Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
2112951
TELEPHONE STATION APPARATUS AND METHOD OF PROVIDING
VOICE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A CALLING PARTY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a telephone apparatus, and in
particular, to a telephone station apparatus which is responsive to a
telephone call by providing a voice announcement.
10 BACKGROUND ART
Most telephone operating companies have been offering calling
line identification service in which the information of a calling party's
telephone number and/or name is sent from a local central office to the
called party's telephone station apparatus, if the called party is a subscriber
of that service. Early proposed versions of this service may be found in
U.S. patent numbers 3,727,003 and 3,812,296 to Paraskevakos, as well as in
U.S. patent number 3,787,626 to Subieta. ~ A more recent scheme for
providing this service is discussed in U.S. patent Re. 31,789 to Hashimoto.
20 In these patents, the directory number of a calling party is coded as digitalpulse trains and is transmitted from the originating central office to the
terminating office and sent to the called party's telephone station apparatus
either before an alerting signal such as ringing is sent or during the silent
interval between the first and second ringing signals. In these patents, the
25 called party's telephone station apparatus must be equipped with receiving
circuitry for decoding the digital pulse trains as well as a display device to
indicate the identity of the calling party. The called party is then placed in
the position of being given the opportunity to answer the call or ignore it.
Also, U.S. patent number 5,263,084 to Chaput et al discloses a
30 method and a telephone station apparatus of displaying an identification of
a third calling party.
However, such visible identification of the calling party's
telephone number or name is not advantageous for vision impaired
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people. Nor is visible identification convenient for identifying the calling
party, in a case where the called party is away from the telephone station
apparatus which displays a calling party's telephone number in an
on-hook condition.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a
telephone station apparatus or method which provides an audible
10 identification of a calling party.
- According to the most general aspect of the present invention, a
telephone station apparatus for connection to a switching facility,
comprises: means for receiving calling party information from the
switching facility; messAge construction means being responsive to
reception of the calling party information for constructing a voice message
signal related to the calling party information; and means for providing an
audible message from the voice message signal.
In an example, the message construction means comprises a
memory for storing a list of voice informations, which are associated with
20 digits include numbers 0 through 9. The voice information which
matches the calling party's telephone number is selected. A voice message
signal including a series of digital numbers corresponding to the calling
party's telephone number is constructed from the selected voice
information. As the calling party's telephone number is announced, the
25 called party may hear and be aware of who is calling.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a
telephone station apparatus which receives a calling party's name
information from a switching facility, comprises: response means
responsive to reception of the calling party's name information for
30 constructing a voice message signal including the calling party's name; and
means for providing an audible message from the voice message signal.
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In another example, the response means comprises a memory
for storing a list of voice information of subscriber names. The voice
information stored in the memory is pre-recorded voice message
information listing subscriber names, which were pre-recorded by the
telephone user through the microphone or handset transmitter of the
telephone station apparatus. When a telephone call is received, the
pre-recorded voice message information of a subscriber name is selected
from the memory, said pre-recorded voice message information matching
the calling party information received from the switching facility. The
o selected pre-recorded message information is used to construct an audible
voice message announcing the calling party's name, so that the called party
may hear who is calling.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a
telephone station apparatus for receiving a calling party's telephone
number from a switching facility while the telephone station apparatus is
in an on-hook condition, comprises: a memory for storing a list of
telephone numbers associated with subscriber names; telephone number
detection means for detecting the calling party's telephone number
received from the switching facility after a ring signal; telephone number
matching means for selecting a subscriber telephone number in the list
when said subscriber telephone number matches the detected calling
party's telephone number; voice message construction means for
constructing a voice message signal including information identifying the
calling party; forwarding means for forwarding the information identifying
the calling party from one of the memory and the switching facility to the
voice message construction means; and audible means for providing an
audible message from the voice message signal. With the voice message
announcing the calling party's telephone number or name, the called party
may hear who is calling.
