JPH03177154A - Voice mail device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely receive a voice message by repeating the transmission of the voice message until a remote party hooks on. CONSTITUTION:When it is detected that a line to the telephone set of the remote party is connected by a first detecting means 5, a second detecting means 1C detects whether the remote party hooked on or not. Then, when it is detected that the remote pary does not hook on by the second detecting means 1C, a control means 20 controls a transmitting means so as to repeat the transmission of the voice message until the remote party hooks on. Thus, the remote party can listen to the voice message until it receives surely the voice message, and it can surely receive the voice message.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Field of Application J] The present invention relates to a voice mail device that automatically transmits a voice message of stored voice data to a destination telephone via a telephone line. [Prior art 1] Conventionally, a voice message of voice data previously stored in a voice memory is automatically transmitted at a pre-specified transmission time to a destination telephone having a pre-registered telephone number via a telephone line. At the same time, voice mail devices are manufactured and sold that receive a voice message from a destination telephone via a telephone line, convert it into voice data, and store it in a voice memory. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, with this conventional voice mail device, the voice message is only sent once, and the other party may miss the voice message, and it is difficult for the other party to reliably receive the voice message. There was a problem in that there were cases where it was not possible to receive the data. The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide a voice mail service that can reliably send a pre-stored voice message to a destination with a pre-registered phone number via a telephone line at a pre-specified sending time. The goal is to provide equipment. [Means for Solving the Problems] A voice mail device according to the present invention includes a first storage means for storing a voice message to be sent to a telephone of the other party, and a second memory for storing the telephone number of the other party. means, third storage means for storing the transmission time at which the voice message is transmitted, and a current time stored in the second storage means when the current time coincides with the transmission time stored in the third storage means; a line connecting means for dialing the telephone number of the other party and connecting the telephone line; and after the line connecting means has connected the line, reading out the voice message stored in the first storage means and transmitting the voice message to the telephone line via the telephone line; a transmitting means for transmitting the message to the telephone of the destination; a first detection means for detecting whether or not the line is connected to the telephone of the destination after the transmission means transmits the voice message; a second detection means for detecting whether or not the other party has gone on-hook when the detection means detects that the line with the telephone of the other party is connected; The present invention is characterized by comprising a control means for controlling the transmission means to repeat the transmission of the voice message until the other party goes on-hook when it is detected that the other party is not on-hook. [Operation J] With the above configuration, when the current time matches the transmission time stored in the third storage means, the line connection means can communicate with the destination stored in the second storage means. After dialing the previous telephone number and connecting the telephone line, the transmitting means reads out the voice message stored in the first storage means and transmits it via the telephone line after the line connection means has connected the telephone line. and send it to the destination phone above. Next, after the transmitting means transmits the voice message, the first detecting means detects whether or not the line is connected to the telephone of the other party, and then the first detecting means detects whether or not the line is connected to the telephone of the other party. When it is detected that the line with the telephone is connected, the second detection means detects whether or not the other party has gone on-hook, and the second detection means detects whether the other party has gone on-hook. When it is detected that the other party is not on-hook, the control means controls the transmission means to repeat the transmission of the voice message until the other party goes on-hook. Therefore, the transmission of the voice message is repeated until the other party goes on-hook, so the other party can listen to the voice message repeatedly until the voice message is reliably received, and the voice message is reliably received. I can do it.

