JP3349377B2 - Answering machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an answering machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a telephone answering machine captures a communication line in response to an incoming call signal, sends a response message registered in advance to the captured communication line, and thereafter transmits the response message from the communication line. The system is configured to record a subject message, and a user can arbitrarily set the time until the communication line is captured in response to an incoming signal.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional device, the time until the communication line is captured in response to the incoming signal can be arbitrarily set, but the set time is newly set by the user. This is the same as long as the time is not reset, and if this time is increased, it takes a long time to record a message even if the call comes from a very intimate caller,
There is a problem that unnecessary waiting time is caused on the caller side, and if the above set time is shortened to shorten the time required for recording a message for an incoming call from a very close caller, all Answering the incoming call will result in an answering machine.
There has been a problem that a memory or the like used for recording a business message is wasted and an important business message cannot be recorded.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide an answering machine which can eliminate unnecessary waiting time for a specific caller without wasting use of a memory or the like used for recording a business message. Things.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a communication line is captured in response to an incoming signal, and a response message registered in advance in the captured communication line. An answering machine that records a message arriving from the communication line after that, storing means for storing a telephone number, and receiving means for receiving caller information arriving from the communication line at the time of an incoming call,
Judgment means for judging whether or not the caller-side telephone number included in the caller information received by the reception means is stored in the storage means, and a time until the communication line is captured based on the judgment result by the judgment means. And control means for controlling the acquisition of the communication line based on the set time.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided clock means for measuring a current time, and the control means captures a communication line based on the current time measured by the clock means and the result of the determination by the determination means. This is to set the time until the communication is performed, and to control the acquisition of the communication line based on the set time.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ringing tone generating means for emitting a ringing tone in response to an incoming call signal to the outside, wherein the control means determines a current time measured by the clock means, The volume of the ringing tone by the ringing tone generating means is adjusted based on the determination result.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the receiving means receives the caller information arriving from the communication line, the judging means sets the caller-side telephone number included in the received caller information. It is determined whether or not the same telephone number is stored in the storage means, and the control means sets the time until the communication line is captured based on the determination result,
By controlling the timing of capturing a communication line when an incoming signal arrives based on the set time, the caller of the telephone number stored in the storage means in advance and the other callers until the message is recorded. Time can be changed automatically.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the receiving means receives the caller information arriving from the communication line, the determining means determines the same as the caller-side telephone number contained in the received caller information. It is determined whether or not the telephone number is stored in the storage means, and the control means sets a time until the communication line is captured based on the determination result and the current time measured by the clock means, and the set time By controlling the timing of capturing a communication line when an incoming signal arrives based on the time, the time until the message is recorded by the caller of the telephone number stored in the storage means in advance and the other callers is automatically set. The time until the message is recorded by the caller of the telephone number stored in the storage means in advance and the other callers automatically according to the time zone of the incoming call. It is possible to change to.

According to the third aspect of the invention, when the receiving means receives the caller information arriving from the communication line, the determining means determines the same as the caller-side telephone number contained in the received caller information. The telephone number is stored in the storage means, and the control means adjusts the ringing volume in the ringing sound generation means based on the result of the determination and the current time measured by the clock means, so that the time of the incoming call is determined. Depending on the band, the calling volume can be automatically changed between the caller of the telephone number stored in the storage means in advance and the other callers.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic functional block diagram showing an electric configuration of an answering machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of operation control in the answering machine mode in the answering machine, and FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the other example of operation control in the answering machine mode in the answering machine.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a communication line connected to the other party's telephone via an exchange (not shown), 2 denotes a line capturing unit for capturing the communication line 1, and 3 denotes a communication line 1 captured by the line capturing unit 2. , A handset for making a call with the other party telephone using the communication path formed by the communication circuit 3, and a communication circuit section 5 for forming a communication path with the other party telephone using the communication circuit 3. A message recording / reproducing unit which sends a pre-recorded response message to the other party's telephone by using the established communication path and also records a business message arriving from the other party's telephone.

