Abstract:
A method for receiving facsimiles in a multi-function printer device operating as a voice messaging system comprises answering, by the multi-function printer device, an incoming phone call, playing, by the multi-function printer device, an outgoing message, monitoring, by the multi-function printer device, the incoming phone call for a facsimile tone while playing the outgoing message, recording, by the multi-function printer device, an incoming message when no facsimile tone is detected, and ceasing playing of the outgoing message by the multi-function printer device in response to the facsimile tone and initializing the multi-function printer device to receive an incoming facsimile transmission.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This Application is related to commonly assigned and concurrently filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ [Attorney Docket No. 200205925-1] entitled “MULTI-FUNCTIONAL PRINTER DEVICE”; and Ser. No. ______ [Attorney Docket No. 200205923-1] entitled “MULTI-FUNCTIONAL PRINTER DEVICE”; the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention is broadly related to multi-function printers, and more specifically to systems and methods for receiving facsimiles in a multi-function printer device operating as a voice messaging system.  
       DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART  
       [0003]     Initially, facsimile, or fax, technology was primarily developed for commercial use as a means of transmitting copies of documents without employing conventional mail or courier services. The standard fax machine can be connected to a dedicated telephone line that is not shared by any other device, such as an answering machine in a consumer setting, or even a credit card reader in a commercial setting. For some businesses it is typically not a great burden to pay a few extra dollars per month for a separate line for a critical device such as a fax machine.  
         [0004]     However, it is becoming more common and more useful for consumers and small businesses to have fax capability. Yet, consumers and small businesses that cannot dedicate a line to a fax machine may have additional burdens. For example, conflicts can arise between an answering machine and a traditional fax machine in that most fax machines will answer after a certain number of rings, in a fashion similar to a typical answering machine. Thus, in unattended situations, one device will pick-up, preempting operation of the other device. In some instances, consumers and small businesses that cannot dedicate a line to a fax machine may either receive voice messages or unattended faxes, but not both.  
         [0005]     Modern multi-function printers, also known as all-in-one devices, may include fax, as well as copy, scan and print capability. A user wanting to use the fax functionality of a multi-function printer device would typically either turn off their answering machine when they expect a fax, or conversely turn off the fax when they expect a voice message, unless they subscribe to separate phone lines for each device.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     An embodiment of a method for receiving facsimiles in a multi-function printer device operating as a voice messaging system comprises answering, by the multi-function printer device, an incoming phone call, playing, by the multi-function printer device, an outgoing message, monitoring, by the multi-function printer device, the incoming phone call for a facsimile tone while playing the outgoing message, recording, by the multi-function printer device, an incoming message when no facsimile tone is detected, and ceasing playing of the outgoing message by the multi-function printer device in response to the facsimile tone and initializing the multi-function printer device to receive an incoming facsimile transmission.  
         [0007]     An embodiment of a multi-function printer device comprises means for printing media, means for optically scanning media, means for answering incoming phone calls, the answering means comprising means for playing an outgoing message and means for recording an incoming message, means for sending and receiving facsimiles, means for monitoring the incoming phone calls, while the means for playing plays the outgoing message, for a facsimile tone, and means for initializing the facsimile means to receive an incoming facsimile transmission in response to the monitoring means detecting a facsimile tone.  
         [0008]     An embodiment of a system for providing a multi-function printer device a capability for receiving fax transmissions and providing voice messaging comprises a multi-function printer device comprising a printer, an optical scanner, a call answering functionality and a facsimile functionality, wherein the multi-function printer device monitors incoming phone calls to internally intercept and initialize the facsimile functionality to receive incoming facsimile transmissions while the call answering functionality is processing a call, and the system comprises a general purpose processor-based device selectively interfaced with the multi-function printer device and selectively powered. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  illustrates a system employing an embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0011]     The present inventive systems and methods provide a multi-function printer device with a capability to function as both a fax machine and as an answering machine. The multi-function printer device may also provide other functions such as printing, scanning and copying in an “all-in one” configuration. Thus, the present systems and methods preferably employ fax receive capability, as well as a capability for storing an outgoing message to callers and storing incoming messages left by callers. The present systems and methods also preferably have a capability to intelligently monitor incoming calls to determine whether the incoming call is a fax transmission or a voice transmission and to switch the call appropriately, internally.  
         [0012]     A multi-function printer device in accordance with the present invention, after a set number of incoming rings, picks up an incoming call, and acts as an answering machine by starting to play an outgoing message recorded by the user of the multi-function printer device. While the outgoing message is playing, the multi-function printer device simultaneously monitors the incoming line for any sort of signals and if the multi-function printer device detects the presence of a fax tone, indicating a fax transmission is being sent, the multi-function printer device will stop playing the outgoing message and start responding and synchronizing with the sending facsimile device to receive the fax message. If the present multi-function printer device does not detect a fax tone, upon completion of the outgoing message, the multi-function printer device starts recording an incoming voice message.  
         [0013]     Whereas some fax machines do not employ a fax tone, an alternative embodiment of the present invention may also monitor for incoming sound, such as a voice, during recording of a message. If no sound is detected, the present systems and methods may initiate a fax receive lest a sending fax machine is not employing an initiating fax tone.  
