JPH03108857A - Automatic answering telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To listen to the content of a call from a desired opposite party immediately while taking precedence over other incoming calls by allowing the user to observe a still picture displayed on a picture display section and to designated the priority to reproduce an incoming voice signal. CONSTITUTION:The processing of storing an incoming still picture data sent by an opposite party listening to a signal tone and a sent reply message in a picture memory section 7 and recording a voice signal received succeedingly corresponding to the still picture data to a recording reproduction section 4 is repeated sequentially for each incoming call. Let number of the incoming calls be (n), n-set of still pictures are displayed sequentially on a picture display section 8 with n-set of incoming still picture data stored in the picture memory section 7, the voice reproduction mode is selected, and when the user observing the n-set of displayed still pictures designates the priority reproducing the n-set of voice signals reached corresponding to each of the still picture data, the n-set of received voice signals recorded by the recording reproduction section 4 based on the priority are reproduced sequentially.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to an answering machine.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, when an incoming call is being recorded, an answering machine indicates whether or not the call is being recorded by lighting up a light emitting diode, but it is generally not possible to tell from whom the recorded call is coming from.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The conventional answering machine mentioned above does not display who the recorded call is from, so you have to play the recordings in order and listen to the voice to confirm the caller. The disadvantage is that it is not possible to give priority to the reproduction of incoming calls from the other party.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an answering machine that can play back a recording by specifying the other party to whom the call should be played in priority to other incoming calls, without having to sequentially play back and listen to the recorded incoming calls. It is.

[Means for Solving the Problems] An answering machine of the present invention includes: a telephone line connection end connected to a public network; a line control unit that detects an incoming call from the public network to the telephone line connection end; a telephone communication circuit connected to a line control unit for transmitting and receiving voice signals; and, when in answering mode, a prerecorded response message for informing the other party that you are not at home and initiating a call to the other party via the line control unit; a recording and playback unit that records the voice signal that is transmitted to the other party and received via the line control unit, and that plays back the recorded voice signal that has been received when in the voice playback mode; A signal sound generation circuit that transmits a signal sound to notify the start timing; a camera section that extracts still image data from the captured image data; an image display section that displays the still image; and an image captured by the camera section. The still image data extracted from the data is stored, and when in answering mode, the image memory section stores the still image data received from the other party, and when making a normal call, audio signals are sent and received to and from the telephone circuit. At the same time, the still image data extracted from the image data captured by the camera unit stored in the image memory unit is transmitted to the other party, and a response message indicating that the other party is away and a signal sound indicating the timing to start a call are sent. When received, the still image data extracted from the image data captured by the camera unit stored in the image memory unit is transmitted to the other party, and then the communication circuit is made to transmit an audio signal to the other party, and the answering mode is set. When the line control unit detects an incoming call, it causes the recording and playback unit to transmit the response message to the other party, and then causes the signal tone generating circuit to send out the signal tone to the other party, and displays a still image of the incoming call from the other party. The process of accumulating data in the image memory unit and causing the recording/playback unit to record the subsequently received audio signal corresponding to the still image data is repeated every time a call is received, and when switching to the recording/playback mode, Based on the incoming still image data stored in the image memory section, still images are sequentially displayed on the image display section, the recording and playback mode is set, and an incoming call is received in response to the still image data that is played back from the displayed still image. and a main control section that, when a priority order for reproducing the received audio signal is designated, reproduces the incoming audio signal recorded in the recording and reproducing section in accordance with the designated priority order.

[Function] When the recording and playback mode is set, still images are sequentially displayed on the image display section based on the still image data received during the answering machine mode and stored in the image memory section, and when the recording and playback mode is set, the above-mentioned displayed still images are displayed one after another. The incoming audio signal recorded in the recording and playback unit is played back according to the priority order specified in order to play the incoming audio signal corresponding to the still image data that is played back from the still image, so the user is not at home. without waiting for the recordings received during the call to be played in sequence.
By specifying the priority order from the still image displayed on the image display section, you can immediately listen to the contents of the incoming call from the desired caller, giving priority to other incoming calls.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an answering machine according to the present invention.

This answering machine consists of a telephone line connection end 1, a line control section 2, a communication circuit 3, a recording/playback section 4, a main control section 5, a signal tone generation circuit 6, an image memory section 7, an image display section 8, and a camera section 9. It has become.

