JPH10304171A - Facsimile and medium recorded with control program for facsimile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile which can reduce failures in facsimile transmission as much as possible and to provide a medium in which the control program for facsimile is recorded. SOLUTION: In the case of a failure in termination or a failure in facsimiling after the start of a facsimile communication, the facsimile 10 capable of performing a facsimile communication by providing a read part 11, a recording part 12, a compression/restoration part 13, a modem 16, etc., can perform redialing operation within a specific limit frequency, but a telephone call number recorded corresponding to the facsimile telephone number is read out in this case and a corresponding error code is sent out to a voice synthesis part 25 on termination to send a voice message indicating that a facsimile communication can not be made to the opposite side. Consequently, the opposite side can be informed of a failure in facsimile communication while not aware of that, and the possibility that the facsimile communication succeeds by countermeasures taken on the opposite side can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a facsimile and a medium recording a facsimile control program, and more particularly to a facsimile having a redial function and a medium recording a facsimile control program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-265254. In the facsimile disclosed in the publication, in consideration of the fact that it is meaningless to redial a dark cloud due to a situation where calls cannot be received, it is determined whether or not a busy tone is detected when fax communication fails, and redial is performed only when a busy tone is detected. I have to.

[0003]

In the above-described conventional facsimile, redialing is performed only in the case of a busy tone, so the number of redial attempts is reduced.
There is a problem that the possibility of successful fax transmission cannot be increased. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a facsimile capable of minimizing fax transmission failure and a medium recording a facsimile control program.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 comprises a facsimile communication means having a redial function, and a telephone number management means for managing a telephone number for a call together with a telephone number for a fax. And a warning message sending means for sending a message for calling attention by dialing a telephone number for a call which is paired with the fax telephone number when fax communication fails.

[0005] In the invention according to claim 1 configured as described above, the fax communication means has a redial function, and when a fax communication fails, it automatically redials and attempts an incoming call. Manages phone numbers for calls as well as phone numbers for faxes.
When the fax communication fails, the alert message sending means dials the telephone number for the telephone which is paired with the fax telephone number, and sends an alert message.

[0006] In the case of a fax communication failure, by calling a telephone number and sending a message, the recipient listens to the message and checks his / her facsimile status. For example, it is possible to take measures such as removing it, rounding up early if the telephone is used on the same line, and returning if the telephone line is switched. The alert message sending means sends an alert message, and more specifically, may be configured to send a digitally recorded voice or a magnetically recorded message. For dialing a phone number,
An independent communication unit may be provided, or a part of the hardware of the fax communication unit may be used.

[0007] The contents of the message to be sent are, for example,
Anything can be used as long as it says "Cannot send fax. Please check your facsimile." Of course, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the invention according to claim 2 is the facsimile according to claim 1, wherein the alert message sending means transmits a plurality of alert messages according to the situation. It is configured to be able to send. In the invention according to claim 2 configured as described above, a plurality of alert messages can be selectively transmitted, and may be properly used depending on the situation.

The specific use need not be limited to manual operation, but may include automatic operation. For example, in the invention according to claim 3, in the facsimile according to claim 2, the fax communication means can determine a type of a failure of the fax communication, and the alert message sending means can transmit the fax communication information. The alert message transmitted according to the type of failure is changed. In the invention according to claim 3 configured as described above, the fax communication means can not only perform redialing but also determine the type of fax communication failure.
The alert message sending means changes the alert message to an optimal alert message corresponding to the type of the fax communication failure and sends the message.

[0009] As a type of the failure of the fax communication, there is a possibility that the facsimile is not connected when the call is completely unanswered, and when the telephone is busy, the facsimile is used as a telephone or a large amount of fax transmission is performed. You might be doing it. Therefore, if a non-response message is sent or a call is sent, it is expected that the other party will take a measure corresponding to the message. Further, depending on the type of the failure of the fax communication, it is not necessary to change the alert message only.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile according to the third aspect, the alert message sending means is configured not to send the alert message according to the type of the fax communication failure.

