The present invention relates generally to telephone message recording and transcribing systems, and in particular to an improved message retrieval system for use with a telephone answering system which includes a plurality of telephone answering machines and a plurality of message memory units coupled to the answering machines.
Telephone answering systems are routinely used to enable operating personnel to service a large number of callers. Such systems include a plurality of answering machines coupled to telephone lines. These answering machines deliver prerecorded messages after seizing a line and record caller responses on a message memory unit such as an endless loop tape recorder. Operators then transcribe the recorded messages on the message memory units and take appropriate action. For example, an operator may call back a caller who has left a telephone number and a request.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,494 discloses a microprocessor-controlled telephone call inventorying and sequencing system. This system records priority information (such as the time of recording of a message) along with the stored messages in the message memory unit. The microprocessor uses this stored priority information to select which of the message memory units is to be interconnected with a transcribing station requesting transcription. The selection criteria are chosen to prevent stored messages on any particular message memory unit from being delayed excessively in transcription. The system disclosed in the above identified patent operates automatically to disconnect a message memory unit from a transcribing station if the message memory unit has not been transcribed from in a predetermined period, such as 60 seconds. In this way, the system prevents an inactive transcribing station from monopolizing a message memory unit.
Our previous U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,255 discloses a conversational telephone call distributor which utilizes a manually controlled distribution panel to interconnect operator stations with selected message recorders.
In spite of the many advantages offered by the systems described above, a need presently exists for an improved message retrieval system which provides improved protection against operator abuse of the system or the callers, improved flexibility by which an operator can both transcribe recorded messages and respond to live telephone calls, and which takes positive action to prevent stored messages from being delayed excessively in transcription.