Telephonic communications – Supervisory or control line signaling – Substation originated
Reexamination Certificate
1997-10-09
2001-11-20
Chan, Wing F. (Department: 2643)
Telephonic communications
Supervisory or control line signaling
Substation originated
C379S355090, C379S357040, C379S093230
Reexamination Certificate
active
06320957
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are many different telephone sets with autodialling and stored telephone directory. They normally have some kind of memory for storing preselected and frequently called telephone numbers and usually every one of those numbers has a corresponding push-button. This kind of arrangement is very inconvenient if a large number of telephone numbers is stored as far as a separate push-button is required for each number. Also, additional information such as name and/or address can not be conveniently associated with push-buttons.
To assist in identifying the telephone numbers that are stored in the respective memory location, paper tabs, or inserts are juxtaposed the respective keys, and it is expected that the user will write onto each paper tab the name of the individual whose telephone number is stored in the associated memory locations.
It has been proposed in Can. Pat. 1,266,930 (pg. 1, ln. 24 . . . ):“ . . . a hybrid alphanumeric directory comprising a portable note book having a plurality of bound pages, which can be opened to expose a desired page, each page having a plurality of writing areas in the same relative positions where alpha-numeric information can be entered; and an electronic unit comprising a receiving surface on which said note book can be placed, a plurality of actuators associated with said respective relative positions when said note book is placed on the receiving surface . . . means, for indicating which page is exposed and means responsive to an output from said indicating means to associate said actuator with the respective data associated with the writing areas of the exposed page.” This way the number of actuators (push-buttons) has been reduced, but there is additional operation to find the right page and also there is no feedback to show that the selected number is the desired one.
In some telephones with autodialling memory the number is displayed on alpha-numeric display during its entry into memory and also during dialling, so it could be verified. Even it has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,929 to display in addition to a numerical telephone number, alphabetic characters representing the name of the individual associated with that telephone number.
Thus both the name and the telephone number are stored and displayed. However, in this proposal, a separate alpha-numeric character keyboard is provided for the purpose of entering signals representing names.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The subject matter of the present invention relates generally to advanced use of the telephone directory in a telephone system for improved human interface and better access, retrieval and use of the data stored in this directory. At the same time the organization of the telephone directory into pages with the option of individual access to each page, allows for better utilization of the telephone directory and creation of a number of personalized subdirectories with individual access.
The telephone dialler according to the invention provides an easy and fast access to the stored telephone directory through repositioning of a single sliding or rotary control, which depending on its position causes the associated address generator to generate an address, used to retrieve the necessary telephone number and associated with it additional information. Moving this control permits easy scanning of the contents of the telephone directory memory and by displaying it on an alpha-numeric display easy location of the desired number. The depressing of another button performs the autodialling of the selected this way number.
In addition to the dialled number, additional alpha-numeric information, like the name of the called person is displayed on the display thus permitting easy verification.
A standard telephone dialler keypad is used for entering the numbers and as well as the letters, but the keypad is allowed to enter alphabetic characters only during “name” programming mode and behaves in all other modes as a standard telephone dialling keypad.
In addition to the scanning mode, “shortcut” and “manual” modes are also available. The “shortcut” dialling means that just dialling the sequential number of the person to be called as it is stored in the telephone directory memory is enough. This feature is very useful for numbers, which are frequently used, and the caller knows their position numbers in telephone memory.
The keypad permits in “name” programming mode (the mode when the additional alphanumeric information is entered into telephone memory) to enter a full set of ASCII characters by multiple depressings of a button. For example for entering the letter “B” the button “2” on the keypad should be depressed 3 times in a row and then depressing the button “enter” will cause the ASCII code corresponding to this letter to be stored in memory. This way the need for an alpha-numeric keyboard with all its complexity and cost is avoided.
The ready availability of the additional alpha-numeric information in telephone memory is not only indispensable in medium to large autodialling directories, for identification and verification purposes during dialling, but it also ensures such advanced features as “who is calling” information (service provided by some North American companies), if the telephone number of the caller exist in the directory not only the number is displayed but also the name of the caller, this last in combination with an answering machine could keep track for all incoming calls.
The telephone directory is organized in pages; for example 9 pages, each containing 16 telephone number entries with corresponding names.
In order to make the telephone directory to serve different people, for example different members of a family, each page can be locked by its own access code. This will allow each member of the family, as in the example, to have his/her own directory not accessible by the others. At the same time some of the pages, which are not locked by an “access code” are available for scanning by everyone and when the page change button switches to this page the display will show the numbers and names contained in this page. If the page change button switches to a page which has been locked by an access code the display will display the name of the “owner” of the page and request an access code entry for this page. This will make it possible to have a common telephone serving several people and having an open and several personalized telephone directories
With a telephone directory memory organized in pages, during “programming” mode the dialler first prompts to enter the identifier of the page, where the telephone number to be programmed, will reside. The identifier could be either the sequential number of the page, or the additional alphanumeric page identifier. If the page has been locked, the dialler will next issue a prompt to enter the proper access code for this page.
There is also a code word called “master code” for the purposes to make the directory controllable, as in cases when the “page access code” has been lost or forgotten, or when it has to be changed. In this case, however when the master code is used to open a page its contents is erased automatically before its been open. This way the privacy of the owner of the page will be protected. The “master code” is available to the prime owner of the telephone and is entered during the initial setup of the dialler.
If “calling party number” service is available, the telephone number of the incoming call is checked for match with the numbers in telephone directory memory for all pages, open or locked, and if such is found either only the name of the caller, or the name of the “owner of the page” or both are shown on the alphanumeric display. This will provide information not only in regard who is calling but also to whom this call could relate. If the display permits also the calling party telephone number will be displayed.
By switching from page to page with the page selector device without moving the inside page address selector the dialler will display on the alphanumeric d
Chan Wing F.
Cook Alex McFarron Manzo Cummings & Mehler, Ltd.
GEZ Microsystems, Inc.
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