JPH06113005A - Automatic answering telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the registration of a proper answer message into an automatic answering telephone set. CONSTITUTION:A telephone number register keys 11-20 are added to an automatic answering telephone set which automatically answers to the incoming calls. The telephone numbers registered in the keys 11-20 are transmitted with operations of these keys. At the same time, when an outing state of a subscriber is registered with a prescribed operation, the outing destination is designated by the operated keys 11-20. Thus outing destination is informed to the calls received in the absent states.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an answering machine that automatically answers a telephone call that is received when the user is away.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various answering machines have been developed which automatically answer a call received when the user is away. This answering machine has a recording unit that can record voice messages using a tape recorder, semiconductor memory, etc., and plays a prepared response message when an incoming call is automatically received when an answering machine is used. To record. According to such an answering machine, it is possible to deal with a telephone that was in absence, which is convenient.

[0003]

However, in such an answering machine, it is necessary to record a response message in advance on a tape or the like, and unless a new response message is recorded each time an answering machine is set, an appropriate message is recorded. It is difficult to send a message, and conventionally, only a relatively simple message is generally sent. That is, it is common to use a message such as "I am out now",
Messages that say where you are going out or when you go home are not normally used.

However, it is convenient for the caller to know where the other party is in order to make contact.

In view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily register an appropriate reply message in an answering machine.

[0006]

According to the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, in an answering machine that automatically answers an incoming call, telephone number registration keys 11 to 20 are provided.
By operating each of the registration keys 11 to 20, it is possible to make a call to the telephone number registered in each of the registration keys 11 to 20, and when the going out is registered by a predetermined operation, it is operated at the time of registration. The registration keys 11 to 20 are used to specify a destination, and a telephone call received during absence is notified of the designated destination.

Further, in this case, when the outing is registered,
By registering the time, the call received during absence is notified of the time when the user is out.

Further, in this case, when the outing is registered,
The vicinity of the registration keys 11 to 20 corresponding to the destination is turned on.

[0009]

According to the present invention, when registering to go out, simply by operating the registration key corresponding to the place where the user is going out, a response message for automatically informing the user of the place where he / she is going out can be sent to the telephone received when he / she is out. Become.

In this case, since the time when the user is out and the registration can be performed, the time when the user is out will automatically flow as a response message.

When an outing is registered, it is possible to determine the outing by illuminating the vicinity of the registration key corresponding to the outing to see the lighting state of the telephone.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of an answering machine of this example, and FIG. 2 is an external view thereof. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a terminal connected to a telephone line, through which a signal transmitted from the telephone line side is supplied to a call circuit 2. The call circuit 2 performs a process of receiving a signal obtained via a telephone line and a process of transmitting the signal to the telephone line side, and a microphone and a speaker (not shown) in the handset 3 connected to the call circuit 2 Allows you to talk to the other party.

In this case, control of incoming and outgoing calls at this telephone is carried out by the central control unit 4 composed of a microcomputer. This central control unit 4
A memory 4a for storing a registered telephone number or the like is connected to. In addition, this telephone 10 has 0, 1,
2, ... 9, *, # dial keys 6, two function keys 7,8, and ten one-touch keys 11,12 ... 2
0 is provided so that the operation information of each key is supplied to the central controller 4. Further, a display panel 5 composed of a liquid crystal display is connected to the central control unit 4 so that a telephone number or the like can be displayed under the control of the central control unit 4. Note that, here, as the two function keys 7 and 8 provided, the function key 7 is a going-out key and the function key 8 is a return key.

These keys 6, 7, 8, 11 to 20 and the display panel 5 are arranged on the surface of the telephone as shown in FIG. 2, and each one-touch key 11, 12, ... There is a space where you can enter the location (person name, company name, etc.) registered in the key. In addition, each of the one-touch keys 11 to 20 is formed of a light-transmissive material, and has a light emitting element incorporated therein.
The lights are individually turned on under the control of the central controller 14.

Each one-touch key 11, 12, ...
A telephone number can be registered for each 20. That is, when one of the one-touch keys 11 to 20 is designated in the one-touch dial registration mode by operating a predetermined key and then the telephone number is input by the dial key 6, the input telephone number is stored in the memory. 4a
It is stored in. This registration operation is performed under the control of the central controller 4.

When the user wants to make a call to the registered telephone number, he or she simply presses one of the one-touch keys 11 to 20 corresponding to the registered telephone number to make a call to the corresponding number. That is, any one-touch key 11
When the central controller 4 detects that ~ 20 is pressed,
The telephone number registered in the pressed one-touch key is read from the memory 4a, and the call signal of the read telephone number is generated by the communication circuit 2 and transmitted.

The telephone of this example has a voice recording section 21 for operating as an answering machine and a voice synthesizing circuit 2.
2 and a so-called solid-state recording using, for example, a semiconductor memory as the voice recording unit 21.
Then, when an incoming call is received while the telephone is in the answering machine, the response message recorded in the voice recording unit 21 or the voice response message created by the voice synthesis circuit 22 is transmitted to the other party. Further, the voice recording section 21 records a message message spoken by the other party. The operation of these answering machines is controlled by the central control unit 4.

