JPH07221910A - Mail storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To select a voice mail function and a facsimile mail function interlockingly within a same call. CONSTITUTION:The device is provided with an A/D converter means 13 applying A/D conversion to a voice signal, a voice data storage processing means 17, a main box management means 19 managing unifiedly voice data and facsimile data stored in a same call as same box data and a main control means 24 controlling the operation of each means according to the operating mode of a DTMF signal. When a call is given from a telephone set with facimile equipment to the facsimile equipment, a talking voice signal is stored in a voice data storage means. When the operating mode is designated by depressing a button of a caller or called telephone set after the end of talking, a DTMF signal is detected and the mail control means executes the designated operating mode. When the voice mail and facsimile mail are instructed, an address of the stored voice data and a storage address of facsimile data received by facsimile communication are given to a management means 19, where the addresses are managed unifiedly.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mail storage device capable of accumulating voice and facsimile data, and interlocking such information when necessary, and more particularly, to a variety of utilization forms desired by users. It is configured to support a wide range of.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the diversification of information means, in recent years, various systems have been conceived for transmitting voice messages and document image information by facsimile together to the other party, and electronic mails that enable such information to be provided. -One of the systems is described in JP-A-62-132464. In this system, facsimile data is stored in a storage device in conjunction with voice data, and the stored data can be transmitted to the other party using a general public line.

In this system, as shown in FIG. 4, a station line and a leased line are connected via a station line trunk 52 and a leased line trunk 53, and telephones 56 and 57 are connected via subscriber circuits 54 and 55. Switch 51 and a voice storage device 61 for storing voice information
A voice storage control device 58 for controlling voice storage in the voice storage device 61, and a facsimile 62 for inputting / outputting document image information.
A document image storage device 63 for storing the document image information, a facsimile control device 60 for controlling the operations of the facsimile 62 and the document image storage device 63, and a facsimile control device 60 under the control of the voice storage control device 58. And an additional information control device 59 for accumulating the document image information added to the voice message and withdrawing the accumulated document image information.

In this system, when a line is formed between the voice storage control device 58 via the subscriber circuit 54 and the electronic exchange 51 by the operation of the telephone 56, the voice storage device 58 stores and sends a call. Alternatively, an inquiry is made for a withdrawal command. From the telephone 56, a command to store a voice message is given to the voice accumulation control device 58 through a button operation,
Then, when a voice message is sent, this voice message is stored in the voice storage device 61 under the control of the voice storage control device 58. At this time, the storage address is stored in the memory of the voice accumulation control device.

When this storing process is completed, the voice accumulation control device 58 makes an inquiry to the telephone 56 again, and operates a predetermined button of the telephone 56 to voice the accumulation of the document image information to be added to the voice message. When the storage control device 58 is instructed, the voice storage control device 58 activates the additional information control device 59, and the additional information control device 59 outputs a start request to the voice storage control device 58 and the facsimile control device 60.

Upon receipt of the activation request, the voice storage controller 58
The presence of the additional information is stored in the memory, while the facsimile control device 60 stores the document image information input from the facsimile 62 in the document image storage device 63. When the storage of the document image information is finished, the facsimile control device 60 notifies the stored document image storage address to the additional information control device 59, and the additional information control device 59 notifies the voice storage control device 58 of it.
The voice accumulation control device 58 stores it. Through such a series of processing, the voice message and the document image information are associated and accumulated.

The voice message and the document image information thus stored are sent to the partner station by an operation from the telephone 56 and stored in the voice storage device and the document image storage device of the partner station, or the message is heard. It is withdrawn by the trying user. In this case, the voice accumulation control device 58 first takes out the voice message from the voice accumulation device 61, and then the facsimile control device 60 to which the address information is given from the additional information control device 59 causes the document image accumulation device 63 to receive the designated address. Take out the document image information and send it to the other station,
It prints through the facsimile 62.

[0008]

However, in this conventional system, since the facsimile mail function is positioned as an additional function of the voice mail function, it is not possible to handle only voice mail or voice + facsimile mail. You can, but you cannot handle only fax and mail. In addition, separate lines for voice processing and facsimile processing are required.

Further, this system is premised on recording the voice of the speaker. Therefore, when the destination of the facsimile is not at the seat, the facsimile data and the voice message are recorded, but when the destination is present, the message is transmitted by telephone and only the facsimile data is recorded in the destination device. It is not possible to transmit information efficiently.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art by relating voice data and facsimile data sent using a single line while switching them in the same call. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mail storage device that can take various forms such as storing and storing only facsimile data.

[0011]

Therefore, according to the present invention, in a mail storage device capable of storing and retrieving voice data and facsimile data, line control means for controlling the line connection of the mail storage device and received DTMF. DTMF detection means for detecting signals, facsimile communication control means for controlling facsimile communication, facsimile data storage processing means for controlling storage / retrieval of facsimile data, and facsimile data storage means for storing facsimile data. And the analog of the audio signal /
Voice conversion means for performing digital conversion, voice data storage processing means for controlling storage / retrieval of digitized voice data, and voice data storage means for storing digitized voice data are stored in the same call. A mailbox management means for centrally managing voice data and facsimile data as data in the same box, and a DTM.
Mail control means for controlling the operation of each means in accordance with the operation mode represented by the F signal is provided.

Further, the mail control means is based on the DTMF signal transmitted from the telephone set of the calling or called party,
In the same call, the switching from the voice call operation to the facsimile communication operation is controlled.

Further, the mail control means, based on the DTMF signal transmitted from the telephone set of the calling or called party,
In the same call, the switching from the facsimile communication operation to the voice call operation is controlled.

Further, the mail control means, based on the DTMF signal transmitted from the telephone set of the calling or called party,
The control is made to invalidate the accumulation of voice data or facsimile data.

Further, a voice data creating means for creating voice data for instructing the storage of the facsimile data is provided, and when only the facsimile data is stored, the mailbox managing means causes the facsimile data and the voice data creating means. The voice data created by is centrally managed as data in the same box.

Further, a registration status output means for outputting the presence / absence of data storage in the mailbox is provided.

[0017]

Therefore, when there is a call from the telephone with a facsimile to the mail storage device, the telephone connected to the line control means of the mail storage device responds, and the voice call between the calling and called parties is voice data. It is stored / recorded in the storage means. When the operation mode is designated by pressing the button of the calling or called telephone after the call is completed, the DTMF detection means of the mail storage device detects the DTMF signal, and the mail control means performs the operation designated by the DTMF signal. Run the mode.

For example, when the caller or the called party instructs voice mail + facsimile mail, the address of the stored / recorded voice data is passed to the mailbox management means, and then the facsimile communication control means is operated. The facsimile communication is started with the facsimile on the calling side via the above, and the received facsimile data is stored in the facsimile data storage means. When the facsimile communication ends, the storage address of the facsimile data is passed to the mailbox management means, and the mailbox management means centrally manages the storage addresses of these voice data and facsimile data. As a result, voice mail and facsimile mail can be linked.

The calling or called party gives various instructions such as instructing to switch to voice communication again after facsimile communication, or instructing to store only one of voice and facsimile data. Aspect can be specified.

In addition, because the called party is absent, the facsimile data is sent directly from the calling facsimile,
When fax data is sent from a fax machine that does not have a telephone, the voice data creation means creates voice data that notifies the registration of the fax data in the mailbox or voice data that notifies the sender and the date and time of reception. To do. The voice data is stored in the voice data storage means, and the address thereof is centrally managed by the mailbox management means with the storage address of the received facsimile data. Therefore, the user of the mailbox of the mail storage device can know all the data registered in the mailbox by listening to the voice mail.

The registration status of the mailbox is output to the outside through the registration status output means, displayed on the display device, or a specified pager is rung.

[0022]

[Embodiment] A mail storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention is
As shown in FIG. 2, as input / output terminals with the outside, a telephone connection terminal 3 for connecting to a telephone 4 for voice communication and a registration for outputting the presence / absence of registration in a mailbox to an external display device 6. It is equipped with three terminals, a status output terminal 5 and a line connection terminal 2 for connecting to the exchange line of the exchange 7. The telephone 8 for voice calls, the facsimile 10 to which the telephone 9 for voice calls is connected, and The mail communication system is configured in cooperation with the exchange 7 to which each line of the facsimile 11 is connected.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mail storage device 1 has a line control unit 12 for controlling line connection and an A voice signal.
A voice conversion unit 13 for D / D conversion, a voice data storage processing unit 17 for controlling storage / readout of digital voice data into / from the voice storage unit 21, a facsimile communication control unit 14 for controlling facsimile communication, and a facsimile data A facsimile / data storage processing unit 18 for controlling storage / readout to / from the facsimile / data storage unit 22, a DTMF detection unit 15 for detecting a DTMF signal input by the telephones 8, 9 and 4 and designating an operation mode, Voice guidance storage unit 20
A voice guidance processing unit 16 for reading the voice data for guidance stored in, a mailbox management unit 19 for storing and managing information necessary for mail management in the mailbox / data storage unit 23, voice mail and facsimile·
A registration status output unit 25 that outputs the registration status of the mail through the terminal 5 and a mail control unit 24 that comprehensively controls the operation of each unit of the mail storage device are provided.

Further, the facsimile communication control unit 14 is shown in FIG.
Modem circuit 42 for modulating and demodulating signals
And a CNG detection circuit 41 for detecting a calling (CNG) signal transmitted by the other facsimile, and a called terminal identification signal (C
A CED detection circuit 43 for detecting ED), a protocol control circuit 44 for controlling a communication procedure, and a block control circuit 45 for controlling the operation of the facsimile communication control unit 14 in response to a command from the mail control unit 24. There is.

In this mail storage device 1, when a DTMF signal is input by a button operation from the telephone, the DTMF detection unit 15 detects it and sends it to the mail control unit 24, and the mail control unit 24 determines the type of DTMF signal. The operation of each unit is controlled according to the above. Through the operation of the mail storage device 1, this system can execute various functions.

Since the purpose of the present invention is to realize mail communication in which voice and facsimile are interlocked with each other, the mail when the facsimile 10 to which the voice call telephone 9 is connected or the single facsimile 11 is used as a terminal. The operation of the storage device 1 will be mainly described. However, the mail storage device 1 naturally has a voice mail communication function as well as the conventional device, and in the sense of representing it, the telephone 8 is illustrated in the diagram showing the mail communication system of FIG. .

Now, among the various functions that can be executed by using the mail storage device 1 of the embodiment, the following four functions will be described in detail. (1) After the voice call between the telephone 4 and the telephone 9 connected to the facsimile 10, the facsimile communication between the facsimile 10 and the mail storage device 1 is performed in the same call. The call voice at this time and the received facsimile data are stored in the same mailbox of the mail storage device 1 by an operation from the telephone 4 or 9. (2) After the end of the facsimile communication, the voice call between the telephone set 4 and the telephone set 9 is restarted in the same call. (3) Call voice and facsimile
In the same call, it is selected whether or not to store and retain the data. (4) When only the facsimile data is stored in the mailbox of the mail storage device 1, the voice guidance notifying the registration of the facsimile data and the voice data in which the supplementary information such as the sender is represented by voice are the same. Accumulate in mailbox.

