JP2001308906A - Mail management apparatus and mail management program or recording medium having data recorded thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To relieve a load used for mail reception processing while reducing the storage capacity of mail data. SOLUTION: A received information management means 16 is provided with a received mail ID management file 24 storing received mail IDs for mails for recipient side users by each recipient side user, a received mail ID extract section 20 that extracts a received mail ID of a recipient side user by referencing the received mail ID management file 24 when the recipient side user makes a mail reception request and with a mail data read transmission section 22 that reads mail data from a mail data storage means 14 on the basis of the received mail ID extracted by the received mail ID extract section 20 and transmits the mail data to the recipient side user.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a mail management apparatus and method, and more particularly to a mail management apparatus and method for delivering the same data to a plurality of destinations.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an application file has been attached to an e-mail, a voice data file (voice mail) has been attached, and voice mail recordings with a plurality of destinations have been received by operating a telephone. It has been done to send mail to many people. In this case, the transmission side user transmits a plurality of destinations and mails such as voice mails to the mail management device. The mail management device stores this voice mail in a mailbox provided for each receiving user, and uses the voice mail when each receiving user makes a mail receiving request. Was sent to the person.

[0003]

However, in the above conventional example, when the same voice mail is transmitted to a large number of users, there is a disadvantage that the resources of the external storage device for storing the voice mail are squeezed. In other words, voicemail must be stored for each destination user's mailbox, and the exact same voicemail file is duplicated for the number of destination users, and the longer the voicemail recording time, the larger the data size of the voicemail file. There was an inconvenience of becoming large.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-264234 discloses that in an electronic mail management method, a voice mail is stored in one place and a list of recipients for the electronic mail name is stored. A method for saving the capacity required for storing mail is disclosed.

However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-26423 discloses
According to the method described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 4 (2004), when performing the mail receiving process,
While referring to the list of recipients for all e-mail names stored in the e-mail management device and determining and acquiring e-mail for the receiving user requested to receive, a large amount of e-mail was sent to the e-mail management device. When there is an e-mail, there is an inconvenience that the use load on the server increases and the search takes time. That is, the number of records in the list of recipients for the e-mail name is the same as the number of e-mails, and a search must be performed on a large number of records each time reception processing is performed.

[0006]

An object of the present invention is to provide a mail data management apparatus and method capable of improving the disadvantages of the conventional example and, in particular, reducing the storage capacity of mail data while reducing the use load of mail reception processing. Its purpose is to provide.

[0007]

Therefore, according to the present invention, when a mail containing the same mail data is sent from a sending user to a plurality of receiving users, the received mail ID is individually assigned to the mail. And a mail data management means for storing mail data identified by the received mail ID in a mail data storage means, and transmitting the mail with the received mail ID by the mail data management means to the plurality of receiving side. Receiving information management means for transmitting to a user. In addition, the reception information management unit receives a mail reception request file from the reception user, and a reception mail ID management file storing the reception mail ID of the mail for the reception user for each of the reception users. A received mail ID extracting unit for extracting the received mail ID of the recipient side user by referring to the received mail ID management file, and the mail based on the received mail ID extracted by the received mail ID extracting unit. And a mail data reading and transmitting unit for reading the mail data from the data storage means and transmitting the mail data to the receiving side user. This aims to achieve the above-mentioned object.

[0008] When a mail containing the same mail data is transmitted from a sending user to a plurality of receiving users, the received mail ID is individually assigned to the mail and identified by the received mail ID. Mail data management means for storing mail data in mail data storage means, and reception information management means for transmitting the mail, to which the reception mail ID is attached, by the mail data management means to the plurality of recipient users. ing. In addition, the reception information management unit receives a mail reception request file from the reception user, and a reception mail ID management file storing the reception mail ID of the mail for the reception user for each of the reception users. A received mail ID extracting unit for extracting the received mail ID of the recipient side user by referring to the received mail ID management file;
A mail data reading and transmitting unit for reading mail data from the mail data storage unit based on the received mail ID extracted by the extracting unit and transmitting the mail data to the receiving side user. I am taking it. This aims to achieve the above-mentioned object.

