JPH09326864A - Telephone exchange - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the telephone exchange for a general home by which a message is surely delivered to an opposite party even when the opposite party does not reply a call due to absence or in a busy state or the like. SOLUTION: An ISDN interface section 1 of the telephone exchange receives call request from a caller and sends the call request to extension interfaces 4, 5, 6 by using a circuit exchange section 3 to call a receiver side. Through the constitution above, the exchange is provided with a means that makes an inquiry guide of a message of a call request to a caller to inform it to the caller when no reply comes from an opposite party or the opposite party is busy even for calling the opposite party for a prescribed time. Upon the receipt of a message from the caller with respect to the guidance, the message is stored in a storage section 11 and the storage of the message in the storage section 11 is displayed for a receiver side. The receiver side receives a reproduction request to confirm the message content in the storage section 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone exchange for connecting a plurality of subscriber terminals to a public network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a telephone exchange designed for business establishments, if there is a line that is busy or ringing, the use efficiency of the line is reduced, so that such line is disconnected as soon as possible. Therefore, it is necessary to prioritize calls that can be connected. Therefore, in a telephone exchange for business offices, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-252289, a plurality of extension numbers can be registered on the calling side, and one of the extension numbers can be called and It is known that the telephone is automatically transferred to another extension when the telephone is busy.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-338954, a table showing transfer destinations is provided on the receiving side, and when a busy telephone is called from the outside, the table is stored. There is also known a telephone exchange which is referred to and automatically selects a transfer destination based on the contents.

On the other hand, in a general household, since the number of incoming calls is small, it is better to give priority to cleaning up the business as much as possible rather than connecting promptly. For this reason, the home telephone exchange is configured not to accept an incoming call when busy. However, in the configuration in which the incoming call is not accepted when the user is busy, it takes time and effort for the outgoing caller to redial, which is very inconvenient when it is desired to convey a simple message from the public telephone at the destination.

Therefore, a telephone having a call waiting function is provided. When a telephone with a call waiting function receives an incoming call at a terminal during a call, the call is notified to the terminal, and the called party operates the terminal to transfer to another extension or transfer to a three-way call. You can

[0006] In addition, current telephones are generally equipped with an answering machine function, and if the other party has switched to an answering machine mode, the message can be transmitted even when the other party is absent.

[0007]

However, among the above-mentioned conventional techniques, the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-252289 requires a device for registering a plurality of extension numbers on the calling side, Telephone terminals for business establishments can be dealt with by using a multifunctional terminal that can register a plurality of extension numbers in advance, but in a general home, the multifunctional terminal cannot be used because the device configuration is too large. Correspondence is difficult.

Further, in the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-338954, it is convenient that a telephone for business use is automatically transferred to another telephone which is not closed.
In many cases, there is only one person in a general house, and if the person is not transferred to that person, there is a drawback that the telephone cannot be connected after all.

Further, in the case where the call waiting function is provided, an additional contract fee is required, and in this case, transfer processing etc. can be performed only when the other party is busy, that is, when the other party is answering the telephone. .

Also, with a telephone having an answering machine function, it is rare to forget to switch to the answering machine mode for personal use, but it is difficult to use because it often happens that the family forgets to switch.

An object of the present invention is to provide a home telephone exchange that can surely convey a message even when the other party does not answer the telephone due to being busy or absent.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a storage means for storing an identification number of each subscriber terminal and the storage means when a calling request by the identification number is issued from a calling side. In a telephone exchange equipped with calling means for calling the extension corresponding to the identification number with reference to the means, when there is no response even if the calling means calls for a predetermined time, the calling side is notified of that fact, In the storage means, a response means for giving guidance to the calling side as to a request for a call request, a storage control means for storing the message in the storage means when a message is received from the calling side for the guidance. Display means for displaying to the receiving side that a message from the transmitting side is stored in the display, and a message in the storing means when a reproduction request is input from the receiving side. It is characterized by comprising: a reproduction output means for outputting reproduced to the receiving side.

