CA1207874A

CA1207874A - Call interceptor

Info

Publication number: CA1207874A
Application number: CA000436786A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Lawrence E. Bergeron; Deane C. Osborne; Bernard L. Hayes; Richard Bergeron
Original assignee: Wang Laboratories Inc
Current assignee: Intel Corp
Priority date: 1982-12-30
Filing date: 1983-09-15
Publication date: 1986-07-15
Also published as: JPH0566780B2; AU570216B2; US4582957A; EP0112967A1; JPS59160364A; AU1902383A

Abstract

ABSTRACT
CALL INTERCEPTOR

Automatic telephone answering equipment is disclosed which is associated with a telephone set connected to a switching system along with other telephone sets, and the answering equipment functions with central message recording equipment which is also connected to the switching system. Unanswered incoming calls originating from within or without the switching system are answered by the automatic answering equipment which then transfers the call to either another of the telephone sets or to the message recording equipment, as selected by the user of the answering equipment. When the call is transferred to the central message recording equipment the identity of the telephone set to which the call was directed is forwarded to the recording equipment. Only upon the calling party recording a message in the central message recording equipment, the recording equipment uses the called telephone set identity to call the originally called telephone set. Upon the telephone answering equipment answering the call from the message recording equipment the recording equipment sends a signal which causes a message waiting visual indication to be provided at the answering equipment. Thereafter, in response to the visual message waiting signal the message recording equipment may be called by the user of the telephone set and the recorded message is played back.

Description

CAL~ I~TER~EPT~R

FIELD OF THE I~ TIO~
-This invention relates to automatic telephone answering and message recording equipment.

BAC~GROI~ ~F T~E I~ TIO~' Prior art telephone ans\~ering and message recording equipment has --existed in two ~asic forms. Answering services such as doctors use are one examPle. l~ile answering services fill a need they have shortcomings. They utilize human operators which are relatively expensive`
and the service cannot he enabled and disabled quickly and simply. In addition, calls cannot be automatically forwarded to another telephone at the option of the user of the service.

Equipment in the fonn of telephone answering machines with

2~ prerecorded announcements and the abili~y to record messages are also kno~n. However, this approach requires an answering and recording system per telephone set which is very expensive and they require a lot of maintenance. In addition, such systems do not alternatively forward calls to another telephone set. Further, an indication of a recorded message is ZS provided for every answered call whether or not there are actually any recorded messages. The recordin~, usually magnetic tape, must be played to actually deter~ine if there are any recorded messages. Due to these . F'r 3L2~71~

shortcomings such telephone answering and recording machines have found limited acceptance and use in large office environ-ments although they have wider acceptance in small business and residential use.
Som~ telephone companies have more recently been pro-viding a telephone answering and message recording service. A
telephone company customer may enable or disable the feature at will. A description of the equipment providing this service is found in "New Customer Calling Services", by Bruce I. Hanson et al, Bell Laboratories Record, Vol. 58, No. 6, June 1980. This equipment suffers some basic shortcomings. It is not readily apparent to the telephone set user whether or not the service is in effect for their telephone because there is no continuous visual/audible indication of the service. In addition, when messages are recorded the only way the telephone user knows of their existence is by picking up the handset and listening to the dial tone which is interrupted to indicate a message has been recorded. Also, this service does not alternatively provide for transfer of incoming calls to another telephone set at the option of the user.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an inexpensive and simple automatic telephone answering and message recording system that the user knows at a glance is enabled or disabled, that provides a visual indication of the existence of recorded mes-sages~ and tha~ does not require recording and playback equipment at each telephone set.

~',', S~liRY OF THE I ~TIO~' In accordance with the ~eaching of our invention we pro~ide a nov~l, simple an~-~automatic telephone answering and message recording system.
The system consists of small, inexpensive and automatic telephone answering equi~ment located at each telephone set and central message recor~ing equipment shared ~y all telephones. Using the telephone answerin~ equipment which is a relatively thin piece of equipment on which the associated telephone set would sit the user can easily enable or l~ disahle the automatic telephone answering and message recording function for their telephone set and always has a visual indication of this -~
status. In addition, the user can alternatively transfer unanswered incoming calls to the central message recording equipment or to another telephone set. I~en an unanswered incoming call is transferred to the central message recorder it provides verbal instructions ~prompts) and messages recorded thereon for the user of the telephone set from which the call was transferred. After a message is recorded the message recording equipment calls the telephone set from which the call was origonally transferred and sends a signal causing a message waiting visual indication 2~ to he ~iven a~ the telephone answering equipment indicating to the telephone user the existence of the recorded message~s~. In tuTn~ the user receives the messages by "calling" the message recorder and dialing the extension number of his telephone set. Following the message(s) being plaved hack the message waiting visual indication is terminated by manually pushing a Reset button.

~2~8~

The invention may be summarized, according to one broad aspect as apparatus for use in a telephone system comprising:
central programming apparatus associated with a first telephone line in the telephone system for receiving a parameter input via a call received on the first telephone line from apparatus associated with a second telephone line; and programmable apparatus associated with the second telephone line for receiv-ing the parameter from the central programming apparatus via the second telephone line~ storing the parameter, and responding to calls received on the second telephone line in accordance there-with.
According to another broad aspect, the invention pro-vides in a telephone system, the method of programming program-mable apparatus associated with a first telephone line compri-sing the steps of: calling programming means associated with a second telephone line from other apparatus associated with the first telepho~e line; using the other apparatus to input a para-meter to the central programming means; providing the parameter from the central programming means to the programmable apparatus via the first telephone line; and storing the parameter in the programmable apparatus.