The mail data management means individually assigns a received mail ID to the mail when the mail containing the same mail data is transmitted from the transmitting user to a plurality of receiving users. This received mail ID is unique so that individual mails can be identified from the entire mail currently being managed. Then, by referring to the destination of the received mail, the received mail ID is recorded in a received mail ID management file provided for each receiving user who is the destination of the mail. Further, the mail data management means stores the mail data in the mail data storage means. At this time, each mail data is identified by the received mail ID. The reception information management means transmits the mail to which the reception mail ID has been added by the mail data management means to the plurality of reception-side users. First, when a mail reception request is made from the receiving user, the received mail ID extracting unit refers to the received mail ID management file and extracts the received mail ID of the recipient user. Subsequently, the mail data reading and transmitting unit reads out the mail data from the mail data storage unit based on the received mail ID extracted by the received mail ID extracting unit, and sends the mail data to the receiving side user. Send. Therefore, it is not necessary to store a plurality of mail data for each destination, and the received mail ID is specified and the received mail ID is specified using the received mail ID management file provided for each receiving user.
The receiving process is completed by the constant order process of reading the mail data by D.

In the prior art described in the above publication, since a table having a list of destinations for each e-mail is referred to, when a certain user goes to get the e-mail, it is necessary to search for the destination information of all the e-mails. However, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the above, each user has a table for storing which record of the above table is addressed to himself, and using this table, the address is addressed to himself. Since only records that have been changed are referenced, the time taken to retrieve mail can be reduced.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mail management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
The mail management device shown in (1), when a mail including the same mail data is transmitted from a sending user to a plurality of receiving users, the receiving mail ID is individually assigned to the mail and the received mail ID is Mail data management means 2 for storing the mail data identified by the above in the mail data storage means 14, and reception information management for transmitting the mail with the received mail ID by the mail data management means 2 to a plurality of recipient users Means 16.

The reception information management means 16 includes a reception mail ID management file 24 storing, for each reception user, a reception mail ID of a mail for the reception user,
A receiving mail ID extracting unit 20 for extracting a receiving mail ID of the receiving user by referring to a receiving mail ID management file 24 when a mail receiving request is made by the receiving user; Mail data storage means 1 based on the received mail ID extracted by
4 and a mail data reading and transmitting unit 22 for reading the mail data and transmitting the mail data to the receiving side user.

Since the received mail management file 24 stores the received mail ID of the mail for the receiving user for each receiving user, the receiving information management means 16 receives the mail from the receiving user. When a request is made, a received mail ID for identifying a mail directed to the recipient can be specified at high speed for each recipient user. For this reason, the mail receiving process is performed at a high speed, and the load on the hardware resources constituting the mail managing unit is small. Further, even when the same mail is transmitted to a plurality of destinations, the mail data storage means 14 is not copied for each recipient.
Since the received mail ID is registered for each user on the receiving side while storing the mail data in the mail server, the storage capacity of the mail data storage means 14 and the like can be effectively utilized while the mail receiving process is performed at high speed.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, when a mail is transmitted from the transmitting user, the received mail I
D and the received mail management file 24 is updated based on all the destination IDs of the mail. That is, in the preferred embodiment, the mail data management means 2 includes a received mail ID assigning unit 4 for giving, as a received mail ID, an identification number unique to the currently managed mail to the received mail.
And the new received mail in the received ID list (user received mail information record 26) for each recipient in the received mail management file 24 based on all destination IDs (or recipient name list) of the mail. A mail registration unit 6 for registering IDs for all destination IDs. Email registration section 6
Stores the mail data in the mail data storage unit 14 in a state where the mail data can be specified using the received mail ID. By providing the received mail ID assigning unit 4 and the mail registering unit 6, a received mail management file can be generated at the time of receiving a mail, whereby the above-described high-speed and low-load mail receiving process can be realized.

Further, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the access user list 8 is used to perform a process of deleting mail data. In this example, the mail data management means 2 includes an access user list 8 for storing list information of mail destinations as an access user list for each received mail ID,
An access user list updating unit 10 for deleting a destination indicating the recipient user from the access user list 8 of the mail when the recipient user requests deletion of the email.
And a mail data deletion unit 12 for deleting the mail data specified by the received mail ID of the access user list when all addresses in the access user list are deleted by the access user list update unit 10. ing.

