Telephone communication apparatus including reply apparatus for responding to an incoming telephone call

摘要

A telephone communication apparatus includes computing equipment programmed to send and receive telephone calls over a telephone line and a communication board connected to the computing equipment and responsive to program control therefrom. The computing equipment is responsive to detection of an incoming telephone call from a remote terminal to connect the telephone line to the computing equipment. The computing equipment also includes a data storage and a processor for receiving the incoming call and recording the telephone number of the remote terminal in the data storage without intervention by the user at the apparatus, and further includes reply apparatus for sending a reply telephone call to the remote terminal in accordance with the recorded telephone number. The processor can detect the telephone number in the incoming telephone call in a variety of ways, including detecting the telephone number as part of an incoming voice message or as part of incoming control information. The apparatus also includes structure for recording a reply message to be sent to the remote terminal.