The operation of the mail storage device 1 when executing each of these functions will be described in terms of each item.

(First Embodiment) A situation in which the function (1) is required and the operation procedure of the user at that time will be described first.

The facsimile 10 to which the telephone 9 for voice communication is connected has been downsized and reduced in price due to the recent advances in LSI, and in general companies, one is placed on the desk of the department manager or section manager. The situation is about to be broken. This type of facsimile naturally has only one line and is used by the telephone and the facsimile. It is assumed that the telephone 9 connected to the facsimile 10 calls the telephone number of the other party and the document is transmitted by facsimile. This telephone number is the number of the line connected to the line connection terminal 2 of the mail storage device 1. The switching operation of the telephone 9 causes the exchange 7 to call the line connected to the line connection terminal 2. The called mail storage device 1 has a telephone connection terminal 3
The telephone 4 connected through is called. When the receiver of the telephone 4 is hooked up, a communication path is formed between the telephone 9 and the telephone 4, and voice communication becomes possible.

At this time, if the listener is the person expected by the sender, the necessary comment and supplementary explanation are transmitted by voice,
You can continue to fax the document. However, if the listener is not the person expected by the speaker, the listener must later inform the person expected by the speaker of the content of the call with the speaker. At this time, the following answer is given between the sender and the substitute receiver. That is, the talker "I am A, but I will send a fax to Mr. B in the Sales Department 2 from now on, so I would like to have Mr. B give it to me immediately." Deputy receiver "Kashimari Talker "And then, I would like you to tell me that I would like you to call me after seeing it." Proxy listener "I understand." In the mail storage device 1 of the example, You can leave these answers in voice mail. Talker "By the way, can I switch to FAX as it is?" Proxy receiver "Yes, I can switch it. When you hear a beep, press the send button." After answering that, the proxy receiver The buttons "1", "2", and "*" of the telephone 4 are sequentially pushed down.

In the mail storage device 1 of the embodiment, the telephone 4
The answer is recorded one after another after the handset of the device is hooked up, and when the substitute receiver presses the button "1" of the telephone set 4, the recorded voice information is managed as a valid voice mail. . By pressing "2", the mail storage device 1 is automatically switched to the FAX reception mode, and the facsimile data sent from the sender's facsimile 10 is stored in the mail storage device 1.

In order to realize such a function, the mail storage device 1 operates as follows. First, the facsimile 10
A call operation is performed from the telephone 9 connected to the line of the mail storage device 1. By this calling operation,
The line connection terminal 2 of the mail storage device 1 is activated. The activation signal is transmitted from the line control unit 12 connected to the line connection terminal 2 to the telephone 4 via the telephone connection terminal 3 and the telephone 4
Call. When the handset of the telephone 4 is lifted, a communication path between the telephone 9 and the telephone 4 is formed, and the telephone communication becomes possible. When the handset of the telephone 4 is lifted, the line controller 12 detects hookup and outputs a hookup detection signal to the mail controller 24. Upon detecting this, the mail control unit 24 issues a voice accumulation start command to the voice data accumulation processing unit 17, and at the same time issues a DTMF detection start command to the DTMF detection unit 15.

A voice accumulation processing unit that has received a voice accumulation start command
Reference numeral 17 starts the operation of accumulating the voice signal during the call, which is A / D converted by the voice conversion unit 13, in the voice storage unit 21. The voice accumulation processing unit 17 has a toggle buffer memory, and serves as a temporary buffer for storing the digital voice data sequentially output from the voice conversion unit 13 in the voice accumulation unit 21.

Further, the DTMF detection section 15 which has received the DTMF detection start command from the mail control section 24 starts the detection operation of the DTMF signal input during the voice call. These voice accumulating operation and DTMF signal detecting operation are continued until the mail control unit 24 issues respective stop commands.

When the voice call between the telephone 9 and the telephone 4 is completed, the telephone 4 (or the telephone 9) sends "1" or "2".
"*" Button is pressed and corresponding DTM
The F signal is sequentially input to the mail storage device 1. The "1" means accumulation of voice data, "2" means accumulation of facsimile data, and "*" means termination code. These signals are detected by the DTMF detection unit 15, the detection result is converted into numerical information and output to the mail control unit 24.

The mail control unit 24 determines the subsequent operation mode based on the value of the numerical information sequentially detected by the DTMF detection unit 15. "1", "2", and "*" are decoded as "voice + facsimile / data storage" mode, and mail control unit
24 gives the following commands to the relevant parts.

First, for the voice data accumulation processing unit 17,
A voice accumulation stop command is issued to stop the voice accumulation operation.
Upon receiving this stop command, the voice data storage processing unit 17 stops the storage operation in the voice storage unit 21, and outputs the voice data storage address to the mail control unit 24. The mail control unit 24 determines that the voice data accumulated so far is valid data, and issues a voice mail management data write command to the mailbox management unit 19 in order to manage it as voice mail. At this time, the voice data storage address is simultaneously passed to the mailbox management unit 19. The mailbox management unit 19 generates a mailbox management number, and by using this as a key, mails the information necessary for voice mail management such as the voice data storage address received from the mail control unit 24 and the reception date and time. The data is stored in the corresponding area of the box data storage unit 23.

