Telecommunication system having capability of notifying the occurrence of forwarding of an incoming call to a terminal

Claim 2

An exchange comprising: call forwarding means provided in said exchange for forwarding a call directed to a called terminal, from a calling terminal to a forwarding terminal and for connecting the call between the calling terminal and the forwarding terminal; accumulation means provided in said exchange for accumulating call forwarding information indicating a presence of the call directed to the called terminal and a time of the call forwarding; and notification means provided in said exchange for notifying said called terminal of accumulation of said call forwarding information by transmitting thereto a control signal.

Claim 3

The exchange as claimed in claim 1, which further comprises: reporting means for receiving a request signal from said called terminal and for transmitting said call forwarding information from said accumulation means to said called terminal in response to said request signal.

Claim 4

The exchange as claimed in claim 2, wherein said accumulation means stores the time when said call forwarding has occurred and information for identifying the terminal that has issued the call which has been forwarded as a result of said call forwarding.

Claim 5

The exchange as claimed in claim 2, wherein said control signal transmitted by said notification means controls said called terminal to cause a visual signaling to a user of said called terminal.

Claim 6

The exchange as claimed in claim 4, wherein said called terminal is provided with an indicator lamp, and said control signal activates said indicator lamp.

Claim 7

The exchange as claimed in claim 2, wherein said notification means transmits said control signal as a dial tone which is distinguishable from a dial tone which is returned to said called terminal in response to a call request from said called terminal when there is no call forwarding information stored in said accumulation means.

Claim 8

The exchange as claimed in claim 2, wherein said reporting means checks for the existence of the call forwarding information to be transmitted in said accumulation means each time said request signal is issued from said called terminal and transmits said control signal to said called terminal for notifying said called terminal of the non-existence of call forwarding information to be transmitted when there is no call forwarding information in said accumulation means to be transmitted.

Claim 9

The exchange as claimed in claim 1, wherein said call forwarding information is transmitted to said called terminal within a predetermined time interval.

Claim 10

The exchange as claimed in claim 2, wherein said called terminal is provided with a display device for displaying said call forwarding information transmitted by said reporting means.

Claim 11

The exchange as claimed in claim 1 in combination with a plurality of telecommunication terminals including said calling terminal and said called terminal wherein each terminal comprises: call-forwarding indication means, receiving from said exchange call-forwarding information indicating that forwarding of a call incoming to said called terminal has occurred, said call-forwarding indication means displaying said call forwarding information; query means for issuing a query to said exchange about details of said call forwarding information displayed by said call-forwarding indication means; and detail indication means activated in response to said query from said query means for receiving detailed contents of said call forwarding information, said detail indication means displaying said detailed contents.

Claim 12

The combination as claimed in claim 10, wherein said call-forwarding indication means comprises a display panel.

Claim 13

The combination as claimed in claim 10, wherein said call-forwarding indication means comprises a lamp.

Claim 14

The exchange as claimed in claim 1, in connection with a plurality of telecommunication terminals including said calling terminal and said called terminal wherein each said terminal comprises: first display means for receiving a notification from said exchange that a call destined to said called terminal has occurred, said first display means indicating that a call forwarding has occurred; request means for requesting history information to said exchange, said history information indicating occurrences of call-forwarding to said called terminal in the past; and second display means for receiving said history information from said exchange, said second display means displaying said history information.

Claim 15

An exchange comprising: call forwarding means provided in said exchange for forwarding a call directed to a called terminal, from the calling terminal to a forwarding terminal and for connecting the call between the calling terminal and the forwarding terminal; accumulation means provided in said exchange for accumulating call forwarding information indicating a presence of the call directed to the called terminal and a time of the call forwarding; and notification means provided in said exchange for notifying said called terminal of accumulation of said call forwarding information by transmitting thereto a control signal; reporting means for receiving a request signal from said called terminal and for transmitting said call forwarding information from said accumulation means to said called terminal in response to said request signal, wherein said reporting means checks for the existence of the call forwarding information to be transmitted in said accumulation means each time said request signal is issued from said called terminal, and transmits said control signal to said called terminal for notifying said called terminal of the non-existence of call forwarding information to be transmitted when there is no call forwarding information in said accumulation means to be transmitted, and wherein said control signal transmitted to said called terminal for notifying of the non-existence of call forwarding information comprises a busy tone signal transmitted to terminals connected thereto for notifying a busy status of the exchange.

Claim 16

An exchange comprising: call forwarding means provided in said exchange for forwarding a call directed to a called terminal, from the calling terminal to a forwarding terminal and for connecting the call between the calling terminal and the forwarding terminal; accumulation means provided in said exchange for accumulating call forwarding information indicating a presence of the call directed to the called terminal and a time of the call forwarding; and notification means provided in said exchange for notifying said called terminal of accumulation of said call forwarding information by transmitting thereto a control signal; reporting means for receiving a request signal from said called terminal and for transmitting said call forwarding information from said accumulation means to said called terminal in response to said request signal, wherein said reporting means checks for the existence of the call forwarding information to be transmitted in said accumulation means each time said request signal is issued from said called terminal, and transmits said control signal to said called terminal for notifying said called terminal of the non-existence of call forwarding information to be transmitted when there is no call forwarding information in said accumulation means to be transmitted, and wherein said control signal transmitted to said called terminal for notifying of the non-existence of call forwarding information comprises a busy tone signal transmitted to terminals connected thereto for notifying a busy status of the exchange.