JPH01108842A - Automatic answering telephone system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow a caller to print out an object message with simple input operation only by providing a memory means registered by a message text corresponding to a pushbutton dial signal and the 2nd code identification means referencing the memory means so as to decode the pushbutton dial signal sent from a caller telephone set. CONSTITUTION:The memory means 17 registered with a message text corresponding to a pushbutton dial signal and the 2nd code identification means 16 referencing the memory means 17 so as to decode the pushbutton dial signal sent from the caller telephone set are provided. Then the message text decoded by the 2nd code identification means 16 is printed on recording paper by the print means 11. Thus, the message text of the memory means 7 is designated and very less input operation is enough than the set entering message information one by one word as a conventional set. Thus, the message information is sent accurately to the incoming side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION The present invention relates to an answering machine that emits message contents on recording paper.

Conventional technology Answering machines generally record the caller's voice on a tape recorder or solid-state memory, but with these types of answering machines, there is no need to listen to the recorded message again. Because it takes too much time, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 18103/1983 discloses a system in which the message content is printed rather than audio recorded (hereinafter, this type of answering machine is referred to as a memo telephone system). ing.

The conventional memo telephone device is constructed as shown in Fig. 3.6 The incoming call response means 1 automatically sends a response signal to the telephone 2 in response to a ringing signal from the caller's push-button/dial telephone 2. The code identification means 3 receives a multi-frequency signal (hereinafter referred to as DTMF signal: Dual Tone M signal) which is a push-button dial signal sent from the telephone 2 of the calling party after the incoming call response means 1 sends the response signal.
ulti Freque-ncy] is deciphered with reference to the correspondence table shown in Table 1 below. For example, when the Ld I 11 push button and the 1" push button are pressed again on the telephone 2 of the calling party, it is interpreted as "force".

The character information decoded in this way is printed out on a recording paper 5 by the printing means 4.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In such a conventional configuration, the procedures and operations when inputting message information are complicated, and only one character can be selected by pressing the button twice, making it difficult for the caller to requires a lot of time for input operations. Moreover, since there are many input operations, there are many errors.Furthermore, since the printing means 4 is configured to print the message information all at once after the input is completed,
This requires a large amount of storage elements to temporarily store the message information on the print processing side, which causes the device to become larger and more expensive.

An object of the present invention is to provide an answering machine that allows one caller to print a desired message using a printing means attached to a telephone set on a called side with a simpler input operation than conventional ones.

Means for Solving the Problems The answering machine of the present invention includes an incoming call response unit that automatically sends out a response signal in response to a ringing signal from a push-button dial telephone on the calling side, and an incoming call response unit that responds to the call response a first code identification means that decodes the push-button/dial signal sent from the calling party's telephone after the signal is sent and converts it into character-by-character information; a memory means in which a message text is registered; a second code identification means for decoding a push-button/dial signal sent from a telephone of a calling party by referring to the memory means; The present invention is characterized in that the character information and message text decoded by the second code identification means are printed on recording paper.

Effect: According to this configuration, since the message text is registered in the memory means in correspondence with the push button/dial signal, 1
When the calling party sends a push-button/dial signal corresponding to the desired message text, the second code identification means on the called party reads the corresponding message text from the memory means.
A message text consisting of a plurality of characters is printed out on a recording paper by a printing means.

Embodiment Hereinafter, one embodiment of the answering machine of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the answering machine of the present invention. Reference numeral 6 indicates a telephone device that performs an interface between a telephone line 7 and a memo device 8 in addition to general telephone functions. Reference numeral 9 indicates a DTMF signal and binary code information. 10 is a voice synthesis circuit for sending a response message; IT is a thermal printing device for printing the contents converted into message information on thermal recording paper 12; 13
is a control circuit that converts the code information detected by the DTMF signal receiving circuit 9 into message information and controls the output to the thermal printing device 11, and also controls the voice synthesis circuit 10, incoming call detection function, and line switching function. etc. are controlled.

The control circuit 13 includes an incoming call response means 14 that instructs the voice synthesis circuit 10 to send a response signal to the telephone of the calling party when it detects that a calling signal has been input through the DTMF signal receiving circuit 9, and an incoming call response means. 14 is the speech synthesis circuit 1
After instructing the DTMF signal receiving circuit 9 to send out a response signal, the first . It consists of second code identification means 15, 16, etc., and the contents decoded by the first and second code identification means 15, 16 are printed out by the thermal printing device 11 each time.

Note that the first code identification means 15 converts each character into character information based on a comparison table shown in Table 2 below.

The second code identification means 16 converts the message into a message string consisting of a plurality of characters based on a comparison table shown in Table 3 below, which is registered in advance in the memory means 17.

Table 3 To explain the contents of Table 2, the dial numbers written horizontally indicate push-button dialing that is entered first, and the dial numbers written vertically indicate push-button dialing that is entered later.0The caller is r l When "Jr l J" is input, the first code identification means 15 decodes it as katakana "a", and 'r2Jrl
If you type J, it will be deciphered as "r force". Additionally, if you enter the "#" symbol, all subsequent input is assumed to be numeric, so for example, if a caller enters "#" followed by rOJr.
If you enter lJr2J..., "0" rlJr2J...
・It is deciphered as To cancel this number input mode,
Just enter the "#" symbol again.

