JPS58201458A - Automatic answering telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize the increase in the amount of recording and to attain high speed retrieval and to decrease the line occupancy time, by informing the end of a limit time to the operator of a remote control, and urging the transmission of the next remote signal. CONSTITUTION:When a remote signal is detected at a detecting section 10, a control section 3 stops a response reproducing plunger 5 to activate a message rewinding plunger 11 and to rewind a message tape to the start point, a message reproducing plunger 12 is operated, and the content of the message tape is informed to a caller via a line interface 1. Thus, if the content of the message tape is voluminous and the limit time of the remote control operation is elapsed, an information tone is generated at an information tone generating section 13 to urge the caller to re-transmit the remote signal. When a prescribed remote signal is generated from the caller, it is detected at the detecting section 10 and the reproducing operation is continued.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an answering machine that has a remote control function and has a limited operating time for one remote signal, and is capable of speeding up remote control processing, shortening line occupation time, The purpose is to increase recording capacity.

When operating an answering machine by remote control, there may be a limit to the time it can operate once depending on the laws and regulations of each country. Conventionally, in answering machines that have a remote control function and have a limit on the operating time per one remote control signal, the operation limit does not expire while a predetermined remote signal is used to perform a high-speed search for a recorded conversation. In this way, the recording capacity of recorded conversations was reduced to avoid wasting time on high-speed search operations. However, if the recording capacity was small, it would become impossible to record messages as soon as a few people's messages were recorded, and the answering machine function could not be fully utilized.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned drawbacks, and when the time limit elapses during a high-speed search for a recorded conversation using a predetermined remote signal, the high-speed search continues and the remote control operator is notified that the time limit has elapsed. To provide an answering machine having an excellent remote control function, realizing an increase in recording capacity and shortening the time occupied by a single line for high-speed searching by notifying the user of the problem and prompting the sending of the next remote signal. It is something.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

The answering machine responds to a call signal from any caller, automatically plays back a response conversation that has been recorded in advance by the owner of the answering machine, etc., and sends it to the line. to the caller.

When an arbitrary caller wants to have the answering machine record the contents that he or she wants to convey to the owner of the answering machine, the telephone answering machine records the content via the line following a predetermined notification sound emitted from the answering machine.

When the owner of an answering machine uses a remote control device from a location other than the location where the answering machine is located to listen to the conversation of any caller recorded on the answering machine, the owner of the answering machine The system calls the device, sends a predetermined remote signal using the remote control device, causes the device to perform the corresponding operation, and reproduces and listens to the content recorded by the caller. The above is the general operation of the answering machine having the remote control function.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the main part of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation.

The incoming signal passes through the line interface 1 and is detected by the incoming signal detection section 2. Upon inputting this detection output, the control section 3 operates the motor 4, operates the response reproduction plunger 6, and brings the response reproduction head 6a into close contact with the response tape 6b.
The response message prerecorded on the response tape 6b is sent out via the amplifier 8 and the line interface 1 via the signal switching section 7 which has been switched to the response message sending state by the control section 3. At this time, a remote signal is emitted from the caller in order to listen to the voice conversation from the tape starting point on the business tape 9a on which the business conversation has already been recorded by an arbitrary call tone, and the remote signal detection unit 10 When the remote signal is recognized at , the control section 3 stops the response reproduction plunger 6 and operates the message rewinding plunger 11 to rewind the message tape to the tape starting point. Thereafter, the message rewinding plunger 11 is stopped, the message reproduction plunger 12 is operated, the message reproduction head 9b is brought into close contact with the message tape 9a, and the signal switching section 7 is switched to the message reproduction state by the control section 3. , via amplifier 81 line interface 1,
The contents of the business tape are played back and conveyed to the caller.

If the content of the message tape is huge and the time limit for remote control operation has elapsed while rewinding the message tape,
The rewinding operation continues, and the notification sound generator 13 generates a notification sound to urge the caller to resend the remote signal. Thereafter, a predetermined remote signal is issued by the caller, and when the remote signal is recognized by the remote signal detection section 1o, the rewinding operation is continued. After the time limit for the above operation has elapsed, if the caller does not issue the specified remote signal within the specified time, the line will be released and the next call will be automatically restored to a state where it is possible to receive and receive the next call. The machine is in standby mode for incoming signals.

According to the embodiment described above, even if the time limit for remote control operation by one remote signal has passed while the tape is being rewound in response to a remote signal, the rewinding is continued and the calling party is In response, a notification sound is generated. Therefore, the calling party simply sends out another remote signal within a predetermined period of time and the rewinding operation described above continues. Therefore, even if the recording time of the business tape is long, the caller can continue rewinding the tape by simply sending a remote signal every time there is a notification sound, which is very convenient. On the other hand, by having such a function, it is possible to record a sufficiently long message, and 11
This increases the degree of freedom in limiting the recording time of messages and the length of message tapes, allowing the user to use the answering machine more effectively.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the time limit elapses while the remote control is in operation, a notification sound is transmitted to the calling party through the line, and the remote control is activated by the calling party sending out the remote signal again. It has the excellent feature of being able to continue. Therefore, it is possible to ease restrictions such as the time limit for recording a message and the length of a message recording tape, in particular, and it is easy for the user to operate, and it is possible to fully utilize the functions of an answering machine. It's expensive.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart explaining the operation. 2... Incoming signal detection unit, 3... Control unit, 4
．．・1.・. Motor, 7... Signal switching unit, 8... Amplifier, 9a... Message tape, 9b... Message playback head, 1°...... Remote signal detection section, 11
. . . Message rewind plunger, 12 . . . Message replay plunger, 13 . . . Notification sound generator. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] It is equipped with a remote signal detection section, a recorded conversation high-speed search section, and a notification signal generation section controlled by a control section.The remote signal detection section detects an incoming remote signal, and upon receiving this detection output, the control section performs a high-speed recorded conversation search. section, and searches the recorded conversation recorded on the message tape at high speed.
When the time limit for one remote signal has elapsed during this high-speed search, the control unit continues the high-speed search, drives the notification signal generator to broadcast the notification signal through the line, and repeats the notification within a predetermined time. If a remote signal is input and a detection output is generated in the remote signal detection unit, the high-speed search is continued via the control unit, and if the remote signal is not input within the predetermined time, the device returns to the incoming call standby state. An answering machine featuring: