For cost reasons, today's home telephone systems share few features with office PBXs. Systems for small offices have more features, but are priced out of proportion to their complexity.
I propose a sophisticated telephone system suitable for use in upscale homes and small offices, providing all the important features of office telephone systems as well as some new features which will be especially valuable in the target markets.
This phone system is compatible with typical existing house wiring installations. These are typified by a single pair of wires connected to each telephone unit in a star, daisy-chain, or mixed configuration. Supporting multiple independent analog telephone connections over this type of wiring is impractical. I propose using a digital scheme to distribute up to four telephone connections among the various instruments on the line. If it is practical to distribute more than four connections at a reasonable cost, then this should be considered.
A base unit will be installed at the point of entry for connections to the outside telephone system. This unit will connect to up to four outside telephone lines and convert those analog lines to the single digital line inside the home or office, creating up to four virtual connections over one pair of wires.
Telephone instruments designed for this system will be able to communicate directly with the base unit over one or more of the four virtual connections. In this way, each instrument can select a line for incoming or outgoing calls, create conferences, and so on. As with popular hotel telephone systems, it will be possible to provide a "data jack" on each instrument for the connection of conventional analog telephones, modems, fax machines, or other telephone accessories.
It will also be possible to connect accessories to the shared line through a simple dedicated device that converts the digital signal to an analog jack. A device like this could be designed with no physical controls at all, programmed remotely by a telephone instrument or some function of the base unit.
So far, what I've described is basically similar to any office phone system. However, conditions in the home are very different from those in an office. For example, an incoming phone call may be intended for anyone in the home, and can be answered by anyone in the home. The features of the proposed system reflect these differences, and make the system a better fit for the home market.
Answering machines are an important part of today's home telephone systems, much as voice-mail systems are important in office telephone systems. While a voice-mail system is generally viewed as a necessary evil, answering machines are appreciated by members of the household as well as callers. In my opinion, the difference is that answering machines are simple enough to be understood and appreciated, while voice-mail systems are thought to be more complex than their utility can justify.
The proposed system will include a fully integrated digital answering machine, controllable from any extension. In the home environment, the answering machine will not require passwords, and will generally be configured with a single mailbox.
A special feature of the answering machine function will enable the speakers on all extension phones (except for those in use) when an incoming call is picked up by the answering machine. This allows a listener to pick up the extension if they wish to speak to the person leaving the message, Normally in this case the message will not be saved.
Incoming calls on specific phone lines can be directed first to one or more extensions. After a programmable number of rings, calls will then be transferred to a different set of extensions, or to the answering machine, or to an outside number. For example, if a member of the household has a home office with an assigned phone line for the office, incoming calls on that line will ring first in the home office for two rings. If there is no answer, then all extensions in the house will ring for three more rings, then the answering machine will pick up the line.
Calls on each incoming line can be programmed to send a page via commercial paging services for calls that are not answered, answered on a non-preferred extension, or answered by any extension.
Today's home phone systems do not support intercom operation. The proposed system will provide several useful intercom modes, including dialing specific extensions, paging specific extensions, as well as group and global dial and page operations.
The link from the base unit to each extension will support CD-quality stereo audio. Extensions may support stereo speakers and microphones for use within the house or office. The base unit will include a set of stereo input jacks for the connection of a radio or CD player for music on hold, or for distribution via this system to other locations in the house or office.
It should be possible for almost all instruments and adapters in the system to derive power from the base unit over the existing wiring. Further research is required to determine how much power can be safely carried on any existing wiring installation. Some devices, like cordless telephones, will require more power than can be derived from the line; these will be powered by an AC adapter. If the total number of devices exceeds the power available from the base unit, the system should handle this condition gracefully. Devices should communicate their power requirements to the base unit at the time of connection, and the base unit should authorize them to power up fully, or not, depending on its capabilities.
All of the features of this system will work equally well with cordless phones. Special features for cordless operation should include support for headsets. The stereo audio play-through capability can be especially useful here, allowing a user to listen to the radio or to a CD when not talking on the telephone.
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