JPH0856255A - Telephone reply system and telephone reply method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a service used frequently by called parties and callers by acquiring the attribute of a caller having a stored password and selecting only a message whose stored time is within an operating time zone based on sets of stored information so as to provide a message corresponding to the caller and to make phone call reception thoughtfully. CONSTITUTION:A password storage section 2 acquires a password of a caller received from an incoming line through a telephone line control section 1 and acquires the acquisition time from a time provision section 3 at the same time and stores both the information sets. The attribute of a caller having a password stored in the password storage section 2 is acquired from sets of information stored in a caller information storage section 4. Then only a message whose password is not stored in the password storage section 2, whose attribute is stored in a message storage section 5 based on the information stored in the section 5 and whose time stored in the password storage section 2 is within an operating time zone is selected as to a message not heard by the caller.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention, when the called party does not answer the call, responds to the call on its behalf to notify the called party of the message.
The present invention relates to a telephone answering system and a telephone answering method for transferring a telephone call and recording a message of a caller.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In conventional telephone answering systems, in general,
Message reproduction and call transfer of the called party are performed regardless of who is the calling party and what time the current time is, and it does not change depending on the calling party and the time. Nor was it considered if the caller had already heard the message.

[0003]

In the prior art, if the setting is made, a message reply or a transfer destination call is always made, and for example, a message reply or a transfer originator is not made only in a certain time zone. Further, if only the same message and the same transfer destination can be provided regardless of who the sender is, the usability of the system deteriorates, and eventually the system itself is not used.

The message or transfer destination once set by the called party is saved until it is canceled by the called party, but this cancellation is troublesome and the setting and setting contents are remembered. There is also a problem that it is difficult to do.

[0005]

According to the telephone answering system with a message function of the invention of claim 1, telephone line control means for detecting an incoming call, detecting on-hook of the telephone, and disconnecting the line, and counting the time. Time output means for outputting
A personal identification number storage unit that acquires the personal identification number input by the sender and stores the personal identification number and the time obtained from the time presenting unit, and at least one personal identification number as one set of information, at least At least one sender information storage means, one callee's message, at least one caller attribute, and at least one operating time period as one set of information, and at least one of them. Message information storage means for storing,
The attribute of the caller having the personal identification number stored in the personal identification number storage means is obtained from the set of the voice reproduction means for reproducing the recorded message and the information stored in the sender information storage means, and the message is transmitted. From the set of information stored in the information storage means, only the message having the caller attribute and having the time stored in the secret code storage means within the operating time zone is selected, and the message is reproduced by the voice reproduction means. And a sender-only message reproducing means for reproducing and sending to the sender.

According to the telephone answering method of the second aspect of the present invention, a message of one called party, a personal identification number or attribute of at least one calling party, and at least one operating time period are set as a set, and the number of them is at least one. A message information storage means for storing one set, and a message selection step for selecting a corresponding message from the message information storage means based on the personal identification number entered by the sender, and an operating time for the selected message. The method includes a step of checking whether the current time is in the band and a message sending step of playing back the selected message and sending it to the caller if the current time is within the operating time period.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in addition to the second aspect of the invention, there is provided sender information storage means for storing at least one set of a sender attribute and at least one secret code corresponding to the attribute. It is characterized in that the attribute of the recipient having the inputted personal identification number is acquired from the sender information storage means, and the message selecting step is selected by the acquired attribute.

According to the invention of claim 4, on the premise of the invention of claim 2 or 3, when the message is reproduced and transmitted, the inputted personal identification number is stored in the group of the transmitted messages in the message information storage means. Then, it is checked whether or not the secret code stored in the message group selected in the message selecting step matches the inputted secret code. If they match, the message is not transmitted. Is characterized by.

According to the invention of claim 5, on the premise of the invention of claim 4, the validity period is stored in each message group in the message information storage means, and whether the current time is within each validity period. It is characterized in that whether or not the set of messages whose validity period has expired is deleted from the message information storage means. According to the invention of claim 6, in addition to the invention of claim 5, the validity period is stored in each set of attributes in the sender information storage means, and whether or not there is a current time within each validity period is determined. It is characterized in that the set of attributes whose validity period has expired is deleted from the sender information storage means.