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~FS~RIPTIO~l OF T~E DR~ 'GS

Our invention will become more apparent on reading the following detailed~description in conjunction with the drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a simple hlock diagram of a private branch exchange showing how our novel equipment relates thereto;

Figl~re 2 is a block dia~Tam of the electronics in the automatic call l~ answering equipment located at each telephone set; and Figures 3 through 5 are programming flow charts for the computer program stored and utilized in the call answering equipment.

DETAILE~ DESCRIPTION
. .

Before describing Figures 1-5 we first descri~e the general operation of our system. This description will aid in the understanding of the description regarding Fi~ures l-5.
2~
Qur novel equipment called the Mbssage Waiting Unit is relatively thin but is large enough so that an associated telephone set conveniently sits on top of it. The controls and indicator lights of our equipment are on a front edge of the Unit to be visible and accessible by the user of the telephone set. Our Message ~Yaiting Uhit is provided on a per telephone set basis. The cord or wire by which a telephone set plugs into a il~ction hox on the wall is plugged into our message waiting unit and .
i`

~ 2~7~7~
another ~;ire from o~r l~it plu~s into the junction ~ox. In .his ma~ner our message waitin~ unit is quicklv and easily installed for operation by the user of the telephone set. I~on installation the user o~ the telephoner~et to which a l~it has ~een connected performs a simple initialization procedure prior to normal use of our Unit. This initialization is described further in this specification with regards to Figure 3 and is used to indicate the operating parameters to the Message Recording Fguipment which records messages from incoming calls that are automatically transferred to the Equipment Message l~aiting Units. Such ln ~arameters include the num~er of times the user s telephone should ring hefore an unanswered incoming cail is to ~e answered by the Uhit and then transferred; and l~hether an automatically answered call is to ~e transferred to the Equipment or to an alternate telephone set. The ~e~t ~rO~ c~ .c~ k~
~Re keys on the user telephone to which a Unit is connected is utilized to input the operating parameters to the Equipment which serves a plurality of Message lYaiting llnits.

In Figure 1 is shown a simple block diagram system configuration of the preferred em~odiment of the invention. Our Message l~aiting Units l and 2 are connected to an associated telephone set 3 and 4 respectively as shown and are connected to a private branch exchange ~PBX~ 5 over telephone lines in a conventional well known marner. In typical fashion other telephone sets 6 without our novel Units are connected to PBX 5; and there are outside lines 7 over which calls may ~e placed outside PBX 5 and over which incoming calls to particular telephone sets connected to the PBX may he completed. In addition ~bssage Recording Equipment 8 is connected to PBX S like telephone sets. PBX 5 may ~e any private ~ranch exchange well kno~n in the art, such as the Bell System Di~ension PBX.~ssage Recording Equipment ma~ he any of a number of such eq~ipment kno~
in the art ~ut is advantageously the Digital Voice Exchange (DVX) marketea by l~ang L~oratories, ~nc. The n~ stores messages in digitized form and converts them back to analog form for playback. The new Voice Mail System available from Bell System companies for use with the Dimension PBX
equipped with either Feature Packages 8 or 11 may also be easily modified hv one skilled in the art to provide the message recording function in accordance with the teaching ~f our invention. Feature Package 8 is used ln ~ith larger Dimension PB~'s used in corporate networking situations without message waiting lamps as found in our Units. Feature Package 11 is used with smaller Dimension PBX's used by hotels and motels.

Modern PBX's have a call transfer feature, well known in the art, 1.~ which is utilized in the operation of our invention. Incoming call transfer is initiated ~y momentarily interrupting the line connecting the telephone to the PBX followed ~y dialing the num~er of the telephone set to which the call is to be transferred and then hanging up the telephone set transferring the incoming call.
After initiali~ation of our Message Waiting Unit.a Ready light emitting dicde (LED) on the Unit is lit indicating that the Uhit is on and is monitoring incoming calls to the associated telephone set to determine if the calls are answered by a user by taking the set off-hook. Calls 1 25 that are not answered ~y the user, as determined by the number of ringing ¦ cycles equalling a number of ringing cycles input via the user when initializing the ~lessage l~aiting l~it, are automatically answered ~y the ~-~
j~

~2(~787~
l~it ~hich then transfers the incoming call to either another telephone set or to the Message Recording Equipment, this choice being indicated ~y the user when the Unit is initialized. After automatically answering an incoming c~ll the ~it transfers the call by interrupting the telephone line and then transmitting the number of either the Equipment or other telephone set to which the call is to be transferred. In a well known manner the PBX trans~ers the incoming call to the alternate telephone set or to the Equipment. I~hen an incoming call is transferred to the ~essage Waiting Equipment, after being connected thereto the Uhit transmits to the T~uipment the numher of its associated telephone set to which the call ~as origonally directed and then goes on-hook. The calling party ~hose call is transferred to the Equipment can either hang up or record a message in response to record voice instruction prompts from the Equipment. ~Yhen the calling partv records a messa~e in the Tiquipment, the Equipment thereafter initiates a call to the telephone set to which the call was originally directed usin~ the numher transmitted to it by the Uhit. Upon the ~essage Waiting Uni~ answering the call from the Message Recording Equipment to the telephone set, the Equipment forwards a signal which causes the Unit to light a Message Waiting LED on the Unit. The Equipment then goes on-~ook terminating the call to the telephone set. The Message t~aiting LED on the Unit remains lit to provide an indication to the user that there is a recorded message for him in the Equipment. To listen to the messages the ~ser then p~aces a telephone call to the Equipment and keys the numher of his telephone set. In response thereto the Equipment plays back the recorded message to the user. The user extinguishes the Message Waitiny T.ET) by operating a ~eset button on the Unit.

