Facsimile communication device and method for facsimile communication

Abstract

To properly determine whether a person who rejected a call cut off a communication after playing an automatic response message.SOLUTION: A facsimile communication device includes: a call circuit unit for sending the number of the person on the other side and calling the number; a circuit signal detection unit for detecting a communication signal sent or received after the calling; a signal recognition unit for detecting the type of the communication signal and the time interval; and a communication control unit for determining that a call is a communication error due to rejection of a call by the person on the other side if the cutoff response period of time from a calling to the cut-off of the communication is within a predetermined range in a case where a busy tone is detected after calling a specific person and the person cuts off the communication repeatedly.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a facsimile communication device and a facsimile communication method for determining whether a destination has performed an automatic response and disconnected communication. [Background technology]

[0002] When sending a facsimile, the communication may be cut off after an automatic response voice message from the other party (the receiver or the communication service provider, i.e., the telephone communication service provider) is issued due to reasons such as the recipient refusing to acknowledge the withheld telephone number. If the call is for a phone call, the user can understand the contents of the voice message and take appropriate action. However, when a facsimile machine is making a call, it may not be able to understand the voice message from the other party and may have to redial the number multiple times, causing inconvenience to the other party.

[0003] In this regard, for example, the following technology is known. This technology is related to an IP telephone compatible device that can connect multiple telephones. When a call from one telephone is rejected because the caller's telephone number is withheld, if a message is received within a specified time, it is determined that the call was rejected because the caller's telephone number is withheld. This technology allows the user to subsequently make calls from any telephone by adding the specific number "186," thereby avoiding the rejection of calls due to the caller's telephone number being withheld (for example, see Patent Document 1).

[0004] Another technique has been proposed that, if the other terminal detects a busy tone immediately after answering or within a specified time after answering and the line is disconnected, resets the telephone number used at that time to a caller ID notification state. Instead of resetting, it has also been disclosed to output a report or to redial with the line monitor turned ON (see, for example, Patent Document 2). Also, a technique has been disclosed in which, when it is detected that the other terminal has rejected an incoming call because the telephone number is withheld, the fact is displayed on a display circuit, and if the operator allows the telephone number to be notified to this destination in response to the display, "186" is automatically added (see, for example, Patent Document 3). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2009-004825 A [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-298637 [Patent Document 3] JP 2000-004311 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] If the facsimile destination is set to reject incoming calls, there are various ways of responding depending on the telephone communication service provider and the destination device. For this reason, it is difficult to accurately determine whether the call has been rejected, and even if the call has been rejected, it may be judged to simply be the other party's device is busy (in a call), and this may be recorded in the communication record as a separate error.

[0007] The method of Patent Document 1 assumes that a specific message indicating the rejection of an incoming call is issued. However, in an actual usage environment, the message differs depending on the telephone communication service provider. Also, there are cases where a response indicating the rejection of an incoming call is not clearly given. The method of Patent Document 2 detects a busy tone within a predetermined time. Therefore, it includes cases where the internal exchange side becomes busy immediately. Also, in order to determine the predetermined time, it is necessary to know the content (length) of the message for each telephone communication service provider in advance. Also, the method of Patent Document 3 describes only a detection method in which a timeout occurs 35 seconds after detecting a ringback tone as a method for detecting communication interruption due to withholding of telephone number. However, depending on the message, communication may be interrupted in a shorter time than this. Also, depending on the telephone communication service, a ringback tone may not be issued, and in that case, detection is not possible.

[0008] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and provides a method for appropriately determining whether or not the other party disconnected communication after playing an automatic response message when an incoming call is rejected, even if the response format differs depending on the telephone communication service provider or the destination device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present disclosure provides a facsimile communication device including a call circuit unit that sends out the destination number and makes a call, a line signal detection unit that detects a communication signal sent and received after the call, a signal recognition unit that detects the type and time interval of the communication signal, and a communication control unit that, when a busy tone is detected after a call is made to a specific destination and the communication is disconnected by the destination repeatedly, determines that a communication error has occurred due to the destination rejecting the call if the disconnect response period until the communication is disconnected is within a predetermined range for each call.