According to the telephone answering system with a transfer function of the invention of claim 7, the incoming and outgoing call of the telephone, the on-hook detection of the telephones of the calling side and the called side, the off-hook detection of the called telephone of the calling side and the outgoing call are made. The telephone line control means for connecting and disconnecting the telephone of the receiving side and the telephone of the receiving side, the time presenting means for counting and outputting the time, the personal identification number input by the caller, and acquiring the personal identification number PIN code storage means for storing the time acquired from the time presentation means, and sender information storage for storing at least one of the attributes of one sender and at least one PIN as one set of information. Means, one transfer destination telephone number, at least one caller attribute to be transferred, and at least one operating time zone as one set of information, and a transfer destination that stores at least one of them The attribute of the sender having the personal identification number stored in the personal identification number storage means is obtained from the set of the information storage means and the information stored in the sender information storage means, and stored in the transfer destination information storage means. From the set of information, the transfer destination having the caller attribute and having the time stored in the secret code storage means within the operating time zone is selected, and the telephone line control means transfers the call to the transfer destination. It comprises caller-only transfer means for connecting to the caller's phone when the callee's phone goes off-hook.

According to the telephone answering method of the invention of claim 8,
One transfer destination telephone number, at least one caller's personal identification number or attribute, and at least one operating time period as a set, and a transfer destination information storage means for storing at least one set, A phone number selection step that selects the corresponding transfer destination phone number based on the personal identification number entered by the caller, and a step that checks whether the current time is within the operating hours for the selected transfer destination phone number And, if the current time is within the operating hours, the step of transferring the caller's phone to the phone of the selected transfer destination phone number.

The invention of claim 9 is based on the invention of claim 8, and is provided with a transmission information storage means for storing at least one set of attributes of the sender and at least one password for the attribute, The attribute of the caller having the input personal identification number is acquired from the caller information storage means, and the telephone number selecting step is selected by the acquired attribute.

The invention of claim 10 is based on the invention of claim 8 or 9, and the effective period is stored in each set of transfer destination telephone numbers in the transfer destination information storing means, and within each effective period. It is characterized in that whether or not there is a current time is checked, and the set of transfer destination telephone numbers whose valid period has expired is deleted from the transfer destination information storage means. The invention of claim 11 is claim 10
On the premise of the invention, the validity period is stored in each set of attributes in the sender information storage means, and it is checked whether or not there is a current time within each validity period. Is deleted from the sender information storage means.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An actual service for explaining an example in which a caller receives a call to a system and reproduces a message of a called party according to a personal identification number input by the caller according to the embodiments of the inventions of claims 1 to 6. Then, when the called party does not answer the telephone, the called party answers and answers the called party's message.
FIG. 1 shows an example of the functional configuration of the system. The telephone line control unit 1 detects an incoming call, detects an on-hook of the receiving side telephone to the system, disconnects the line, outputs a signal from the receiving side line to the system to the secret code storage unit 2, and outputs a voice signal. The signal from the output unit 7 is output to the incoming line. The personal identification number storage unit 2 acquires the personal identification number of the caller input from the incoming line through the telephone line control unit 1 and at the same time acquires the acquisition time from the time presentation unit 3 to store both information. As a means for inputting the personal identification number from the caller, voice input using voice recognition technology, push button input using a PB receiver, dial input using a dial pulse detector, etc. are conceivable.
Take push button input using a PB receiver as an example.