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In ~iew o~ the hrief system opera~ion descri~ed in ~he l~st paragraph we now descri~e the operation of our Message Waiting Unit shown in more detail in ~lock dia~ram form in Figure 2. A nu~her of standard integrated circuit clhips are utilized in implementing our invention. Controller 10 is a special Purpose microprocessor chip known as the 8n31 Controller obtainable from Intel~Corporation. Telephone l~ne interface circuit ll is a C~1812 chip availa~le from Cermetek Inc. in Sunnyvale, California. 0ff-hook sense circuit 14 is an M949 chip available from Teltone Inc. in Kirkland, ~shington. n~ hand split filter 15 is a numher 8865 chip a~ailahle from CRneral Telephone and Electronics (GTE). DT~ detector 23 - is a chip numher 8860 also availahle from ~TF,. DTMF generator 16 is an ~5084 chip available from ~IOSTE~ in Carrolton, Texas. Bu~fer 17 and program Rn~l memorv 18 are standardly available integrated circuit memories. ~ff hook control circuit 20 is only a transistor driving circuit amplifving the lo\~ le~el signal output from controller 10 to circuit 20. Ring control circuit 21 is an RC filter connected to 74LS14 chips and cooperate to convert 20 cycle ringing pulses on the telephone line T and R leads to a square wave pulse input to controller 10 for each ringing pulse.
~0 Telephone set 12 is normally connected to teleph,one line leads T and R which are in turn connected to the PBX and our Message Waiting Unit is idle and monitors for incoming calls to the set. In this manner telephone set 12 is normally connected to the PBX to be used to initiate and answer 2~ calls. ~hen there is an incoming call to telephone set 12 pulsed twenty cycle ringing is applied by the PBX to leads T and R in a manner well known in the art. This ringing signal causes audible ringing to be * ~ ~ k F~

~ 7~
genera.ed at tele~hone set 12. This operation is not cha~ged ~hen ~elephone set 12 is utilized in conj~nction with ol]r novel message h~aiting lmit. ~owever, the ringing signal is also applied to our ~nit and more specifically to telephone line interface circuit 11 which provides isolation ~etween the Uhit and telephone line leads T and R. The ringing si~nals are passed through circuit 11 to ring control circuit 21 which rectifies and filters the ringing signal to derive a singled pulse for each hurst of ringing. Each pulse is input to controller 10 to be counted. ~\!hen the user of telephone set 12 takes the set off-hook, ln off-hoo~ sense circuit 14 senses this condition and provides a si~nal indicating same to controller 10. In response to telephone set 12 remaining on-hook as also sensed ~y off-hook sense circuit 14 controller ln counts the n~er of ringing pulses and determines if the number of ringing pulses received l~ithout telephone set 12 ~eing taken off-hook equals a preproyra~ned num~er of rings. ~Yhen the number of ringing pulses equals the numher programmed during intialization controller 10 applies a signal Yia off-hook control circuit 20 which causes telephone line interface circuit 11 to provide an off-hook condition on telephone line leads T and R.
Thereafter, a Busy LED of LED indicators 22 on the Uhit is lit. If at any time during ringing a user of telephone set 12 goes off-hook the M~ssage ~aiting Unit stops Its operation and returns to ;ts idle state ` monitoring the telephone line for unanswered incoming calls after telephone set 12 is again placed on on-hook. The IJnit, under control of controller 10, first determines whether the answered incoming call is from the ~lessage Recording Equipment as is determined ~y the presence of a Dual 1.

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312~
Tone ~lti Freql~ellCV (n~) pair of touch-tone tones correspondinc to an *
sym~ol followed by a Dl~ tone corresponding to the R sym~ol. If the DT~F
tones are not detected controller 10 applies a signal to off-hook control circuit ~ which there~y controls telephone line interface circuit 11 to place a momenta~ on-hook condition across telephone line lead r and R.
This momentary on-hook condition causes the PBX to transfer the incoming call in a manner well known in the art. Immediately after the momentary on-hook condition controller 10 applies signals to DTMF generator 16 which oUtpl3ts the touch-tone pairs of frequencies indicating the e~tension lQ numher of either the Equipment or the alternate telephone set as determined hv the llser of the telephone during initialization of the Unit --or at any thereafter. The signals output from Dl~ generator 16 are applied ~ia telephone line interface circuit 11 to telephone line leads T
and R. The PBX responds to the DTMF signals returned to it over telephone-1~ line leads T and R to transfer the incoming call as indicated to either the recording Equipment or the alternate telephone setO This is done in a manner well known in the art. No mstter where the incoming call is being transferred controller 10 thereafter applies a signal via circuit 20 to telephone line interface circuit 11 which places the ~kssage Waiting Uhit in an on-hook state and the Busy LED is turned off.

