JPH0292138A - Absence time communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the remote interactive between a visitor and an absent resident by calling to a pocket beeper which the absent resident carriers when the input of the effect to visit is executed to a door horn system, waiting for the communication from the absent resident, and when the communication is executed from the absent resident, forming a channel between the visitor and the absent resident. CONSTITUTION:When a resident goes out, an absence time mode setting switch 7 is in the on condition, and the resident carriers a pocket beeper registered in the system. When a push-button 3 is pushed by the visitor, a signal is inputted to a MO DEM part 8 and a television camera control part 9, respective parts are activated, and the MODEM part 8 executes the automatical transmission to the telephone number of the pocket beeper registered by the resident with an automatic telephone function. A television camera control part 9 start the image pickup, an interactive processing part 10 starts the automatic interactive with the visitor and sets the timer. At this time, when the communication is carried out to the pocket beeper carried by the resident while he is out, the resident makes a call to his home immediately by the telephone set when he is out. Thus, the remote interactive is attained between the visitor and the absent resident.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an absentee contact system used, for example, in a general household.

(Prior Art) In recent years, a highly information-oriented society has developed rapidly, and convenience has been pursued. For example, telephones and the like are commonly used to communicate with remote locations, which is very convenient when the locations of both parties are known. Further, as an example of its application, there is a forwarding telephone system. This transfers incoming calls to a telephone set located in a different location, for example. According to this, even if the person is out of the house, if the forwarding destination information of the person's destination is known in advance, it is possible to have a remote conversation as if the person were actually present at that location.

However, when the transfer destination is undetermined or unknown due to reasons such as the location changing from moment to moment, the above-mentioned system cannot be applied and is often inconvenient.

This also applies to the relationship between visitors and absentee residents in ordinary households.

By the way, in this case, contact between the visitor and the absentee resident can only be established by specifying contact information. However, providing contact information to an unspecified number of visitors poses many security problems. Furthermore, even if you specify contact information, it is troublesome for visitors to contact you again, and most people do not do this.

Especially in recent years, the social environment has been changing rapidly.
The rate of absenteeism in households during the day has become extremely high. Therefore, there is a strong desire to construct a system that solves the above-mentioned problems.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) In recent years, as the rate of absenteeism in households during the daytime has become extremely high, it is becoming increasingly difficult for general households to communicate remotely between visitors and absentee residents. There is a strong desire to build a practical system that makes this possible.

The present invention was made based on such a demand, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication system in the absence of a visitor and an absentee resident, which allows remote communication between the visitor and the absentee resident.

[Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a door horn system equipped with a means for a visitor to input an intention to visit and a means for a visitor and a resident to interact. , means for making a call to a pager having a pre-registered phone number when the door horn system receives an input to the effect of a visit; and when the door horn system receives an input to the effect of the visit, the door horn system a means for responding to visitors via the door horn system, and a person who makes the incoming call via the door horn system when a call is received within a predetermined time from the time when the visitor is inputted to the door horn system; and means for forming a communication path between the visitor and the visitor.

(Function) According to the present invention, when there is an input to the door horn system to the effect of a visitor, while responding to the visitor, a call is made to the pager carried by the absent resident. Wait for contact from the person. When contacted by the absentee resident, a communication path is established between the visitor and the absentee resident.

Therefore, a remote conversation can occur between the visitor and the absentee resident.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an absentee contact system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a door horn attached to the side of the door 2. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the appearance of such a door horn 1, which includes a button 3 for a visitor to input the fact that he/she is visiting, a microphone 4 and a speaker 5 for communicating with the visitor, It is equipped with a television camera 6 for taking images of visitors. This door horn 1 is connected to a goodwill unit (not shown), and during normal operation, except when the system is set to the absentee mode, which will be described later,
Through this friendship, the visitor and the resident may interact or take an image of the visitor.

Now, a signal generated by pressing the button 3 of the door horn 1 is manually inputted to the modem section 8 and the television camera control section 9 via the absence mode setting switch 7.

The absentee mode setting switch 7 is a switching means for setting the absentee mode, which is a characteristic function of this system. When this switch 7 is turned on, an absent mode is set in which a signal generated by pressing the button 3 can be input to the modem section 8 and the television camera control section 9. When this switch 7 is turned off, the system enters the normal mode in which the signal generated by pressing the button 3 is not input into the system.

The modem section 8 is activated upon receiving a signal generated by pressing the button 3. When the modem unit 8 is activated, it first uses the automatic telephone function to automatically make a call to the telephone number of the pager registered by the resident, and then sends the signal from the button 3 to the dialogue processing unit 10. hand over. Furthermore, when the modem unit 8 receives an incoming call from the telephone line within a predetermined time after the automatic dialing, the modem unit 8 switches the dialogue processing unit 10 from the automatic dialogue mode (described later) to the door horn 1 (microphone 4 and speaker 5) and the telephone line. Switch to direct call mode.

On the other hand, when the television camera control section 9 receives a signal generated by pressing the button 3, it sends an image signal captured by the television camera 6 to the image recording section 11 via the television camera control section 9. The image recording section 11 records this image signal in a reproducible manner.

When the dialogue processing section 10 receives the signal from the above-mentioned button 3 via the modem section 8, it asks a pre-registered visitor a question using the speaker 5 of the door horn 1. The dialogue processing unit 10 sends an audio signal representing the visitor's answer to the question to the audio recording unit 12 via the microphone 4 and the dialogue processing unit 10. The audio recording unit 12 records this audio signal in a reproducible manner.

The system control unit 13 includes an image recording unit 11 and an audio recording unit 1.
The image signal and audio signal recorded in 2 are sent to the output section 14.

The output unit 14 includes, for example, a speaker, a television monitor, etc., and reproduces the image signal and audio signal sent from the system control unit 13.

Next, the operation of the system having such a configuration will be explained.

The door horn 1 is normally set to a mode in which the visitor can interact with the resident or take an image of the visitor via a relative (not shown) when the absentee mode setting switch 7 is turned off.

Here, when the resident goes out, the absentee mode setting switch 7 is turned on. At this time, the resident carries a pager registered in the system.

By the above operation, the system is set to the unattended mode. That is, the signal generated by pressing the button 3 becomes ready to be input to the modem section 8 and the television camera control section 9.

In this state, for example, when a visitor presses the button 3, a signal from this press is input to the modem section 8 and the television camera control section 9, and each section is activated.

That is, (1) The modem section 8 uses the automatic telephone function to automatically make a call to the telephone number of the pager registered by the resident.

(2) The television camera control section 9 starts imaging.

■The dialogue processing unit 10 starts an automatic dialogue with the visitor.

■Set the timer.

Here, when a call is received on a pager carried by a resident who is away from home, the resident will immediately call home from the telephone at the outside location.

When a call is received from the resident within the time set by the timer, the modem section 8 switches the dialog processing section 6 from automatic dialog mode to a call that directly connects the door horn 1 (microphone 4 and speaker 5) to the telephone line. Switch to mode.

This allows residents and visitors to communicate directly when they are out and about. That is, according to the present embodiment, even when the whereabouts of a resident who is out is undetermined or unknown, the absent resident is notified through the pager that there is a visitor. Then, if the absentee resident calls the system, he or she can talk to the visitor. Therefore, remote interaction between a visitor and an absentee resident in a general household becomes possible.

In addition, if the resident who is out does not return the call, the resident who returns home after this will call the system control unit 13.
By activating the system and reproducing the image signal and audio signal recorded in the image recording section 11 and the audio recording section 12 at the output section 14, it is possible to know who the visitor was today.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made.

For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, voice information is recorded as is, but of course in the case of automatic dialogue, a voice recognition function is added to enable high-level dialogue and contact a pager only when deemed necessary. It is also possible.

Furthermore, by using a still image telephone system, if a resident calls a pager with a signal from the door horn, they will know who the visitor is when they call back.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the absentee contact system of the present invention, when the door horn system receives an input to the effect of a visitor, the absentee resident can communicate with the visitor while responding to the visitor. Make a call to the pager of the absentee resident, wait for contact from the absentee resident, and when contacted by the absentee resident, a communication path is formed between the visitor and the absentee resident, so You can have remote conversations with residents.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an absent communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the appearance of a door horn used in this system. 1...Door horn, 3...Button button, 4...
・7 Microphone, 5... Speaker, 6... TV camera, 7... Absence mode setting switch, 8...
Modem section, 9... Television camera control section, 10... Dialogue processing section, 11... Image recording section, 12... Audio recording section, 13... System control section, 14... Output section . Applicant: Toshiba Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A door horn system equipped with a means for a visitor to input a visit and a means for a visitor and a resident to interact; When the door horn system receives an input to the effect of a visit, means for making a call to a pager having a pre-registered phone number; means for responding to a visitor via the door horn system when a visitor is input to the door horn system; and the door horn. means for forming a communication path between the person who made the incoming call and the visitor via the door horn system when an incoming call is received within a predetermined time from the time when the system receives an input to the effect of a visit; Equipped with an absentee contact system.