Hotel/motel automatic control system

An automated monitoring and control system for establishments of the type having a plurality of occupant rooms each having at least one telephone set, an equipment bay for housing telephone control circuit means for the room telephone sets, and at least one pair of telephone signal conductors interconnecting each of the room telephone sets to the telephone control circuit means within the equipment bay, said control system comprising:

• a. a plurality of feature circuit means operatively connected with the telephone control circuit means within the equipment bay for detecting the electrical status of a plurality of different occupant and room status related parameters, and for providing output control functions related to said parameters in response to received digital command signals;
• said plurality of feature circuit means comprising at least one electronically addressable feature circuit operatively identifiable with each of the occupant rooms and associated with said parameters thereof, wherein each said feature circuit is operatively connected for signal communication with the telephone set within that room with which it is identifiably associated;
• b. microprocessor control means operatively connected to said plurality of feature circuits, and suitable for operative connection to one or a plurality of remotely located desk consoles, for automatically electronically monitoring and controlling in response to firmware program execution said plurality of occupant and room status parameters, on an individual room basis;
• said microprocessor control means being operable to sequentially and selectively electronically address individual ones of said feature circuits, to interrogate and process said electrical status conditions of said addressed feature circuits and to provide as a result of said processing, said digital command signals to said addressed feature circuits, said microprocessor control means comprising:
• i. central processing means for performing, in response to firmware program instructions, arithmetic, logical and manipulative operations on and in response to digital information;
• ii. firmware read only memory means operatively connected to said central processing means, for storing hardwired program instructions, and subroutines and routines comprising a plurality of said program instructions;
• iii. random access memory means operatively connected with said central processing means for storing digital information under direction of said central processing means;
• and
• iv. input/output circuit means connecting in circuit said processing means with said plurality of feature circuit means for operatively transmitting digital information including said detected electrical status signals and said digital command signals therebetween;
• c. at least one personalized desk console means configured for manual activation by an operator for providing an input/output communication link between the operator and said microprocessor control means;
• said desk console means comprising a portable chassis member suitable for placement upon a desk surface, said chassis member including a plurality of push-button input selector switching means for generating encoded digital input signals for said microprocessor control means in response to manual activation stimuli, and electronic visual display means responsive to said digital command signals from said microprocessor control means for providing visual output indications of the real-time status of said plurality of parameters on an individual room basis;
• and
• d. signal flow path means operatively connecting said personalized desk console means with said input/output circuit means of said microprocessor control means for transferring said encoded digital signals and said digital command signals therebetween.