JPH10304050A - Automatic reply device for incoming call - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a caller to surely grasp the behavior of a callee not through another party by automatically informing the caller about the schedule of the callee in response to the time of reception of the call signal from the caller. SOLUTION: A reply text generating circuit 33 that receives setup of a channel between a general telephone line network and an automatic reply device 16 by a signal reception circuit 25 reads schedule data from a schedule memory 32 based on a date and a time from a clock/calendar circuit 34. When, e.g. no vacation code is included in the schedule data, the reply text generating circuit 33 acquires a destination telephone number from a destination telephone number detection circuit 26, the acquired telephone number is collated with a destination number in a telephone number registration list memory 37 to specify a rank. Then the reply text generating circuit 33 receives a reply text pattern in response to the rank from a reply text memory 36 and finishes the reply text and provides an output of the text to the caller.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic telephone answering apparatus for automatically answering a call on behalf of the user when the user does not perform a response operation when the call is received. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There has been known a telephone receiver for automatically answering an incoming call when a user is absent, that is, a telephone having an answering machine function. According to the answering machine function, the caller of the telephone can notify the user of the telephone, that is, the owner, by leaving a desired message to the owner.

[0003]

With the conventional answering machine function, there is no choice but to leave a message for the caller. Even if you want to convey your business urgently,
There is no choice but to leave a message and wait for a reply from the user. Also,
Even if the message is delivered by a certain time, leaving a message does not mean that the telephone owner will hear the message by that time. It is convenient for the caller side to be able to determine how to respond to the response according to the urgency of the business when the response is made by the answering machine function.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when an incoming call is automatically answered on behalf of a user, an automatic response to an incoming call can be made. It is an object to provide a response device.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has taken the following means. The invention according to claim 1 is a receiving means for receiving a call signal from a caller, a storage means for storing schedule data of the receiver, and comparing an arrival time of the call signal with the schedule data to compare the schedule data. Judgment means for judging the schedule of the recipient when a call signal arrives, management means for managing messages corresponding to the schedule, and reproduction for extracting and reproducing a predetermined message from the management means based on the judgment. Means.

[0006] According to this configuration, the schedule of the receiver according to the time when the call signal from the sender is received can be automatically transmitted to the sender. As a result, the caller can surely grasp the behavior of the receiver without going through another person.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a configuration is adopted in which a sender is recognized, and a message corresponding to the sender is extracted from the management unit based on the recognition result. According to this configuration, a different message can be reproduced according to the caller, so that appropriate action can be taken for the caller.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the sender is ranked, and a message having many schedule items for the higher-ranked sender is extracted from the management means. Take the configuration. According to this configuration, a higher-ranked sender can be notified of a more detailed schedule of the receiver, and communication between the sender and the receiver can be facilitated.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the sender is ranked, and the scheduler in the management means is selected according to the rank of the sender. According to this configuration, it is possible to notify the schedule of the recipient by selecting an appropriate item for the sender of a high rank, and to facilitate the communication between the sender and the recipient.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the determining means for determining a message in the managing means based on a user's input, and the determined message are combined to generate the predetermined message. A configuration including a synthesizing means for creating a message is adopted. According to this configuration, various reproduction messages can be easily created by a user's input.

A sixth aspect of the present invention, according to the first aspect, employs a configuration in which a specific message is reproduced when the caller's schedule is off. According to this configuration, it is possible to reliably notify the caller that it is a day off, and it is possible to omit unnecessary communication of the caller.

[0012]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a telephone set TE to which the automatic telephone answering apparatus according to the present invention is applied.
The telephone TE includes a receiver 10 set on a telephone main body (not shown). When the telephone line is connected through the general telephone line network NW, the user of the telephone set TE can input a voice through the microphone 11 of the receiver 10 and can hear the voice of the other party through the speaker 12 of the receiver 10. .

The receiver 10 is connected to a general telephone network NW through a communication control circuit 13. This communication control circuit 1
3 includes a doorbell counting circuit 14 for counting the number of doorbells at the time of an incoming call, and a response operation detection circuit 15 for detecting whether or not a response operation has been performed. The communication control circuit 13
If a response operation is input before the preset number of ringing rings at the time of the incoming call, the line is switched to the handset 10.
Connect to On the other hand, at the time of the incoming call, if the answering operation is not input even if a preset number of ringing rings, the communication control circuit 13 connects the line to the automatic answering device 16 according to the present invention instead of the handset 10. . Response operations include:
For example, an act of lifting the receiver 10 from the telephone body is included. When making a call, the handset 10
When the telephone is lifted, the line is opened by the response operation detection circuit 15, and the input of the subsequent telephone number is performed by the base station (not shown).
To induce switching operation. As a result, the telephone of the other party specified by the telephone number is called.
The telephone number is input by, for example, a numeric keypad 17 connected to the communication control circuit 13.

