JPH0964981A - Voice mail system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve management and convenience of a message by retrieving and extracting a message to be registered, based on conditions such as message importance, message recording time zone, day, and recording destination and hearing the message quickly depending on the purpose. SOLUTION: When a message retrieval condition is entered by the operation of an extension telephone set 4 at reproduction of a message, a voice mail controller 21 receives the information via a central processing unit 11, a retrieval means 25 retrieves a message header information storage memory 24 and the retrieval content is stored in a retrieval extract information storage memory 26. The message is reproduced from the voice storage memory 22 according to the content of the retrieval extract information storage memory 26. The voice mail user selects a message according to the prescribed condition to reproduce it.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a voice mail system used for searching and extracting a message by voice mail.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a conventional voice mail system. The voice mail system is composed of PBX 1 and voice mail 2.

The voice mail 2 is capable of interfacing with the PBX 1 and controls the voice mail 2 as a whole, a voice storage memory 22 capable of storing voice information of the call system from the PBX 1 side, and a PBX 1 side. A telephone display form storage memory 23 that stores a display form displayed on the display unit of the extension telephone 3 is provided.

The PBX 1 is capable of interfacing with the voice mail 2 and controls the PBX 1 as a whole by a central processing unit 11.
A station line interface (I / F) 12 connected to the general public network 3 and the like, a telephone interface (I / F) 13 connected to the extension telephone 4, and a telephone display means 14.

In this system, the station line I / P on the PBX1 side is
By sending and receiving data to and from the central processing unit 11 on the PBX 1 side and the voice mail control unit 21 on the voice mail 2 side via the F12 and the telephone I / F 13, a message is left in each box of the voice storage memory 22 and the contents of the call ( It is possible to record audio information).

Further, at the time of recording / reproducing a message, according to the contents of the telephone display form storage memory 23, the telephone display means 14 is operated by the instruction of the central processing unit 11 to display the information attached to the message on the display portion of the extension telephone 4. Let

[0007]

However, in the system of the above-mentioned conventional example, when listening to a message, it is necessary to listen in order, and at the same time, when the message is not managed according to the purpose, an arbitrary message is sent. It is difficult to find out quickly. In particular, the above problem is remarkable when the number of accumulated messages becomes enormous. In addition, it was not possible to rank the messages once listened to and quickly search for the required message based on the rank condition.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and searches for registered messages according to conditions such as the importance of the message, the time zone when the message was recorded, the day of the week, and the recording partner. -The purpose is to provide a voice mail system that enables extraction and enables quick message listening according to purpose, and also manages messages and improves convenience. It is what

[0009]

The technical means of the present invention for achieving the above object is that the PBX can control the central line interface, the extension telephone interface, the telephone display means, and the entire PBX. It is equipped with a central processing unit, and the voice mail has a one-to-one correspondence with the voice storage memory that can store the voice information of the call system from the PBX side and the stored message. A message header information storage memory capable of storing time information, a telephone display form storage memory for storing a display form displayed on the display unit of the extension telephone on the PBX side, and a search means for searching the contents of the message header information storage memory And a search / extract information storage memory that can store the retrieved information,
The voice mail is equipped with a timer that can obtain information including time and date (day of the week) and a voice mail control device that can control the entire voice mail. By controlling the control device, the voice mail message can be searched based on the condition of the message header information.

Another technical means of the present invention for achieving the above object is the above technical means, wherein the search / extracted result is displayed on the display unit of the extension telephone under the control of the voice mail control device and the central processing unit. It is configured to display.

Another technical means of the present invention for achieving the above object is that, in each of the above technical means, a telephone directory memory is provided on the PBX side, and at this time, calling party number information is obtained from a digital public network or the like. If the same caller number as the phone book memory list exists, the phone book list information and the caller number are simultaneously recorded with the message in the message header information storage memory of the voice mail in a one-to-one correspondence with the message. By storing it, the message can be searched / extracted according to the conditions of the calling number and the telephone directory memory.

Still another technical means of the present invention for achieving the above object is to store the importance of a message in a message header information storage memory of voice mail by operating a telephone when listening to a message in each of the above technical means. By doing so, the message can be searched / extracted according to the condition of the importance of the message.

