JP2915632B2 - Voice mail system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a voice mail system for transmitting a message by voice via a mailbox assigned to a sender and a receiver. In a voice mail system, an identification code (ID code) is assigned to a subscriber to the system, and a dedicated mailbox is allocated. Subscribers,
By inputting the identification code from the telephone, the voice mail device can be called to access the subscriber's own mailbox to carry out messages for sending and receiving messages and to receive various services.

[0002] In order to expand the use of voice mail systems, further enhancement of service functions is desired.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art As a service function in a conventional voice mail system, a return service which enables a message receiver to return a message to a sender of the message without disconnecting a receiving line, and a message sender There is a transfer service that adds a message to other subscribers and transfers the message.

[0004] Since these messaging services are performed via the sender and recipient mailboxes,
Only subscribers with a mailbox could use it, non-subscribers without a mailbox could not.

[0005]

As described above, in the related art, the message transmission service is used only between the limited subscribers, and collects or disables messages from a large number of unspecified non-subscribers. The message could not be delivered to a specific large number of non-subscribers.

For this reason, it has been impossible to take a questionnaire to a large number of randomly selected people or to send a message to a large number of people one after another in a chain, and the use range of a message transmission service has been limited.

[0007] On the other hand, it is conceivable that people who are not actively subscribed may be assigned mailboxes and become subscribers. Mailboxes are allocated, which requires an extremely large memory area. This is not preferable from the viewpoint of effective use of resources.

[0008] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to expand the range of use of a message transfer service without wasting resources.

[0009]

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a voice mail system for solving the above-mentioned problems.
As shown in (1), a mailbox B is temporarily allocated to a non-subscriber of the system, and a message from the subscriber of the system is transmitted via the mailbox A of the subscriber and the mailbox B of the non-subscriber. transmits to the non-subscriber, following the sending to store a return message from the non-subscriber to the mailbox B of the non-subscriber, the said non-subscriber mailbox return messages stored in the B Send to the subscriber via the subscriber's mailbox A and then assign to the non-subscriber
Is configured to delete the existing mailbox B.

[0011]

[0012] Voice mail system according to the invention of claim 2, assigns a temporary mailbox C to non subscribers of the system, a message from a subscriber of the system, of the subscriber mailbox A and the The message is transmitted to the non-subscriber via the non-subscriber's mailbox C , and a transfer message from the non-subscriber is stored in the non-subscriber's mailbox C following the transmission. The transfer message stored in the box C is transmitted to the other non-subscriber via the mailbox D of the other non-subscriber, and then the message is assigned to the non-subscriber.
Is configured to delete the existing mailbox C.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the voice mail system, a mailbox C is allocated to a subscriber or a non-subscriber designated by a temporary subscriber to be a temporary subscriber. The transfer message is sequentially transmitted from the subscriber to another temporary subscriber , and then the
It is configured to delete the mailbox C assigned to the subscriber .

[0014]

When a non-subscriber is designated as a destination, a mailbox is temporarily created for the non-subscriber, and the non-subscriber is treated as if it were a temporary subscriber.

As a result, regardless of whether the subscriber or non-subscriber,
A return service or a transfer service for an unspecified person becomes available. Unsubscribe after each transmission
The mailbox assigned to the person is deleted.
This effectively uses the memory area without wasting it.
It is. Note that the transfer message is a concept that includes both a case where the first message is included and a case where the first message is not included.

[0016]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a voice mail system 1 according to the present invention. Voice mail system 1
Is the voice mail device 7 connected to the exchange 6, the exchange 6
, Etc., are connected to the telephones 11, 12, 13,...

The voice mail device 7 comprises a processing device 30, a storage device 31, a subscriber information table 32, a voice file 33 and the like. Mailboxes 41 are created in the storage device 31 for subscribers of the voice mail system 1 and temporary subscribers who are non-subscribers and are designated as destinations.

In the mailbox 41, a message from the sender, a return message or a transfer message from the receiver, the identification code ID of the sender, the telephone number of the destination (recipient) designated by the sender, or Stores information indicating the type of the message transmission service.

Note that the mailboxes 41 assigned to the subscriber A or the non-subscribers B, C, D may be displayed as mailbox A, mailbox B, etc., respectively.

The subscriber information table 32 is information on subscribers of the voice mail system 1, that is, those who can call and access the voice mail device 7.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the subscriber information table 32.

The subscriber information table 32 stores, for each subscriber, an identification code ID, a telephone number NTEL, and the like. In the present embodiment, the telephone 11 is for installation of the subscriber A, and the telephones 12, 13, and 14 are for installation of non-subscribers B, C, and D, respectively.

Therefore, the subscriber information table 32 stores information about the telephone 11 but does not store information about the telephones 12 to 14. The voice file 33 stores voice data for various guidance texts. The content of the audio file 34 is converted into audio by the processing device 30 or by a dedicated audio synthesizer (not shown).

The processing device 30 includes a telephone number and an identification code I.
D, a process for accepting a call from the subscriber, a process for storing a message from a sender or a recipient in a predetermined mailbox 41,
Executes a process of transmitting a message by calling a predetermined telephone based on the contents stored in the telephone, a process of determining a signal transmitted from the telephone, a process of transmitting voice data read from the voice file 33 to the telephone, and the like. Then, the entire voice mail system 1 is controlled.

Next, the operation and operation of the message transmission service by the voice mail system 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
And a flowchart shown in FIG. Only subscribers can be the source of messaging services. First, the case where the subscriber A uses the return service to the non-subscriber B will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the subscriber A calls the voice mail device 7, and specifies the identification code ID of the subscriber A, the telephone number of the non-subscriber B, and the return service according to the voice guidance from the voice mail device 7. (Step # 11).

Next, the subscriber A speaks a message A to be transmitted to the non-subscriber B (step # 12). Message A
Is stored in the mailbox A of the subscriber A together with the telephone number of the non-subscriber B (step # 13).

Since the return service is for the non-subscriber B, a mailbox B for the non-subscriber B is temporarily created (step # 14). Thus, non-subscriber B becomes a temporary subscriber. However, no identification code ID is given.

The message A or the like stored in the mailbox A is transferred to the mailbox B (step #).
15). The non-subscriber B is called from the voice mail device 7, and the message A stored in the mailbox B is transmitted to the non-subscriber B by voice (step # 1).
6).

The non-subscriber B specifies the return service according to the voice guidance (step # 17), and speaks a message (return message) B to be returned to the subscriber A (step # 18).

The message B is stored in the mailbox B of the non-subscriber B (step # 19) and returned to the mailbox A of the subscriber A (step # 20).
Mailbox B is deleted (step # 21).

A call is made from the voice mail device 7 to the subscriber A, and the message B stored in the mailbox A is transmitted to the subscriber A by voice (step # 2).
2). As a result, the message A from the subscriber A is transmitted to the non-subscriber B, and the non-subscriber B adds the reply message B without disconnecting the line during the call, and this is transmitted to the subscriber A. The Rukoto.

Next, the subscriber A uses the transfer service,
In the case where messages are sequentially transmitted from the subscriber A to the non-subscriber C, from the non-subscriber C to the non-subscriber D,
This will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

First, the subscriber A calls the voice mail device 7 and specifies a transfer service (step # 31). Next, the subscriber A speaks a message A to be transmitted to the non-subscriber C (step # 32). The message A is stored in the mailbox A of the subscriber A (step # 33).

Since the transfer service is for the non-subscriber C, a mailbox C for the non-subscriber C is temporarily created (step # 34). Thereby, the non-subscriber C becomes a temporary subscriber.

The message A stored in the mailbox A is transferred to the mailbox C (step # 3).
5) The voice mail device 7 makes a call to the non-subscriber C, and the message A is transmitted to the non-subscriber C (step # 36).

The non-subscriber C designates the transfer service, inputs the telephone number of the non-subscriber D to which the transfer is made (step # 37), and speaks the message C to be added to the non-subscriber D (step # 37). Step # 38). Message C
Is stored in the mailbox C of the non-subscriber C (step # 39).

Since the transfer service is for the non-subscriber D, a mailbox D for the non-subscriber D is temporarily created (step # 40). Thereby, the non-subscriber D becomes a temporary subscriber.

The contents of mailbox C are transferred to mailbox D (step # 41), and then mailbox C is deleted (step # 42). The non-subscriber D is called from the voice mail device 7, and the message A and the message C (transfer message) stored in the mailbox D are transmitted to the non-subscriber D by voice (step # 43).

