JPS61147648A - Automatic answering telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an automatic answering telephone set which copes with requests of an owner more surely, by using all of a business recording area as a general business recording area or a specific business recording area in accordance with the uses mode of the owner. CONSTITUTION:A general business area G is provided in the terminal side of a response area AM, and a specific business area S is provided in the start side. The business which comes from the other party telephone of the third party after the end of transmission of a response message is recorded in the general business area G, and this area G consists of 10 blocks G1-G10 having a length corresponding to 40sec. In case that both of the general business area G and the specific business area S are used, the operation is performed as follows; a password number designating function button of a function switch group 14 is depressed and dial buttons of a dial circuit 13 are operated to designate password numbers different from each other to the general business area G and the specific business area S respectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an improvement in an answering machine that uses a recording and reproducing device to send a response message and record a message.

Conventionally, in this type of device, a response message recording area and a message recording area are provided in the recording area of the recording tape of the recording/reproducing device, and when an incoming call occurs, the response message recording area is accessed and the message is recorded in this area in advance. There is a system that not only sends out a response message to the line, but also records the message that comes from the other party's telephone in the message recording area after the response message has been sent. Such a device has the advantage that it can be realized with a relatively simple configuration, since it can send a response message and record a message by just using one recording tape.

On the other hand, as an advanced form of this type of device, in recent years the message recording area has been divided into a general message area for recording messages from third parties, and a general message area for recording messages transmitted between owners such as family members and employees. There is one that is divided into a specific message area and a so-called message board function.

In this type of device, in order to record a message in the specific message area, for example, a PIN number known only to the owner, such as a family member or employee, is specified in the specific message area in advance, and then a dial button can be pressed from an outside line. This is accomplished by selectively accessing the specific business area by sending this password through an operation, and by sending the business after this access. If the message recorded in this specific message area is to be listened to from an outside line, the user uses the dial button to send the above-mentioned password and a number indicating that the message is to be listened to. Then, the specific message area mentioned above is accessed, the message recorded in this area is played back and sent out to the line, and by listening to this, the owner can learn about messages from other owners. can. In this way, the above-mentioned device is very useful because it can use two types of business recording areas depending on the nature of the business of the owner.

[Problems with background technology]

However, in conventional devices of this type, the above-mentioned general and specific task areas are fixedly provided. Therefore, depending on the usage pattern of the owner, each business area cannot be used efficiently, and the advantages of dividing the business area into two types cannot be fully utilized. For example, if an owner who rarely uses the specific area, such as when the owner primarily uses the area to respond to calls when the user is absent, may wish to use the specific area as a general area, but it may not be possible. , in this case, the specific task area is essentially wasted. In addition, if you set a so-called response-only mode in which you only send a response message as an answer to your absence and do not record the message from a third party, the general message area is not necessary, but this general message area As mentioned earlier, the purpose of the area is fixed, so even if the owner wanted to use it as a specific area, for example, he would not be able to use it.
As a result, only a small number of specific task areas have to be used even though there are many other task areas that are not used.

(Purpose of the Invention) The present invention enables all of the business recording areas to be used as general business recording areas or specific business recording areas, depending on the usage pattern of the owner. It is an object of the present invention to provide an answering machine that can respond more reliably.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a password designation means for designating a password for each of the general and specific business recording areas, and selectively designating a response recording mode and a response-only mode. A response mode selection means is provided, and when mutually different passwords are specified for the general business recording area and the specific business recording area by the password designation means, each business recording area can be used as is. , and in a state where a common password is specified for the general business recording area and the specific business recording area, when the response recording mode is selected by the response mode selection means, the specific business recording area is used for general business recording. In addition, when the response-only mode is selected by the response mode selection means, the general business recording area can be used as a specific business recording area.

[Embodiments of the invention]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of an answering machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 indicates the main body of the answering machine, and 2 indicates a tape recorder as a recording/reproducing device.

First, the answering machine main body 1 includes a control circuit 11 having a microprocessor as a main controller, and a telephone circuit 12 connected to telephone lines L1/L2 via a hook switch H8 and a line switch LS that is turned on and off by a relay. , a dial circuit 13 that generates a Pa signal, a response mode designation switch 14a, and "recording" and "response".
, a function switch group 14 including another function switch 14b for specifying the operating mode of the apparatus such as "playback", a display 15 for displaying the operating mode of the apparatus, etc., and detecting the end of a response message, etc. It is composed of a silence detection circuit 16, an audio switch 17 used to detect the end of a call, and a public address circuit 18 that amplifies the response message and business information reproduced by the tape recorder 2 with an amplifier 18a and then outputs them as audio from the speaker 18b. Ru. The telephone circuit 12 includes an incoming call detection circuit in addition to circuits necessary for normal telephone call operations such as a telephone call circuit. Moreover, 12a, 12b, and 12c are a receiver, a transmitter, and a sounder, respectively.

