PURPOSE: To prevent the anxiety about the uncertainty of message transmission depending on accumulated sounds with no attendant and unnaturalness of the talking at an automatic answering telephone set by detecting the end of a word of a calling subscriber, and answering the calling subscriber with an appropriate interlude voice.

CONSTITUTION: When a calling subscriber calls, a network controlling circuit 1 outputs an incoming detect signal RI to a control section 8 and the control section 8 outputs a DC close signal LD to the circuit 1. The circuit 1 closes a DC circuit and holds the telephone line TL and, at the same time, connects the line TL to a word end detecting section 2, sound outputting section 3, and sound accumulating section 4 by switching the line TL to an audio response and accumulate device side. The control section 8 outputs an accumulate signal CA to an accumulating section 4 and the message of the calling subscriber is made to record in the accumulating section. Simultaneously, the detecting section 2 detects the end of a word by monitoring the message and outputs the signal DL. When the signal DL is outputted, the control section 8 outputs a sound output signal OA to the outputting section 3 and the outputting section 3 sends sounds of an interlude answer to the calling subscriber through the circuit 1 and line TL. When the calling subscriber terminates his message, the detecting section 2 sends an end signal LM to the control section 8 and the section 8 stops the signals CA and LD.