Next, the mail control unit 24 sends the DTMF detection unit 15
DTMF detection stop command is issued to D
The TMF detection unit 15 stops the detection operation. Further, the mail control unit 24 issues a facsimile reception start command to the facsimile communication control unit 14 and simultaneously issues a facsimile data storage start command to the facsimile data storage processing unit 18. Upon receiving the facsimile reception start command, the facsimile communication control unit 14 starts the automatic reception operation,
The ED signal is sent to the line via the line control unit 12. On the terminal side, when the CED signal is heard and the start button of the facsimile 10 is pressed, facsimile communication between the facsimile 10 and the mail storage device 1 is started.

When the facsimile communication is started and the facsimile data is received, the facsimile communication control unit 14
The received facsimile data is sequentially output to the facsimile data storage processing unit 18, and the facsimile data storage processing unit 18 stores the facsimile data in the facsimile data storage unit 22. The facsimile / data storage processing unit 18 has a toggle buffer memory,
It functions as a temporary buffer for storing the facsimile data sequentially output from the facsimile communication control unit 14 in the facsimile data storage unit 22.

When the facsimile communication between the facsimile 10 and the mail storage device 1 is completed, the facsimile communication control section 14 outputs a facsimile communication end signal to the mail control section 24. In response to this, the mail control unit 24 issues a line disconnection command to the line control unit 12 and at the same time issues a facsimile / data storage stop command to the facsimile / data storage processing unit 18. Facsimile / data storage processing unit
In response to this stop command, the 18 stops the storage operation in the facsimile / data storage unit 22 and outputs the facsimile / data storage address to the mail control unit 24. Email control unit
24 determines the facsimile data accumulated up to that time as valid data, and manages it as a facsimile mail linked to the voice mail created earlier to the mailbox management unit 19 by facsimile / mail management. Issue a data write command. At the same time, the facsimile data storage address and the mailbox management number output from the mailbox management unit 19 at the time of creating the voice mail are passed from the mail control unit 24 to the mailbox management unit 19.

Using the mailbox management number as a key, the mailbox management unit 19 mails the information necessary for facsimile / mail management such as the facsimile / data storage address received from the mail control unit 24, the reception date and time, and the reception time. The data is stored in the corresponding area of the box data storage unit 23. Finally, the mail control unit 24 notifies the registration status output unit 25 that the voice mail and the facsimile mail have been registered.
To the registration status output terminal 5 via. This information is displayed on the external display device 6 connected to the registration status output terminal 5, and the registration status of the mailbox can be determined at a glance from the displayed contents. It is also possible to connect a line to the registration status output terminal 5 and call a specific telephone number according to the registered mailbox. In this case, if you call the pager's phone number,
It is possible to promptly notify the person of the registration of voice mail and facsimile mail.

As described above, in the mail storage device of the embodiment, by simply operating the button of the telephone set 4 (or telephone set 9) connected to this device by one line, the contents of the call on the telephone set are converted to voice mail. It is possible to store and simultaneously store the following facsimile data in association with voice mail. The storage status in the mailbox of the mail storage device 1 can be displayed externally.

Further, the conversation contents of the answer and answer between the substitute listener and the sender are stored as voice data as they are by a simple operation from the telephone 4. In this way, when recording the response between the talker and the substitute listener, the substitute listener tries to understand what the talker says, compared with the case where the talker unilaterally records a message. To respond, the speaker can consequently leave more detailed information in the voicemail. Further, the talker can obtain a sense of satisfaction by having at least the substitute talker of the third party understand.

After returning to the office, the person expected by the talker accesses the mailbox of the mail storage device 1 from the facsimile equipped with the telephone on the desk, hears the stored conversation contents, and takes out the stored facsimile data. be able to. The operation for taking out the stored data is performed in the following procedure.

Call the mail storage device 1 from the telephone connected to the facsimile and press the button to enter the code of the mailbox and "5", "6", "*" for designating the reading of voice data and facsimile data. When input, the DTMF detection unit 15 detects the DTMF signal corresponding to each button, converts it into numerical information, and outputs it to the mail control unit 24. The mail control unit 24 determines the operation mode in accordance with the numerical information and gives a command to the related parts to read the voice data and the facsimile data related thereto.

First, the mail control unit 24 passes the mailbox management number corresponding to the code of the mailbox to the mailbox management unit 19, and outputs a voice mail management data read command. The mailbox management unit 19 that has received the command reads the voice data storage address written in the mailbox data storage unit 23 using the mailbox management number as a key, and outputs this to the mail control unit 24. The mail control unit 24 subsequently passes the voice data storage address to the voice data storage processing unit 17, and outputs a stored voice read command. The voice data storage processing unit 17 reads the voice data stored in the designated voice data storage address of the voice storage unit 21 and outputs the voice data to the voice conversion unit 13, and the voice conversion unit 13 converts the voice data into analog data. Convert to signal. The voice data converted into the analog signal is transmitted to the desk phone connected to the facsimile via the line controller 12.

When the reading of the voice data is completed, the voice data storage processor 17 outputs a voice data read end signal to the mail controller 24. Receiving this mail control unit 24
Passes the mailbox management number to the mailbox management unit 19 and outputs a facsimile / mail management data read command. The mailbox management unit 19 uses the mailbox management number as a key to store the mailbox data storage unit.
The facsimile data storage address written in 23 is read and output to the mail control unit 24. Email controller 24
Then, it issues a facsimile transmission start command to the facsimile communication control unit 14, and passes the facsimile data storage address output from the mailbox management unit 19 to the facsimile data storage processing unit 18. The facsimile communication control unit 14 that has received the command is a facsimile storage processing unit.
Issued a request to read facsimile data to 18,
The facsimile / data storage processing unit 18
The facsimile communication control unit reads out the facsimile data stored in the corresponding address of the data storage unit 21.
Then, the facsimile communication control unit 14 sequentially transmits the facsimile data to the partner facsimile machine via the line control unit 12.