The access user list 8 is a list of all destination IDs included in the mail. Each time there is a request for deletion of the mail from the recipient user, it is determined that the access by the recipient user has been completed. The destination ID corresponding to the user on the user side is deleted. When access from all destinations (all recipient-side users) is completed, the mail data can be deleted. The actual deletion by the mail data deletion unit 12 may be performed during a time period when mail transmission / reception is reduced (batch processing function), or immediately upon deletion of all destination IDs from the access user list as a trigger. You may delete it. Further, the deletion time may be selected according to the remaining capacity of the mail data storage means.

More specifically, when a mail deletion request is made by the recipient user, first, the mail is deleted from the received mail ID list with the destination ID indicating the recipient user from the received mail management file 24. Delete the target received mail ID. Then, the access user list updating unit 10 refers to the access user list 8 and deletes the destination ID indicating the receiving-side user who made the deletion request. Thereafter, the mail data deletion unit 12 deletes the mail data of the received mail ID from which all destination IDs have been deleted with reference to the access user list 8.

Next, examples of various files and data used by the mail management apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The received mail management file 24 stores information indicating which received mail is being transmitted to which receiving user, and the received information management unit 16
Managed by As shown in FIG. 2, the received mail management file 24 includes received mail information records 26A, 26B,... For each user from the first receiving user to the n-th receiving user. . Upon receiving a mail receiving request from the receiving user, the received mail ID extracting unit 20 first specifies a received mail information record corresponding to the receiving user.

Each of the received mail information records has a user ID 28 (ID for identifying a user on the receiving side), received mail IDs 1A, 1B,... Of the mail transmitted with the user ID 28 as a destination ID, and a unique ID for the user ID 28. Data 30. The data 30 unique to the user on the receiving side includes, for example, information on the read / unread status of the mail related to the received mail ID, and data sent from the transmitting user to only the receiving user. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the received mail ID is stored in the received mail information record for each user. However, since the received mail ID functions as a pointer of the storage destination of the mail data, the received mail ID is stored. Instead of the ID, the address information of the mail storage position may be adopted.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the voice mail information file 32. The access user list shown in FIG. 1 is managed as a part of the voice mail information management file in a preferred example. The voice mail management file includes voice mail information records 34A, 34B,... Provided for each received mail ID. The voice mail information record 34 is used by the access user list updating unit 10 when performing a process of deleting mail data. Further, the user common data 36 may be used at the time of mail reception processing. The initial value of the access user list 8 is all destination IDs of the mail identified by the received mail ID. That is, it is data for identifying all the recipients specified by the transmission side user as the destination of the mail. Then, each time the receiving user makes a request to delete the mail, the access user list updating unit 10 sets the destination ID for identifying the user who made the deletion request.
Remove. Therefore, the access user list 8 is a list showing a list of receiving users who have not yet accessed the mail (or have not requested deletion). By using this access user list, it is possible to determine whether or not mail data can be deleted.

FIG. 4 is a data structure diagram showing the relationship between each file and data used in this embodiment. The entire files and data shown in FIG. 4 are referred to as mail management data here. This mail management data is provided in a received mail ID 1 assigned for identification of a received mail, a storage address 46 of the mail data 14a in the mail specified by the received mail ID 1, and a mailbox for each receiving user. And a received mail ID management file 24 that is a list of received mail IDs 1 that can specify the storage address of the mail data of the mail having the recipient user as the destination ID. Therefore, when a receiving request is made by the receiving user, the receiving mail ID to be received by the receiving user can be specified by referring to the received mail ID management file 24. Subsequently, each user ( When the received mail ID to be received is specified for each receiving user), the storage address 46 of the mail data can be specified. Thereby, the mail data can be read. The received mail ID management file 24 is
For example, a CP functioning as the received mail ID extracting unit 20
Accessed by U (central processing unit).

The mail management data includes, for each received mail ID1, all the destinations I of the mail for each received mail ID1.
An access user list 8 storing D is provided. The access user list is stored in accordance with whether the destination ID is deleted by the central processing unit when a mail deletion request is made by the receiving user and whether all the destination IDs in the access user list are deleted. Is used to determine whether the mail data at the storage address corresponding to the received mail ID is deleted. That is, it is possible to determine whether or not all the recipients have accessed one mail using the access user list.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an arithmetic unit serving as a hardware resource according to the above-described embodiment. The arithmetic device according to the present embodiment drives a recording medium 58 such as a CD-ROM in which a mail management program, mail management data, and the like are recorded, and is read out via the disk drive 56. A central storage such as an auxiliary storage device 54 such as a hard disk for storing a program or data or a program or data input via another communication line or the like, and a CPU or the like for performing arithmetic processing according to the program stored in the auxiliary storage device 54 Processing unit 5
0, and a main storage unit 52 such as a RAM serving as a main storage of the central processing unit 50.