The time presentation unit 3 has a timer inside,
When an inquiry comes from another functional unit, the time at the time of the inquiry is answered. The sender information storage unit 4 stores the attributes of one sender, one or more personal identification numbers, and the validity period.
One or more pieces are stored as one set of information. Figure 2
An image of the stored contents of the storage unit 4 is shown in FIG. Each vertical column represents a storage area, and horizontal rows having the same sender attribute represent one set of information. Although character information such as "individual 1" and "company 1" is stored in the field (area) of the sender's attribute, this may be a number or the like. In addition, it is considered to be good for the human interface to have voices such as “home” and “family” stored at the same time in correspondence with the letters and numbers and to be able to check the voices. In the secret code column (area), the secret code is stored in five digits as an example. In the expiration date column (area), contents indicating the expiration period from what year, month, day, hour, and minute to what year, month, day, hour, and minute are stored. A specific example will be described. It is assumed that the called party Y is a section manager of the company A, the boss of the called party Y is the section manager B, and the subordinates are the section chief, the D employee, and the E employee. Now let's say you gave them your PIN: B section manager 10001, C section manager 10002
Assuming that the D employee is 10003 and the E employee is 10004, the message addressed to each person is Y 1 to B, C, and D from FIG.
~ By using the attribute of the sender of individual 4 respectively, the message to only employees D and E is to use the attribute of company 1, and the message to all is the sender of individuals 1 to 4 Attributes (or attributes of senders of individuals 1, 2 and company 1)
It becomes possible by using. Further, as an example, when the valid period of the information having the attribute of the individual 1 is read from the sender information storage unit 4, the message from Y to the sender having the attribute of the individual 1 has a valid period of April 1, 1994 0 From hour 0 to 20
It turns out that it is valid until 24:00 on March 31, 2010.

The message storage unit 5 stores the message of one called party, the attribute of one or more callers, one or more operating hours, the effective period, and the personal identification number of the person who hears the message. One or more pieces are stored as one set of information. FIG. 3 shows an image of the contents stored in the message storage unit 5. Each vertical column in FIG. 3 represents a storage area, and horizontal rows having the same message represent one set of information. In the message area (area) of FIG. 3, only characters such as “message 1” and “message 2” are written for simplicity, but actually voice data of the message or character information of the message is stored. An example of the content of each message is shown in FIG. If this message is voice data, D
If it is A-converted, it can be heard, and if it is character information, it can be heard as a sound if character data is sent and displayed on a display or a character-to-speech converter (text-to-speech synthesizer) is used. The column of the sender attribute in FIG. 3 stores data corresponding to the same column in FIG. The operating time zone in FIG. 3 stores the content indicating the time zone during which a message is given to the caller, from what hour to what hour. The column of the expiration date in FIG. 3 stores contents indicating the expiration date of the message from what month and what year to what year and what month. Further, in the column of the listener's personal identification number, the personal identification number corresponding to the caller who has already heard this message is stored.

Considering the same situation as in the previous example, and the current time is 12:30 on July 1, 1994, the B manager of the company of the called party Y calls and is given to him. If the personal identification number 10001 is input, the personal identification number 10001 and the current time 7
12:30 on the first day of the month will be stored. Since the attribute of the caller corresponding to the personal identification number 10001 from the caller information storage unit 4 is "individual 1", "message 1", "message 6", and "message 7" are attributed to the caller from the message storage unit 5. It can be seen that it corresponds to "Individual 1". Next, the time is 199
Since it is 12:30 on July 1, 4th, this time is within each valid period of "Message 1", "Message 6", and "Message 7", but the current time 12:30 is "Message." Since it is not in the operation time zone of "7", "Message 1" and "Message 6" remain as candidates for the message to be reproduced. Further, when the listener's personal identification number is checked, it can be seen that "Message 6" has already been heard, so "Message 1" is transmitted to Director B.

The expired information erasing unit 6 checks the validity period of each information in the sender information storage unit 4 and the message information storage unit 5 based on the current time obtained from the time presentation unit 3, and the information whose validity period has expired. Erase. The voice output unit 7 notifies the caller that the system is responding, requests the input of a personal identification number, and reproduces the message of the selected called party.

The service control unit 8 controls the respective units 1 to 7 to notify the caller of the message of the called party. When the personal identification number is input by the caller, the service control unit 8 selects the personal identification number storage unit 2 from the set of information stored in the originator information storage unit 4.
The attribute of the sender having the personal identification number stored in is acquired from the set of information stored in the message information storage unit 5 and the personal identification number having the sender attribute and stored in the personal identification number storage unit 2 is obtained. Only the message which is not stored and whose time stored in the password storing unit 2 is within the operating time zone is selected, and the message is reproduced from the voice reproducing unit 7, and the message information storage corresponding to the reproduced message is selected. The personal identification number stored in the personal identification number storage unit 2 is written in the set of information stored in the unit 5.