In this way, the voice data and the facsimile data requested by the button operation of the telephone are sent to the user who has accessed the mailbox. Further, when the user operates the button for requesting only the voice data, only the voice data is sent from the mail storage device 1.

(Second Embodiment) The operation of (2), that is, the operation of switching to the voice communication mode again after facsimile communication will be described. In this case, the instruction content of the operation mode given from the telephone 4 (or telephone 9) to the mail storage device 1 by the DTMF signal is different from that in the first embodiment, and accordingly, after the facsimile communication is completed. There will be differences in behavior.

First, in the same procedure as in the case of the first embodiment,
A call path is formed between the telephone 9 and the telephone 4 connected to the facsimile 10, and the contents of the call are sequentially stored in the voice data storage unit 21. In addition, the DTMF detection unit 15
The detection operation of the DTMF signal is started according to a command from the mail control unit 24.

When the first voice call ends, the telephone set 4
(Or the telephone 9), the buttons "1", "2", "1" and "*" are pressed, and the DTMF signals corresponding to the respective buttons are sequentially input to the mail storage device 1. These signals are DTM
The F detection unit 15 detects the result, and the detection result is converted into numerical information and output to the mail control unit 24. The mail control unit 24 is D
The "1", "2", "1" and "*" detected by the TMF detection unit 15 are decoded in the "voice + facsimile data storage and re-voice call recovery" mode, and the following commands are given to the relevant parts.

First, for the voice data accumulation processing unit 17,
Issues a voice accumulation stop command. Upon receiving the stop command, the voice data storage processing unit 17 stops the storage operation to the voice storage unit 21,
The voice data storage address is output to the mail control unit 24.
The mail control unit 24 then issues a voice mail management data write command to the mailbox management unit 19, and at the same time passes the voice data storage address. Mailbox management section 19
In response to this command, the voice call number of the first call voice (a number indicating the order of call voices in the voice call in the same call) is stored in the mailbox / data storage unit 23 together with the information necessary for voice mail management. Store in the corresponding area.

Next, the mail control unit 24 issues a DTMF detection stop command to the DTMF detection unit 15, then issues a facsimile reception start command with telephone reservation to the facsimile communication control unit 14, and a facsimile storage process. Part 18
A facsimile / data storage start command is issued to Facsimile communication control unit 14 and facsimile storage processing unit
18 stores the received facsimile data in the same procedure as in the first embodiment.

Upon receipt of the EOM signal indicating the last page from the facsimile 10, the facsimile communication control unit 14 requests the facsimile 10 for operator intervention.
Telephone 9 that sends back the Q signal and connects to the facsimile 10
, And simultaneously issues a telephone call command to the line control unit 12. Receiving this, the line control unit 12 switches the line from the internal side to the telephone 4 side and then sends a call signal to the telephone 4 to prompt hookup of the handset of the telephone 4. When both of the handset of the telephone 9 and the handset of the telephone 4 are picked up, voice communication can be performed again.

When the handset of the telephone 4 is hooked up, the line controller 12 detects the hookup and outputs a hookup detection signal to the mail controller 24. Receiving this, the mail control unit 24 issues a facsimile / data storage stop command to the facsimile / data storage processing unit 18 to stop the facsimile / data storage operation. By this stop command, the facsimile / data storage processing unit 18 stops the storage operation in the facsimile / data storage unit 22,
The facsimile data storage address is output to the mail control unit 24. The mail control unit 24 determines that the facsimile data accumulated so far is valid data, and manages it as the first facsimile mail linked to the first voice mail created earlier. On the other hand, a facsimile mail management data write command is issued.
At this time, the mail control unit 24 passes the facsimile data storage address and the mailbox management number output from the mailbox management unit 19 at the time of creating the voice mail to the mailbox management unit 19 at the same time, and the mailbox management unit Reference numeral 19 is a mailbox data storage unit that stores information necessary for facsimile / mail management, such as the fax / data storage address received from the mail control unit 24, the date of receipt, and the time of receipt, using the mailbox management number as a key.
Store in 23 applicable areas. After that, the operation is
The operation is the same as that after the voice call is started in the first embodiment.

As described above, by using the function of the second embodiment, the operation of switching to facsimile communication after voice communication and switching to voice communication after facsimile communication can be freely repeated in the same call as needed. Can be done.

(Third Embodiment) The operation of (3), that is, the operation of selecting whether to leave the call contents and the received facsimile data as a voice mail and a facsimile mail will be described.
Recording of a voice call is necessary when the person is absent, but when the person is present, all that is necessary is to give a telephone call, so there is no particular need to record. In addition,
Regarding data, if the person who answers the phone is the person himself, it is usually preferable to immediately output from the nearest facsimile rather than storing the facsimile data. In such a case, the function of the third embodiment can be used to select the way in which the voice data and the facsimile data are not stored.

First, in the same procedure as in the case of the first embodiment,
A call path is formed between the telephone 9 and the telephone 4 connected to the facsimile 10, and the contents of the call are sequentially stored in the voice data storage unit 21. In addition, the DTMF detection unit 15
The detection operation of the DTMF signal is started according to a command from the mail control unit 24. When the voice call ends, "3" from the telephone 4
The "4" and "*" buttons are pressed and the corresponding DTMF signals are sequentially input to the mail storage device 1.
"3" means no need to store voice data, "4" means no need to store facsimile data, and "*" means a terminal code.

