined by the receiving user determining means 92 to be described later which of the plurality of users the converted voice information relates to, and the corresponding user-specific information storage units 105A, 105B, 105C,
The voice information is stored in. On the other hand, when it is not possible to determine the voice information by the receiving user determining means 92, that is, when it is not possible to determine which user the converted voice information relates to, This is an area where information is stored.

Further, the audio memory 105 is connected to a speaker 59 via an audio information output switch 106. That is, when the audio information output switch 106 is turned on, the specific information storage unit 10 in the audio memory 105 is
The voice information extracted from 5A to 105Z is uttered. The utterance output of the audio information from the specific information storage units 105A to 105Z in the audio memory 105 is performed by, for example, the individual information storage units 105A to 105Z.
A password for extracting voice information from Z is set, and voice information is output from one of the information storage units 105A to 105Z by inputting the password.

(Explanation of Central Processing Unit) As shown in FIG. 1, the central processing unit 9 of the telephone 1 controls the circuits 51 and 61, the amplifiers 54, 55, 65 and 66 and the switches 4 and 5.
7, 59a, 62, 63a, 67, 71, 81, 10
A control unit 9 for performing switching control of 1, 103, 104, and 106
1 is provided.

The central processing unit 9 includes a receiving user discriminating means 92, a storing means 93, and an erasing means 94.

As described above, the receiving user discriminating means 92 discriminates to which of the plurality of users the character information or voice information converted by each of the converting units 7 and 8 belongs. .

This discriminating operation will be specifically described below.
The receiving user discriminating means 92 determines whether or not a specific phrase related to a user who should receive the information exists in the phrases included in the converted information, so that the information is transmitted to a plurality of users. It is determined which user the user belongs to. As a specific method for detecting the presence of the specific phrase, for example, a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-117255 can be used. This “phrase” refers to the “personal name (sender's name is included) included in the voice content information when voice information (voice content information or related information related to the voice content information) is received from the communication line L. "Sender name)" and "reply-to phone number (phone number spoken by sender)" are converted to text information, and "sender phone number" and "reception time" included in the related information above Is converted into character information. Further, when image information (image content information or related information related to the image content information) is received from the communication line L, the “phrase” is the “personal name (written in the image) included in the image content information. "Sender name)" and "reply destination facsimile number (sender facsimile number written in the image)" converted to voice information, "sender facsimile number" included in the related information above, "Reception time" and "facsimile reception number" are converted into voice information.

The central processing unit 9 is provided with specific phrase registration means 95 for registering a "specific phrase" preset for each user. This allows
The receiving user discriminating means 92 determines whether or not the same phrase as the “specific phrase” registered in the specific phrase registering means 95 exists among the phrases included in each information, When the same phrase exists, it is determined which user the phrase relates to, and a user who should receive the information is determined.

The "specific phrase" registered in the specific phrase registering means 95 includes "name of acquaintance", "phone number of acquaintance", "fax number of acquaintance", "message""Phrases related to a common topic with acquaintances" which are keywords for recognizing "contents" and "facsimile contents" are listed.

The storage means 93 receives the output of the receiving user discriminating means 92 and stores the converted information in any of the user-specific information storage sections 102A, 102B, 102C,. , 105A, 105
B, 105C,... When it is not possible to determine the information by the receiving user determining means 92, that is, when it is not possible to determine which user the information relates to, the storage means 93 stores the converted information in any of the shared information. The data is stored in the storage units 102Z and 105Z.

The erasing means 94 is provided for each of the information storage units 102A to 102A.
When the information stored in 102Z, 105A-105Z is output by the user's operation of the telephone, this information is stored in information storage units 102A-102Z, 105A-105.
Erase from 5Z.

