[54] TELEPHONE LINE ACTIVITY MONITOR
[75] Inventors: Peter F. Theis, McHenry; Gregory D.
Buchberger, Mount Prospect, both of 111.
[73] Assignee: Morgan Industries, Inc., Curnee, 111. [21] Appl. No.: 541,366 [22] Filed: Oct. 12, 1983
[51] Int. CI." H04M 15/32
[52] U.S. CI 179/7.1 R; 179/84 VF
[58] Field of Search 179/7.1 R, 18 B, 7 R,
179/18 AB, 18 FA, 175.2 C, 8 A, 84 VF;
381/56, 60
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
3,806,665 4/1974 Goldberg 179/99
4,270,024 5/1981 Theis et al 179/8 A
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Operator Position Assistance System, J. R. Cass, A. D. Smith, Electrical Communication, vol. 55, No. 3, 1980, pp. 169-176.
Primary Examiner— Stafford D. Schreyer
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Willian Brinks Olds Hofer Gilson & Lione Ltd.
[57] ABSTRACT
A line activity monitor for a plurality of telephone lines operates to record a log for each call indicative of the time at which the telephone line entered each of a plurality of states during the call. In this way, complete information regarding line usage is recorded for each call, and the use of averages or summary statistics is avoided. Detailed analysis can then be applied to the information contained in the logs, tailored to the individual application. The disclosed line activity monitor also acts to record a coded signal with each log. This coded signal is generated by an operator following the answering of an incoming call, and can be used to indicate the purpose of the call to further enhance the line usage statistics developed from the information in the logs. The disclosed line activity monitor also distinguishes between the presence and absence of voice during the time the line is in an off-hook condition in order to enable the effective tabulation of nonproductive periods, whether or not the A and Al control leads are used to place the line on hold.
21 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures
