Private branch exchange (PBX), voice store equipment, message processing method, program and recording medium

• US 20040247096A1
• Filed: 04/26/2004
• Published: 12/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakatsu, Makoto
• Granted Patent: US 7,570,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/88.18
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/651 Text message transmission triggered by call automatic reactions in messaging within packet-switching networks H04L51/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/436 Arrangements for screening incoming calls , i.e. evaluating the characteristics of a call before deciding whether to answer it based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; diversion H04M3/54

Abstract

A PBX which accommodates an extension station and voice store equipment, the PBX comprising a controller for controlling interconnection between the extension or the voice store equipment and an outside line, the controller including: a destination extension number determination unit for determining the destination extension number for an incoming call from the outside line; a destination extension determination unit for determining whether the destination extension is the extension station or the voice store equipment based on the determined destination extension number; a voice store equipment termination processing unit for performing termination processing concerning the voice store equipment in case it is determined on the destination extension determination means that the destination extension is the voice store equipment; and an extension station termination processing unit for performing termination processing concerning the extension station in case it is determined on the destination extension determination unit that the destination extension is the extension station.

Claims

1. A private branch exchange (PBX) which accommodates an extension station and voice store equipment, said PBX comprising a controller for controlling interconnection between said extension or said voice store equipment and an outside line,

wherein said controller comprises:

destination extension number determination means for determining the destination extension number for an incoming call from the outside line;

destination extension determination means for determining whether the destination extension is said extension station or said voice store equipment based on said determined destination extension number;

voice store equipment termination processing means for performing termination processing concerning said voice store equipment in case it is determined on said destination extension determination means that the destination extension is said voice store equipment, said termination processing including processing concerning an absent message; and

extension station termination processing means for performing termination processing concerning said extension station in case it is determined on said destination extension determination means that the destination extension is said extension station, said termination processing including processing concerning an absent message.

2. The PBX according to claim 1, wherein said voice store equipment termination processing means comprises:

call incoming notification means for transmitting an incoming signal to the voice store equipment;

outside line-to-extension connection means for connecting said voice store equipment to an outside line in response to a line connection request from said voice store equipment;

transfer request determination means for determining whether a transfer request to said extension station is received from said voice store equipment;

extension alerting means for alerting said transfer-requested extension station in case it is determined that said transfer request is detected by said transfer request determination means;

message setting determination means for determining whether said transfer-requested extension has set an absence message;

message read means for fetching an absence message from a storage section in case it is determined that an absence message is set on said message setting determination means;

message notification means for communicating said absence message fetched from said storage section to said voice store equipment; and

message transmission means for connecting said voice store equipment and said outside line in order to transmit a voice message corresponding to said communicated absence message from said voice store equipment to said outside line.

3. The PBX according to claim 2, wherein said voice store equipment termination processing means further comprises extension connection means for releasing the connection between said voice store equipment and said transfer-requested extension station and connecting said transfer-requested extension station and an outside line in case it is determined that an absence message is not set on said message setting determination means.

4. The PBX according to claim 1, wherein said extension station termination processing means comprises:

transfer setting determination means for referencing a storage section to determine whether transfer to said voice store equipment is set to the destination extension station;

incoming signal transmission means for transmitting an incoming call to said voice store equipment in case said transfer setting determination means has determined that said transfer is set;

message setting determination means for referencing said storage section to determine whether an absence message is set to said destination extension station;

message read means for fetching an absence message from said storage section in case the message setting determination means has determined that an absence message is set;

message notification means for communicating said absence message fetched from said storage section to said voice store equipment; and

outside line connection means for connecting said voice store equipment and said outside line in order to transmit a voice message corresponding to the communicated absence message from said voice store equipment to said outside line in response to a line connection request from said voice store equipment.

