JP2001092733A - Device, system and method for communication and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide communication equipment that improves its operability by automatically selecting an information transmitting means corresponding to the contents of transmission information. SOLUTION: A selecting means 101 analyzes the contents of inputted transmission information by an analyzing means 106 and selects one transmitting means between plural transmitting means (information transmitting means) 107 and 108 on the basis of the analysis results. The transmission information is transmitted by the selected transmitting means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device and a communication device for transmitting various information such as documents, images and messages by means of a device or a system having a plurality of information transmission functions such as facsimile and electronic mail. system,
The present invention relates to a communication method and a storage medium in which processing steps for executing the method are readable by a computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a facsimile has been generally used as a means for transmitting a document, image information, or the like to a partner, but in recent years, the exchange of information using e-mail has been rapidly increasing. Widespread.

[0003] However, even if new information transmission means such as e-mail are spread, there is no tendency for relatively old information transmission means such as telephones and facsimile machines to disappear. For this reason,
2. Description of the Related Art As communication devices for various types of information transmission, devices provided with a plurality of information transmission means such as telephones, facsimile machines, and e-mails have been widely used. With such a communication device, the user uses each information transmission means properly according to the purpose. As a specific example, different uses are made according to the following uses.

[0004] For example, when it is necessary to send a fixed form document, a business document, a non-electronic document, or the like, it is convenient to use a facsimile that can immediately read a document with a scanner. On the other hand, when sending a simple message or a private document, it is convenient to use electronic mail.

[0005] Further, in most cases, information is transmitted in an emergency using a telephone, and when a call is made to a destination to which information is to be transmitted, if the other party is absent, a message is requested or a facsimile or electronic mail is used. Send messages and information.
On the other hand, when it is not so urgent or when it is considered that the other party is often absent, a message or information is sent by facsimile or electronic mail from the beginning without using a telephone. However, when sending a message or information using facsimile or e-mail, the receiving information is usually forcibly output by the printer at the receiving facsimile. Facsimile is more often used.

[0006]

However, in the conventional communication apparatus having a plurality of information transmitting means as described above, when transmitting a certain information, the user can efficiently transmit the information by using which information transmitting means. Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether transmission is possible. For this reason, for example, when transmitting information that needs to be transmitted urgently (hereinafter also referred to as “emergency information”), if the user incorrectly selects and transmits an information transmission unit that is not suitable for the information, the other party is uncomfortable. There was a possibility to give a bad mood. More specifically, when the emergency information is erroneously transmitted using an e-mail, the other party may remain unaware that the emergency information is received in the e-mail. Therefore, conventionally, it has been difficult to properly use the information transmission means depending on the content of the information to be transmitted.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and is configured to automatically select an information transmission means according to the contents of transmission information, thereby improving operability. It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage medium storing a communication device, a communication system, a communication method, and processing steps for implementing the communication device, the computer being readable by a computer.

[0008]

For such a purpose,
A first invention is a communication device having a plurality of transmitting means for transmitting arbitrary information, wherein the transmitting means used for transmitting the transmission information is based on the content of the transmission information. And selecting means for selecting from the following.

[0009] The second invention is the above-mentioned first invention, wherein:
The selection means includes an analysis means for analyzing the contents of the transmission information.

In a third aspect, in the second aspect,
The analysis means analyzes at least one of the formalness and the urgency of the transmission information.

[0011] In a fourth aspect based on the third aspect,
The analysis means analyzes at least one of the formality and the urgency by detecting whether or not predetermined information is included in the transmission information.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is a communication system in which a plurality of devices are communicably connected, wherein at least one of the plurality of devices is the communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. It has the function of an apparatus.