Because the identification (the telephone number or name) of
the calling party is announced, a vision impaired person is easily informed
of the identity of the calling party. Furthermore, because the identification
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of the calling party is announced in an on-hook condition, the called party
is made aware of who is calling, before going off-hook.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method
of providing an audible message from a telephone station apparatus for
5 identifying a calling party, comprises the steps of: generating a voice
message signal identifying the calling party in response to calling party
information received from a switching facility; and providing an audible
message in response to the voice message signal. In one example, the step
of generating a voice message signal comprises translating the calling
o partrs information into a voice message signal.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a
method of providing an audible message from a telephone station
apparatus in an on-hook condition when the calling party information is
received from a switching facility, said audible message for identifying a
15 calling party, said telephone station apparatus having a data memory for a
telephone directory, said method comprises the steps of: registering the
information of at least one pair of a subscriber telephone number and a
subscriber name into the telephone directory of the data memory;
recording voice announcement message information in a voice recording
20 memory, said voice announcement message information relating to
subscriber names registered in the telephone directory; storing voice
information representative of digits O through 9 in a number recording
memory; detecting a ring signal received from the switching facility;
detecting the calling party information received from the switching facility;
25 searching the telephone directory in order to select the subscriber's
telephone number or name which matches the detected calling party
information; playing back a voice message signal of a name from the
recorded voice announcement message information in response to the
detected telephone number or name which matches the calling party
30 information; in an event wherein the calling party information does not
match any of the telephone number or name information registered in the
telephone directory of the data memory, constructing a voice message
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signal of a series of numbers from the number recording memory; and
providing an audible message in response to the played back or constructed
voice message signal, whereby the audible message identifies the calling
party.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by
way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a block diagram of an example telephone station
apparatus according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the
telephone station apparatus shown in Figure 1; and
Figure 3 is a block diagram of another example of a telephone
station apparatus according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLES
Referring to Figure 1, the telephone station apparatus is
20 connected to tip (T) and ring (R) leads of a telephone line which is
connected to a switching facility, for example a central office (not shown).
As is conventional, the telephone station apparatus has a line
protection circuit 10 connected to a hybrid circuit 12 via a hook switch 14.
The hybrid circuit 12 is connected to an audio circuit 16 via movable switch
2s contacts 18a and 18b which are operable to select a communication path or
a voice path. The audio circuit 16 is connected to a handset 20 having a
receiver 22 and a transmitter 24 and to a handsfree speaker 26 and a
handsfree microphone 28. When the hook switch 14 is closed, the
telephone station apparatus is in an off-hook condition. The
30 communication path is selected when both movable switch contacts 18a
and 18b contact stable switch contacts 30a and 30c, respectively. The voice
path is selected when the movable switch contacts 18a and 18b contact the
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stable switch contacts 30b and 30d, respectively. Hence, in the off-hook
condition, a user can communicate via the telephone line, by way of the
handset 20, or the handsfree speaker 26 and handsfree microphone 28.
The telephone station apparatus also has a ring detect circuit 32
5 which is responsive to a ringing signal on the telephone line, for
providing an alerting signal audible to the user as well as a signal to a main
controller 34, that a call has arrived. Incoming Frequency Shift Key (FSK)
data of ASCII code identifying a calling party is demodulated by an FSK
demodulator 36 and the demodulated signal is provided to the main
10 controller 34. An LCD display unit 38 displays the identification of the
calling party. A keypad 40 includes a dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF)
generator, for generating signalling which is sent to the telephone line via
the line protection circuit 10.
The telephone station apparatus has a data memory 42, a voice
15 memory 44 and a digital signal processor 46 which are connected to the
main controller 34 of a microprocessor. The data memory 42 is organized
to have a telephone directory 48 and an incoming data area 50. The digital
signal processor 46 is connected to a read only memory (ROM) 52 and a
memory 54. The data memory 42, the voice memory 44 and the memory
20 54 are provided by nonvolatile memory such as a backed-up random access
memory (RAM) or a flash memory.
The user can enter a plurality of telephone numbers and
associated names into the telephone directory 48, under conditions of
selection of the voice path, which occurs under control by the main
25 controller 34. The user pushes the keys (not shown) of the keypad 40 to
enter a telephone/name pair and pushes a SAVE key (not shown). The
entered telephone number/name pair (e.g., 111-111-1111: Kurdziel,
Ryszard) is stored in the telephone directory 48 by the main controller 34.
