JP5169870B2 - Answering machine with message reply function - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an answering machine (voice mail apparatus) that can immediately and easily reply to a caller who has recorded a message.

  When the recipient who listened to the message stored in the answering machine needs to reply to the message, the phone number of the other party (sender) from the phone terminal used to listen to the message After sending the message to the other party and responding, the reply was sent. This operation is shown in Patent Document 1, for example.

  Patent Document 2 shows an operation of relaying a recorded message to a destination specified by a DTMF (Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency) signal. It is to be connected and is different from that used for the reply application of the present application.

JP 2004-187171 A JP-A-9-153937

  However, today, in situations where manners are being asked, such as when riding on public transportation such as trains or buses, or during a meeting, it is inappropriate to make a call in response to a call from a caller. In addition, there are many occasions when you can listen to a message stored in the answering machine in response to an incoming call from the answering machine, but you cannot make a verbal call to reply to the message. . Also, there may be cases where the act of trying to convey a message by e-mail, such as during a meeting, is not preferable.

  Further, since the receiver terminal receives a call from the answering machine, a situation occurs in which the telephone number of the caller who recorded the message is not transmitted. For this reason, when the telephone number of the caller is not known or when the caller has forgotten, there are cases where it is inconvenient when calling back to the caller.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an answering machine that can reduce the number of terminal operations of the recipient as much as possible and easily notify a reply message to the other party.

Therefore, in the present invention, in the answering machine having a function of recording the message of the caller and notifying the receiver that the message has been recorded , the telephone number of the caller who recorded the message is changed. Providing a sender number extracting means for extracting , a reply message storing means for storing a message that the receiver wants to reply to the other party, and a message reply means for making a call to the sender and notifying the stored reply message; After reading out the recorded message, the reply message input or selected by the receiver is stored in the reply message storage means, and the message reply means uses the telephone number extracted by the caller number extraction means. After sending and the other party responds, the message stored in the reply message storage means is notified to the other party, and the sender is the recipient. Further means for detecting a specific operation that indicates whether listening directly reply message notification provided, notifying the possible and the reply message that informs the reception status of reply to the messages sent from the receiver side from It was.

  According to the answering machine of the present invention, after the receiver reads the message recorded by the caller, the receiver simply inputs a reply message by voice or performs a simple operation of selecting a reply message by a specific operation. Often, the answering machine automatically replies to the caller, so there is no need for the receiver to attend until the other party answers and communicates the message. It becomes possible to reply a message by operating the terminal.

  In addition, even if the recipient does not know the telephone number of the other party (sender) that he / she wants to reply to or forgets, the answering machine of the present invention automatically makes a substitute call, so a reply message is surely received Can be communicated. Further, since the telephone number of the caller is not directly notified to the receiver from the answering machine according to the present invention, the message between the receiver and the caller can be exchanged without knowing the telephone number of the caller. It can also have an effect of protecting the privacy of the person.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an answering machine according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the control unit of the answering machine according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a basic sequence diagram of the operation of the answering machine according to the present invention. FIG. 4 shows an example of message contents in the guidance guidance storage unit. FIG. 5 is an example of the message contents of the reply fixed message storage unit.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of the present invention and a block configuration diagram of an answering machine. The present invention comprises a caller terminal 1, a communication network 2, an answering machine 3 and a receiver terminal 4. The answering machine 3 and the caller terminal 1 to record the message are connected via the communication line 2a, the communication network 2 and the communication line 2b, and recorded in the answering machine 3 of the present invention at a remote place. A receiver terminal 4 that listens to a message is connected to the communication line 2b, the communication network 2, and the communication line 2c.

  The answering machine 3 of the present invention includes a communication line interface unit 301 that accommodates the communication line 2b, an incoming call detection unit 303 that detects an incoming call to the communication line interface unit 301, and a caller terminal 1 that notifies the caller terminal 1 when an incoming call is received. Caller information extraction unit 304 for extracting the name and telephone number of the user, a time information providing unit 305 indicating the arrival time of the incoming call, and the name, phone number and time information providing unit of the caller extracted by the caller information extraction unit 304 A call information storage unit 306 that records the incoming arrival time obtained from 305 in association with each other is provided.

