JPH0267050A - Automatic response equipment for telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately send the content of a message to a caller side by attaching a clock function and a message content change function, and changing a response message as measuring a time accurately by the clock function. CONSTITUTION:The title equipment is provided with an incoming detection circuit 5 and also, provided with a message switching circuit 7 consisting of an input time setting means 11 to set a message to be sent to the caller side, the clock means 12 to measure the time from the time when the message is set, and a message content change means 13 which changes a time message by adding the time set by the input time setting means 11 on a lapse time counted by the clock means 12 at the time of detecting an incoming call from the incoming detection circuit 5. In other words, required voice information is retrieved based on the output of the message content change means 13, and an appropriate message to be sent to a caller is synthesized by a voice information storing position retrieval means 21 and a voice storage means 22. In such a manner, it is possible to transmit the response message when a callee is absent to the caller in detail and accurately with simple constitution.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an automatic answering device for a telephone, which is generally called an answering machine, etc. The present invention relates to an automatic answering device for a telephone equipped with message content changing means for changing and sending a response message.

[Conventional technology]

Various types of telephones equipped with automatic answering devices, generally referred to as answering machines, have been proposed depending on the intended use and functions desired by the installer. For example, various types are available on the market, depending on the number of calls received, the type of response message, operability, or the ability to record the business matters of the caller (caller).

An example of a conventional telephone automatic answering device of this type is shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a line connection terminal for connecting to a telephone line (office line) of a public telecommunications carrier, etc., 2 is a communication line circuit for forming a communication line with the office line, and 3 is a communication line circuit for forming a communication line with the office line. A telephone connected to the communication path circuit 2, 4 an automatic answering device that controls a so-called answering function, and 5 a telephone connected between the circuit connection terminal 1 and the path circuit 2 so that the automatic answering device 4 is in an on state. An incoming call detection circuit 6 detects a call signal inputted via the central office line when an incoming call is detected by the incoming call detection circuit 5; A message sending circuit 7 sends a message to the calling party, and numeral 7 stores a plurality of types of response messages to be sent from the message sending circuit 6 to the calling party, and is selected in accordance with the setting of the automatic answering device 4. This is a message switching circuit that switches the entire response message.

Next, the operation will be explained. First, in order to perform the basic answering function, multiple response messages are recorded in advance on a recording medium such as an audio tape or integrated circuit (RC) memory, and the optimal response message is selected according to the desired situation. According to the selection, the message switching circuit 7 sends a desired response message to the communication path circuit 2 via the message sending circuit 6. Upon hearing this selected response message sent to the caller, the caller, in accordance with the instructions in the response message, records the contents of the message such as the purpose of the call and desired post-processing, etc. It can also be used to record messages and fulfill message functions.

The most important purpose of installing the above-mentioned automatic answering device for telephones is to reliably and accurately notify the caller that the person receiving the call (called party) is absent or unable to receive the call. . Therefore, in addition to the basic functions mentioned above, appropriate information such as ``What time will I return?'' or ``How many hours from now will I contact you to inform you when the called party will be ready to receive the call?'' It is necessary to notify the caller of a response message such as "I will send you a message." Therefore, the system is configured to have a function of storing a plurality of response messages.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Since the conventional automatic answering device for a telephone is configured as described above, it is necessary to ensure that the message switching circuit 7 has a sufficient capacity for answering messages, which may complicate the configuration of the message switching circuit 7 or It was necessary to ensure that the storage means attached to the circuit had sufficient capacity. Therefore, it is necessary to store or accumulate a large number of similar response messages with slightly different wording, and the capacity of the response message storage medium must be sufficient. The problem was that it led to

Furthermore, since there is a limit to setting many types of response messages to be saved, the number of response messages is limited. Therefore, even if the called party selects from among several response messages and switches to the desired one, the number of response messages that the caller receives is limited due to the small number of memorized messages. It becomes kind of monotonous. For this reason, there is a problem in that the so-called answering machine has only a monotonous response function.

In particular, when the response message conveys the callee's return time, there is a problem in that the content of the message gives the impression that it is inaccurate after the time has elapsed.

This invention was made to solve the above problems, and by providing a timekeeping function and a message content changing function, there is no need to store several response messages that are full of changes. The object of the present invention is to provide an automatic response device having a small storage capacity and a simple configuration.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic answering device that can send a varied response message to a caller by constantly changing the content of the response message using a timekeeping function.

Furthermore, when sending a message to the caller about time, such as the callee's return time, the timer function is used to accurately measure the time and the response message is changed to ensure accurate message content. Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic answering device that can send a message to a caller.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The configuration of an automatic telephone answering device according to the present invention for achieving the above object will be explained based on the functional block diagram of FIG.

The present invention comprises an incoming call detection circuit 5, and an input time setting means 1 for setting a message to be sent to the calling party.
1, a clock means 12 for measuring the time from when the message is set, and a clock means 12 to measure the time set by the input time setting means 11 when the incoming call detection circuit 5 detects an incoming call from the central office line. and a message switching circuit 7 comprising a message content changing means 13 for changing the time message by adding the elapsed time, and a voice information storage location for searching necessary voice information based on the output of the message content changing means 13. a search means 21; a voice storage means 22 for storing necessary voices to be searched by the voice information storage position search means 21; A message sending circuit 6 comprising a synthesized speech generating means 23 for synthesizing an appropriate message is provided.

