JPH08181843A - Facsimile communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To apply a facsimile equipment to the DTMF code of a caller side terminal executing a remote operation and data communication by controlling a transmission content based on a detection code by means of a DTMF detection means. CONSTITUTION: A data base control part 19 controls the operation of a facsimile communication part 12 and the transmission content based on the detection code by the DTMF detection part 15 when an identification signal is not detected by an identification signal detection part 16. The control part 19 controls the operation of the facsimile communication part 12 and the transmission content based on received data by a data communication part 14. In such a case, the identification signal detection part 16 detects the presence or absence of the continuous sound of a specified frequency.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile communication apparatus having a host function capable of remote operation from an unspecified facsimile terminal connected via a telephone network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional apparatus of this type, a facsimile communication means for performing facsimile communication by a telephone line, an image memory for storing image information transmitted by the facsimile communication means, and a device connected through the line. Based on the voice response means for transmitting a predetermined voice message to the partner terminal, the DTMF detecting means for detecting the DTMF code transmitted from the partner terminal in response to the voice message, and the detection code by the DTMF detecting means. It has an operation of the above-mentioned facsimile communication means and a control means for controlling the transmission content thereof, and as shown in FIG. 4, when an incoming call is made from a facsimile terminal with a telephone, the call is first made. A voice message is sent to the calling terminal and sent from the calling terminal in response to this voice message. Together to start the operation of the facsimile communication means, based on the DTMF code comes, the image information specified by the DTMF code has been performed to facsimile transmission is taken out from the image memory. The DTMF code is the DTM of the calling terminal
You can make a call by operating the F dialer. Thereby, the image information according to the request of the user of the calling side terminal can be distributed to the calling side terminal. That is,
Image information can be distributed in response to a remote operation by the DTMF code from the calling side facsimile terminal.

[0003]

However, according to such a configuration, it takes time to exchange the facsimile voice message and the DTMF code corresponding to the voice message until the facsimile communication is started. There is a problem that the density of information that can be exchanged is low, and it takes a long time before the facsimile communication is actually started.

Therefore, the inventors of the present invention have studied the use of data communication for the purpose of improving the efficiency of the communication with the calling terminal prior to the facsimile communication.

That is, a facsimile communication means for performing facsimile communication by a telephone line, an image memory for storing image information transmitted by this facsimile communication means, a data communication means, and the above-mentioned data based on the data received by the data communication means. And a control means for executing the operation of the facsimile communication means and the control of the transmission content thereof,
As shown in FIG. 5, when there is an incoming call by dialing from a facsimile terminal with a data communication function, first, a data modem response signal is issued to the calling side terminal to execute a data modem connection sequence. Data communication of a predetermined item is performed with the calling side terminal, image information designated by transmission data from the calling side terminal is taken out from the image memory, and is transmitted by facsimile. That is, image information can be distributed by remote operation by data communication.

However, this configuration requires a data communication function in the calling side terminal, and cannot be applied to a facsimile terminal capable of transmitting only a DTMF code.
The problem arises.

Therefore, the inventors of the present invention have both the data communication means and the DTMF detection means so that the other terminal has the data communication function and the other terminal has only the DTMF code transmission function. , I considered to correspond to both.

However, it has been found that the combined use of the data communication and the DTMF code causes the following problems because it is not possible to set the timing conditions.

That is, as shown in FIG.
First, in order to check whether or not the calling terminal has a data communication function, a method of sending a data modem response signal to the calling terminal, that is, when a data communication priority mode is set, It is said that the user of the calling terminal, which does not have the data communication function, is likely to mistakenly call it an erroneous call because the meaning of the data modem response signal that is heard at the beginning after making a call and line connection cannot be understood. The problem arises.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, after receiving a call, first,
When the method of sending a voice message, that is, the DTMF priority mode is set, it takes a considerably long time to check the sending of the voice message and the presence or absence of the response of the DTMF code to the voice message. Therefore, if the calling terminal has a data communication function, the waiting time for the data modem response signal will be exceeded, resulting in a no-signal error. Since the waiting time of the data modem response signal is only about 3 seconds, the data communication function of the calling side terminal will mistakenly recognize that there is no signal due to so-called timeout even after the voice message is sent first.

In other words, the calling side facsimile terminal that performs remote operation using the DTMF code and the calling side facsimile terminal that performs remote operation using data communication are not compatible with each other, and in the end, only one of the terminals can be used. There wasn't.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and is applicable to both a calling side facsimile terminal which performs remote operation by DTMF code and a calling side facsimile terminal which performs remote operation by data communication. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile communication device capable of performing remote operation from either of the terminals without causing an erroneous recognition error.