  The answering machine 3 of the present invention also receives a guidance guidance storage unit 307 for notifying the caller terminal 1 and the receiver terminal 4 of the guidance guidance stored in advance, and the message entered by the caller terminal 1. A message message recording unit 308 for recording and reproducing a message recorded for the recipient, a notification sending unit 309 for calling the receiver terminal 4 via the communication line interface unit 301, and the sender terminal 1 Reply fixed message storage unit 311 for notifying the selected reply fixed message, and a reply item selection operation for detecting an operation in which the recipient selects the reply fixed message stored in the reply fixed message storage unit 311 Detecting part 310 and reply to record any reply message input by the receiver and to play back the reply message recorded to the sender A message recording unit 312, a reply transmission unit 313 that calls the caller terminal 1 (the destination recorded in the call information storage unit 306) via the communication line interface unit 301, and that the caller has listened to the reply message A reply confirmation operation detection unit 314 that detects an operation is provided.

  Furthermore, the answering machine 3 according to the present invention includes a voice communication unit 315 that transmits / receives a voice signal to / from the communication line interface unit 301, a handset 316 that inputs / outputs a voice signal, and a storage status of a message by electronic mail. And an e-mail transmission / reception unit 317 for selecting a reply message and the like, and a control unit 320 for controlling each unit.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the answering machine having the voice communication unit 315 and the handset 316 is described. However, the voice communication unit 315 and the handset 316 are not provided, and a plurality of communication line interface units 301 and An independent answering machine server (voice mail device) may be configured by each functional unit.

  FIG. 2 is an operation flow of the control unit 320 of the answering machine 3 according to the present invention. In this flow, the answering machine 3 is turned on and starts from a call waiting state. In FIG. 2, when the incoming call detection unit 303 detects an incoming call from the caller terminal 1 from the standby state (S3200) (S3201, Y), it responds to the incoming call (S3202).

  Next, the caller information extraction unit 304 extracts the name and telephone number of the caller from the incoming signal (S3203), reads the current time from the time information providing unit 305 (S3204), and extracts the extracted caller name. And the telephone number and the current time information are stored in the call information storage unit 306 in association with each other (S3205).

  Next, after notifying the caller of the response message (M3071: see FIG. 4) stored in the guidance guidance storage unit 307 (S3206), the message message input by the caller is recorded in the message recording unit 308. (S3207).

  Next, when disconnection of the call is detected (S3208, Y), the notification sender 309 sends the receiver via the communication line interface unit 301 to notify the receiver that the message from the sender has been accumulated. To (S3210). At this time, the telephone number of the recipient terminal 4 to be transmitted is recorded in the notification transmission unit 309 in advance.

  Next, when the receiver responds (S3211, Y), the receiver records the message storage guidance message (M3072) stored in the guidance guidance storage unit 307 to the receiver (S3213), and then records it in the message recording unit 308. The received message of the sender is notified (S3214).

  If the receiver does not respond (S3211, N), if the retransmission is in a valid period (S3212, Y), the receiver repeats the retransmission (S3210). If the receiver does not respond (S3211, N) and the valid period of the re-transmission has passed (S3212, N), the process returns to the standby (S3200) state.

  When the message of the sender's message recorded in step 3214 is notified and the receiver performs an operation to indicate that the notification of the reply message is unnecessary (Y in S3215), the call with the receiver is disconnected ( In step S3234), the process returns to the standby (S3200) state.

  Next, when the recipient wants to send a reply message (S3215, N), it is determined whether the recipient has selected a fixed voice message or recorded a voice reply optional voice message (S3216). .

  In step 3216, if the recipient wants to select a fixed voice message, a DTMF signal or the like is input. This is detected by the reply message selection operation detection unit 310 (S3216, DTMF signal is detected), and the fixed voice message for reply (M3111 to M3117: see FIG. 5) stored in the reply fixed message storage unit 311 in advance. ) Is selected (S3217).

  If the receiver detects a voice signal input for creating a voice reply arbitrary voice message (S3216, voice signal is detected), the voice message input by the receiver is recorded as a reply message. Recording is performed in the unit 312 (S3218).