[0010] From a different viewpoint, the present disclosure provides a facsimile communication method including the steps of: a control unit for controlling communication of a facsimile device using a call circuit unit to send a destination number and make a call to the destination; a step using a line signal detection unit to detect a communication signal sent and received after the destination number is sent; a step of detecting the type and time interval of the sent and received communication signal; a step of redialing if the communication is disconnected without completion; a step of determining whether or not the disconnection response periods from the completion of the destination number sending to the communication disconnection are all within a predetermined range when an event in which a busy tone is detected after the destination number is completed and the communication is disconnected is repeated; and a step of determining that a communication error has occurred due to the destination's refusal to receive the call if all disconnection response periods are within the predetermined range. Effect of the Invention

[0011] The facsimile machine according to the present disclosure is equipped with a communication control unit that, when communication is repeatedly disconnected by the other party, determines that the communication error is due to the other party's refusal to accept an incoming call if the disconnection response period until the communication is disconnected is within a specified range for each call, and therefore can properly determine whether the other party disconnected the communication after playing an automatic response message when an incoming call is rejected. The facsimile communication method according to the present disclosure also achieves the same advantageous effects. According to the present disclosure, it is possible to more accurately determine whether to disconnect the call by automatic response without having to know the length of the message in advance, even if the message is different for each telephone communication service provider. Also, by presenting the user with the correct reason for the transmission failure, it is possible to encourage the user to improve the situation. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is an external perspective view showing a multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of a facsimile communication device according to the present invention; [Diagram 2] 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the multifunction peripheral shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] 11 is a first flowchart showing a flow of communication error processing executed by a control unit in the embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 11 is a second flowchart showing the flow of communication error processing executed by the control unit in the embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a process executed by a voice response recognition unit when the multifunction peripheral includes the voice response recognition unit. [Figure 6] 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by a control unit in the case where the multifunction peripheral includes a voice response recognition unit, instead of the processing in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] The present disclosure will be described in further detail below with reference to the drawings. Note that the following description is illustrative in all respects and should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure. The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings. Note that the following description is illustrative in all respects and should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0014] <Configuration example of facsimile communication device> 1 and 2 are explanatory diagrams showing the appearance of a multifunction peripheral which is an embodiment of a facsimile communication device according to the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, a multifunction peripheral 10 has a facsimile communication function, and is provided with an image reading device 11 for reading a document and a document transport unit 12 for transporting the document to a reading section at the top of the main body. In addition, an operation unit 17 is provided in front of the image reading device 11.

[0015] Further, discharge tray 16a and discharge tray 16b are arranged below and to the left of image reading device 11, and discharge tray 16c is arranged to the right. Below the discharge tray 16b, there are provided an image forming device 13 for forming images and four feed trays 14. Furthermore, on the right side of the lower end of the image forming device 13, there is provided a manual feed tray 15. In this embodiment, the image forming device 13 forms an image by electrophotography.

[0016] The multifunction device 10 visualizes facsimile data received via a facsimile communication circuit 26 shown in Fig. 2, which will be described later, using the image forming device 13. Then, the data is printed on paper fed from any of the feed trays 14 or the manual feed tray 15, and output to any of the output trays 16a, 16b, and 16c. Paper of different sizes or types is set in each of the feed trays 14 and manual feed tray 15. The paper is fed from one of the feed trays 14 or manual feed tray 15 along an internal paper transport path (not shown in FIG. 1) to the image forming device 13 above. The image forming device 13 forms a toner image corresponding to the received facsimile data and transfers it onto the fed paper. The toner image transferred onto the paper is transported further upward together with the paper and melted and fixed onto the paper by a fixing unit (not shown in FIG. 1) located between the discharge trays 16a, 16b and 16c. The paper is then output to one of the discharge trays 16a, 16b, and 16c.

[0017] Furthermore, the multifunction device 10 determines the destination of the facsimile in response to an instruction from the user received by the operation unit 17. Then, the document set by the user is conveyed by the document conveying unit 12, read by the image reading device 11, converted into facsimile data, and sent to the determined destination via the facsimile communication circuit 26 described above. The multifunction device 10 in this embodiment executes jobs related to facsimile reception and transmission as described above, as well as copy, scan and print jobs based on instructions from a user.

