Telephone care system with supplementary alarm message

Claim 1

A system for communication by telephone wires of information concerning the circumstances of a subscriber, the system comprising: (a) line-seizing means for connecting a communicator output to the telephone wires; (b) dialing means for dialing a telephone number over the communicator output; (c) alarm means, for, in the event of a specified occurrence, entering an alarm state; (d) message selection means, for selecting a message from a plurality of predetermined messages, at least one criterion for selection being whether a message was previously sent without the alarm state of the alarm means thereafter having been terminated, so that a first message is selected when the system first enters an alarm state, and a second, supplementary message is selected at a specified time interval thereafter during a continuing alarm state; and (e) control means, activated by the alarm means and further connected to the line-seizing means, the dialing means, and the message selection means, for (i) activating the line-seizing means and the dialing means, (ii) sending a message selected by the message selection means, and (iii) causing the alarm state of the alarm means to be terminated on receipt of a reset signal.

Claim 2

A system for communication by telephone wires of information concerning the circumstances of a subscriber, the system comprising: (a) line-seizing means for connecting a communicator output to the telephone wires; (b) dialing means for dialing a telephone number over the communicator output; (c) alarm means, for, in the event of a specified occurrence, entering an alarm state; (d) message selection means, for selecting a message from a plurality of predetermined messages, at least one criterion for selection being whether a message was previously sent without the alarm state of the alarm means thereafter having been terminated, so that a first message is selected when the system first enters an alarm state, and a second, supplementary message is selected at a specified time interval thereafter during a continuing alarm state; and (e) control means, activated by the alarm means and further connected to the line-seizing means, the dialing means, and the message selection means, for (i) activating the line-seizing means and the dialing means, (ii) sending a message selected by the message selection means, and (iii) causing the alarm state of the alarm means to be terminated on receipt of a reset signal.

Claim 7

A system for communication by telephone wires of information concerning the circumstances of a subscriber, the system comprising: (a) timing means for timing a predetermined interval of time from a beginning point established by a time reset signal input and providing an expiration signal output upon the expiration of the predetermined interval of time; (b) line-seizing means for connecting a communicator output to the telephone wires; (c) off-hook detector means connected to the telephone wires for sending an off-hook signal when a telephone circuit is in an off-hook condition; (d) dialing means for dialing a telephone number over the communicator output; (e) alarm means for, on activation by an expiration signal from the timing means or other specified occurrence, entering an alarm state; (f) message selection means, for selecting a message from a plurality of predetermined messages, at least one criterion for selection being whether a message was previously sent without the alarm state of the alarm means thereafter having been terminated, so that a first message is selected when the system first enters an alarm state, and a second, supplementary message is selected at a specified time interval thereafter during a continuing alarm state; and (g) control means, activated by the alarm means and further connected to the timing means, the line-seizing means, the off-hook detector, the dialing means and the message selection means, and having an input for receiving an initialization signal for (i) activating the line-seizing means and the dialing means, (ii) sending a message selected by the message selection means, (iii) providing a timer reset signal to the timing means on receipt of an off-hook signal from the off-hook detector means when the line-seizing means has not been activated, and (iv) causing the alarm state of the alarm means to be terminated on receipt of an initialization signal.

Claim 8

A system for communication by telephone wires of information concerning the circumstances of a subscriber, the system comprising: (a) timing means for timing a predetermined interval of time from a beginning point established by a time reset signal input and providing an expiration signal output upon the expiration of the predetermined interval of time; (b) line-seizing means for connecting a communicator output to the telephone wires; (c) off-hook detector means connected to the telephone wires for sending an off-hook signal when a telephone circuit is in an off-hook condition; (d) dialing means for dialing a telephone number over the communicator output; (e) alarm means for, on activation by an expiration signal from the timing means or other specified occurrence, entering an alarm state; (f) message selection means, for selecting a message from a plurality of predetermined messages, at least one criterion for selection being whether a message was previously sent without the alarm state of the alarm means thereafter having been terminated, so that a first message is selected when the system first enters an alarm state, and a second, supplementary message is selected at a specified time interval thereafter during a continuing alarm state; and (g) control means, activated by the alarm means and further connected to the timing means, the line-seizing means, the off-hook detector, the dialing means and the message selection means, and having an input for receiving an initialization signal for (i) activating the line-seizing means and the dialing means, (ii) sending a message selected by the message selection means, (iii) providing a timer reset signal to the timing means on receipt of an off-hook signal from the off-hook detector means when the line-seizing means has not been activated, and (iv) causing the alarm state of the alarm means to be terminated on receipt of an initialization signal.