[0013]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by using a voice response means, a DTMF detecting means, an identification signal detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a specific identification signal, and the above-mentioned identification signal being detected. If the identification signal is not detected, the operation of the facsimile communication means and the transmission content thereof are detected based on the detection code by the DTMF detection means. Control is performed, and when the identification signal is detected, the operation of the facsimile communication means and the transmission content thereof are controlled based on the data received by the data communication means.

[0014]

According to the present invention, with the above-described structure, a voice message can be transmitted immediately after receiving a call, and
If the calling side facsimile terminal has a data communication function, it may recognize that the calling side terminal has a data communication function even while sending the voice message. Therefore, it is possible to handle both the calling side facsimile terminal that performs remote operation using the DTMF code and the calling side facsimile terminal that performs remote operation using data communication, without causing misidentification errors.
It is possible to perform remote operation from either terminal.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a facsimile communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein 1 is a host side facsimile communication apparatus having an image information database, 2 is a calling side facsimile communication apparatus for performing remote operation, and 3 Is a telephone network switch and L is a telephone line.

The host side facsimile apparatus 1 is an NCU that performs line control for incoming and outgoing calls to the telephone line L.
(Network control unit) 11, Facsimile communication unit (FAX modem) 12 for performing facsimile communication through the line L,
An image memory 13 for storing image information transmitted by the facsimile communication unit 12 in advance, a voice response unit 14 for transmitting a predetermined voice message to a partner terminal connected via the line L, and a voice response unit for responding to the voice message. D that detects the DTMF code sent from the other terminal
A TMF detection unit 15, an identification signal detection unit 16 that detects the presence or absence of a specific identification signal from the line L, and a data communication unit (data modem) 17 that starts data communication with a partner terminal when the identification signal is detected. , A data memory 18 in which message data to be sent to the other terminal by the data communication unit 17 is stored in advance, the image memory 13
It is configured by a database control unit 19 and the like that manages image information stored in, and controls input / output.

Further, when the identification signal detection section 16 does not detect the identification signal, the database control section 19 determines the operation of the facsimile communication section 12 based on the detection code of the DTMF detection section 15 and the transmission content thereof. When the control is executed and the identification signal is detected, the control means for executing the operation of the facsimile communication section 12 and the control of the transmission content thereof are also formed based on the data received by the data communication section 14. .

The identification signal detector 16 is configured to detect the presence or absence of continuous sound of a specific frequency.

On the other hand, as a partner terminal of the facsimile communication apparatus 1, the calling side facsimile communication apparatus 2 that remotely operates the facsimile communication apparatus 1 performs facsimile communication by an NCU (network control unit) 21 and a telephone line L. Facsimile communication unit (FAX modem) 22, data communication unit (data modem) 23 that performs data communication by the line L, and data input / output unit 24 that displays received data by this data communication unit 23 and performs input operation of transmission data, etc. , An identification signal generation unit 25 for generating a specific identification signal and transmitting it to the line L after line connection is made by calling, inputting / outputting (reading / printing) and encoding / decoding facsimile image information. Facsimile input / output unit 26,
It is composed of a telephone 27 equipped with a DTMF dialer, a control unit 28 for centrally controlling each unit, and the like.

Here, the identification signal generator 25 is constructed by using a tone oscillator so as to generate a continuous tone of a specific frequency which is selectively detected by the identification signal detector 16 for a predetermined time.

The operation of the facsimile communication apparatus configured as described above will be described below.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a communication sequence executed by the device of the present invention. In the figure, first, when a line is connected by a dial call from the calling side facsimile communication apparatus 2, a data modem identification signal is sent from the calling side to the called side facsimile communication apparatus 1.
Receiving the data modem identification signal, the called side facsimile communication apparatus 1 transmits a data modem response signal to the calling side. As a result, the data modem connection sequence is executed between the calling side facsimile communication apparatus 2 and the called side facsimile communication apparatus 1, and data communication is performed between them. In this data communication, inquiry items from the called side to the calling side are data-transmitted, and response items to the inquiry items are data-transmitted from the calling side to the called side. Image information designated based on such data communication is facsimile-transmitted from the called-side facsimile communication device 1 to the calling-side facsimile communication device 2.

As described above, the remote operation of the called side facsimile communication apparatus 1 by the calling side facsimile communication apparatus 2 is performed by the data communication performed after the line connection.

FIG. 3 shows another example of the communication sequence executed by the device of the present invention. In the figure, first, when a line is connected by a dial call from the calling side facsimile communication apparatus 2, a voice message is sent from the called side facsimile communication apparatus 1 to the calling side facsimile communication apparatus 2.

