JPH0484551A - Voice storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the convenience of use of a voice mail device by allowing a subscriber name management section to convert designation by subscriber name into designation by subscriber number and specifying the destination when the destination of a voice message is designated. CONSTITUTION:A DTMF detection section 5 detects an entry by an external user and the detected signal is sent to a subscriber designation discrimination section 16 via a line control section 6, a command interface 14 and a central control section 11, and the discrimination section 16 discriminates whether the designation depends on the designation by subscriber name or on the designation by subscriber number based on a specific DTMF code in a DTMF data. Then the processing is terminated when the designation is made by subscriber number, and the relating name is retrieved from a subscriber name management section 15 when the designation is made by subscriber name. A subscriber number is obtained from a subscriber name confirmed by a subscriber number data of the management section 15 and informed to the control section 11 via the discrimination section 16. The control section 11 selects a voice message storage section 7 corresponding to the subscriber number converted from the subscriber name to record a message. Thus, the convenience of use of a voice mail device is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a voice storage device for recording and reproducing voice messages via a telephone line.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as a voice storage device using an analog telephone line, for example, an answering machine has been available, and as the amount of information has increased in recent years, demand as an information storage means has rapidly increased. Furthermore, progress is being made in the development of voice mail devices that will improve the efficiency of communication and reduce the troublesome work associated with telephone calls by accumulating and comprehensively managing messages via office telephones. It has entered the practical stage.

A conventional voice mail device connected to an analog line will be described below.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional voice mail device, in which 1 is a line interface section that is connected to an analog line and controls the line and separates input and output, and 2 is an A/
an encoding unit that outputs a digital signal that has been subjected to D conversion and further information compression as required; 3 is a decoding unit that performs D/A conversion;
4 is an audio buffer that temporarily stores the output of the encoder 2 when recording audio, and temporarily stores the digital signal input to the decoder 3 when playing a message;
6 is a DTMF detection unit that detects a DTMF signal input via a telephone line, and 6 is a line control unit that controls the line interface unit 1 to manage audio input/output and line control. It constitutes the audio processing section 17. 7
is a voice message storage unit that stores the voice data stored in the voice buffer 4, and is allocated to each subscriber. Reference numeral 8 denotes a voice guidance storage section that stores voice guidance recorded in advance; 9 reads a digital signal from the voice message storage section 7 or the voice guidance storage section 8; or inputs a digital signal to the voice message storage section 7; A voice data control unit 10 selects a line for inputting and outputting voice from a plurality of telephone lines, and connects the voice buffer 4 to the voice data control unit 9. A channel selection unit II stores the voice data of each telephone line. A central control unit selects an appropriate audio storage unit and records/plays audio data while exchanging information with the processing unit 17, and a central control unit 12 manages the storage location of the recorded/playback message and information accompanying the message. A voice message management section 13 is a voice guidance management section that manages the storage location of the voice guidance, and 14 is a command interface that relays commands and status between the central control section 11 and the line control section 6 of each telephone line. The above constitutes the central processing unit 18.

Recording of a message to a subscriber using the conventional voice mail device configured as described above is performed as follows. First, when there is an incoming call, the line interface section 1 transmits incoming call information to the line control section 6, and the line control section 6 transmits the incoming call information and line number to the central control section 11 via the command interface 14. .

The central control unit 11 connects the voice buffer 4 of the incoming line and the voice data control unit 9 via the channel selection unit 10, and at the same time sends a guidance playback request to the voice guidance management unit 13 to output the digital information in the voice guidance storage unit 8. The guidance data is converted into analog data by the decoding unit 3 via the voice data control unit 9 and the voice buffer 4, and output to the line interface unit 1, for example, “This is the voice service center. Please enter the number of the person you want to record.'' is played to prompt the user to enter the subscriber number. When the caller enters the subscriber's number using the dial pad of the telephone, the DTMF detection section 5 detects the DTMF input and connects it to the central control section 11 via the line control section 6 and command interface 14. provide the person's ID number. The central control unit 11 sends a signal to the γf voice message management unit 12, completes the preparation for recording the message in the voice message storage unit 7 assigned to each subscriber, and sends the recording to the calling party in the same manner as the guidance playback described above. Guidance to get started, for example, ``We will keep your message.''``beep''
Please speak after the beep. ] etc. and start recording. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another example of a conventional voice mail device, and 15 is a subscriber name management unit that stores each subscriber number and the corresponding subscriber alphabetic (Roman alphabet) name in pairs. The other symbols are the same as in FIG. 3, and the same operations are performed.

When the line interface section 1 receives a call, it follows the same procedure as in the conventional example described above, and prompts the user to input the name by playing a guidance such as "This is the voice service center. Please enter the name of the person you want to record."

The caller enters the subscriber's name in alphabetical characters (Roman characters) using the phone's dial pad. For example, the alphabets A, B, C are on dial pad 2, as well as E, F.
is 3, G, H, I is 41. J.K.

L is 5, M, N, O is 6, P, R, S is 7, T.

Enter 8 for U and V, and 9 for w, x, and y. If the name is "Kuninaka", enter 826252. DT
The MF detection unit 5 detects the DTMF input of the name, and transmits the subscriber name to the central control unit 11 via the line control unit 6 and command interface 14.