When the incoming call from a calling party is being transferred to the ~essage Recording Equipment upon the Equipment answering the trans~erred call controller 10 controlling the other circuits in the Unit looks for DTMF signals corresponding to the # symbol followed by the *
5Vmhol~ These D~ signals are transmitted by the Equipment over telephone line leads T and R, through telephone line interface circuit 11 r~

to Dl~ ~and sFlit filter 15. Filter 15 splits the Dl~ incoming signal into its hi~h frequencv and lo-~ frequency components which it indicates correspondingly on outputs from circuit 15 on lead ~ and lead L. These outputs fr~m filter 15 are input to ~.lF detector 23 which converts the signals indicating the two frequencies to corresponding binary signals which are input to controller 10. Controller 10 responds to the receipt of the # and * signals to transmit the number of telephone set 12 to the Equipment in nT~F form using nT.~ generator 16 and other circuits as previouslv descri~ed. Thereafter, controller 10 causes an on-hook condition to he applied to the telephone line leads T and R and turns off the Busv LED of indicators 22 as previously described~ The M~ssage --Wai~ing ~Jnit is again moni~oring the telephone line for any other incoming calls.
.;.

en the ca'ller of the incoming call th-at is transferred to the ~essage Recording Equipment records a message therein for the user of telephone set 12~ at the end of the recorded message the Equipment uses the numher of telephone set 12 previously forwarded to it from set 12 when the call was transferred to the Equipment and places a call to set 12.
2n After the predetermined number of rings the Unit answers the call by placing an off-hook condition across telephone line lead T and R as previously describedO The ~usy LFD on the Uhit is lit. The equipment - senses the nl~ signals for the ~ sym~ol followed ~y the * symbol as previously descri~ed and in response thereto controller 10 transmits the 7~ numher of telephone set 12 to the Equipment to veriy that set 12 is the set for which a message is recorded. In response thereto the Equipment returns D~ ~ signals for an * followed hy an *. In response to the **

controller 10 turns on the ~essage l~;aiting LED of indicators 2~.
Controller 10 then causes an on-hook condition to ~e placed across line leads T and R and turns off the BUSY LED of indicators 22. .~gain the messa~e ~aitin~ unit is in idle state monitorin~ the telephone line for subsequent unanswered incoming calls.

l~en the user of the telephone set observes the lit Message Waiting LED, it should indicate that there is a message stored in the Message Recording F~lipment. The user takes telephone set 12 off-hook and dials the number of the ~quipment in a conventional manner. The Busy LED is also lit. t~hen the Equipment answers this call as indicated hy a Dl~ ~ * .~tone prompt, the user then transmits his telephone number to the Equipment using the touch tone keyset. The F~uipment responds to this telephone number transmitted to it by the user of telephone set 12 to play back the stored message for telephone set 12. Thereafter, the user depresses the Reset button on the Message Waiting ~nit and the ~kssage l~alting LED is extinguished~ When telephone set 12 is placed on-hook the Busy LED is extinguished.

2n The program and parameters for the operation of the ~ssage Waiting Unit are stored in Program Memory 18. Stored progra~ is read out of memory 18 into controller 1~ ~ut information is stored in buffer 17 until a full word is assembled which is then stored in memory 18. Examples of information to he stored in memory 18, other than the system program, are the number to which unanswered incoming calls are to be transferred and the mlmher of ri~ging cycles to be counted before call transfer. Clock 2¢
pro~ides all necessary timing signals for the operation of the o~her I

~ Z~37~7~circuitr~ in a ma~r well l~no~n in the art. Power for the ~essage ~'aiting l~it is obtained from a small supply that plugs into a wall socket near the Ihit.

S Turning now to describe the programming flow chart sho~n in Figure 3 for the initialization of the Message Waiting Uhit. The programming suh-routine, the flow chart for which is shown in Figure 3, is utilized when power is first applied to the Unit upon it being initially installed or follo-ving a power failure. In addition, this subroutine is used when the user desires to change the parameters of operation of the Unit which are the nlmher of rings that are received before the incoming call is transferred, and to change the identity of the extension to which unanswered incomin~ calls are transferred. Following the beginning of power 1~ or Reset the user changeable information stored in program memory 18 sho~ in Figure 1 is erased. ~ontroller 10 also has its access points specified as inputs and outputs for the operation of the system.
Thereafter, controller 10 applies an intermittent signal to blink the Ready LED of LED indicators 22. At this point in the sequence the program is manually generated ~y the user using the standard D~MF touch tone pad on telephone set 12. This is done by the user first dialing up the .~essage Recordin~ Equipment service desk and in response to prompts provided to the user, the user utilizes the touch tone Xey pad on telephone set 12 to first enter the number of rings which must be counted before an incoming call is transferred, then the identity of telephone set 12 and then the num~er identity of the equipment to which unanswered incoming calls are to ~e transferred. This equipment may be another telephone set~ such as sets 4 or 6 in Figure 1, or it may be Message .

~ Z~7~74~eCor~inc E~i?~ent ~ in Fi~ure 1 for .he storage of a message ~v tlC
caller w~ose call is transferred to the Eq~ipment. Follol~in~ the entr~ of this information the user operates the Reset button on the Unit to indicate to controller 10 that 311 the information has heen entered. l~en the Reset ~utton is not operated the program recycles through the steps jlls~ ~escrihed starting with ~linking the Ready LEn. In the event that the Reset button is operated controller 10 lights the Busy LED and places the ~lessage ~-'aiting Unit in an off-hook state. Thereafter, controller 10 sends a prompt to the Equipment of the Dr~F tones for an * # to the n F~llip~ent indicatin~ that the ~!essage l~aiting llnit is readv to ~e progr~med ~v the ~quipment. In response to the * ~ signals transmitted bv the Unit to the Equipment the Equipment returns a ** acknowledgement signal to the unit. The presence of any tones on the telephone line leads T and R are monitored ~y the Unit to detect this acknowledgement signal.
Tones on the telephone line leads are watched for a period of 100 milliseconds. If tones are detected they are checked to see if they are the ** acknowledgement signal tones. If the ** signals are not received within the 100 millisecond period or other tones are received controller 10 turns off the ~usy LED, places the Unit on-hook, blinks the Ready LED
2~ and restarts the initialization program. Followin~ the 100 millisecond period when t~le ** acknowledgement signal is detected the E4uipment retl~rns D~lF signals to the message waiting unit indicating the nu~er of ring signals that must be observed before an unanswered incoming call is - transferred, and indicatin~ the numher to which a user unanswered incoming call is to he transferred. These parameter signals are received and stored in memory 18 of the ~essage ~aiting ~it. For purposes of verification the parameters received from the Message l~aiting Equipment . . ~

~Z~ 4 ana ctored in memory 18 are then read out therefro~ and sent in D~ ~signalling format to the E~uipment which compares these signals with those signals it originally transmitted to the Unit. If there is an error and t~e signa~s don't match, the Fquipment doesn't forward a ~lF x*
: 5 verification signal to the Unit. If there is a match the DI~ **
verification signal is sent to the Unit which IS watching for these tones for a period of one second. When the last mentioned DTMF ** tones are not received at the ITnit, controller 10 turns off the ~sv LEn, places the llnit on-hook, blinks the Readv LED and restarts the initialization I~ ~rogram. Tn normal operation the D~:~ ** signals are received from the Equipment indicating that parameters stored in memory 18 are correct. -~ontroller 10 then lights the Ready LED steady, the ~usy LE~ is turned off ~ and the ~]nit places an on-hooX condition on the telephone line leads T and ¦ R. At this time the Message ~aiting Unit is fully initialized, willmonitor all incoming calls and h~ill transfer calls which are not user answered in accordance with the parameters entered during the initialization phase.

In Figures 4 and 5 are the programming flol~ charts for the program controlling controller 10 after the Unit has been initialized. fhe Unit is initially in an idle state monitoring incoming calls and transferring those calls which are not user answered after the predetermined number of ring cycles. The first step in this program is to monitor for the presence of any ringing signals. ~hen there are no ringing signals the program ~ranches and determines if the Reset button is operated. If the Reset button is not operated the program cycles back to again monitor for the presence of ringing signals. In the event that the Reset button is ~-z~
opera.e~ .he ~ro~ram cenerates a signal to turn off the ~kssage l~aiting LEn. In the event that the l~lessa~e l\'aiting LED is alread off it iill remain ln that state. When a ringing signal is finally detected the pro~ram proeresses to the next step to determine if the telephone set is S on-hook or off-hook. Upon the telephone set being on-hook the program progresses to the next step in which it determines if the number of ringing pulses received equals the number of ringing pulses to be received ~efore an unans~ered incoming call is transferred. If the predetermined nu~ber of ringing pulses has:not been received the program c,vcles back to 1~ the heginning of the program to ~iatch for the next ringing pulse. In either ;he event that the user goes off-hook before the programmed number .-of ringing pulses has ~een received, or in the event that the number of ringing pulses equals the programmed number, the program progresses to the ne~t step in which the ~kssage Waiting TTnit places an off-hook condition on the telephone line leads and the Eusy LE~ is turned on. The program then checks to see if this call is from the Message Waiting Equipment or I if the call is from a calling party. This determination is made by ¦ looking for the presence of DTMF signals for # *. If the DTMF # * signals ¦ are received the incoming call is from the Equipment and the programn ~ranches to transmit the extension of the associated telephone set 12 in DTMF form over the telephone line to the ~quipment. Following transmission of the telephone set identity, for lOn milliseconds the program watches ~or tones received back from the Equipment indicating that is has received the telephone set identity. The D~ ~ ** si~nals indicate that the telephone set identity has been received at the Equipment and thereafter controller lO lights the ~ssage Waiting LED to indicate to the user of telephone set 12 that there is a message recorded in the ~.

.

~ Z~7~79~~q~ipment. The program then branches at point C in Figure ~ which goes into the flow chart in Figure 5 i~herein the ~lessage l~laiting l~it is placed in an on-hook state followed ~y the Busy LED ~eing turned ofE. The `~ssage~~'aiting ~it is now in an idle condition monitoring the telephone line of telephone set 12 for unanswered incoming calls.

Backing up in the program to Figure 4, these are the programming steps to be followed when the incoming call is not from the DVX. I~hen no n~ ~ * tones are recei~ed from the FqlliPment within a 100 millisecond timing period the program rechec~s to see if telephone set 12 has been ta'~en off-hook hy the user. In addition, the program knows that this incoming call is from a calling party. The call may be from another telephone set connect to the PBX, sl~ch as sets 4 or 6 in Figure 1, or may be incoming to the PBX from an external telephone set. If telephone set `
12 is off-hook it is connected directlv to telephone line leads T and R.
The program ~ranches at point C as described hereinabove to place the Message l~aiting Unit in an on-hook state, to turn off the Busy LED, and thereby leave the ~nit in its Idle state.

2n In the event, however, that the user has not taken telephone set 12 off-hook at this time the program branches at point D in Figure 4 which goes to the program flo~ chart in Figure S. At this time the Message l~aiting Unit knows that the incoming call is from a calling party internal or external to the PBX telephone system and that the call must be transferred to either another telephone set or to the Message Recording Equipment whereat a message may ~e recorded by the calling party. To accomplish the transfer function the program momentarily interrupts the ? i , 7~
.~lev'lc~e line followed ~ D~ dialin~ the e~.ension to ~ihich t~e c~llin.gPart~ is to he transferred ~s just rnentioned the callin Partv ~ill either ~e transferred to another telephone set or to the Equipment. This decisio~-~as made dl~ine the initialization phase of the Messase l~:aiting ~nit as previously described.