In the invention according to claim 4 configured as described above, not only the message is changed according to the type of the failure of the fax communication, but also the alert message is not transmitted in some cases. For example, in the case of a busy tone, fax transmission can be expected while redialing, so it may not be necessary to send an alert message. This is because it cannot be taken.

The alert message may be prepared in consideration of various situations, and is not necessarily limited to the case of fax transmission. As an example, the invention according to claim 5 is the facsimile according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the alert message sending means sends a plurality of alert messages corresponding to fax transmission and fax reception. It is provided as a configuration. In the invention according to claim 5 configured as described above, although it is still the same as sending from the own machine, there is also a case where a fax is received from the called party. In some cases, it cannot be received, and an alert message is sent according to such a case.

The fax communication means only needs to be redialable, and various configurations are possible. As an example, the invention according to claim 6 is the facsimile device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the facsimile communication means dials a predetermined facsimile telephone number and detects whether or not there is an incoming call. A configuration comprising: detecting means; fax communication means for performing fax communication when an incoming call is detected by the incoming call detecting means; and redial control means for executing a predetermined number of redials when the incoming call detecting means does not detect an incoming call. There is.

In the invention according to claim 6, the incoming call detecting means dials a predetermined facsimile telephone number and detects the presence or absence of an incoming call, and the incoming call detecting means detects that there is an incoming call. The fax communication unit performs fax communication, but when the incoming call detection unit does not detect that the call has been received, the redial control unit executes redialing a predetermined number of times. By the way, the concept of sending an alert message at the time of a fax communication failure as described above is based on the idea of the invention that the qualities as hardware are required, but the execution sequence is realized by hardware or software. Includes various aspects, and can be appropriately changed.

When software for controlling a facsimile is used as an embodiment of the idea of the present invention, the software naturally exists on a recording medium on which such software is recorded.
I have to say that it is used. As an example, the invention according to claim 7 is a medium in which a facsimile control program having a redial function and a message sending function is recorded. Is configured to dial a telephone number for a call that is paired with the telephone number for a fax and to send a message to call attention.

Of course, the recording medium may be a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, or any recording medium to be developed in the future. Also, the duplication stages of the primary duplicated product, the secondary duplicated product, and the like are equivalent without any question. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the case where the present invention is used even when the supply method is performed using a communication line, and the same applies to a case where the information is written on a semiconductor chip.

Further, even when a part is realized by software and a part is realized by hardware, there is no difference in the concept of the invention, and it is necessary to store a part on a recording medium. It may be in a form that is appropriately read in accordance with it.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the fax communication fails, the telephone number for the call is dialed to call attention, so that the counterpart can expect some countermeasure and succeed in the fax communication. It is possible to provide a facsimile capable of improving the possibility of performing the facsimile.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, more appropriate measures can be taken by a message according to the situation. Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, it is easier for the other party to determine the cause and to take a countermeasure by using a message corresponding to the type of the fax communication failure.
Further, according to the invention of claim 4, it is possible to select not to issue the alert message, and it is possible to take a means more appropriate for the situation.

Further, according to the invention according to claim 5,
It can handle not only fax transmission but also fax reception. Further, according to the invention of claim 6, the fax communication means can be configured with a simple configuration. Further, according to the invention of claim 7, it is possible to provide a medium in which a facsimile control program capable of improving the possibility of successful fax communication is recorded.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a facsimile according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the facsimile 10 is
Reading unit 11 including an image sensor and a document feed mechanism
And a recording unit 1 including a thermal head and a recording paper feed mechanism
2 and a compression / decompression unit 13 for compressing and decompressing fax data. The compression / decompression unit 13 reads a transmission document to generate fax data, and can generate image data for print output from the fax data. The compression / decompression unit 13 is connected to a bus 14, and a modem 16 is connected to the bus 14 via a line control unit 15. The modem 16 can be connected to a public telephone line via a network control unit 17 and can perform facsimile communication with a designated facsimile machine via the public telephone line. Note that the modem 16 can detect a busy tone that cannot be connected because the other party of the called telephone number is busy.

