JPH04167744A - Automatic answering telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the need for useless time and operation by providing a function retrieving and reproducing only a message for a specific opposite party among plural recorded messages to the automatic answering telephone set. CONSTITUTION:In the case of selecting and reproducing only a message from a specific opposite party among recorded messages, for example, in the case of reproducing only the message of the opposite party registered in Number 1 of the automatic dial function, after the user depresses an automatic dial '1' by an operation section 5, the user depresses a reproduction button, then a system control circuit 2 controls a magnetic tape device 8 to monitor a sent identification signal and the control circuit 2 detects an identification signal '1', the control circuit brings the magnetic tape device 8 into the reproducing state. When the reproduction of the message is finished, the process from the retrieval of the identification signal '1' to the reproduction of message is executed till the final message. When the identification signal '1' is not detected, the operation is terminated by allowing the system control circuit 2 to sound an error alarm or the like. Thus, the operation is facilitated and the required time is reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an answering machine with a selective playback function, which is used by being connected to a general telephone line.

(Prior Art) The message playback function of conventional answering machines is limited to playing back messages in the order in which they were recorded or cueing the beginning of a tape. It did not have a function to search and play only the other party's content.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) With such an answering machine that only has a simple playback function, if you only need messages from a specific party, for example, you can use the remote control function from outside to If you want to give top priority to a message from someone, it would be fine if that person's message is listed first, but if there are multiple other people's messages listed before that, then , the only way to do this was to play the messages recorded on the tape one after the other, starting from the first one, or repeatedly operate the tape cue function to search for messages from the desired person. In the former method, if the desired message happened to be the last one recorded,
You end up listening to messages you don't particularly need for several minutes or even tens of minutes, resulting in wasted time and call charges. Although the latter is more efficient than the former, it has the disadvantage that cueing operations become complicated. In either case, there is no function to specify and play only a specific message.

However, there are problems in that it requires unnecessary time and operations.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, the present invention provides a function that allows you to register one telephone number to a specific button and press the registered button instead of that telephone number when making a call. (hereinafter referred to as the auto-dial function), a function that performs the same operation as auto-dial by entering a several-digit abbreviated code instead of a button (hereinafter referred to as the speed-dial function). When a is recorded, the registered auto-dial number or speed-dial number of that phone number is automatically recorded at the beginning of the recording as an identification signal during playback, and this signal is compared with the specified number during playback. The above problem is solved by making it possible to reproduce only messages from a specified number from among a plurality of messages by searching.

(Function) According to the present invention, it is possible to reproduce only a specific message among a plurality of messages recorded on a tape. It can also save time.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the answering machine of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of the present invention without detailed explanation. 1 is a line interface that performs input/output with the line, 2 is a system control circuit that controls the entire telephone, and 3 is a system control circuit that processes voice and incoming and outgoing calls. 4 is a handset or a speaker, 5 is an operation unit such as a dial button, 6 is a memory for registering telephone numbers such as an auto dial function and a speed dial function, and 7 is a magnetic tape 8 for recording signals. 8 is a magnetic tape device for recording messages, etc., and 9 is a buffer memory for temporarily storing the calling party's telephone number in the system control circuit.

Now, in order to explain the present invention in detail, it is necessary to explain the procedure for recording a message when an answering machine is recorded and the procedure for reproducing a message.

First, the procedure for recording a message during an answering machine will be explained.

When a call is made to this telephone from an external telephone, the system control circuit 2 processes the incoming call through the line I/Fl and connects the line. This procedure is no different from that of conventional telephones, so a detailed explanation will be omitted here.

Now, when a line is connected with the telephone set in answering machine mode, a reply message is sent (not shown). In conventional systems, when this is finished, a beep to start recording is finally transmitted, and the system begins recording the other party's message. Therefore, each message is recorded on the magnetic tape with a delimiting signal in between (FIG. 2(a)). However, in the present invention, before transmitting the tone to start recording, the system control circuit 2 issues a call stored in the buffer 9 as an identification signal for the other party's message that will be recorded next. The phone number on the side is compared with the contents (telephone number) of the memory 6 registered in the auto dial function and speed dial function, and the registered auto dial number and speed dial number of the matching phone number are sent to the signal processing circuit. In step 7, the signal is converted into a recording signal and then recorded on a tape (FIG. 2(b)). The problem here is that the line is not equipped with a service that recognizes the phone number of the person making the call, or even if the phone number of the person making the call can be recognized, telephone etc.
If the call is made from a phone other than the one with the phone number of the person being called, the message and identification signal will be different, causing inconvenience. Therefore, for such a case, the other party who made the call can forcibly rewrite the contents of the buffer 9. For example, if the calling party uses "#]tlO]23-45-6789#"
By inputting the following, the system control circuit 2 on the called side enters the forced rewriting mode of the buffer 9 with "#I#" and sets the following "0123-45-6789" in the buffer 9. The telephone number thus stored in the buffer 9 is compared with the contents of the memory 6 as described above, and the corresponding auto-dial number and speed-dial number are converted into a recording signal by the signal processing circuit 7 and then recorded on a tape. It will be fixed.

The above is the procedure and operation for message registration on the calling side.

Next, the procedure and operation during message reproduction will be explained. However, here, we will omit the explanation because the operation when simply playing the messages in order from the first one is the same as before. Only the operation when selecting and reproducing only one will be explained.

To play back only messages from the person registered as number 1 in the auto dial function, press the auto dial "]" on the operation panel 5 and then press the play button. Then,
The system control circuit 2 controls the magnetic tape device 8 and monitors the identification signal sent through the signal processing circuit 7.
When rlJ is detected, the magnetic tape device 8 is put into a playback state. When the message has finished playing, the identification signal “1” is returned.
” Search ~ Message playback at the last message.

If the identification number "1" is not detected, the system control circuit 2 emits an error sound or the like and ends the operation. In the case of speed dialing, you can specify the speed dial number instead of "1".

Note that this operation can also be performed remotely from an external telephone through a line.

(Effects of the Invention) Since the answering machine of the present invention has the above-described configuration, it eliminates the complicated operations and wasted time required to reproduce only messages from a specific party. This can make the answering machine function easier to use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing one embodiment of an answering machine of the present invention, and FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) are explanatory diagrams of a recording format of a message from the other party. In the drawing, 1 is a line I/F circuit, 2 is a system control circuit,
3 is a voice/call processing circuit, 4 is a handset, 5 is an operating section, 6 is a memory, 7 is a signal processing circuit, 8 is a magnetic tape device, and 9 is a buffer 7 memory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. If you register one phone number to a specific button,
An auto-dial function that allows you to press a registered button instead of the phone number when making a call, and a speed-dial function that performs the same operation as the auto-dial function by entering a several-digit abbreviated code instead of a button. In an answering machine having a telephone number registration function and an answering machine function for recording a message from the other party on a magnetic tape, a first means for recording an identification signal when recording a message and searching for the identification signal when playing back the message. By having a second means, only messages from a specific telephone number registered in the auto dial function or speed dial function are selected and played from among the multiple messages recorded on the tape. An answering machine that is characterized by the ability to