The user speaks the name (e.g., Kurdziel, Ryszard) into the handsfree
30 microphone 28. The voice utterances of the name voice message are
recorded into the voice memory 44 through the audio circuit 16 and the
digital signal processor 46. In the same manner, other telephone
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number/name pairs are entered into the telephone directory 48 and other
voice announcements of the corresponding names are recorded in the
voice memory 44. While entries of the telephone number/name pairs, the
main controller 34 sorts them in the alphabetical order of the name and
stores them in the telephone directory 48. The voice announcements are
recorded at sequential addresses in the order of name entry. A pointer
number is assigned to each telephone number/name pair stored in the
telephone directory 48. The assigned pointer number is fed to the digital
signal processor 46 by the main controller 34. The address where the
corresponding voice announcement is recorded is also fed to the digital
signal processor 46. The digital signal processor 46 constructs a table in the
memory 54 containing the pointer numbers and the corresponding
addresses.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2, when the hook switch 14 is open
(i.e., on-hook condition), the main controller 34 makes-the movable switch
contacts 18a and 18b contact the stable switch contacts 30b and 30d,
respectively. Hence, the receive terminal Rx of the audio circuit 16 is
connected to the digital signal processor 46. The main controller 34 also
makes the handsfree speaker 26 active.
When the user is called, the ring detect circuit 32 detects a ring
signal (step 61). Upon completion of a predetermined number of ring
cycles (usually only one), the FSK demodulator 36 receives incoming FSK
data of 1200 baud ASCII code containing a telephone number and/or a
name identifying the calling party (step 62). The FSK demodulator 36
decodes the ASCII code of the incoming FSK data and the decoded ASCII
data is stored in the incoming data area 50 by the main controller 34. In a
case where the stored data includes the decoded telephone number (e.g.,
111-111-1111) (i.e., YES in step 63), the main controller 34 compares the
decoded telephone number to the telephone numbers previously entered
into the telephone directory 48 (step 64). If the decoded telephone number
matches one of the entered telephone numbers (i.e., YES in step 64), the
main controller 34 makes a linkage between the data memory 42 and the
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digital signal processor 46 (step 65). The pointer number (e.g., 3) associated
with the matched telephone number is fed to the digital signal processor 46
by the main controller 34. The digital signal processor 46 picks up the
address (e.g., 012) which corresponds to the pointer number, from the table
5 of the memory 54. In response to the picked up address, the digital signal
processor 46 reads the voice announcement recorded at that address (e.g.,
012) of the voice memory 44. The digital signal processor 46 constructs a
voice message signal in response to the voice announcement (step 66).
The constructed voice message signal is supplied from the digital signal
10 processor 46 to the audio circuit 16. The audio signal volume of the voice
message is adjusted by the audio circuit 16. The voice message signal is fed
to the handsfree speaker 26 so that a voice message of the name (e.g.,
"RYSZARD KURDZIEL") is announced (step 67), and the called party may
know the identity of the calling party. The name (e.g., KURDZIEL,
15 Ryszard) associated with the matched telephone number is also fed to the
display unit 38 by the main controller 34. The display unit 38 displays the
name of the calling party.
If the decoded telephone number does not match any of the
previously entered telephone numbers (i.e., NO in step 64), the main
20 controller 34 feeds the decoded telephone number to the display unit 38
and the digital signal processor 46. The display unit 38 displays the calling
party's telephone number only (e.g., "123-456-7890"). At the same time, the
digital signal processor 46 selects the respective number voice
announcement from the ROM 52 in response to each digit of the telephone
25 number. The digital signal processor 46 constructs a voice message signal
which includes a series of all digits of the decoded telephone number (e.g.,
"one two three four five six seven eight nine zero) (step 68). The
constructed voice message signal is fed to the audio circuit 16 from the
digital signal processor 46. The handsfree speaker 26 announces a voice
30 message of the telephone number "123-456-7890" (step 69). At the same
time, the digital signal processor 46 picks up a voice announcement of
"unknown number" from the ROM 52 and constructs a voice
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g
announcement signal accordingly. That message is also announced by the
handsfree speaker 26. The called party may know that somebody whose
telephone number and name are not entered into the telephone directory
48 is calling and decide whether or not to respond to the call.
In a case where the incoming data includes only the name
identifying the calling party (i.e., NO in step 63), the main controller 34
reads the decoded name of the data stored in the incoming data area 50 and
compares the decoded name to the names previously entered into the
telephone directory 48 (step 70). In a case where the decoded name matches
one of the entered names (i.e., YES in step 70), the main controller 34
makes a linkage between the data memory 42 and the digital signal
processor 46 (step 71). The matched name and the pointer information
associated with the matched name are provided from the data memory 42
to the main controller 34. The matched name is further sent to the display
unit 38 to be displayed. At the same time, the main controller 34 forwards
the pointer number to the digital signal processor 46 which in turn picks
up from the table of the memory 54 the address in response to the pointer
number. The digital signal processor 46 reads the voice announcement of
name recorded at the address of the voice memory 44. The digital signal
processor 46 constructs a voice message signal in response to the voice
announcement of name (step 72). The constructed voice message signal is
supplied from the digital signal processor 46 to the audio circuit 16. The
voice message signal is fed to the handsfree speaker 26 which announces
an voice message of the name (step 67).
