JPH0329452A - Automatic answering telephone system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain remote control even from a dial telephone set simply by detecting the presence of a voice or a signal acted by a call tone with respect to a synthesized tone, discriminating whether or not the uttered synthesized voice is valid, and controlling the automatic answering telephone system. CONSTITUTION:A voice synthesis means 6 is controlled to utter a synthesized voice and when a signal detection means 7 detects the presence of a signal within a prescribed time, the uttered synthesized voice is discriminated to be valid to control the automatic answering telephone system. That is, the caller utters voice or turns a dial when the message or numeral voice listened to sequentially it the content desired by the caller or the desired number and sends the signal. Then the signal detection means 7 detects the signal and a remote operation control means discriminates it that the message or the number is desired by the caller and executes the content of the message or the processing of the number. Thus, the automatic answering telephone system is controlled remotely without using the remote control signal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an answering machine with a remote control function.

2. Description of the Related Art Telephone answering machines have been known that use specific remote control signals or DTMF signals to allow previously recorded business messages to be listened to from a remote location.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, the prevalence of rotary telephones in Japan is still high, and it is not possible to remotely control the above-mentioned conventional answering machines from any telephone unless a dedicated commander is available. There was a problem that it was not available.

The present invention solves these conventional problems,
Detects the presence or absence of the caller's response voice or signal to the voice synthesized sound, determines whether the voice synthesized voice is effective, and operates the answering machine from a remote location without using remote control signals. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an excellent answering machine that allows users to answer the phone's questions.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a speech synthesis means,
a signal detection means for detecting the voice or signal emitted by the caller;
The voice synthesis means is controlled, and if the signal detection means detects the presence of a signal within a certain period of time after the voice synthesized voice is uttered, the voice synthesized voice is determined to be valid and the answering machine is controlled. , and remote control means.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the caller responds to messages or numeric voices that are heard in sequence, and if the message or number desired by the caller is desired, the caller utters the voice or turns the dial and sends a signal. Send out. The signal detecting means detects the signal, and the remote control means determines that the message or number is desired by the caller, and executes the message content or processes the number. In this way, the answering machine can be remotely controlled without using remote control signals.

Embodiment FIG. 1 shows the structure of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, l is a control unit that controls all of this answering machine. 2 is a dial unit that captures the office line and sends out a dial signal; 3 is an incoming call detection unit that detects an incoming signal from the office line; 4 is a numeric keypad for inputting a dial number or a PIN; 5 is a PIN registration switch; When in the ON state, the numeric keypad 4 functions as a password input,
Register your PIN number.

6 is a voice synthesis unit that produces numeric sounds from “0” to “9”;
Reference numeral 7 denotes a signal detection section which inputs a signal from the central office line and determines and detects whether or not there is a caller's voice. In this embodiment, it is constructed as shown in FIG. After passing through the coupling capacitor C1, a signal inputted from the central office line is charged into the capacitor C2 by the combined resistance of the resistor Rl and the internal resistance r of the diode DI. The charged charges are discharged through the resistor R2 when the signal from the station line disappears. In this way, the voltage V. varies depending on the signal level input from the central office line.

This varying voltage V1 is compared with a certain threshold voltage v2, and if VI is larger than ■2, the comparator outputs "■]" to indicate the presence of audio.

Here, a certain threshold value is a voltage value of a variable resistor VR that is adjusted so that the comparator always outputs "H" for a caller's voice signal input from a central office line.

Reference numeral 8 indicates a response message recording and playback unit that records a response message, plays back the recorded response message, and sends it to the central office line; 9 records a business message from the central office line, and plays back the recorded business message. 10 is a communication section for sending and receiving calls, 11.
12 is a timer, the timer 11 counts 10 seconds, and the timer 12 counts 1 minute.

3 and 4 show flowcharts of this embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the operations performed by the answering machine of this embodiment in the remote control state and the remote control number n.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

In the above embodiment, first, a password is registered. Turn on the password registration switch 5 and input the password using the numeric keypad 4 without overlapping the lower numbers. Here, for example, the input password is '0368J.

The normal answering machine operation will be explained below using the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In the answering machine of this embodiment, when an incoming call signal is input in the absentee state, the incoming call detection section 3 detects the incoming call and outputs it to the control section 1, and the control section 1 controls the dialing section 2 to compensate for the central office line. Capture (S1'),
The response message recording/reproducing unit 8 sends a prerecorded response message to the central office line (S2), and the message from the caller is recorded in the message recording/reproducing unit 9 (S3>) At the same time, the control unit 1 operates timer 11 and timer l2. If the caller issues a business message within 10 seconds, signal detection unit 7 outputs "H" and control unit 1 determines that there is voice. S4>, the recording of the business message continues as it is. When the timer 12 notifies that one minute has elapsed (S5), the control unit 1 ends the recording operation of the business message recording and reproducing unit (S6), and releases the office line ( S7).

Next, remote control by voice, which is a feature of this embodiment, will be explained. In S4, the caller does not speak anything for 10 seconds in order to remotely control the telephone answering machine. Since there is no signal, the signal detection unit 7 outputs "L" for 10 seconds,
The control unit 1 determines that there is no voice for 10 seconds, ends the recording of the business message in S8, and enters a password confirmation operation.

In S9, the control unit 1 assigns O to the variable m, causes the speech synthesis unit 6 to utter O, which is the value of m, and sends it to the central office line.