-Description of Operation of Telephone 1- Next, the operation of the telephone 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

(Explanation of Answering Machine Function Operation) First, the case where the telephone 1 operates as an answering machine will be described with reference to FIG.
Will be described along the flowchart of FIG. While the telephone 1 is on standby, if an incoming call in the telephone mode is confirmed in step ST1, it is determined in step ST2 whether or not the telephone 1 is in a state where a call can be immediately made. This is performed by determining whether the telephone 1 is set to the answering machine mode. If the answer is YES, indicating that the telephone is ready for immediate calling (the receiving user has picked up the handset 3 without being set to the answering machine mode), the telephone line is connected in step ST3, and the receiving user is connected in step ST4. A call is made using the handset 3. When the call ends and YES is determined in step ST5, step ST6 is performed.
, The connection of the telephone line is canceled.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step ST2 that the call is not ready for immediate communication (the answering machine mode has been set and the calling call has been made a predetermined number of times), the determination is NO in step ST7. Is connected, and in step ST8, it is determined that the telephone is in the answering machine processing mode, and a message to that effect is transmitted to the sender. That is, in FIG. 1, the selection switch 4 switches to the contact a connection state, and the audio information changeover switch 57 switches to the contact c connection state. The response message pre-registered in the voice information storage unit 58 is retrieved and reproduced by the response reproduction unit 56, and the digital voice information is converted into analog voice information by the D / A converter 53. It is sent to 51. As a result, a response message is sent to the other party's telephone.

Thereafter, in step ST9, it is determined whether or not a message (business message) from the sender has been received.
The process proceeds to T10, in which speech recognition is performed to convert speech information into character information. That is, the audio information changeover switch 57 switches to the contact b connection state. As a result, the voice related information from the other party's telephone goes through the answering machine circuit 51 and the A / D converter 52, is amplified by the related information amplifier 55, and is stored in the voice information storage unit 58. That is,
The voice information storage unit 58 stores “sender's name”, “sender's phone number”, “reception time”, and the like as voice information. Next, the audio information changeover switch 57 switches to the contact a connection state. As a result, the voice content information of the business message from the partner telephone is stored in the answering machine circuit 51 and A
After passing through the / D converter 52, it is amplified by the audio information amplifier 54 and stored in the audio information storage unit 58. Then, the image conversion switch 71 is turned on, and the audio content information and audio related information stored in the audio information storage unit 58 are transmitted to the image conversion unit 7 and converted into character information.

Then, in step ST11, it is determined whether or not a specific phrase exists in the converted character information. This determination is made by comparing the converted character information with the “specific phrase” registered in the specific phrase registration unit 95. In the determination in step ST11, if the specific phrase is present in the converted character information (YES), the process proceeds to step ST11.
Moving to 12, further, it is determined which of the plurality of users the "specific phrase" relates to, that is, which user should receive the received information. After this determination, in step ST13, the character information is stored in the user-specific information storage units 102A, 102B, 102C,... Assigned to the user who should receive the information, and the connection of the telephone line is canceled in step ST14. You.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step ST11 that the specific phrase does not exist in the converted character information (NO), the process proceeds to step ST15, and the converted character information is stored in the shared information storage unit 102Z. Then, in step ST14, the connection of the telephone line is canceled.

In this manner, each of the storage units 102A to 102A
When outputting the converted character information stored in Z,
As described above, the character information is printed out from one of the storage units 102A to 102Z selected by a password input operation or the like.

The character information output in this manner is automatically erased by the erasing means 94.

(Explanation of Facsimile Receiving Function Operation) Next, a case where the telephone 1 operates as a facsimile apparatus will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. While the telephone 1 is on standby, if an incoming call in the facsimile mode is confirmed in step ST21, it is determined in step ST22 whether the remaining amount of facsimile paper is sufficient at present. If the facsimile paper is sufficient (print processing can be executed simultaneously with facsimile reception), the telephone line is connected in step ST23, and image formation on facsimile paper is performed according to the image information received in step ST24. The operation is performed. That is, the selection switch 4 is in the contact b connection state, and the image output changeover switch 62 is switched to the contact a connection state. As a result, the image information received from the other party's facsimile machine is transmitted to the recording paper printing unit 63 via the FAX communication circuit 61, and the image forming operation is executed. When the facsimile reception is completed and YES is determined in step ST25, the connection of the telephone line is canceled in step ST26.

