JPH0582104B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to a telephone accessory device that automatically responds to a caller when the called party is absent.

<Prior Art> Currently, answering machines are used to convey a message to the caller when the called party is absent. This telephone device can also record messages. Some also allow you to change the message sent to the caller or listen to a recording.

However, all of these systems used tape recorders, and had drawbacks such as long access times, poor usability, and high costs.

<Purpose> Therefore, the present invention can improve efficiency and quality with short access time and low cost, and, if necessary, allows a specific caller who knows the PIN code to register from an external telephone. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a telephone auxiliary device that can be configured to change or cancel a stored calling code, thereby making it multi-functional.

<Examples> Examples of the present invention will be described below. In addition, as an attached device for an answering machine, in most cases, when the caller is not home, it is sufficient to simply inform the caller that you are away and your contact phone number. In the embodiment, a device that enables these outputs and the change of a "contact telephone number" from an external telephone will be explained in order.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a telephone line, 2 is a telephone main body, 2a is a push button, 3 is a telephone control unit,
Reference numerals 4 and 7 designate a receiver and a transmitter, respectively, 5 is an acoustic coupling unit, 6 is a microphone, 8 is a speaker, 9 is a tone decoder, 10 is a synthesized voice control circuit, 11 is a general control circuit; 4 to 6 show examples of flowcharts of the operation of this comprehensive control circuit 11. The configuration is a microcomputer consisting of a CPU, RAM, ROM, and I/O, and since it is common, a detailed explanation will be omitted.

12 is a plurality of input switches, 13 is an output section,
It is used as a display unit to display numerically the number of calls received while you are away. This is when the telephone control unit 3 detects the ringing sound, and when the general control circuit 11 detects this, it increases the counter set in the RAM by 1.
This number is then displayed on the output section 13.

The case where you are trying to register a contact phone number now will be explained using Figure 4. Among the multiple input switches, enter the ``registration key'', the ``numeric key'' corresponding to the phone number that follows, and the ``registration key'' again. If the phone number is 9 or 10 digits, output section 13
After it is output to the general control circuit 11,
The number is stored in RAM (storage means). In addition,
If the number of digits is incorrect, "Error" is displayed on the display section 13. In addition, a personal identification code such as a personal identification number is also registered in substantially the same manner as above.

Next, I will explain a time when I received a phone call while I was away. The owner must use the input switch's "away key" before going out.
Enter and set it to answering mode. When you input the "Answer key", if the registered contact telephone number is not in the RAM of the general control circuit 11, an "error" message is output on the display section 13. If this output does not appear, disconnect the handset. It is installed in the acoustic coupling section 5.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, by pressing down the hook or switching the circuit by the solenoid of the telephone control section 3
When the telephone control section 3 becomes active and the bell rings, the telephone control section 3 detects the sound or captures the electric signal of the bell and controls the hook to be in a raised state, and then transmits the result to the general control circuit 11. Next, the general control circuit 11 accesses the synthesized voice control circuit 10 and asks, for example, "I'm away.""My contact information is."
A voice saying "067917301" and "Desu." is output from the speaker 8. When the caller presses the designated pushbutton (for example, "#", "*", or "0") within a designated time (for example, 2 seconds) after the message "You are away." finishes, the receiver 4 and the sound The signal is transmitted to the coupling unit 5, the microphone 6, the tone decoder 9, and the general control circuit 11, and the general control circuit 11 detects it, accesses the synthesized voice control circuit 10, and outputs the message from the speaker 8 again.

The access method and output of the synthesized voice during these operations are well known, so I will not explain them in detail. As a word segment, the ON/OFF and order of generation of the word segment is controlled by the general control circuit 11. Note that the order of the numbers is stored in the RAM of the general control circuit 11, and it goes without saying that the numbers are output in that order. When the series of utterances is finished, the general control circuit 11 repeats the process once again and outputs a signal corresponding to the end to the telephone control section 3, and then the telephone control section 3 controls the hook to be in a lowered state and the operation is completed. Here, the operation of the telephone control section 3 is well known for answering machines and the like. Further, since the acoustic coupler 5 that connects the sound output from the speaker 8 and the speech transmitter 7 is also known as an acoustic coupler, a detailed explanation will be omitted.

Note that the acoustic receiver 4 such as the acoustic coupling unit 5
In addition to connecting the speaker 8 and microphone 6, it is also possible to directly inject the signal into the line as an electrical signal.

Next, a specific caller who knows the PIN code of the owner of the device of the present invention, etc. from a telephone outside the home,
The procedure for changing the contact telephone number will be explained with reference to FIG.

