Abstract:
A mobile phone with auto-response capability is provided. The mobile phone includes a control module and a menu module. A memory stores a variety of response modes. The menu module is provided for setting a valid period to a first response mode which is selected by the control module. During the valid period, the control module answers an incoming call by the first response mode when the mobile phone doesn&#39;t establish a connection with the call.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority of Taiwan Patent Application Serial No. 092131514 filed on Nov. 11, 2003.  
       FIELD OF INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to a mobile phone with auto-response capability and a method for a mobile phone to automatically respond to an incoming call.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Created to compensate drawbacks of conventional wired phones, mobile phones have become popular communication tools. Compared with wired phones, mobile phones are portable and able to provide communication and data-access almost anywhere. In other words, a mobile phone serves as a personal information proxy; that is, the user of the mobile phone can be reached as long as the mobile phone is connected with communication network. However, when the user does not answer an incoming call for some reason (e.g., the user is in a meeting), the user fails to convey any information to the caller of the incoming call.  
         [0004]     A “voice mailbox” has become a fundamental function for almost all mobile phones. A caller can leave messages in the voice mailbox to the user of the mobile phone. Some mobile phones or some mobile phone systems allow the user to record his personal announcement for the voice mailbox. When the user does not answer the incoming call (i.e., the call connection is not established), the caller can know, by the announcement, the information or the status of the user, for example, the reason why the user does not answer the call, the time when the user will call back, etc. Also, incoming calls of different phone numbers can activate different announcements, by which specific information can be delivered to a specific caller. However, for mobile phones or mobile phone systems of the prior art, the user has to change the announcement manually as the user intends to alter his information or status.  
         [0005]     Typically, a mobile phone moves with the user. In some situations, the user cannot answer a call, for example, when the user is in a meeting or at an outdoor activity. To overcome the drawbacks of prior art technology, it is desirable to have a mobile phone for performing different announcements in the voice mailbox based on the time the call comes in or a schedule. Furthermore, it will have more advantages if the mobile phone can automatically respond to specific information based on the phone number of incoming call.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The main aspect of the present invention provides a mobile phone with auto-response capability and a method for a mobile phone to automatically respond to an incoming call. The mobile phone of the present invention achieves technical advantages as a personal information proxy. When the user does not answer an incoming call, the information or the status of user is delivered to the caller. In other words, the present invention provides a mobile phone that automatically responds to a caller&#39;s query about the information or the status of user. According to predetermined configurations, the caller knows the latest information or status of user despite the fact that the call connection is not established.  
         [0007]     In one embodiment, a mobile phone includes an auto-response capability including a first memory, a control module, and a menu module. The first memory stores a plurality of response modes. A user uses the menu module to set a valid period corresponding to a first response mode. The control module is provided for selecting the first response mode from the plurality of response modes. During the valid period, the control module answers an incoming call by the first response mode when the user does not answer the incoming call.  
         [0008]     In another embodiment, the mobile phone further includes a second memory for storing a schedule. The schedule has a plurality of time periods. The valid period is one of the plurality of time periods. When the current time falls within the valid period and when the mobile phone does not establish a connection with the incoming call, the control module answers the incoming call by the first response mode. Furthermore, the menu module further allows the mobile phone to input an event data corresponding to the valid period.  
         [0009]     The invention also includes a method for a mobile phone to respond to an incoming call. The method includes: (a) storing a plurality of response modes; (b) selecting a first response mode from the plurality of response modes and setting a valid period for the first response mode; and (c) answering the incoming call, during the valid period, by the first response mode when the mobile phone does not establish the incoming call. The response modes can be implemented as (1) a voice record, (2) an event data played in an audio format, (3) a short message, or the like.  
         [0010]     The foregoing and other features of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of embodiments of the invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]     The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not intended to be limited by the figures of the accompanying drawing.  
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of a mobile phone network connected with a network according to another embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the mobile phone  100  includes a control module  102 , a first memory  104 , and a menu module  106 . The first memory  104  stores a plurality of response modes. A user uses the menu module  106  to set a valid period corresponding to a first response mode. The control module  102  is provided for selecting the first response mode from the plurality of response modes. During the valid period, the control module  102  answers an incoming call  108  by the selected first response mode when the user does not answer the incoming call  108  (that is, when the mobile phone  100  does not establish a connection with the incoming call  108 ).  
         [0017]     In one embodiment, the first memory  104  further stores a plurality of voice records, and the first response mode corresponds to a first voice record. The first voice record is one of the plurality of voice records. During the valid period, the control module  102  answers the incoming call  108  by the first voice record when the mobile phone  100  does not establish the incoming call  108 . For example, the user sets a period of “a meeting” corresponding to the first response mode. During the meeting, the control module  102  answers the incoming call by the first voice record, activated by the first response mode, when the user does not answer the incoming call  108 . The voice record is recorded in advance to inform the caller of the status of user (e.g., in the meeting from 3 pm to 4 pm), the reason why the user does not answer the call, or the time when the user will call back.  
         [0018]     In another embodiment, the first memory  104  further stores a plurality of short messages, and the first response mode corresponds to a first short message. The first short message is one of the plurality of short messages. During the valid period, the control module  102  answers the incoming call  108  by the first short message, activated by the first response mode, when the user does not answer the incoming call  108 . The content of message is edited in advance, and the message is sent, based on the phone number of incoming call  108 , to inform the caller of the status of user, the reason why the user does not answer the call, or the time when the user will call back.  