On the other hand, in step ST22, the remaining amount of the facsimile paper is not sufficient (the printing process cannot be executed simultaneously with the facsimile reception or the paper may run out during the printing process). If the determination is NO, the telephone line is connected in step ST27, and it is determined in step ST28 that the mode is the facsimile memory reception processing mode.

Thereafter, in step ST29, a process of performing facsimile image recognition and converting image (character) information into voice information is performed. That is, the selection switch 4 is in the contact b connection state, and the image output changeover switch 62 is switched to the contact b connection state. Further, the image information changeover switch 67 switches to the contact b connection state. As a result, the facsimile-related information received from the other party's facsimile apparatus passes through the facsimile communication circuit 61 and the A / D converter 64, is amplified by the related information amplifier 66, and is stored in the image information storage unit 68. That is, in the image information storage unit 68,
"Sender's name", "Sender's facsimile number",
“Reception time”, “number of received facsimile” and the like are stored as image information. Next, the image information changeover switch 67 switches to the contact a connection state. As a result, the facsimile image content information from the other party's facsimile
After passing through the X communication circuit 61 and the A / D converter 64, it is amplified by the image information amplifier 65 and stored in the image information storage unit 68. In this state, the voice conversion switch 81 is turned on, and the image content information and the image-related information stored in the image information storage unit 68 are transmitted to the voice conversion unit 8 and converted into voice information.

Then, in step ST30, it is determined whether or not a specific phrase exists in the converted voice information. This determination is made by comparing the converted speech information with the “specific phrase” registered in the specific phrase registration unit 95. If it is determined in step ST30 that the specific phrase exists in the converted voice information, the process proceeds to step ST30.
Moving to 31, it is further determined which of the plurality of users the “specific phrase” is related to, that is, which user should receive the received information. After this determination, in step ST32, the character information is stored in the user-specific information storage units 105A, 105B, 105C,... Assigned to the users who should receive the information, and the connection of the telephone line is canceled in step ST33. You.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step ST30 that the specific phrase does not exist in the converted character information (NO), the process proceeds to step ST34, and the converted voice information is stored in the shared information storage unit 105Z. Then, the connection of the telephone line is canceled in step ST33.

As described above, each of the storage units 105A to 105A
When outputting the converted audio information stored in Z,
As described above, voice information is uttered and output from one of the storage units 105A to 105Z selected by a password input operation or the like.

Then, the audio information output in this manner is automatically erased by the erasing means 94.

-Effects of Embodiment- As described above, in the present embodiment, the received voice information (voice content information and voice-related information) is converted into character information by the image conversion unit 7, while the received image information (voice information) is converted. For the telephone 1 which converts the image content information and the image-related information into audio information by the audio conversion unit 8, if the converted information includes a specific phrase relating to the user to be received, the Information is stored in the user-specific information storage units 102A to 102Z and 105A to 105Z assigned to the user. For this reason, when retrieving the stored information, each user is assigned to the user-specific information storage units 102A to 102Z, 105A to which the user is assigned.
By extracting information from .about.105Z, unnecessary information (information relating to other users) can be extracted and inadvertent output of information not desired to be known to other users can be suppressed. In addition, any of the user-specific information storage units 102A to 102Z, 105A
Even information that cannot be stored in the shared information storage units 102Z and 105Z can be stored in the shared information storage units 102Z and 105Z, so that this information is not erased, and loss of received information can be prevented.