First, if you are using a pushbutton phone, press "#" from the pushbutton while hearing "I'm away..."
Or enter the PIN code (e.g.
2359) In other words, enter the PIN code. At this time, the signal tones such as "pits", "pops", "pats", etc. are transmitted from the receiver section 4 through the microphone 6 to the tone decoder 9.

Note that this tone decoder 9 is well known, and its integrated circuit is also commercially available.

Then, the tone decoder 9 converts the frequency of the signal into a button number, which is then transferred to the general control circuit 11.
tell. The general control circuit 11 sequentially stores four of these numbers in RAM, then compares them with a predetermined password code number (2359 in this example), and if they match, stops outputting "I'm away...". , "Contact information"
A synthesized voice control circuit 10, a speaker 8, a speech transmitter 7
Output through. After hearing this, the caller presses the button again in sequence (for example,
066211221) and then press "#" or "*" at the end.
Press. These are connected to the integrated control circuit 11 through the receiver section 4, acoustic coupling section 5, microphone 6, and tone decoder 9.
When the general control circuit 11 detects ``#'' or ``*'', it re-registers 066211221 in the RAM and repeats the word segment ``Contact information''``066211221''``desu'' again. Ask the caller to confirm. If this is accurate, the caller should sign "#" or "*"
When input with the push button, the information is simultaneously transmitted to the general control circuit 11, and the operation is terminated through the telephone control section 3.

In the case of a pulse type telephone, a commander 20 as shown in FIG. 2 is used. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the commander 20. 21 is a battery, 22 is a tone dialer integrated circuit, and 23 is an amplifier. The commander 20 has a key 20b and a speaker 20
It consists of an integrated circuit called a, and a tone dialer, and the tone dialer integrated circuit is well-known.
When a key number is pressed, the same tone as a push button is emitted from the speaker 20a.

Therefore, after turning the dial and receiving a call, place the speaker 20a on the transmitter of the pulse type telephone.
By placing the ear against the receiver and operating the key 20b, the device of the present invention can be operated in the same manner as a push-button telephone.

In the above embodiment, the notification of the telephone number was explained, but in the present invention, the number to be notified is
Not limited to phone numbers, but also information about certain groups (e.g. family,
It may be a code number indicating a location or location and time predetermined by an office staff member. for example
100001330 means 13:30 to Osaka Station, 200001050
In that case, I arrived at coffee shop A at 10:50.

<Effects> As is clear from the above explanation, in the present invention, only the number detected by the tone decoder is stored in the storage means as the calling code, while the synthesized voice control circuit stores the word of the number corresponding to the push button signal. The word segment and the word segment corresponding to the response word are stored in advance, and when an incoming call is received while the answering mode is set, the calling code is transferred from the storage means to the synthesized voice control circuit under the command of the general control circuit. At the same time, the word segment corresponding to these sending codes and the word segment of the response term are synthesized into speech to form the response message.
The storage means only needs to store the number information corresponding to the outgoing code, and the synthesized speech control circuit only needs to store word segments of pre-systematic patterns, and these word segments Since there is no need to change, a memory element with a small capacity can be used as the memory means.

Further, in the comprehensive control circuit according to the present invention,
For example, even if a configuration is added that allows the calling code stored in the storage means to be changed based on the caller's operation when the sender inputs a pin code, the code will not be stored in the storage means. It is only necessary to change the number in the synthesized speech control circuit, and there is no need to change the word segments in the synthesized speech control circuit. Therefore, a memory element with a small capacity can be used as the storage means, and a high-quality memory with a short access time can be used. A telephone accessory device can be realized efficiently and economically.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the commander used when using the device of the present invention, Fig. 3 is its block circuit diagram, Fig. 4,
5 and 6 are flowcharts of the embodiment of the present invention, respectively. 2: Telephone, 3: Telephone control section, 4: Receiving section, 5:
Acoustic coupling unit, 6: Microphone, 8: Speaker, 9: Tone decoder, 10: Synthetic voice control circuit, 1
1: General control circuit, 12: Input switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A tone decoder that detects a number corresponding to a push button signal based on input of the push button signal, a storage means that stores the number detected by the tone decoder as a code for sending, and the push button. A word segment with a number corresponding to a signal and a word segment with a response term are stored, and upon receiving the transmission code from the storage means, word segments corresponding to each transmission code and word segments with the response term are stored. a synthesized voice control circuit that converts each word segment into a voice signal, and a comprehensive control circuit that controls the storage means and the synthesized voice control circuit when an incoming call is received while the answering mode is set; Based on the incoming call, sends the calling code stored in the storage means to the synthesized voice control circuit, and uses the synthesized voice control circuit to transmit the number and response term corresponding to the calling code to the voice. 1. A telephone accessory device that converts the voice signal into a signal and sends the voice signal as a response message to a caller via a telephone line.