         [0014]     The present invention preferably employs a voice mail or answering machine built into the multi-function printer device. In one exemplary embodiment the multi-function printer device is an all-in-one device providing a “5-in-one device” or the like.  FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic illustration of an embodiment of multi-function printer device  100  provided in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Multi-function printer device  100  has a print engine or media printing functionality  101  and media scanning functionality  102 . Printing functionality  101  may be of several media printing types known in the art, such as laser or inkjet and may be black-and-white (grayscale) or color. Scanning functionality  102  may include technologies such as a flatbed optical scanner, a picture frame scanner, or the like. Preferably, printing and scanning functionalities  101  and  102  may be used in conjunction with connected general purpose processor-based device  106 , such as a personal computer (PC) or the like. Also, scanning functionality  102  and printing functionality  101  together may provide copier functionality  103  either in a stand-alone fashion and/or in conjunction with connected general purpose processor-based device  106 . Fax functionality  104  may use printing functionality  101  for printing received faxes, and fax functionality  104  may receive scanned images from scanning functionality  102  to be used as outgoing faxes. Multi-function printer device  100  preferably has interface  105  for optionally interfacing with general purpose processor based device  106 . Interface  105  may take the form of a parallel port, Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, FireWire (IEEE 1394) port, or the like. However, multi-function printer device  100  may operate as a stand-alone device, at least as an integrated stand-alone copier, fax and answering system device, without the need to be connected to general purpose processor based device  106 , or without any need for general purpose processor based device to be in a powered-on status, if connected.  
         [0015]     As noted above, multi-function printer device  100  also includes voicemail or answering system  107  that provides outgoing messages and records incoming messages. Memory  108  may be used to store an outgoing voice message(s), incoming voice messages, and/or scans and faxes. Memory  108  may take the form of volatile memory such as Random Access Memory (RAM), nonvolatile memory such as Read Only Memory (ROM) and/or Erasable Programmable read only Memory (EPROM) or a combination of volatile and nonvolatile memory. A combination of volatile and nonvolatile may, for example, use volatile memory to store transient data such as incoming voice messages or faxes while nonvolatile memory may be used to store more permanent data such as an outgoing greeting(s), default greetings and/or device settings. Memory  108  may be in addition to typical RAM or other memory associated with printer, scanner and/or copier functionality  101 ,  102  and/or  103 . Memory  108  is preferably internal to multi-function printer device  100 . However, RAM or other memory associated with general purpose processor based device  106  may also or alternatively be employed to store an outgoing voice message(s), incoming voice messages and/or scans and faxes. Multi-function printer device  100  may additionally, or alternatively, include one or more slots to receive memory devices such as smart media, compact flash, IC media, or the like, for storing messages and/or faxes in addition to more conventional uses such as providing pictures to printer functionality  101  directly. Alternatively, if multi-function printer device  100  is connected to general purpose processor based device  106  and purpose processor based device  106  is powered on, purpose processor based device  106 &#39;s hard drive or other storage media may be used to store messages and/or faxes. Thereby, purpose processor based device  106  may be used to play the messages back or display the faxes at a later time. Multi-function printer device  100  may also include microphone  110  that may be used to record outgoing messages. Speaker  112  may be used during playback of messages or when screening calls, particularly when purpose processor based device  106  is not used in conjunction with multi-function printer device  100  for message playback and call screening.  
         [0016]     Phone line-in  115  is preferably connected to a wall phone jack  116  or the like and phone line-out  117  may optionally be connected to telephone  118  or the like. Phone line-in  115  and phone line-out  117  may be decoupled in present multi-function printer device  100 . Network interface  120 , such as an Ethernet port, may also be provided by multi-function printer device  100  to provide interconnectivity to network  125  such as a wired local area network, a wide area network or the Internet. Multi-function printer device  100  may also, or alternatively, employ one or more wireless technologies such as IEEE 802.11 wireless networking, BULETOOTH™, infrared (IR), or the like, to provide connectivity with general purpose processor-based device  106 , network  125  and/or other devices or services such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a wireless local area network, and/or the like.  
         [0017]     As noted above, embodiments of multi-function printer device  100  may be used as a stand-alone device. User interface (UI)  130  may facilitate such stand-alone operation, and preferably may also be employed when the present multi-function printer device is employed in conjunction with general purpose processor-based device  106 . Interface  130  may, among other functions related to printing, scanning and copying, facilitate sending of faxes and manual receiving of faxes, as well as providing an interface for user selection of device settings, recording of one or more outgoing greeting messages, retrieval of voice messages, downloading of faxes or messages to memory devices, and/or other operations related to multi-function printer device  100 . Alternatively or additionally, a user interface may be provided on general purpose processor-based device  106 . A computer provided UI may utilize a microphone and/or speaker system associated with general purpose processor-based device  106  rather than (or in addition to) employing microphone  110  and speaker  112  of multi-function printer device  100 . The computer provided UI may alternatively or additionally be used to set-up the present multi-function printer device. However, once set-up using the computer provided UI, multi-function printer device  100  would still preferably be able to function as a stand-alone device without the computer turned on and/or connected, only using the computer provided UI for configuration changes. Also, as a default, multi-function printer device  100  is preferably enabled to function as a fax and answering system without any configuration using UI  130  or a computer provided UI, through the use of default settings and greetings. Indicator  132 , that may be a part of UI  130 , may provide a visual and/or audio indication of one or more stored faxes and/or voice messages.  