The main control unit 18 connected to the bus 14 controls the entire apparatus including the fax communication. The main control unit 18 executes a facsimile transmission process shown in FIG. To execute various control processes. The bus 14 is also provided with an image memory 21 for temporarily storing image data, and is used for temporarily storing read data and temporarily storing received data. Taking fax transmission as an example, basically, step S
At step 105, a fax telephone number is obtained, and step S
Dialing is performed at 110, and if it is determined at step S115 that the call can be received, fax communication is executed at step S120. On the other hand, if the call cannot be received in step S115, or if it is determined in step S120 after the fax communication that the fax communication has not been successful, it is determined in step S135 whether the number is within the predetermined number of times. Is determined, and if the number of times is equal to or smaller than the limit number, step S110
Return to and redial. In this sense, it can be said that it has a redial function.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the fax communication means is constituted mainly by the above configuration.
Of course, it is not necessary that both fax transmission and fax reception are possible. For example, it may be a fax modem that transmits a fax from a computer.
Further, it may be dedicated to polling for transmitting fax data after waiting for an incoming call from a fax. An operation panel 22 and a display LCD 23 are connected to the main control unit 18, and a registration memory 24 is connected to the main control unit 18 via a bus 14. The main control unit 18 includes a speed dial registration program shown in FIG. Thereby, the management database shown in FIG. 4 can be formed. In this abbreviated dial registration program, “add” is selected in step S205.
A menu is displayed so that either “delete” or “correction” can be selected, and when addition is selected, step S210 is performed.
After steps S215 to S225, the name of the other party, the telephone number for facsimile, and the telephone number for telephone call are entered. After confirmation in step S230, it is added to the management database in step S235. Therefore, in the management database, the name of the other party, the telephone number for fax, and the telephone number for call are integrally managed for each abbreviated number.

If deletion is selected in the menu display, the object is selected in step S245 through the judgments in steps S210 and S240, and after confirmation in step S250, the object is deleted in step S255. In the case of correction, the target is selected in step S260 after the determination in steps S210 and S240, and step S265
In S275, the name of the other party, the telephone number for facsimile, and the telephone number for call are corrected in order.

In this embodiment, a telephone number management means is constituted by the main control unit 18, the speed dial registration program stored in the program ROM 19, the operation panel 22, the LCD 23, the registration memory 24 and the like. In the present embodiment, these are managed in the form of a database, but it is sufficient that at least the telephone number for the call can be known in correspondence with the telephone number of the facsimile of the other party to be communicated. The telephone number may also be input when the destination is designated, and these may be temporarily associated and managed.

Further, a voice synthesizing unit 25 capable of reproducing digitally recorded data is connected to the bus 14, and a predetermined voice message can be reproduced in accordance with an instruction from the main control unit 18. The voice synthesizer 25 is connected to the bus 14 and the output terminal of the synthesized voice is connected to the network controller 17. When the network controller 17 is connected to the public telephone line under the control of the line controller 15. A synthesized voice can be transmitted to the other party.

FIG. 5 shows message contents that can be transmitted by the voice synthesizing section 25 in the right column, and a specific message corresponding to the contents can be reproduced. These messages are sent to the other party when the fax communication fails, and are collectively referred to as the message types based on their meanings, as shown in the middle column. Error code of the speech synthesis unit 25
Output to The timing at which the main control unit 18 outputs the error code to the voice synthesizing unit 25 is shown in the fax transmission program of FIG. 2, but the specific sending process is shown in FIG. When the message is sent, step S
At 310, the telephone number of the other party is read, and at step S320, the telephone number is dialed and called. The telephone number is dialed by the network control unit 1 via the line control unit 15.
After off-hook 7, the modem 16 sends out a predetermined dial tone. If it is determined in step S330 that there is an incoming call within a predetermined time, in step S340, the network control unit 17 connects the voice synthesizing unit 25 to the telephone line and disconnects the modem 16 from the network.
At 350, an error code is output to the speech synthesis unit 25.
The speech synthesis unit 25 starts speech synthesis when the error code is input, and notifies the main control unit 18 when the speech synthesis is completed. Therefore,
The main control unit 18 waits for the end notification in step S360, and upon receiving the notification, in step S370, the network control unit 17
To disconnect the line. In some cases, it may not be possible to receive a call even when sending a message. If it is determined in step S330 that the call has not been received, it is determined in step S380 whether or not the call has been received within a predetermined number of times.
Redial at 20. Of course, when the number of times exceeds a predetermined number, the message sending process ends.

