JPS61262349A - Voice reply system in information exchange system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the capacity of voice memory of a terminal device and to miniaturize the constitution of a voice reply device by providing a main voice memory to a center device, storing voice waveform information corresponding to all languages of a language dictionary and selecting and storing only the voice waveform information of a language constituting a voice message in use from the main voice memory to the terminal device. CONSTITUTION:When character code information representing a subscriber number and a subscriber name of an opposite terminal device to be registered is inputted, a control circuit 20 displays the subscriber number on a display device 23a and stores it to a RAM 25. When the input of character code information is finished, the control circuit 20 sends a transfer request of voice waveform information to an exchange and sends succeedingly the character code information representing the subscriber name when voice generation permission information is registered in the RAM 25. The exchange detects the incoming of the transfer request from the terminal device, connects the main voicememory 14 and a line circuit corresponding to the terminal device by an exchange circuit 13, accesses the main voice memory 14 by using the character code information as an address and transfers the voice waveform information to the terminal device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an improvement in a voice response system applied to an information exchange system such as a telephone exchange system.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

In the past, voice response devices that generate a desired voice message using a voice synthesizer and output it on behalf of an operator, etc., have been widely used, but in recent years, this type of device has been used in telephone devices, facsimile devices, etc. It is being considered that the system could be installed in a mobile phone to allow voice notifications of incoming calls, answering calls, etc. If such a device is realized, it will be very convenient for the subscriber to be able to know the name of the caller prior to the call when an incoming call occurs, and to know the operating status of the device etc. by voice.

By the way, voice response devices generally require a voice memory that stores voice waveform information such as language voice waveforms and analysis data of this voice waveform, and especially when applied to telephone devices etc., they generate a wide variety of voice messages. Due to necessity, a large-capacity audio memory must be provided that stores audio waveform information corresponding to all languages in the language dictionary. However, providing a voice response device with such a large-capacity voice memory for each terminal device would lead to an increase in the size of the terminal device configuration and make the device extremely expensive, making it difficult to put it into practical use. was.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention provides an information exchange system that does not limit the number of languages that can be generated as voice (by significantly reducing the capacity of voice memory, thereby reducing the size and cost of terminal devices without degrading response performance). The purpose is to provide a voice response method for the system.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a main audio memory that stores audio waveform information corresponding to all languages in a language dictionary in a center device that selectively connects each terminal device, and also provides a main audio memory that stores audio waveform information corresponding to all languages in a language dictionary. A terminal voice memory is provided that selectively stores voice waveform information corresponding to a language, and when a character code of a desired language is input on the terminal device, the voice waveform information corresponding to this character code is stored as the main voice of the center device. Selectively read from the memory, transfer it to the terminal device, store it in the terminal voice memory, and when a voice response instruction occurs, synthesize and output voice using the voice waveform information stored in the terminal voice memory. This is what I did.

That is, the present invention provides a main voice memory in the center device, stores therein voice waveform information corresponding to all languages in the language dictionary, and stores voice waveform information in the language constituting the voice message in use in the terminal device. By selecting and storing only the voice response from the main voice memory, the capacity of the voice memory of the terminal device can be reduced and the configuration of the voice response device can be made smaller.

[Embodiment of the Invention] FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively show the configuration of a switching device and a terminal device of a telephone switching system to which a voice response system is applied in an embodiment of the present invention.

The switching device includes line circuits 12 to which terminal devices 2 are connected via communication lines 11, switching circuits 13 selectively connecting these line circuits 12, and a control circuit 10.
It further includes a main audio memory 14. This main audio memory 14 stores audio waveform information corresponding to all languages in the language dictionary. Further, the control circuit 10
It has a microprocessor as a main control unit, and as shown in FIG. 3, it has terminal monitoring permission information 10a that monitors connection requests from each terminal device 2, and a switching circuit when a call is detected based on this terminal monitoring permission information 10a. 13, connection permission information for connecting the corresponding line circuits 12, and audio waveform information transfer permission information 10c. This audio waveform information transfer permission information 10c is transmitted to the main audio memory 10 when a request to transfer audio waveform information is generated from the terminal device 2, which will be described later.
4 to the corresponding line circuit 12 and send the specified audio waveform information to the terminal device! 2.

