JPH02164172A - Voice mail equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a message addressed to itself from being listened to by other party because of an intercepted ID number by providing an identification signal oscillator sending a signal of a special pattern to a center equipment assigned in advance to a subscriber and reproducing the message only when the signal of the special pattern is sent. CONSTITUTION:When a subscriber utilizing a voice mail is registered as a voice mail subscriber, one voice mail number and a subscriber identification signal to identify the subscriber by are assigned. When the subscriber listens to the message sent to itself, a telephone set calls the voice mail center and an identification signal oscillator sends a subscriber identification signal. A center equipment receives the signal by a discrimination circuit 4, whether or not the signal is coincident with the subscriber information signal registered in advance in an identification signal storage section 5 is discriminated, only when they are coincident, a changeover switch 7 is controlled to connect a message reproduction circuit 8 to the line 1. Thus, the message reproduction circuit 8 reads the message addressed to the subscriber from a message storage section 10 and sends it to the line 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a voice mail device that provides voice mail service.

[Conventional technology]

As a voice mail service, a voice mail service in a PBX is well known, and in recent years, it has become widely used as a voice mail box-like service. In conventional voice mail devices that provide such voice mail services, when a subscriber wants to play back a message sent to him/her, he or she dials a three-digit or four-digit ID number from a telephone set as a password. Then, on the center side, if the ID number sent through the line matches a pre-stored number, the stored message addressed to the subscriber is reproduced and sent to the line.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Therefore, with conventional voice mail devices, anyone who knows the D number can play back and listen to messages addressed to the subscriber even if he/she is not the subscriber himself/herself, which poses problems in terms of confidentiality and privacy protection. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve such problems by providing a voice mail device that reproduces messages only when the subscriber sends out a special pattern signal assigned to the subscriber from an identification signal oscillator. It is about providing.

[Means to solve the problem]

The voice mail device of the present invention includes a message storage section for storing messages, a message recording circuit for storing messages in the message storage section, a message reproduction circuit for reading messages from the message storage section, and these message recording circuits. or a message reproducing circuit to select one of them and connect it to the line; an identification signal storage section for storing a signal of a special pattern assigned in advance to a subscriber; a center device comprising a determining circuit that controls the changeover switch to select a message reproducing circuit and connect the message to the line when a match is found; It is characterized by comprising an identification signal oscillator that sends out to the device.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The voice mail device of the present invention includes an identification signal oscillator, which is carried by a subscriber and generates a subscriber identification signal with a special pattern for identifying the subscriber, and a center device installed at a voice mail center. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a center device.

1 is a public line, 2 is a line open monitoring circuit, 3 is a message sending circuit, 4 is a judgment circuit, 5 is an identification signal storage section, 6 is a voice mail number storage section, 7 is a changeover switch, 8 is a message reproduction circuit, 9 1 is a message recording circuit, and 10 is a message storage section.

A line open monitoring circuit 2 is connected to the line (2), detects whether or not the line 1 is open, and stops the operation of the message reproduction circuit 8 and the message recording circuit 9 when the line 1 is opened. A message sending circuit 3 is connected to the line open monitoring circuit 2 and the determining circuit 4, and when a subscriber sends out a voice mail, it sends a message to the line informing the operating procedure therefor. The judgment circuit 4 determines whether the signal sent by the voice mail user through the line matches the number stored in the voice mail number storage section 6 or the subscriber identification signal stored in the identification signal storage section 5. The selector switch 7 is controlled based on the result. The selector switch 7 selects either the message reproduction circuit 8 or the message recording circuit 9 under the control of the judgment circuit 4 and connects it to the line 1 through the line open monitoring circuit 2.

The message playback circuit 8 reads the message stored in the message storage section lo and sends it to the line 1 through the line open monitoring circuit 2. The message recording circuit 9 receives the message from the line I through the line open monitoring circuit 2. and write it into the message storage section 10.

Next, the operation of this voice mail device will be explained. When a voicemail subscriber registers as a voicemail subscriber, he or she is assigned a voicemail number and a subscriber identification signal to identify the subscriber. And if a registered subscriber sends a voicemail,
A subscriber first calls a voicemail center from a telephone. Then, the subscriber receives a message from the message sending circuit 3 of the center device.
Dial the voicemail number assigned to you according to the operating instructions message sent to you. The judgment circuit 4 receives this voice mail number and judges whether it matches the number stored in the voice mail number register tQ section 6 or not. If it does not match, it restarts the message sending circuit 3. prompt the subscriber to resend the voicemail number.

On the other hand, if the voicemail number from the subscriber matches the number stored in the voicemail number storage section 6,
The judgment circuit 4 controls the changeover switch 7 to connect the message recording circuit 9 to the line 1.

As a result, messages subsequently sent from the subscriber are written from the message recording circuit 9 to the message storage section 10. When the subscriber finishes sending the message and goes on-hook, the line release monitoring circuit 2 detects this, stops the operation of the message recording circuit 9, and completes the message registration work.

Next, the operation when a subscriber listens to a message sent to him/her will be explained. A subscriber first calls a voice mail center from a telephone, and once connected to the center, an identification signal oscillator sends out a subscriber identification signal to confirm the subscriber's identity. In the center device, the determination circuit 4 receives this signal and determines whether it matches the subscriber identification signal registered in advance in the identification signal storage section 5. Then, only when there is a match, the changeover switch 7 is controlled to turn the message reproduction circuit 8! Connect to fsi. Thereby, the message reproducing circuit 8 reads out the message addressed to the subscriber from the message storage section 10 and sends it to the reading line 1.

As described above, in the voice mail device of the present invention, a subscriber sends out a subscriber identification signal of a special pattern assigned to the subscriber from an identification signal oscillator, and this signal matches a pre-registered subscriber identification signal. Since the message is played only when the voice mail subscriber is registered, the message cannot be listened to by anyone who is not registered as a voicemail subscriber and does not have an identification signal generator.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the voice mail device of the present invention includes a message storage section for storing messages, a message recording circuit for storing messages in the message storage section, and a message reproduction circuit for reading messages from the message storage section. A selector switch selects either the message recording circuit or the message playback circuit and connects it to the line, an identification signal storage unit stores a special pattern of signals assigned to the subscriber in advance, and the signal from the line is arranged in a special pattern. A center device is equipped with a judgment circuit that controls a changeover switch to select a message reproducing circuit and connect the message to the line when the signal matches the signal of and an identification signal oscillator that sends out to the device.

Therefore, in the voice mail device of the present invention, only those who are registered as voice mail subscribers and possess an identification signal oscillator can reproduce and listen to messages addressed to them.
Unlike in the past, since your ID number is known, you will not have to listen to messages sent to you by others.

Furthermore, subscribers can receive these services without owning a telephone or answering machine.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a center device of a voice mail device according to the present invention. 1... Public line 2... Line open monitoring circuit 3... Message sending circuit 4... Judgment circuit 5... Identification signal storage section 6... Voice mail number storage section 7... Changeover switch 8...Message reproducing circuit 9...Message recording circuit 10...Message storage section

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A message storage section for storing messages, a message recording circuit for storing messages in the message storage section, a message playback circuit for reading messages from the message storage section, and a message recording circuit or a message playback circuit for reading messages from the message storage section. a changeover switch that selects one of the signals and connects it to the line; an identification signal storage unit that stores a signal of a special pattern assigned to the subscriber in advance; a center device comprising a determination circuit that controls a changeover switch to select a message reproduction circuit and connect it to the line; and an identification device that sends a signal of a special pattern pre-assigned to the subscriber to the center device through the line. A voice mail device comprising a signal oscillator.