As described above, under the control of the main control unit 18, the line control unit 15, the modem 16, and the network control unit 17 make a call to the call telephone number, and the speech synthesis unit 2
In order to transmit the voice message according to the situation by 5, these constitute a warning message transmitting means. Of course, as described above, a plurality of voice messages can be sent, and not only a fax message but also a polling message can be sent.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described. The other party trying to send a fax
It is assumed that a facsimile and a telephone are switched and used by one telephone line, and that the telephone is left as it happened by forgetting the switching. Hereinafter, a specific flow will be described with reference to FIG. The facsimile transmission is performed based on the facsimile transmission processing shown in FIG. 2, and if the operator sets the original and inputs the abbreviated number, the main control unit 18 operates the operation panel 2
After obtaining the fax telephone number of the transmission destination in step S105 in accordance with the above operation on 2, the user dials the telephone number in step S110 (FIG. 7A).

It is assumed that the line of the telephone number is connected to a telephone in another room at the other party, and that even if the telephone rings, no notice is made. The main control unit 18 determines that the call cannot be received in step S115, and also determines in step S140 whether the cause of the failure in receiving the call is a busy tone during a call. I do. In this case, since the other party has not responded within the time, the call is disconnected, and it is determined that the other party is not busy.
At step 5, a non-response message is sent. To send a message, a message sending process shown in FIG. 6 is executed. First, in step S310, the telephone number of the caller of the other party who has not responded is read out, and in step S32
Call the other party with the same phone number at 0. Step S330
If it is determined in step S that the call has been received within the predetermined number of times, step S
At 340, the voice synthesizer 25 is connected to the telephone line, and the main controller 18 sends an error code to the voice synthesizer 25 at step S350. The error code in this case is # 2 because it is the error code of the non-response message.

On the other hand, since the other party has called the telephone line of the telephone number for a normal telephone call different from the facsimile, the receiver tries to answer by raising the receiver. However, the other party is the facsimile on the sending side described above,
Since the error code # 2 is input to the voice synthesizer 25, the voice synthesizer 25 reproduces a message indicating that there is no response to the call from the facsimile as shown in FIG. 5 (FIG. 7 (b)). When the reproduction of the message is completed, a notification of the end is sent to the main control unit 18, and the main control unit 18
Is determined to end in step S360, and step S37
The line is disconnected at 0.

Since the other party was informed that the facsimile did not respond by a synthesized voice message, he noticed that the telephone line had been switched to a telephone in another room, and changed the telephone line to facsimile. (FIG. 7C). When the facsimile on the transmission side redials in step S110 after a certain period of time has passed (FIG. 7D), an incoming call is received within a predetermined time, and facsimile communication is performed in step S120 (FIG. 7).
(E)) When the process is successfully completed, it is determined in step S125 that fax communication has been successful, and a series of fax transmission processes ends.

In this example, the non-response message is transmitted with the error code # 2 because the other party is not facsimile but unresponsive, but if the other party is busy, a busy tone is detected. That is, when determining that the main control unit 18 is busy in step S140, the main control unit 18 executes a busy message sending process in step S150. In this case, the error code is #
It is only 1 and dialing the telephone line of the telephone number for a call is the same.

Thus, the other party can understand only that the facsimile cannot be received because the facsimile is communicating. In this case, there is a case where there is no way to cope, but it is understood that there is at least a fax that cannot be received. If the user is currently transmitting, the user can temporarily cancel the transmission, wait for reception of a fax, and then retransmit the transmission. Since it is more likely that fax transmission will be possible by repeating redialing for a busy message, a message may not be sent only in this case depending on the setting. Specifically, step S15
The processing of step S135 may be continued without the processing of 0.