5. Voice store equipment comprising a controller, said vice store equipment connectable to a PBX via a line interface controlled by said controller, wherein said controller comprises:

incoming call detection determination means for determining whether an incoming signal from said PBX is received;

incoming source determination means for determining whether the incoming source is an extension or an outside line in case said incoming call signal from said PBX is detected by said incoming call detection determination means;

extension termination processing means for performing termination processing concerning an extension in case it is determined on said incoming source determination means that the incoming source is an extension, said termination processing including processing concerning an absent message; and

outside line termination processing means for performing termination processing concerning an outside line in case it is determined on said incoming source determination means that the incoming source is an outside line, said termination processing including processing concerning an absent message.

6. The voice store equipment according to claim 5, wherein said extension termination processing means comprises:

message detection means for determining whether an absence message contained in said incoming signal is detected;

line connection means for connecting to said PBX via said line interface circuit in case said message detection determination means has detected an absence message; and

message read means for reading a voice message corresponding to said detected absence message and transmitting said voice message to said PBX.

7. The voice store equipment according to claim 5, wherein said outside line termination processing means comprises:

line connection means for connecting to an outside line;

guidance transmission means for transmitting guidance;

transfer determination means for determining whether a transfer instruction is detected;

transfer destination alerting request means for alerting the transfer-to extension on determining that a transfer instruction is detected on the transfer determination means;

message detection determination means for determining whether an absence message is detected from an answer signal in response to alert of said transfer-to extension; and

message read means for reading a voice message corresponding to said detected absence message and transmitting said voice message to said PBX on determining that the absence message is detected on said message detection determination means.

8. A message processing method for a PBX which accommodates an extension station and voice store equipment, said PBX comprising a controller for controlling interconnection between said extension or said voice store equipment and an outside line, wherien said method comprises:

a destination extension number determining step of determining the extension number of a destination of an incoming call from an outside line;

a destination extension determining step of determining whether the destination extension is said extension station or said voice store equipment based on said determined destination extension number;

a voice store equipment termination processing step of performing termination processing concerning said voice store equipment in case it is determined that the destination extension is said voice store equipment in said destination extension determining step, said termination processing including processing concerning an absent message; and

an extension station termination processing step of performing termination processing concerning said extension station in case it is determined that the destination extension is said extension station in said destination extension determining step, said termination processing including processing concerning an absent message.

9. A message processing method according to claim 8, wherein said voice store equipment termination processing step comprises:

a call incoming notification step of transmitting an incoming signal to the voice store equipment;

an outside line-to-extension connection step of connecting said voice store equipment to an outside line in response to a line connection request from said voice store equipment;

a transfer request determination step of determining whether a transfer request to said extension station is received from said voice store equipment;

an extension alerting step of alerting said transfer-requested extension station in case it is determined that said transfer request is detected in said transfer request determination step;

a message setting determination step of determining whether said transfer-requested extension has set an absence message;

a message read step for fetching an absence message from a storage section in case it is determined that an absence message is set in said message setting determination step;

a message notification step of communicating said absence message fetched from said storage section to said voice store equipment; and

a message transmission step of connecting said voice store equipment and said outside line in order to transmit a voice message corresponding to said communicated absence message from said voice store equipment to said outside line.

10. The message processing method according to claim 9, wherein said voice store equipment termination processing step further comprises an extension connection step of releasing the connection between said voice store equipment and said transfer-requested extension station and connecting said transfer-requested extension station and an outside line in case it is determined that an absence message is not set in said message setting determination step.

11. The message processing method according to claim 8, wherein said extension station termination processing step comprises:

a transfer setting determination step of referencing a storage section to determine whether transfer to said voice store equipment is set to the destination extension station;

an incoming signal transmission step of transmitting an incoming call to said voice store equipment in case said transfer setting determination means has determined that said transfer is set;

a message setting determination step of referencing said storage section to determine whether an absence message is set to said destination extension station;

a message read step of fetching an absence message from said storage section in case the message setting determination means has determined that an absence message is set;

a message notification step of communicating said absence message fetched from said storage section to said voice store equipment; and

an outside line connection step of connecting said voice store equipment and said outside line in order to transmit a voice message corresponding to the communicated absence message from said voice store equipment to said outside line in response to a line connection request from said voice store equipment.

12. A message processing method for voice store equipment comprising a controller, said voice store equipment connectable to a PBX via a line interface controlled by said controller, wherein said method comprises:

an incoming call detection determination step of determining whether an incoming signal from said PBX is received;

an incoming source determination step of determining whether the incoming source is an extension or an outside line in case said incoming call signal from said PBX is detected by said incoming call detection determination means;

an extension termination processing step of performing termination processing concerning an extension in case it is determined on said incoming source determination means that the incoming source is an extension, said termination processing including processing concerning an absent message; and

an outside line termination processing step of performing termination processing concerning an outside line in case it is determined on said incoming source determination means that the incoming source is an outside line, said termination processing including processing concerning an absent message.

13. The message processing method according to claim 12, wherein said extension termination processing step comprises:

a message detection determination step of determining whether an absence message contained in said incoming signal is detected;

a line connection step of connecting to said PBX via said line interface circuit in case said message detection determination ste@ has detected an absence message; and

a message read step of reading a voice message corresponding to said detected absence message and transmitting said voice message to said PBX.

14. The message processing method according to claim 12, wherein said outside line termination processing step comprises:

a line connection step of connecting to an outside line;

a guidance transmission step of transmitting guidance;

a transfer determination step of determining whether a transfer instruction is detected from said incoming signal;

a transfer destination alerting request step of alerting the transfer-to extension on determining that a transfer instruction is detected on the transfer determination means;

a message detection determination step of determining whether an absence message is detected from an answer signal in response to alert of said transfer-to extension; and

a message read step of reading a voice message corresponding to said detected absence message and transmitting said voice message to said PBX in case the absence message is detected in said message detection determination step.

15. A PBX which accommodates an extension station and voice store equipment, said PBX comprising a controller for controlling interconnection between said extension or said voice store equipment and an outside line,

wherein said controller comprises:

destination extension number determination means for determining the destination extension number for an incoming call from the outside line;

destination extension determination means for determining whether the destination extension is said extension station or said voice store equipment based on said determined destination extension number; and

voice store equipment termination processing means for performing termination processing concerning said voice store equipment in case it is determined on said destination extension determination means that the destination extension is said voice store equipment; and

wherein said voice store equipment termination processing means further comprises;

message setting determination means for determining whether an absence message is set to said extension station when a request for transfer to an extension station is made; and

message transmission means for connecting said voice store equipment and said outside line in order to transmit a voice message corresponding to said communicated absence message from said voice store equipment to said outside line.

16. The PBX according to claim 15, wherein said voice store equipment termination processing means further comprises extension connection means for connecting said transfer-requested extension station and an outside line in case it is determined that an absence message is not set on said message setting determination means.

17. A PBX which accommodates an extension station and voice store equipment, said PBX comprising a controller for controlling interconnection between said extension or said voice store equipment and an outside line,

wherein said controller comprises:

destination extension number determination means for determining the destination extension number for an incoming call from the outside line;

destination extension determination means for determining whether the destination extension is said extension station or said voice store equipment based on said determined destination extension number; and

extension station termination processing means for performing termination processing concerning said extension station in case it is determined on said destination extension determination means that the destination extension is said extension station; and

wherein said extension station termination processing means further comprises;

message setting determination means for determining whether an absence message is set to the destination extension station in case transfer to said voice store equipment is set to the destination extension station; and

outside line connection means for connecting said voice store equipment and said outside line in order to transmit a voice message corresponding to said absence message to an outside line in case it is determined on said message setting determination means that an absence message is set.

18. The PBX according to claim 17, wherein said PBX further comprises extension connection means for connecting said transfer-requested extension station and an outside line in case it is determined that an absence message is not set on said message setting determination means.

19. Voice store equipment comprising a storage section for storing messages and guidance, a switch for controlling the connection to a line interface, and a controller said voice store equipment connectable to a PBX via said line interface, characterized in that said controller comprises:

incoming call detection determination means for determining whether an incoming signal from said PBX is received;

incoming source determination means for determining whether the incoming source is an extension or an outside line in case said incoming call signal from said PBX is detected by said incoming call detection determination means; and

extension termination processing means for performing termination processing concerning an extension in case it is determined on said incoming source determination means that the incoming source is an extension; and

that

said extension termination processing means comprises message read means for connecting to said PBX via said line interface circuit in case it is determined that an absence message contained in said incoming signal is detected, and reading a voice message corresponding to said absence message and transmitting the voice message to said PBX.