These signals are detected by the DTMF detector 15, and the detected result is output to the mail controller 24 as numerical information. The mail control unit 24 deciphers that the "3", "4", "*" detected by the DTMF detection unit 15 is the "voice data accumulation unnecessary and facsimile data immediate output" mode, and issues the next command to the related parts. give.

First, the mail control unit 24 outputs a voice storage stop command to the voice data storage processing unit 17. In response to this, the voice data storage processing unit 17 stops the storage operation in the voice storage unit 21, and outputs the voice data storage address to the mail control unit 24. However, the mail control unit 24 determines that the voice data accumulated so far is invalid data and discards the accumulated voice data. Next, the mail control unit 24 uses the DTMF detection unit.
A DTMF detection stop command is issued to 15 to stop the DTMF detection operation. Further, the mail control unit 24 issues a facsimile reception start command to the facsimile communication control unit 14 and simultaneously issues a facsimile data storage start command with an immediate output condition to the facsimile data storage processing unit 18.

When the facsimile communication control section 14 receives a facsimile reception start command from the mail control section 24, it starts the facsimile communication by the same procedure as in the first embodiment, and the facsimile / data storage processing section 18 makes the facsimile communication. The facsimile data output from the control unit 14 is stored in the facsimile data storage unit 22. When the facsimile communication between the facsimile 10 and the mail storage device 1 is completed, the facsimile communication control unit 14 outputs a facsimile communication end signal to the mail control unit 24. The mail control unit 24
In response to this, a line disconnection command is issued to the line control unit 12, and at the same time, a facsimile / data storage stop command is issued to the facsimile / data storage processing unit 18 to stop the facsimile / data storage operation. Upon receiving this stop command, the facsimile / data storage processing section 17 stops the storage operation in the facsimile / data storage section 22 and outputs the facsimile / data storage address to the mail control section 24. Email controller 24
Determines that the facsimile data accumulated so far is immediate output data, and transmits the facsimile data to a preset facsimile.

The transmission operation to this facsimile is performed as follows. The mail control unit 24 first detects the line control unit 12
To make a call to a specified telephone number. When the connection with the designated facsimile is completed, the mail control unit 24 issues a facsimile transmission start command to the facsimile communication control unit 14, and also passes the facsimile data storage address to the facsimile data storage processing unit 18. Upon receiving the instruction, the facsimile communication control unit 14 issues a read request of the facsimile data stored in the facsimile data storage address to the facsimile storage processing unit 18, and sequentially reads the read facsimile data. Send to the other party's facsimile via.

When the transmission to the facsimile is completed, the facsimile communication control unit 14 issues a facsimile communication end signal to the mail control unit 24. Receiving this, the mail control unit 24 issues a line disconnection command to the line control unit 12, and at the same time instructs the facsimile accumulation processing unit 18 to discard the facsimile data corresponding to this facsimile data storage address. .

As described above, designation of not storing the received voice data and facsimile data can be selected by operating the telephone set 4 (or telephone set 9) connected to the mail storage device 1.

(Fourth Embodiment) The operation of (4), that is, when only the facsimile data is stored in the mailbox of the mail storage device 1, the voice guidance and the sender who notify the registration of the facsimile data are also sent. The operation of accumulating the voice data notifying the supplementary information in the same mailbox will be described. This is a measure to allow the recipient of the information to retrieve all the information stored in the mailbox with the voice information as a clue.

There are two cases where only facsimile data is stored. One is a case where a facsimile data is directly sent from the facsimile 10 because there is no listener in response to the transmission from the telephone 9 connected to the facsimile 10, and the other one is a single facsimile 11 This is the case when the facsimile data is sent from.

The operation when there is no listener who responds to the transmission from the telephone 9 is as follows.

First, the telephone 9 calls the line of the mail storage device 1. The telephone number at this time is the number of the line connected to the line connection terminal 2 of the mail storage device 1, as in the case of the first embodiment. The switching operation of the telephone 9 causes the exchange 7 to call the line connected to the line connection terminal 2. The called mail storage device 1 calls the telephone set 4 connected through the telephone connection terminal 3. At this time,
The mail storage device 1 counts the number of ringing tones in parallel, and if the handset 4 is not hooked up after a certain number of times, the mail storage device 1 automatically receives an incoming call,
"This is an XX store. Today's business has finished. If you have a message, please tell us the message as it is. When the message is over, press" 1 "" * ". If you have a message or fax, please press "1""2""*" after the message is finished. When the beeping sound ends, press the FAX start button. For those who only send faxes, immediately after this, "2"
Please press "*". When the beeping sound ends, press the FAX start button. The voice guidance saying "" is sent to the line.

The talker starts speaking from the telephone 9. The mail storage device 1 starts voice storage immediately after sending the voice guidance. In parallel, DTM from the telephone 9
The detection of the F signal is started. In the DTMF detection operation,
When "1" or "*" is detected, voice data is created by using the voice data accumulated up to that point as valid data. In addition, in the detection of DTMF, "1""2"
When "*" is detected, the voice data accumulated up to that point is used as valid data to create a voice mail, and then the mode is switched to the facsimile reception mode. Facsimile received when facsimile communication starts
Accumulate data. When the facsimile communication is completed, a facsimile mail is created in the same mailbox as the voice mail, and the voice mail and the facsimile mail are linked.

On the other hand, in the detection of DTMF, "2"
When "*" is detected, the facsimile reception mode is immediately switched to, and when the facsimile communication is started, the received facsimile data is accumulated. When the facsimile communication is completed, a voice message stating, "A fax was received on page MM at HH MM on DD day MM month" is registered as voice data in association with the facsimile mail. At the same time, the voice message "The sender of this document is XXX.", Which is additional information identifying the sender, is registered in the corresponding mailbox. Note that "XXXX" is the CSI information received from the facsimile 10 of the other party in the facsimile communication and converted into voice data.