         [0018]     Alternatively, phone handset  135  may be associated with multi-function printer device  100  and/or its answering machine functionality. Microphone  136  of handset  135  may be used rather than microphone  110  for recording answering machine outgoing messages and the like. Alternatively, a keypad  138  associated with handset  135  may be incorporated into handset  135  or may be disposed on the body of multi-function printer device  100 , such as in a multi-function keypad employed by multi-function printer device  100  as part of user interface  130  or a special purpose phone keypad disposed in association with a handset receptive structure and/or hook switch  139 .  
         [0019]     When multi-function printer device  100  is connected to a standard phone line the multi-function printer device preferably operates like a standard answering machine from a user&#39;s perspective, i.e., the multi-function printer device picks up the line after a set number of rings. Once multi-function printer device  100  detects the appropriate number of rings have elapsed, the multi-function printer device picks up the line and operates as an answering machine by playing an outgoing message, such as may be recorded by the user. While playing the outgoing message, multi-function printer device  100  also monitors the line for sounds coming from the caller. If the call is from a person, the multi-function printer device will preferably continue in an answering machine mode. However, if the call is from a fax machine, the multi-function printer device will detect a standard tone sent by fax machines upon transmission. If this tone is detected, the multi-function printer device will preferably stop playing the outgoing message and connect to the call in a fax reception mode.  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  flowcharts operation of an exemplary embodiment of present method  200  for providing an “all-in-one” multi-function printer device a capability for receiving fax calls and providing voice messaging. An incoming call is detected at  201 . After a set number of rings, the multi-function printer device picks up the call at  202 . Preferably, the number of rings may either be set by the user or preset in the multi-function printer device as a default. However, if the call is picked up at  203  by someone or at some other point, such as a connected telephone or a telephone extension on the same line as the multi-function printer device, before the preset number of rings, the multi-function printer device may end the cycle at  204  and resets. However, for a call picked up before the preset number of rings, picked up during playing of the outgoing message, or picked up during recording of an incoming message, the multi-function printer device preferably continues to monitor the line at  205 , for at least a time, to detect any fax tone present.  
         [0021]     If the set number of rings is reached, the multi-function printer device picks up at  202  and provides answering machine or voice mail functionality in which the multi-function printer device plays an outgoing message at  206 . While playing the outgoing message, the multi-function printer device monitors the line for activity such as a fax tone at  205 . If the multi-function printer device recognizes a fax tone on the incoming line at  205 , either before or after the outgoing message finishes, the multi-function printer device initiates a fax synchronization at  208  and receives the fax message at  209 . Preferably, the multi-function printer device then disconnects from the line-in at  210 , ending the cycle and resetting at  204 . The multi-function printer device may print the received fax document at  211  prior to, concurrently with or following disconnection at  210 .  
         [0022]     Alternatively, rather than printing the fax at  211 , the multi-function printer device may store the received fax in memory at  212 , or both print ( 211 ) and store ( 212 ) the received fax. The multi-function printer device may store the received fax at  212  concurrently with receipt of the fax at  209 , prior to disconnect  210 , concurrently with disconnect  210  or following disconnect  210 . Preferably, if a fax is stored at  212  an audio and/or visual indicator is set at  213  prior to resetting the multi-function printer device at  204 . As a further alternative, if the multi-function printer device is out of paper or otherwise incapable of printing at the time a fax is received, the multi-function printer device may store an incoming fax in memory. As yet another alternative, an option to save, print, or both print and save a fax to memory, may be a user settable or selectable feature.  
         [0023]     If the multi-function printer device does not detect a fax tone at  205 , the multi-function printer device continues playing the outgoing message then switches to recording an incoming message at  214  upon completion of the outgoing message. The multi-function printer device subsequently detects a disconnect on the line by the caller at  215 , stops the recording, stores the incoming message in memory and disconnects at  216 , ending the cycle at  204  and resetting. As noted above, embodiments of the present invention may monitor the line following the completion of outgoing message at  220  for incoming activity, such as a voice. If no activity is detected at  220 , the present systems and methods may initiate a fax receive at  208  in an attempt to synchronize with a sending fax machine that is not employing an initiating fax tone.  
         [0024]     As noted above, the memory used to store a received fax or message may be memory resident in the multi-function printer device, or memory/storage associated with a connected general purpose processor based device, such as a PC. Resident memory may be shared by various functionalities of the present multi-function printer device. The multi-function printer device may also provide forwarding functions for received faxes and/or voice messages. Additionally or alternatively, the present multi-function printer device may afford an ability to download faxes and/or messages to a connected PC, facilitating conversion and or forwarding of received faxes or messages via email or the like.