-Other Embodiments- In the above-described embodiment, phrases relating to "acquaintance's name", "acquaintance's telephone number", "acquaintance's facsimile number", "message content", and "faximum content" are used. Set as a specific phrase. The present invention is not limited to this, and other phrases can be set as specific phrases.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to an answering machine with a facsimile function has been described. The present invention is not limited to this, and a telephone with an answering machine function provided with the answering machine unit 5 (without facsimile function) or a facsimile apparatus provided with the facsimile communication unit 6 (without the answering machine function) ) Can also be applied.

Further, the present invention is applicable not only to home and office telephones and facsimile machines, but also to mobile devices and other communication devices.

In addition, in the above embodiment, all received information is converted. However, the amount of information stored in each of the storage units 58 and 68 is small, and these storage units 58 and 6 are converted.
In the case where the free space of No. 8 is sufficiently secured (when there is little risk of information overwriting), it is not always necessary to convert all the received information. That is, the received audio information is temporarily stored in the audio information storage unit 58 and is reproduced as it is by the speaker 59 as audio information in response to a reproduction request of the user, or the received image information is temporarily stored in the image information storage unit 68 and The printing operation may be directly performed as the image information in response to the printing request.

Although the audio information storage unit 58, the image information storage unit 68, the character memory 102, and the audio memory 105 are configured as individual memories, all or some of them may be shared by one memory. You may.

[0068]

As described above, according to the present invention, a communication apparatus having means for converting voice information into text information and means for converting image information into voice information is provided based on the converted information. The user who should receive the information is determined, and it is possible to determine which of the memories allocated to each user should store the converted information. For this reason, when retrieving stored information, each user can retrieve information from the user-specific information storage unit to which the user is assigned, and retrieves unnecessary information and informs other users. Inadvertent output of information that is not desired can be suppressed. As a result, the practicality of this type of communication device can be greatly improved.

When it is not clear to which user the received information relates, if the converted information is stored in the shared information storage unit, all the information can be stored. Thus, loss of received information can be prevented, and the reliability of the communication device can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an electrical configuration of an answering machine with a facsimile function according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image conversion unit.

3A is a diagram illustrating each storage unit provided in a character memory, and FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating each storage unit provided in a voice memory.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an answering machine processing operation of the telephone.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a facsimile memory reception operation of the telephone.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Telephone (communication device) 7 Image conversion part (conversion means) 8 Voice conversion part (conversion means) 92 Reception user discrimination means 93 Storage means 94 Erasing means 102A, 102B, 102C, 105A, 105B,
105C user-specific information storage unit 102Z, 105Z shared information storage unit L communication circuit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Keisuke Tateishi 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Atsuji Yakushiji 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka 5D015 GG03 KK03 5K101 KK01 KK06 LL01 MM06 NN06 NN08 NN15 NN18 NN21 PP03 QQ01 QQ05 RR16

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A communication device shared by a plurality of users and capable of receiving voice information via a communication line, comprising: a converter for converting the received voice information into character information; Receiving user discriminating means for discriminating which of the plurality of users the text information relates to, a plurality of user-specific information storage units assigned to each user, and an output of the receiving user discriminating means And a storage unit for storing the converted character information in a user-specific information storage unit assigned to a user related to the character information. 2. A communication device shared by a plurality of users and capable of receiving image information via a communication line, comprising: a conversion unit for converting the received image information into audio information; Receiving user discriminating means for discriminating which of the plurality of users the voice information relates to, a plurality of user-specific information storage units assigned to each user, and an output of the receiving user discriminating means And a storage unit for storing the converted voice information in a user-specific information storage unit assigned to a user related to the voice information. 3. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving user determining unit determines whether or not a specific phrase related to any user exists in the phrases included in the converted information. A communication apparatus characterized in that the determination is made to determine which of the plurality of users the information relates to. 4. The communication device according to claim 1, further comprising a shared information storage unit, wherein the storage unit stores the converted information when the receiving user determining unit cannot determine the information. A communication device configured to be stored in the shared information storage unit. 5. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein when the information stored in the information storage unit is output, the information is deleted from the information storage unit. A communication device comprising means.