Intercom system

• US 7,567,659 B2
• Filed: 08/10/2005
• Issued: 07/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Kumagai, Atsushi
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, QUOC DUC
• Application Number:
  US11/200,023
• Publication Number:
  US 20060035635A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,448 Days
• Field of Search: 379/15, 379/157, 379/159, 379/164, 379/165, 379/167.01, 379/167.04, 379/167.05, 379/167.11, 379/167.14, 379/170, 379/171, 379/174, 379/37, 379/38, 379/39, 379/40, 379/41, 379/42, 379/46, 379/51, 455/404.1, 340/500, 340/502, 340/504, 3405391-53915
• US Class Current: 379/159
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0291 Door telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2749 Automatic dialling or redialling systems, e.g. on off-hook or redial on busy
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72424 with manual activation of emergency-service functions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72513 On hold, intercom or transfer communication modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/025 Door telephones adapted for television H04N7/186
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

An intercom system is provided which is capable of allowing an emergency notification to be received securely and properly by a contact person, so that upon reception of a call from an emergency-call mobile phone, the call is automatically forwarded to previously determined contacts and transmission/notification processes are performed on the contacts in response to how the contacts respond to the call.

Claims

1. An intercom system comprising:

at least a master unit and an emergency-call mobile phone, the master unit capable of communication with an external terminal device inside a residence via a communication line, the emergency-call mobile phone operable to wirelessly communicate with said master unit and allow a user to use a call button to make a call to said master unit or to an external terminal device through said master unit, the emergency-call mobile phone configured not to be able to respond to a call from said master unit, said master unit including;

notification control means for, when the emergency-call mobile phone makes a call, performing a transmission process so that the call is transmitted over said communication line to a plurality of previously determined contacts and performing a notification process in response to how the contact responds to the call;

answer signal detection means for, after response from said contact, determining whether or not a response from the contact is an answering machine message based on voice information provided by the contact;

storage means for storing contact priority order information indicative of the order of transmissions from said notification control means, notification information indicative of how a notification has been sent to the contact by said notification control means, information indicative of the number of notifications sent by said notification control means, and auto-answer information indicative of contents of an answering machine message, all of the information corresponding to each of said plurality of contacts;

wherein said answer signal detection means determines whether or not a response from the contact is an answering machine message by matching the auto-answer information stored in said storage means and corresponding to each of the contacts and voice information sent as the response from the contact against each other,

wherein said notification control means operable to;

send the call to said plurality of contacts based on said contact priority order information so that the notification should take place in priority order;

play back an emergency message after completion of the answering machine message in the event said contact responds to the call and said answer signal detection means determines the response from the contact is the answering machine message, and after playing back the emergency message, establish speech communication between said emergency-call mobile phone and said contact;

immediately play the emergency message while setting an notification indicator flag in a corresponding box in a notification information column, the box associated with said contact, in the event said answer signal detection means determines the response is not the answering machine message, and after playing back the emergency message, establish speech communication between said emergency-call mobile phone and said contact;

disconnect the speech communication in the event said contact does not respond for a predetermined time period; and

repeat the transmission and notification processes for all of the contacts whose notification indicator flags are not set until the notification indicator flags associated with all of the contacts are set or the number of transmission and notification processes performed reaches a predetermined number of times.

2. An intercom system comprising:

at least a master unit inside a residence, a first slave unit inside a residence, and a second slave unit, the master unit capable of communication with an external terminal device via a communication line, the first slave unit capable of wired or wireless communication with said master unit, the second slave unit capable of wireless communication with said master unit, said master unit including;

notification control means for, when said second slave unit makes a call, performing a transmission process so that the call is transmitted over said communication line to previously determined contacts and performing a notification process in response to how said contact responds to the call;

answer signal detection means for, after response from said contact, determining whether or not a response from the contact is an answering machine message based on voice information provided by the contact; and

storage means capable of at least storing notification information indicating whether or not a notification has been successfully sent to the contact by said notification control means, the notification information associated with said contact;

wherein said notification control means operable to;

play back an emergency message after completion of the answering machine message in the event said contact responds to the call and said answer signal detection means determines the response from the contact is the answering machine message, and immediately play back the emergency message while setting an notification indicator flag in a corresponding box in a notification information column, the box associated with said contact, in the event said answer signal detection means determines the response is not the answering machine message;

disconnect communication with the contact in the event said contact does not respond for a predetermined time period; and

repeat the transmission and notification processes for all of the contacts whose notification indicator flags are not set until the notification indicator flags associated with all of the contacts are set.

3. The intercom system according to claim 2, wherein said notification control means establishes speech communication between said slave unit and said contact after playing back the emergency message in the event said contact responds to the call.

4. The intercom system according to claim 2, wherein said storage means previously stores auto-answer information indicative of the contents of an answering machine message corresponding to said previously determined contact and wherein said answer signal detection means matches the auto-answer information related to each of the contacts and stored in said storage means, and the voice information provided by the contact and contained in the response from the contact against each other, in order to determine whether or not the response is an answering machine message.

5. The intercom system according to claim 2, wherein said storage means previously stores contact priority order information indicative of the order of transmissions from the notification control means to said plurality of previously determined contacts, and wherein said notification control means sends a notification based on said contact priority order information so that the notification should take place in priority order.

6. The intercom system according to claim 2, wherein said storage means stores the number of transmissions from said notification control means to said plurality of previously determined contacts, and wherein in the event the number of transmissions reaches a predetermined number of times, said notification control means terminates the transmission and notification processes even when the notification indicator flag is not set in the corresponding box in said notification information column.

7. The intercom system according to claim 2, wherein said second slave unit is operable to allow a user to use a call button to make a call to said master unit or to an external terminal device through said master unit and is an emergency-call mobile phone configured not to be able to respond to a call from said master unit.