Apparatus for producing operational manual

• US 5,613,150 A
• Filed: 11/27/1995
• Issued: 03/18/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Yamada, Toshiaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Teska, Kevin J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MOHAMED, AYNI Y
• Application Number:
  US08/562,715
• Time in Patent Office: 477 Days
• Field of Search: 395/200, 395/155, 395/159, 395/325, 395/500
• US Class Current: 715/712
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/253 Telephone sets using digital voice transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/56 including a user help function
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0471 Terminal access circuits

Abstract

An apparatus for producing an operational manual of an integraged services digital network (ISDN) terminal and supplying the same to an operator of the ISDN terminal. The operational manual teaching how to operate a minimum procedure to obtain one of functions. Each of the functions includes the plurality of minimum procedures which can no longer be segmented. The ISDN terminal and the apparatus are coupled to the ISDN terminal via the ISDN. The operator of the ISDN terminal requires the operational manual by means of a predetermined called party subaddress or a dial-in which are defined by CCITT. Since the apparatus produces the operational manual by properly combining the minimum procedures, the operational manual can satisfy the various levels of skills of the operator.

Claims

1. An apparatus for producing an operational manual of an integrated services digital network (ISDN) terminal and for supplying the operational manual to an operator of the ISDN terminal, said apparatus comprising:

a) communication means for controlling communications between said apparatus and the ISDN terminal by means of predetermined protocol information transmitted between the ISDN terminal and said apparatus, the ISDN terminal and the apparatus being coupled via the ISDN;

b) first memory means for storing a help information item for each minimum procedure of minimum procedures which can no longer be segmented, each help information item indicating how to operate a corresponding minimum procedure;

c) second memory means for storing operations which are input to the ISDN terminal by the operator;

d) detecting means, coupled to said second memory means, for performing an analysis of the operations stored in the second memory means and for detecting a predetermined function desired by the operator based on said analysis of the operations; and

e) means, coupled to said first memory means and to said detecting means, for producing the operational manual by;

i) determining a plurality of minimum procedures based on the predetermined function detected by said detecting means,

ii) determining help information items in the first memory means corresponding to said plurality of minimum procedures, and

iii) reading out addresses of said help information items in said first memory means corresponding to said plurality of minimum procedures, wherein said communications means supplies the operational manual, including said help information items in said first memory means corresponding to said plurality of minimum procedures, to the operator of the ISDN terminal;

wherein said apparatus and the ISDN terminal are each connected to a data channel (B-channel) and a signal channel (D-channel), said communication means comprises a D-channel control means for controlling the connection between the ISDN terminal and said apparatus by means of predetermined protocol information transmitted through the D-channel, the predetermined protocol information including identification information of said apparatus and the ISDN terminal, and the operational manual is supplied to the operator of the ISDN terminal if said communication means receives predetermined identification information from the ISDN terminal.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the identification information comprises the items of a calling party number, a called party number, a calling party subaddress and a called party subaddress.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the identification information comprises the items of a dial-in calling party number and a called party number.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detecting means automatically performs an analysis of the operations stored in the second memory means.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the detecting means automatically determines a predetermined function desired by the operator based on said analysis of the operations stored in the second memory means.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said help information items in said first memory means corresponding to said plurality of minimum procedures comprise a set of help information items in said first memory means and wherein said set of said help information items in said first memory means are combined to produce the operational manual.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said operational manual is composed of an optimal one of various combinations of said help information items corresponding to said plurality of minimum procedures in said set of help information items which is appropriate for guiding the operator in the function detected by said detecting means based on said analysis of the operations so that the number of minimum procedures in the operation manual can be set to the minimum number possible.

8. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for producing the operational manual comprises an edit controller and a buffer memory and wherein said edit controller produces said operational manual by storing a code of each minimum procedure of said plurality of minimum procedures and said help information items in said first memory means corresponding to said plurality of minimum procedures in said buffer memory.

9. A method of producing an operational manual supplied to the user of a communications terminal, said method comprising the steps of:

storing, in a memory, help information items for each minimum procedure of said communications terminal which can no longer be segmented, each help information item indicating how to execute a corresponding minimum procedure;

detecting inputs of said user;

analyzing said user inputs to determine a predetermined function desired by the user;

determining a plurality of minimum procedures based on the predetermined function;

determining help information items in the memory corresponding to said plurality of minimum procedures; and

reading out addresses of said help information items in said memory corresponding to said plurality of minimum procedures;

wherein the communications terminal comprises an ISDN terminal, the operational manual is produced separately from the ISDN terminal and supplied to the ISDN terminal, in response to predetermined identification information received from the ISDN terminal, by means of predetermined protocol information transmitted through the D-channel of the ISDN, the predetermined protocol information including identification information of said ISDN terminal.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the step of analyzing said user inputs to determine a predetermined function desired by the user is performed automatically.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the step of determining a plurality of minimum procedures based on the predetermined function is performed automatically.

12. A method according to claim 9, wherein said help information items corresponding to said plurality of minimum procedures comprise a set of help information items and wherein said method comprises the further step of combining said set of help information of items to produce the operational manual.