FIG. 5 shows a flow of a series of processing from receiving an incoming call to the system to notifying a message and disconnecting the call. The processing will be described below with reference to this flowchart. Procedure 1) The telephone line controller 1 waits for an incoming call (S ₁ ). When there is an incoming call, the input from the caller is input to the secret code storage unit 2, and the incoming line, the storage unit 2 and the sound reproduction unit 7 are connected so that the signal from the voice reproduction unit 7 reaches the caller's telephone. Connect.

Procedure 2) The present time is acquired from the time presentation unit 3 (S ₂ ). The acquired time is written in the personal identification number storage unit 2. By the procedure 3) expiration information erasing unit 6, the caller information storage unit 4 and the message information storing unit 5, to erase the information beyond the expiration date (S _3). After that, currently, determine whether there is a message in the operation time zone (S _4).

[0022] from step 4) the audio output unit 7, guidance telling the response of the system, for example, "is here, telephone response is a system of Suzuki seat" to output (S _5). Step 5) As a result of checking in step S ₄ of step 3, if there is no message that can be currently reproduced (S ₆ ), from the voice output unit 7,
For example, output "No message from Suzuki" (S
₇ ) Then, the telephone line control unit 1 disconnects the telephone call (S ₈ ). If there is a message that can be reproduced now, proceed to step 6.

Procedure 6) A variable i that counts the number of times the request guidance is output to the sender is initialized to 0 (S ₉ ). Step 7) Guidance that requires the caller to enter a PIN, such as "If you have been notified of your PIN by Suzuki, please enter your PIN and enter # at the end. If you have not been notified, leave it as it is. Please wait "to be output from the audio output unit 7 (S _10).

Procedure 8) 1 is added to the variable i for counting the number of times the request guidance is output to the caller (S ₁₁ ). By the procedure 9) personal identification number storage unit 2 waits for an input of PIN from the caller (S _12). If there is no input within the preset timeout time, the procedure proceeds to step 10 (S ₁₃ ).
If there is an input, that number is set in the password storage unit 2, at the same time the current time is acquired from the time presentation unit 3 and set in the password storage unit 2, and the process proceeds to step 11 (S ₁₄ ). Since the time is also acquired in the procedure 2 (S ₂ ), it is not always necessary to acquire the current time here, and the one acquired in the procedure 2 may be used.

Step 10) If i is 1 (S ₁₃ ), the personal identification number is set to 00000 (S ₁₅ ), the personal identification number is stored in the personal identification number storage unit 2, and the procedure proceeds to step 13 (S ₁₆ ). If i is not 1, proceed to step 12 (S ₁₇ ). Step 11) The entered personal identification number is the sender information storage unit 4
If that are registered number, go to step 13 (S _16), the process proceeds to step 12 (S ₁₇₎ If not (S _14).

[0026] If the procedure 12) i was predetermined value (one or more) (S _17), guidance to request a call back, for example, "personal identification number is not correct. Sorry, let me turn off the phone Is output from the voice output unit 7 (S ₁₈ ), and the telephone line control unit 1 disconnects the call (S ₉ ). If i is less than or equal to a predetermined value, step 7 (S
Return to ₁₀ ).

Procedure 13) Stored in the secret code storage unit 2
Depending on the PIN and the current time, it may be
You can hear it with your PIN. The caller is still listening
Select a message that does not exist as follows. Caller information storage
Stored in the secret code storage unit 2 from the set of information stored in 4.
Get the attribute of the caller with the specified PIN, and send the message information.
From the set of information stored in the storage unit 5, the sender attribute
The personal identification number stored in the personal identification number storage unit 2 is recorded.
When it is not remembered and is stored in the secret code storage unit 2
Select only messages whose ticks are within the operating hours. In addition, dark
The message that can be selected with the certificate number 00000 has an attribute of "everyone
Sama "only. If you have a message like this
For example, the message is played back in order to notify the caller and all messages are sent.
When the knowledge ends, the telephone line control unit 1 disconnects the call.
(S₁₆). If there is no message (S ₁₉), Eg "new
"The message is not great" is output from the voice output unit 7 (S
₂₀), Then hang up the phone (S₈), If you have the message
(S₁₉), Let the voice output section 7 reproduce and output the message.
(S_{twenty one}), And then the telephone line control unit 1 disconnects the telephone.
(S₈).