Referring to FIG. 2, an automatic answering device 16 is provided with an information receiving means 20 for receiving information transmitted through the general telephone network NW, and an information receiving means for transmitting information to the general telephone network NW according to the information from the information receiving means 20. Information transmission means 2 for transmitting information
1 is provided. An information device such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) 23 or a computer can be connected to the automatic response device 16 through the interface 22.

The information receiving means 20 includes a signal receiving circuit 25 for receiving a signal through a line. The destination telephone number detection circuit 26 detects the destination telephone number of the caller based on the reception signal received by the signal receiving circuit 25. The other party's ten-key operation detection circuit 27 detects the ten-key operation of the other party based on the reception signal received by the signal receiving circuit 25. After the line is established, for example, when the ten key "# 1" is operated by the other party telephone, the other party's numeric key operation detection circuit 27 activates the message recording circuit 28 in response to the operation, and for example, the ten key "#" by the other party telephone When "2" is operated, a transfer control command is issued according to the operation. When the message recording circuit 28 operates, a voice signal received from the other party's telephone is stored in the message memory 29. The stored message is reproduced by the operation of the message reproducing circuit 30.

The information transmitting means 21 includes a response sentence generating circuit 33 for reading out a schedule from a schedule memory 32 which is a storage means in accordance with the reception notification signal supplied from the signal receiving circuit 25. The response sentence generation circuit 33 functions as a judging means for comparing the reception time with the schedule data to judge the schedule of the receiver at the time of the incoming call,
In reading the schedule, the schedule of the user at that time is specified based on the time of the incoming call specified by the clock / calendar circuit 34. The response sentence generation circuit 33 generates a response sentence based on the specified schedule. The message corresponding to the schedule is managed by management means such as a memory. Further, the voice synthesizing circuit 35, which is a reproducing means, synthesizes a voice signal according to the generated response sentence and outputs the voice signal to the general telephone network NW.

The schedule memory 32 stores schedule data for specifying a user's schedule. The schedule data includes at least event items such as meetings, business trips, and vacations, a destination name in the case of a meeting or business trip, a contact telephone number of the destination, a date and time at which the event specified in the event item ends (hereinafter, “ "Attendance start time"). Therefore,
By the presence start time, a time zone in which the user can input a response operation to the incoming call is specified.

The response sentence memory 36 stores a response sentence pattern prepared in advance. Response sentence generation circuit 33
Completes a response sentence by inserting information such as an event item, a destination name and a presence start time taken from the schedule memory 32 into a response sentence pattern.

The telephone number register memory 37 stores, for each destination telephone number, a rank according to the importance of the destination set by the user. A different response sentence pattern is prepared in the response sentence storage memory 36 for each rank. Accordingly, the response sentence generation circuit 33 compares the destination telephone number detected by the destination telephone number detection circuit 26 with the destination telephone number in the telephone number register memory 37, and responds according to the rank obtained by the comparison. The corresponding response sentence pattern is read from the sentence storage memory 36.

The information transmitting means 21 is provided with a transfer control circuit 40. The transfer control circuit 40 transfers a line to a designated transfer destination in response to a transfer control command from the other party's numeric keypad operation detecting circuit 27 described above.

The information transmitting means 21 is further provided with an information capture control circuit 41 for loading a user's schedule into the schedule memory 32 from the PDA 23 connected to the interface 22 as a schedule management device. This information capture control circuit 41 captures information required as schedule data from the PDA 23,
It is stored in the schedule memory 32. The PDA 23 stores software for executing schedule management. In such software, as shown in FIG. 3, a user's schedule is managed, for example, in minutes. In the schedule memory 32, an event file is created for each event along the time axis. As shown in FIG. 4, information such as the event item, the start time of the event, the destination name of the event, the contact telephone number of the destination, and the end time of the event are registered in the event file. When creating the event file, the event may be extracted after the expiration date, for example, one week or one month. Note that the information capture control circuit 41 can use the numeric keypad 17 and the display 42 to capture the schedule data.

Here, it is assumed that the automatic answering apparatus 16 answers the incoming call after the schedule is registered in the schedule memory 32. Here, the response sentence storage memory 36
In FIG. 5, it is assumed that a response sentence pattern for each rank and a fixed pattern are registered in advance, as shown in FIG.
In each pattern, the schedule data is assigned to the position of the “variable”. In addition, □ indicates a blank at the time of reading. In addition, in the telephone number register memory 37,
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the importance of the destination is ranked by the user for each destination telephone number.

Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 7, it is assumed that a response operation by the user is not input when a call is received, and a line is established between general telephone line network NW and automatic answering apparatus 16. In the first step S1, the signal receiving circuit 25 notifies the response sentence generating circuit 33 that the line has been connected. In response to the notification, the response sentence generation circuit 33 takes in the date and time at that time from the clock / calendar circuit 34 in a second step S2. In a third step S3, the response sentence generation circuit 33 reads schedule data from the schedule memory 32 based on the fetched date and time. In a fourth step S4, it is determined whether or not the "vacation" code is included in the schedule data. If the "vacation" code is included, the process proceeds to the fifth step S5, where the response sentence generation circuit 33 stores the fixed pattern in the response sentence storage memory 36.
Read from

It is now assumed that a call arrives on April 2. The response sentence generation circuit 33 completes the response sentence while referring to the schedule data in the sixth step S6. At this time, the event end time variable of the fixed pattern includes the time when the person is first present after the vacation (in this case, April 1, 1).
2 o'clock) is substituted. The completed response sentence is converted into a voice signal and sent to the sender.

If the sender sends a message in response to the response sent by the automatic answering device 16, the message is stored in the message memory 29 through the operation of the message recording circuit 28. The stored message is read out by the operation of the message reproducing circuit 30 and output by a speaker (not shown) or the like.

In such a vacation response, there is no way for the caller to access the user, even if the caller wants to contact him as soon as possible. Therefore, regardless of the rank stored in the telephone number registry memory 37, it can be considered that the sender can be fully convinced even if a fixed pattern is sent as a response sentence.

If the vacation code is not found in the fourth step S4, the response sentence generation circuit 33 acquires the destination telephone number from the destination telephone number detection circuit 26 in a seventh step S7. The acquired destination telephone number is compared with the destination telephone number in the telephone number register memory 37. 8th
If the rank is specified by the collated telephone number in step S8, the specified rank is taken into the response sentence generation circuit 33 in ninth step S9. If the destination telephone number is not detected or the rank is not specified even if it is detected (for example, in the case of the fourth column in the telephone number register memory 37), the lowest rank (in this case, in the tenth step S10) Rank 3) is designated by the response sentence generation circuit 33.

In an eleventh step S11, the response sentence generation circuit 33 fetches a response sentence pattern from the response sentence storage memory 36 according to the rank. In the twelfth step S12, the response sentence generation circuit 33 completes the response sentence by substituting the schedule data for the variable of the response sentence pattern.
The completed response sentence is converted to a voice signal and then output to the caller.

If the sender operates the numeric keypad "# 1" in response to the transmitted response message, the message recording circuit 2
8 is activated. The message sent by the caller is stored in the message memory 29. On the other hand, if the caller operates the numeric keypad “# 2”, the transfer control circuit 40 operates according to the transfer control command. The transfer control circuit 40 transfers the line based on the contact information stored in the schedule memory 32. As a result, when the telephone is operated at the transfer destination, a line is established between the transfer destination telephone and the caller telephone.

As described above, by generating a response sentence based on the schedule data, it is possible to guide the response of the caller according to the circumstances of the caller. For example,
If the caller wants to contact the user urgently, the caller may choose to forward the call. Also, even if you do not need to contact the user immediately, if the caller feels it is too late to hear the message the next time they are present, you can choose to forward the call You can also contact them immediately. In addition, since the response text can be changed according to the importance of the caller set by the user, it is necessary to distinguish between a person who can be transferred by the user and a person who does not want to be transferred. Can also. As a result, a contact may not be sent to a party who does not need to provide the contact. Therefore, the user is not bothered easily despite the convenience of the sender.

Now, suppose a case where the meeting from 10:00 on April 3 is prolonged and the user does not return to the scheduled attendance start time. According to the processing of the flowchart in FIG. 7, since no schedule is specified at that time, an appropriate response sentence is not created. Therefore, a response sentence pattern in which "I'm going to return" in the response sentence pattern shown in FIG. When the automatic response device 16 operates after the presence start time, a response sentence is generated based on the response sentence pattern. Such response sentence generation may be canceled by some input operation (for example, any operation from the numeric keypad) when the user returns.
As a result, even if the user returns late to the presence start time, it is possible to appropriately answer the incoming call.