[0013] A sixth invention is a communication method for automatically selecting a transmission function used for transmitting arbitrary information from a plurality of transmission functions, based on the contents of the transmission information.
A transmission function for transmitting the transmission information by using the transmission function selected in the selection step to select a transmission function used for transmitting the transmission information from the plurality of transmission functions. And

According to a seventh aspect, in the sixth aspect,
The selecting step includes an analyzing step of analyzing the content of the transmission information, a determining step of determining at least one of a formalness and an urgency of the transmission information based on an analysis result of the analysis step, Selecting a transmission function to be used for transmitting the transmission information from the plurality of transmission functions based on the degree determined in the determination step.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication medium according to any one of claims 1 to 4, or a computer-readable storage medium storing processing steps for realizing means provided in the communication system according to the fifth aspect. It is characterized by being.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, a computer readable storage medium stores the processing steps of the communication method according to the sixth or seventh aspect.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) The present invention provides, for example,
It is applied to a communication terminal device 100 as shown in FIG. The communication terminal device 100 has a plurality of information transmitting means (transmitting means) such as a facsimile function and an e-mail function. The communication terminal apparatus 100 analyzes the contents of transmission information input to the apparatus and determines the formality. Determining, based on the determined formality, automatically selecting an optimal means from among the plurality of information transmitting means, and transmitting the input information using the selected information transmitting means. Has been made.

Here, the "formality" is a two-level degree indicating whether the transmission information input to the apparatus is a "business document" or a "private document". Means “business documents” and “private documents”
It is higher than the degree.

In order to implement the above configuration, the communication terminal device 100 is provided with a CPU 10 as shown in FIG.
1, ROM 102, RAM 103, operation panel 104,
Transmission data input unit 105, analysis unit 106, FAX transmission unit 107, e-mail transmission unit 108, and line control unit 10
9 are provided, and the respective components can exchange data with each other via the bus 111.

The CPU 101 controls the operation of the entire apparatus. The ROM 102 stores various processing programs for controlling the operation of the CPU 101. RAM10
Reference numeral 3 includes a memory area used by the CPU 101 for work, and the RAM 103 stores various data such as parameters, data, and transmission information necessary for operation control and the like in the CPU 101.

The operation panel 104 is operated by a user to give various operation instructions to the apparatus (instructions for displaying the state of the apparatus) and to input data to be transmitted.

The transmission data input unit 105 reads information on a set document by a scanner function, and inputs the read information as transmission data or binary data. The transmission data input unit 10
5 reads information from a recording medium such as a floppy disk and inputs the information as transmission data.

The analysis unit 106 analyzes transmission data input from the operation panel 104 or the transmission data input unit 105.

FAX (facsimile) transmission section 107
The transmission data input by the operation panel 104 or the transmission data input unit 105 is transmitted by the facsimile function. The e-mail transmission unit 108 transmits the transmission data input by the operation panel 104 or the transmission data input unit 105 by an e-mail function.

The FAX transmission unit 107 and the E-mail transmission unit 108 are physically connected to a line (public line or local area network) 110 via a line control unit 109. The line control unit 109 controls operations such as call connection, protocol connection, and communication such as disconnection in order to execute facsimile transmission by the facsimile transmission unit 107 and electronic mail transmission by the electronic mail transmission unit 108.

The operation of the communication terminal device 100 as described above is shown, for example, by a flowchart as shown in FIG. That is, a processing program according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the ROM 102 in advance, and the communication program 100 operates as follows by reading and executing the processing program by the CPU 101.

First, the operation panel 104 or the transmission data input unit 105 determines whether or not transmission data has been input by the user, and waits for input of the transmission data (step S201).

Here, as a method of inputting the transmission data in step S201, for example, the user operates the operation panel 1
The user operates a key switch (not shown) provided in the controller 04. The input information (transmission information) based on this operation is input to the communication terminal device 100 as text data.

As another input method, for example, the user inputs information on a document to be transmitted to the transmission data input unit 1.
05 is read by the scanner function. The read information is converted into an electric signal, and further, the electric signal is converted into text data and input to the communication terminal device 100.

The conversion to text data is performed by OCR
Processing may be used. Although the transmission data here is document information, it may include image information. In this case, only the document (character) information portion is converted into text data, and the image information portion remains an electrical signal.

As another input method, for example, the user inputs the text data of a storage medium such as a floppy disk in which the text data of the document to be transmitted is stored in advance by the transmission data input unit 105 to the communication terminal device. 100 is input.

The transmission data input by the above-described input method includes information of a facsimile number and an e-mail address of a transmission destination. For example, the user registers a facsimile number and an e-mail address of a transmission destination in advance and operates a one-touch key so that the transmission data includes the facsimile number and the e-mail address of the transmission destination.

When the transmission data is input as described above, the analysis unit 106 analyzes the formality of the content of the transmission data. That is, an analysis process is performed to determine whether the input transmission data is a “business document” or a “private document” (step S202).

As a specific example of the analysis processing in step S202, first, in the "business document", formalized characters (for example, the company name "...", the greeting words "Dear Sirs" Etc.) are used. Therefore, it is analyzed whether such character information is included in the transmission data. As a result of this analysis, if the formalized character information is included in the transmission data, the transmission data is recognized as a “business document”; otherwise, the transmission data is “ It is recognized as a "private document." If the transmission data includes a stylized table (table such as a quote or calculation) or an image, the transmission data may be recognized as a “business document”. .

Based on the result of the analysis processing in step S202 as described above, it is determined whether or not the transmission data is a "business document" (step S203).

If the result of determination in step S203 is that the transmission data is a "business document", the facsimile transmission unit 107
Transmits the transmission data to the designated transmission destination via the line control unit 109 (step S204). Specifically, in this case, the FAX transmission unit 107 encodes the transmission data (text data or image data) into a facsimile code (MH, MR, MMR, etc.), and
After transmitting a call to the designated transmission destination and performing preprocessing via 9, the coded transmission data is transmitted. Note that transmission data is not encoded into facsimile code,
You may make it transmit by a BFT procedure as a binary file. When the facsimile transmission in step S204 is completed, the process ends.

On the other hand, if the transmission data is a "private document", the e-mail transmission unit 108 transmits the transmission data to the specified transmission destination via the line control unit 109 (step S205). Specifically, in this case, the e-mail transmission unit 108 converts the transmission data (text data or image data) according to the e-mail format, and transmits the converted transmission data. At this time, the image transmission data is transmitted as an attached file. When the e-mail transmission in step S205 is completed, the process ends.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the input transmission data is analyzed, and as a result of the analysis, if the transmission data has a high degree of formality (if it is a “business document”), The facsimile transmission is performed, and if the transmission data is of low formality (if it is a “private document”), it is configured to transmit by e-mail. After inputting the information to be transmitted, the user It is not necessary to select an appropriate information transmission means. Therefore, in the communication terminal device 100 according to the present embodiment, the transmission information input by the user is reliably transmitted to the destination by the automatically selected optimal information transmission means, so that the user can easily and It is possible to reliably transmit information, and it is possible to prevent the other party from feeling unpleasant feeling as in the related art.

(Second Embodiment) In this embodiment,
In the communication terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 1, the contents of the input transmission data are analyzed to determine the degree of urgency, and based on the determined degree of urgency, an optimum information transmission means is selected from among a plurality of information transmitting means. The means is automatically selected, and the input transmission data is transmitted using the selected information transmitting means.

Here, the “urgency” is a two-level degree indicating whether the transmission data input to the apparatus is a “business document” or a “private document”. This means that the degree of “business documents” is higher than the degree of “private documents”.

If the transmission data has a high degree of urgency (when it is an urgent document), facsimile transmission is performed. If the transmission data has a low degree of urgency (if it is a normal document), it is transmitted. Send e-mail.

Therefore, in the operation of communication terminal apparatus 100 in the present embodiment (see FIG. 2 above), step S2
At 03, it is determined whether or not the transmission data is an emergency document. As a result of this determination, if the transmission data is an urgent document, facsimile transmission is performed by facsimile transmission section 107 (step S204); otherwise, e-mail transmission is performed by e-mail transmission section 108 (step S205).

Therefore, according to this embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the user can easily and surely transmit information, and the user is uncomfortable as in the related art. It is possible to prevent a feeling from being given.

In the first and second embodiments, the present invention is applied to the stand-alone communication terminal device 10.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any device or system having a plurality of information transmitting means such as a facsimile transmission function and an electronic mail transmission function can be applied. Specifically, for example, on an information terminal device such as a personal computer, a device or a system realized by mounting hardware having a communication function and application software having a facsimile transmission function and an e-mail transmission function is also included. Applicable.

