US 4,942,598 AGranted

Telephone answering machine in paging systems with automatic number identification based message operations

AssigneeMotorola, Inc.

InventorWalter L. Davis

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Abstract

An automatic telephone answering device employing an Automatic Number Identification (ANI) decoder to selectively perform operations on a telephone call is described. The device may perform such operations as to selectively not respond, end, record or forward a telephone call wherein the selection is dependent upon the ANI signal associated with the telephone call, and the operations are determined prior to the reception of the telephone call. In using the automatic answering device in a paging system, a method of selectively forwarding a telephone message to a paging device and ultimately to a pager is described, wherein the selection is dependent upon the ANI signal associated with the telephone call. Additionally, a way to selectively distribute message storage between a telephone answering machine and a pager is described.

Claims13

Dependent claims

Telephone answering apparatus for a subscriber of a paging system, said apparatus coupled to a telephone network for automatically receiving telephone calls including corresponding paging messages directed to said subscriber, such telephone calls including corresponding source identification signals generated by the telephone network to identify the telephone numbers of the corresponding sources of the telephone calls, said apparatus also coupled to a paging terminal of said paging system, said paging terminal operative to transmit paging messages to a portable paging receiver of said subscriber, said apparatus comprising:

means for storing a set of predetermined source identification codes;
means coupled to the telephone network for automatically receiving telephone calls directed to said subscriber and for decoding the source identification signals thereof to generate corresponding decoded source identification codes;
controller means coupled to said receiving means for selecting paging messages of the received telephone calls based on a correlation of the decoded source identification codes of said telephone calls with at least one of said stored set of predetermined source identification codes;
and
means for coupling to said paging terminal and governed by said controller means to direct said selected paging messages to said paging terminal for transmission to said subscriber's paging receiver.

2 more elements

Apparatus for a paging terminal of a paging system, said apparatus coupled to a telephone network for automatically receiving telephone calls including corresponding paging messages directed to a subscriber of said paging system, such telephone calls including corresponding source identification signals generated by the telephone network to identify the telephone numbers of the corresponding sources of the telephone calls, said paging terminal operative to transmit paging messages to a portable paging receiver of said subscriber, said apparatus comprising:

means for storing a set of predetermined source identification codes corresponding to a subscriber of said paging system;
means coupled to the telephone network for automatically receiving said subscriber directed telephone calls and for decoding the source identification signals thereof to generate corresponding decoded source identification codes;
controller means coupled to said receiving means for selecting paging messages from the received telephone calls directed to said subscriber based on a correlation of the decoded source identification codes of said telephone calls with at least one of said subscriber's stored set of predetermined source identification codes;
and
means responsive to said controller means to govern said paging terminal to transmit said selected paging messages of said subscriber to the portable paging receiver thereof.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 07/164,039Filed 4 Mar 1988
Granted: 17 Jul 1990
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

H04W 88/185
Service support devices; Network management devices: selective call encoders for paging networks, e.g. paging centre devices
H04M 1/658
Recording arrangements for recording a message from the calling party: means for redirecting recorded messages to other extensions or equipment
H04M 1/663
With means for preventing unauthorised or fraudulent calling: preventing unauthorised calls to a telephone set
H04M 1/57
Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers: arrangements for indicating or recording the number of the calling subscriber at the called…