Controller 10 under the control of the program stored in memory 18 now determines if the call is being transferred to the Message Recording F~uipment. Then the user unans~ered call is to be transferred to another i-) .elePnone set the program places the ~init on-hoo~, turns orf he Bus~; L~
and the '~it is no~ its Tdle sta e. In the e~ent that the calls are to be transferred to the Equipment whereat a message may be recorded, the program ~atches for the Equipment to answer the transferred call hy watching for acknowledgement tones being returned from the Equipment ithin a five second period. One of two things mav happen at this time.
Either tones will or will not ~e received on the telephone line during this five second period. If tones are received within the five second period the program checks them to see if they are the DTMF # * tones indicating that the ~quipment has answered the transferred call. Upon the # * tones being detected the program causes the identity of telephone set 12 be ~ransmitted to the Equipment which ~hen knows the telephone set for which the soon to be recorded message is intended. Thereafter, ~he program places the Message Waiting Unit in an on-hook state, turns off the Busy LED and the Unit is in its Idle state~ In a well known manner the Z5 PB~ connects the Equipment to the transferred calling party.

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In the event that the tones detected on the te]ephone line during the five second timing period are not the ~ * tones the program also places the Message Waiting Unit in an on-hook state, turns off the Busy LED and thereby leaves the Unit in its Idle state. Likewise, if the five second timing period times out without the receipt of any tones the program also places the Unit in an on-hook state, turns off the Busy LED and thereby leaves the Unit in its Idle state. It can only be assumed that the lack of receipt of the # * acknowledgement signal from the Equipment indicates that there is trouble with the Equipment.
While what has been described hereinabo~7e is the equip-ment and operation for the preferred embodiment of our invention it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that numerous changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, voice synthesis equipment may be added to the Message Waiting Unit to provide synthetic voice messages to the calling party indicating, for exaTnple/ that the call is to be transferred. Further, the user decision o~ where an unanswered call i5 being transferred may ~0 be eliminated.

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Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1 . Automatic telephone call answering apparatus located at and functioning with telephone sets connected via telephone set lines to central switching equipment, each telephone set having its own telephone number, and central message recording equipment also connected to the switching equipment via a telephone line and having its own telephone number, said recording equipment for recording messages intended for users of said telephone sets, said call answering apparatus comprising:

means for answering an incoming call not answered by a user of a first one of said telephone sets by placing an off-hook condition on said first telephone set line, means for controlling said call answering means to place a momentary on-hook condition on said first telephone set line to signal said switching equipment that said incoming call is to be transferred, and signaling means responsive to said controlling means for sending the telephone number of said recording equipment to said switching equipment which then connects said incoming call to said recording equipment, then upon said recording equipment answering said transferred incoming call said controlling means controls said signalling means to signal the telephone number of said first telephone set so said recording equipment knows the telephone set for which said transferred incoming call is intended, whereupon said recording equipment records a message of said transferred incoming call and at some later time, the user of said first telephone set dials the telephone number of said recording equipment and upon said recording equipment answering, the user dials the telephone number of said first telephone set to which the recording equipment responds and plays back the recorded message.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein said answering means comprises:

means for sensing ringing signals indicating an incoming call directed to said first telephone set; and means for placing an off-hook condition on said first telephone set line to answer incoming calls not answered by a user of said first telephone set, said controlling means is responsive to said sensing circuit for operating said off-hook means to answer said incoming call, and for operating said off-hook means to place said momentary on-hook condition on said first telephone set line.

3. The invention in accordance with claim 2 wherein said recording equipment calls said first telephone set using said first telephone set number forwarded to it when said incoming call is transferred to it only when the message of said transferred incoming call has been recorded, and said recording equipment transmits a first signal upon an off-hook condition being placed on said first telephone set line responsive to said recording equipment call, and wherein said call answering apparatus further comprises:

means for detecting said first signal by monitoring every user unanswered call automatically answered by said off-hook means, said detecting means providing an indication of the presence of said first signal to said controlling means which responds thereto not to transfer said incoming call from said call answering apparatus to said recording equipment, and means responsive to said controlling means receiving said first signal indication for providing an indication to the user of said first telephone set of the recorded message in said recording equipment.

4. In a telephone system in which items of apparatus including a plurality of telephone sets and central recording apparatus for recording messages received by means of telephone calls are connected by means of telephone set lines to a central switching apparatus which associates each item with a telephone number and responds to a given telephone number by accessing the item associated therewith and in which the central switching apparatus is capable of transferring a call by accessing another item in place of an item currently being accessed, the method of employing a message waiting unit which is connected to the telephone set line connecting a first one of the telephone sets to the central switching apparatus and which includes storage means to answer an incoming call directed to the first telephone set comprising the steps of:
detecting in the message waiting unit that a user of the first telephone set has not answered the incoming call;
employing the message waiting unit to cause the central switching apparatus to transfer the incoming call to the central recording apparatus; and employing the message waiting unit to provide a stored telephone number of the first telephone set to the central recording apparatus, whereby the incoming call is transferred to the central recording apparatus for recording of any message and the central recording apparatus receives the telephone number of the first telephone set.

5. The method in accordance with claim 4 further comprising the step of:
providing an indication in said message waiting unit of a message stored in said central recording apparatus following the step of employing the message waiting unit to provide the stored telephone number to the central recording apparatus.

6. The method in accordance with claim 5 and wherein the step of employing the message waiting unit to provide the stored telephone number further comprises the steps of:
immediately following the step of employing the message waiting unit to cause the central switching apparatus to transfer the incoming call, monitoring the telephone set line connected to the first telephone set for a first signal from said central recording apparatus indicating that said central recording apparatus is connected to said first telephone set, and forwarding the stored number of the first telephone set to said central recording apparatus.

7 . The method in accordance with claim 6 where said step of providing an indication comprises the steps of:

placing a call from said recording apparatus to said message waiting apparatus via said switching apparatus under control of said recording apparatus following recording of any message from the incoming call, sending a second signal from said recording apparatus to said message waiting apparatus after said message waiting apparatus applies an off-hook condition to said first telephone line, said second signal indicating that said recording apparatus is connected to said first telephone set, returning the stored telephone number from said message waiting apparatus to said recording apparatus in response to said second signal, said returned telephone number confirming the connection of said first telephone set to said recording apparatus, and sending a third signal from said recording apparatus to said message waiting apparatus, said third signal causing said message waiting apparatus to indicate that said recording apparatus contains a message received from the incoming call.

8. The method in accordance with claim 6 wherein said step of forwarding the stored telephone number comprises the steps of:

placing an off-hook condition on said first telephone line;

checking for the presence of a second signal; and upon detecting said second signal, forwarding the stored telephone number.

9. The method of claim 4 wherein the central switching apparatus accesses items by providing a plurality of ring signals to them;
the method further comprises the step of employing the first telephone set and the central recording apparatus to input a number of rings value to the storage means; and the step of detecting that a user of the first telephone set has not answered the incoming call is performed by counting ring signals until the stored number of rings value is exceeded.

10. The method of claim 4 and further comprising:
employing the first telephone set and the central recording apparatus to input the telephone number of the first telephone set to the storage means.

11. The method of claim 4 and wherein:
the method further comprises the step of employing the first telephone set and the central recording apparatus to input the telephone number of the central recording apparatus to the storage means; and the step of employing the message waiting unit to cause the central switching apparatus to transfer the incoming call to the central recording apparatus is performed by providing the stored telephone number of the central recording apparatus to the central switching apparatus.

12.In a telephone system in which items of apparatus including a plurality of telephone sets and central recording apparatus for recording messages received by means of telephone calls are connected by means of telephone set lines to a central switching apparatus which associates each item with a telephone number and responds to a given telephone number by accessing the item associated therewith and in which the central switching apparatus is capable of transferring a call by accessing another item in place of an item currently being accessed, the method of employing a message waiting unit which is connected to the telephone set line connecting a first one of the telephone sets to the central switching apparatus and which includes storage means to answer an incoming call directed to the first telephone set comprising the steps of:
detecting in the message waiting unit that a user of the first telephone set has not answered the incoming call;
determining in the message waiting unit whether the incoming call is from the central recording apparatus; and if the incoming call is not from the the central recording apparatus, employing the message waiting unit to cause the central switching apparatus to transfer the incoming call to the item associated with a stored forwarding telephone number stored in the storage means.

13. The method of claim 12 and further comprising:
employing the first telephone set and the central recording apparatus to input the forwarding telephone number to the storage means.

14.The method of claim 12 wherein the stored forwarding telephone number is alternatively the telephone number of the central recording apparatus or the telephone number of another one of the items; and the method further comprises the steps of:
detecting in the message waiting unit that the central recording apparatus has answered the transferred incoming call; and when the central recording apparatus has answered the transferred incoming call, employing the message waiting unit to provide a stored telephone number of the first telephone set stored in the storage means to the central recording apparatus.

15. The method of claim 14 and further comprising:
employing the first telephone set and the central recording apparatus to input the forwarding telephone number and the telephone number for the first telephone set to the storage means.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein the central switching apparatus accesses items by providing a plurality of ring signals to them;
the method further comprises the step of employing the first telephone set and the central recording apparatus to input a number of rings value to the storage means; and the step of detecting that a user of the first telephone set has not answered the incoming call is performed by counting ring signals until the stored number of rings value is exceeded.

17. In a telephone system in which items of apparatus including a plurality of telephone sets are connected by means of telephone set lines to a central switching apparatus which associates each item with a telephone number and responds to a given telephone number by accessing the item associated therewith, the method of programming apparatus which includes storage means and which is connected to the telephone set line connecting a first one of the telephone sets to the central switching apparatus comprising the steps of calling programming means of the items from the first telephone set;
using the first telephone set to input a parameter to the programming means;
indicating to the apparatus that the parameter has been input;
employing the apparatus to provide a first signal to the programming means indicating that the apparatus is ready to be programmed; and receiving the parameter in the apparatus from the programming means and storing the parameter in the storage means.

18. The method of claim 17 and wherein:
the step of using the first telephone set to input a parameter to the programming means is repeated until all of a plurality of parameters have been input;
the step of indicating to the apparatus that the parameter has been input is performed after all of the parameters have been input; and the step of receiving the parameter in the apparatus and storing the parameter in the storage means is repeated for each of the parameters.

19. The method of claim 17 and further comprising:
employing the apparatus to provide the stored parameter to the programming means;
verifying the stored parameter in the programming means;
and providing a second signal to the apparatus indicating whether the stored parameter is valid.

20. The method of claim 17 and further comprising:
the step of using the programming means to provide an audible prompt to the first telephone set following the step of calling the programming means.

21. In a telephone system in which items of apparatus including a plurality of telephone sets and central recording apparatus for recording messages received by means of telephone calls are connected by means of telephone set lines to a central switching apparatus which associates each item with a telephone number and responds to a given telephone number by accessing the item associated therewith and in which the central switching apparatus is capable of transferring a call by accessing another item in place of an item currently being accessed, the method of programming message waiting apparatus which is connected to the telephone set line connecting a first one of the telephone sets to the central switching apparatus and which includes storage means comprising the steps of:

calling the central recording apparatus from the first telephone set;
using the first telephone set to input a parameter to the central recording apparatus;
indicating to the message waiting apparatus that parameter input is finished;
employing the message waiting apparatus to provide a first signal to the central recording apparatus indicating that the message waiting apparatus is ready to be programmed; and receiving the parameter in the message waiting apparatus from the central recording apparatus and storing the parameter in the storage means.