As described above, even when the receiver does not respond, the sender operates the button of the telephone 9 to store only voice data, to store voice + facsimile data, and The mail storage device 1 can be set according to the case of storing only facsimile data. Then, when only the facsimile data is stored, the voice data notifying various information is automatically stored in the same mailbox in cooperation with the facsimile data. Therefore, by first taking out the voice mail box, the recipient of the information can know not only the message information by the voice data but also the fact that the document by the facsimile has reached itself.

The operation when data is transmitted from the facsimile 11 which does not have a telephone and is capable of automatic calling is as follows. First, when the facsimile 11 calls the telephone number of the line connected to the line connection terminal 2 of the mail storage device 1, the exchange 7 calls the line connected to the line connection terminal 2. The called mail storage device 1 calls the telephone set 4 connected through the telephone connection terminal 3. When the handset of the telephone 4 is hung up, a communication path between the facsimile 11 and the telephone 4 is formed, and a call becomes possible. However, since the other party is a facsimile, the CNG signal is received and the call cannot be established. In this case, the listener is "2" or "*" on the telephone 4.
Press the buttons in sequence. This signal gives an instruction of “facsimile storage” to the mail storage device 1 via the telephone connection terminal 3. Upon receiving the instruction, the mail storage device 1
The X receiving mode is dynamically switched to start communication with the facsimile 11. Note that the voice data starts to be accumulated when the handset of the telephone 4 is hooked up.
When "*" is detected, it is recognized as "facsimile storage", so the voice data stored up to that point becomes invalid and is discarded.

When the facsimile communication is started, the mail storage device 1 stores the received facsimile data. When the facsimile communication is completed, a voice message stating, "A facsimile was received at MM, DD, HH, MM," was registered in conjunction with the fax and mail, and at the same time. A voice message of incidental information identifying the sender "The sender of this document is XXX." Is registered in the mailbox.

In order to realize such a function, each unit of the mail storage device 1 operates as follows. First, in response to a call from the facsimile 11, the line connection terminal 2 of the mail storage device 1 is activated. The activation signal is transmitted from the line control unit 12 connected to the line connection terminal 2 to the telephone 4 via the telephone connection terminal 3 to call the telephone 4. When the handset of the telephone 4 is lifted, the communication path between the telephone 9 and the telephone 4 is formed, and the telephone communication becomes possible. When the handset of the telephone 4 is lifted, the line control unit 12 detects hookup,
The hookup detection signal is output to the mail control unit 24. The mail control unit 24 detects this and issues a voice accumulation start command to the voice data accumulation processing unit 17, and at the same time, the DTMF detection unit.
Issue a DTMF detection start command to 15. On the other hand, a facsimile
Since 11 is an automatic transmission facsimile, it sends a CNG signal to the line and does not make a call. In this case, the listener sequentially pushes down the “2” and “*” buttons on the telephone 4. The DTMF signal output by this button operation is
Numerical information that is detected by the MF detection unit 15 and indicates the detection result is output to the mail control unit 24. The mail control unit 24 is DT
The "2" and "*" detected by the MF detection unit 15 are interpreted as indicating the "facsimile data storage" mode, and the following commands are given to the relevant parts.

First, the mail control unit 24 issues a voice storage stop command to the voice data storage processing unit 17 to stop the voice storage operation to the voice storage unit 21. The voice data storage processing unit 17 outputs the voice data storage address to the mail control unit 24. However, the mail control unit 24 determines that the voice data stored up to that time is invalid data and discards the voice data. . Next, the mail control unit 24 uses the DTMF detection unit.
A DTMF detection stop command is issued to 15 to stop the DTMF signal detection operation. Further, the mail control unit 24 issues a facsimile reception start command to the facsimile communication control unit 14, and at the same time, causes the facsimile storage processing unit 18 to perform facsimile transmission.
Issue a data accumulation start command.

Upon receiving the facsimile reception start command, the facsimile communication control unit 14 starts the automatic reception operation, and the CED
The signal is sent to the line via the line control unit 12. The facsimile 11 detects the CED signal and the facsimile communication is executed. When the facsimile communication is started and the facsimile data is received, the facsimile communication control unit 14 sequentially outputs the received facsimile data to the facsimile data storage processing unit 18, and the facsimile data storage processing unit 18 Is stored in the facsimile / data storage unit 22. When the facsimile communication between the facsimile 11 and the mail storage device 1 is completed, the facsimile communication control unit 14 outputs a facsimile communication end signal to the mail control unit 24. At this time, the CSI information received from the partner facsimile machine 11 is also output to the mail control unit 24 at the same time.
This information will be used later as additional information for identifying the sender.

When the mail control unit 24 receives these pieces of information, it issues a line disconnection command to the line control unit 12 and at the same time issues a facsimile / data storage stop command to the facsimile / data storage processing unit 18. Upon receiving the stop command, the facsimile / data storage processing unit 17 stops the storage operation in the facsimile / data storage unit 22 and outputs the facsimile / data storage address to the mail control unit 24. The mail control unit 24 determines that the facsimile data accumulated so far is valid data, and issues a facsimile / mail management data write command to the mailbox management unit 19 to manage it as a facsimile mail. At this time, the fax / data storage address is simultaneously set to the mailbox management unit 19
Pass to. The mailbox management unit 19 generates a mailbox management number, and uses this as a key to store the information necessary for managing the facsimile mail, such as the facsimile / data storage address received from the mail control unit 24, the reception date, and the reception time. The data is stored in the corresponding area of the mailbox / data storage unit 23.