On the other hand, although the fax communication has started but may not reach the end, in this case, step S1 is executed.
At 30, a failure message is sent to the other party. By the way, there are several possible causes of a fax failure, for example, a paper jam on the way, or interruption on the way due to poor line quality. In such a case, the main control unit 1
In some cases, a message corresponding to the cause may be transmitted. For example, when the fax communication fails due to a paper jam, the main control unit 18 sends # 31 to the voice synthesizing unit 25 as an error code, and the more specific symptom that the destination is a paper jam is displayed. You will be notified. It should be noted that the number of messages to be transmitted is not necessarily one, and if # 33 is transmitted after # 31 as an error code, the transmitting side can be notified that retransmission cannot be performed. This is because if the transmitting side does not have the image memory 21, the original that has been sent halfway cannot be read again.

In the above example, a fax is transmitted. However, the same applies to a polling process in which the telephone caller receives fax data. The telephone call for polling is not received. Tell the other party. As described above, the facsimile 10 including the reading unit 11, the recording unit 12, the compression / decompression unit 13, the modem 16 and the like capable of performing facsimile communication may not be able to receive a call, or may have failed in facsimile after the start of facsimile communication. If
If the number is within the predetermined limit, redialing is possible. In such a case, the telephone number for call recorded in correspondence with the telephone number for facsimile is read out (step S).
310) and call (step S320). When an incoming call is received, a corresponding error code is sent to the voice synthesizing unit 25 (step S350), so that the fact that fax communication cannot be performed is sent to the other party by a voice message. Can be notified that the fax communication has failed while the user is not aware, and the possibility of successful fax communication depending on the countermeasure of the other party can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart corresponding to a fax transmission process of the facsimile.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart corresponding to a speed dial registration process of the facsimile.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a managed speed dial database.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing correspondence between types of voice messages and notification contents.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart corresponding to a message sending process of the facsimile.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart up to successful communication of the facsimile.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Facsimile 11 ... Reading part 12 ... Recording part 13 ... Compression / decompression part 14 ... Bus 15 ... Line control part 16 ... Modem 17 ... Network control part 18 ... Main control part 19 ... Program ROM 21 ... Image memory 22 ... Operation panel 23 LCD 24 Registration memory 25 Voice synthesizer

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A fax communication means having a redial function, a telephone number management means for managing a telephone number together with a telephone number for a fax, and a telephone telephone paired with the telephone number for the fax when the fax communication fails. A facsimile comprising: a warning message transmitting means for transmitting a message for calling attention by dialing a number. 2. The facsimile according to claim 1, wherein said alert message sending means is capable of sending a plurality of alert messages according to a situation. 3. The facsimile according to claim 2, wherein the facsimile communication means can determine a type of the failure of the facsimile communication, and the alert message sending means corresponds to the type of the failure of the facsimile communication. A facsimile characterized by changing the alert message sent out. 4. The facsimile according to claim 3, wherein the alert message sending means does not send the alert message according to the type of the fax communication failure. 5. The facsimile according to claim 1, wherein the alert message sending means includes a plurality of alert messages corresponding to fax transmission and fax reception. facsimile. 6. A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said facsimile communication means dials a predetermined facsimile telephone number and detects whether or not there is an incoming call. A facsimile machine comprising: a facsimile communication unit for performing facsimile communication when an incoming call is detected by the unit; and a redial control unit for executing a predetermined number of redials when the incoming call is not detected by the incoming call detection unit. 7. A medium in which a facsimile control program having a redial function and a message sending function is recorded, wherein a telephone number for a telephone is managed together with a telephone number for a facsimile, and a pair with the telephone number for the facsimile is received when there is no incoming call. A medium storing a facsimile control program, wherein a call-causing message is sent by dialing a telephone number to be made.