Automatic telephone caller
AssigneeEnvironmental Developers, Inc.
InventorsNorman A. Sheldon, Erwin L. Dosch
Life of this patent
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AssigneeEnvironmental Developers, Inc.
InventorsNorman A. Sheldon, Erwin L. Dosch
Estimating the term…
A prerecorded message is supplied to a plurality of telephone subscriber numbers automatically called in sequence from a local station. Upon placing the call to the first number, another second number is established by changing the first called number by a predetermined increment. In response to the first called number being reached, the prerecorded message is coupled to a telephone line at the local station. In response to the call being either completed or the elapse of a predetermined time during which it is expected that the called subscriber should answer the phone, a signal is derived to indicate that operations for the first party have been terminated. In response to the termination signal, the telephone is repeatedly hung up and picked up automatically until the prerecorded message has been completed and a dial tone has been detected, at which time the second number is called. The device is activated repeatedly in this manner. Counters are provided to sense the number of completed calls, the number of calls in which the called subscriber hangs up prior to the end of the prerecorded message and the number of called subscribers who cannot be reached.
Apparatus for automatically supplying a pre-recorded message to a plurality of telephone subscriber stations in sequence comprising means for placing a telephone call to a telephone number, means for coupling the message to a telephone line in response to the called number being reached, counter means for storing the number to be called, means for incrementing the counter means by the same predetermined number to change the telephone number by a predetermined number to derive another number, and means responsive to the call being either completed or an indication of the called number being incapable of being reached for again activating the means for placing a call to the another telephone number;
Apparatus for automatically supplying a pre-recorded message via a telephone line to a plurality of telephone subscriber stations in sequence, said line applying pulse-type signals to the apparatus in response to an operator at a called subscriber station connecting and disconnecting his station to the line, comprising means for placing a telephone call to a telephone number, means responsive to the pulse-type signals for deriving first and second signals respectively indicative of a connection being completed to the called subscriber station and the connection being broken at the called subscriber station, means for coupling the message to a telephone line in response to the first signal being derived, means responsive to the recorded message being completed for deriving a third signal, and counter means responsive to the second and third signals for indicating the number of connected subscriber stations that did not stay on the line for the entire message, means for deriving a fourth signal in response to a connection not being established to the called subscriber station a predetermined time after the call was placed, means for changing the telephone number by a predetermined number to derive another number, and means responsive to the occurrence of the third or fourth signals for again activating the means for placing a call to the another telephone number;
Apparatus for automatically supplying a pre-recorded message via a telephone line to a plurality of telephone line subscriber stations in sequence, said line applying pulse-type signals to the apparatus in response to an operator at a called subscriber station connecting and disconnecting his station to the line, comprising a dial tone detector for deriving an enabling signal in response to a dial tone on the line being coupled to the apparatus, means responsive to the pulse-type signals for deriving first and second control signals respectively indicative of the called subscriber station connecting and disconnecting his station to the line, means for deriving a third control signal in response to the prerecorded message being completed, means for deriving a fourth control signal in response to a called subscriber not connecting his station to the line a predetermined time after having been called by the apparatus, means for deriving a plurality of dialing signals for the subscriber stations to be called, control means responsive to the first, second, third and fourth control signals for supplying the enabling signal to the means for deriving the dialing signals so that the dialing signal for each subscriber station to be called is applied to the line in response to the enabling signal being supplied to the means for deriving dialing signals, means for changing the dialing signal from one subscriber station number to another subscriber station number after a previous subscriber station number dialing signal has been applied to the line, means responsive to the first signal for supplying the message to the line, the control means being repeatedly activated in response to at least one of the control signals so that a plurality of subscriber station numbers are called in sequence.
Apparatus for automatically supplying a pre-recorded message via a telephone line to a plurality of telephone line subscriber stations in sequence, said line applying signals to the apparatus in response to an operator at a called subscriber station connecting his station to the line, comprising multistage shift register means for deriving a plurality of sequential output signals, N of said stages being provided for the N digits of each subscriber station number, means responsive to activation of said N stages for sequentially deriving each of the N digits of a subscriber station number and for applying the digits to the line to call a subscriber station number, means for changing the value of a digit of a subscriber station number in response to the shift register means being activated to a first stage other than the N stages, means for coupling the recorded message to the telephone line in response to the called station being connected to the line, means for deriving a first control signal in response to the prerecorded message being completed, means for advancing the shift register to a second stage other than the N stages after all of the digits of the called number have been applied to the line, means responsive to the register being in the second stage for a predetermined time and the called station not having been connected to the line for deriving a second control signal, and means responsive to the first and second control signals for energizing the shift register to activate the N stages and the first stage in sequence so that the digits for the changed subscriber station number are applied in sequence to the line and the subscriber station number is changed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.