The central processing unit 50 that executes the mail management program operates as the mail data management means 2 and the reception information management means 16 shown in FIG. The auxiliary storage device 54 functions as the mail data storage unit 14 shown in FIG. 1, and as shown in FIG.
And a received mail ID management file 24, a voice mail information management file 32, and the like. Specifically, the auxiliary storage device 54 includes a mail data file storing mail data in a mail transmitted from the transmitting user to a plurality of receiving users as destinations for each receiving mail ID, And a received mail ID management file storing a list of received mail IDs of the mails addressed to the receiving user.

The mail management program is shown in FIG.
As a command to operate the central processing unit 50 shown in (1), when a mail reception request is made from the recipient-side user, the received mail to extract the received mail ID of the recipient-side user by referring to the received mail ID management file ID extraction command,
A mail data read command for reading mail data from a mail data file based on the received mail ID extracted in response to the received mail ID extraction command, and using the mail data read in response to the mail data read command on the receiving side. And a mail data transmission command to be transmitted to the user.

When the central processing unit 50 executes the received mail ID extraction command, it operates as the received mail ID extraction unit 20 shown in FIG. As described above, the mail management program includes a command for executing a function required by the mail management device. Here, the “command to operate” refers to a command to operate the arithmetic device (computer) only by each command and to operate the computer depending on another program such as an operating system stored in the arithmetic device in advance. Directive or both. For example, the “mail data read command” is a command for specifying the address of the auxiliary storage device and reading the mail data file actually by using only this command, and a file name of the mail data to be read to the operating system of the arithmetic unit. In some cases, it is only a delivery instruction.

When the arithmetic unit is constructed as a mail server functioning as an electronic mail server, a mail server program for realizing the basic functions of the mail server may be stored in the auxiliary storage device. In this case, the mail management program manages the attached file of the mail data as mail data.

Also, from the viewpoint of the data structure, if the mail management data having the structure shown in FIG. 4 is stored in the auxiliary storage device 54 shown in FIG. 5, the central processing unit 50 refers to this mail management data. Then, the receiving process and the deleting process can be performed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, even when the same mail data is transmitted to a plurality of recipient users, a plurality of mail data are copied by using the received mail management file. The mail receiving process can be performed at high speed. Further, by using the access user list, it is possible to detect a state in which all users have received the mail and the corresponding mail data can be deleted.

[0030]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the sound produced by operating the telephone is recorded, and the recorded voice mail is transmitted to a plurality of users. As shown in FIG. 6, in the present embodiment, a line control unit 64 connected via a public line 60 to a communication device used by a transmission side user, and a transmission unit connected via the line control unit 64. A service control unit 66 that provides a service such as recording of an utterance and input of a destination to a communication device (for example, a telephone 61) of the side user, and transfers the recorded voice mail to the mailbox management unit 68 as a mail; It has a mailbox management unit 68 that controls the box and the voice mail database 14 to manage the transmission and reception of voice mail. The mailbox management unit 68 performs substantially the same function as the mail data management unit 2 and the reception information management unit 16 shown in FIG. The mailbox 70 is provided for each receiving-side user. Each mailbox 70 has a received mail management file generated for each user of the mailbox. The voice mail database 14 includes an actual voice mail, a voice mail information management file 32, and the like.

The line control unit controls outgoing and incoming voice mail. The service control unit provides services such as recording and playback of messages. The mailbox management unit manages each mailbox and a voice mail database.
A mailbox is provided for each user and includes a received mail management file.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the voice mail database 14. As shown in FIG. 7, the voice mail database 14 includes a voice mail database folder 40. The voice mail database folder 40 includes a voice mail information management file (see FIG. 3) recording an access user list and the like, and a plurality of voice mail storage folders 42. The voice mail storage folder 42 stores an actual voice mail file. In this embodiment, the folder name of the voice mail storage folder is the received mail ID name.
This makes it easier to specify the storage location of the corresponding voice mail by the received mail ID.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, when a voice mail is sent from a user, the mailbox management unit 68 assigns the reception mail assigned by the mailbox management unit 68 to the received mail management file 24 of the mailbox of each destination user. The mail ID and user-specific data (for example, read / unread information of the mail) are written, and the voice mail is stored in the voice mail database 14. Also, the received mail ID 1
, An access user ID list 38, and user-common data 36 (for example, reception date and time information).