Next, the tape recorder 2 includes a reel motor 22 that drives the recording tape 21 to run, a rotation control circuit 23 that controls the rotation direction and rotation speed of the reel motor 22, and an access position of the recording tape 21 from the rotation of the motor. It is comprised of a rotational position detection circuit 24 for detection, a magnetic head 25 for recording and reproducing response messages and business matters on the recording tape 21, and a recording/reproducing circuit 26.

Incidentally, reference numeral 27 is a microphone used by the owner when recording a response message and business matters.

Figure 2 shows the configuration of the recording tape 21, with ST indicating the beginning of the tape, and ED indicating the ending. A response message recording area (response area) AM is provided at an intermediate position between the start end ST and the end end ED. This response area AM is in a response recording mode (utterance recording) that includes a message that the matter can be recorded.
It consists of a block AMa for recording a response message for a business event, and a block AMb for recording a response message only for responses (such as reception) that does not include a message to the effect that business recording can be performed, and each block is set to a length of 60 seconds. ing. Also,
A general business area G is provided at the end of this response area AM, and a specific business area S is provided roughly at the start end. The general message area G is for recording messages that arrive from a third party's telephone after the response message has been sent, and is divided into 10 blocks each having a length of 40 seconds.
1 to G10. Specific requirement area S is
This is for recording matters to be communicated between the parties using the telephone, that is, the owners, and is composed of four blocks 81 to S4 each having a length of 40 seconds. In addition, these response areas AM and each business area G,
Between each block of S, an interval consisting of a silent section of 6 seconds is provided.

Further, FIG. 3 shows the control circuit 1 of the answering machine main body 1.
This shows the functional configuration of No. 1. This control circuit 11 is
A transmission/reception control means 11a that controls the telephone circuit 12 and the like to send a response message and transmit/receive business matters in the answering mode, a recording/reproduction control means 11b that controls the recording/reproduction operation of the tape recorder 2, and a function switch. A password identification means 11c for identifying and storing passwords respectively designated for the general business area G and specific business area S of the recording tape by operating the group 14 and the dial button of the dial circuit 13, and a function switch. Group 1
response mode setting means 11d that recognizes the response mode designated by the response mode designation switch 14a of No. 4; general and specific business areas G according to the setting results of the password identification means 11c and response mode setting means; and a task area setting control means 11e for setting the usage pattern of S.

With this configuration, if you want to use both the general business area G and the specific business area S, you can do as follows. That is, while pressing the function button for specifying the password of the function switch group 14, the dial circuit 13
By operating the dial buttons, different password numbers are designated for each of the general business area G and the specific business area S. For example, 111 in general business area G.
'' and specifies "222" in the specific task area S. Then, as shown in FIG. In this case, it is not common, so step 4b
to move to. In step 4b, each of the business areas G and S is set as the general business area G and the specific business area S, and the system enters a standby state.

Therefore, when an incoming call occurs in this state and is detected by the incoming call detection circuit of the telephone circuit 12, the control circuit 11 configures a call circuit and then drives the reel motor 22 of the tape recorder 2 to move the block AMa of the recording tape 21. The recorded response message is played back, and the voice signal thereof is sent to the telephone line L1/L2 via the telephone circuit 12. At this time, the audio signal of the response message is also output as audio from the speaker 18b of the loudspeaker circuit 18. When the sending of the response message is finished, the control circuit 11 fast-forwards the reel motor 22 of the tape recorder 2 to cue an empty block in the general business area G, and when the cue is completed, the telephone line A guidance sound indicating that it is OK to start recording the message is sent to the device, and then the recording operation state is entered. Therefore, if a message arrives from the other party's telephone after this, the message is guided to the magnetic head 25 via the telephone circuit 12 and the recording/reproducing circuit 26.
The magnetic head 25 records data in the vacant block of the general business area G at the beginning of the recording tape 21.

In addition, in the standby state, for example, by operating the dial button from an outside line, you can enter a PIN number (“
111'') and the block designation number arrive, CPLJll cues the specified block in the specific message area S and records the message that arrives via the telephone line in this block. An absentee response operation using both area G and specific business area S is performed.