22. The method of claim 21 and wherein:
the step of using the first telephone set to input a parameter to the central recording apparatus is repeated until all of a plurality of parameters have been input;
the step of indicating to the message waiting apparatus that the parameter input is finished is performed after all of the parameters have been input; and the step of receiving the parameter in the message waiting apparatus and storing the parameter in the storage means is repeated for each of the parameters.

23. The method of claim 22 and wherein:
the plurality of parameters includes a number of rings parameter, a forwarding number parameter, and a number of the first telephone set parameter.

24. The method of claim 21 and further comprising:
causing the message waiting apparatus to provide the stored parameter to the central recording apparatus;
verifying the stored parameter in the central recording apparatus; and providing a second signal to the message waiting apparatus indicating whether the stored parameter is valid.

25. The method of claim 21 and further comprising:
the step of using the programming means to provide an audible prompt to the first telephone set following the step of calling the programming means.

26. Programmable apparatus for use in a telephone system comprising:
items of apparatus including a plurality of telephone sets and central programming apparatus for receiving a parameter input via a telephone call from a first one of the plurality of telephone sets;
central switching apparatus connected by a plurality of telephone lines to the items for associating the items with telephone numbers and responding to a given telephone number by accessing the item associated therewith; and local apparatus connected to the telephone line for the first one of the telephone sets for receiving the parameter from the central programming apparatus, storing the parameter, and responding to telephone calls received in the first telephone apparatus in accordance therewith.

27. Automatic telephone call answering apparatus comprising:
items of apparatus associated with telephone numbers and including a plurality of telephone sets and central programming apparatus for receiving at least a telephone number parameter which specifies one of the telephone numbers and which is input via a telephone call received therein from a first one of the plurality of telephone sets;
central switching apparatus connected by a plurality of telephone lines to the items for responding to a given telephone number by accessing the item associated therewith, said central switching apparatus being capable of transferring a call by accessing another item in place of the item currently being accessed; and programmable message waiting apparatus connected to the telephone line for the first telephone set for receiving the telephone number parameter from the central programming apparatus, storing the telephone number parameter, and there-after detecting that a user of the first telephone set has not answered an incoming call directed to the first telephone set and causing the switching apparatus to transfer the incoming call as directed by the telephone number parameter.

28. The automatic telephone call answering apparatus of claim 27 wherein:
the central programming apparatus further records a message of any incoming call transferred thereto; and the telephone number parameter specifies in the alternative the telephone number of the central programming apparatus and the telephone number of another one of the items.

29. In the automatic telephone call answering apparatus of claim 28 and wherein:
the central programming apparatus receives additional parameters in addition to the telephone number parameter and the programmable message waiting apparatus receives and stores the additional parameters in addition to the telephone number parameter.

30. In the automatic telephone call answering apparatus of claim 29 and wherein:
the additional parameters include the telephone number of the first telephone set; and the programmable message waiting apparatus provides the telephone number of the first telephone set to the central programming apparatus when an incoming call is transferred thereto.

31. In the automatic telephone call answering apparatus of claim 30 and wherein:
the central switching apparatus accesses items by providing a plurality of ring signals to them, the additional parameters include a number of rings value; and the programmable message waiting apparatus detects that the user of the first telephone set has not answered the incoming call by counting the number of rings until the number specified in the second parameter is exceeded.

32. Automatic telephone call answering apparatus comprising:
items of apparatus including a plurality of telephone sets and central recording apparatus for recording messages of telephone calls received therein, associating telephone numbers therewith, and providing a given recorded message in response to the telephone number associated therewith;
central switching apparatus connected by a plurality of telephone lines to the items for associating the items with telephone numbers and responding to a given telephone number by accessing the item associated therewith, said central switching apparatus being capable of transferring a call by accessing another item in place of an item currently being accessed; and message waiting apparatus connected to the telephone line for a first one of the telephone sets for detecting that a user of the first telephone set has not answered an incoming call directed to the first telephone set, causing the central switching apparatus to transfer the incoming call to the central recording apparatus, and thereafter providing the telephone number of the first telephone set to the central recording apparatus, whereby the central recording apparatus is able to record the message of the incoming call and associate the recorded message with the telephone number of the first telephone set.

33. In the automatic telephone call answering apparatus of claim 32 and wherein:
the central recording apparatus is further capable of employing a recorded telephone number to call the item associated with the telephone number associated with the message of the incoming call and provide a message waiting signal on the telephone line belonging to the item;
the message waiting apparatus further includes means for indicating that the message of the incoming call has been recorded; and the message waiting apparatus responds to the message waiting signal by causing the means for indicating that the message of the incoming call has been recorded to so indicate.

34. Apparatus for use in a telephone system comprising:

central programming apparatus associated with a first telephone line in the telephone system for receiving a parameter input via a call received on the first telephone line from apparatus associated with a second telephone line; and programmable apparatus associated with the second telephone line for receiving the parameter from the central programming apparatus via the second telephone line, storing the parameter, and responding to calls received on the second telephone line in accordance therewith.

35. In a telephone system, the method of programming programmable apparatus associated with a first telephone line comprising the steps of:
calling programming means associated with a second telephone line from other apparatus associated with the first telephone line;
using the other apparatus to input a parameter to the central programming means;
providing the parameter from the central programming means to the programmable apparatus via the first telephone line; and storing the parameter in the programmable apparatus.