Telephone answering machine with digital storage of announcements and messages
US4782510A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 12, 1987 |
| Grant date | Nov 1, 1988 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 12, 2007 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04M3/54
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A telephone answering machine with digital storage of announcements and messages and enhanced message playback features. When an incoming call is detected the line is seized and a predetermined outgoing message is placed upon the telephone line. The outgoing message prompts the calling party to provide a telephone number, a priority code, or other information which can be input via a telephone DTMF keypad. The DTMF tones sent by the calling party are decoded and stored in a memory. When recalled by the user, the numbers corresponding to the DTMF tones are presented to the user as spoken words via a voice synthesizer. In addition, the machine is responsive to a set of commands which allows the user to play back the messages in chronological order or by a selected priority code, advance or backup to a particular message, and record a new outgoing message.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.