JPH11196175A - Automatic answering telephone, its control method, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To know a caller's telephone number also when listening to a message through remote operation by storing the numbers of callers and messages as a pair, reproducing a message with a 1st signal from a line, and converting the caller's number corresponding to the message into voice data with a 2nd signal following the 1st signal and sending the data out to the line. SOLUTION: A CPU 102 temporarily stores caller's telephone number data from a telephone line in a RAM 104, and converts a message into voice data by a modem 107 and stores the data in the RAM 104. When a message ends, the caller's telephone number data are stored in the RAM 104 with correspondence to the voice message. When a playback command is inputted, the voice data are rear out and converted by the modem 107 into a voice signal, which is sent out to the telephone line. Once a caller's telephone number command is detected, read-out of the voice data is stopped and the caller's telephone number data are read out and converted by a ROM 103 and the modem 107 into a voice signal, which is sent out to the telephone line.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an answering machine connected to a telephone line to which a caller's telephone number is sent when an incoming call is received, a control method therefor, and a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There has been provided a conventional answering machine which allows a user to listen to a recorded message by remote operation from a remote place.

[0003] That is, in this answering machine, when the user wants to listen to a business message recorded on the answering machine from a place away from home or the like, he / she first calls the answering machine, and after the answering machine answers, a DTMF playback command is issued. , The answering machine plays back the recorded message, so that the message can be heard.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned answering machine, when a message is heard from an outside office or the like, in order to respond to it, even if it is attempted to call the other party, this is not possible. Unless the telephone number of the other party is known in advance, or if the other party does not give the telephone number in the business message, the telephone number cannot be known and the call cannot be made.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an answering machine capable of knowing the telephone number of the other party when the recorded message is heard by a remote operation from a remote place. .

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a telephone answering machine provided with a means for storing in a memory a caller telephone number sent from a line when an incoming call is received. Association message storage means for storing the association between the caller's telephone number and the message, and a message reproduction for reproducing the recorded message based on the first signal sent from the line Means,
Voice data generating means for converting the caller telephone number corresponding to the business message into voice data based on a second signal transmitted from a line following the first signal; And voice data transmitting means for transmitting to the line.

[0007] Thus, after listening to the business message recorded on the answering machine from the outside or the like, it is possible to know the telephone number of the other party by listening to the voice of the telephone number sent subsequent to the business message. Yes, you can make a call even if you don't know the other party's phone number.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an answering machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The answering machine 101 includes a CPU 102 for controlling the entire apparatus, and a ROM storing a control program for the CPU 102 and voice data for a response message.
And a RAM 104 used as a work area for the CPU 102, voice data, and a storage area for a caller telephone number transmitted from a telephone line.

The answering machine 101 has an operation section 105 for performing various input operations, a display section 106 for performing various displays, and A / D conversion of a voice signal from a telephone line into voice data. Or ROM 103 or RAM 10
A modem 107 for converting the voice data stored in the telephone line 4 into a voice signal D / A, receiving a caller telephone number or the like transmitted from the telephone line,
A network control circuit 108 for connecting to or releasing one of the modem 09 and the modem 107, a call signal detection circuit 110 for detecting a call signal from a telephone line, and the like are provided.

Next, the operation of recording a message on an answering machine will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Usually, the telephone line is connected to the receiver 109 via the NCU 108. The operator operates the operation unit 1
The answering machine 101 is put into a standby state by the operation from 05.

When a call is received in this state, a call signal is detected by the call signal detection circuit 110 (S20).
1) The line is temporarily closed by the network control circuit 108 (S202). Then, the caller telephone number data transmitted from the line is received by the modem 107 (S203), and is temporarily stored in the RAM 104 (S204).

Thereafter, when the line is released (S205),
Since the call signal is transmitted again from the line, the call signal is detected by the call signal detection circuit 110 (S206), and the line is closed by the network control circuit 108 (S207). Then, the voice data for the response message is read from the ROM 103, converted into a voice signal through the modem 107, and transmitted to the line (S208).

When the transmission of the response message is completed (S21)
0), recording of the business message is started (S211).
Here, the voice signal from the line is converted into voice data by the modem 107 and stored in the RAM 104.
When the end of the message of the caller is detected (S212), R
The caller telephone number data temporarily stored in the AM 104 is stored in the RAM 104 in association with the voice data (S
213), the line is released (S214).

Next, the operation of listening to a business message recorded on an answering machine from outside will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 2 and 3.

In FIG. 2, when a call is received from an answering machine, a call signal is detected by a call signal detection circuit 110 (S201), and a line is temporarily closed by a network control circuit 108 (S202). Then, the caller telephone number data transmitted from the line is received by the modem 107 (S203), and is temporarily stored in the RAM 104 (S204).

Thereafter, when the line is released (S205),
Since the call signal is transmitted again from the line, the call signal is detected by the call signal detection circuit 110 (S206), and the line is closed by the network control circuit 108 (S207). Then, the voice data for the response message is read from the ROM 103, converted into a voice signal through the modem 107, and sent out to the line (S208).

When the modem 107 detects a remote command based on the DTMF signal during transmission of the response message (S2).
09), in FIG. 3, the transmission of the response message is stopped, and a voice message prompting the input of the personal identification number is transmitted (S301). Here, when the modem 107 detects the password input by the DTMF signal (S302),
The password is compared with a password registered in the answering machine in advance.

Then, as a result of this comparison, if they match (S
303), and waits for various operation commands.
When a reproduction command based on the DTMF signal is input (S3
04), if a business message has been recorded (S3
05), the voice data of the business message stored in the RAM 104 is read out, converted into a voice signal by the modem 107, and transmitted to the line (S306).

During reproduction of the message, the modem 107
Detects the caller telephone number command by the DTMF signal (S307), stops the message reproduction, reads the caller telephone number data associated with the message one by one from the RAM 104 (S31).
0), the voice data corresponding to the number is extracted from the conversion table in the ROM 103 (S311), and the modem 10
7 to convert the signal into an audio signal and send it to the line (S31).
2). After the transmission, if there is the next message, the message is reproduced (S309).

When such operations are repeated and the processing of all the business messages is completed, the remote reproduction operation of the business messages is completed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the reproduction of the business message is stopped and the telephone number of the caller is transmitted by detecting the caller telephone number command during the reproduction of the business message. Can listen to the caller's phone number without having to listen to the message to the end, enabling quick response, and sending caller phone number commands to those who do not need to hear the phone number. Without having to listen to the business, a convenient device can be provided.

As described above, instead of transmitting the caller telephone number in response to the caller telephone number command, if there is a caller telephone number corresponding to each message, the message of the message is displayed. A configuration may also be adopted in which the caller's telephone number is automatically transmitted later.

In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the answering machine function is provided on a single telephone has been described. However, for example, an answering machine apparatus in which a personal computer or the like having a communication function is provided with the answering machine function is also used. It is within the scope of the invention.

In the above embodiment, the CPU 102 decodes the control program stored in the ROM 103 and executes the operation of the above-described embodiment. Alternatively, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, A control program for executing the above-described operation is stored in an external storage medium such as a memory card, and is loaded into a telephone by a dedicated reading device.
This is stored in the AM 104 and executed, whereby
The PU 102 may be executed.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a message is recorded, the correspondence between the caller telephone number sent from the line and the message is stored, and The recorded message is reproduced by the first signal transmitted from the telephone line, and the caller telephone number corresponding to the message is converted to voice data by the second signal transmitted from the line. After conversion, this audio data is transmitted to the line.

For this reason, after listening to the business message recorded on the answering machine from the outside, etc., it is possible to know the telephone number of the other party by listening to the voice of the telephone number transmitted following the business message. It is possible to make a call even if the user does not know the telephone number of the other party.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an answering machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101: answering machine, 102: CPU, 103: ROM, 104: RAM, 105: operation unit, 106: display unit, 107: modem, 108: modem, 109: receiver, 110: call signal detection circuit

Claims (5)

[Claims] When a message is recorded in an answering machine provided with means for storing in memory a caller telephone number sent from a line when an incoming call is received, the caller telephone number and the message are recorded. Message storage means for storing a message and a correspondence; message message reproducing means for reproducing a recorded message based on a first signal sent from a line; the first signal Voice data generating means for converting the caller's telephone number corresponding to the business message into voice data based on a second signal transmitted from the line; and sending the voice data to the line. Voice mail transmitting means; and an answering machine. 2. The answering machine according to claim 1, wherein the second signal is received during reproduction of the business message. 3. An answering machine provided with means for storing in memory a caller telephone number sent from a line when an incoming call is received, when a message is recorded, said caller telephone number and said message are recorded. Correspondence storage means for storing a correspondence between a message and a message; and message reproduction means for reproducing a recorded message based on a first signal sent from a line; Voice data generating means for converting the caller telephone number corresponding to the message into voice data during playback of the message by means; voice for transmitting the voice data to the line following the message; An answering machine, comprising: data transmission means; 4. A method for controlling an answering machine having means for storing in a memory a caller telephone number sent from a line at the time of an incoming call, wherein when a message is recorded, said caller telephone number and A correspondence storing step of storing the correspondence with the business message; a business message reproduction step of reproducing a recorded business message based on a first signal sent from a line; A voice data generating step of converting the caller telephone number corresponding to the business message into voice data based on a second signal transmitted from the line following the signal of No. 1; And transmitting voice data to the answering machine. 5. A computer readable storage medium storing a program for controlling an answering machine having means for storing a caller telephone number sent from a line at the time of an incoming call in a memory. An association storing step of storing the association between the caller's telephone number and the business message when the voice message is recorded; and a business message recorded based on a first signal sent from the line. And a message message reproducing step of reproducing the caller telephone number corresponding to the message message on the basis of a second signal sent from a line following the first signal. A voice data generating step of transmitting the voice data to a line, and a voice data transmitting step of transmitting the voice data to a line. Readable storage medium.