The terminal device 2 includes a line connection circuit 21 to which the communication line 11 is connected, a key input section 22a, and an input interface 2.
2b, and a display 23 such as a liquid crystal display.
a display section 23 consisting of a display drive circuit 23b and a display drive circuit 23b; a sound generation section 24 consisting of a speaker 24a and its drive circuit 24b; RAM to store
25, a voice response section 26, and a control circuit 20. The voice response unit 26 includes a terminal response memory 26a.
and a speech synthesizer 26b that synthesizes speech based on the speech waveform information read from the memory 26a, and the terminal speech memory 26a stores only the speech waveform information of the language that is needed for the time being. It has become.

The control circuit 20 is composed of a microcomputer, and as shown in FIG. Code information input permission information 2
0b, audio waveform information registration permission information 20c, and audio generation permission information 20d. The voice waveform registration permission information 20c issues a voice waveform information transfer request to the switching device, causes the voice waveform information of the required subscriber name to be transferred from the main voice memory 14 of the switching device, and transmits this voice waveform information to the terminal. This is to be stored in the audio memory 26a. The voice generation permission information 20d is for reading out predetermined voice waveform information from the terminal voice memory 26a of the voice response unit 26 when an incoming call occurs, synthesizing the voice, and transmitting the synthesized voice from the voice generation unit 24. It is.

Next, the voice response system of this embodiment will be explained based on the above configuration. In the standby state, the switching device repeatedly monitors the occurrence of a call request from each terminal device 2 and the arrival of a voice waveform information transfer request in steps 5a and 5b, respectively, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, each terminal device 2 performs steps 6a and 6b as shown in FIG. 6(a).
, 6c, the occurrence of an incoming call, the occurrence of an outgoing call request, and whether or not the voice registration mode has been designated are repeatedly monitored.

Now, in this state, the voice registration mode is designated by the mode designation switch (not shown) of the input unit 22 in the terminal device 2, and the subscriber number and character code information of the subscriber name of the terminal to be registered are input. Then, the control circuit 20
As shown in Figure (a), the above character code information is first input in step 6e, and this character code information is output to the display unit 23 in step 6f to display the subscriber number on the display 23a, and in step 6g It is stored in the RAM 25 as a memory for storing subscriber information. At this time, only if it is necessary to register voice waveform information corresponding to the subscriber name, voice generation permission information is added to the subscriber number and subscriber name and inputted and stored in the RAM 25. When the input of the character code information is completed and this is confirmed in step 6h, the control circuit 20 first moves to step 61, and in step 61, the voice generation permission information is stored in the RAM 25 along with the subscriber number and subscriber name. Determine whether it is registered in . If it is determined in step 61 that there is no voice generation permission information, it is determined that there is no need to register the voice waveform information corresponding to the subscriber name, and the standby mode is returned to. On the other hand, if the voice generation permission information is registered, it is determined that the voice waveform information corresponding to the subscriber name needs to be registered, and first, in step 6j, a voice waveform information transfer request is sent to the switching device. Then, in step 6k, character code information of the subscriber name is sent. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the switching device detects the arrival of a transfer request from the terminal device in step 5b, and upon detecting this transfer request, in step 5C, the switching device transmits the character code information of the subscriber name sent from the terminal device @2. and this information is latched in step 5d. Then, in step 5e, the main audio memory 14 and the line circuit corresponding to the terminal device that has requested the transfer of the audio waveform information are connected by the switching circuit 13, and in this state, in step 5f, the main audio memory 14 is The audio memory 14 is accessed, thereby transferring the audio waveform information to the terminal device. Then, when the transfer of all voice waveform information corresponding to the subscriber name requested by the terminal device is completed and this is detected in step 5Q, the control circuit 10 of the switching device moves to step 5h, and here, the control circuit 10 of the switching device The line between them is disconnected and the standby mode returns.