Reference numeral 6 denotes an incoming call detector for detecting an incoming signal coming from the communication line 1; 7, a speaker for emitting a ringing tone generated based on the incoming call detection by the incoming call detector 6;
Is an ID for detecting polarity reversal of the communication line 1 and receiving an ID receiving terminal start signal and an ID signal coming from the communication line 1.
The receiving circuit unit 9 includes an operation input unit including numeric keys for inputting a telephone number and the like and a function key for instructing a transition to an answering machine mode, and a memory 10 for storing the telephone number input by the operation input unit 9. , 11 are clock sections for measuring the current time and a predetermined time.

Numeral 12 denotes an incoming call detection by the incoming call detecting section 6 and an ID.
ID signal received by the receiving circuit section 8, operation input section 9
On the basis of the instruction signal from the CPU and the clock data in the clock section 11, the line capture / release control in the line capture section 2, the communication path formation control in the communication circuit section 3, the message recording / playback control in the message recording / reproducing section 5, the ringing tone. Control of the loudspeaker 7 in response to the occurrence of the ringing tone and the ringing tone, the data read / write control in the memory 10, and the clock unit 1.
1 is a main control unit that performs timekeeping control and the like, and the drive control of the speaker 7 by the main control unit 12 is performed based on a ring tone permission / non-permission setting state described later.

An example of operation control in the answering machine mode of the answering machine configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The memory 10
It is assumed that an important or necessary telephone number of the other party is stored in advance by the operation of the operation input unit 9 by the user.

When the user operates the operation input unit 9, the mode shifts to the answering machine mode to enter the answering machine standby state. In the answering machine standby state, the polarity of the communication line 1 is inverted. When detected by the circuit section 8, the ID receiving circuit section 8 temporarily captures the communication line 1 and receives the ID receiving terminal activation signal and the caller telephone number data according to a predetermined communication protocol, and the main control section 1
2 to release the temporary acquisition of the communication line 1.

In the main control section 12, when the caller telephone number data is supplied from the ID receiving circuit section 8 (step F1), the telephone number data is read from the memory 10 and supplied from the ID receiving circuit section 8. It is determined whether there is phone number data that matches the caller phone number data (step F2). If it is determined that there is phone number data that matches, the main control unit 12 determines the timing of capturing the communication line 1. a set number N ₁ which is set in advance by the user of the arrival times N of the incoming signal as a reference (step F3),
When it is determined that there is no matching telephone number data, the main control unit 12 sets the number of arrivals N of the incoming signal as a reference of the timing for capturing the communication line 1 to the set number N ₂ set in advance by the user. (Step F4).

Thereafter, an incoming signal arrives from the communication line 1, and the incoming signal coming from the communication line 1 is detected by the incoming detecting unit 6, and the main control unit 1 is detected by the detected signal.
2 detects that there is an incoming call (step F5), the main control unit 12 becomes absent response state, counts the incoming number N _n of the incoming signal from the communication line 1 based on the detection signal from the incoming call detection section 6 At the same time, the count value N _n is compared with a preset number of arrivals N (step F).
7).

When the count value _Nn is greater than or equal to the preset number of arrivals N in the main control unit 12, the main control unit 12 controls the line acquisition unit 2 to acquire the communication line 1. (Step F8),
The message recording / reproducing unit 5 is controlled to send a pre-registered response message to the other party's telephone (step F9). When it is determined that the response message has been transmitted (step F10), the message recording / reproducing unit 5 is sent. To start recording a business message sent from the other party's telephone (step F11).

Then, when a predetermined time has elapsed since the recording of the business message was started (step F12) or when the end signal was received from the communication line 1 (step F1).
3) The main control unit 12 controls the message recording / reproducing unit 5 to end the recording of the message (Step F14), and controls the line capturing unit 2 to release the communication line 1 (Step F15). As a result, the absence response state is ended and the absence state is set.

The main controller 12 counts the count value N _n
If the incoming signal from the communication line 1 is no longer detected before the number of arrivals exceeds or matches the preset number of arrivals N (step F6), the main control unit 12 ends the absence response state and It goes into a standby state.

