Telephone answering machine with an erasable message recorded on the

Abstract

A telephone answering machine which upon initial power-up plays back a message recorded by the manufacturer on the incoming message tape. This message may be in the form of advertising, operational instructions, or the like. Subsequent use of the machine causes the initial message to be erased. The message is recorded at the beginning of the incoming message tape together with a pre-defined tone. Upon initial power-up, the incoming message tape is rewound to its home position by the microcomputer of the telephone answering machine and, if the tone is detected, the machine automatically plays back the recorded message. At the end of the playback, the incoming message tape is returned to its home position and the telephone answering machine is set by the microcomputer to its auto answer mode, ready to respond to the first telephone call. The first telephone call to be received and recorded on the incoming message tape causes the initial message and the tone to be erased, so that thereafter the machine operates in a conventional manner. However, the user can repeat the initial message prior to the receipt of the first telephone call by pressing the message recover button of the machine.