Although not described here, the telephone line control unit 1 is made to monitor the on-hook of the caller's telephone at any time, and if the on-hook is detected during the processing,
At that time, the system side also ends the processing. Furthermore, in an actual voice response system, after these processes,
The process of transferring a call and accepting a message from a caller is omitted, but they are omitted here.

Next, embodiments of each invention of claims 7 to 11 will be described. FIG. 6 shows an example of the functional configuration of the system, in which parts corresponding to those in FIG. The telephone line control unit 1 detects an incoming call, makes a call, detects an on-hook of a caller to the system and a caller of the caller from the system, detects an off-hook of a caller from the system, and disconnects the line. In addition, it has a function of outputting a signal from the line received by the system to the secret code storage unit 2 and further outputting a signal from the voice output unit 7 to the line received by the system. Connect the incoming line (forwarding line) from the system. The personal identification number storage unit 2, the time presentation unit 3, the sender information storage unit 4, and the voice output unit 7 are the same as those in FIG.

The transfer destination information storage unit 9 stores one transfer destination telephone number, one or a plurality of attributes of a caller to be transferred, one or a plurality of operating hours, and a valid period as one set of information. , Store one or more. This storage unit 9
FIG. 7 shows an example of the stored contents of. Each vertical column in FIG. 7 represents a storage area, and horizontal rows having the same transfer destination represent one set of information. The transfer destination column (area) in FIG. 7 stores a telephone number as a transfer destination. The sender attribute field stores data corresponding to the same field in FIG. The field of the operation time zone stores the content indicating the time zone during which the caller's line is actually transferred from what hour to what hour. The expiry date field stores the content indicating the expiry date of the transfer destination from what year and month to year and month and day.

Considering the same situation as the concrete example described above, it is assumed that the current time is 12:30 on July 1, 1994. If you don't have a PIN, click "Attribute of sender".
Becomes "everyone". Further, if the manager B of the company of the called party Y calls and inputs the personal identification number 10001 given to him, the personal identification number 10001 is stored in the personal identification number storage unit 2 and the current time is July 1, 1994. 12:30 will be stored. Since the attribute of the caller corresponding to the personal identification number 10001 is "individual 1" according to the contents of the caller information storage unit 4 (Fig. 2), the transfer destination is 031111000 from Fig. 7.
Although 1 and 0311110003 are registered, it can be seen that the latter is currently out of the operating hours. Therefore, the telephone call of the manager B is transferred to 0311110001. However, in this example, if Director B calls at 13:30 on July 1, 1994, the transfer destination is 031111.
Both 0001 and 0311110003 are valid. In this case, the more personal one should be selected as the transfer destination. Specifically, the sender information storage unit 4
From the transfer destination's attribute of the transfer destination information storage unit 9
The one with the smallest number of personal identification numbers in one information acquired by is selected. For this purpose, it is necessary to have a mechanism that does not allow the registration of the transfer destination such that the valid periods overlap, the operating hours overlap, and the attributes of the caller are completely the same.

The expired information erasing unit 6 checks the valid period of each information in the sender information storage unit 4 and the transfer destination information storage unit 5 based on the current time obtained from the time presentation unit 3, and the valid period has expired. Erase information. The service control unit 8 controls the units 1 to 9 to transfer the line of the caller to the transfer destination set by the called party. That is, when the personal identification number is input from the caller, the service control unit 8 selects the attribute of the caller having the personal identification number stored in the personal identification number storage unit 2 from the set of information stored in the originator information storage unit 4. Of the information stored in the transfer destination information storage unit 5 is selected, and the transfer destination having the caller attribute and having the time stored in the personal identification number storage unit 2 within the operating time zone is selected, The line controller 1 transfers the call to the transfer destination, and when the transfer destination phone goes off-hook, the call is connected to the caller's phone.

FIG. 8 shows a flow of a series of processing from the arrival of a call to the system to the transfer of the call. The call transfer process will be described below with reference to this flowchart. Procedure 1) The telephone line controller 1 waits for an incoming call (S ₁ ). When there is an incoming call, the input from the caller is input to the secret code storage unit 2, and the incoming line, the storage unit 2 and the sound reproduction unit 7 are connected so that the signal from the voice reproduction unit 7 reaches the caller's telephone. Connecting.