Further, if the receiving side is busy when calling by the calling means, the response means notifies the calling side to that effect, and also guides the calling side to ask the call request message. It may be configured as follows. The response means is configured to notify the calling side by voice or signal sound.

The storage control means may be configured to disconnect the line connection with the calling side when a message from the calling side cannot be received within a predetermined time after the response means gives guidance.

Further, the display means is configured to display on the receiving side modular outlet that the reply from the calling side is stored in the storage means.

Further, a dial-in number or a sub address is used as the identification number. Further, the reproduction request in the reproduction output means is inputted by the password.

[0017]

According to the above construction, when the calling side requests a call by the identification number, the calling means refers to the storage means and calls the extension telephone corresponding to the identification number. At this time, when the receiving side is absent or answering another telephone and cannot answer the called telephone, the response means notifies the calling side that the receiving side is absent or busy by voice or signal sound. At the same time, the response means guides the calling side to ask what the telephone requirement is. On the other hand, if there is a message from the sender, the message is stored in the storage means. If there is no message from the calling side even after a lapse of a predetermined time, the line with the calling side is automatically disconnected.

When the message is stored in the storage means, the message is displayed by the display means.
For example, displayed on a modular outlet. The receiving side can confirm that a message has come to himself by looking at the display, and if he wants to hear the message, he inputs the password of the reproduction request to the reproduction output means. As a result, the receiving side can listen to the contents of the telephone which is absent or busy and cannot be talked with at any time.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description,
What is ISDN? "Integrated Services Digital Network"
Abbreviation of "service integrated digital network", which means a network that integrates information of telephones and the like by digital signals and provides integrated services through standardized interfaces.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a telephone exchange according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the ISDN interface unit 1 is connected to the ISDN public network, and an incoming call from the ISDN public network is received by the ISDN interface unit 1 and the CPU 2 is notified of that fact. The operation of the circuit switching unit 3 is controlled by the CPU 2, and the incoming call from the ISDN public network is connected to one of the extension interfaces 4, 5, and 6. Then, the extension 1 is called when the extension interface 4 is connected, the extension 2 is called when the extension interface 5 is connected, and the extension 3 is called when the extension interface 6 is connected. An incoming call processing program for controlling the circuit switching unit 3 is stored in the program memory 7.

A bus 8 is connected to the CPU 2, and a voice response unit 9, a message notification unit 10, a storage unit 11 and a program memory 7 are provided on the bus 8. Of these, the message notification unit 10 is the extension 1,
The extension 2 and the extension 3 are respectively connected.

Next, the operation of the telephone exchange having the above configuration will be described. Here, the dial-in number (1234)
A case will be described where there is an incoming call and the call is not picked up at extension 1 (because of absence or busy).

2 and 3 show the processing procedure of the incoming call processing program stored in the program memory 7. In FIG. 2, first, it is judged whether a called number is added to the incoming call from the ISDN public network (dial-in incoming call) or not (global incoming call) (S1). Calls all the telephones (in FIG. 1, three telephones of extension 1 to 3) by ringing (S2).

In the case of a dial-in incoming call, a table such as that shown in Table 1 registered in advance in the storage unit 11 (in this table, extensions 1 to 3 are assigned to telephones and extension 4 to message boxes). The extension telephone corresponding to the dial-in number is referred to (S3) and called (S4). In this case, since the dial-in number is notified by "1234", extension 1 is called.

[0025]

[Table 1] Next, the extension telephone corresponding to the dial-in number is called, and it is determined whether or not the receiving party has answered the extension telephone (S
5) If the receiving side answers, connect the telephone and end. If the receiving side does not come out, call for a predetermined time (may be a predetermined number of times (for example, 10 times)) (S6).
Next, the extension number of the absence transfer destination in the table of Table 1 is checked (S7). In the case of Table 1, since the transfer destination is 4, that is, the message box, the incoming call of the outside line is temporarily accepted by this device (S8). If another extension number is designated in the table, the extension telephone designated there is called (S9).

When the message box is the transfer destination as shown in Table 1, for example, the following message text is transmitted from the voice response unit 9 to the extension 1 (S10).

