JPH05160895A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To send a message even when a callee cannot record the message by switching the dial mode into the storage mode when an automatic answering detection means detects the absence of the callee, storing the message and then sending the message. CONSTITUTION:When a dial control section 33 sends a dial code to a line control circuit 1 and receives a detection signal from the circuit 1, a CPU 37 starts counting of number of times of ringing. When the count reaches a setting value, the absence of a callee is sensed and the dialing is interrupted. Then the CPU 37 checks a remaining capacity of a memory 35, and when the capacity is sufficient, a key pad 36 is used to select the mode from the dial mode into the storage mode and the memory 35 stores a message. When the storage is finished, a terminal equipment 3 makes redialing, and when the callee hooks off, the CPU 37 sends the message stored in the memory 35 to the callee via the control section 33. Thus, even when the callee cannot record the message, the message is surely sent.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device, and more particularly to a communication device for improving operability when a communication partner is away.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some widely used communication devices, such as telephone devices, have an answering machine function that allows a message to be recorded even if the other party is away. With this answering machine function, you can set the telephone device to the answering machine mode in advance, store the message from the other party in the memory or a storage device such as a recording tape when you receive a call, and play it back later. is there.

[0003]

However, in the conventional communication device, when the communication partner device is a device that does not have an answering machine function, when the partner device is not set to the answering machine mode, or If the other party is busy,
I can't leave a message.

[0004]

A communication device according to the present invention comprises an absence detection means for detecting that the other party of the communication is absent; and a calling mode when the other party is detected as absent according to the absence detection means. To a recording mode for storing a message in the storage means. Therefore, even when the message cannot be recorded in the device of the other party, the necessary information can be stored in the storage means of its own, and the message can be transmitted again and transmitted later.

[0005]

1 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of a line control device used in a first embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, the line control circuit 1 is a general two-wire type (2
W) intervenes between the line, the telephone 2 and the terminal device 3,
With the switch function, the line is connected to the telephone 2 side or the terminal device 3 side, and the telephone 2 is connected to the terminal device 3 side.

In the line control circuit 1, the general line is connected to the C ₁ terminal of the relay R1 via a detection unit 11 which performs polarity inversion and tone detection, and the relay R1 connects the relay R2 side (A ₁ terminal) or the terminal device. Switched to the 3 side (B ₁ terminal). The A ₁ terminal of the relay R1 is connected to the A ₂ terminal of the relay R2, and the B ₁ terminal is the on / off hook detection unit 12
It is connected to the terminal device 3 via. Relay R2 C
_{The two} terminals are connected to the telephone 2 via the on / off hook detection unit 13.
, And the B ₂ terminal is connected to the terminal device 3 via the 2-wire to 4-wire conversion unit 14. The telephone 2 is relayed by the relay R2 to the relay R1 side (A ₂ terminal) or the terminal device 3 side (B ₂
Terminal). The 2-wire to 4-wire conversion unit 14 is connected by audio input (AUDIO IN) and audio output (AUDIO OUT) lines, and the telephone 2 is connected through these lines.
It is possible to store the voice from the device in the memory 35 (FIG. 2) on the side of the terminal device 3 to create a mail, or to take out the voice data from the memory and output it from the handset of the telephone set 2.

The ringer 15 rings the telephone 2 in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 16. In addition, the CPU 16
Each detection signal is input from each detection unit 11, 12 and 13, and a switching signal is input from the terminal device 3, respectively, and C is input based on them.
The PU 16 controls switching of the relays R1 and R2. Further, the CPU 16 is the CPU 37 of the terminal device 3 (FIG. 2).
Is also connected.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a telephone device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The line control circuit 1 is as shown in FIG. In the terminal device 3, the call origination control unit 33 transmits the B _{1 of the} relay R1 via the on / off hook detection unit 12.
It is connected to the terminal. The audio processing unit 34 is Audio IN / OUT
Also, it is connected to the B ₂ terminal of the relay R2 through the 2-wire to 4-wire converter 14 of the line control circuit 1. The memory 35 is for storing a mail or an answering machine. The keypad 36 is provided with keys for instructing dialing and other predetermined functions. The CPU 37 controls the operation of the terminal device 3 and is also connected to the CPU 16 of the line control circuit 1.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of this embodiment. However, for convenience of explanation, the CPU 16 and the CPU
The control flows of both 37 are described in a mixed manner. In the standby state where the handset is placed (the state where the telephone 2 is not used), the relays R1 and R2 are respectively C ₁
It has become a normal state of -A ₁ connection and C ₂ -A ₂ connection.