When each user obtains a voice mail, the mailbox management unit 68 obtains the received mail ID from the received mail management file 24, obtains data common to the users from the voice mail information management file 32, and obtains the voice mail. The voice mail is acquired from the database 14. This eliminates the need to duplicate and maintain voice mail for each user mailbox. Further, it is not necessary to search for a destination for all mails in mail acquisition, and voice mail can be efficiently acquired.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described for voice mail registration, reception and deletion. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the voice mail registration process. Here, an e-mail data file (voice mail file) 44 storing e-mail data in an e-mail transmitted from a transmitting user to a plurality of receiving users as destinations is provided for each receiving e-mail ID. The mail is managed using a mail management device including a received mail ID management file 24 that stores a list of received mail IDs of the mails addressed to the receiving user. As shown in FIG. 8, when the transmitting user operates the telephone 61 to record a voice mail, the mailbox management unit 68 receives this mail (step S1). Then, the mailbox management unit 68 assigns a unique received mail ID to another voice mail information management record from the voice mail information management file (Step S2). Then, all the destination IDs are acquired from the received mail, and this all ID list is set as an initial value of the access user list (step S).
3).

Next, since the destination ID is not registered in the received mail management file 24 at the start of the processing, an unregistered destination ID exists (step S4). Destination I
D is acquired and registered by adding a received mail information record having the received mail ID as data to the received mail management file in the user mailbox of the destination ID (step S5). At this time, data unique to the destination ID is also written in the received mail management file.

The process of registering the destination ID in each received mail management file is repeated until there is no unregistered destination ID (steps S4 and S5). When the destination ID is gone (step S4), the voice mail information management file 3
2, a voice mail information record having the received mail ID as data is added, and the destination ID list is accessed by the access user I.
The voice mail information common to all the destination IDs is written in the list of D (step S6). Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7, a folder having the same name as the received mail ID is created in the voice mail database folder, and the voice mail file is stored under the folder (step 7).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the voice mail receiving process according to this embodiment. When receiving a voice mail is instructed by the receiving user (user) (step S11), the mailbox management unit 68 specifies the mailbox of the requesting user, and receives the received mail information in the received mail management file 24. It is determined whether or not the received mail ID is registered in the record 26 (step S13, received mail ID extraction step). When the received mail ID is registered in the received mail information record 26, the voice mail information management record 34 of the received mail ID is acquired (step S14). Then, a folder having the same name as the received mail ID is searched from the voice mail database folder, and a voice mail file is obtained from under the folder (step S15, mail data reading step). Then, the voice mail is transmitted (or reproduced) to the user (mail data transmitting step). When there are a plurality of received mails, the processing shown in FIG. 9 may be repeated. On the other hand, step S
13. Received mail ID in received mail information record 26 at 13
If is not registered, or if the reproduction of all voice mails is completed, the user is notified that no other received mail is registered, and the process ends.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of voice mail deletion processing. As shown in FIG.
When voice mail deletion is instructed, the mailbox management unit 68 sets the mailbox 7 of the requesting user.
From 0, the received mail management file 24 is referred to and the received mail information record 26 of the mail to be deleted is searched (step S21). Subsequently, when the received mail ID 1 is obtained from the received information record 26, the received mail ID and its unique data 30 are deleted from the received mail management file (step S23). Furthermore, the voice mail information record 34 corresponding to the received mail ID is searched from the voice mail information management file 32, and the ID of the user who has requested the deletion is deleted from the access user list 8 of this record (step S24, access user list). Update process). As a result, when the access user list 8 becomes empty (step 25), all data under the folder corresponding to the received mail ID in the voice mail database folder 42 is deleted (step S26, mail data deletion step).

Next, a specific example will be described. A user having a user ID a, a user b, a user c, and a user s are registered in the voice mail system, and a mail having a received mail ID 0 and a mail 2 are registered in the voice mail database. It is assumed that three mails, four mails, and five mails are stored.