[Example J] Hereinafter, an example according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 151 is a block diagram of a telephone with a voice mail device which is an embodiment of the present invention, and the following items will be explained in order. (1) Configuration of telephone with voice mail device (2) Configuration of input display section (3) Control of telephone with voice mail device 70 - This telephone transmits a voice message of pre-stored voice data at a pre-specified transmission time. The system is characterized in that the voice message is automatically registered in advance and sent to the telephone of the other party at the telephone number, and the transmission of the voice message is repeated a predetermined number of times until the other party goes on-hook and disconnects the line. (1) Configuration of telephone with voice mail device This telephone has the following features:
The telephone has two operating modes: a telephone mode in which the telephone is used as a normal telephone with only voice transmission and reception functions, and a voice mail mode in which it is used by connecting a voice mail device. In the first cause, the switch 3.4.6.7 is for switching between telephone mode and voice mail mode, and receives a control signal input from the CPU 20 via the bus 30 and input/output port circuit 27, which will be described later. In each case, it is switched to the a side or the b side depending on the situation. The voice memory IO is a RAM for storing voice data converted from analog/digital (hereinafter referred to as A/D conversion) voice signals in voice mail mode, and is used to temporarily store voice data of voice messages. It has a temporary registration area for temporarily storing the audio data, and an audio registration area for storing the audio data until an instruction to clear the audio data is given. The line control unit 5 is connected to a telephone line, has a call path setting function, a line control function, and a dial exit function, and its operation is controlled by a CPU 20, which will be described later. That is, in the telephone mode, in the telephone mode, after the line is connected, the call path setting function sends the voice signal input from the transmitter la to the telephone line as described later, and also sends the voice signal input through the telephone line to the telephone line. On the other hand, in the voice mail mode, the voice data read from the voice memory 10 is D/A converted by the digital/analog converter (hereinafter referred to as D/A converter) 12, and the voice signal is output to the telephone receiver 1b. At the same time, the audio signal input to the line connection unit 5 via the telephone line is output to the audio memory 10 via the A/D converter 13, and the audio data of the audio signal is stored in the audio memory IO. Make me remember. The line control function performs outgoing connection, detection of incoming calls from the telephone line, and line connection. Further, in the dial sending function, based on the telephone number data inputted from the CPU 20, a dial pulse signal or a pushbutton signal corresponding to the telephone number is sent to the telephone line. The CPLJ20 is a control device that controls the operation of this telephone with a voice mail device, and includes a ROM21 that stores a system program that controls the operation of the CPU20, and a CPLJ20.
It is used as a work area for the PU 20 and is connected via a bus 30 to a RAM 22 for storing telephone number data and transmission time data of the other party. Also,
The CPU 20 includes a liquid crystal display section (hereinafter referred to as an LCD display section) 24 that displays various messages;
Inputs connected to light emitting diodes (hereinafter referred to as LEDs) 25 and 26, the key power unit 23, the control terminals of the switches 3.4 and 6.7, and the hook switch lc that detects on-hook and off-hook of the transmitter and receiver 11. Output port circuit 2
7 via a bus 30. In addition, RAM2
2 is a temporary registration area for temporarily storing telephone number data and transmission time data, and a telephone number area and transmission time for respectively storing telephone number data and transmission time data until an instruction is given to clear those data. It has a settings area. In telephone mode, switches 3.4 and 6.7 are both switched to side a. At this time, the voice input to the transmitter 1a of the handset 1 is converted into an audio signal, and is input to the line control unit 5 via the amplifier 2, the a side of the switch 3, and the a side of the switch 4. Afterwards, it is sent to the other party's telephone via the telephone line. In addition, the voice signal input from the other party's telephone to the line control unit 5 via the telephone line is
The signal is output to the handset 1b of the handset 1 via the a side of the switch 6, the a side of the switch 7, and the amplifier 8, and is converted into voice and output. On the other hand, in voice mail mode, switch 3°4.6
．． 7 are both switched to the b side. When recording a voice message in voice mail mode,
The audio signal output from the transmitter 1a is input to the A/D converter 11 via the amplifier 2 and the b side of the switch 3, where it is A/D converted into audio data and then stored in the audio memory lO.
is entered and stored. Furthermore, when playing back a voice message, the voice data read from the voice memory 10 is input to the D/A converter 14 and converted into a voice signal by D/A converter 14.
