JPH04245843A - Communication equipment provided with automatic answering function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To generate a ring-back tone without providing a ring-back tone generation circuit. CONSTITUTION:A memory 16a for audio response for an automatic answering function is divided into two areas R, V, and the ring-back tone is stored in the area R of one side as sound data, and a voice message is stored in the area V of the other side. At the time of the incoming of a ringing tone from a call originating side communication equipment, the area R of the memory 16a for audio response is read out, and the ring-back tone is transmitted to the call originating side communication equipment.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device such as a facsimile machine having an answering machine function such as an answering machine.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, this type of facsimile apparatus is constructed so that when it starts operating upon receipt of a calling signal from a calling party, it first transmits a ringback tone to the calling party. By hearing this ringback tone, the caller can recognize that the communication state is normal. This ringback tone is generated by a ringback tone generation circuit provided in the facsimile machine.

0003

However, the structure of the ringback tone generating circuit is complicated, which hinders the reduction in cost of facsimile machines. In contrast, the present inventor focused on the fact that a facsimile machine with an answering machine is provided with a voice response memory for transmitting a message to the caller, and utilizes such memory to generate a ringback tone. I came up with the idea of generating. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to simplify the configuration of a communication device with an answering machine and reduce costs by making it possible to transmit a ringback tone to a calling side communication device without providing a ringback tone generation circuit.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] A communication device with an answering machine function according to the present invention stores a ringback tone signal transmitted to a calling side communication device when a calling signal is received from a calling side communication device in a memory. It is characterized by being stored in.

[0005]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be explained below with reference to illustrated examples. FIG. 1 shows a facsimile device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
shows. This facsimile machine 10 has a regular telephone 21 and an answering machine 22. The regular telephone 21 is attached to the main body of the facsimile machine 10 as an accessory device, but the answering machine 22 is usually placed in a different room from the main body of the facsimile machine 10. established in

A network control circuit (NCU) 11 is provided at the end of the facsimile machine 10 and is connected to a communication line such as a telephone line 12. The network control circuit 11 includes a regular telephone 21
and answering machine 22 are connected. MODEM
Reference numeral 13 modulates and demodulates the electrical signal to be transmitted, and includes a network control circuit 11 and an encoding/decoding circuit (CODEC).
14. The encoding/decoding circuit 14 includes a circuit for encoding and a circuit for decoding, and is connected to a central processing unit (CPU) 15. Central processing unit 15
performs various controls of the facsimile machine 10, and a memory (RAM) 16, a reading section 17, an operation section 18, and a printer 19 are connected to the central processing unit 15, respectively. Memory 16 includes a voice response memory for storing voice messages sent to the calling communication device when the answering machine is activated. The reading unit 17 optically reads the document transmitted by the facsimile machine 10, and includes an image reading mechanism such as a solid-state image sensor. The operation unit 18 is an operation panel including operation buttons, and the printer 19 is, for example, a thermal printer.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a voice response memory 16a included in the memory 16. As shown in this figure, the voice response memory 16a consists of an area R for storing ringback tones and an area V for storing voice messages. The ringback tone is stored in area R as audio data. The capacity of the voice response memory 16a is, for example, 12 seconds, but the ring back tone area R occupies 1 second, and the voice message area V occupies 11 seconds.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of this embodiment. When a calling signal is received from the originating communication device in step 51, transmission of a ringback tone to the originating communication device and the regular telephone is started in step 52. As mentioned above, this ringback tone is stored in a part of the area R of the voice response memory 16a, and is transmitted for 1 second, then stopped for 1 second, and then repeated. . By hearing this ringback tone, the caller can confirm that the communication status is normal, and the receiver knows that a telephone or facsimile reception is about to take place. In step 53, it is determined whether a CNG signal has been transmitted from the originating communication device. This CNG signal is a signal sent to the receiving side in the case of facsimile transmission, and when the CNG signal is received, facsimile reception is started in step 54. In step 55, it is determined whether or not the receiver of the regular telephone 21 has been picked up, and if the receiver has been picked up, a call is started in step 56. In step 57, it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed without receiving a CNG signal and without picking up the handset. If a CNG signal is not received and the handset is not picked up within a predetermined period of time, steps 61 et seq. are executed and the answering machine function is activated.

In step 61, the voice response memory 16
Area V of a is read out, and a voice message is transmitted to the originating communication device. The content of this message may be, for example, ``If you are sending a fax, please press the send button. If you are on the phone, please wait for a while. ”. Then, in step 62, the voice response memory 16
Area R of a is read out, and the calling side communication device, ordinary telephone 2
1 and answering machine 22. Thereafter, when the caller presses the facsimile transmission button and reception of the CNG signal is confirmed in step 63, the process proceeds to step 54 and facsimile reception is started. If a CNG signal is not received, it is determined in step 64 whether a predetermined period of time has elapsed. Until the predetermined time has elapsed, in step 63 the CNG
The reception of the signal is checked, but after a predetermined period of time,
At step 65, answering machine 22 is activated. Note that the predetermined time here is a time during which the number of ringback tones exceeds, for example, five times.

As described above, in this embodiment, the ringback tone is not generated by the ringback tone generation circuit as in the conventional device, but is generated by the voice response memory 16.
The configuration is such that it is generated by storing it in a file ``a'' and reading it. Therefore, there is no need to provide a ringback tone generation circuit, which simplifies the circuit configuration of the facsimile machine and reduces manufacturing costs.

Although the above embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to a facsimile machine having an answering machine function, the present invention can also be applied to communication devices other than facsimile machines.

0012

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, there is no need to provide a ringback tone generation circuit, and the structure of a communication device with an answering machine function can be simplified and costs can be reduced. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a voice response memory.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Facsimile machine 16a Voice response memory R Area for storing ringback tones V Area for storing voice messages

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1. A communication device with an answering machine function, which is equipped with a memory for storing a message for responding to a caller's communication device when a call is unavailable, wherein when a call signal is received from the caller's communication device, the caller's A communication device with an answering machine function, characterized in that a ringback tone signal to be transmitted to the communication device is stored in the memory.