A telephone line connection end 1 is connected to a public network, and receives calls from the other party's telephone. The line control unit 2 detects an incoming call from the public network to the telephone line connection end 1.The telephone call circuit 3 includes a handset (not shown), is connected to the line control unit 2, and sends and receives voice signals to and from the other party. . The recording and playback unit 4 has a prerecorded response message saying, ``I'm away from home, so if you hear a beep, please let me know what you need to do.'' When in the answering mode, this response message is sent via line control. It records the voice signal transmitted to the other party via the line control unit 2 and received from the other party via the line control unit 2, and when it enters the audio playback mode, the recorded voice signal is played back for the user to listen to. Ru. The signal tone generating circuit 6 transmits a signal tone called "bee" to notify the other party of the timing to start a call for recording. The camera unit 9 extracts still image data from the image data of the user and others. The image memory section 7 stores still image data extracted from the image data of the user and others taken by the camera section 9, and also stores still image data received from the other party when in the answering mode. When making a normal call, the main control unit 5 causes the communication circuit 3 to send and receive audio signals to and from the other party, and also extracts data from the image data of the user and others captured by the camera unit 9 stored in the image memory unit 7. When you send still image data to the other party and receive a response message that the other party is away and a signal sound of "bee" informing you of the timing to start a call, the camera section 9 stored in the image memory section 7 is activated. After transmitting the still image data extracted from the photographed image data to the other party, the telephone circuit 3 sends an audio signal to the other party, and when the line control unit 2 detects an incoming call while in the answering mode, the audio signal is transmitted from the recording and playback unit 4. ``I'm away, so if you hear a beep, please let me know what you need.''
After having the other party send out a response message, the signal sound generation circuit 6 sends out a signal sound of "bee" to notify the other party of the timing to start a call, and the other party listens to the transmitted response message and signal sound and sends the message. The process of storing incoming still image data in the image memory unit 7 and having the recording/playback unit 4 record the subsequently incoming audio signal corresponding to the still image data is repeated for each incoming call, and the number of incoming calls is counted. If n times, when the recording playback mode is switched, n still images are sequentially displayed on the image display unit 8 based on the received n still image data stored in the image memory unit 7, and the audio playback mode is switched on. The user who viewed the displayed n still images specifies the priority order for reproducing the n audio signals received in correspondence with each of the still image data that is reproduced from the n still images. Based on this priority order, the n incoming audio signals recorded in the recording/reproducing section 4 are sequentially reproduced.

In the answering machine of this embodiment, when a call is received while the answering machine is in the answering machine mode, if the answering machine is set to the recording playback mode, the still images of the incoming call are sequentially displayed using the stored image data. If you specify the priority order for playing the incoming audio signal corresponding to each of the still image data that is played back by looking at the still image, the incoming audio signal will be played back according to the specified priority order by entering the recording playback mode. Therefore, the user can listen to the contents of the incoming call from the desired other party with priority over others without waiting for the recorded incoming calls to be played back in sequence.

Note that when transmitting still image data based on image data captured by the camera unit 9 to the other party using the answering machine of this embodiment, the still image data extracted from the image data is stored in the image memory unit 7. Image display section 7
You can also display a still image and check the image before sending it to the other party.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention transmits an audio signal following the still image data extracted from the image data captured by the camera unit when the other party is in the answering mode, and when the other party is in the recording and playback mode, and when the other party is in the answering mode. A call is received from the other party, and still images are sequentially displayed on the image display section based on the still image data stored in the image memory section, and in response to the still image data that is played back from the displayed still image of the received call as a recording/playback mode. When the priority order for playing the incoming audio signal is specified, the user can play the still image displayed on the image display section by playing the incoming audio signal recorded in the recording and playback section according to the priority order. By specifying the priority order for playing the audio signals that arrive while you are away, you can avoid having to wait for recordings of calls that arrive while you are away to be played in sequence.
This has the effect of allowing you to immediately listen to the contents of an incoming call from a desired other party, giving priority to other incoming calls.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an answering machine according to the present invention. 1...Telephone line connection end, 2...Line control section, 3...Telephone circuit, 4...
Recording/playback section, 5... Main control section, 6...
... Signal sound generation circuit 7 ... Image memory section,
8... Image display section, 9... Camera section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A telephone line connection end connected to a public network, a line control unit that detects an incoming call from the public network to the telephone line connection end, and a voice signal connected to the line control unit. a telephone call circuit for transmitting and receiving calls, and when in answering mode, transmits a pre-recorded response message to the other party via the line control unit to inform the other party that you are not at home and to initiate a call; a recording and playback unit that records an incoming voice signal via the control unit and, when in voice playback mode, plays back the recorded incoming voice signal; and a signal that notifies the other party of the timing to start a call. A signal sound generation circuit that transmits sound; a camera section that extracts still image data from the captured image data; an image display section that displays the still image; and still image data extracted from the image data captured by the camera section. In addition, when in answering mode, still image data received from the other party is stored in an image memory section, and when making a normal call, audio signals are sent and received to and from the communication circuit and are stored in the image memory section. When the still image data extracted from the image data taken by the camera section is sent to the other party, and a response message indicating that the other party is absent and a signal sound indicating the timing to start a call are received, the image memory section After transmitting the still image data extracted from the image data captured by the camera unit stored in the other party to the other party, the communication circuit transmits an audio signal to the other party, and when in the answering mode, the line control unit detects an incoming call, causes the recording/playback unit to transmit the response message to the other party, causes the signal tone generating circuit to send the signal tone to the other party, and stores still image data received from the other party in the image memory unit. At the same time, the process of causing the recording and playback unit to record the subsequently received audio signal in response to the still image data is sequentially repeated for each incoming call, and when the recording and playback mode is switched, the process is stored in the image memory unit. sequentially displaying still images on the image display section based on the received still image data;
When the recording and playback mode is set and the priority order for playing the incoming audio signal is specified in accordance with the still image data obtained by playing back the displayed still image, the incoming audio signal recorded in the recording and playback section is and a main control unit that performs playback according to the designated priority order.