[0018] Next, the electrical configuration of the multifunction device 10 will be briefly described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the multifunction peripheral 10 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the multifunction device 10 includes a facsimile communication circuit 26 and a network communication circuit 27. The facsimile communication circuit 26 includes a call circuit section 26C and a line signal detection section 26S. The call circuit section 26C is a circuit that transmits the dial number of the other party to the line to make a call to the other party, that is, a circuit that makes a phone call. The line signal detection section 26S is a circuit that detects a communication signal indicating the other party's response to the call and a communication signal sent by the caller in response to the response. The multifunction device 10 includes the image reading device 11, the document transport unit 12, the image forming device 13, the operation unit 17, and the control section 20 described above, as well as an image processing circuit 24 and an image memory 25.

[0019] The control unit 20 performs overall control of the multifunction device 10. The control unit 20 includes a processor as its hardware resource, memories such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and flash memory, and input / output circuits. The input / output circuits are input / output interfaces between the control unit 20 and the various units, devices, and circuits shown in FIG. 2. The flash memory stores in advance the control program to be executed by the processor. When the processor executes the control program, the hardware and software work together to realize the functions of the control unit 20. The control unit 20 includes a communication control unit 21 and a signal recognition unit 22. In addition, it is optionally equipped with a voice response recognition unit 28. The signal recognition unit 22 detects communication signals transmitted and received with the other party in facsimile communication, and stores the types of those communication signals transmitted and received until the end of communication and the time when each communication signal was detected. In this specification, the communication signals detected by the circuit signal detection unit include transmission of the destination number, ringback tone, polarity inversion, busy tone, CED signal, and communication disconnection. The communication control unit 21 controls communication with the other party via the facsimile communication circuit 26. The voice response recognition unit 28 recognizes the voice of a voice message received from the other party via the facsimile communication circuit 26.

[0020] The operation unit 17 includes a display device 17D that notifies the user of the settings and status of the multifunction device 10, and an input device 17S that accepts user operations. A liquid crystal display device, for example, is applied to the display device 17D. A touch panel, for example, is applied to the input device 17S. The operation unit 17 may also include an audio output device 17A that outputs a voice message. The audio output device 17A is composed of, for example, a memory that stores voice data, a circuit that generates a voice message based on the voice data, an amplifier circuit that outputs the voice message, and a speaker. The image processing circuit 24 processes the image read by the image reading device 11. It also performs image processing related to facsimile data received via a facsimile communication circuit 26 and print data received via a network communication circuit 27.

[0021] The image memory 25 is a memory that stores image data such as image data read by the image reading device 11, facsimile data received via the facsimile communication circuit 26, and print data received from an external device via the network communication circuit 27. The image memory 25 may be configured by combining a volatile memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and a non-volatile memory such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

[0022] The network communication circuit 27 is a circuit for communicating with external devices connected via a network, for example, information processing devices such as personal computers.

[0023] <Handling fax communication errors> Next, a description will be given of the processing of a communication error executed by the control unit 20 in this embodiment. Figures 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing the flow of the processing of a communication error executed by the control unit 20 in this embodiment. In the following description, it is assumed that the communication control unit 21 executes error processing after the facsimile communication that was called is completed, and for this purpose, the signal recognition unit 22 stores the communication signals sent and received from the time the destination number is sent until the communication is completed. In this way, if it is determined that the destination has cut off communication by refusing to receive the call, the user can be notified of the situation and prompted to take appropriate action. The end of communication includes cases where the communication is completed normally and cases where it is completed due to an error due to some cause. However, this is only one example. The communication control unit 21 may perform error processing according to the situation at each stage of the communication signal transmission and reception. In that case, the signal recognition unit 22 does not necessarily need to store the communication signals sent and received until the communication is completed.

[0024] 3, when the control unit 20 as the communication control unit 21 receives an instruction to make a call by a user's operation via the operation unit 17, the control unit 20 makes a call to the specified destination number. Then, when the communication in which the call was made ends, the control unit 20 judges whether the communication ended normally or with an error (step S11). If the communication ends normally (No in step S13), no special processing is performed for the communication error, and the processing for that communication ends. On the other hand, if the communication ends in an error (Yes in step S13), the control unit 20 as the communication control unit 21 determines whether the communication ends in an error because the calling party disconnected the communication after a predetermined period of time had elapsed (timeout) without the other party responding (step S15).

[0025] If the other party times out without a response (Yes in step S15), it is determined whether the previous communication with the same party also ended in a similar error (step S17). The previous communication result is recorded as history. If the previous communication also ended in a similar error (Yes in step S17), the control unit 20 as the communication control unit 21 increments the counter for no-response error end related to that party (step S19). Then, it is determined whether the counter value exceeds a predetermined threshold value (3 in one example) (step S21). If it exceeds the threshold value, the communication result is recorded in the history as an error end due to no response from the other party, and the information on the error end is displayed on the display device 17D of the operation unit 17 (and / or output as sound to the sound output device 17A) to end the process.

[0026] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S21 that the counter value is equal to or less than the threshold value (No in step S21), a redial call is made after a predetermined period of time has elapsed (step S27). When the time for redial call arrives, the process returns to step S11 and the same process is repeated. If it is determined in step S17 that the previous communication with the same destination was completed normally or ended in an error due to a different cause (No in step S17), the control unit 20 as the communication control unit 21 sets the no-response error end counter for that destination to 1 (step S25).Then, the process proceeds to step S27, where a redial is made after a predetermined period of time has elapsed.

[0027] Furthermore, if it is determined in the above-mentioned step S15 that the calling side has not disconnected communication due to no response from the other end (No in step S15), the control unit 20 as the communication control unit 21 determines whether a CED signal from the other end has been detected, that is, whether a response indicating that the other end is a facsimile machine has been detected (step S31). If a CED signal is detected, the communication is not terminated due to no response from the other end or due to the other end being busy, but the communication result is recorded as a history of other communication errors, and an error message is displayed on the operation unit as necessary, and other error processing is performed (step S33). Then, the error processing is terminated.

[0028] If the CED signal of the other party is not detected in the judgment of step S31 described above (No in step S31), the control unit 20 as the communication control unit 21 then judges whether the communication has ended as a result of communication being disconnected by a busy tone (step S41 shown in FIG. 4). Even if the communication has not ended in an error due to communication being disconnected due to detection of a busy tone (No in step S41), similarly to step S33 described above, the communication result history is left as a communication error other than the error ending due to no response from the other party or the error ending due to the other party being busy. Also, if necessary, an error process is performed, such as displaying an error message on the operation unit (step S42). Then, the error process is terminated.

[0029] On the other hand, if the error termination is due to the detection of a busy tone in the judgment of step S41 (Yes in step S41), the control unit 20 as the communication control unit 21 judges whether the communication was terminated by the other side due to the call rejection by a fixed message response as follows. First, it is judged whether the busy tone was detected after dialing the last digit of the destination number, or whether the busy tone was detected before dialing the last digit (step S43). If the busy tone was detected before dialing the last digit, it is judged that the communication error is caused by the calling side determining that the line is busy. Then, a process is performed to notify the user by redialing after a predetermined time or by displaying a message that the line is busy on the operation unit (step S44). Then, the error processing is terminated. A line is busy when, for example, all of the multiple outside lines that the facsimile machine can use for calling are in use and there are no free lines, or when the lines of the communication service provider are congested and there are no lines that can be assigned to calling.

[0030] If a busy tone is detected after dialing the last digit in the determination in step S43 described above (Yes in step S43), the control unit 20 as the communication control unit 21 then determines whether or not a polarity reversal of the other party is detected before the communication is disconnected (step S46). A polarity reversal is a signal indicating that the other party who answered the call has lifted the handset. If a polarity reversal is detected before the communication is disconnected (Yes in step S46), the control unit 20 as the signal recognition unit 22 provides the time interval from the time when the polarity reversal is detected to the time when a busy tone is detected as the subject of determination in step S55 described later (disconnection response period) (step S47).

[0031] The end of the disconnection response period may be set as the time of communication disconnection. This is the basic mode (embodiment 1). In contrast, a more preferable mode (embodiment 2) is the time of detection of a busy tone. This is because the purpose of step S55 described later is to determine whether or not the incoming call is rejected by a fixed message response. When the fixed message ends, a busy tone is detected, and communication is then disconnected. An attempt is made to identify an event as close as possible to the start and end of the fixed message from the detected communication signal. Therefore, the time of detection of a busy tone is adopted as the time of the end of the fixed message.