Next, a method of creating a response sentence pattern and a fixed pattern stored in the response sentence storage memory will be described.
First, the user selects a response sentence creation mode through an input device such as the ten keys 17. Information capture control circuit 41
Displays the word processing function on the display 42.
In this word processing function, characters can be input, for example, by operating the ten keys 17. Moreover, variable name displays such as “event item variable”, “destination name variable”, and “event end time variable” are prepared in advance, and these variable name displays can be inserted between created sentences. As a result, it is possible to change a sentence as shown in FIG. 5 or to create a response sentence pattern independently. The created response statement pattern is stored in the response statement storage memory 36 by the operation of the information capture control circuit 41.

At this time, the voice synthesizing circuit 35 may synthesize the voice for each single character, or may synthesize the voice for each word. For fixed phrases that are expected to be used frequently, it is preferable to prepare a speech signal in advance for each fixed phrase. If the voice of the response sentence pattern is directly stored in the response sentence storage memory 36 instead of the input operation using the ten keys 17 described above,
The processing in the voice synthesizing circuit 35 is simplified.
In any case, an input device such as the ten key 17 or the like is displayed in the column of “user name” in the response sentence pattern.
The user's name or name is fetched from an information device such as the connected PDA 23.

Further, a method of registering the destination telephone number and the rank in the telephone number register memory will be described. First, the user selects the number registration mode through an input device such as the ten keys 17. The information acquisition control circuit 41 causes the telephone number directory shown in FIG. The user enters the destination telephone number and rank according to the telephone number directory. At this time, the name of the other party may be entered in addition to the other party's telephone number.
Also, the rank does not necessarily need to be entered. The created telephone number book is stored in the telephone number register memory 37 by the operation of the information acquisition control circuit 41.

In the above-described embodiment, the schedule data is stored in the schedule memory 32. However, the PDA 23 as the schedule management device is kept connected, and the schedule data is fetched from the PDA 23 each time the automatic response device 16 operates. It may be. Instead of providing the schedule memory 32, the schedule data may be fetched from the PDA 23 whenever a user is absent, and a response sentence may be generated. In this case, when the events overlap, the event item of the first event and the end time of the last event are substituted into the response statement pattern.

Further, the automatic response mode in which the automatic response device 16 is operated and the normal mode in which the automatic response device 16 is disabled may be switched. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the schedule data is incorporated into the response sentence by voice.
The schedule may be transmitted by X or the like.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, the schedule of the receiver according to the time when the call signal from the sender is received can be automatically transmitted to the sender. As a result, the caller can surely grasp the behavior of the receiver without going through another person.

Further, according to the present invention, since different messages can be reproduced according to the caller, it is possible to appropriately deal with the caller. Further, according to the present invention, a higher-ranked sender can be notified of a more detailed schedule of a receiver, and communication between the sender and the receiver can be facilitated. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to notify a scheduler of a recipient by selecting an appropriate item for a sender having a high rank, thereby facilitating communication between the sender and the recipient. .

Further, according to the present invention, various reproduction messages can be easily created by a user's input. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably notify the caller that it is a day off, and it is possible to omit unnecessary communication of the caller.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a telephone to which a telephone receiving device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an automatic response device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a schedule managed by the PDA.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data structure in a schedule memory.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data structure in a response sentence storage memory.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data structure in a telephone number registry memory.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure for creating a response sentence.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 13 communication control circuit constituting telephone receiving device 16 automatic answering device constituting telephone receiving device 23 PDA as schedule management device 33 response sentence generating circuit as response sentence generating means 35 voice synthesizing circuit as voice synthesizing means 36 response sentence Response sentence storage memory as storage means 37 Phone number directory memory as telephone number directory storage means

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A receiving means for receiving a call signal from a caller, a storage means for storing schedule data of a receiver, and comparing the arrival time of the call signal with the schedule data to receive the call signal. Determining means for determining the schedule of the recipient at the time, managing means for managing a message corresponding to the schedule, and reproducing means for extracting a predetermined message from the managing means and reproducing the message based on the determination. An automatic answering machine for incoming calls. 2. The incoming call automatic answering device according to claim 1, wherein the caller is recognized, and a message corresponding to the caller is extracted from a management unit based on the recognition result. 3. The incoming call automatic answering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the callers are ranked, and a message having a large number of schedule items for the caller with a higher rank is extracted from the management means. 4. The automatic telephone answering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the callers are ranked, and a schedule item in the management means is selected according to the rank of the caller. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: determining means for determining a message in the managing means based on a user's input; and combining means for combining the determined messages to create the predetermined message. Incoming telephone answering machine. 6. The automatic telephone answering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a specific message is reproduced when the schedule of the caller is off.