On the other hand, the control circuit 20 of the terminal device @2 monitors the arrival of the audio waveform information sent from the exchange device at step 6° C. in FIG. 6(b) after the sending of the character code information is completed.
When audio waveform information arrives, this information is introduced in step 6m and stored in the terminal audio memory 26a in step 6n. Then, when the arrival of the transfer completion information from the exchange device is confirmed in step 60, the standby state is returned to. In this way, the voice waveform information corresponding to the necessary subscriber name is transferred and registered in the terminal voice memory 26a of the terminal device 2.

On the other hand, in this state, when an arbitrary terminal device makes a call and a calling signal arrives from the switching device in response, the terminal device detects the occurrence of the incoming call in step 6a of FIG.
The process moves to step 7a in the figure, in which the character code information of the subscriber number of the calling terminal sent from the switching device in step 5j is input, and the character code information of this subscriber number is displayed in step 7b. Indicator 23a of section 23
to be displayed. Then, in step 7C, the character code information of the subscriber number that has arrived from the switching device is stored in the RAM 2.
Compare and match each subscriber number with the character code information registered in advance in step 5, and when both numbers match, proceed to step 7.
After confirming the addition of voice generation permission information in step d, step 7
Move to step e, and enter R by correlating the character code information of the fixed form phrase set in advance in step 7e with the above subscriber number.
The character code information of the subscriber name stored in the AM 25 is read out, the terminal audio memory 26a of the voice response unit 26 is accessed using these character code information as an address, and the voice waveform of the above fixed phrase and the subscriber name is read out. Output information. Then, the speech synthesizer 26b synthesizes speech according to the speech waveform information, and the synthesized speech is supplied to the speech generation section 24 in step 7Q and output to the speaker 24a.
Generate from. Then, for example, a voice call such as "Mr. ___ is calling." is made.

Note that character code information that matches the character code information of the telephone number received from the exchange device in step 7C is stored in RAM2.
5, or even if a matching phone number is registered, voice generation permission information is not added to this phone number (step 7).
In step 7t, a normal call is made by ringing a bell or the like in response to a call signal coming from the switching device in step 7t.

When the subscriber responds to the call thus made by picking up the handset, the control circuit 20 moves from step 7h to step 71 where it stops generating the voice, and then ends at step 7j. When the call is monitored and the end of the call is confirmed, the standby status changes (step 6a).
, 6b, 6c).

In this embodiment, the main audio memory 1 that stores audio waveform information corresponding to all languages in the language dictionary is stored in the exchange device.
4, and each terminal device 2 is provided with a terminal audio memory 26a that stores only the audio waveform information of the necessary language. Since the selected voice is selected from the voice memory 14 and transferred to the voice memory of the terminal device 2 for registration, the voice waveform information of the desired language can be reliably used, and the voice memory of each terminal device 2 can be saved to a small capacity. As a result, it is possible to provide a terminal device 2 that has high voice response performance, has a simple configuration, and is inexpensive. Furthermore, in this embodiment, voice generation permission information is added when registering the character code information of the subscriber number and subscriber name, and only when this permission information is added, the voice waveform information is registered and the voice is generated. For example, if you do not want people around you to know the caller's name, by not adding the voice generation permission information, you can make a normal call in response to a call signal coming from the switching device. This allows the most suitable call to be made according to the wishes of the subscriber.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the embodiment described above, the voice response means is applied to an incoming call, but the voice response means may also be applied to an answering machine when an answering call is made.

Further, the invention may be applied not only to telephone exchange systems but also to facsimile exchange systems and data exchange systems. Further, the means for inputting character code information may be a handwritten character/graphic input device in addition to a keyboard switch or the like. In addition, various modifications may be made to the configuration of the switching device and the terminal device, the control procedures and control contents of each control circuit, the registration permission information of voice waveform information, the control contents of voice response permission information, etc., without departing from the gist of the present invention. It can be implemented by