[0032] Meanwhile, the process of steps S46 to S53 described later attempts to identify an event as close as possible to the start of the fixed message. In the basic mode (embodiment 1), the start of the disconnection response period is set to the time when all digits of the destination number have been sent. According to this mode, when a call is disconnected because a busy tone is detected without detecting polarity inversion or a ringback tone described later for an outgoing call, the communication control unit can determine whether the destination has automatically responded by obtaining the period from the time when all digits of the destination number have been sent to the time when communication disconnection or a busy tone is detected based on the record made by the signal recognition unit. In a more preferred embodiment, when polarity reversal is detected before communication is disconnected, the start of the disconnection response period is set to the detection time of polarity reversal (Embodiment 3). According to this embodiment, when a busy tone is detected and disconnected after a polarity reversal indicating communication connection with the other party is detected in response to a call, the signal recognition unit determines the time interval from the polarity reversal to communication disconnection or the detection of a busy tone, so that the communication control unit can determine whether the other party has automatically responded or not.

[0033] Furthermore, in the case where a polarity reversal is not detected before communication is disconnected but a ringback tone is detected, the start of the disconnection response period is set to the time point of detection of the ringback tone (Embodiment 4). According to this embodiment, when a ringback tone is detected in response to a call and then a busy tone is detected and disconnected, the signal recognition unit detects the period from the detection of the ringback tone to the communication disconnection or the detection of the busy tone, so that the communication control unit can determine whether the other party has automatically responded or not.

[0034] In the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, the second to fourth embodiments are shown in combination, but it would be easy for a person skilled in the art to understand the first to fourth embodiments from the flowchart. The following description will be given with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 4. If a polarity inversion is detected before the communication is disconnected (Yes in step S46), the control unit 20 as the signal recognition unit 22 applies the time interval from the detection of the polarity inversion until the detection of the busy tone to the subject of the determination in step S55 described later (disconnection response period) (step S47). If a polarity inversion is not detected before the communication is disconnected (No in step S46), it is considered that a fixed message is being transmitted in the service of the communication service provider. In that case, the control unit 20 as the signal recognition unit 22 determines the start point of the disconnection response time depending on whether or not a ringback tone is detected before the signal is disconnected (step S49). If a ringback tone is detected before the signal is disconnected (Yes in step S49), the time interval from the detection of the ringback tone until the detection of the busy tone is applied to the disconnection response period described above (step S51). If the ringback tone is not detected before the signal is disconnected (No in step S49), the time interval from the time when all digits of the destination number are sent to the time when a busy tone is detected is applied to the disconnection response period (step S53). Note that, as described above, the end of the disconnection response period may be set as the time of communication disconnection instead of the time of busy tone detection, which corresponds to the first embodiment.

[0035] The disconnection response period obtained in step S47, S51, or S53 as described above is assumed to be the period during which the fixed message is played when an incoming call is rejected. The control unit 20 as the communication control unit 21 refers to the history of communication results so far, and judges whether the communication has been continuously disconnected from the same destination more than a predetermined number of times, and whether the variation in the disconnection response period is within a predetermined range (step S55). The predetermined number of times for judging whether the communication has been continuously disconnected is three times, for example. The range value for judging the variation is two seconds, for example. That is, it is judged whether the variation is within two seconds. Examples of the assumed disconnection response period are 3 to 60 seconds for the disconnection response period obtained in step S47, 6 to 60 seconds for the disconnection response period obtained in step S51, and 3 to 60 seconds for the disconnection response period obtained in step S53. It is assumed that the fixed message is 3 seconds at the shortest. In addition, this is an example of values ​​assuming that if the destination does not perform polarity inversion, the destination or communication service provider will start the fixed message as soon as possible, 3 seconds after detecting the dial tone of the calling party.

[0036] If the variation in the disconnection response period each time is within a predetermined range (Yes in step S55), the control unit 20 as the communication control unit 21 determines that the communication is disconnected after the other party plays a fixed message. For example, it determines that the call is disconnected after a fixed voice guidance such as "Please call back after notifying the other party of your phone number, such as by dialing 186." is automatically played. Then, it presumes that the communication error is caused by the other party's refusal to receive the call, and performs error processing (step S57). Then, the error processing ends. On the other hand, if the communication disconnection from the same other party does not occur consecutively more than a predetermined number of times, or if the variation in the disconnection response period exceeds a predetermined range (No in step S55), it determines that the communication is normally detected as a busy tone, performs error processing for that (step S59), and ends the error processing. In addition, since it is unlikely that a fixed message longer than 60 seconds is played, even if the disconnection response period exceeds a predetermined upper limit, it may be determined that the communication is not disconnected due to the other party's refusal to receive the call (No in step S55), and performs error processing for normal busy tone detection.