Thus, the message A from the subscriber A is transmitted to the non-subscribers C and D, and the non-subscriber D
, The message C added by the non-subscriber C is also transmitted.
Similarly, the message A from the subscriber A is transmitted from the non-subscriber D to another non-subscriber while adding messages one after another.

According to the above embodiment, the non-subscribers B, C,
As for D, the return service and the transfer service of the voice mail system 1 can be used. Therefore,
Messages can be collected from an unspecified number of people, whether subscribers or non-subscribers, by a return service, and messages can be successively transmitted to an unspecified number of people by a transfer service. The range of use of the service is greatly expanded.

In addition, the mailboxes B, C, and D assigned to the non-subscribers B, C, and D are created temporarily, and are deleted after each communication is completed. Memory capacity does not become enormous, and the memory area is effectively used without wasting.

Also, in general, in a voice mail service of only a message, there is a possibility that a message may not be transmitted reliably when a person other than the person who wants to call the other party comes out or when the other party is absent. However, if the return service by the voice mail system 1 of the above-described embodiment is used, it is necessary to add a reply to confirm that the message has been heard at the end of the message to be transmitted. It is possible to confirm whether the message has been transmitted to a specific destination, and the reliability of communication is improved.

In addition, since the transfer service does not matter whether the subscriber is a subscriber or a non-subscriber, the transmission is not interrupted due to the transfer to the non-subscriber as in the related art.
The reliability of message transmission is improved.

In the above embodiment, the non-subscribers B, C,
The mailboxes B, C, and D created for D may be created each time, or those created in advance in an appropriate number may be assigned to the non-subscribers B, C, and D each time. .

In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that a call is received from the voice mail device 7 to the subscriber A during the return service. However, the subscriber A calls the voice mail device 7 and The content may be heard.

In the above embodiment, if the transfer destination is a subscriber, the identification code of the subscriber may be input. When a telephone number is input as a transfer destination, the subscriber information table 32 may be searched using the telephone number NTEL as a key to determine whether or not the subscriber is a subscriber.

In the above embodiment, the contents of the subscriber information table 41, the configuration of each part of the voice mail apparatus 7 or the voice mail system 1, the processing contents, the processing order, and the like can be variously changed in addition to the above.

[0048]

According to the present invention, one non-subscriber is
Mailboxes are sometimes assigned and each communication
Is deleted after the completion of the process, the usage range of the message transmission service can be expanded without wasting resources such as memory . According to the invention of claim 1, it is possible to collect messages from a large number of unspecified persons irrespective of subscribers or non-subscribers.

According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, a message can be successively transmitted to a large number of unspecified persons irrespective of subscribers or non-subscribers.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a voice mail system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a subscriber information table.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing operations and operations of a return service.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing operations and operations of a transfer service.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 voice mail system 41 mailbox

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A allocates a temporary mail box to non subscribers of the system, a message from a subscriber of the system, via a mailbox in mailbox及 beauty the non subscribers of the subscriber transmits to the non-subscriber, the following the transmission storing the return message from the non-subscriber mailbox of the non-subscriber, return message stored in said mailbox of a non-subscriber the via mailbox of the subscriber and sends it to the subscriber, then, are allocated to the non-subscriber Merubo'
A voice mail system characterized by deleting a mail box. 2. A allocates a temporary mail box to non subscribers of the system, a message from a subscriber of the system, via a mailbox in mailbox及 beauty the non subscribers of the subscriber transmits to the non-subscriber, following the sending to store the transfer message from the non-subscriber mailbox of the non-subscriber, the transfer message stored in said mailbox of a non-subscriber via mailbox other non subscribers to send to the other a non-subscriber, then, are allocated to the non-subscriber Merubo'
A voice mail system characterized by deleting a mail box. 3. A voice mail system which is adapted via email <br/> box assigned to the sender and recipient performs the transmission of voice message, the subscriber or temporary subscriber mailbox assigned to scan a temporary subscriber, sequentially transmits the transfer message to other temporary subscriber from the temporary subscriber, then to non-subscribers specified by the user, The mailbox assigned to the non-subscriber
A voice mail system characterized by deleting a mail box.