[0013]

According to the present invention configured as described above, it is possible to search for a message from the operation of the telephone by the conditions such as the recording time of the recorded message, the day of the week, the date, and the like.
By enabling search across BOXes, it is possible to obtain the same effect as sorting messages that are once sorted into BOXes for a certain purpose according to different purposes.

Further, by displaying the search condition and the search result on the display unit of the extension telephone, the search condition and the search result can be understood at a glance and the contents of the search result can be surely grasped.

Further, it is possible to obtain the same effect as the above by making it possible to search for a message based on the conditions for each calling party (sender), and also by searching for messages across BOXes.

Also, by marking the importance of a message once heard, it is possible to search for messages by importance, which can also be used as a condition for retrieving a message once searched for, Can also be used for personal message management.

[0017]

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

First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a voice mail system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
In addition to the configuration of the conventional example shown in FIG.
On the side, a message header information storage memory 24 capable of accumulating time information of recording time, year, month, day, day of the week in one-to-one correspondence with the stored message, and searching means for searching the contents of the message header information storage memory 24 25 and a retrieval / extraction information storage memory 2 capable of accumulating retrieved information
6 and a timer (clock) 27 that can obtain information including time and date (day of the week).

The above configuration will be described in more detail below along with the operation thereof. When the message is registered in the voice mail 2, the message recording time (year, month, day, day) data is referred to the timer 27 under the control of the voice mail control device 21, and the message header information storage memory 24
To accumulate. It is assumed that the message recording time data stored in the message header information storage memory 24 is managed in the voice storage memory 22 in a one-to-one correspondence with the message for each BOX.

FIG. 2 shows the memory management diagram. Here, the recording time of the message # 11 accumulated in the BOX # 1 is [recording time # 11], [recording time # 12] of the message # 12, ... of the message # 21 accumulated in the BOX # 2. Recording time # 21], [recording time # 22] of message # 22, ... Are managed. In addition, the message # 11 is used to mean the first message of the BOX # 1, and the recording time referred to here includes information of year, month, day, and day of the week.

As a message retrieval method, as shown in FIG. 3, a voice mail 2 is called by an operation from the extension telephone 4 or the like, a message retrieval / reproduction request, a retrieval condition or the like is assigned to a special number, or the extension telephone 4 is attached. Enter using a special key or other means. At the time of this search, it is possible to select whether to search across BOXes or to search within BOXes.

The search condition input from the telephone 4 side is transmitted to the voice mail control device 21 via the telephone I / F 13 and the central processing unit 11. Voice mail controller 21
Sends the search condition to the search means 25, searches the message header information storage memory 24, and writes the message of the condition matching the search condition into the search / extract information storage memory 26. At the time of message reproduction, the message stored in the voice storage memory 22 is reproduced according to the contents written in the search / extracted information storage memory 26.

In addition to the above-mentioned operation, the voice mail control unit 21 controls the contents of the message retrieval result from the retrieval / extraction information storage memory 26 according to the contents of the telephone display form storage memory 23 via the voice mail control unit 21 and the central processing unit. Tell 11. The central processing unit 11 activates the telephone display means 15 in accordance with the transmitted contents and displays the retrieval / extraction result on the display portion of the telephone 4.

FIG. 4 shows one form of display of search / extraction results. Here, it is assumed that there are three corresponding messages with BOX # 1 to BOX # 3 as the search range.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a voice mail system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
In addition to the configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a telephone directory memory 15 is provided on the PBX 1 side, and the message header information storage memory 24a on the voice mail 2 side can also store incidental information of the telephone directory memory 15. It has a feature in that it can be done.
Here, it is assumed that the calling party number information from the general digital public network 3 or the like can be obtained via the telephone I / F 13.

Here, the contents of the telephone directory memory 15 are searched under the control of the central processing unit 11, and if the same number as the obtained calling number exists in the telephone directory memory 15, the telephone directory memory 15 is searched. The obtained supplementary information (information such as the name of the calling party) is combined with the calling party number information and transmitted to the voice mail control apparatus 21 via the central processing unit 11. When registering a message in the voice mail 2, these pieces of information are written in the message header information storage memory 24a. Message header information storage memory 24a
Is managed on a one-to-one basis for each message. FIG. 6 shows the control chart.

As a message search method, as shown in FIG. 7, search conditions are entered by inputting a special number or the like from the extension telephone 4 as the caller name or calling number, or by operating a special key attached to the extension telephone 4. Shall be entered. In particular, the method of using the display function of the extension telephone 4 is effective for searching by the caller name.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a voice mail system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
In the configuration of the first or second embodiment, the message header information storage memory 24b on the voice mail 2 side
Is characterized in that it can also store information on the importance of a message.