The central control unit 11 identifies the subscriber number from the DTMF input and the subscriber name in the subscriber name management unit 15, sends the subscriber number to the voice message management unit 12, and stores it in the voice message storage unit 7 assigned to each subscriber. After completing preparations for recording the message, follow the instructions for playing the guidance above and give the caller a guidance to start recording, e.g., ``Your message will be retained.''
A guidance message such as "Please speak after you hear a beep" is played and recording begins.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the first example of the voice mail device described above cannot record a message unless the subscriber number of the person to whom the message is sent is known in advance. In addition, in the second example, an external user who does not know the subscriber number can also send a message, but if the subscriber has multiple names with the same name ("Kuninaka" in the above example), the other party's It is necessary to confirm the name, which makes the operation complicated.

The present invention aims to eliminate the above-mentioned problems.

(Means for Solving the Problems) To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides subscriber name management that allows a voice mail device to detect a subscriber number by comparing it with a subscriber name in English (Roman alphabet). When an external user specifies a subscriber, a subscriber designation determination unit is provided, and when an external user designates the other subscriber, the subscriber number or alphabetic name is specified by attaching a DTMF code to either one, and the subscriber designation determination unit is provided. If the unit determines that the subscriber name is specified based on the presence or absence of the DTMF code, the subscriber name management unit refers to the subscriber name management unit and converts it into a telephone number, thereby making it possible to specify the subscriber.

(Function) With the above configuration, the voice mail device user can specify either the subscriber number or the subscriber name by dialing a specific number.
By adding a pad input (for example, #), the subscriber can be specified and recording can be made by inputting either the subscriber number or the subscriber name.

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

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a voice mail device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

I6 is a subscriber designation determination unit that determines whether to designate by subscriber number or subscriber name when a subscriber designation operation is performed, and the other symbols are the corresponding parts in FIG. 3 and FIG. They operate in the same way or have the same function, and a detailed explanation will be omitted for the sake of brevity.

The present invention is constructed as follows, and the operation when an external user sends a message to a subscriber will be explained using the flowchart of FIG. 2, with the steps in parentheses. Note that, hereinafter, step will be abbreviated as S.

First, an external user performs an operation specified by a subscriber using a dial pad. If the external user knows the subscriber number, he/she only needs to input the subscriber number, but if the external user does not know the subscriber number, he/she must first enter the dial key, for example, M'#"J. , and then inputs the subscriber's name (Sl). When the external user inputs the information in this way, the DTMF detection unit 5 detects it and sends it to the line controller 6, command interface 14, and central controller 11. The data is sent to the subscriber designation determination unit 16, and it is determined whether the designation is by subscriber number or by subscriber name based on the presence or absence of a specific DTMF code in the DTMF data (Sl).In other words, if the specific DTMF code is #''', and if you always enter the name, enter it as r"#'"10 names, and if there is no password, it can be determined that it is a subscriber number.Next, specify by subscriber number. If the name is specified, the process ends, and if the specification is by subscriber name, the process moves to S2, and the corresponding name is searched from the subscriber name management unit 15. Next, it is determined whether the corresponding name is singular or plural, that is, if the subscriber has the same last name. Please check if there is someone S3),
If the number is plural, the process moves to the next step 84, and if the number is singular, the process moves to S6. If there are multiple matches listed above, use the pre-recorded name of the person in S4 as voice guidance, and use the same method as the conventional guidance playback described above, for example, [O○ Sara? If it is correct, press 1, otherwise press 2. ” etc. is output. In S5, according to the user's dial pad input, when "1" is pressed, 86
When "2" is pressed, "1 S4. Repeat S5. In S6, a subscriber number is obtained from the confirmed subscriber name using the subscriber number data of the subscriber management section 15, and this is transmitted to the central control section II via the subscriber designation determination section I6.

Thereby, the central control section 11 can select the voice message storage section 7 corresponding to the subscriber number whose subscriber name has been converted, and record the message.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in 2 below, the present invention provides a subscriber designation determination section in a voice mail device, so when identifying a subscriber by recording a message, etc., it is possible to identify the subscriber using either the subscriber number or the subscriber name. This has the effect of making it possible to specify and improve the usability of the voice mail device, and has practical benefits.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a voice mail device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are block diagrams showing conventional voice mail devices. 1...Line interface unit, 2...Encoding unit, 3...Decoding unit, 4...Audio buffer, 5...DTMF detection unit, 6...Line control unit, 7...・Voice message storage unit, 8...Voice guidance storage unit, 9...Voice data control unit, 1
0... Channel selection section, 11... Central control section, 12
...Voice message management section, 13...Voice guidance management section, 14...Command interface, 15
...Subscriber name management unit, 16...Subscriber designation judgment unit,
17... Audio processing section, 18... Central processing section. 0f's

Claims (1)

[Claims] A line control unit that closes and opens a telephone line, a DTMF detection unit that detects a DTMF signal, a voice message storage unit that records and stores voice messages input from the telephone line via the line control unit, and a recording thereof. a recording control unit that controls the voice message or voice guidance recorded in the voice message storage unit and transfers it to the line control unit; and a DTMF detection unit that controls the voice message storage unit. In order to perform overall control of the recording and playback of voice messages using control signals from the recording control section and the playback control section, which perform overall control of the recording and playback of messages, and the DTMF detection section, A central control unit that controls the control unit, playback control unit, and line control unit, a subscriber name management unit that registers the subscriber number and the subscriber's alphabetic (Roman) name, and the DTMF detection unit When specifying a destination for voice messages, etc., a specific DTMF code is attached to either the alphabetic name or the subscriber number, and the DTMF code is specified. The subscriber designation determination unit detects and determines the subscriber name designation based on the presence or absence, and the subscriber name management unit converts the subscriber name designation into a subscriber number designation and specifies the destination. Audio storage device.