(15)
`United States Patent
`4,868,848
`(11] Patent Number:
`Sep. 19, 1989
`[45] Date of Patent:
`Magnusson etal.
`
`[54] COMPUTER OPERATED SYSTEM FOR
`DIALING TELEPHONE NUMBERS
`
`[75]
`
`Inventors:
`
`Joseph W. Magnusson; Dennis W.
`Dufford, both of Noblesville, Ind.
`[73] Assignee: GTE North Incorporated, Westfield,
`Ind.
`
`[21] Appl. .No.: 135,800
`[22] Filed:
`Dec. 21, 1987
`[S2] Trt. C14 on.eecseceressescncsnenseenscnseansrens HO4M 1/27
`
`[52] US. CL oeeececeneerecsesteeesereteeaee 379/355; 379/216
`[58] Field of Search............... 379/355, 354, 356, 361,
`379/216
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`4,731,826
`3/1988 Daiie .......scsscseesscserseeene 379/355 X
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`0206391 12/1986 European Pat. Off............. 379/355
`2583600 12/1986 France ........ssserssscsseereares 379/355
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`Peter H. Lewis, The New York Times, “Phone Book
`for the PC”, 4/12/88, Section C,p. 2.
`
`Primary Examiner—James L. Dwyer
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—J. Stephen Yeo
`
`ABSTRACT
`[57]
`A computer operated telephone dialing system has a
`program that selects a telephone number from a direc-
`tory of names and corresponding telephone numbers.
`The program sends an off-hook instruction and a select
`flag to the computer’s printer port, followed by a hex-
`idecimal code sequence representing digits of the tele-
`phone number. A dialing circuit coupled to said printer
`port is activated by the select flag and, in response to
`the hexidecimal code sequence, provides DTMF dial-
`ing signals to telephone lines. The program then sends
`an on-hooksignal, allowing a telephone handset to be
`used.
`
`3 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets
`
`400
`
`113
`
`
`|
`
`ie
`
`416
`
`TO TELEPHONE
`LINES 115
`
`
`
`414
`
`DIALING
`CIRCUIT
`
`PRINTER
`
`APPL-1008 / Page 1 of 5
`Apple v. Uniloc
`
`APPL-1008 / Page 1 of 5
`Apple v. Uniloc
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 19, 1989
`
`Sheet 1 of 2
`
`4,868,848
`
`
`
`N
`
`
`
`DIALING
`CIRCUIT
`
`100
`
`TO TELEPHONE
`LINES 415
`
`ie
`
`a
`
`120
`\
`
`424
`
`(1
`
`TELEPHONE
`LINES 115
`
`122
`
`
`
`
`OTMF
`GENERATOR
`
`MUTE
`
`XTL
`
`TI
`
`GND
`
`APPL-1008 / Page 2 of 5
`
`APPL-1008 / Page 2 of 5
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 19, 1989
`
`Sheet 2 of 2
`
`4,368,848
`
`
`
`STEP 1:
`
`
`
`INVOKE THE PHONE PROGRAN WITH A
`NAME TO SEARCH FOR.
` EXAMPLE: c:>ph SMITH JOHN
`
`
`DISTANCE DIAL-OUT CALL.
`
`
`
`
`
`STEP 2: THE PHONE PROGRAM COMES UP WITH
`
`
`ALL NAME MATCHES IN IT'S DATA BASE,
`AND DISPLAYS THEM WITH THEIR
`NUMBERS.
`
`800-555-1212
`EXAMPLE:
`JOHN SMITH
`JOHN H. SMITH 900-111-2222
`
`STEP 3: AFTER THE USER SELECTS ONE OF THE
`PERSONS LISTED, THE PROGRAM THEN
`EXTRACTS THAT PHONE NUMBER FROM
`THE NAME STRING.
`EXAMPLE: 800-555-1212
`
`STEP 4: ONCE THE NUMBER HAS BEEN EXTRACTED,
`THE PROGRAM STRIPS THE HYPHENS OUT
`TO LEAVE ONLY 40 DIGITS IN THE NUMBER.
`EXAMPLE: 8005551212
`
`STEP 5: NOW THAT A DIGIT-ONLY STRING HAS
`BEEN OBTAINED, THE PROGRAM WILL
`COMPARE THE NUMBER AGAINST A
`“TRANSLATION TABLE” WHICH IS A
`TABLE CONTAINING DIFFERENT NUMBER
`FORMATS.
`IF THE NUMBER WAS
`SOMEWHERE WITHIN A PBX LOCATION,
`FOR EXAMPLE, ONLY THE LAST FOUR
`DIGITS WOULD NEED TO BE DIALED.
`THE PROGRAM DETERMINES WHAT
`DIGITS ARE NECESSARY TO KEEP.
`
`EXAMPLE: NUMBER 8005551242
`~DETERMINED TO BE ALONG
`
`STEP 6: AFTER THE PROGRAM HAS DETERMINED
`HOW MANY DIGITS WERE NEEDED TO
`DIAL THE NUMBER SUCCESSFULLY,IT
`NOW DELETES THE DIGITS UP 10 THE
`FIRST SIGNIFICANT ONE.
`EXAMPLE: THE NUMBER 3178966000 HAS
`BEEN DETERMINED TO NEED
`ONLY THE LAST 4 DIGITS, THEN
`4 GET: 6000 AS THE NUMBER
`
`NOW.
`
`STEP 7:
`
`THE PROGRAM NOW GOES BACK T0 THE
`TRANSLATION TABLE AND DETERMINES
`WHETHER OR NOT THE NUMBER NEEDS
`TO BE PREFIXED WITH ANY DIGIT(S).
`EXAMPLE: 8005551212 IS AN OUTSIDE
`NUMBER, NEED TO PREFIX IT
`WITH A "9" TO DIAL OUT.
`WE GET 98005554212
`
`STEP 8:
`
`NOW THAT THE NUMBER 1S READY TO
`DIAL, THE PHONE PROGRAM SENDS
`OUT THE HEXADECIMAL VALUE OF AN
`“OFF-HOOK" TO THE DIALER. THIS
`OPENS THE PHONE LINE TO DIAL 10.
`
`NOW THE PROGRAM SENDS THE DIALER
`THE HEXADECIMAL TONE GENERATION
`FOR EACH DIGIT IN THE NUMBER
`ONE-BY-ONE. THE PROGRAM SENDS
`THE TONE-ON SIGNAL, AND WAITS 55
`MILLISECONDS TO SEND THE TONE-OFF.
`SIGNAL. THIS PROCESS IS REPEATED
`FOR EACH DIGIT IN THE NUMBER UNTIL
`ALL HAVE BEEN SENT.
`
`ANYG. Z.
`
`USER HAS CONTROL OF THE PHONE.
`
`THIS 1S THE LAST STEP, THE PROGRAM
`SENDS A HEXADECIMAL CODE WHICH IS
`EQUIVALENT TO AN ON-HOOK TO STOP
`THE DIALING SEQUENCE. NOW THE
`
`APPL-1008 / Page 3of 5
`
`APPL-1008 / Page 3 of 5
`
`

`

`1
`
`4,868,848
`
`COMPUTER OPERATED SYSTEM FOR DIALING
`TELEPHONE NUMBERS
`
`This invention pertains to automatic telephone dial-
`ing, and more particularly is concerned with automatic
`dialing from a personal computer.
`It is known for a personal computer to have the capa-
`bility to automatically access a telephoneline andto dial
`a stored number. Often the dialing is part of a data
`transfer sequence. In other cases, the dialing is in re-
`sponse to a numberselected from a storedlist or direc-
`tory. Modems have been used for both applications. In
`somesituations a modem is not otherwise required. This
`is true wherea digital transmission networkis available
`(e.g. a LAN) or where only the call up feature is neces-
`sary. It is desirable to provide means to automatically
`dial selected phone numbers without the need of a
`modem.
`
`SUMMARYOF THE INVENTION
`
`Briefly, according to one aspect of the invention, a
`computer operated telephone dialing system is pro-
`vided. A computer has a program that fetches a tele-
`phone numberfrom a directory. The program sends an
`off-hook instruction and a select flag to the computer’s
`printer port, followed by a hexidecimal code sequence
`representing the digits of the number. A dialing circuit
`coupledto the printer port is activated by the select flag
`and,
`in response to the hexidecimal code sequence,
`provides DTMF dialing signals to telephone lines. At
`the end of the sequence the program sends an on-hook
`signal.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
`
`FIG.1 is a block diagram of a computer system em-
`bodying the invention;
`FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing of a dialing circuit
`which is part of the computer system; and
`FIG.3 is a flowchart of a program whichis part of
`the computer system.
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`INVENTION
`
`Turningfirst to FIG. 1 there is seen a block diagram
`of a computer system 100 embodying the invention. A
`computer 111, such as an IBM PC (TM)personal com-
`puter, has a printer port 112, which is designed to be an
`interface between the computer and a printer. As a
`feature of the invention a dialing circuit 113 is con-
`nected to printer port 112. Printer 114 may be con-
`nected in parallel to the dialing circuit 113.
`Thedialing circuit 113 has an output coupled to the
`tip-and-ring wires of a local telephone line 115. A tee
`connector 116 may be used so a telephone 117 can use
`the sameline.
`Printer port 112, typically, has twenty five consecu-
`tively numbered contacts. Contacts 2 through 9 are the
`interface of an 8-bit data bus. Contact 17 is for the “se-
`lect” flag. Contact 25 is ground, contact 13 is autofeed,
`and contact 15 is error.