Procedure 2) The present time is acquired from the time presentation unit 3 (S ₂ ). The acquired time is written in the personal identification number storage unit 2. By the procedure 3) expiration information erasing unit 6, the transfer destination information storage unit 5 and the caller information storage unit 4, and erases the information beyond the expiration date (S _3). After that, it is checked whether or not there is a transfer destination that is currently in the operation time zone (S ₄ ).

[0035] from step 4) the audio output unit 7, guidance telling the response of the system, for example, "is here, telephone response is a system of Suzuki seat" to output (S _5). Procedure 5) As a result of checking in step S ₄ of procedure 3, if there is no transfer destination currently set (S ₆ ), the audio output unit 7
From, for example, "the destination has not been set" to output the (S _7), to cut the telephone by telephone line control unit 1 (S
₈ ). When the transfer destination is set, the procedure proceeds to step 6.

Procedure 6) A variable i for counting the number of times the request guidance is output to the caller is initialized to 0 (S ₉ ). Step 7) Guidance that requires the caller to enter a PIN, such as "If you have been notified of your PIN by Suzuki, please enter your PIN and enter # at the end. If you have not been notified, leave it as it is. Please wait "to be output from the audio output unit 7 (S _10).

Procedure 8) 1 is added to the variable i for counting the number of times the request guidance to the sender is output (S ₁₁ ). Step 9) The password storage unit 2 waits for the input of the password from the sender. If there is no input within the preset timeout time (S ₁₂ ), the procedure proceeds to step 10 (S ₁₃ ). When there is an input, the number is set in the secret code storage unit 2, at the same time the current time is acquired from the time presentation unit 3 and set in the secret code storage unit 2, and the process proceeds to step 11 (S ₁₄ ). Since the time is also acquired in the procedure 2 (S ₂ ), it is not always necessary to acquire the current time here, and the one acquired in the procedure 2 may be used.

Step 10) If i is 1 (S ₁₃ ), the personal identification number is set to 00000 and set in the personal identification number storage section 2 (S ₁₅ ), and the process proceeds to step 13 (S ₁₆ ). If i is not 1, proceed to step 12 (S ₁₇ ). Step 11) The entered personal identification number is the sender information storage unit 4
If that are registered number (S _14), step 13
Proceed to (S _16), go to step 12 (S ₁₇₎ If not (S _14).

[0039] Step 12) if i is a predetermined value (one or more) (S ₁₇₎ guidance to request a call back, for example, "personal identification number is not correct. Sorry,
I will hang up the phone "from the voice output unit 7 (S
₁₈ ) Then, the telephone line control unit disconnects the telephone call (S ₈ ).
If i is equal to or less than the predetermined value, return to step 7 (S _10).

Procedure 13) Depending on the personal identification number stored in the personal identification number storage unit 2 and the current time, a transfer destination that is in the operating time zone and can be used with this personal identification number is selected as follows. From the set of information stored in the sender information storage unit 4, the attribute of the sender having the personal identification number stored in the personal identification number storage unit 2 is acquired, and from the set of information stored in the transfer destination information storage unit 9. , Only those transfer destinations that have the caller attribute and whose time stored in the personal identification number storage unit 2 is within the operating time zone are selected. In addition, the message that can be selected with PIN 00000 is
Only those whose attributes are "everyone". If there is one such transfer destination (S ₁₉ ), the telephone line control unit 1 calls the transfer destination (S ₂₀ ), and if the call is answered (S ₂₁ ).
To be connected with the caller of the telephone line (S _22). Before the connection, for example, "Because I will connect,
And outputs the Please wait, "(S _23). If the call is not made (S ₂₁ ), the voice reproduction unit 7 notifies that, for example, “The transfer destination is not the phone. Excuse me” (S ₂₄ ), and the telephone line control unit 1 makes a call. Is cut (S ₈ ). If there is no transfer destination (S ₁₉ ), the audio reproduction unit 7
More, for example, notification of the "transfer destination is not set" (S _25), to cut the telephone by telephone line control unit 1 (S
₈ ). When there are two or more transfer destinations, the transfer destination information is acquired from the sender information storage unit 4 by the “sender attribute” of the transfer destination in the transfer destination information storage unit 9. The call is transferred by selecting the transfer destination with the smaller number of personal identification numbers in one piece of information.

