Patent ID: 6993367

Claim:
An in-car telephone system having: a portable telephone unit conducting wireless telephone communication; and a hands-free unit, being connected to the portable telephone unit, which outputs a receiving voice from the portable telephone unit through a speaker arranged in a car, and outputs an aural signal input from a microphone arranged in the car to the portable telephone unit as a transmitting signal, said in-car telephone system comprising: a connection detector operable to detect that the portable telephone unit and the hands-free unit are communicatively connected; and a mode switching device operable to switch from a handset conversation condition to a hands-free conversation condition when the connection between the portable telephone unit and the hands-free unit is detected by the connection detector, wherein the mode switching device switches to a combination mode in which both a handset conversation and a hands-free conversation can be held for a prescribed period after detecting the connection between the portable telephone unit and the hands-free unit.