AUTOMATIC REMOTE SERVICE MONITORING SYSTEM

• US 3,851,121 A
• Filed: 12/10/1973
• Issued: 11/26/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/1973
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Howard Arthur Marvin
• Original Assignee: Howard Arthur Marvin
• Inventors: Marvin, Howard Arthur
• Primary Examiner(s): Claffy, Kathleen H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Olms, Douglas W.
• Application Number:
  US05/423,282
• Time in Patent Office: 351 Days
• Field of Search: 179/175.2C,175.2R,1MN
• US Class Current: 379/85
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/22 Arrangements for supervision, monitoring or testing

Abstract

Rather than have a telephone central office supervisor monitor incoming telephone calls from customers to a remote division office, an automatic monitoring of such calls at the central office is effected by providing tape recorders. OFF and ON tone control signals are generated by an incoming call detector at a remote division office and transmitted to the central office for automatically actuating the tape recorders so that telephone calls between customers and service personnel at the remote office are automatically recorded at the central office for subsequent review.

Claims

1. A method of automatically monitoring at a central office, service calls between customers and a remote division office, comprising the steps of:

a. generating at the central office an enabling code and sending it over a telephone line from the central office to the division office;

b. intercepting and utilizing said enabling code at the division office to initiate operation of an incoming call detector;

c. generating ON and OFF tone control signals at the division office in said incoming call detector indicating initiation and termination respectively of telephone calls between customers and service personnel at the division office, and passing said telephone calls and said tone control signals back to said central office;

d. receiving said telephone calls and tone control signals at said central office; and

, e. initiating and terminating operation of a tape recorder in response to receiving said ON and OFF tone control signals respectively at said central office whereby said telephone calls between customers and said division office are automatically recorded for subsequent review at said central office.

2. The method of claim 1, including the step of providing a plurality of additional tape recorders at said central office whereby a like plurality of additional division offices may be simultaneously monitored by passing the enabling code over telephone lines connecting from the central office to the additional division offices.

3. An automatic remote service monitoring system comprising, in combination:

a. means at a central office for generating and transmitting an enabling code to a remote division office;

b. applique box means at said division office receiving said enabling code and converting it to an initiating signal;

c. incoming call detector means connected to said applique box means and responsive to said enabling code to detect and transmit back to said central office telephone calls between customers and service personnel at said division office whenever such calls take place, said incoming call detector means including means for generating ON and OFF tone control signals indicating initiation and termination respectively of said incoming call and transmitting said ON and OFF tone control signals to said central office;

d. receiver means at said central office including tone detector means for receiving said telephone calls and said ON and OFF tone control signals; and

, e. a tape recorder connected to said tone detector means and responsive to said ON and OFF tone control signals to start recording and stop recording respectively whereby said telephone calls are automatically recorded at saId central office.

4. A system according to claim 3, including a plurality of additional receiver means and tape recorders at said central office whereby a plurality of additional division offices equipped similarly to said first mentioned division office may be monitored on tape by transmission of enabling codes to said additional division offices.

5. A system according to claim 4, in which said receiver means at said central office includes a status light indicator and counter-associated with each of the division offices being monitored, and responsive to the monitoring of telephone calls at the respective division offices whereby there is provided a visual indication of any division office being monitored and a count of the total number of incoming telephone calls received at said office.