As shown in FIG. 6, a user s makes a telephone call to talk with the line control unit of the voice mail system, records the voice mail by the service control unit 66, and sets the destination to the user a, the user b, and the user. Suppose that the voice mail is transmitted by designating c. At this time, the mailbox management unit 68 searches the voice mail information management file 32 for the in-use received mail ID, and sets 1 as the other ID.
Is the received mail ID.

From the destination ID list, a received mail information record is newly added to the received mail management file 24 for the users a, b, and c, and 1 is set to the received mail ID. At this time, user-specific voice mail data (for example, unread / read information) is also written.

Next, a voice mail information record is added to the voice mail information management file 32, and 1 is set to the received mail ID. Write abc as the access user list. Voice mail data (for example, transmission date and time) common to the access user is also written. A folder is created under the voice mail database folder with a folder name of 1, and the transmitted voice mail is stored under the folder 1.

Further, the user a makes a telephone call to talk with the line control unit of the voice mail system, and reproduces the voice mail received in his own mailbox by the service control unit. At this time, the mailbox management unit refers to the received mail information record in order from the received mail management file of the user a, and acquires the voice mail. The received mail information record corresponding to the voice mail from the user s is referred to (the received mail ID of this record is 1), and the voice mail information record of the received mail ID 1 is acquired from the voice mail information management file. Next, a voicemail is acquired from a folder having a name of 1 in a folder under the voicemail database folder.

Further, the user a operates the telephone so as to delete the voice mail from the user s. At this time, the mailbox management unit deletes the received mail information record of the received mail ID 1 from the received mail management file of the user a. Next, a is deleted from the access user list (abc) of the voice mail information record of the received mail ID 1 of the voice mail information management file. Since the access user list after deletion is bc and is not empty, folders 1 and below are not deleted.

After user b deletes the voice mail from user s, user c deletes the voice mail from user s. At this time, the mailbox management unit
The processing is performed in the same manner as described above, and the contents of the access user list of the voice mail information record of the received mail ID 1 of the voice mail information management file are changed from b to bc to become c, and further c is deleted and become empty. Since the contents of the access user list become empty, all files under folder 1 and folder 1 are deleted.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since a table for recording which mail has arrived at each user is stored for each user, the user obtains the mail when a large amount of mail exists in the server. It doesn't take long.

[0048]

According to the present invention, the received mail ID extraction unit refers to the received mail ID management file when the receiving user makes a mail reception request. The received mail ID of the recipient-side user is extracted, and the mail data reading and transmitting unit reads out the mail data from the mail data storage unit based on the received mail ID extracted by the received mail ID extracting unit. At the same time, since the mail data is transmitted to the receiving user, there is no need to store a plurality of mail data for each destination, and the received mail is managed using the received mail ID management file provided for each receiving user. I
Conventionally, the receiving process can be completed by a constant order process of specifying D and reading out the mail data by the received mail ID, so that the load on the hardware resources is small and the receiving process can be performed at high speed. It is possible to provide an excellent e-mail management device that is not available.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a received mail management file used in the configuration shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a voice mail information management file used in the configuration shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of mail management data used in the configuration shown in FIG. 1 and the relationship between the data;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an arithmetic device that is a hardware resource of the mail management device illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration example of a voice mail database according to the embodiment;

8 is a flowchart showing an example of a voice mail registration process in the configuration shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a voice mail receiving process in the configuration illustrated in FIG. 6;

10 is a flowchart showing an example of a voice mail deletion process in the configuration shown in FIG.

[Description of Signs] 1, 1A, 1B Received mail ID 2 Mail data management unit 4 Received mail ID assigning unit 6 Mail registration unit 8 Access user list 10 Access user list update unit 12 Mail data deletion unit 14 Mail data storage unit (or , Voice mail database) 16 received mail management means 20 received mail ID extracting unit 22 mail data reading and transmitting unit 24 received mail management file 26, 26A, 26B received mail information record for each user 28 user ID (identification ID of receiving user) And destination I
D) 32 Voice mail information management file 34, 34A, 34B Voice mail information record