Description will be made with reference to FIG. First, when an off-hook is made by the keypad 36 of the terminal device 3, the fact is detected by the on / off-hook detector 12 and the CPU 16 is notified. If you can make a terminal call,
CPU16 switches the relay R1 to C ₁ -B ₁ connection status. As a result, the transmission control unit 33 of the terminal device 3 is connected to the line through the relay R1. When dialing is performed from the keypad 36 in this state, the dial code is transmitted from the transmission control unit 33 through the line (step 301).

When the dial code is transmitted and BT (busy tone) is detected, the process ends (BT in step 302). When RBT (ringback tone) is detected by the detection unit 11 (RBT in step 302), CP
U16 informs the CPU 37 of the terminal device 3 to that effect, and C
The PU 37 steps the built-in counter in accordance with the detection signal from the detection unit 11 and starts counting the number N of times of ringing (step 303). If the other party goes off-hook (Y in step 304), the communication mode is set (step 30).
5). If you do not go off-hook (N in step 304),
The CPU 37 compares a preset value A (for example, A = 5) with the ringing number N (step 306), and if the other party does not respond, the counting is continued and when the ringing number N reaches the set value A (step 306). 306, Y), the call is interrupted (step 307).

The above steps 303 to 306 are the absence detection routine (401). In this way, by detecting the absence of the other party based on the number of times the RBT rings, it is possible to detect the absence regardless of the type of the device of the other party. In this embodiment, the absence detection is performed based on the number of RBT ringings, but the present invention is not limited to this. The absence detection may be performed based on the time elapsed from the off-hook or RBT detection time.

Subsequently, the CPU 37 checks the remaining memory capacity of the memory 35 (step 308). As a result, the length of the message can be adjusted in consideration of the remaining memory amount, and the inconvenience of the message being cut off can be avoided. If the remaining capacity of the memory 35 is sufficient for the required answering machine, according to the answering machine making selection from the keypad 36,
CPU16 switches the relay R2 to C ₂ -B ₂ connection.
Answering is performed by storing a voice message input from the telephone 2 in the memory 35 through the voice processing unit 34 (step 310). Step 308-31
Although 0 is an answering machine mode, the answering machine mode can be omitted if unnecessary.

Upon completion of the recorded message, the terminal is redialed (step 311). After the redialing, when the other party goes off-hook, the fact is detected by the detection unit 11 (step 312), and the CPU 37 causes the memory 35 to operate.
The message stored in the transmission control unit 33, the relay R1
And send to the other party through the line (step 31)
3). The off-hook (312) on the partner side is performed when the number N of rings exceeds the set value B. Although the setting value A and the setting value B on the partner side are B ≧ A, it is preferable that B = A.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the case of checking the memory of the other party. Absence detection (Step 4
01) is performed, and the other party goes off-hook (step 4).
02) When the line is connected, the remaining capacity of the memory of the other party is checked through the line (step 403). The other party's off-hook step 402 is the same as step 312 in FIG. Also, the other party's memory check step 40
For 3, the other party may request the memory capacity of the other party, or the other party may automatically transmit the remaining memory capacity. After checking the remaining amount of memory of the other party's device through the line, the terminal goes off-hook (step 404), and shifts to the recorded message mode shown in FIG.
13). That is, it is possible to create a message based on whichever one of the remaining amounts is smaller, thereby avoiding the inconvenience that the message sent to the other party is cut off on the way.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a videophone device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, two lines are used, and the lines a and b are connected to the line control circuits 1a and 1b, respectively. The line control circuit 1a corresponds to the telephone device shown in FIG. Each of the line control circuits 1a and 1b corresponds to the line control circuit shown in FIG.
The line control of is performed by the CPU 16a of the line control circuit 1a. In the terminal device 3, the transmission control unit 33 is the Line
-a and relay R via on / off hook detector 12a
It is connected to the B ₁ terminal of 1a. The voice processing unit 34 is Aud.
ioIN / OUT and 2-line to 4-line converter 14 of line control circuit 1a
It is connected to the B ₂ terminal of the relay R2a through a.
The memory 35 is for storing a mail or an answering machine. The keypad 36 is provided with keys for instructing dialing and other predetermined functions. CPU
37 controls the operation of the terminal device 3 and also the line control circuit 1
It is also connected to the CPU 16a of a. Modem 32
Line-b, on / off hook detector 12b, relay R1b
And the line b via the detector 11b. The modem 32 encodes the image signal from the image processing unit 31,
Also, the image signal from the line b is decoded. Although not shown, the modem 32 has a transmission control unit and can transmit a dial code from Line-b. The image processing unit 31 compresses the image signal from the camera 4 and sends it to the modem 32, and expands the image signal from the modem 32 and sends it to the display 5.