[For production]

With the above-described configuration, the present invention allows the input time setting means 11 to set a message during which the called party can respond when the called party is unable to answer an incoming call from the central office line due to going out or the like. For example, if the user intends to return home in 1 hour and 30 minutes, the user inputs that information and activates the response device. Since the timer 12 measures the elapsed time while the called party is out, when the incoming call detection circuit 5 detects an incoming call from an outside line, the message content changing means 13 is set based on this information. Change the message you have been using for a while. For example, if 45 minutes have passed since the set time, a message is prepared to the effect that the user will return home 45 minutes after receiving the call. The response message switched in this way is sent to the message sending circuit 6.
The voice information storage position retrieval means 21 searches for a response message queue outputted to the voice information storage position retrieval means 21 and stored in the voice storage means 22. When the position of the time information of the response message is searched in this way, the synthesized voice generation means 23 creates a response message in which the time information to be conveyed to the caller is synthesized at an appropriate position, and To send accurate information to a calling party about how long it will take for the called party to return.

In this manner, detailed and accurate information regarding the return of the called party will be sent to the calling party.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 2 showing an embodiment of the present invention, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 3 showing a conventional example and FIG. 1 showing the basic concept of this invention indicate the same or corresponding parts. In this embodiment, as a specific configuration of the message sending circuit 6, a pulse coded modulation (PCM) method is used.
The message sending operation is digitally processed. In the figure, reference numeral 12 is a timer circuit as a time measurement means, 21 is a memory address control circuit as an audio information storage position retrieval means, 22 is an audio memory as an audio storage means, and 23 is a D/A conversion means as a synthetic audio generation means. It is a vessel.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. As mentioned above, the message sending circuit 6 in this embodiment is a PCM
method is adopted. Therefore, the message to be sent is PCM encoded and stored in the audio memory 22. The memory address control circuit 21 operates based on the signal from the message switching circuit 7, changes the address of the audio memory 22 according to the PCM sampling period, determines the sample value (digital value) of the audio signal to be sent out, and further converts this digital value. is converted into an analog audio signal by the D/A conversion circuit 23.

Next, the operation from the time an incoming call is detected to the sending of a response message in the above embodiment will be explained in more detail.

For example, as a response message, "I'm away at the moment. 20
Please call me in a minute. ” think about it. Conventional answering machines simply record the caller's message when the called party is away. The purpose of the caller is to contact the owner of the answering machine, and the recording of the message is only secondary. Even if the caller does not record a business message, it is sufficient for the caller to know when the desired person will be contacted, and there is little point in recording a business message without knowing when the desired person will be contacted. There is no. The present invention provides an answering machine that actively facilitates communication between a calling party and a called party. For this reason, the phrase "20 minutes" in the time telling part of the response message is changed in conjunction with the timer circuit 12.

For example, if you plan to get home in 60 minutes, set the time to 6.
Set it to 0 minutes. Then, the timer will count down the time setting (for example, 60 minutes → 55 minutes → 50 minutes... → 10 minutes → 5 minutes → time over), and the phone will function as an answering machine until the time is over.

If a call arrives 25 minutes after the called party leaves the house, the response message will be, "I'm not home at the moment. Please call me in 35 minutes." In this way, by combining the PCM type message sending circuit and a clock, it is possible to easily change the program of the message to be sent.

By configuring as described above, for people who are away for a relatively short time and often think of the time elapsed, such as the number of minutes after returning home, rather than thinking about the time when they return home, the caller can clearly inform the caller of the person's detailed schedule. It will be possible to notify.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, according to the automatic answering device for a telephone according to the present invention, a response message indicating that the called party is absent can be conveyed to the calling party in detail and accurately with a simple configuration. Furthermore, it is possible to make the response messages of an answering machine, which tend to be monotonous, more varied, and it is possible to provide an automatic response that matches the caller's sensibilities.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic concept of an automatic telephone answering device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional answering machine. . 5... Incoming call detection circuit, 6... Message sending circuit,
7...Message switching circuit, 11...Input time setting means, 12...Timekeeping means, 13...Message content changing means, 21...Audio information storage position searching means, 22
. . . Voice storage means, 23 . . . Synthetic voice generation means. Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] An incoming call detection circuit that detects an incoming call from a central office line to a communication path circuit, a message sending circuit that sends a response message to a calling party, and a message sending circuit that sends a response message to a called party according to the needs of the called party. An automatic answering device for a telephone equipped with a message switching circuit for switching the content of a response message, wherein the message switching circuit is configured as input time setting means for the called party to set a message to be sent to the calling party. , a timer for measuring the time since the message is set; and a timer for adding the elapsed time measured by the timer to the time set by the input time setting means when the incoming call detection circuit detects an incoming call from a central office line. a message content changing means for changing the time message by using the message content changing means; and an audio information storage location searching means for searching necessary audio information based on the output of the message content changing means; Consisting of a voice storage means for storing necessary voices to be searched by the location search means, and a synthesized voice generation means for synthesizing an appropriate message to be sent to the caller using the voice information storage position search means and the voice storage means. An automatic answering device for telephones, which is characterized by: