JPS60139051A - Automatic answering telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To discriminate the presence or absence of a recorded message of a calling subscriber by transmitting an identification signal before an answer message are sent before subsequent incoming calls in case a message is recorded for a call of the calling subscriber. CONSTITUTION:A message of a calling subscriber is recorded/amplified 5, and the sound signals are recorded to a tape. At the same time, the sound signals are supplied to a sound signal detector 8 and detected. The output of the detector 8 is supplied to a control circuit 7 and stored to a memory circuit in the circuit 7. Here if the calling subscriber cuts off the circuit, the circuit 7 stops supply of the drive signal to a drive circuit 4 and stops the recording action. When an incoming call is detected, the circuit 7 checks whether the information on the output of the detector 8 is stored in the memory circuit. If said information is stored in the memory circuit, the drive signals A are sent to a peep tone oscillator 9 for a prescribed period, then sent to trunk lines L1 and L2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an answering machine having a response recording function.

A conventional answering machine, for example, as shown in FIG.
When an incoming call is detected, a response message is sent, and after the response message is sent, the message from the caller is recorded, and when the caller hangs up, the recording of the message from the caller is stopped. The device would then go into standby mode waiting for the next call.

Additionally, if the caller disconnects the line while a response message is being sent, the caller's call is detected, the response message is stopped, and the system waits for the next call. ing.

However, in conventional answering machines, it is not possible to determine whether or not a message from at least one caller has been recorded by simply asking for a response message. Therefore, when the owner of an answering machine wants to listen to a caller's message by sending a remote control signal over the line to the answering machine, after rewinding the tape that records the caller's message, It was extremely inconvenient to know whether the caller's message was recorded or not until it was played back.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides that, once a caller's message is recorded, an identification indicator indicating that the caller's message has been recorded before a response message is sent for subsequent incoming calls. It is an object of the present invention to provide an answering machine that eliminates the above drawbacks by transmitting signals (including no signals).

The present invention will be explained below with reference to Examples.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

In Fig. 2, 1 is an incoming call detection circuit, 2 is a line transformer, 3 is a sending amplifier, and 4 is a magnetic tape for response message (
Tr tape) and a magnetic tape for recording a caller's message (hereinafter referred to as Te tape) respectively; 5 is a recording amplifier that amplifies the message from the caller; 6 is a remote control signal detection circuit. , 7 is a control circuit.

This embodiment further includes an audio signal detection circuit 8 that is supplied with the output of the recording amplifier 5 and detects an audio signal, and a beep tone oscillator 9 that oscillates a beep tone. It has a storage means for receiving the output of the circuit 8 and storing the fact, and when the storage means stores that the audio signal detection circuit 8 has generated an output when the output of the remote control signal detection circuit 6 is received. is configured to drive the beep tone oscillator 9 for a predetermined period before driving the T+ tape. Further, the control circuit 7 is configured to clear the stored contents of the storage means when all reproduction of the T-2 tape is completed.

The operation of one embodiment of the present invention constructed as described above will be explained based on FIG. 3.

When a bell signal is applied to the office lines Lr and L2, it is detected by the incoming call detection circuit 1, and the incoming call detection circuit 1 outputs a signal C to the control circuit 7 (step m). Control circuit receiving signal C @
7 outputs a T+ tape drive signal Gl to the drive circuit 4. The T+ tape is run by the drive circuit 4 which receives this drive signal G1, and the response message J is sent to the station lines Ll and L2 via the sending amplifier 3 and the line transformer 2 (step n). When there is a caller's first call, the caller's first call is returned to the state of waiting for the next incoming call by a signal, as in the conventional case (step 0). In step n, the caller receives T- if no signal is generated.
When the sending of messages for one tape is completed, the control circuit 7 supplies a 72-tape drive signal G2 to the drive circuit @4. The drive circuit 4, which has received the drive signal G2, drives the T2 tape instead of the T-1 tape to switch to a state in which a message from the caller can be recorded. When the message from the calling party is sent, it is supplied to the recording amplifier 5, where it is amplified and the voice signal F is recorded on the T-2 tape. At the same time, the audio signal F
is supplied to the audio signal detection circuit 8 and detected. The output of the audio signal detection circuit 8 is supplied to the control circuit 7.
The data is stored in the memory circuit inside. That is, when the storage circuit stores information related to the output of the voice signal detection circuit 8, this indicates that the caller's message is recorded on the T2 tape. When the caller disconnects the line after the T-2 tape has been driven, the control circuit 7 stops supplying the drive signal G2 to the drive circuit 4 due to the signal that lines L1 and 'L2 are disconnected, and stops recording. It is stopped and returned to a standby state waiting for the next incoming call (step pyq).

Next, when an incoming call is detected (step R), the control circuit 7 checks whether information related to the output of the audio signal detection circuit 8 is stored in the storage circuit (step W).
, if the information is not stored, step n is executed. When the information is stored, the drive signal A is sent to the beep tone oscillator 9 for a predetermined period.Step S) A beep tone is supplied to the sending amplifier 3, and sent to the station lines Ll and L2 (Step r). Following step r, a response message is sent as in step n (step t), and following step t, a message from the caller is recorded as in step p (step U). Following the completion of Step U, the system returns to the standby state waiting for the next call (Step V). Therefore, when the owner of the answering machine makes a call to the answering machine, a beep tone is sent before sending a response message. If so, it can be seen that at least one caller's message is recorded on the Tz tape. Also, if no beep tone is sent out, it can be seen that no message from the caller is recorded on the T,2 tape. Therefore, whether or not to rewind the tape for reproduction can be determined based on the presence or absence of a beep tone.

Further, the beep tone may be sent out after sending out the contents of the response tape and before driving the T2 tape. Furthermore, the beep tone may be sent out only after sending out the contents of the response tape and only when a remote control signal is detected.

Furthermore, when the entire T2 tape is played back, the stored contents of the storage circuit are cleared and the next standby state is entered. Alternatively, a counter may be used instead of the memory circuit to count up the output of the voice signal detection circuit 8, and when the count value of the counter is not zero, at least one caller's message is recorded.

In addition, in the above case, if at least one caller's message is recorded, a beep tone is immediately sent out for subsequent incoming calls. If the caller does not insert only the minimum charge, the beep tone output from the answering machine will cause the caller to receive a warning tone from the Telephone Corporation immediately after the line is closed. There is a possibility that you may not hear or mishear.

For this reason, the beep tone may be sent out after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the incoming call, so as to delay the timing of sending out the beep tone.

Also, an audio frequency signal may be heard instead of a beep tone.

In addition, in the above method, when at least one caller's message is recorded on the T-1 tape, a beep tone or an audio frequency signal is transmitted as an identification signal for a predetermined period of time, but conversely, even one caller's message is recorded on the T-1 tape. A signal tone is output when the caller's message is not recorded on the T-2 tape, and a signal tone is not output when the caller's message is recorded on the T-2 tape, even in at least 13jrI calls. The same applies, and in this case, the identification signal is no signal.

As explained above, according to the present invention, when at least one caller's message is recorded, an identification signal is sent before sending a response message for subsequent incoming calls. It becomes possible to determine whether or not the caller's message is being recorded just by listening to whether or not the caller's message is being recorded. Therefore, there is no need to check for a caller's message by means of a remote control signal.

Toll saver (If at least one caller's message is recorded, subsequent calls will be received with fewer rings.For example, if the caller's message is not recorded, the call will be received on the 4th ring, and the call will be recorded on the fourth ring.) It is particularly effective in cases where calls cannot be received (receiving calls after two rings), and the telephone charges will not be high even when making long distance calls.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the operation of a conventional answering machine, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of one embodiment of the present invention. l...Incoming call detection circuit, 2...Line transformer, 3...
- Sending amplifier, 4... Drive circuit, 5... Recording amplifier, 6... Remote control signal detection circuit, 7... Control circuit,
8...Audio signal detection circuit, 9...Beep tone oscillator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An answering machine equipped with a response recording function includes an identification signal generating means for transmitting a signal indicating that a message from the caller is being recorded, and a voice signal from the caller after the response message is sent. If the audio signal detection circuit generates an output after being recorded at least once, the identification signal generating means is driven for a predetermined period of time to generate an identification signal before sending a response message for subsequent incoming calls. 1. An answering machine characterized by comprising: a control means for sending out a message.