After being A-converted, the signal is output to the handset 1b of the handset 1 via the b side of the switch 7 and the amplifier 8, and is output as voice. When sending a voice message in voice mail mode,
The audio data read from the audio memory lO is
After being D/A converted into an audio signal by the converter 12, it is input to the line control section 5 via the b side of the switch 4, and is sent to the destination telephone via the telephone line. Further, when receiving a voice message, a voice signal inputted from the telephone of the other party to the line control section 5 via the telephone line is inputted to the A/D converter 13 via the b side of the switch 6. After being A/D converted into audio data, it is input to the audio memory 10 and stored. (2) Structure of input/output display section FIG. 2 is a front view of the input/output display section of this telephone with voice mail device. This input/output display section includes a key input section 23 and an LCD display section 2.
4, and the key human power section 23 has 0 to 9 and "*"
A numeric keypad 40 consisting of a '#' key, a voice mail key 45, a registration key 41, a message memory key 42, an answer key 43, and a send key 44 are provided.Furthermore, a send key 44 and a voice mail key are provided. 45 are each provided with an LED 26.25.The numeric keypad 40 is used to instruct the setting of a telephone number, the transmission time, and the recording, playback, and deletion of a voice message, and the registration key 41 is used to input the telephone number and transmission time. The message memory key 42 is used to instruct recording of a voice message, and the answering machine key 43 is used to instruct answering machine recording. 44 is an audio memory lO
It is used to set/cancel the transmission of voice messages stored in
When the transmission is canceled, the LED 26 turns off. The voice mail key 45 is used to switch between telephone mode and voice mail mode.
By pressing 5, you can alternately switch between telephone mode and voice mail mode, and when in voice mail mode, the LED 25
lights up, while in the telephone mode, the LED 25 goes off. (3) Control Flow of Telephone with Voice Mail Device FIG. 3 is a 70-chart of the main routine for controlling the telephone with voice mail device. When power supply starts to the telephone, this main routine is executed, and first, in step Sl (hereinafter, "step" is omitted), the CPU 20 is reset, and then various initial setting processes are performed. It will be done. Next, in S2, on-edge detection of the transmission key 44, which instructs transmission of the stored voice message, and LED 2
After the input/output processing (see FIG. 4) such as the lighting/extinguishing processing in Step 6 is performed, the control mode indicating the mode to be processed is checked in S3. If the value of the control mode is HOH, in step S4, a standby mode is entered in which operations of the key manual unit 23 such as detecting on-edge of the registration key 41 and message memory key 42, checking of transmission setting time, and checking of reception are performed. Processing (see FIG. 5) is performed. Further, if the value of the control mode is "1", a registration mode process (see FIG. 6) is performed in which the telephone number of the other party and the transmission time are set in S5. Furthermore, if the value of the control mode is "2", message memory mode processing (see FIG. 7) is performed in which the voice message to be sent to the other party is stored in the voice memory 10 in S6. Furthermore, the control mode value is H3''
If so, in S7, a transmission mode process is performed in which the process of calling the other party, the process of transmitting the voice message stored in the voice memory 10, the process of recording the voice message in response from the other party, etc. (see FIG. 8). will be held. If the value of the control mode is "4", reception mode processing (see Figure 9) for processing reception from the other party is performed in S8. If the value of the control mode is "5", , S9, other mode processing is performed. After each of the above processes (S4 to S9), the process returns to S2 and the above processes are repeated. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a subroutine for input/output processing (32 in FIG. 3). In this input/output processing, first, in 5201, it is checked whether the memory transmission flag is O". This memory transmission 7 lag is caused by the initial setting processing (Sl) at power-on.