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. When a mail containing the same mail data is sent from a sending user to a plurality of receiving users as destinations, a receiving mail ID is individually assigned to the mail and identified by the receiving mail ID. Mail data management means for storing the received mail data in a mail data storage means, and reception information management means for transmitting the mail with the received mail ID to the plurality of recipient users by the mail data management means. The reception information management means comprises: a reception mail ID management file storing, for each reception user, a reception mail ID of a mail for the reception user; and a mail reception request from the reception user. Extraction of received mail ID for extracting the received mail ID of the recipient side user by referring to the received mail ID management file when done And a mail data reading and transmitting unit for reading mail data from the mail data storage unit based on the received mail ID extracted by the received mail ID extracting unit and transmitting the mail data to the receiving side user. An e-mail management device, comprising: 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mail data management means receives an access user list for storing a list of destinations of the mail as an access user list for each received mail ID, and receives a request from the receiving user to delete the mail. An access user list update unit that deletes an address indicating the recipient user from the access user list of the mail when the address is deleted, and deletes the address when all addresses in the access user list are deleted by the access user list update unit. 2. The mail management device according to claim 1, further comprising: a mail data deletion unit that deletes mail data specified by the received mail ID of the access user list. 3. A line controller connected to the mail data management means via a public line with a communication device used by the sender user, and a sender controller connected via the line controller. And a service control unit for providing a service such as recording of an utterance and inputting a destination to a communication device of the user, and transferring the recorded voice mail as the mail to the mail data management means. 3. The mail management device according to 1 or 2. 4. A mail data file in which mail data in a mail transmitted from a transmitting user to a plurality of receiving users as destinations is stored for each receiving mail ID, and the receiving data is stored for each receiving user. A mail management method for managing mail using a mail management device including a received mail ID management file storing a list of received mail IDs of mail addressed to a user, wherein Received mail ID for extracting the received mail ID of the recipient side user by referring to the received mail ID management file when a mail reception request is made
Extracting the mail data from the mail data file based on the received mail ID extracted in the received mail ID extracting step; and receiving the mail data read in the mail data reading step. A mail data transmitting step of transmitting to a side user. 5. The mail management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an access user list for storing a list of destinations of the mail as an access user list for each received mail ID. An access user list updating step of deleting an address indicating the receiving user from the access user list of the mail when the user requests the deletion of the mail; and an access user list in the access user list updating step. 5. The mail management method according to claim 4, further comprising a mail data deleting step of deleting the mail data specified by the received mail ID of the access user list when all of the destinations are deleted. 6. An auxiliary storage device for storing various data and files in a nonvolatile manner, and a central processing unit for processing transmission and reception of the data and files according to the contents of the files stored in the auxiliary storage device. What is claimed is: 1. A recording medium recording a mail management program for managing mail data using an arithmetic device, wherein the auxiliary storage device is configured to send a mail from a sending user to a plurality of receiving users. A mail data file that stores the mail data in each received mail ID,
Received mail ID storing a list of received mail IDs of mail addressed to the recipient user for each recipient user
A mail management program, wherein the mail management program refers to the received mail ID management file when a mail reception request is made by the receiver side user as a command to operate the central processing unit. Received mail I to extract the received mail ID of the recipient user
D, a mail data read command for reading mail data from the mail data file based on the received mail ID extracted in accordance with the received mail ID extraction command, and a mail data read command in response to the mail data read command. And a mail data transmission command for transmitting mail data to the receiving side user. 7. A transmission side user uses an arithmetic unit having an auxiliary storage unit for nonvolatilely storing various data and a central processing unit for processing transmission and reception of data stored in the auxiliary storage unit. A recording medium recording mail management data for managing a mail transmitted with a plurality of recipient users as destination IDs, wherein the mail management data is a received mail ID assigned for identification of a received mail. A storage address of mail data in the mail specified by the received mail ID, an access user list storing all destination IDs of the mail for each received mail ID for each received mail ID, Incoming mail I provided in each mailbox and capable of specifying the storage address of the mail data of the mail having the recipient user as the destination ID A received mail ID management file that is a list of the received mail ID management file. The received mail ID management file is accessed by the central processing unit when a mail reception request is made from the receiving side user. When a mail deletion request is made by the receiving user, the destination ID is deleted by the central processing unit, and the received mail ID of the access user list is determined according to whether or not all the destination IDs of the access user list are deleted. A recording medium for recording mail management data, which is used for judging deletion of mail data at a storage address corresponding to the above.