  When the reply message is selected or recorded, the call with the receiver is disconnected (S3219), and the reply message selected by the receiver or recorded is notified to the sender by the reply transmitter 313 via the communication line interface 301. To the caller (S3220). The telephone number of the caller terminal 1 that transmits at this time is the destination recorded in the call information storage unit 306 by S3203 to S3205.

  At this time, if the caller does not respond (S3221, N), if the call is valid again (S3222, Y), the caller repeats the call (S3220). If the caller does not respond (S3221, N) and the period during which the re-calling is valid has passed (S3222, N), the process returns to the standby (S3200) state.

  When the caller responds (S3221, Y), the reply guidance message (M3073) stored in the guidance guidance storage unit 307 is informed to the caller (S3223), and then the reply fixed message storage unit 311 selected by the receiver is stored. The content (any of M3111 to M3117) or the content of the reply message recording unit 312 recorded by the receiver is notified to the sender (S3224). After the notification of the reply message is completed, the reply confirmation message (M3074) stored in the guidance guidance storage unit 307 is notified to the caller (S3225).

  When the reply confirmation operation detecting unit 314 detects an operation for notifying that the caller has confirmed the reply message (Y in S3226), the call confirmation with the caller is disconnected (S3227), and then the caller is notified to the receiver. In order to notify that the reply message has been confirmed, the notification transmission unit 309 transmits the message to the recipient via the communication line interface unit 301 (S3230).

If the caller has not notified that the reply message has been listened to (S3226, N), the call with the caller is disconnected (S3228), and the process returns to the standby state (S3200).
In addition to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, in the case of not answering that the reply message has been heard or in the case of an answering machine that cannot notify that the caller terminal 1 has heard the reply message, the receiver It is possible to make a notification that the confirmation of listening to the reply message of the caller has not been detected.

  In step 3230, the message is sent to the recipient, and when the recipient responds (S3231, Y), a reply message transmission guidance message (M3075) stored in the guidance guidance storage unit 307 is notified to the recipient (S3233). Is disconnected (S3234) and the process returns to the standby state (S3200). At this time, if the receiver does not respond (S3231, N), if the retransmission is in a valid period (S3232, Y), the receiver repeats the retransmission (S3230).

  In addition, when the receiver does not respond (S3231, N) and the period during which retransmission is valid has passed (S3232, N), the process returns to the standby (S3200) state.

  In the present embodiment, the receiver is called and notified in response to the accumulation of the message from the sender, but the answering machine 3 of the present invention is called from the receiver terminal 4 and the message After performing the reading operation, a fixed message for reply may be selected or an arbitrary reply message may be recorded.

  Further, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the message that the message from the sender is accumulated is notified to the receiver by guidance guidance, and the selection of the fixed voice message that the receiver returns is specified by the DTMF signal. As described above, there is a method in which the answering machine 3 and the receiver terminal 4 of the present invention are each provided with an e-mail transmission / reception function, and these operations are performed using e-mail.

  FIG. 3 is a basic sequence diagram in the answering machine according to the present invention. Of the operation flow in FIG. 2, the answering machine 3 and the caller terminal 1 and between the answering machine 3 and the receiver terminal 4 are shown. The basic communication operation is shown according to the time transition.

  In FIG. 3, when an incoming call from the caller terminal 1 is detected (S3401), the answering machine 3 responds to the incoming call (S3402).

  The answering machine 3 reports the response message (M3071) stored in the guidance guidance storage unit 307 to the caller terminal 1 (S3403), and then records the message entered by the caller (S3404).

  Next, when disconnection of the call is detected (S3405), in order to notify the recipient that the message from the sender has been accumulated, the recipient is sent or notified by mail (S3406). At this time, the telephone number of the recipient terminal 4 to be transmitted is recorded in advance.

  Next, when the receiver terminal 4 responds or performs a reading operation (S3407), the answering machine 3 notifies the receiver terminal 4 of the message storage guidance message (M3072) (S3408) and then the message of the sender. (S3409).

  Next, it is determined whether the receiver needs to notify the reply message or not, and it is determined whether the receiver has selected a fixed voice message or an arbitrary voice message for reply by calling voice.