When the memory transmission flag is HIH, it indicates execution of voice message transmission processing, which will be described later, and when the memory transmission flag is "0", it indicates non-execution of voice memory transmission processing. It shows. Here, when the memory transmission flag is '0', 52
Proceeding to 02, it is determined whether or not the transmission key 44 is turned on. If the transmission key 44 is turned on, the memory transmission flag is set to 1'' in 5203, the LED 26 is turned on in 5204, and the process advances to 5208. .On the other hand, 52
When the transmission key 44 is not turned on in 02,
After turning off the LED 26 in 5207, the process advances to 5208. Further, when the memory transmission flag is "1" in 5201, it is detected in 5205 whether the transmission key 44 is turned on. When the send key 44 is turned on (
S 205: Yes), 5206 sets the memory transmission 7 lag to O'', and 5207 sets the LED
After turning off 26, the process advances to 5208. On the other hand, send key 4
4 is not turned on (No in S205).
), proceed to 5204, turn on LED 26, and then proceed to 52
Proceed to 08. In step 5208, input/output processing (S208) is performed for inputting other keys of the key input unit 23, hook switch IC, and various output processing, and then the process returns to the main routine. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the standby mode process (54 in FIG. 3). 5401.5402.5403 of this standby mode processing.
At step 5404, the on/off check of the registration key 41, the on/off check of the message memory key 42, the transmission time check, and the reception check are performed, respectively. At 5401, when the registration key 41 is turned on, 5
After setting the control mode to "l" in step 405, the process returns to the main routine. Further, when the message memory key 42 is turned on in 5402, the control mode is set to 2'' in 5406, and the process returns to the main routine.Furthermore, in 5403, the current time measured by a timer (not shown) is It is checked whether or not the transmission time matches the transmission time prestored in the transmission time setting area of the RAM 22. If they match, the control mode is set to "3" in 5407, and the process returns to the main routine. Furthermore, in 5404, the control mode is set to "3". The line control unit 5 checks whether there is a received line connection control signal, and if a line connection control signal has been received, the process advances to step 5408, sets the control mode to n4'', and then returns to the main routine. On the other hand, if the line connection control signal is not received in 5404, in 5409,
After performing other predetermined processing, the process returns to the main routine. FIG. 6 is a 70-chart of the subroutine of registration mode processing (55 in FIG. 3). In this registration mode processing, in step 5501, a message "Set NO, '?" is displayed on the LCD display unit 24 to instruct setting of a telephone number. Then 5502
At step 5503, a check is made for the manual power of the keys on the numeric keypad 40, and when one of the number keys from IIQII to "9#" is pressed, the data of the number of the pressed key is additionally stored in the temporary registration area in the RAM 22 at step 5503. After that, the process returns to 5502. Also, when the "*" key is pressed in 5502, the process clears the phone number data stored in the phone number area in the RAM 22 in 5504, and then returns to 5502. ”
#” is pressed, the telephone number data stored in the temporary registration area in the RAM 22 is transferred to the RA in 5505.
After transferring and memorizing the phone number area in M22, 55
Proceed to 06. At 5506, the above 5505 is displayed on the LCD display section 24.
The message "rXME SET?" is used to instruct the setting of the sending time for sending to the recipient of the phone number registered in ``rXME SET?''.
” is displayed. Next, in 5507, a check is made for the manual key power of the numeric keypad 40, and the keys from °0" to m9H are
When one of the number keys is pressed, the data of the number of the pressed key is additionally stored in the temporary registration area in the RAM 22 in 5508, and then the process returns to 3507. Further, when the "*" key is pressed in 5507, after clearing the transmission time data stored in the transmission time setting area in the RAM 22 in 5509, 5507
Return to Further, when '#' is pressed in 5507, the transmission time data stored in the temporary registration area in the RAM 22 is transferred and stored in the transmission time setting area in the RAM 22 in 5510, and then the control mode is changed in 5511. After setting "o", return to the main routine. Figure 7 shows message memory mode processing (36 in Figure 3)
2 is a flowchart of a subroutine. In this message memory mode processing, first, S601
At this point, "MESSAGE?" is displayed on the LCD display section 24 to instruct input of the voice message to be stored. Next, in 5602, the input on the numeric keypad 40 is checked, and when one of the number keys "1" to H9H is pressed, the process proceeds to 5603, and the audio data of the voice message is stored in the audio memory 10. That is, the transmitter 1
After the audio input to a is converted into an audio signal, it is input to the A/D converter 11 via the amplifier 2 and the b side of the switch 3, where it is A/D converted to audio data, and the audio data is converted into an audio signal. It is stored in memory 10. When the #QT1 key is pressed in 5602,
The voice message of the voice data stored in [Voice Memory] O is played back. That is, the audio data stored in the audio memory 10 is read out, converted into an audio signal by the D/A converter 14, and then output to the receiver 1b via the b side of the switch 7 and the amplifier 8. , the voice message of the stored voice data is played back. At 5602, when the "*" key is pressed, the voice data of the voice message stored in the voice memory 10 is cleared. After the voice data of the voice message is stored in the temporary registration area of the voice memory 10 in 5603, when the "#" key is pressed in 5602 to indicate the end of recording the voice message, the voice data of the voice memory 10 is stored in 5606.
The voice data of the voice message registered in the temporary registration area of is transferred to and stored in the voice registration area of the same voice memory IO. At this time, immediately after the last part of the audio data stored in the audio memory IO, audio end data indicating the end of the audio data is stored. Next, in step 5607, the control mode is set to 0'', and the process returns to the main routine. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the subroutine of the transmission mode process (57 in FIG. 3). Smell it,
Based on the memory transmission flag, it is determined whether or not to transmit the voice message of the voice data stored in the voice memory 10. That is, it is determined whether the memory transmission flag is "1" or not, and if it is 1ltll, it is checked in 5702 whether transmission is possible via the connected telephone line. 5703 if transmission is possible
On the other hand, if transmission is not possible, such as when the phone mode is switched to telephone mode and the user is on a call or receiving data, proceed to 5711 and set the control mode to 0''.
Set to . In addition, in 5701, if the memory transmission flag is '0'', the process advances to 5711. In 5703, after knocking off, a calling process is performed to dial the destination of the telephone number stored in the telephone number area of the RAM 22. After that, the system waits for a predetermined period of time, for example, 30 seconds.Next, in 5704, it is determined whether the other party's telephone is off-hook and the line is connected.If the line is connected, in 5705, the voice memory is The voice message of the voice data stored in the voice memory 10 is transmitted to the destination telephone via the telephone line.In other words, the voice data stored in the voice registration area of the voice memory 10 is After being D/A converted into an audio signal, it is transmitted to the destination telephone via the b side of the switch 4, the line control unit 5, and the telephone line.Next, after detecting the audio end data in 5706, 5707 At step 5730, a check is made to see if the line is connected. If the line is connected, it is determined that the voice message has been successfully sent, and the process proceeds to step 5730 to send the message to the other party. Detects whether the other party is on-hook.If the other party is not on-hook (No in 5730), 5731 detects whether the other party is on-hook.
The number of times the voice message sending process in 705 is processed is 5.
If the number of times the voice message transmission process has been processed has not exceeded five times (No in S731), the voice message transmission process is performed again.
Return to 705. On the other hand, when the number of times of processing exceeds 5, the process proceeds to %5708 (Yes in C5731). Also, when the other party goes on-hook in 5730,
Proceed to 5708. If the line is not connected in 5704, proceed to 5710 to perform line disconnection processing, and then proceed to 5711.
Then, set the control mode to "0" and return to the main routine. In 5708, after displaying "memory transmission complete" on the LCD display section 24, the process advances to 5709. If the line is not connected in 5707, it is determined that the voice message has not been transmitted normally, and the process advances to 5720. At 5720, it is determined whether the number of times the line is not connected after the message transmission process at 5705 (hereinafter referred to as the number of transmission attempts) is an integer N times. If the number of transmission attempts is not N, the process returns to step 5703 and repeats the process of calling the destination and the message sending process (S705) in order to perform the line connection process with the destination again and send the voice message. On the other hand, when the number of transmission attempts reaches N times, 5721
After displaying 'Memory Transmission Canceled' on the LCD display unit 24, the process proceeds to 5709. In this embodiment, N
-2, and when the line is disconnected for the first time while sending a voice message, the line connection process with the other party is performed and the voice message is retransmitted, but if the line is disconnected twice in a row. is set to stop sending voice messages. After setting the memory transmission flag to "0" in 5709, line disconnection processing is performed in 5710 to set the on-hook state, and control mode is set to 0' in 5711.
'', the process returns to the main routine. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the subroutine of reception mode processing (58 in FIG. 3). If it is possible to perform reception processing, the predetermined reception processing such as incoming call connection processing or answering machine recording processing is performed in 5802, and then 5803 In this step, the control mode is set to #O''' and the process returns to the main routine. On the other hand, if it is determined in 5801 that it is impossible to perform the reception process, the reception process is not performed and the control mode is set to #0 in 5803.
After setting #, return to the main routine. In the above embodiment, the number of times the voice message is processed for transmission in 5705 is limited to five times, but it is not limited to this, and may be limited to other times, or the number of times of processing may be limited. It may be configured so that there is no such thing. As explained above, a voice message of pre-stored voice data is automatically sent to the other party's phone having a pre-registered phone number at a pre-specified transmission time, and when the other party goes on-hook, the above message is sent. Since the message is repeatedly transmitted, the other party can listen to the voice message repeatedly, which has the advantage that the voice message can be reliably received. In the above embodiments, a telephone with a voice mail device has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the voice mail device may be configured independently. It may also be provided in a telephone terminal device such as a data transmission device. In the above embodiment, the audio data of the audio message is stored in the audio memory 10, which is a RAM, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the audio data may be stored in other audio storage devices such as magnetic tape. [Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, when the current time matches the pre-stored transmission time, the pre-stored telephone number of the destination is dialed and the telephone line is connected. After that, the pre-stored voice message is read out and sent to the telephone of the other party via the telephone line, and then the telephone of the other party and the line are connected to #! detect whether or not
When it is detected that the line with the telephone of the above-mentioned party is connected, it is further detected whether the above-mentioned party is on-hook, and when it is detected that the above-mentioned party is not on-hook, the telephone of the above-mentioned party Since the voice message is repeated until the other party goes on-hook, the voice message is repeated until the other party goes on-hook, so the other party cannot send the voice message until the other party is sure to receive the voice message. The voice message can be listened to repeatedly and the voice message can be reliably received.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telephone with a voice mail device that is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the input display section of the telephone shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a main flowchart of the telephone shown in FIG. 1. Figure 4 is a 70-chart of the input/output processing subroutine, Figure 5 is a 70-chart of the standby mode processing subroutine, Figure 6 is a 70-chart of the registration mode processing subroutine, and Figure 7 is a message 70-chart. 70-chart of the subroutine for memory mode processing, FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the subroutine for transmission mode processing, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart for the subroutine for reception mode processing. 1...Handset, 5...Line control unit, 10...Audio memory, 20...CPU. 22...RAM.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A first storage means for storing a voice message to be sent to the telephone of the other party; a second storage means for storing the telephone number of the other party; and a second storage means for storing the transmission time at which the voice message is to be sent. 3
storage means; and a line for dialing the telephone number of the other party stored in the second storage means to connect the telephone line when the current time matches the transmission time stored in the third storage means. a connecting means; a transmitting means for reading out the voice message stored in the first storage means and transmitting it to the destination telephone via the telephone line after the line is connected by the line connecting means; a first detection means for detecting whether or not a line is connected to the telephone of the destination after the voice message is transmitted; and a line to the telephone of the destination is connected by the first detection means; a second detection means for detecting whether or not the other party is on-hook when it is detected that the other party is on-hook; A voice mail device comprising: control means for controlling the transmitting means to repeat the transmission of the voice message until on-hook.