Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CENTRALIZED VOICE MAIL SYSTEM
Technical Field
The invention pertains to a telephone exchange system
with a voice storage device as well as a method for storing
voice messages in such an exchange system, with the voice
storage device being able to store voice messages that arrive
from a calling subscriber and are intended for the called
subscriber as well as transmitting said voice messages after
being prompted to do so by the called subscriber.
Backqround of the Invention
Telephone exchange systems with voice storage devices are
already known and are mostly designated as voice mail devices.
Devices of this type are, for example, described in detail in
European Patent No. 0,087,849 and European Patent No.
0,336,524. One method and an arrangement for storing
telephone messages in a private branch exchange are also known
from European Patent No. 0,304,653.
Disclosure of Invention
Known devices of this type are associated with the
disadvantage that the stored voice messages can be retrieved
only in the sequence in which they were stored. Consequently,
it is, for example, impossible to prioritize the messages.
The present invention is based on the objective of
eliminating this disadvantage and, in particular, disclosing a
method that makes it possible to retrieve the stored messages
in an arbitrary sequence.
According to the invention, this objective is attained by
the fact that a storage space is assigned to each called
subscriber that is rerouted to the voice storage device, with
said storage space listing the identification characteristics,
e.g., the subscriber number or the names of those calling
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subscribers that have recorded a voice message for the called
subscriber in the voice storage device, that the control
device contains means that, upon being prompted to do so by
the called subscriber, transmit the contents of the storage
space to the subscriber station of the called subscriber and
display the contents on a display at said location, and that
the control device contains additional means that, after being
prompted to do so by the called subscriber, e.g., by actuating
a key provided for this purpose, transmit the voice message
selected by the called subscriber from the voice message
device to the called subscriber.
In addition to the already known procedure steps in which
the control device, i.e., the telephone exchange system,
connects the calling subscriber with the voice message device
and in which the voice messages that are received from the
calling subscriber and are intended for the called subscriber
are stored in the voice storage device and, after being
prompted to do so by the called subscriber, transmitted to the
called subscriber, the method according to the invention also
comprises the following additional procedure steps:
- Storing the identification characteristics of those
calling subscribers that have recorded messages for the called
subscriber in the voice storage device in a caller table that
is assigned to the called subscriber,
- Transmitting this caller table to the subscriber
station of the called subscriber after being prompted to do so
and displaying said caller table on the called subscriber's
display,
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- Transmitting the stored voice messages from the voice
storage device to the called subscriber in the requested
sequence, and
- Deleting the identification characteristics of that
calling subscriber, whose voice message has already been
transmitted to the called subscriber.
The advantage of such a method or such a device can be
seen in the fact that, due to the freely selectable retrieval
of the voice messages, voice messages with higher priority can
be retrieved first.
According to one additional-development of the invention,
the number of identification characteristics listed in each
storage space is also indicated in said storage space. This
makes it possible to provide the called subscriber with an
initial orientation about the number of stored voice messages.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become more apparent in light of the
detailed description of a best mode embodiment thereof, as
illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Brief Description of the Drawinq
Fig. 1 shows the principle of a known tributary station
in which the device according to the invention is installed.
Fig. 2 shows one example of a caller table according to
the invention.
Best Mode for carrYinq Out the Invention
According to Fig. 1, subscriber telephones are connected
to the telephone exchange 1 via the gates a...z. In this
example, the gates a...w are provided for the connection of
telephones 2, 3, with a voice mail device 7 being connected to
the gates, x, y and z. Consequently, the voice mail device is
able to record three messages simultaneously.
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The telephone exchange system 1 contains a coupling field
4 by means of which the telephones 2, 3 and the device 7 are
connected with one another in conventional fashion and is
controlled by a control device 5. The control device 5
contains a memory 6, according to the invention, in which a
caller table as described below in connection with Fig. 2 is
stored for each subscriber that can be connected to the voice
mail device 7.
The control device 5 contains, in addition, a device 10
which upon request of subscriber station 3, sends the contents
of storage space 6 to subscriber station 3 and displays them
there on display 8.
The control device 5 additionally contains a selection
program 9 that selects the desired voice message in the voice
mail device 7 in accordance with the instructions of the
calling subscriber 3, e.g., by actuating a corresponding
selection key, and causes the transmission to the subscriber
telephone 3.
In our example, the subscriber 2 calls the subscriber 3
who currently is not available and has rerouted his connection
to the voice mail device 7. This rerouting, which is carried
out in customary fashion via the control device 5, can also
take place automatically after expiration of a predetermined
calling time. Once the call by the subscriber 2 has been
rerouted to the voice mail device 7, the typical exchange of
information for a voice mail device takes place. The voice
mail device introduces itself to the subscriber 2 with the aid
of a stored text and prompts the calling subscriber to record
his message for the subscriber 3. This process is usually
completed when the subscriber 2 hangs up or when a
predetermined recording time has expired. After this process
is completed, the corresponding gate of the voice mail device
is available for the next recording.
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If a message for the subscriber 3 has been recorded in
the voice mail device, a signaling device, e.g., a light-
emitting diode or a corresponding indication on the display 8,
is activated on the telephone of the subscriber 3, with said
signal indicating to the subscriber that one or more messages
are recorded in the voice mail device once the subscriber
returns.
The quantity and the call numbers of the subscribers that
have recorded a message for the called subscriber 3 in the
voice mail device 7 are stored in the memory 6, namely in the
form of a caller table as it is illustrated in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 also shows that the memory 6 according to Fig. 1
contains a Caller Table A, B, C, D for each subscriber that
was rerouted to the voice mail device, with the call number of
each subscriber that has recorded a message being stored in
said caller tables. If the telephone exchange system has also
stored the names of all connected subscribers, the names of
the subscribers can be listed in the caller table after
carrying out a simple and generally known conversion process.
In the example shown, the Caller Table A contains three names
N1, N2, N3, Table B contains two names N4, N2, Table C
contains three names N1, N5, N6, and Table D contains one name
N2. '
Once the subscriber 3 is ready to receive calls and wants
to retrieve his voice mail, he can retrieve the caller table
established for him by activating a predetermined key on his
telephone or other device, i.e., the number of entries -in the
table as well as a list of the corresponding names is
indicated on the display 8. This can be done by a means 10
that, upon being prompted to do so by the called subscriber 3,
transmits the contents of the storage space 6 to the
subscriber station of the called subscriber 3 and displays the
contents on the display 8. According to generally known
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methods, the subscriber can select one name, e.g., N2, from
his list A and retrieve the message recorded by the
corresponding subscriber from the voice mail device by
pressing a predetermined key. In this case, the control
device includes additional means 9 which, after being prompted
to do so by the called subscriber 3, e.g., by actuating a key
provided for this purpose, calls the voice mail device and a
corresponding code is dialed in order to notify the voice mail
device which message should be transmitted to the subscriber.
After retrieving the message, the entry N2 in Table A is
deleted and available for a new voice mail recording.
