Programmable telephone switcher
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A programmable telephone interface apparatus for coupling a plurality of telephone devices to a telephone utility network, comprising:
- programmable switching means, having a plurality of ports, each port being adapted to support bidirectional telephonic communication, including at least one trunk line port adapted for connection to said telephone utility network and at least two device ports each adapted for connection to a telephone device;
said switching means providing a stored configuration of access codes representing predefined connections between selected ones of said ports; and
input means responsive to signals entered through a telephone device communicating thorugh one of said ports for changing said stored configuration;
wherein said switching means is responsive to access code signals originating from said telephone utility network for selectively connecting said trunk line port to a selected one of said device ports.
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Abstract
The programmable telephone screening device routes an incoming call to a selected telephone device, depending on preestablished device priorities and upon access codes dialed by the caller. The device provides call hold, call forwarding and automatic dialing and is capable of testing the telephone utility network to determine DTMF and pulse dialing compatability. The device generates ringer signals for directly energizing the ringer circuits of standard telephone devices.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A programmable telephone interface apparatus for coupling a plurality of telephone devices to a telephone utility network, comprising:
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programmable switching means, having a plurality of ports, each port being adapted to support bidirectional telephonic communication, including at least one trunk line port adapted for connection to said telephone utility network and at least two device ports each adapted for connection to a telephone device; said switching means providing a stored configuration of access codes representing predefined connections between selected ones of said ports; and input means responsive to signals entered through a telephone device communicating thorugh one of said ports for changing said stored configuration; wherein said switching means is responsive to access code signals originating from said telephone utility network for selectively connecting said trunk line port to a selected one of said device ports. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A telephone call screening apparatus for coupling to a plurality of telephone devices and to a telephone utility network, comprising:
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a means for storing a list comprising a plurality of access codes; a trunk line port for coupling to said telephone utility network; first and second telephone device ports for coupling to said plurality of telephone devices; means for receiving an access code through said trunk line port and for comparing said received access code with said list; and switching means responsive to said access code receiving and comparing means for establishing signal communication between said trunk line port and a selected ones of said device ports in accordance with the results of said comparison. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A telephone call screening apparatus for coupling to a plurality of telephone devices and to a telephone utility network, comprising:
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a means for storing a list comprising at least one access code; a trunk line port for coupling to said telephone utility network; first and second telephone device ports for coupling to said plurality of telephone devices; means for receiving an access code through one of said ports and for comparing said receiving access code with said list; switching means responsive to said access code receiving and comparing means for establishing signal communication between selected ones of said ports in accordance with the results of said comparison; and means for testing the DTMF dialing compatibility of said telephone netowrk and means for selectively generating either DTMF telephone dialing signals or pulsed telephone dialing signals in response to said compatibility testing means.
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33. A telephone call screening apparatus for coupling to a plurality of telephone devices and to a telephone utility network, comprising:
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a means for storing a list comprising at least one access code; a trunk line port for coupling to said telephone utility network; first and second telephone device ports for coupling to said plurality of telephone devices; means for receiving an access code through one of said ports and for comparing said received access code with said list; switching means responsive to said access code receiving and comparing means for establishing signal communication between selected ones of said ports in accordance with the results of said comparison; and means coupled to said trunk line port for detecting speech path switching dropout and means responsive to said dropout detection means for switching at least one of said telephone device ports between a voice supporting mode and ringer supporting mode.
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Specification