[I can't answer the phone right now or I'm away. Please give me a message. I will tell you that there is a message.] And the message will be sent within the time specified by the sender. If there is, recording is performed in the storage unit 11 (S11).

When a message is recorded in the storage unit 11, a message to that effect is displayed on the modular outlet.
Therefore, the modular outlet is configured as shown in FIG. That is, when the LED (light emitting diode) 21 is mounted on the modular outlet 20 of the extension 1 and a message is recorded in the storage unit 11,
The LED 21 is turned on by a signal from the message notification unit 10 in FIG. In FIG. 4, 22 is a display label attached on the outlet plate 23, and 2 is a display label.
4 is a connector jack.

On the receiving side, a message is reproduced as follows by operating a specific dial key (for example, 80 #) from the telephone of extension 1.

[While I am out, there is a telephone call. I will give you a message.] The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment. The present invention includes modifications of the design within the scope of the present invention.

For example, in FIG. 1, the telephone exchange is an ISDN.
Although it was an example of being connected to a public network, that is, a digital communication network, even if it is connected to an analog communication network,
The present invention is applicable.

Further, the fact that a message is recorded in the storage unit 11 may be displayed on the main body of the telephone rather than on the modular outlet, and another light emitting element may be used instead of the LED.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The calling party can send a message to the receiving party by making a call once, and when the message is sent, the message is displayed so that the receiving party can listen to the message at any time. As a result, even when the receiving side is absent or busy and the telephone is not connected, the calling side can reliably transmit the message to the receiving side.

In particular, the present invention has an excellent adaptability as a general home telephone exchange in which the number of people at home varies depending on the time of day because the device configuration is simple and the cost is not so high.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telephone exchange of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an incoming call processing procedure in the telephone exchange of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a continuation of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a modular outlet provided with means for displaying an incoming call.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 ISDN interface section 2 CPU 3 circuit switching section 4, 5, 6 extension interface 7 program memory 8 bus 9 voice response section 10 message notification section 11 storage section 20 modular outlet 21 LED (light emitting diode)

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A storage means for storing an identification number for each subscriber terminal, and a calling means for calling an extension corresponding to the identification number by referring to the storage means when a calling request by the identification number is made from a calling side. In the telephone exchange provided with, when there is no response after calling for a predetermined time by the calling means, the caller is notified of that fact and the caller is instructed to ask the call request message. Means and
Storage control means for storing the message in the storage means when a message is received from the calling side for the guidance, and displaying to the receiving side that the message from the calling side is stored in the storage means A telephone exchange, comprising: a display unit for reproducing the message in the storage unit when a reproduction request is input from the receiving side and outputting the reproduced message to the receiving side. 2. A storage means for storing an identification number for each subscriber terminal, and a calling means for calling an extension corresponding to the identification number by referring to the storage means when a calling request is made by the calling side from the calling side. In the telephone exchange provided with, if the receiving side is busy when calling by the calling means, the calling side is notified of that fact and the calling side is instructed to inquire about the call request message. Responding means, storage control means for storing the message in the storage means when a message is received from the calling side for the guidance, and reception side indicating that the message from the calling side is stored in the storage means. A display unit for displaying the message on the display unit and a reproduction output unit for reproducing the message in the storage unit and outputting the message to the reception side when a reproduction request is input from the reception side. Telephone exchange and said. 3. The telephone exchange according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the response means makes a notification to the calling side by voice. 4. The telephone exchange according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the response means notifies the calling side by a signal tone. 5. The telephone exchange according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said storage control means is capable of receiving a message from a calling side even if a predetermined time has elapsed after said response means provided guidance. A telephone exchange characterized by disconnecting the line connection with the calling side. 6. The telephone exchange according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the display means displays on the receiving side modular outlet that the reply from the calling side is stored in the storage means. A telephone exchange characterized by. 7. The telephone exchange according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the identification number is a dial-in number or a subaddress. 8. The telephone exchange according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the reproduction request in the reproduction output means is inputted by a password.