As described above, according to the above-described operation control, it is possible to arbitrarily set the time required for sending a response message or recording a business message between an incoming call from a preset partner and an incoming call from another partner. Can be changed to

Therefore, for example, by reducing the value of the set number N ₁ and increasing the value of the set number N _{2 in} the above-described operation control, unnecessary waiting at a specific partner whose telephone number is registered in the memory 10 can be performed. it is possible to eliminate the time, important can be prevented such wasteful use of recording capacity of the message recording and reproducing unit 5 to the business messages that are not also the value of the set number N ₂ and infinity In this way, it is possible to prevent the user from answering the incoming call from any party other than the specific party whose phone number is registered in the memory 10.

Next, another example of the operation control in the answering machine mode in the answering machine configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Note that memory 1
It is assumed that the telephone number of the other party that is important or necessary according to the operation of the operation input unit 9 by the user and the time zone arbitrarily determined are stored in advance in 0.

In the absence state, the main control unit 12
When the caller telephone number data is supplied from the D receiving circuit unit 8 (step F21), the main control unit 12 determines whether the current time measured by the clock unit 11 is located in the time zone stored in the memory 10. (Step F22), the telephone number data is read from the memory 10, and it is determined whether there is telephone number data that matches the caller telephone number data supplied from the ID receiving circuit unit 8 (step F2).
3, F24).

In the main control unit 12, the clock unit 1
1 is determined to be located in the time zone stored in the memory 10, and the telephone number data corresponding to the caller telephone number data from the ID receiving circuit unit 8 is stored in the memory 10. If it is determined that there is, the main control unit 12 is a set number M ₁ set in advance by the user of the arrival times N of the incoming signal as a reference timing to capture the communication line 1 (step F25), The sounding of the ringing tone responding to the incoming signal is permitted (step F26), and the above-described answering operation (steps F5 to F5) is performed.
Perform 15).

The main control unit 12 determines that the current time measured by the clock unit 11 is located in the time zone stored in the memory 10, and determines whether or not the caller telephone number data from the ID reception circuit unit 8 is present. If it is determined that the telephone number data corresponding to is not stored in the memory 10, the main control unit 12 sets the number of arrivals N of the incoming signal as a reference of the timing for capturing the communication line 1 by the user in advance. with the set number M ₂ that (step F 27), prohibits the sound of ringing tone in response to the incoming call signal (step F 28), the above-described automatic answering response operation (step F5~F1
Perform 5).

The main control section 12 determines that the current time measured by the clock section 11 is not located in the time zone stored in the memory 10, When it is determined that the telephone number data that matches the telephone number data is stored in the memory 10, the main control unit 12 uses the number of arrivals N of the incoming signal as a reference of the timing for capturing the communication line 1 in advance. the set number M ₃ set by user (step F 29)
At the same time, the sounding of the ringing tone responding to the incoming signal is permitted (step F30), and the above-described answering operation (steps F5 to F5) is performed.
F15) is performed.

Further, in the main control section 12, the clock section 11
Is determined not to be located in the time zone stored in the memory 10 and the ID
If it is determined that the telephone number data from the receiving circuit unit 8 that matches the caller telephone number data is not stored in the memory 10, the main control unit 12 returns the incoming call as a reference of the timing for capturing the communication line 1. the set number M ₄ set in advance by the user of the incoming number N of the signal (step F3
At the same time as 1), the ringing of the ringing tone in response to the incoming signal is permitted (step F32), and the above-described answering operation (step F32) is performed.
5 to F15).

As described above, according to the above-described operation control, an incoming call from a preset partner in a preset time zone, an incoming call from a partner other than the preset partner in a preset time zone, Sending a response message or recording a message in response to an incoming call from a pre-set partner in a time zone other than the specified time zone and an incoming call from a non-preset partner in a time zone other than the preset time zone. The time until the operation is performed can be arbitrarily changed.

