This invention relates to telephone systems and, more particularly, to a public payphone telephone system providing remote access by telephone devices to telephone lines comprising, a plurality of public telephone access modules disposed in separated locations and operably connected to a telephone line for receiving remote telephone transmissions and for connecting them to the telephone line, each of the public telephone access modules including visible indicia of its presence and location and first interface module means for wirelessly transmitting and receiving telephone communications by means of a beam of infrared energy; and, remote telephone interface means operably associated with each of the telephone devices for selectively interfacing between the telephone device and the public telephone access modules, each remote telephone interface means including second interface module means for transmitting and receiving telephone communications by means of the beam of infrared energy.
The telephone has been with us for a long time and has provided a great benefit and service to a great many people. Over the years, additional capabilities have been added to provide services to more people. For example, as depicted in FIG. 1, the most common conventional telephone is a unitary unit 10 connected by so-called "tip" and "ring" wires 12 to the telephone line 14. In many cases, of course, the copper wires that previously comprised virtually all of the telephone line 14 have been replaced by fiber optic cables and high frequency satellite links. For the purposes herein, however, it is sufficient and convenient to depict them as solid wires which, ultimately, lead back to a central office of the telephone company where switching and billing can take place. The unit 10 contains a "touch tone" input pad 16 which allows the user to dial a telephone number or apply information to the telephone line 14 by means of variations in audible tones associated with the various buttons comprising the pad 16 in lieu of the rotary mechanical switching mechanism that was used previously. There is also a handset 18 including a speaker which is placed over the user's ear and a microphone which is placed in front of the user's mouth.
Recently, the so-called remote telephone, generally indicated as 20 in FIG. 1, has become popular. With such a device, the base station 22 is connected by the wires 12 to the telephone line 14. The base station 20, in turn, is connected to the handset 18' by a radio frequency link instead of wires. The user is thus free to walk about with the handset 18' and call out, or answer incoming calls, from anywhere within the transmitting radius of the base station 22. A variation of the remote telephone 20 is the so-called "cellular telephone" (not shown). These are popular among users who need to, or simply desire to, make and receive telephone calls from their car, boat, airplane, or the like. While the remote telephone 20 has a limited transmission power, centralized within each adjoining "cell" of the cellular system is a transmitter/receiver operating under license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and, therefore, able to transmit with greater power. While cellular telephones are very handy, they are generally impractical for high-volume common usage. For one thing, the individual units carried in the vehicle are quite expensive. Not only that, the number of people who can be accessing each cell at one time is relatively small. At that point, the time-sharing arrangement employed becomes saturated and no further calls can be accommodated. The problem would, of course, be exacerbated when one applies the current growth rate of cellular phone usage with the fixed availability of the equipment. As stated in a recent article, cellular phones also pose several safety questions. What if you are too busy negotiating a business deal to notice a car crossing in front of you? How can you keep your eyes on the road while dialing? Driver inattention is a leading cause of auto accidents. Insurance companies, the American Automobile Association, and the owner's manual that comes with some cellular phone all recommend pulling off the road to talk.
Finally, there is the public telephone or so-called "pay phone" 24 of FIG. 1. While pay phones and the conventional "telephone booth" of old have been updated in their dress and internal components, the underlying functional aspects of pay phones have not changed appreciably since their inception. Basically, there is a unit 10' having a touchtone pad 16 and a handset 18 connected to the telephone line 14 by wires 12. To this is added a coin slot 26 by means of which the call being made can be paid for in cash. More recently, the capability of inputting a billing number into the pad 16 has been provided along with pay phones that read the magnetic strips on credit cards for direct credit billing.
The story of the pay phone is a sad one. The operating companies spend vast amounts to collect and process the coins involved as well as to repair damage. While coin theft is sometimes the underlying motivation, vandals cause millions of dollars yearly in damage to pay phones, in general, for reasons nobody knows or understands. Pay phones have been strengthened in their construction so as to become electronic strong boxes, to little avail. As a consequence, there are fewer public phone booths available for use than in years past --particularly in outside locations. It is not uncommon after searching for some time just to find a phone booth, to find that the handset has been ripped out or chewing gum forced into the coin slot, rendering the instrument useless. The same is true for the free emergency phone boxes placed along side major highways at intervals to provide telephone access to stranded motorists. Vandals seem to take some sort of fiendish delight in beating the instruments to death with hammers, clubs, or what have you. In this case, it cannot be for the coins as the phones have no coin slot and are provided as a public service. As a result, many public authorities are forced to spend a good portion of their available funds to repair existing vandalized emergency telephone equipment instead of being able to expand their system and provide greater service.
And, for many people, even when a public telephone can be found in working condition, the situation is not a good one. The scenarios are all too familiar. A woman, alone or with small children, is in her car in a secluded spot and needs to make a telephone call. She sees a telephone booth but really is not happy about getting out of the car to use the phone and rightly so. Persons using public telephones and automated teller machines are well-known victims of muggers and thieves. Then there are the handicapped. A specially equipped car gives a wheelchair's occupant mobility. Public telephones are supposed to be made available for use from a wheelchair; but, as noted previously, there are not that many public telephones in general use anymore, much less at wheelchair height. And, the number of working telephones and their locations are a constantly changing aspect of public telephone use based on vandal and repair activity. Picture the following not uncommon situation for such persons. It is a rainy night and the wheelchair occupant in his wheelchair lift equipped van needs to make a telephone call. After driving around and around, he finally finds one of the lowered public telephones. He sits and looks, wondering if he should go through the trouble of getting out of the vehicle in the rain in his wheelchair. Will the phone work after he gets there? Is there a mugger or robber just waiting to take advantage of the situation? Getting wet is not even a question, it is a foregone conclusion.
Other examples of the shortcomings of the conventional "public" phone are easily brought to mind. The person who has to leave the table in a restaurant to make a telephone call. The salesman using a phonebooth as a temporary office to call orders back to the main office with the phone gripped between his ear and shoulder, notebook in hand, and the remainder of his materials falling off of the too-small shelf (if any) provided for the purpose. The vast numbers of phone booths that must be provided in special locations in airports, and the like.
Wherefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a remote access link to public telephones and/or the public telephone system which is inexpensive for both user and operator and will allow one to use a public telephone's access to the telephone lines without having to physically access the public instrument itself.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a remote access link to public telephones which will allow one to use a public telephone from a vehicle without having to leave the vehicle.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a remote access link to public telephones which will allow one to use electronic devices over a public telephone's lines.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a remote access link to public telephones which is virtually vandal-proof while providing greater convenience for users and greater profits for suppliers.
Other objects and benefits of the present invention will become apparent from the description contained hereinafter taken in conjunction with the drawings which accompany it.