`Referring to FIG.2, the dialing circuit 113 contains a
`dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) generator 118, such
`as a TP5089 integrated circuit available from National
`Semiconductor Corporation. The input to DTMF gen-
`erator 118 is coupled to the computer’s 8-bit data bus,
`via contacts 2 through 9. Voltage regulator 119, cou-
`pled to contacts 11 and 25 providesfive volts to DTIMF
`
`2
`generator 118. A 3.58 MHzcrystal 119 provides a refer-
`ence frequency to DTMFgenerator 118. The output of
`DTMFgenerator 118 is coupled to the tip-and-ring
`wires 115 through coupling transformer 120 and DC
`blocking capacitor 121. A transistor 122 and resistor 123
`on the primary side of transformer 120 limits the level of
`the DTMFdialing signals. Autofeed contact 13 is con-
`nected by dialing circuit 113 to error contact 15.
`The computer has, as part of its data base, a phone
`directory, wherein there is a listing of strings, each
`string having a name and a corresponding 10-digit hy-
`phenated telephone number, e.g. Sandra E. Curelop
`XXX—XKXK—KXXX,
`In addition to the directory data base, the computer
`has a dialing program following the flowchart of FIG.
`3.
`
`20
`
`25
`
`40
`
`45
`
`35
`
`60
`
`65
`
`In operation, the user selects a name from the data
`base. The program extracts the number from the corre-
`sponding string and modifies it. First the hyphens are
`deleted. The data base contains a translator table to
`which the program compares the number.If the call is
`found to be long distance,all ten digits are retained. If
`the call is found to be local, the three digit area code is
`stripped and the last seven digits of the number are
`retained. In both cases, additional access numbers may
`be
`prefixed,
`eg.
`OXXXXXXX
`and
`9IXXXXXXXXKXX.If, however, the call is internal,
`e.g. placed and received within a commonprivate auto-
`matic branch exchange (PABX), only the last four dig-
`its are retained.
`Thedialing program converts each digit of the modi-
`fied number into hexidecimal notation.
`Thedialing program now sends,via the printer port,
`a select flag which activates the dialer circuit 113 and
`deactivates the parallel printer 114, and a hexidecimal
`code of an “off-hook”instruction for dialer circuit 113
`to open the telephone line 115. For each digit of the
`numberto be called the dialing program sends a tone-on
`instruction, followed by the hexidecimal code of the
`digit , followed in fifty-five milliseconds by a tone-off
`instruction. During the fifty-five millisecond interval,
`between the tone-on and tone-off instructions, the dialer
`circuit 113 generates DTMFdialing signals correspond-
`ing to the digit of the number being sent. These steps are
`repeated until all digits of the modified number are
`converted to a hexidecimal sequence and sent as DTMF
`signals to the telephone line 115. The dialing program
`then. sends a hexidecimal coded instruction for “on-
`hook”, freeing the telephone for use.
`The best mode and preferred embodiment of the
`‘invention has been described above. Various modifica-
`tions and equivalents to the program anddialing circuit
`will now be apparentto those skilled in the art. Accord-
`ingly the scope ofthe inventionis defined by the claims.
`Weclaim:
`1. A telephone dialing system comprising:
`a. a computer having a printer port;
`b. a data base, accessible by said computer containing
`a directory of names and corresponding telephone
`numbers;
`c. program means for selecting a name and corre-
`sponding number from said directory; for sending
`an off-hook instruction and a select flag to said
`printer port, for sending to said printer port a hex-
`idecimal code sequence representing digits of the
`corresponding numberand for sending an on-hook
`instruction to said printer port; and
`
`APPL-1008 / Page 4 of 5
`
`APPL-1008 / Page 4 of 5
`
`

`

`4,868,848
`
`3
`d. a dialing circuit coupled to said printer port and
`adapted to be coupled to telephonelines, said dial-
`ing circuit activated by said select flag and provid-
`ing DTMFdialing signals corresponding to said
`hexidecimal code sequence.
`2. The telephone dialing computer system of claim 1
`which further includes software means for determining
`if a corresponding riumber is long distance, local, or
`internal, and wherein said program means modifies the 10
`
`4
`numberof digits of a corresponding number in accor-
`dance with said determination.
`3. The telephone computersystem of claim 1 wherein
`said dialing circuit includes a DTMF generator for
`generating DTMFdialing signals in response to said
`hexidecimal sequence, a transformer arranged to couple
`said DTMFdialing signals to a telephone line, and
`meansfor limiting the level of said DTMFdialing sig-
`nals.
`.
`*
`*
`*
`*
`*
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`35
`
`65
`
`APPL-1008 / Page 5 of 5
`
`APPL-1008 / Page 5 of 5
`
`