Telephonic communications – Audio message storage – retrieval – or synthesis
Reexamination Certificate
1998-01-21
2001-05-08
Tsang, Fan (Department: 2645)
Telephonic communications
Audio message storage, retrieval, or synthesis
C379S076000, C379S088220, C379S100060, C379S164000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06229878
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to telephone answering machines. In particular, this invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for automatically answering telephone calls.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Telephone answering machines are well known. Answering machines typically answer an incoming telephone call upon a predetermined number of rings on a telephone line that the answering machine is connected to. After so many rings have occurred the machine will go “off-hook” answering the incoming call. A pre-recorded message is played to the caller, at the conclusion of which the caller may leave a message that is recorded on either a magnetic tape or stored in an electronic memory device. Messages left on the machine can be replayed at a later time. Many prior art answering machines also include the ability to replay or retrieve messages remotely by entering one or more keystrokes into a telephone placing a call that the machine has answered.
Prior art answering machines treat all incoming calls alike. In many instances and for a variety of reasons, it might be desirable to have an answering machine not answer an incoming call, either from a particular calling party or at a particular time. Similarly, it might be desirable to have a calling party get a particular announcement message customized for that particular caller. It might also be preferable or desirable to segregate messages from one or more parties from the others, in part, to expedite the review thereof.
An answering machine or methodology by which calls could be selectively responded to on the basis of the calling party would be an improvement over the prior art. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus to selectively answer incoming telephone calls, selectively play an announcement on the basis of the calling party's identity, and to record messages from calling parties based in part on the identity of that calling party.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An improved telephone answering device is comprised of a personal computer that includes circuitry to interface the computer to telephone signals on the telephone line. If the telephone line is a so-called ISDN (integrated services digital network) line, or a plain old telephone service line (POTS) that provides data as a service known as “caller ID,” data transmitted on the line and processed by the computer can be used to decide to answer a call or not answer a call, among other things, based at least in part upon the identity of the calling party. A computer can be programmed to analyze incoming ISDN data or caller ID data and, if necessary, reproduce a recorded response specifically tailored to the identity of the calling party stored on an appropriate mass storage device of the computer. Messages can be left by the calling party on an appropriate storage media of the computer. Messages might be stored as digital representations thereof on a digital storage media, or be recorded in an analog format, e.g. on a tape, under control by the computer. By receiving telephone signals and analyzing the data thereon, the computer can selectively answer a call and customize a response based upon data of the calling party.
Messages can be retrieved locally directly from the computer, or remotely dialing up the phone number of the computer and logging into the computer and entering predetermined signals or digits from the calling phone which the computer can be programmed to recognize and thereafter select messages to be replayed. Alternatively, messages might be retrieved from the computer by remotely accessing the computer from another computer to download files containing stored messages. Access to the Improved Telephone Answering Apparatus might be achieved using a web browser. In addition to answering calls, the device disclosed herein might be used to automatically dial another number and to forward thereto, messages left on the answering computer.
The method and apparatus disclosed herein is intended to be used with an ISDN (integrated services digital network) telephone line as well as a plain old telephone service (POTS) line that has caller ID service. The computer can be programmed to answer a call based upon the calling party's name, number or any other detectible data received from the phone line. Well known ISDN telephone lines also provides such data and could also be used with the invention disclosed.
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Hoosain Allan
Lucent Technologies - Inc.
Tsang Fan
LandOfFree
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