Although not described here, the telephone line control section 1 is made to monitor the on-hook of the caller's telephone at any time, and if the on-hook is detected during the processing,
At that time, the system side also ends the processing. Furthermore, in the actual voice response system, when the forwarding destination is not set or the forwarding destination does not respond, the call is not immediately disconnected, but a process for accepting a message from the caller is performed. But I omitted them here.

In FIG. 1, at least one personal identification number or attribute and at least one operating time zone may be stored as a set in each message, and similarly in FIG. 6, each transfer destination telephone number is also stored. It suffices that at least one personal identification number or attribute and at least one operating time zone are stored as a set. In this regard, the message information storage unit 5 and the transfer destination information storage unit 9 may store the personal identification number instead of the attribute. Further, the effective period may not be stored. Storage unit 5,
When the personal identification number is stored in 9 instead of the attribute, the sender information storage unit 4 is omitted.

In the above description, the current time is acquired each time there is an incoming call, each valid period of the storage units 4, 5 and 9 is checked, and the expired information is erased. For example, the expired information may be deleted every certain time every day. Further, in the above description, it is first checked whether or not there is any one in the operating time zone in the storage units 5 and 9, and then the message or the transfer destination for the corresponding personal identification number or the attribute determined from it is searched. The presence or absence of the message may be searched first, and the relationship between the found message or the operating time zone of the transfer destination and the current time may be checked. The expiration date may be stored in only one of the storage unit 4 and the storage units 5 and 9.

[0044]

As described above, according to the method inventions of claims 2 and 8, it is checked whether or not there is an incoming call during the operating time zone, and a message is sent only during the operating time zone. Alternatively, since it is transferred, a message can be sent or transferred during a meeting, for example.

Further, according to the inventions of claims 1 and 3, the message can be distinguished by the attribute, that is, the message content can be distinguished according to the sender. Similarly, claims 7 and 9
According to each invention, it is possible to change the call forwarding destination depending on the caller or not to forward the call depending on the caller. According to the invention of claim 4, when the same message is reproduced and transmitted, the password of the transmission destination is stored, so that the same message is not transmitted again to the same sender.

According to each of the fifth and tenth aspects of the present invention, a valid period is provided for the message or forwarding number, and when the valid period expires, the message is automatically erased, and it is not necessary for the subscriber to perform a troublesome erasing operation. Absent. According to each of the inventions of claims 6 and 11, the effective period is stored for each attribute, and when the effective period expires, it is automatically deleted. The operability can be further enhanced by making the valid period for this attribute different from the valid period for the message or forwarding number.

In short, conventionally, only the same message could be provided to all callers, whereas according to the present invention,
By providing a message according to the calling party, it becomes possible to provide a finely tuned telephone response, and it is possible to provide a more used service to both the called party and the calling party. Also, not only when the called party does not answer the phone, the system always answers first, and if the transfer destination is the called party, only the call of the specific caller is selectively answered by the called party. It is also possible to improve the problems of the current caller-priority telephone system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the invention of claim 1;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of stored contents of a sender information storage unit 4 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of stored contents of a message information storage unit 5 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of contents of a stored message in a message information storage unit 5.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in an embodiment of the invention of claim 6;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the invention of claim 7;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of stored contents of a transfer destination information storage unit 9 in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in an embodiment of the invention of claim 11;

