JPH0448853A - Data communication terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the user to recognize occurrence of a prescribed state relating to a data communication terminal equipment quickly and surely by making automatic dialing to a preset telephone set when a prescribed state relating to the data communication terminal equipment is detected so as to generate an audible signal to inform the prescribed state. CONSTITUTION:When an alarm circuit 47 detects the state of recording paper shortage, a detection signal is inputted to a control circuit 43. The control circuit 43 gives a telephone number and a dial command of a telephone set 1 read from a memory 44 to an automatic dial circuit 42. The automatic dial circuit 42 detects, e.g. a state change (stop) of a ringer back tone to detect a reply of the telephone set 1 to establish the call. Thus, a voice guidance transmission circuit 46 sends a voice guidance signal such as 'recording paper runs short'.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Fields] The present invention relates to data communication terminal devices, and particularly to devices connected to a line and performing data communication, such as facsimile terminal devices, printer terminal devices, and various other workstations. The present invention relates to a data communication terminal device.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a facsimile terminal device is one representative of this type of data communication terminal device. Nowadays, some offices and research institutes are equipped with one telephone per employee, but it is best to install one facsimile terminal in each room due to its size and cost.

By the way, since facsimile recording paper is indispensable for this facsimile machine, conventionally a so-called recording paper detection means is provided to constantly monitor the remaining amount of recording paper and to detect when the remaining amount falls below a predetermined amount. When this happens, a warning is displayed on the console to alert the user.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, no matter how many warning displays are displayed in such conventional facsimile terminal devices, the user may not notice the warning display until the user is not there to use the facsimile terminal device. None. Moreover, if a call is received from another terminal device without recording paper, a communication error will occur every time, so the user of the other terminal device must try to resend the call many times. This situation is not limited to facsimile terminals, but also applies to printer terminals and other various workstations.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a data communication system capable of reliably notifying a user when a predetermined state regarding this type of data communication terminal device is detected. The purpose is to provide terminal equipment.

[! Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention includes a detection means for detecting a predetermined state regarding a data communication terminal device, and a detection means for detecting a predetermined state when the detection means detects the predetermined state. automatic calling means for automatically calling a telephone; and audible signal generating means for generating an audible signal to notify the telephone of a predetermined state when the automatic calling means establishes a call. have

[Operation] According to the present invention, when the detection means detects a predetermined state regarding the data communication terminal device, the automatic calling means automatically calls a preset telephone.

When the call is established, the audible signal generating means generates an audible signal to inform the telephone of a predetermined state.

[Embodiment] Next, a data communication terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. .

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile terminal device and an exchange connected thereto according to the present embodiment.

In the figure, l is a telephone set, for example, placed on a desk in an office. Reference numeral 2 denotes a subscriber's exchange, which performs telephone exchange processing between central office lines, dedicated lines, and extension lines.

In the exchange 2, 20 is a call path switch that arbitrarily switches and connects a plurality of incoming lines and outgoing lines, 21 is a calling register trunk that receives, stores, and counts dial impulses from subscriber terminals, and 22 is an extension line. 23 is a dedicated line trunk that connects to the office line and a dedicated line; 24 is a call trunk that enables calls between extensions; 25
26 is a busy tone trunk that generates a busy tone signal, 26 is a ringing signal trunk that generates a ringing tone signal, and 27 is a trunk that periodically scans a plurality of incoming and outgoing lines to detect changes in status such as call origination and call termination. The detection scanner 28 is a control circuit that controls the communication path switch 20 and various trunks.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a facsimile terminal device, which transmits facsimile information with other facsimile terminal devices (not shown) connected to the central office line and dedicated line via the exchange 2. Reference numeral 3 denotes a telephone set, which is attached to this facsimile terminal device 4.

In the facsimile terminal device 4, a control circuit 43 controls each component in the facsimile terminal device 4, which will be described later, in accordance with, for example, the alarm call processing procedure shown in FIG. 2 (left side). Such a control circuit 43 can be realized by a microprocessor including ROM and RAM. 42
is an automatic calling circuit, which performs automatic calling processing to the telephone set 1 in accordance with a calling instruction from the control circuit 43. The telephone number of the telephone III required at that time is registered in the memory 44 in advance.

That is, when the user turns the switch 45 to the left side in the figure, the telephone 3 and the control circuit 43 are connected. Next, the user uses phone 3
When dialing the phone number of Telephone III using , the control circuit 43 will dial this Daikino X/. Receiving, storing, and counting numbers are performed, and the obtained phone number of phone 1 is stored in memory 4.
Store in 4. Next, the user flips the switch 45 to the right side of the figure to complete the registration of the telephone number.

Reference numeral 41 denotes a network control device, which switches and connects the telephone set 3 to a modulation/demodulation circuit (not shown) in the facsimile terminal device 4 as required.

46 is a voice guidance sending circuit, and automatic calling circuit 4
2 generates a predetermined audible signal by establishing a call to telephone 1. This audible signal may be, for example, an alarm sound such as "Pila Pibbira" or a voice guidance signal such as "There is a shortage of recording paper." Reference numeral 47 denotes an alarm circuit, which in this embodiment is a circuit that detects a shortage of facsimile recording paper and notifies the control circuit 43 of the condition.

Note that the description of the other configurations of the facsimile terminal device will be omitted.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the alarm call processing procedure in the facsimile terminal device 4 and the response processing procedure in the exchange 2 of this embodiment. Note that steps 51 to SIO are the alarm call processing procedures of the facsimile terminal 4, and steps 821 to S30 are the response processing procedures of the exchange 2.

In the facsimile terminal device 4, when the alarm circuit 47 detects a state of recording paper shortage in step S1, it inputs the detection signal to the control circuit 43.