  When the receiver inputs a DTMF signal or the like and selects one of the reply fixed voice messages (M3111 to M3117), this is notified to the answering machine 3 (S3410).

  Upon receiving the notification, the answering machine 3 disconnects the call with the receiver terminal 4 (S3411), and the receiver sends a call to the caller terminal 1 so as to notify the caller of the selected or fixed voice message (S3412). .

  At this time, if the caller does not respond, if the call is valid again, the caller repeats the call again.

  When the caller terminal 1 responds (S3413), the answering machine 3 notifies the caller terminal 1 of the reply guidance message (M3073) (S3414), and then the fixed voice message for reply selected by the receiver in step 3410. (Any of M3111 to M3117) is notified to the caller terminal 1 (S3415). Further, after the notification of the reply message is completed, a reply confirmation message (M3074) is notified to the caller terminal 1 (S3416).

  When the reply confirmation operation detection unit 314 detects a pressing operation of the dial “#” (DTMF signal indicating the dial “#”) notifying that the caller has confirmed the reply message (S3417), the call with the caller terminal 1 is performed. Is disconnected (S3418), and is sent to the receiver in order to notify the receiver that the sender has confirmed the reply message (S3419).

  In step 3230, the message is sent to the receiver terminal 1 and when the receiver terminal 1 responds (S3420), the answering machine 3 notifies the receiver terminal 1 of a reply message transmission guidance message (M3075) and receives it (S3421). The call with the person terminal 1 is disconnected (S3422).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of message contents in the guidance guidance storage unit 307 in the answering machine 3 according to the present invention, in which guidance messages (M3071 to M3075) to be notified in each state are stored in advance.

  In addition, in the message accumulation guidance message (M3072) and reply message transmission guidance message (M3075) to be notified to the receiver, the sender name information extracted by the caller information extraction unit 304 at the time of incoming call is added and notified. As a result, the receiver can improve the recognizability of the caller.

  Further, by adding the notification of the arrival time stored in the call information storage unit 306 or a part or all of the message recorded by the caller to the reply guidance message (M3073) to notify the caller, the caller is notified. Can improve understanding of the reply.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of message contents in the reply fixed message storage unit 311 in the answering machine 3 according to the present invention. In FIG. 5, reply fixed message candidates (M3111 to M3117) to be notified as reply messages are stored in advance. These reply fixed messages are selected by the processing of S3216 to S3217 of FIG.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Caller terminal 2 Communication network 3 Answering machine 4 Receiver terminal 301 Communication line interface part 303 Incoming call detection part 304 Caller information extraction part 305 Time information provision part 306 Call information storage part 307 Guidance guidance storage part 308 Message recording 309 Notification transmission unit 310 Reply message selection operation detection unit 311 Reply fixed message storage unit 312 Reply message recording unit 313 Reply transmission unit 314 Reply confirmation operation detection unit 315 Voice communication unit 316 Transmitter / receiver 317 E-mail transmission / reception unit 320 Control Part

Claims (3)

In the answering machine having the function of recording the caller's message and notifying the receiver that the message has been recorded,
Caller number extraction means for extracting the telephone number of the caller who recorded the message, reply message storage means for storing a message that the receiver wants to reply to the caller, and sending to the caller Providing a message reply means for notifying the stored reply message;
After reading the recorded business message, stores the reply message recipient has entered or selected in said reply message storage, the message reply section, the telephone number the caller number extracting means extracted After sending and the other party responds, the message stored in the reply message storage means is notified to the other party ,
Reply which further provided means for detecting a specific operation indicating whether the sender has directly listened to the reply message notified from the receiver side, and was able to notify the reception status of the reply message notified from the receiver side An answering machine characterized by notifying a message for use . In the answering machine according to claim 1,
After making a call to the caller and responding, the receiver inputs or selects a part or all of the message recorded by the caller or the time when the caller recorded the message. An answering machine characterized in that a reply message is notified. In the answering machine according to claim 1 or 2,
An answering machine comprising a function for sending and receiving an e-mail, notifying the recording status of a caller's message by e-mail, and selecting a reply message using the received e-mail .

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