In this example, the response message used for the automatic response in the answering machine mode is automatically created based on the operation of the one-touch keys 11-20. Hereinafter, the automatic response message creating process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3. In this case, first, the go-out key 7 is pressed to enter a mode in which an automatic reply message is created (step 101). . After entering this mode, the one-touch keys 11 to 20 in which the telephone number of the destination is registered are pressed to register the destination (step 102). And
It is judged whether or not the time at the registered destination is known (step 103). When the time is known, the time information is input by operating the dial key 6 (step 104).
As an input operation of the time information at this time, for example, when it is around 14:40, “1440” is pressed and the dial key is input.

After inputting the time information in step 104, or when it is determined in step 103 that the time at the destination is unknown, it is determined whether or not there is a place to go next (step 105). If there is a place to go next, the process returns to step 102 and the work of registering the place and time to go next is similarly performed.

When there is no more next place to go to in step 105, it is judged whether or not to go home directly from the place where the user is going out, and in the case of going home directly, the bounce key 8 is pressed (step 106). When the bounce key 8 is pressed, it is registered to go home directly (step 107). Also,
If the bounce key 8 is not pressed, returning home is not registered.

The information registered in this manner is stored in the memory 4a under the control of the central control unit 4, and when an incoming call is received by this telephone after being registered, the central control is performed based on the registered information. The device 4 transmits the response message created by the voice synthesis circuit 22 to the other party. In the case of this example, after such registration is performed, the one-touch keys 11 to 20 pressed at the time of registration are turned on under the control of the central control device 4. In addition, the creation of the response message based on the registered information (that is, the setting of the answering machine based on the registered information) and the lighting of the one-touch keys 11 to 20 are performed until the user returns from the place where he / she goes and presses the out key 7 again. Done.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, a response message created by the voice synthesizing circuit 22 by such registration work will be described. First, when there is an incoming call, "I am out now" (step 201). After voice synthesizing, the first registered telephone number of the destination is voice synthesized (step 2).
02). For example, "Telephone number is 03-3458-
It is ××××. ". Then, if the time is registered in the above-mentioned registration work, the time is continuously voice-synthesized (step 203). For example, "I plan to stay around 14:40." Then, if the next destination is registered in the above-described registration work, the telephone number of the next destination is voice-synthesized (step 204). For example, "The telephone number of the destination after that is 03-3448- △△
△△ ". Also at this time, if the time is registered, the time is continuously voice-synthesized (not shown in FIG. 4). Then, a message prompting the recording of a message is sent (step 205). For example, "If you have a message, please talk after Pee." Then, next, it is judged whether or not the direct return is registered, and if the direct return is registered, a message indicating this is sent (step 206). For example, "In addition, I will go home directly from whereabouts today." Finally, a signal sound "PEEP" is output to start recording the message (step 207).

According to the answering machine of the present example, such a response message automatically flows, so that a response message indicating the whereabouts when not at home can be easily created only by key operation of the telephone, and every time the user goes out. Even if you do not record a message, you can easily notify the other party of your whereabouts by just operating the keys. In addition, the one-touch keys 11 to 20
This function can only be used when you go out to the location of the phone number registered in, but in many cases the location where you are likely to go out and the location where you frequently make calls are often the same. There is a high possibility of going out to the location registered in 20, and there is a high possibility of using the response message automatic creation function of this example.

Further, in the case of the present example, when the automatic creation of the response message is registered, the one-touch keys 11 to 20 registered with the destination are turned on, so that persons around this telephone can be , The destination of the user of this telephone can be determined from the illuminated portion. This function is suitable for a telephone set such as a telephone set used in a company or the like, in which a person who uses each unit is determined.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, only the telephone number of the destination is notified by the response message. However, when the name of the destination can be registered by voice, the name of the destination is transmitted by the response message. May be.

Although the response message is created in the above embodiment, when two or more telephone lines are connected to this telephone, it is automatically transferred to the telephone number of the destination. Is also good. In this case, a voice synthesizing circuit or the like is not required and the construction of the telephone becomes simple.

Further, although the above-mentioned embodiment is constituted by an ordinary type answering machine, it is needless to say that it can be applied to other types of answering machine such as a cordless telephone. Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and it goes without saying that various other configurations can be adopted.

[0029]

According to the present invention, when registering to go out, simply by operating the registration key corresponding to the place to go, a response message for automatically telling the destination where the call is received when the call is received is played. , It becomes unnecessary to re-record the response message every time when going out.

In this case, the time at the destination can be registered and the time at the destination can be automatically flowed as a response message, so that the other party can easily make contact.

When an outing is registered, a person around the phone can judge the outing place by illuminating the vicinity of the registration key corresponding to the outing place to see the lighting state of the phone. You can also

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart at the time of registration used for explaining an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a response message formed according to an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Central Control Unit (CPU) 4a Memory 7 Outgoing Key 8 Bounce Key 11, 12, ... 20 One-touch Key 21 Voice Recording Section 22 Voice Synthesis Circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An answering machine that automatically answers an incoming call is provided with a plurality of telephone number registration keys, and by operating the respective registration keys, the telephone numbers registered in the respective registration keys can be changed. In addition to being able to make outgoing calls, when the outing is registered by a predetermined operation, the above registration key operated at the time of registration allows the destination to be specified, and the call received when not in the home is notified of the above specified outing. Answering machine. 2. The answering machine according to claim 1, wherein when the outing is registered, the time is registered so that the time when the user is out can be notified of the time when he / she is out. 3. When the outing is registered, the vicinity of the registration key corresponding to the outing destination is turned on.
Answering machine as described.