20. Voice store equipment comprising a storage section for storing messages and guidance, a switch for controlling the connection to a line interface, and a controller said voice store equipment connectable to a PBX via said line interface, characterized in that said controller comprises:

incoming call detection determination means for determining whether an incoming signal from said PBX is received;

incoming source determination means for determining whether the incoming source is an extension or an outside line in case said incoming call signal from said PBX is detected by said incoming call detection determination means; and

outside line termination processing means for performing termination processing concerning an extension in case it is determined on said incoming source determination means that the incoming source is an outside line; and

that said outside line termination processing means further comprises;

transfer destination alerting request means for alerting the transfer-to extension on determining that a transfer instruction is detected from said incoming signal;

message detection determination means for determining whether an absence message is detected from an answer signal in response to alert of said transfer-to extension; and

message read means for reading a voice message corresponding to said detected absence message and transmitting said voice message to said PBX on determining that the absence message is detected on said message detection determination means.

21. A PBX which can accommodate an extension station and voice store equipment, said PBX comprising a controller for performing termination processing concerning said voice store equipment on determining that a call destined for said voice store equipment is present, characterized in that said controller comprises:

message setting determination means for determining whether an absence message is set to a transfer-requested extension station in response to a transfer request from said voice store equipment after said voice store equipment answered said call;

message read means for fetching an absence message from a storage section in case it is determined that an absence message is set on said transfer setting determination means;

message notification means for communicating said absence message fetched from said storage section to said voice store equipment; and

message transmission means for connecting said voice store equipment and said outside line in order to transmit a voice message corresponding to said communicated absence message to said outside line.

22. A PBX which can accommodate an extension station and voice store equipment, said PBX comprising a controller for performing termination processing concerning said voice store equipment on determining that a call destined for said extension station is present, characterized in that said controller comprises:

transfer setting determination means for referencing a storage section to determined whether transfer to said voice store equipment is set to said destination extension station;

message setting determination means for determining whether an absence message is set to said destination extension station in case it is determined that said transfer is set on said transfer setting determination means;

message read means for fetching an absence message from a storage section on determining that an absence message is set on said message setting determination means;

message notification means for communicating said absence message fetched from said storage section to said voice store equipment; and

outside line connection means for connecting said voice store equipment and said outside line in order to transmit a voice message corresponding to said communicated absence message to said outside line.

23. A message processing method for a PBX which can accommodate an extension station and voice store equipment, characterized in that said method comprises:

a step of transmitting an incoming signal to said voice store equipment on determining that a call destined for said voice store equipment is present;

a step of connecting said voice store equipment and said call in response to a line connection request from said voice store equipment;

a step of determining whether a request for transfer to said extension station is made from said voice store equipment concerning said call;

a step of determining whether an absence message is set to said transfer-requested extension station in case it is determined that said transfer request is received in said transfer request determination step;

a step of fetching an absence message from a storage section in case it is determined that an absence message is set in said message setting determination step;

a step of communicating said absence message fetched from said storage section to said voice store equipment; and

a step of connecting said voice store equipment and an outside line in order to transmit a voice message corresponding to said communicated absence message to said outside line.

24. A message processing method for a PBX which can accommodate an extension station and voice store equipment, characterized in that said method comprises:

a step of referencing a storage section to determine whether transfer to said voice store equipment is set to said extension station on determining that a call destined for said extension station is present;

a step of referencing the storage section to determine whether an absence message is set to said destination extension station in case it is determined that said transfer is set;

a step of fetching an absence message from said storage section in case it is determined that said absence message is set;

a step of communicating said absence message fetched from said storage section to said voice store equipment; and

a step of connecting said voice store equipment and an outside line in order to transmit a voice message corresponding to said communicated absence message to said outside line.