Patent ID: 7570747

Claim:
A communication system, comprising: a plurality of extension stations; a voice store equipment; and a private branch exchange which accommodates the plurality of extension stations and the voice store equipment, the extension station including: an input unit through which text data is set to the extension station; and a display unit that displays the text data as an absence message, the voice store equipment including: an interface circuit for connecting to the private branch exchange; a Voice Storage Equipment switch that controls connection of the interface circuit to the private branch exchange; and a message storage section that stores a voice message which corresponds to the text data, the voice message being voice data to which the text data is converted; and a Voice Storage Equipment controller that controls the entire voice store equipment, the private branch exchange including: an outside line interface circuit for connecting to an outside line; an extension interface circuit for connecting to an extension; a PBX switch that controls connection of an incoming call; an absence message table that stores the text data set to the extension station; and a PBX controller that controls connection between the outside line and either the extension or the voice store equipment, wherein if the extension station receives an incoming signal from the outside line, the PBX controller transfers, to the voice store equipment, both the incoming signal and the text data stored in the absence message table, wherein if the voice store equipment receives both the incoming signal and the text data through the interface circuit, the Voice Storage Equipment controller reads, from the message storage section, the voice message corresponding to the received text data and transmits the voice message to the private branch exchange using the Voice Storage Equipment switch, and wherein the PBX controller transmits the voice message to the outside line using the PBX switch.