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a main audio memory storing audio waveform information corresponding to all languages in a language dictionary is provided in a center device that selectively connects each terminal device, and a desired There are nine terminal voice memories that selectively store voice waveform information corresponding to languages, and when a character code of a desired language is input on the terminal device, the voice waveform information corresponding to this character code is stored in the main unit of the center device. Selectively read from the voice memory, transfer it to the terminal device, and store it in the terminal voice memory, and when a voice response instruction occurs, synthesize and output voice using the voice waveform information stored in the terminal voice memory. By doing so, it is possible to significantly reduce the capacity of the voice memory without limiting the number of languages that can be generated as voice, and this makes it possible to achieve high response performance and to make the terminal device smaller and cheaper. A voice response method for an information exchange system can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 are block diagrams showing the configurations of a switching device and a terminal device to which a voice response system is applied according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are respectively shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the control circuit of the switching device and terminal device shown in FIG. ) and FIG. 7 are flowcharts showing the control procedure of the control circuit of the terminal device shown in FIG. 4. 2... Terminal device, 10... Control circuit of exchange device, 1
0a...Call monitoring permission information, 10b...Line connection permission information, 10C...Audio waveform information transfer permission information, 11
... Communication line, 12 ... Line circuit, 13 ... Exchange circuit, 14 ... Main audio memory, 20 ... Control circuit of terminal device, 20a ... Line connection permission information, 20b.
...Character code information input permission information, 20c...Audio waveform information registration permission information, 20d...Speech generation permission information,
21... Line connection circuit, 22... Input section, 22a.
...Key human power department, 22b...Input interface, 2
3...Display unit, 23a...Display device, 23b...Display drive circuit, 24...Audio generation circuit, 24a...Speaker, 24b...Speaker drive circuit, 25...Subscriber RAM for information storage, 26... voice response unit, 26
a... terminal voice memory, 26b... voice synthesizer. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 2 @ Figure 3 Figure 4 [ Figure 6 (a)

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) In an information exchange system consisting of a plurality of terminal devices and a center device that selectively exchanges and connects these terminal devices to transmit information, the center device generates audio waveforms corresponding to all languages in a language dictionary. The terminal device is equipped with a main voice memory that stores information, and includes a terminal voice memory that stores only voice waveform information corresponding to the desired language, and a terminal voice memory that stores only the voice waveform information corresponding to the desired language, and a terminal device that stores the voice waveform information corresponding to the desired language. an input means; and a terminal voice memory for selectively reading and transmitting voice waveform information corresponding to the language represented by the character code information from the main voice memory of the center device when the character code information is inputted by the input means. and a voice response control means that reads voice waveform information specified by the voice response instruction from the terminal voice memory, synthesizes the voice, and transmits the voice waveform information when the voice response instruction is generated. A voice response system for an information exchange system characterized by: (2) The voice waveform information registration means transfers the corresponding voice waveform information from the main voice memory of the center device and stores it in the terminal voice memory only when the voice response permission information is input together with the character code information by the input means. A voice response system for an information exchange system according to claim (1), wherein the information exchange system is configured to: (3) The voice response control means has a subscriber information memory that stores the subscriber number and subscriber name of the terminal device inputted by the input means as character code information, and the calling party information is sent from the center device when a call is received. The subscriber number is compared with the subscriber number stored in the subscriber information memory, and when the numbers match, the voice waveform information representing the subscriber name corresponding to this subscriber number is stored in the terminal voice memory. The voice of the information exchange system according to claim (1), wherein the voice of the information exchange system according to claim (1) is read out from the computer, synthesized, and outputs the synthesized voice from a speaker provided in a terminal device to notify the caller's name by voice. Response method. (4) The voice response control means stores voice response permission information together with the subscriber number and subscriber name for each subscriber in the subscriber information memory, and the subscriber number information of the caller sent from the center device when a call is received is stored in the subscriber information memory. Only when the subscriber number matches the subscriber number stored in the subscriber information memory and voice response permission information is stored corresponding to this subscriber number, the voice waveform information representing the subscriber name is transferred to the terminal voice memory. A voice response method for an information exchange system according to claim (3), wherein the voice response method is read from a computer, synthesizes voice, and transmits the voice from a speaker. (5) The voice response control means stores voice waveform information representing an absentee response message in the terminal voice memory, reads out the aforementioned absentee response message when an incoming call is received when the absentee response mode is set, synthesizes the voice, and synthesizes the voice. A voice response system for an information exchange system according to claim (1), wherein the voice response system is for transmitting information to a calling terminal.