Multiple message answering machine keyed to the incoming phone number
US4985913A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 29, 1989 |
| Grant date | Jan 15, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 29, 2009 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04M1/571
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
According to the present invention, a telephone answering machine stores a plurality of messages and establishes a correspondence between those messages and a plurality of phone numbers. The phone number of a caller is identified and one of the plurality of messages selected for playback based on the identified phone number and the established correspondence. In a preferred embodiment, the answering machine is microprocessor-based and the correspondence of telephone numbers to messages is stored in a memory table. Messages may be stored either on magnetic media or in semiconductor memory using a signal compression/decompression module where economy dictates in order to reduce the size of the semiconductor memory. Microprocessor control allows economical realization of a full-featured machine.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.