On the other hand, if you wish to use the previous message area as a message board between owners without recording messages from third parties, for example, you can do as follows. That is, by operating the button for specifying the password of the function switch group 14 and the dial button of the dial circuit 13, a common password for the general business area G and the specific business area S, for example "11
1'' and designate the response-only mode using the response designation switch 14a of the function switch group 14. Then, in step 4a of FIG. 4, the CPLll determines that each password is common, and moves to step 4C. Then, in step 4C, it is determined whether the response mode is set to the response recording mode or the response only mode, and since the response only mode is currently designated by the response mode designation switch 14a, Step 4
Moving to step d, the entire task area is set as a specific task area S (blocks 81 to 514), as shown in FIG. 5, for example. Therefore, each owner has the PIN number “111”
By specifying the specific task area S (block 8
1 to 84), as well as the message area (blocks 85 to 514) originally used as the general message area G, can also be used as the specific message area S. As a result, a total of 14 blocks can be used as a message board. can be used.

Therefore, the message board function is greatly improved.

Also, contrary to the above usage example, if you want to use the entire business area as a general business area for third parties, you can use the general business area G, ! as in the above case. 5 and the specific task area S, and then designate the response recording mode using the response mode designation switch 14a. Then, the CPU 11 recognizes the response recording mode in step 4C, moves to step 4e, and in step 4e sets all business areas as general business area G (blocks G1 to G14) as shown in FIG. .

Therefore, it is possible to record up to 14 messages received from a third party's telephone, which is very suitable for owners who often receive calls while they are away.

In this embodiment, it is set whether or not to use the same password for the general business area G and the specific business area S, and the response mode is set to response recording mode using the response mode designation switch 14a. By simply specifying either response-only mode or response-only mode, you can easily use the task area in its original usage mode according to the user's request, or use the entire area as a specific task area S. The entire area can be set in three ways: whether it is used as the general business area G, and this practical business area can be used very effectively and without waste according to the user's request.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the entire task area is set to the general task area G.
In this embodiment, the number of blocks is set to 1 or the specific task area S, but it is also possible to set only the preset number of blocks to be partially changed. In addition, control procedures and control contents of the control circuit, specific requirements area S and general requirements area G
Regarding the number of blocks, the means for specifying the password, the means for specifying the response mode, the type of recording medium (for example, the audio signal may be digitized and recorded in a memory, etc.), etc.
Various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, the present invention provides a password specifying means for specifying a password for each of the general and specific business recording areas, and a response mode for selectively specifying a response recording mode or a response-only mode. and selecting means, and in a state where mutually different passwords are specified for the general business recording area and the specific business recording area by the password designation means, each business recording area is used as it is, and In a state where a common password is specified for the general business recording area and the specific business recording area, when the response recording mode is selected by the response mode selection means, the specific business recording area is set as the general business recording area. In addition, when the response-only mode is selected by the response mode selection means, the general business recording area can be used as a specific business recording area.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the entire business recording area can be used as a general business recording area or a specific business recording area, depending on the usage pattern of the owner. It is possible to provide an answering machine that can respond reliably.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings are for explaining an answering machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1 is a circuit block diagram of the device, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a recording tape, and Fig. 3 is a control circuit. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control procedure and control contents of the control circuit, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are schematic diagrams of recording tapes showing different usage patterns of the business area, respectively. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Answering machine main body, 2... Tape recorder, 11... Control circuit, 12... Telephone circuit, 13...
...Dial circuit, 14...Function switch group, 14a
...Response mode designation switch, 15...Display device, 1
6... Silence detection circuit, 17... Audio switch, 18
. . . Public address circuit, 18a . , 25... Magnetic head, 26... Recording/playback circuit, 27... Microphone, AM... Response area,
G...General business area, S...Specific business area.

Claims (1)

[Claims] The recording area of the recording medium includes a response message recording area for recording a response message to be sent to the other party's telephone, a general message recording area for recording messages that arrive from the other party's telephone after the response message is sent, and a general message recording area for recording messages received from the other party's telephone after the response message is sent. The answering machine has a specific message recording area that is selected only when a PIN is specified and records the message, and accesses these areas as appropriate during the answering mode to send a response message and record the message. In the telephone device, a password specifying means for specifying a password for each of the general business recording area and the specific business recording area of the recording medium, and a response recording mode for sending a response message and recording the business when an incoming call occurs. and a response mode selection means for selectively setting a response-only mode for only sending a response message; and a response mode selection means for specifying different passwords for the general business recording area and the specific business recording area by the password designation means. In the state in which each message recording area is used as is, and in a state in which a common password is specified for the general message recording area and the specific message recording area, the response recording mode is selected by the response mode selection means. When selected, the specific business recording area is set as a general business recording area, and when a response only mode is selected by the response mode selection means, the general business recording area is set as a specific business recording area. 1. An answering machine characterized by comprising a message recording area setting control means.