[0037] The following measures can be considered as a process for a communication error caused by the other party's refusal of the call. First, when the other party's number is sent and a busy tone is detected within a predetermined time range after redialing, the user is notified of the situation by displaying a message on the operation unit 17 as a call refusal rather than a call busy. According to this embodiment, if the other party may have hung up after playing an automatic answering message, the call refusal may be due to the own-station phone number withheld, so the user can be prompted to check the settings and take appropriate measures. Alternatively, when making a next call to the same party, including redialing, a setting that forcibly notifies the own station number, for example, a specific number "186" may be added and dialed. According to this embodiment, if the other party may have hung up after playing an automatic answering message, the call can be confirmed as to whether the call refusal is due to the own station phone number withheld by making a call with a setting that forcibly notifies the own station phone number during subsequent redialing. If the call is rejected due to the number withheld, this measure can be used to avoid the call refusal. However, the call may be rejected even if the call is dialed with "186" added. For example, this may be the case when the other party intentionally or erroneously registers the caller's number in a nuisance call blocking service. Furthermore, if the same result occurs even when "186" is added, it is possible that the caller has not been assigned a 050 number dedicated to IP telephones and the caller number cannot be notified. Therefore, it is possible to take measures such as displaying on the operation unit 17 to inform the user that, if necessary, they can request the telephone company to assign a telephone number. According to this embodiment, if the call rejection is not resolved even when a call is made with the setting to forcibly notify the own telephone number, the user can be prompted to check the settings related to the call rejection with the other party or the communication service provider, and the appropriate measures can be taken.

[0038] In addition, in the embodiment having the voice response recognition unit 28, when a response message is played from the other party, voice recognition may be applied to the response message, and when a specific word such as "186" or "caller number" is recognized, a display such as "caller number required" may be displayed on the operation unit 17. Furthermore, the response message of the other party may be stored in a memory so that the user can check the content. FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts relating to the embodiment having the voice response recognition unit 28. FIG. 5 shows an example of a process executed by the control unit 20 as the voice response recognition unit 28. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the process executed by the control unit 20 instead of FIG. 4 when the voice response recognition unit 28 is provided.

[0039] As shown in Fig. 5, the control unit 20 as the voice response recognition unit 28 records the line sound during the period from the call to the detection of the busy tone (the loop following Yes in step S71) and performs voice recognition (step S73). Then, it is determined whether or not the voice-recognized line sound contains a specific phrase such as "186" or "caller number" as described above (step S75). If it is determined that the specific phrase is included (Yes in step S75), the determination result is stored in memory to be transmitted to the communication control unit 21 in the process of Fig. 6 described later (step S77). Note that if a busy tone is not detected after the call and the communication is disconnected, the voice response recognition unit 28 may discard the line sound recorded after the call and the determination result.

[0040] FIG. 6 shows a process instead of FIG. 4 in an embodiment including the voice response recognition unit 28, and the processes corresponding to those in FIG. 4 are denoted by corresponding reference numerals. The process shown in FIG. 6 includes the process of step S45 not shown in FIG. 4. In step S45, the communication control unit 21 refers to the determination result stored in the memory in step S77 of FIG. 5. Then, it checks whether the voice response recognition unit 28 has determined that the line tone contains a specific phrase. If the determination result that the line tone contains a specific phrase is not stored in the memory (Yes in step S45), the process of steps S46 to S59 related to acquisition and determination of the disconnection response period from step S46 onwards is executed as in FIG. 4. On the other hand, if the determination result that the line tone contains a specific phrase is stored (No in step S45), the process of steps S46 to S55 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S57, where error processing is executed assuming that the communication error is caused by the other party rejecting the call (step S57).

[0041] According to this aspect, when there is a possibility that the other party has disconnected the call after playing the automatic response message, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not to reject the call by recognizing the content of the automatic response message. If the user is allowed to check the saved voice, when the user authentication is performed and a facsimile is sent, it is preferable that only the user authenticated by the same user authentication is allowed to check the voice.