If the decoded name does not match any of the names entered
into the telephone directory 48 (i.e., NO in step 70), the main controller 34
forwards the decoded name to the display unit 38. The calling party's name
is displayed and the telephone station apparatus rings (step 73). The digital
signal processor 46 picks up a voice announcement of "unknown number"
from the ROM 52. That message is announced by the handsfree speaker 26
and the called party is made aware that the name of the calling party is not
;~112951
present in the telephone directory 48. In this event, neither name nor
telephone number is announced by the handsfree speaker 26.
When the called party picks up the handset 20 or pushes a
HANDSFREE key (not shown), the hook switch 14 closes and the off-hook
5 condition is detected by the main controller 34 (i.e., YES in step 74). The
main controller 34 makes the movable switch contacts 18a and 18b contact
the stable switch contacts 30a and 30c, respectively, to establish the
communication path between the called party and the calling party (step
75).
The voice message of name or telephone number is repeatedly
announced from the handsfree speaker 26 (step 67 or 69) or the ringing
continues (step 73) until the called party goes off-hook. When the calling
party goes on-hook before the called party goes off-hook, the main
controller 34 of the called party's telephone station apparatus detects the
absence of the ringing signal. The main controller 34 makes the digital
signal processor 46 cease supplying the voice message signal.
The digital signal processor 46 may construct a "long distance"
announcement in an event wherein the FSK data indicates a telephone
number in excess of seven digits.
As described above, the telephone station apparatus provides a
voice announcement identifying the name or telephone number of the
calling party (step 67 or 69) and therefore, vision impaired people can know
the identify of the calling party before going off-hook. Also, the called party
who is away from the telephone station apparatus is made aware of the
identify of the calling party.
The telephone station apparatus shown in Figure 3 is different
from that shown in Figure 1 in that it has a speech synthesizer 80, instead
of the voice memory 44, the digital signal processor 46, the ROM 52 and the
memory 54. The telephone station apparatus includes a data memory 82
having a telephone directory 84 and an incoming data area 86, somewhat
similar to the data memory 42 in Figure 1.
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- 11
In a manner somewhat similar to that described above, in the
telephone station apparatus shown in Figure 3, a plurality of telephone
number/name pairs are stored into the telephone directory 84. However,
the telephone directory 84 has no pointer number. When the user is called
5 in an on-hook condition, the ring detect circuit 32 detects the ring signal.
The FSK demodulator 36 decodes incoming FSK data which contains the
telephone number and/or name identifying the calling party. The decoded
ASCII data is stored in the incoming data area 86.
The main controller 34 retrieves the ASCII data of the calling
o party's telephone number from the incoming data area 86 and compares it
to the telephone numbers previously entered into the telephone directory
84. If the retrieved telephone number matches one of the telephone
numbers in the telephone directory 84, the name associated with the
matched telephone number is read from the telephone directory 84 by the
15 main controller 34. The read name is a series of ASCII characters. The
name is sent to the display unit 38 which in turn displays the name. At the
same time, the main controller 34 forwards the read name to the speech
synthesizer 80 which translates the read name into a voice announcement
signal. The handsfree speaker 26 announces a voice message (e.g.,
20 "RYSZARD KURDZIEL").
If the decoded telephone number is not the same as any of the
telephone numbers in the telephone directory 84, the main controller 34
forwards the decoded telephone number (ASCII characters) to the display
unit 38 and to the speech synthesizer 80. The display unit 38 displays the
25 calling party's telephone number only. At the same time, the speech
synthesizer 80 translates the decoded telephone number into a voice
announcement signal.
If the incoming FSK data signal contains the name of the calling
party, the name data (ASCII characters) may be directly forwarded to the
3 o speech synthesizer 80 by the main controller 34. The speech synthesizer 80
translates the name data into a voice announcement signal and the
handsfree speaker 26 provides a voice announcement.
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12
Although the above examples of the telephone station
apparatus are based on operation in the on-hook condition, the present
invention may be applied to a calling party announcement in the off-hook
condition, or for example when call waiting with calling party
5 identification is provided by the switching facility.