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A telephone line control means for detecting an incoming telephone call, detecting an on-hook telephone call, and disconnecting a line, a time presentation means for counting and outputting time, and a personal identification number input by a caller. , A personal identification number storage means for storing the personal identification number and the time obtained from the time presenting means, and an attribute of one caller, at least one personal identification number, as one set of information, at least one is stored. Sender information storage means, one callee's message, at least one caller's attribute, and at least one operating time as one set of information, and at least one message information The attribute of the caller having the personal identification number stored in the personal identification number storage means is acquired from the combination of the storage means, the voice reproduction means for reproducing the recorded message, and the information stored in the sender information storage means. And above From the set of information stored in the word information storage means, only the message having the caller attribute and having the time stored in the secret code storage means within the operating time zone is selected, and the message is reproduced as the voice. A telephone answering system comprising: a sender-only message reproducing means for reproducing by means to send to the sender. 2. Message information storage for storing at least one group of a message of one called party, a personal identification number or attribute of at least one calling party, and at least one operating time zone. Means for selecting a corresponding message from the message information storage means based on the personal identification number entered by the sender, and whether the current time is within the operating time zone for the selected message. A telephone answering method comprising a step of examining and a message sending step of playing back the selected message and sending it to the caller if the current time is within an operating time zone. 3. Caller attribute and at least 1 for it
A caller information storage means for storing at least one set as a pair with two personal identification numbers is obtained, and the attribute of the caller having the input personal identification number is obtained from the above-mentioned caller information storage means, and the message selection is performed. 3. The telephone answering method according to claim 2, wherein the step is selected by using the acquired attribute. 4. When the message is reproduced and transmitted, the input secret code is stored in the transmitted message group in the message information storage means, and stored in the message group selected in the message selection step. 4. The telephone answering method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein it is checked whether or not the provided personal identification number matches the input personal identification number, and if the personal identification number matches, the message is not transmitted. 5. A set of messages whose validity period has expired is stored by storing the validity period of each message set in the message information storage means and checking whether or not there is a current time within each validity period. 5. The telephone answering method according to claim 4, wherein the message is deleted from the message information storage means. 6. The validity period is stored in each set of attributes in the sender information storage means, and it is checked whether or not there is a current time within each validity period. 6. The telephone answering method according to claim 5, wherein the set is deleted from the sender information storage means. 7. An incoming / outgoing telephone call, an on-hook detection of the originating and terminating telephones, an off-hook detection of the called telephone originating from the system, a connection between the originating and terminating telephones, a line A telephone line control means for disconnecting, a time presentation means for counting and outputting time, and a personal identification number for acquiring the personal identification number input by the sender and storing the personal identification number and the time obtained from the time presentation means. A storage means, an attribute of one sender, at least one personal identification number as one set of information, and a sender information storage means for storing at least one of them, one transfer destination telephone number, at least one The transfer destination information storage means for storing at least one of the attributes of the callers to be transferred and at least one operating time zone as one set of information, and the caller information storage means. The attribute of the sender having the personal identification number stored in the personal identification number storage means is acquired from the set of information, and the personal identification number is possessed from the set of information stored in the transfer destination information storage means. Select a transfer destination whose time stored in the storage means is within the operating hours, cause the telephone line control means to transfer the call to the transfer destination, and connect the caller's phone when the transfer destination phone goes off-hook A telephone answering system with a transfer function for only a limited number of persons, which comprises: 8. Transfer destination information storing one transfer destination telephone number, at least one caller's personal identification number or attribute, and at least one operating time zone, and storing at least one set. It is equipped with a storage means, and a phone number selection step to select the corresponding transfer destination phone number based on the personal identification number entered by the caller, and the current time is entered in the operating time zone for the selected transfer destination phone number. A call answering method comprising the steps of checking whether there is a call, and transferring the caller's call to the call of the transfer destination phone number selected if the current time is within the operating hours. 9. An attribute of a sender having the inputted personal identification number is provided with a transmission information storage means for storing at least one pair of the attribute of the originator and at least one personal identification number corresponding to the attribute. 9. The telephone answering method according to claim 8, wherein the caller information storage means is acquired, and the telephone number selecting step is selected by the acquired attribute. 10. The valid period is stored in each set of transfer destination telephone numbers in the transfer destination information storage means, and it is checked whether or not there is a current time within each valid period, and the valid period expires. 10. The telephone answering method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the set of transfer destination telephone numbers is deleted from the transfer destination information storage means. 11. The validity period is stored in a set of each attribute in the sender information storage means, and it is checked whether or not there is a current time within each validity period, and the attribute of which the validity period has expired is stored. 11. The telephone answering method according to claim 10, wherein the set is deleted from the sender information storage means.