Next, the contents of Table 3 will be explained. In other words, the caller is
When IJ is input, the second code identification means 16 decodes it as "Please call me later."

Furthermore, as shown in Table 2, there are telephone symbols.

You can also optionally register symbols suitable for displaying time and telephone numbers, such as spaces and colons.

The first code identification means 15 is configured to determine that the input of the message information is complete when it detects the input of "rpBr Homare".

When a caller uses a telephone to call this answering machine, the ringing signal is from the telephone! 6 and is detected by the control circuit 13. In the control circuit 13, when the incoming call response means 14 detects this ringing signal, it issues a telephone line connection command to the telephone device 6, and at the same time activates the voice synthesis circuit 10, and the telephone device! A response message is sent to the telephone line via f11 to inform the caller that the called party is a memo telephone device.

At the same time, the DTMF signal receiving circuit 9 is activated to inform the caller to start inputting message information.

Next, the caller confirms the response message from the speech synthesis circuit 10 and sends the second message. Start inputting the message information while referring to the comparison table in Table 3. For example, if the caller says, "Please call me later. Takeuchi," the caller may say, "Homare Jr.

r2"r4J,rl"r3",r4Jr2J,r舛""
All you have to do is press the button/dial and input "Masu". In the case of this input operation, returning to Figure 1,
First, the code information of rHJr I J is input to the DTMF signal receiving circuit 9 via the telephone device 16 through the telephone line. This DTMF signal receiving circuit 9 converts the code information "≠1" into binary code information and sends it to the control circuit 13.
Furthermore, this control circuit 13 identifies the binary code information, converts it into message information, and immediately starts the thermal printing device 11 to print on the thermal paper 12 each time. When this printing operation is completed, the control circuit 13 sends a reception tone to the telephone line 7 via the telephone device 6, again informing the caller of the start of the next input operation. Therefore, when the caller confirms this reception tone, the next caller will hear "4", "1", "2", "
4", . . ., input operations can be continued one after another using the same procedure. - After completing the input operation, the caller inputs rv"De" as the input completion code. Similar to other code information, this input completion code is also used between the telephone device 6 and DT.
The signal is input to the control circuit 13 via the MF signal receiving circuit 9.

As soon as the control circuit 13 receives the input completion code, it immediately issues a command to the telephone device 6 to disconnect the telephone line 7, and also stops the operation of the thermal printing device 11 to complete the message printing process.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the control circuit 13.

Although the explanation is the same as above, the outline of this flowchart will be briefly explained. The control circuit 13 first determines whether or not it is in the message receiving mode (processing 1), and if it is in the message receiving mode, then it detects a paging signal from the caller. If it is not in message receiving mode, it operates as a normal telephone.

If a calling signal is detected in process (2), the telephone line 7 is immediately closed to enable communication (process (2)). After setting this state, a voice synthesis response message is sent out (2), and code information input from the calling party is awaited. Next, when code information from the calling party is detected (processing ■), it is determined whether this information is input completion information (processing ■). If the code information cannot be detected within the specified time after sending the response message (process [phase]), or if input completion information is detected in process ①, immediately disconnect the telephone line and switch to message receiving mode. End (processing 0
).

When code information is detected in process ■, this code information is converted into message information (process ■) and printed on recording paper (process ■
), and when the printing process is completed, a reception sound is sent to the calling party (process 2), and the process returns to process 2, code information detection process. Therefore, the operations from process (1) to process (2) are repeatedly executed until the process ends due to timeout or an input completion signal is received.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by sending a response message by the voice synthesis circuit 10, the calling party is informed in advance that the called party is a memo telephone device, and the message information is prompted to be manually manipulated. It serves to ease the confusion on the caller's side, and also simplifies the input operation because not only text information but also frequently used message sentences can be registered in advance and printed out as message information with a single input operation. improved accuracy and accuracy. Furthermore, by instantaneously repeating printing every time message information is input and executed on the printing processing side, the processing load on the printing side can be reduced, and the configuration can be simplified, making it possible to achieve miniaturization and cost reduction.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, there is a memory means in which a message text is registered corresponding to a push button/dial signal, and a push button/dial signal sent from a telephone of a calling party is stored in the memory. A second code identification means for decoding by referring to the code identification means is provided, and the message text decoded by the second code identification means is printed on the recording paper by the printing means, so that the message text in the memory means can be specified. By doing so, compared to the conventional method of inputting message information character by character, only a few input operations are required, and the message information can be accurately conveyed to the called party.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the answering machine of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus in an easy-to-understand manner, and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional answering machine. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Thermal printing device [printing means], 14... Incoming call response means, 15... First code identification means, 16...
Second code identification means, 17... memory means. Agent Yoshihiro MorimotoFigure 2

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Incoming call response means that automatically sends out a response signal in response to a calling signal from a push-button/dial telephone of the calling party; and after the incoming call response unit sends the response signal, A first code identification means decodes the push button/dial signal sent from the telephone and converts it into character information one by one, and a message text is registered corresponding to the push button/dial signal. a memory means, a second code identification means for decoding the push-button/dial signal sent from the telephone of the calling party by referring to the memory means; An answering machine equipped with a printing means for printing text information and a message on recording paper. 2. An answering machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the incoming call response means is configured to automatically respond to a calling signal from the calling party and send a voice response message. . 3. The answering machine according to claim 1, wherein the printing means is configured to print the character information and message text decoded by the first and second code identification means each time. .