JPH02210941A - Telephone call method in facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent an operator making an operator call from being kept awaiting for a required time or above by generating a standby signal through the detection of an operator call signal and transmitting the standby signal to an opposite party for a prescribed time. CONSTITUTION:When an operator call signal from a transmission side is detected by an operator call signal detection circuit 7 during the reception of a picture signal, a control circuit 8 alarms a buzzer or the like to inform the detection to the operator and starts the monitoring of a timer. Simultaneously, the circuit 8 gives an instruction to a standby signal transmission circuit 10, thereby sending the standby signal to the transmission side through a mixer circuit 9 and a hybrid circuit 4. The standby signal is sent continuously till the receiver side operator hooks off the handset of a telephone set 3 or the circuit 8 decides that a prescribed time elapses after the buzzer or the like rings. Thus, the transmission side operator has only to be kept waiting for a time till the standby signal is consecutive, thus the waiting of a time required or above is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an improvement in a facsimile machine having an operator call function.

(b) Prior Art Recently, facsimile machines equipped with automatic functions have been increasing in order to save labor in the operation of facsimile machines. However, even with such a facsimile machine, there may be cases where it is necessary to urgently call the other party's operator. For example, this may occur when the receiving operator transmits a document that requires urgent processing or when the transmitting operator needs to be contacted regarding the contents of the received document. From this point of view, conventionally, an operator call signal for calling the other party's operator is transmitted to the other party's facsimile machine, and the facsimile machine that receives this signal has a so-called operator call function that calls the operator by sounding a buzzer or the like. facsimile machines have been proposed.

However, with such a facsimile machine having an operator call function, the calling operator waits until the other party answers the call after calling the other party. This means that it is unclear whether the line was disconnected due to a timeout or whether the line was disconnected due to a timeout.

This point will be explained in more detail.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a facsimile receiving apparatus having the operator call function proposed above. (1) is a terminal connected to the line, (2) is a switching circuit that includes an automatic call receiving circuit and connects the line to the facsimile machine side and the telephone side, (3) is the telephone set, and (4) is a hybrid circuit for sending and receiving. ,(5)
(6) is a demodulation circuit for receiving and reproducing control signals and image signals, (7) is an operator call signal detection circuit for detecting operator call signals, and (8) is the above-mentioned circuit. This is a control circuit that controls the switching circuit (2).

To explain the operation of such a facsimile receiving device, the terminal (
When a calling signal (ring tone signal) is input from 1), the switching circuit 2 switches and connects the line to the facsimile machine side. When the line is connected in this way, the modulation circuit (5) and demodulation circuit (6) exchange necessary control signals for facsimile communication with the transmitting side via the hybrid circuit (4). , and then begins receiving the manuscript.

The ui adjustment circuit (6) is a recording circuit (not shown) for recording demodulated image signals.
is supplied to perform recording and playback. At this time, if the operator call signal detection circuit (7) detects an operator call signal from the transmitting device during or after recording and playback,
The control circuit (8) not only sounds a buzzer (not shown) to notify the operator, but also starts timer monitoring to prevent the line from being closed inadvertently. When the receiving operator hooks up the telephone, the control circuit (8) instructs the switching circuit (2) so that the line is switched from the facsimile machine side to the telephone (3) and communicates with the transmitting operator ( conversation) becomes possible. On the other hand, if the receiving operator does not hook up the telephone even after a certain period of time has passed since the above buzzer sounds, the control circuit (8)
gives an instruction to the switching circuit (2) to return the line to the disconnected state. During this time, the transmitting operator does not know whether the facsimile receiving device is calling the operator or whether the receiving line has already been disconnected due to a timeout; Either the operator on the receiving side has to make a decision and waits for the necessary equipment, or the line on the sending side is already disconnected when the operator on the receiving side hooks up the telephone (3).

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention The present invention is intended to ensure that operator calls are effective when a facsimile line is connected.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The facsimile telephone calling method of the present invention is a facsimile machine which, when a facsimile line is connected, receives an operator call signal transmitted from the other party and calls its own operator. The apparatus is characterized in that it generates a standby signal upon detection of the operator call signal, and transmits this standby signal to the other party for a certain period of time.

(E) Effects According to the present invention, the operator who made the operator call can reliably know the status of the other party based on the standby signal transmitted from the other party.

(F) Embodiment FIG. 2 is an example of a facsimile receiving device having an operator call function according to the present invention, in which (1) is a connection terminal with a line, and (2) is an automatic call receiving circuit that connects the line to a telephone. (3) is a telephone, (4) is a hybrid circuit for transmission and reception, (5) is a modulation circuit for sending out control signals, (6) is for controlling signals and image signals, A demodulation circuit for receiving and reproducing, (7) an operator call signal detection circuit, (8) a control circuit, (9) a mixing circuit, and (10) a standby signal exit circuit.

Next, the operation of the facsimile receiving apparatus having such a configuration will be explained.

The communication of control signals between the transmitter and the receiver prior to reception of the facsimile image signal, the subsequent reception of the image signal, etc. are performed in exactly the same manner as described for the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. When the operator call signal detection circuit (7) detects an operator call signal from the transmitting side while receiving the image signal, the control circuit (8) sounds a buzzer (not shown) etc. to notify the operator and starts timer monitoring. This is the same as in the case of FIG. Meanwhile, at the same time, the control circuit (8)
gives an instruction to the standby signal output circuit (10), whereby the standby signal is sent to the transmitting side via the mixing circuit (9) and the hybrid circuit (4). The above standby signal is generated either by the receiving operator hooking up the telephone (3) (receiving operator answers) or by the control circuit (
8) continues to be sent until it is determined that a certain period of time has elapsed since the buzzer etc. sounded. Therefore, the transmitting operator only needs to wait while the standby signal continues (
Unlike the previously proposed facsimile machine with an operator call function, there is no need to know how long the machine should wait. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the operator from waiting longer than necessary (during which time the line is unnecessarily closed) or from having the transmitting operator disconnect the line even though the receiving side is still calling.

It should be noted that, although the above explanation is related to the facsimile receiving apparatus, it is clear that the same applies to the facsimile transmitting apparatus.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, the operator on the caller side may wait longer than necessary, or the line may be disconnected even though the operator on the other side is calling the operator. It has the effect of resolving inconveniences.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a facsimile machine having an operator call function that has already been proposed, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a facsimile machine having an operator call function according to the present invention. (2)...Switching circuit, (3)...Telephone, (4)...
...Hybrid circuit, (8)...Control circuit, (9)
... Mixing circuit, (10) ... Standby signal exit circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) When a facsimile line is connected, a facsimile device that receives an operator call signal transmitted from the other party and calls its own operator generates a standby signal upon detection of the operator call signal; A facsimile telephone calling method characterized by transmitting this standby signal to the other party for a certain period of time.