In each of the first and second embodiments, the line 109 is a public line or a local area network. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
The X transmission unit 107 and the e-mail transmission unit 108 may be connected to corresponding lines. Specifically, for example, the facsimile transmission unit 107 may be connected to a public line, and the e-mail transmission unit 108 may be connected to a local area network.

In each of the above-described first and second embodiments, input of transmission data is performed by key operation of the operation panel 104, a scanner function of the transmission data input unit 105, reading from a recording medium such as a floppy disk or the like. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a voice input unit such as a microphone may be provided, and a voice signal input from the voice input unit may be input as transmission data. .

In the first and second embodiments described above, either the facsimile or the electronic mail information transmission means is selected according to the contents of the input transmission data. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a telephone or the above-mentioned voice file means may be included as the information transmitting means, and an optimal means may be selected from the information transmitting means.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system or apparatus with a storage medium storing program codes of software for realizing the functions of the host and the terminal according to the first and second embodiments described above. It is needless to say that the present invention is also achieved when a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reads out and executes a program code stored in a storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the function of each embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, or the like. By executing the program code read out by the computer, not only the functions of the present embodiment are realized, but also the OS and the like running on the computer perform actual processing based on the instructions of the program code. It goes without saying that a part or all of the above is performed and the function of each embodiment is realized by the processing. Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written to a memory provided in an extension function board inserted into the computer or a function extension unit connected to the computer, the function extension is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the embodiments.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention, an optimum transmission means is automatically selected from a plurality of transmission means (transmission functions) based on the contents of the transmission information, and the selected transmission means is selected by the selected transmission means. Since the transmission information is configured to be transmitted, the user does not need to be confused to select the optimal transmission means for the information to be transmitted, and the transmission information can be transmitted easily and reliably to the other party. Can be. Therefore,
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a communication device or system that is very easy to use.

The transmission information is analyzed to determine the formality (whether it is a business document or a private document) or the urgency (whether it is an urgent document) of the content. If the transmission means is selected on the basis of the transmission information, the transmission by the transmission means optimal for the formality and urgency of the transmission information is automatically performed. Transmission by the optimal transmission means can be performed easily and reliably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication terminal device to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the communication terminal device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Communication terminal device 101 CPU 102 ROM 103 RAM 104 Operation panel 105 Transmission data input unit 106 Analysis unit 107 FAX transmission unit 108 E-mail transmission unit 109 Line control unit 110 Line

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tomoyuki Takeda 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Shigeo Miura 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon (72) Inventor Teruyuki Nishii 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term (reference) 5B089 GA26 JA05 JA31 KA04 KC23 KC39 5C075 BA03 CD09 5K101 KK01 KK02 LL01 NN01 NN14 QQ07

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A communication device having a plurality of transmission means for transmitting arbitrary information, wherein the transmission means used for transmission of the transmission information is based on the content of the transmission information. A communication device comprising a selection unit for selecting from among them. 2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein said selecting means includes an analyzing means for analyzing the contents of said transmission information. 3. The communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said analysis means analyzes at least one of the degree of formalness and the degree of urgency of said transmission information. 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the analysis unit analyzes at least one of the formalness and the urgency by detecting whether or not predetermined information is included in the transmission information. The communication device according to claim 3. 5. A communication system in which a plurality of devices are communicably connected, wherein at least one of the plurality of devices has a function of the communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A communication system comprising: 6. A transmission function used for transmitting arbitrary information,
A communication method for automatically selecting from a plurality of transmission functions, based on the content of the transmission information, selecting a transmission function used for transmitting the transmission information from the plurality of transmission functions; and A transmission step of transmitting the transmission information by the transmission function selected in the selection step. 7. The selecting step includes: an analyzing step of analyzing the contents of the transmission information; and determining at least one of a formalness and an urgency of the transmission information based on an analysis result of the analysis step. Based on the determining step and the degree determined in the determining step,
7. The communication method according to claim 6, further comprising: selecting a transmission function used for transmitting the transmission information from the plurality of transmission functions. 8. A storage, wherein a processing step for realizing means provided in the communication device according to claim 1 or the communication system according to claim 5 is readable by a computer. Medium. 9. A storage medium, wherein the processing steps of the communication method according to claim 6 or 7 are readable by a computer.