Next, the mail control unit 24 passes the incidental information for specifying the sender to the voice guidance processing unit 16 and outputs a voice generation command for prompting conversion to voice data. This supplementary information includes the CSI information previously output from the facsimile communication control unit 14, the reception completion date and time, the number of pages received, etc. The sender of this document is XXX. "This is the basic data for creating a message with the content.
The voice guidance processing unit 16 decomposes the incidental information received from the mail control unit 24 into characters, and sequentially reads the voice data corresponding to each from the voice guidance storage unit 20. These data are stored in the voice conversion unit 13 and the voice data storage processing unit 17
It is stored in the voice data storage unit 21 via the.

When the voice data storage operation is completed, the voice data storage processing section 17 outputs the voice data storage address to the mail control section 24. The mail control unit 24 issues a voice mail management data write command to the mailbox management unit 19 so that the voice data can be managed in conjunction with the previously created facsimile mail. At the same time, the voice data storage address and the mailbox management number output from the mailbox management unit 19 when the facsimile / mail is created are passed to the mailbox management unit 19. Using the mailbox management number as a key, the mailbox management unit 19 stores the information necessary for voice mail management, such as the voice data storage address received from the mail control unit 24, the reception date and the reception time, in the mailbox data storage unit 23.
Store in the corresponding area of. Finally, the mail control unit 24
Outputs to the registration status output terminal 5 via the registration status output unit 25 that the voice mail and the facsimile mail have been registered.

As described above, when facsimile data is received by itself, by the function of the fourth embodiment, the incidental information for identifying the sender is in the form of voice data in association with the accumulation of facsimile data. Accumulated. This voice data can be heard as information from whom and when the FAX was received when the voice mail was retrieved later using the telephone at the remote place.

[0082]

As is apparent from the above description of the embodiments, the mail storage device of the present invention is capable of transmitting voice data and facsimile data sent from a facsimile with a telephone to the same call using one line. Can be associated with each other and stored in the mailbox. Further, it is possible to freely select, from the voice data and the facsimile data, data that needs to be stored and data that need not be stored by a simple operation.

Further, it is also possible to independently store facsimile data sent from a facsimile or the like which is not attached to a telephone. In this case, the voice guidance that indicates the attributes of the received fax data is created and stored in the mailbox in association with the fax data. Therefore, the user uses voice mail to store all the data in the mailbox. You can know the registration status of.

Since the information indicating the registration status of the mailbox is output to the outside, the user can know the registration status of the mailbox through an external display device or the like, and based on this information, the pocket can be checked. By ringing a bell or the like, the user can quickly access the mailbox.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a mail storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a system including a mail storage device according to an embodiment,

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile communication control unit of the apparatus,

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional mail storage device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 mail storage device 2 line connection terminal 3 telephone connection terminal 4, 8, 56, 57 telephone 5 registration status output terminal 6 external display device 7, 51 switch 9 facsimile attached telephone 10 facsimile (telephone attached) 11,62 facsimile (telephone attached None) 12 Line control unit 13 Voice conversion unit 14 Facsimile communication control unit 15 DTMF detection unit 16 Voice guidance processing unit 17 Voice data storage processing unit 18 Facsimile / data storage processing unit 19 Mailbox management unit 20 Voice guidance storage unit 21 Voice data Storage unit 22 Facsimile / data storage unit 23 Mailbox data storage unit 24 Mail control unit 25 Registration status output unit 41 CNG detection unit 42 Modem unit 43 CED detection unit 44 Protocol control unit 45 Block control unit 52 Station line trunk 53 Private line trunk 54, 55 Subscriber circuit 58 Voice storage controller 59 Additional information controller 60 Accimili control device 61 Voice storage device 63 Document image storage device

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A mail storage device capable of storing and retrieving voice data and facsimile data, a line control means for controlling a line connection of the mail storage device, and a DTMF detection means for detecting a received DTMF signal. Facsimile communication control means for controlling facsimile communication, facsimile data storage processing means for controlling storage / retrieval of facsimile data, facsimile data storage means for storing facsimile data, and analog / digital conversion of voice signals Audio conversion means for performing, audio data storage processing means for controlling storage and retrieval of digitized audio data, audio data storage means for storing digitized audio data, and audio data stored in the same call And fax / data in the same box A mail storage device comprising: a mail box management unit that manages the data as a unit and data; and a mail control unit that controls the operation of each unit according to the operation mode represented by the DTMF signal. 2. The mail control means controls switching from a voice call operation to a facsimile communication operation in the same call, based on the DTMF signal transmitted from a telephone set of a calling party or a called party. The mail storage device according to claim 1, wherein the mail storage device is a mail storage device. 3. The mail control means controls switching from a facsimile communication operation to a voice communication operation in the same call based on the DTMF signal transmitted from the telephone set of the calling party or the called party. The mail storage device according to claim 1, wherein the mail storage device is a mail storage device. 4. The mail control means controls to invalidate the accumulation of the voice data or the facsimile data based on the DTMF signal transmitted from the telephone set of the calling party or the called party. The mail storage device according to claim 1. 5. A voice data creating means for creating voice data for instructing the storage of facsimile data is provided, and when only the facsimile data is stored, the mailbox management means stores the facsimile data and the voice data. The mail storage device according to claim 1, wherein the voice data created by the creating means is centrally managed as data in the same box. 6. The mail storage device according to claim 1, further comprising registration status output means for outputting the presence or absence of data storage in the mailbox.