Answering system

• US 6,339,637 B1
• Filed: 02/12/1998
• Issued: 01/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Toshimoto, Michitaka
• Primary Examiner(s): WEAVER, SCOTT LOUIS
• Application Number:
  US09/022,627
• Time in Patent Office: 1,433 Days
• Field of Search: 379/67.1, 379/69, 379/88.12, 379/88.19, 379/88.22, 379/88.23, 379/88.24, 379/90.01, 379/201.01, 455/412, 455/413
• US Class Current: 379/88.22
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6505 storing speech in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/652 Means for playing back the recorded messages by remote control over a telephone line H04M1/658 takes precedence

Abstract

An answering system of the present invention, connected to a public line or a private line, is capable of recording and reproducing audio and/or visual data, and is adopted, for example, in a telephone and a mobile communication terminal. The present answering system includes confirming units for confirming whether a message sent to a receiver by the unspecified caller with an arbitrary ID has been processed by the receiver, when the unspecified caller accesses again with the arbitrary ID.

Claims

1. An answering system for recording and reproducing audio or visual data transmitted from an unspecified caller through a line or other transmitting paths, comprising:

confirming means responsive to a call from the unspecified caller directly to an intended recipient of the transmitted audio or visual data for enabling the unspecified caller to confirm, using an arbitrary identification code, whether the transmitted audio or visual data have been processed by the intended recipient; and

answering-back means for contacting, if the transmitted audio or visual data have been processed by the intended recipient, an address specified beforehand by the unspecified caller so as to inform the unspecified caller that the transmitted audio or visual data have been processed by the intended recipient.

2. An answering system for recording and reproducing audio or visual data transmitted from an unspecified caller through a line or other transmitting paths, comprising:

confirming means responsive to a call from the unspecified caller directly to an intended recipient of the transmitted audio or visual data for enabling the unspecified caller to confirm, using an arbitrary identification code, whether the transmitted audio or visual data have been processed by the intended recipient; and

answering-back means for contacting, if the transmitted audio or visual data have not been processed by the intended recipient in a predetermined period of time or in a certain period of time as specified beforehand by the unspecified caller, an address specified beforehand by the unspecified caller so as to inform the unspecified caller that the transmitted audio or visual data have not been processed by the intended recipient.

3. An answering system for recording and reproducing audio or visual data transmitted from an unspecified caller through a line or other transmitting paths, comprising:

confirming means responsive to a call from the unspecified caller directly to an intended recipient of the transmitted audio or visual data for enabling the unspecified caller to confirm, using an arbitrary identification code, whether the transmitted audio or visual data have been processed by the intended recipient, wherein said confirming means sends, if a response message to the transmitted audio or visual data is provided, the response message to the unspecified caller when the unspecified caller confirms, using the identification code, whether or not the audio or visual data have been processed by the intended recipient.

4. An answering system having an answering mode for answering otherwise unanswered telephone calls placed directly to a called party, the answering system comprising:

a message playback and recording unit which plays a pre-recorded message in response to a first otherwise unanswered telephone call from a calling party directly to the called party and which records a calling party message which is responsive to the pre-recorded message;

a message memory which stores the recorded calling party message;

an ID memory which stores an ID associated with the recorded calling party message; and

a processing unit responsive to a second otherwise unanswered telephone call from the calling party directly to the called party which enables the calling party to determine, using the ID associated with the recorded calling party message, whether the recorded calling party message has been processed by the called party,

wherein the calling party message comprises visual data.

5. An answering system having an answering mode for answering otherwise unanswered telephone calls placed directly to a called party, the answering system comprising:

a message playback and recording unit which plays a pre-recorded message in response to a first otherwise unanswered telephone call from a calling party directly to the called party and which records a calling party message which is responsive to the pre-recorded message;

a message memory which stores the recorded calling party message;

an ID memory which stores an ID associated with the recorded calling party message; and

a processing unit responsive to a second otherwise unanswered telephone call from the calling party directly to the called party which enables the calling party to determine, using the ID associated with the recorded calling party message, whether the recorded calling party message has been processed by the called party,

wherein the calling party message comprises both audio and visual data.

6. An answering system having an answering mode for answering otherwise unanswered telephone calls placed directly to a called party, the answering system comprising:

a message playback and recording unit which plays a prerecorded message in response to a first otherwise unanswered telephone call from a calling party directly to the called party and which records a calling party message which is responsive to the prerecorded message;

a message memory which stores the recorded calling party message;

an ID memory which stores an ID associated with the recorded calling party message; and

a processing unit responsive to a second otherwise unanswered telephone call from the calling party directly to the called party which enables the calling party to determine, using the ID associated with the recorded calling party message, whether the recorded calling party message has been processed by the called party,

wherein the message memory further stores a calling party telephone number associated with the recorded calling party message.

7. The answering system as set forth in claim 6, wherein the processing unit automatically calls the calling party using the calling party telephone number to notify the calling party that the recorded calling party message has not been processed by the answering system within a specified period of time.

8. The answering system as set forth in claim 7, wherein the specified period of time is a calling-party-specified period of time.

9. An answering system having an answering mode for answering otherwise unanswered telephone calls placed directly to a called party, the answering system comprising:

a message playback and recording unit which plays a pre-recorded message in response to a first otherwise unanswered telephone call from a calling party directly to the called party and which records a calling party message which is responsive to the pre-recorded message;

a message memory which stores the recorded calling party message;

an ID memory which stores an ID associated with the recorded calling party message; and

a processing unit responsive to a second otherwise unanswered telephone call from the calling party directly to the called party which enables the calling party to determine, using the ID associated with the recorded calling party message, whether the recorded calling party message has been processed by the called party,

wherein the ID associated with the recorded calling party message is a group ID entered by the calling party and registered in advance by the called party.

10. An answering system having an answering mode for answering otherwise unanswered telephone calls placed directly to a called party, the answering system comprising:

a message playback and recording unit which plays a pre-recorded message in response to a first otherwise unanswered telephone call from a calling party directly to the called party and which records a calling party message which is responsive to the pre-recorded message;

a message memory which stores the recorded calling party message;

an ID memory which stores an ID associated with the recorded calling party message; and

a processing unit responsive to a second otherwise unanswered telephone call from the calling party directly to the called party which enables the calling party to determine, using the ID associated with the recorded calling party message, whether the recorded calling party message has been processed by the called party,

wherein the answering system is provided in a telephone.

11. An answering system having an answering mode for answering otherwise unanswered telephone calls placed directly to a called party, the answering system comprising:

a message playback and recording unit which plays a pre-recorded message in response to a first otherwise unanswered telephone call from a calling party directly to the called party and which records a calling party message which is responsive to the pre-recorded message;

a message memory which stores the recorded calling party message;

an ID memory which stores an ID associated with the recorded calling party message; and

a processing unit responsive to a second otherwise unanswered telephone call from the calling party directly to the called party which enables the calling party to determine, using the ID associated with the recorded calling party message, whether the recorded calling party message has been processed by the called party,

wherein the answering system is provided in a mobile telecommunication terminal.