Information service method through automatic answering function in facsimile system

Claim 3

The method of claim 1, further comprised of said remote communication system representing a remote facsimile system having an attached telephone.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1, further comprised of said variety items of service information including information relating to a company registered in said facsimile system and information relating to a line of products offered by said company and registered in said facsimile system.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1, further comprised of receiving said facsimile message from the caller's remote communication system, when a calling tone is detected from the telephone line while said answering message is being sent to the caller via said remote communication system.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1, said variety items of service information corresponding to image data registered in said facsimile system.

Claim 7

The method of claim 5, further comprising: determining whether a calling tone is detected from the telephone line while said voice message from the caller is being recorded in said facsimile system; and when the calling tone is detected from the telephone line, receiving said facsimile message from the caller's remote communication system.

Claim 8

The method of claim 5, further comprising: determining whether a dual-tone multi-frequency signal is detected from the telephone line while said voice message from the caller is being recorded in said facsimile system; when the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is detected from the telephone line, determining whether the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is valid; and when the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is valid, automatically sending the selected service information to the caller via said remote communication system, when the caller inputs the information select code corresponding to said selected service information via said remote communication system.

Claim 9

The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining whether a calling tone is detected from the telephone line while said answering message is being sent to the caller via said remote communication system; when the calling tone is detected from the telephone line, receiving said facsimile message from the caller's remote communication system; when the calling tone is not detected from the telephone line, determining whether a dual-tone multi-frequency signal is detected from the telephone line while said answering message is being sent to the caller; when the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is detected from the telephone line, determining whether the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is valid; and when the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is valid, automatically sending the selected service information to the caller via said remote communication system, when the caller inputs the information select code corresponding to said selected service information via said remote communication system.

Claim 12

The method of claim 9, further comprised of said remote communication system representing a remote facsimile system having an attached telephone.

Claim 13

The method of claim 9, further comprised of said variety items of service information include information relating to a company registered in said facsimile system and information relating to a line of products offered by said company and registered in said facsimile system.

Claim 14

The method of claim 9, further receiving said facsimile message from the caller's remote communication system, when a calling tone is detected from the telephone line while said answering message is being sent to the caller via said remote communication system.

Claim 15

The method of claim 9, further comprising: determining whether a calling tone is detected from the telephone line while said voice message from the caller is being recorded in said facsimile system; and when the calling tone is detected from the telephone line, receiving said facsimile message from the caller's remote communication system.

Claim 16

The method of claim 9, further comprising: determining whether a dual-tone multi-frequency signal is detected from the telephone line while said voice message from the caller is being recorded in said facsimile system; when the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is detected from the telephone line, determining whether the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is valid; and when the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is valid, automatically sending the selected service information to the caller via said remote communication system, when the caller inputs the information select code corresponding to said selected service information via said remote communication system.

Claim 17

A facsimile system, comprising: a first memory for storing therein an answering message representing a voice message to respond to an incoming telephone call from a caller via a telephone line; a second memory for storing therein a variety items of service information representing facsimile messages to be serviced to the caller; and controller means for controlling operation of said first and said second memory, and for controlling the servicing of information items representing facsimile messages to the caller by: forming a speech path upon detection of an incoming call from the caller; automatically sending said answering message stored in said first memory to the caller to inform the caller whether to record a voice message in said first memory, to record a facsimile message in said first memory, or to receive one of said variety items of service information stored in said second memory in accordance with an information select code; determining whether a password signal is input from the caller via a remote communication system to access said variety items of service information stored in said second memory, when the caller inputs the information select code corresponding to a selected service information to be serviced via said remote communication system; and when the password signal input from the caller is valid, automatically sending said selected service information stored in said second memory to the caller via said remote communication system.

Claim 18

A facsimile system, comprising: a first memory for storing therein an answering message representing a voice message to respond to an incoming telephone call from a caller via a telephone line; a second memory for storing therein a variety items of service information representing facsimile messages to be serviced to the caller; and controller means for controlling operation of said first and said second memory, and for controlling the servicing of information items representing facsimile messages to the caller by: forming a speech path upon detection of an incoming call from the caller; automatically sending said answering message stored in said first memory to the caller to inform the caller whether to record a voice message in said first memory, to record a facsimile message in said first memory, or to receive one of said variety items of service information stored in said second memory in accordance with an information select code; determining whether a password signal is input from the caller via a remote communication system to access said variety items of service information stored in said second memory, when the caller inputs the information select code corresponding to a selected service information to be serviced via said remote communication system; and when the password signal input from the caller is valid, automatically sending said selected service information stored in said second memory to the caller via said remote communication system.

Claim 19

The facsimile system of claim 15, further comprised of said remote communication system representing a remote facsimile system having an attached telephone.

Claim 20

The facsimile system of claim 15, further comprised of said variety items of service information stored in said second memory including information relating to a company registered in said second memory and information relating to a line of products offered by said company and registered in said second memory.