In addition to the operation of each of the above-mentioned embodiments, when listening to a message, the importance of the message is entered by inputting a special number or the like from the extension telephone 4. This information is transmitted to the voice mail control device 21 via the central processing unit 11. The information on the importance of the message is written in the message header information storage memory 24b in a one-to-one relationship with the message under the control of the voice mail control device 21. FIG. 10 shows the control chart.

As a message search method, a method search condition such as entry of a special number from the telephone is designated in accordance with the above method. A flow chart of the operation relationship is shown in FIG.

[0034]

[Effects of the Invention] For example, accepting business by telephone,
If you record it all in voicemail,
The number of messages accumulated is enormous. In such a case, when it is necessary to listen to a specific message later, normally, the target message cannot be found unless the message is listened to and confirmed one by one, but like the present invention. If the search can be performed according to the recording time, the day of the week, the caller, etc., the condition / range can be narrowed down, so that the desired message can be quickly found, and the convenience of the voice mail is improved.

When the messages are sorted into BOXes according to their purposes, for example, the messages are BOXed according to time.
Suppose there are times when they are sorted into X. If you want to distribute this to senders under other conditions, such as for some purpose, you can virtually sort the messages by time or sender by using the message search function across BOXes. , It is possible to improve the convenience of voice mail.

Also, after listening to a message, it is possible to "mark" the message by recording the degree of importance of the message, and to search by that condition. It is possible to retrieve all the messages that have been searched for from the various messages and retrieve them all at once, which can improve the convenience of voice mail.

By displaying the search condition and the search result of the message, the search contents can be surely grasped by not only the voice but also the display of the search information on the display of the telephone. Therefore, convenience can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a voice mail system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an information management diagram in a message header information storage memory used in the voice mail system.

[Fig. 3] Flow chart of operational relationships in the voice mail system.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a display form for notifying a telephone of search information in the voice mail system.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a voice mail system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an information management diagram in a message header information storage memory used in the voice mail system.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of operational relationships when a calling number is used as a search condition in the voice mail system.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a voice mail system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an information management diagram in a message header information storage memory used in the voice mail system.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an operation relationship when the importance level of messages is used as a search condition in the voice mail system.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a conventional voice mail system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 PBX 2 Voice Mail 3 General Public Network 4 Extension Telephone 11 Central Processing Unit 12 Central Line I / F 13 Telephone I / F 14 Telephone Display Means 15 Phonebook Memory 21 Voicemail Control Device 22 Voice Storage Memory 23 Telephone Display Mode Momelli 24 Message header information storage memory 24a Message header information storage memory 24b Message header information storage memory 25 Retrieval means 26 Inspection / extraction information storage memory 27 Timer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A PBX is provided with a station line interface, an extension telephone interface, a telephone display means, and a central processing unit capable of controlling the entire PBX, and voice mail is a communication system from the PBX side. Voice storage memory capable of storing voice information, a message header information storage memory capable of storing time information of recording time, year, month, day, and day corresponding to stored messages in a one-to-one correspondence, and the extension telephone on the PBX side Telephone display form storage memory that stores the display form displayed on the display unit, search means that searches the contents of the message header information storage memory, search / extract information storage memory that can store the searched information, time, and year. It is equipped with a timer that can obtain information including the date of the month and a voice mail control device that can control the entire voice mail. A voice mail system configured to search a voice mail message based on a condition of message header information by controlling the voice mail control device by an operation from a line and an outside line telephone. 2. The voice mail system according to claim 1, wherein the search / extract result is displayed on the display unit of the extension telephone under the control of the voice mail control device and the central processing unit. 3. A telephone directory memory is provided on the PBX side, and when the same calling party number as the telephone directory memory name list exists, the telephone directory name list information and the calling party number are simultaneously recorded with the message at the time of message recording. The voice mail system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the message is stored in a message header information storage memory of the voice mail so that the message can be searched / extracted according to the conditions of the calling number and the telephone directory memory. . 4. When the message is listened to, the importance of the message is stored in the message header information storage memory of the voicemail by operating the telephone so that the message can be searched / extracted according to the condition of the importance of the message. A voice mail system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is provided.