Upon receiving this, the control circuit 43 gives the automatic calling circuit 42 the telephone number of the telephone 1 read from the memory 44 and a calling instruction. As a result, the automatic calling circuit 42 takes in the line of the network control device 41 to its own side in step S2, and
A calling signal is sent to exchange 2.

In the exchange 2, the control circuit 28 detects a call in step S21, and when the scanner 27 detects a call signal on the line of the network control device 41, the control circuit 28 detects a call on the line of the network control device 41 in step S22. connect to,
The calling register trunk 21 sends out a dial tone (dial tone).

In the facsimile terminal device 4, the automatic calling circuit 42 waits for this dial tone in step S3, and when the dial tone is detected, it sends a selection signal (dial signal) to the telephone 1 in step S4.
Send out.

At exchange 2, the originating register trunk 2 continues.
1 is waiting for received data (dial signal) in step S23, and when the received data is received, the dial signal is received, stored, and counted in step S24, and the contents are sent to the control circuit 28. The control circuit 28 translates this selection signal to specify the line of the telephone 1, and detects whether or not the telephone 1 is busy in step S25. When the telephone l is not busy, the ring signal trunk 26 is connected to the line of the network controller 41 in step 526. As a result, the network control device 4
A ringback tone (16H2 modulated sound, sent for 1 second, interrupted for 2 seconds) is sent to line 1. Similarly, a ring tone is sent to the telephone set 1. In step S27, the control circuit 28 waits for the detection of a response from the telephone 1, and when the user goes off-hook the telephone 1, the response is detected by the scanner 27.
At step B, the telephone 1 and the network control device 41 are connected to the call trunk 24. Then, the control circuit 28 waits for end of call detection in step S29.

On the other hand, in the facsimile terminal device 4, the automatic calling circuit 42
Since it is determined in step S5 that the tone is not a busy tone, a ring tone is waited for in step S6, and when a ringback tone is sent from the exchange 2, a response detection is further waited for in step S7. The automatic calling circuit 42 detects, for example, a change in the state of the ringback tone (stopping), detects a response from the telephone 1, and establishes a call. As a result, the voice guidance sending circuit 46 sends out a voice guidance signal such as "There is a shortage of recording paper" in step S8.

The exchange 2 transmits this voice guidance signal to the user of the telephone 1 via the call trunk 24.

When the user understands the content of the voice guidance, the user goes on-hook (recovery), and the scanner 27 detects the restoration of the telephone 1 and notifies the control circuit 28 of the restoration.

In step S9, the facsimile terminal device 4
The process returns to step S8 and retransmits the voice guidance signal until it detects that the telephone 1 has been restored. The control circuit 43 detects the restoration of the telephone 1 by, for example, monitoring a sound signal based on the restoration of the telephone 1. Alternatively, when the scanner 27 detects the recovery of the telephone 1, the control circuit 28 controls the end call trunk (not shown) to the line of the network control circuit 41, and the control circuit 43 recognizes this end call signal. The method of doing so is also fine. In any case, when the control circuit 43 detects restoration of the telephone 1 in step S9, the line of the network control circuit 41 is restored in step SIO.

In the exchange 2, the call termination state is detected by the line restoration of the network control circuit 41, and the control circuit 28 restores the communication path switch 20 in step S30.

Further, if the telephone 1 is busy as determined in step 525 above, the control circuit 28 controls the busy tone trunk 2 in step S33.
5 is connected to the network control circuit 41 line. On the other hand, when the automatic calling circuit 42 detects this busy tone signal in step S5, the process proceeds to step S10 to restore the call. Then, after a certain period of time has elapsed, the process is input again to step S] and the above-mentioned calling process is repeated up to a predetermined number of times.

Thus, according to the embodiment described above, the user is freed from the need to monitor the presence or absence of recording paper. In addition, when there is a shortage of recording paper, it can be dealt with quickly, thereby eliminating the conventional inconvenience of users of other facsimile terminals retransmitting data over and over again. Therefore, the usefulness of the facsimile service is further improved.

In the above embodiments, the case of a facsimile terminal device has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention is applicable to all data communication terminal devices that are connected to a line and perform data communication, such as printer terminal devices and various other workstations.

Furthermore, the exchanges 1 and 2 in the above embodiments may be a main device of a key telephone in addition to a private branch exchange.

Further, the facsimile terminal device 4 and the telephone set 1 in the above embodiment are not housed in the same exchange, but may be connected via a central office line or a dedicated line, for example.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention automatically makes a call to a preset telephone when a predetermined state regarding a data communication terminal device is detected, and when this call is established, Since an audible signal is generated to inform the telephone of a predetermined state, the user can quickly and reliably know the occurrence of a predetermined state regarding the data communication terminal device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of the facsimile terminal device of this embodiment and the exchange connected thereto, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the alarm call processing procedure in the facsimile terminal device 4 and the response processing procedure in the exchange 2 of the present embodiment. It is. 1.3 is a telephone, 2 is an exchange, 4 is a facsimile terminal, 20 is a call path switch, 21 is a calling register trunk, 22 is a central office line trunk, 23 is a leased line trunk, 24
25 is a call trunk, 25 is a busy tone trunk, 26 is a ring signal trunk, 27 is a scanner, 28 is a control circuit, 41 is a network control circuit, 42 is an automatic call origination circuit, 43 is a control circuit, 4
4 is a memory, 45 is a switch, 46 is an audio guidance sending circuit, and 47 is an alarm circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A data communication terminal device that is connected to a line and performs data communication, further comprising: detecting means for detecting a predetermined state regarding the data communication terminal device; and detecting means detecting a predetermined state. automatic calling means that automatically calls a set telephone; and audible signal generating means that generates an audible signal to notify the telephone of a predetermined state when the automatic calling means establishes a call. A data communication terminal device comprising: