Circuit and method for responding to third party calls in a telephone system having call waiting

Claim 3

The method of claim 1, wherein the CPE comprises a telephone, the method further comprising the steps of: disconnecting the telephone from the telephone system after the first key is activated; and re-connecting the telephone to the telephone system after the second flash hook operation.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1, wherein the CPE comprises a telephone, and wherein the step of performing the first flash hook operation further comprises the steps of: disconnecting the telephone from the telephone system, thereby presenting an on-hook condition to the telephone system; coupling a first impedance to the telephone system by the CPE to simulate the telephone in an on-hook condition; and then coupling a second impedance to the telephone system by the CPE to simulate the telephone in an off-hook condition.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting a pre-recorded message further comprises the steps of: retrieving a plurality of digital signals from a memory device; and generating the pre-recorded message in response to the digital signals.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: pressing a recording key of the CPE; announcing an audible message to a microphone of the CPE; converting the audible message to a plurality of digital signals by the CPE; and storing the digital signals in a memory of the CPE as the pre-recorded message.

Claim 7

The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: monitoring a second key to determine if the user activates the second key in response to the received alerting signal; if the second key is activated by the user in response to the received alerting signal at any time that the CPE is in an off-hook condition, then performing a flash hook operation by the CPE to place the second party in a hold state and connect the CPE to the third party; and then transmitting a second pre-recorded message corresponding to the second key from the CPE to the third party; and then performing a flash hook operation by the CPE to disconnect the CPE from the third party, remove the second party from the hold state and reconnect the CPE to the second party.

Claim 8

The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: receiving caller identification information associated with the third party by the CPE; and displaying the caller identification information of the third party by the CPE.

Claim 9

A customer premises equipment (CPE) for allowing a user engaged in a telephone call with a second party to respond to an incoming call from a third party in a telephone system having call waiting, wherein the telephone system generates an alerting signal to alert the user of the incoming call, the CPE comprising: a first key; an off-hook detection circuit for determining if the CPE is in an off-hook condition; a microcontroller coupled to the first key and the off-hook detection circuit, wherein the microcontroller monitors the off-hook detection circuit to determine if the CPE is in an off-hook condition, the microcontroller further monitoring the first key to determine if the user activates the first key in response to the alerting signal; a line termination circuit coupled to the microcontroller, wherein the microcontroller causes the line termination circuit to perform a first flash hook operation to place the second party in a hold state and connect the CPE to the third party placing the incoming call if the microcontroller detects that the user activates the first key when the CPE is in an off-hook condition; and a signal generation circuit coupled to the microcontroller and the line termination circuit, wherein the microcontroller causes the signal generation circuit to transmit a pre-recorded message corresponding to the first key to the third party after the first flash hook operation has been performed, and further wherein the microcontroller causes the line termination circuit to perform a second flash hook operation to disconnect the CPE from the third party, remove the second party from the hold state and reconnect the CPE to the second party after the prerecorded message is transmitted.

Claim 10

A customer premises equipment (CPE) for allowing a user engaged in a telephone call with a second party to respond to an incoming call from a third party in a telephone system having call waiting, wherein the telephone system generates an alerting signal to alert the user of the incoming call, the CPE comprising: a first key; an off-hook detection circuit for determining if the CPE is in an off-hook condition; a microcontroller coupled to the first key and the off-hook detection circuit, wherein the microcontroller monitors the off-hook detection circuit to determine if the CPE is in an off-hook condition, the microcontroller further monitoring the first key to determine if the user activates the first key in response to the alerting signal; a line termination circuit coupled to the microcontroller, wherein the microcontroller causes the line termination circuit to perform a first flash hook operation to place the second party in a hold state and connect the CPE to the third party placing the incoming call if the microcontroller detects that the user activates the first key when the CPE is in an off-hook condition; and a signal generation circuit coupled to the microcontroller and the line termination circuit, wherein the microcontroller causes the signal generation circuit to transmit a pre-recorded message corresponding to the first key to the third party after the first flash hook operation has been performed, and further wherein the microcontroller causes the line termination circuit to perform a second flash hook operation to disconnect the CPE from the third party, remove the second party from the hold state and reconnect the CPE to the second party after the prerecorded message is transmitted.

Claim 11

The CPE of claim 8, wherein the signal generation circuit comprises: a memory device which is programmable to store a plurality of digital signals representative of the pre-recorded message; a voice synthesizer circuit coupled to the memory device, wherein the voice synthesizer circuit generates the pre-recorded message in response to the digital signals.

Claim 12

The CPE of claim 9, wherein the signal generation circuit further comprises a microphone coupled to the voice synthesizer circuit, whereby audio signals transmitted to the microphone can be converted into digital signals and stored in the memory device.

Claim 13

The CPE of claim 9, wherein the signal generation circuit further comprises a speaker coupled to the voice synthesizer circuit, whereby the pre-recorded message is transmitted to the speaker.

Claim 14

The CPE of claim 8, further comprising a second key coupled to the microcontroller, wherein the microcontroller monitors the second key to determine if the user activates the second key in response to the alerting signal, and wherein the microcontroller causes the line termination circuit to perform a first flash hook operation to place the second party in a hold state and connect the CPE to the third party if the microcontroller detects that the user activates the second key when the CPE is in an off-hook condition, wherein the microcontroller causes the signal generation circuit to transmit a second pre-recorded message corresponding to the second key to the third party after the first flash hook operation has been performed, and further wherein the microcontroller causes the line termination circuit to perform a second flash hook operation to disconnect the CPE from the third party, remove the second party from the hold state and reconnect the CPE to the second party after the second pre-recorded message is transmitted.

Claim 15

The CPE of claim 8, further comprising: a telephone; and an interface circuit coupled to the microcontroller, the telephone and the telephone system, wherein the interface circuit has a first configuration in which the telephone is connected to the telephone system and a second configuration in which the telephone is disconnected from the telephone system, wherein the configuration of the interface circuit is controlled by the microcontroller.

Claim 16

The CPE of claim 8, further comprising: means for receiving caller identification information of the third party, wherein the means for receiving are coupled to the telephone system; and means for displaying the caller identification information of the third party.

Claim 17

The CPE of claim 8, wherein the signal generation circuit produces a voice message.

Claim 20

A customer premises device (CPE) for allowing a user engaged in a telephone call with a second party to respond to an incoming call from a third party in a telephone system having call waiting, the CPE comprising: means for receiving the alerting signal; means for monitoring the telephone system to determine if the CPE is in an off-hook condition; means for monitoring a first key of the CPE to determine if the user activates the first key in response to the received alerting signal; means for performing a first flash hook operation to place the second party in a hold state and connect the CPE to the third party if the first key is activated by the user in response to the received alerting signal at any time that the CPE is in an off-hook condition; means for transmitting a pre-recorded message corresponding to the first key from the CPE to the third party; and means for performing a second flash hook operation to disconnect the CPE from the third party, remove the second party from the hold state and reconnect the CPE to the second party.

Claim 21

A customer premises device (CPE) for allowing a user engaged in a telephone call with a second party to respond to an incoming call from a third party in a telephone system having call waiting, the CPE comprising: means for receiving the alerting signal; means for monitoring the telephone system to determine if the CPE is in an off-hook condition; means for monitoring a first key of the CPE to determine if the user activates the first key in response to the received alerting signal; means for performing a first flash hook operation to place the second party in a hold state and connect the CPE to the third party if the first key is activated by the user in response to the received alerting signal at any time that the CPE is in an off-hook condition; means for transmitting a pre-recorded message corresponding to the first key from the CPE to the third party; and means for performing a second flash hook operation to disconnect the CPE from the third party, remove the second party from the hold state and reconnect the CPE to the second party.