The operation of this embodiment is almost the same as the flow charts shown in FIGS. First, terminal transmission is performed (step 301). At that time, the dial code is transmitted from the transmission control unit 33 and the modem 32 through the lines a and b, respectively. When the RBT is detected on the side of the line control circuit 1a, counting of the number of ringing starts (step 30).
2, 303). If the other party is absent, the call is interrupted and the remaining capacity of the memory 35 is checked (step 304-
308). The recorded message creation function from the keypad 36 is selected, CPU 16a switches the relay R2a to C ₂ -B ₂ connection (step 309). As a result, the telephone 2 is connected to the voice processing unit 34 through the relay R2a and Audio IN / OUT. Further, the CPU 37 uses the image processing unit 3
1 is connected to the memory 35, the image signal from the camera 4 is stored in the memory 35, and the image signal is displayed on the display 5. That is, an answering machine can be created while checking the self-portrait (step 310).

When the other party goes off-hook by redialing (steps 311, 312), the recorded message of the image and voice stored in the memory 35 is sent to the modem 32, Li.
It is transmitted through ne-b, the line control circuit 1b and the line b (step 313). Alternatively, the image signal and the voice signal of the voice mail may be transmitted through the line b and the line a, respectively. When it is determined that the other party is out of the line a (Y in step 306), only the line a can be disconnected and the line b can be kept connected by the line control circuit 1a. As a result, it is possible to check the remaining capacity of the memory of not only the user but the other party through the line b (step 401 in FIG. 4).
-404), and immediately after the creation of an answering machine (step 310), the message can be transmitted from the modem 32 through the line b without redialing (step 311).

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of a car telephone controller used in one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the telephone control circuit 100 corresponds to the line control circuit 1 of FIG. That is, the CPU 101 is the CPU 16 of FIG.
In addition, the relays R1 and R2 correspond to the relays R1 and R2 of FIG. 1, respectively. Terminal 102 connects to the car telephone and terminal 103 connects to the car telephone radio. Further, the terminal 104 is connected to the CPU on the terminal device side, and a control signal and a switching signal are input and output. Terminal 105
And 106 are connected to the transmission control unit of the terminal device via Line2 and Line3, and are switched by the relay R3.
A facsimile machine may be connected to the terminal 105. The terminal 107 is connected to the audio processing unit of the terminal device via an audio IN / OUT line. Since the operation is the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, its explanation is omitted.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automobile videophone device to which the above-described automobile telephone control device is applied. The two-line configuration shown in FIG. 4 is realized as an automobile videophone device. Here, the telephone control circuit 1 corresponding to each line
00A and 100B, each equipped with a mobile phone 2
00A and 200B and car phones 300A and 300B
And are connected. The description of this operation is omitted because it is similar to the example shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 shows a calling sequence.
Dialing is performed from the terminal device with the handset of the telephone set, and then the handset is taken to make a call. FIG. 9 shows an incoming call sequence. When an incoming call arrives, the terminal device goes off-hook, and the terminal device makes a call.
For example, the mail stored in the memory 35 of the terminal device 3 is transmitted.

[0022]

As described above in detail, the communication apparatus according to the present invention can enter the recorded message mode when the other party of the communication is not present, so that the communication apparatus has flexibility and operability. improves.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block configuration diagram showing an example of a line control circuit used in an embodiment of a communication device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a telephone device which is an embodiment of a communication device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the other party's memory check in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a videophone device which is another embodiment of the communication device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of an example of a car telephone control device used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of an automobile videophone device to which another embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 8 is a calling sequence diagram in the automobile videophone device.

FIG. 9 is an incoming call sequence diagram in the automobile videophone device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 line control circuit 2 telephone 3 terminal device 15 ringer 16 CPU R1 relay R2 relay

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A communication device having a storage means capable of storing a message; an absence detecting means for detecting that the other party of the communication is absent; and a calling mode when the absence detecting means detects an absence of the other party. From the storage means to a recording mode for storing a message in the storage means, and a communication device. 2. A communication device having a storage means capable of storing a message; an absence detection means for detecting that the other party of the communication is absent; and a calling mode when the absence detection of the other party is detected by the absence detection means. To a recording mode for storing a message in the storage means; and a detection means for detecting the remaining capacity of the storage means in the recording mode. 3. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the detection means further detects the remaining capacity of the storage means of the other party.