(S 1 0) The caller pauses the synthesized voice O, and if 0 is the password, the caller makes a sound, otherwise remains silent. Now, since the personal identification number is '0368J, the caller makes a voice "Hi" to O within 10 seconds, and the signal detection section 7 detects the voice signal and outputs "H". (Sll) Since the signal detection unit 7 outputs "H" within 10 seconds after the utterance of 0, the control unit 1 determines that O is a valid number and stores it. (
S12) Repeat the above operations until m is 0 to 9 (813
~S14> The control unit 1 determines whether the stored valid number is equal to the password (S15), and if they are equal, the remote control operation is started; if they are not equal, the operation of S6 and S7 is performed and the away operation is ended. let

In S16, the control unit 1' assigns O to the variable n, and causes the voice synthesis unit 61 to utter O, which is the value of n, and sends it to the central office line (S17). As shown in FIG. 5, when the user wants to perform playback, which is the operation when the remote control number n is 0, he/she utters, for example, "yes" as a voice within 10 seconds. The signal detection unit 7 detects the complimentary audio signal and outputs “H”, and the control unit 1 determines that n=o is a valid number (S18).
The operation for reproducing the business message, which is the operation for remote operation number O, is performed. (S21) When the playback operation is finished (
S22) Return to S16 once again and repeat the remote control operation.

If there is no voice from the caller within 10 seconds at 818, the remote control number O is invalidated. Then, add l to n, repeat the above operation, and speak to the caller in order from O to 3 (S19-S20). emits. Control part 1
In response to the output of the signal detection section 7, the operation corresponding to the remote control number n that has become valid is performed.

If the caller does not utter anything even after uttering the synthesized voice 3 in S20, the control unit 1 determines the end of the remote control operation, and performs step S6. The operation of S7 is performed to end the absentee operation.

In this way, according to the above embodiment, in response to the numeric voice uttered by the voice synthesizer 6, if the number desired by the caller is desired, the caller utters the voice and makes the number valid, without using a remote control signal. Another advantage is that it is possible to confirm the password and perform remote control operations using only voice.

As a second embodiment, the signal detection unit 7 of the first embodiment is configured to detect not only the caller's voice signal but also a change in the pulse signal emitted by the caller by turning a dial as a signal presence. The structure uses parts.

In this embodiment, if the number is valid in response to the voice synthesized voice that the caller hears, instead of speaking at Sll, 318, the caller turns dial 1 and sends out a pulse signal. The signal detection section 7 detects the change in the pulse signal, and the control section 1 validates the digits and can confirm the password and perform remote control operations without using voice.

In this way, according to the above embodiment, the caller simply turns the dial 1 and the digits spoken by the voice synthesizer 6 are validated, so even if the caller cannot speak for some reason, remote control is possible. It has the effect of being able to.

Further, the signal detection section 7 also has the effect of being able to detect the presence of a signal more reliably than voice.

As a third embodiment, the speech synthesis section 6 of the first embodiment is
The system is designed so that not only numbers but also messages can be uttered. FIG. 6 shows a flowchart showing the remote control operation from FIG. 4 816 in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, the caller utters a voice if he wants to play the message in response to the voice synthesized voice message he hears, for example, "Do you want to play it?" (S23).

The signal detection unit 7 detects the audio signal (S24), and the control unit 1 executes a playback operation. (S31) In this way, in the above embodiment, whereas the voice synthesizer 6 uttered the remote control number n in the first embodiment, it utters the specific operation content and guides the user. This has the effect that the caller can remotely control the answering machine even if he or she does not remember the remote control number n corresponding to the remote operation.

FIG. 7 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is that a remote control signal detection section 13 is provided, so that in addition to voice remote control operations, remote control can also be performed using remote control signals as in the past. .

Therefore, remote control using voice or signals alone as in the first, second and third embodiments takes time and increases call charges, so if a person is in a hurry, it is better to send remote control signals as in the past. This has the effect of allowing immediate remote control.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above embodiments, the present invention has the advantage that remote control can be performed even from a dial telephone without using a specific remote control signal or DTMF signal.

Furthermore, since the guidance can be performed through voice synthesis, there is also the advantage that there is no need to remember the remote control numbers corresponding to each action.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an answering machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a signal detection section of the same device, and FIG.
4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the device, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the operation executed by the device in the remote control state and the remote control number n, and FIG. 6 is the third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the answering machine according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. 1... Control section, 2... Dial section, 3
...Incoming call detection section, 4...Numeric keypad 5
...Password registration switch, 6...Voice synthesis unit, 7...Signal detection unit, 8...
Response message recording and playback section, 9... Business message recording and playback section, 10... Call section, 11, 12
...Timer 13...Remote control signal detection section.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) In an answering machine that responds to a call from a central office line, sends a message and records the caller's business, a voice synthesizing means for uttering numeric voices using voice synthesis to the caller; When the voice synthesis means generates a numeric voice to the caller and the caller responds and utters a voice, the presence of a voice signal is detected, and when the caller does not utter any voice, a voice signal is detected. It has a signal detection means for detecting the absence of a signal and a timer, controls the voice synthesis means, inputs the output of the signal detection means, causes the voice synthesis means to utter a certain number, and then outputs a signal within a certain period of time. An answering machine comprising a remote control means for validating digits uttered by a voice synthesis means when the detection means detects a voice signal from a caller. (2) An answering machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the signal detection means is configured to detect a pulse signal emitted by a caller by turning a rotary dial as a signal presence. (3) An answering machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the voice synthesizing means is capable of uttering not only numeric voices but also messages. (4) The answering machine according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the answering machine can be operated remotely using a specific remote control signal or DTMF signal.