If the calling side facsimile communication apparatus 2 does not have a data communication function, the calling side sends a DTMF code in response to the voice message from the calling side to the called side. The facsimile communication device 1 on the calling side can be operated remotely.

However, when the calling side facsimile communication device 2 has a data communication function, the calling side sends a data modem identification to the called side facsimile communication device 1 during the transmission of the voice message. The signal is sent out. Receiving the data modem identification signal, the called side facsimile communication apparatus 1 transmits a data modem response signal to the calling side. As a result, as in the case described above, the data modem connection sequence is executed between the calling side facsimile communication apparatus 2 and the called side facsimile communication apparatus 1, and data communication is performed between them. In this data communication, inquiry items from the called side to the calling side are data-transmitted, and response items to the inquiry items are data-transmitted from the calling side to the called side. In this way, the image information designated based on the data communication is transmitted from the called side facsimile communication apparatus 1 to the calling side facsimile communication apparatus 2 by facsimile.

As described above, when the data modem identification signal is not detected, the operation of the facsimile communication means and the transmission content thereof are controlled based on the DTMF signal code, and when the modem identification signal is detected, the data is detected. Based on the data exchanged by the communication means, the operation of the facsimile communication means and the control of its transmission content are performed.

With this, a voice message can be sent out immediately after receiving a call, and if the calling side facsimile communication device has a data communication function, even if the voice message is being sent. , It is possible to recognize that the calling side has a data communication function.

Therefore, it is possible to handle both the calling side facsimile terminal which performs remote operation by the DTMF code and the calling side facsimile terminal which performs remote operation by data communication, and neither of them can cause misidentification error. Remote operation can also be performed from the terminal.

[0031]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the voice response means, the DTMF detection means, the identification signal detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a specific identification signal, and the identification signal are detected. In the case where the identification signal is not detected, the operation of the facsimile communication means and the control of the transmission contents thereof are controlled based on the detection code by the DTMF detection means. When the identification signal is detected, the operation of the facsimile communication means and the control of the transmission content thereof are controlled based on the data received by the data communication means, so that the voice message is sent immediately after the incoming call. If the calling facsimile terminal has a data communication function, send a voice message Even while the call is in progress, it is possible to recognize that the calling terminal has a data communication function. Therefore, the calling facsimile terminal that performs remote operation using the DTMF code and the remote operation using data communication can be performed. Corresponds to any calling facsimile terminal
This has the effect that the remote operation can be performed from either of the terminals without causing a misidentification error.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a facsimile communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a communication sequence executed by the device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of a communication sequence executed by the device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation sequence diagram when only a conventional voice message is transmitted.

FIG. 5 is an operation sequence diagram when only conventional data communication is performed.

FIG. 6 is an operation sequence diagram when a conventional voice message and data communication are used together.

FIG. 7 is an operation sequence diagram when a conventional voice message and data communication are used together.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Called Side (Host Side) Facsimile Communication Device 11 NCU (Network Control Unit) 12 Facsimile Communication Section 13 Image Memory 14 Voice Response Section 15 DTMF Detection Section 16 Identification Signal Detection Section 17 Data Communication Section 18 Data Memory 19 Database Control Section 2 Calling side facsimile communication device 21 NCU (network control unit) 22 Facsimile communication unit 23 Data communication unit 24 Data input / output unit 25 Identification signal generation unit 26 Facsimile input / output unit 27 Telephone 28 Control unit 3 Telephone network switch L Telephone line

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile communication means for performing facsimile communication via a telephone line, an image memory for storing image information transmitted by the facsimile communication means, and a predetermined voice message to a partner terminal connected via the line. Voice response means for sending, DTMF detection means for detecting the DTMF code sent from the other terminal in response to the voice message, identification signal detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a specific identification signal from the line, Data communication means for starting data communication with the partner terminal when the identification signal is detected, and operation of the facsimile communication means based on the detection code by the DTMF detection means and the transmission contents thereof when the identification signal is not detected. Control is performed, and when the identification signal is detected, reception by the data communication means is performed. A facsimile communication apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls the operation of the facsimile communication unit and the content of the transmission based on data. 2. The facsimile communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the identification signal detecting means detects the presence or absence of continuous sound of a specific frequency. 3. Facsimile communication means for carrying out facsimile communication by telephone line, data communication means for carrying out data communication by said line, and data input / output means for displaying received data and inputting transmission data by this data communication means. And a discrimination signal generating means for generating a specific discrimination signal and transmitting it to the circuit after the circuit is connected by calling. 4. The facsimile communication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the identification signal generating means generates a continuous sound of a specific frequency for a predetermined time.