[0042] The above is an example of the process for a communication error caused by the other party rejecting the call. On the other hand, as a process for a communication error caused by a normal busy tone detection, it is possible to record the other party busy in the communication result history and redial after a predetermined period of time has passed, or to display on the operation unit 17 that the other party is busy and a communication error has occurred.

[0043] It should be understood that the present disclosure also includes any combination of the above-described aspects. In addition to the above-described embodiment, various modifications of the present disclosure are possible. These modifications should not be interpreted as not belonging to the scope of the present disclosure. The invention according to the present disclosure should include all modifications that are equivalent to the scope of the claims and that belong to the scope of the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 10: multifunction device, 11: image reading device, 12: document transport unit, 13: image forming device, 14: feed tray, 15: manual feed tray, 16a, 16b, 16c: discharge tray, 17: operation unit, 17A: voice output device, 17D: display device, 17S: input device, 20: control unit, 21: communication control unit, 22: signal recognition unit, 24: image processing circuit, 25: image memory, 26: facsimile communication circuit, 26C: call circuit unit, 26S: line signal detection unit, 27: network communication circuit, 28: voice response recognition unit

Claims

1. A call origination circuit unit for transmitting the destination number and making a call; a line signal detection unit for detecting a communication signal transmitted and received after the transmission; a signal recognition unit for detecting the type and time interval of the communication signal; A facsimile communication device is provided with a communication control unit which, when a busy tone is detected after a call is made to a specific destination and the communication is disconnected by the destination repeatedly, determines that the communication error is due to the destination refusal to receive the call if the disconnect response period until the communication is disconnected is within a predetermined range for each call.

2. An operation unit for providing information related to communication to a user, 2. The facsimile communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication control section, when determining that the call is rejected, causes the operation unit to record the call rejection of the other party or to provide information about the call rejection.

3. 2. The facsimile communication device according to claim 1, wherein when the line signal detection unit detects a polarity reversal in any call before detecting the busy tone, the signal recognition unit adopts the period from the detection of the polarity reversal to the detection of the busy tone as the disconnect response period.

4. 2. The facsimile communication device according to claim 1, wherein when the line signal detection unit does not detect a polarity inversion before detecting the busy tone but detects a ringback tone in any call, the signal recognition unit adopts the period from the detection of the ringback tone to the detection of the busy tone as the disconnect response period.

5. 2. The facsimile communication device according to claim 1, wherein if the line signal detection unit detects neither polarity inversion nor ringback tone before detecting the busy tone, the signal recognition unit adopts the period from completion of sending the destination number to detection of the busy tone as the disconnect response period.

6. 3. The facsimile communication device according to claim 2, wherein the communication control section, when determining that the incoming call is rejected, causes the operation unit to provide information that prompts the user to notify the facsimile's telephone number and to make a call to the other party.

7. 3. The facsimile communication device according to claim 2, wherein, when the communication control section determines that the incoming call is rejected, the communication control section controls the call origination circuit section to make a call with a setting for notifying the facsimile device's own telephone number.

8. 8. The facsimile communication device according to claim 7, wherein the communication control unit causes the operation unit to provide information prompting a user to have the other party or a communication service provider check the settings related to the call rejection when the call is rejected despite the call being made to the call generating circuit unit with a setting to notify the facsimile's own telephone number.

9. A voice response recognition unit that recognizes a voice when the line signal detection unit detects a voice from the other party, 2. The facsimile communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication control unit determines the call to be rejected when the voice response recognition unit recognizes a voice related to the call rejection in addition to the determination of the disconnection response period.

10. A control unit for controlling communication of the facsimile device a step of transmitting a destination number using a calling circuit unit and making a call to the destination; detecting a communication signal transmitted and received after the destination number is sent using a line signal detection unit; detecting the type and time interval of a communication signal transmitted or received; a step of redialing when the communication is disconnected due to incomplete communication; a step of determining whether or not a disconnection response period from the completion of the transmission of the destination number to the disconnection of the communication is within a predetermined range when a busy tone is detected after the completion of the transmission of the destination number and the communication is disconnected repeatedly; and determining that the communication error is due to the other party's refusal to receive the call if any of the disconnection response periods is within the predetermined range.

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