Therefore, for example, by setting the set time zone in the above operation control to the midnight time zone, increasing the value of the set number of times M ₁ and decreasing the value of the set number of times M ₂ , When there is an incoming call at midnight from a specific party whose number has been registered, the ringing tone is emitted for a long time and the user can be surely recognized that there is an emergency call. It is possible to prevent the sleep of the user from being interrupted when an incoming call is received from a non-registered party at midnight. By only sending the response message as an answering operation to the incoming call and prohibiting the recording of the message, the message recording and re-recording of the message that is not important 5 can be prevented from being wastefully used.

In the above operation control, four settings are made based on a preset time zone and a preset destination telephone number. However, the present invention is not limited to this. May be set, and different or partly different state settings may be set.Also, only in a preset time zone, the state setting based on the other party's telephone number that has competed in advance may be performed. Is also good.

[0034]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to automatically change the time until a reply is made between a pre-registered caller and another caller. Answering an incoming call from a caller in a short period of time can eliminate unnecessary waiting time for a specific caller. Until you answer an incoming call from another caller, By lengthening the time, it is possible to prevent the useless use of the memory or the like for an unimportant message.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to automatically change the time required for answering and not answering between the caller registered in advance and the other callers, and to set the time required for answering and answering automatically. Because it can be changed depending on the time zone at the time of incoming call, for example, if there is an incoming call from a specific caller during the day, it will be answered in a short time, and if there is an incoming call from the specific caller at midnight, By increasing the time until the answering machine responds, it is possible to reliably notify the user of an incoming call with high urgency.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the calling volume can be automatically changed between the caller registered in advance and the other callers according to the time zone of the incoming call. When an incoming call is received from a caller, increasing the ringing volume accompanying the call allows the user to be notified of an urgent incoming call with certainty. If there is, by reducing the ringing volume associated with the incoming call, it is possible to prevent the user's sleep or the like from being hindered by a wrong call, a mischievous call, or a call with low urgency.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic functional block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an answering machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of operation control in the answering machine mode in the answering machine.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing another example of operation control in the answering machine mode in the answering machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Communication line 2 Line capture part 3 Communication circuit part 4 Handset 5 Message recording / reproducing part 6 Incoming detection part 7 Speaker 8 ID receiving circuit part 9 Operation input part 10 Memory 11 Clock part 12 Main control part

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An answering machine for capturing a communication line in response to an incoming signal, transmitting a response message registered in advance on the captured communication line, and then recording a message message arriving from the communication line. Storage means for storing a telephone number; receiving means for receiving caller information arriving from a communication line at the time of an incoming call; and a caller-side telephone number included in the caller information received by the receiving means. Determining means for determining whether or not the communication line is stored in the storage means, and a control means for setting a time until the communication line is captured based on the determination result by the determining means and performing control for capturing the communication line based on the set time. while Ru is provided, said control means is received by said receiving means originating
The caller's telephone number included in the caller information is stored in the storage
The time to be set when it is determined that
Calls included in caller information received by the receiving means
Is determined that the telephone number of the caller is not stored in the storage means.
An answering machine characterized in that the time set is shorter than the time set when the call was made . 2. A communication line is seized in response to an incoming signal.
At the same time, the response message registered in the
Message, and then the message coming from the communication line
An answering machine for recording messages, a storage means for storing telephone numbers, and receiving caller information coming from the communication line when receiving a call
Receiving means for transmitting, and a caller included in the sender information received by the receiving means.
Determines whether the party's telephone number is stored in the storage means
A judging means for, and clock means for clocking a current time, and the current time counted by the clock unit, and sets the time to capture the communication line based on the determination result by the determining means, the setting time And control means for performing capture control of the communication line based on the
That distillate Mamoru number phone. 3. A ringing tone generating means for emitting a ringing tone in response to an incoming call signal to the outside, wherein the control means determines a current time measured by the clock means and a determination result by the determining means. 3. The answering machine according to claim 2, wherein the volume of the ringing tone by said ringing tone generating means is adjusted.