Claim 21

The facsimile system of claim 17, further comprised of said controller means receiving said facsimile message from the caller's remote communication system for recording in said first memory, when a calling tone is detected from the telephone line while said answering message is being sent to the caller via said remote communication system.

Claim 22

The facsimile system of claim 17, further comprised of said controller means recording the voice message from the caller in said first memory, when the sending of said answering message is completed and a designated time period has lapsed.

Claim 23

The facsimile system of claim 17, further comprised of said controller means comprising: determining whether a calling tone is detected from the telephone line while said voice message from the caller is being recorded in said first memory; and when the calling tone is detected from the telephone line, receiving said facsimile message from the caller's remote communication system for recording in said first memory.

Claim 24

The facsimile system of claim 17, said controller means further comprising: said password signal corresponding to a dual-tone multifrequency signal, determining whether the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is detected from the telephone line while said voice message from the caller is being recorded in said first memory; and when the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is detected from the telephone line, determining whether the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is valid.

Claim 25

The facsimile system of claim 17, said controller means further comprising: said password signal corresponding to a dual-tone multifrequency signal, determining whether a calling tone is detected from the telephone line while said answering message is being sent to the caller via said remote communication system; when the calling tone is detected from the telephone line, receiving said facsimile message from the caller's remote communication system for recording in said first memory; when the calling tone is not detected from the telephone line, determining whether the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is detected from the telephone line while said answering message is being sent to the caller; and when the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is detected from the telephone line, determining whether the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is valid.

Claim 26

A facsimile system for servicing information, comprising: a line interface unit connected to a telephone network; a memory unit for storing an answering message representing a recorded voice message, and for storing a variety of service information items representing different facsimile messages to be serviced to a caller; and a controller for controlling the servicing of information items representing different facsimile messages to the caller by: forming a speech path in response to an incoming call from the caller via said telephone network; automatically sending said recorded answering message reproduced from said memory unit to the caller to inform the caller available options including an option to record a voice message in said facsimile system, an option to transmit a facsimile message to said facsimile system and an option to receive a variety of service information items stored in said facsimile system in accordance with an information select code included in said recorded answering message; receiving the voice message from the caller via said telephone network, and recording the voice message in said memory unit of said facsimile system, when a designated time period has lapsed upon completion of said answering message; determining whether a password is input from the caller via said telephone network to access to the variety of service information items stored in said memory unit, when the caller inputs the information select code corresponding to said selected service information to be serviced to the caller via said telephone network; when the password input from the caller corresponds to a password stored in said facsimile system, automatically sending a selected service information to the caller via said telephone network.

Claim 27

A facsimile system for servicing information, comprising: a line interface unit connected to a telephone network; a memory unit for storing an answering message representing a recorded voice message, and for storing a variety of service information items representing different facsimile messages to be serviced to a caller; and a controller for controlling the servicing of information items representing different facsimile messages to the caller by: forming a speech path in response to an incoming call from the caller via said telephone network; automatically sending said recorded answering message reproduced from said memory unit to the caller to inform the caller available options including an option to record a voice message in said facsimile system, an option to transmit a facsimile message to said facsimile system and an option to receive a variety of service information items stored in said facsimile system in accordance with an information select code included in said recorded answering message; receiving the voice message from the caller via said telephone network, and recording the voice message in said memory unit of said facsimile system, when a designated time period has lapsed upon completion of said answering message; determining whether a password is input from the caller via said telephone network to access to the variety of service information items stored in said memory unit, when the caller inputs the information select code corresponding to said selected service information to be serviced to the caller via said telephone network; when the password input from the caller corresponds to a password stored in said facsimile system, automatically sending a selected service information to the caller via said telephone network.

Claim 28

The facsimile system of claim 23, further comprised of said variety of service information items including information relating to a company registered in said facsimile system and information relating to a line of products offered by said company and registered in said facsimile system.

Claim 29

The facsimile system of claim 24, further comprised of said controller controlling reception of said facsimile message from the caller, when a calling tone is detected from a telephone line of said telephone network while said answering message is being sent to the caller via said telephone network.

Claim 30

The facsimile system of claim 24, further comprised of said controller: determining whether a calling tone is detected from a telephone line while said voice message from the caller is being recorded in said facsimile system; and when the calling tone is detected from the telephone line, receiving said facsimile message from the caller.

Claim 31

The facsimile system of claim 24, further comprised of said controller: determining whether a dual-tone multi-frequency signal is detected from a telephone line of said telephone network while said voice message from the caller is being recorded in said facsimile system; when the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is detected from the telephone line, determining whether the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is valid; and when the dual-tone multi-frequency signal is valid, automatically sending the selected service information to the caller via said telephone network, when the caller inputs the information select code corresponding to said selected service information via said telephone network.