         [0019]     The mobile phone further includes a second memory  110  and a clock  112 . It should be note that the first memory  104  and the second memory  110  may be implemented as separate memory devices or as different sections of a same memory device. The second memory  110  is provided for storing a schedule having several event durations. Each event duration has a time period and an event data, such as information for reminding the user. The valid period is taken from one of the time periods. The clock  112  provides a current time. When the current time falls within the valid period and the mobile phone  100  does not establish the incoming call  108 , the control module  102  answers the incoming call  108  by the first response mode.  
         [0020]     In addition, the menu module  106  allows the mobile phone  100  to input an event data corresponding to the valid period. For example, in advance, the user inputs a first event data (e.g., a meeting) for a first valid period (e.g., from 3 pm to 4 pm) and a second event data (e.g., a speech) for a second valid period (e.g., from 5 pm to 6 pm). The first response mode is set to activate a first voice record, and the second response mode is set to activate a second voice record. When the current time falls within the first valid period (from 3 pm to 4 pm) and the user does not answer the incoming call  108 , the control module  102  answers the incoming call  108  by the first voice record. The first voice record is recorded in advance to tell the caller that the user has a meeting, or the time the meeting will end. When the current time falls within the second valid period (from 5 pm to 6 pm) and the user does not answer the incoming call  108 , the control module  102  answers the incoming call  108  by the second voice record. The second voice record is recorded in advance to tell the caller that the user is giving a speech, or the time when the speech will end. Thereby, the mobile phone  100  can automatically send different information to the caller even though the call is not established.  
         [0021]     In one embodiment, the event data is recorded in a text format in the mobile phone  100 . The event data is transmitted in form of a short message by the control module  102  according to the selected first response mode, and thus the caller at least gets the event data. In another embodiment, the event data is further transformed from the text format into a voice record, for example, using “Synthesized Voice” technology. When the users does not answer the incoming call  108 , the control module  102  answers the incoming call  108 , activated by the selected first response mode, by the voice record conveying the event data. The technology for transforming data from text format into voice record is well known to those skilled in the art and thus is omitted hereinafter. In still another embodiment, the event data is recorded in an audio format, for example, a piece of speech or a piece of music, and the selected first response mode plays the piece of speech or the piece of music to the caller.  
         [0022]     The first memory  104  further stores multiple phone numbers, and the selected first response mode is activated only when the incoming call corresponds to one of the phone numbers. Moreover, for example, the control module  102  answers a incoming call by a first response mode when the incoming call corresponds to a first phone number, and the control module  102  answers the incoming call by a second response mode when the incoming call corresponds to a second phone number. Therefore, the control module  102  is able to play different voice records or to send different short messages to different callers. The technology to identify the phone numbers is well known to those skilled in the art and is also omitted hereinafter.  
         [0023]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a mobile phone  200  is linked to a server  222  via a mobile phone network  220 . The server  222  stores a plurality of response modes and a schedule  226 , and includes a clock  224  providing a current time. The mobile phone  200  includes a control module  202  and a menu module  204 . The menu module  204  allows a user to set an event duration of the schedule  226  corresponding to a first response mode. The event duration includes a valid period and an event data. The control module  202  is provided for selecting the first response mode from those response modes. When the current time falls within the valid period and the mobile phone  200  does not establish an incoming call  240 , the control module  202  transfers the incoming call  240  to the server  222  via the mobile phone network  220 , and the server  222  responds to the diverted incoming call  240  by the first response mode selected by the control module  202 . Furthermore, the sever  222  answers the incoming call  240  by the selected first response mode based on the phone number of the incoming call  240  and conveys specific event data to the specific caller. Similar to the mobile phone  100  in  FIG. 1 , the first response mode stored in the server  222  corresponds to a first voice record or a first short message.  
         [0024]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention. It begins with the step  300  storing a plurality of response modes. Then in the step  302 , a first response mode is selected from the plurality of response modes, and a valid period is set for the first response mode. Next, it turns to the step  304  answering the incoming call, during the valid period, by the first response mode when the mobile phone does not establish the incoming call.  
         [0025]     Preferably, the plurality of response modes are stored in the mobile phone  100  in  FIG. 1  or the server  222  in  FIG. 2 . When being stored in the mobile phone  100 , the plurality of response modes can be pre-embedded in the mobile phone  100 , downloaded from the network, or input into the mobile phone  100  by the user. In one embodiment, the first response mode selected in the step  302  is set as a default response mode for answering the incoming calls of all phone numbers. In another embodiment, the mobile phone  100  stores several phone numbers, and the first response mode is activated in step  304  only when the incoming call corresponds to one of the phone numbers.  
         [0026]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present invention. It begins with the step  400  storing a plurality of response modes. Each response mode has one corresponding valid period. Then the step  402  is to set a schedule including an event duration. In one embodiment, the event duration has a time period and an event data, for example, from 8 am to 9 am: a meeting. Step  402  is followed by the step  404  selecting a first response mode from those response modes stored in the step  400 , and setting the valid period of the first response mode as the time period, that is, from 8 am to 9 am. In addition, the step  404  is to set the event duration corresponding to the first response mode which is, for example, to reply the event data. Next, the step  406  is to compare a current time with the valid period. The method ends with the step  408  answering the incoming call by the first response mode when the current time falls within the valid period (from 8 am to 9 am) and the mobile phone does not establish the incoming call.  
         [0027]     While this invention has been described with reference to the illustrative embodiments, these descriptions should not be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, will be apparent upon reference to these descriptions. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments as falling within the true scope of the invention and its legal equivalents.