JP2002027195A - Electronic mail transmission method for facsimile original and system therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide method for transmitting a facsimile original as an electronic mail that can simply transmit a facsimile original as an electronic mail even when an electronic mail address of a facsimile original sender and that of a destination are not registered in advance. SOLUTION: The method includes a step where a prescribed access point of the Internet receives a facsimile original with an electronic mail address of a destination described thereon that is transmitted by a facsimile terminal from a user, a step where a read means reads the electronic mail address of the received facsimile original, a step where the other parts of the received facsimile original than the electronic mail address are converted into an image file that can be browsed by a computer, and a step where an electronic mail with an attached file that is the image file is generated and the electronic mail is transmitted to the electronic mail address read by the read means via the Internet.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and a system for transmitting a facsimile document by sending a facsimile document transmitted by facsimile to an e-mail and transmitting the e-mail to a destination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an example of this type of e-mail transmission method of a facsimile original, an e-mail transmission service company (for example, NTT) has previously provided a sender of a facsimile original and a transmission destination (recipient) thereof. There is a method in which an e-mail address is registered, a sender number (caller ID) is issued and given to the sender, and the sender ID is input at the time of facsimile transmission to transmit the e-mail to the destination.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional e-mail transmission method, the sender of the fax original and the e-mail address of the transmission destination must be registered in advance with the e-mail transmission service provider. Not
There is a problem that the pre-registration work is complicated and troublesome, and the usage fee is not always cheap, and there is a possibility that personal information is leaked.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of easily transmitting a fax original by e-mail without prior registration of a fax original sender and an e-mail address of a transmission destination. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of transmitting a manuscript by e-mail and a system thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and a system for transmitting a fax original electronic mail which can greatly reduce the usage fee of the fax original electronic mail transmission service.

[0006]

The invention according to claim 1 is
Receiving at a predetermined access point on the Internet a fax manuscript transmitted by a user via facsimile and describing an e-mail address of a transmission destination; reading the e-mail address of the received facsimile manuscript by reading means; Converting the portion of the received fax manuscript other than the e-mail address into an image file that can be browsed by a computer, creating an e-mail with the image file as an attached file, and reading the e-mail by the reading means. Sending an e-mail to the e-mail address via the Internet,
And a method of transmitting a fax manuscript by e-mail.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a fax manuscript is
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a page in which only the electronic mail address is printed in a font is attached to a cover page or a last page in advance.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the method of transmitting a fax original by e-mail according to the first or second aspect, further comprising the step of attaching a banner advertisement to the e-mail.

The invention according to claim 4 is a step of registering an e-mail address of a destination in advance and selecting a banner advertisement to be transmitted to the destination based on the attribute of the destination acquired at the time of registration. 4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the step of:

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving means for receiving, at a predetermined access point on the Internet, a fax manuscript transmitted from a user by facsimile and describing a destination e-mail address, and a facsimile received by the receiving means. A reading means for reading an e-mail address of a manuscript, a part other than the e-mail address of the received facsimile manuscript is converted into an image file which can be browsed by a computer, and an e-mail having this image file as an attached file is created. A server for transmitting the electronic mail to the electronic mail address read by the reading means via the Internet.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the fax manuscript is
6. The electronic mail transmission system according to claim 5, wherein a page in which only the electronic mail address is printed is attached to the cover page or the last page in advance.

The invention according to claim 7 is the facsimile original e-mail transmission system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the server comprises means for pasting a banner advertisement to the e-mail.

[0013] In the invention according to claim 8, the server registers the e-mail address of the destination in advance and selects the banner advertisement to be transmitted to the destination based on the attribute of the destination acquired at the time of registration. 8. A facsimile original e-mail transmission system according to claim 7, further comprising:

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the server includes means for transmitting the fax original as an electronic mail by e-mail to a portable information terminal such as a mobile computer. 2. An electronic mail transmission system for a fax original according to item 1.

[0015]

According to any one of the first to ninth aspects of the present invention,
For example, the user attaches a page describing the destination e-mail address to the cover page (first page) or the original attached to the last page by facsimile to a predetermined access point on the Internet. Then, the e-mail address such as the cover of the fax manuscript is read by the reading means, while the facsimile manuscript other than the page with the e-mail address is converted into an image fax that can be browsed by a computer. An e-mail to be attached to the e-mail is created, and the e-mail is transmitted to the e-mail address.

Therefore, according to these inventions, the user transmits a document to a predetermined access point by facsimile (apparatus), so that the user does not need to perform an e-mail transmission operation of the computer or possesses the computer itself. Even if it is not, the fax original in which the destination e-mail address is described can be transmitted to the destination e-mail address by e-mail.

In addition, since the transmission cost of the fax original is mainly a communication fee from the fax (apparatus) to a predetermined access point, the cost can be reduced.

According to the second or sixth aspect of the present invention, the electronic mail address of the transmission destination is written in a typeface by, for example, a word processor (word processor). Can be improved.

Also, since the page describing the electronic mail address of the transmission destination is set in advance so as to be attached to the cover (first page) or the last page of the transmission manuscript, the reading means is configured to preliminarily cover the front or the last of the facsimile manuscript. Since the e-mail address can be read by reading the page, the recognition rate and the recognition efficiency of the e-mail address by the character reading means can be further improved.

For this reason, it is possible to improve the transmission accuracy of sending a fax original to a predetermined destination by e-mail.

According to the third or seventh aspect of the present invention, a banner advertisement is pasted to an e-mail and the e-mail is transmitted to a destination, so that the transmission cost can be offset or reduced by the advertisement fee of the banner advertisement. .

[0022] Further, since the advertisement providing side of the banner advertisement can provide the advertisement to the transmission destination individual one-on-one (One-to-One), the advertisement effect can be reduced as compared with the case where the advertisement is provided one-to-many by mass media. Can be improved.

According to the invention of claim 4 or 8, since the electronic mail address of the transmission destination is registered in advance,
For example, by constructing the transmission destination and the e-mail address in a data table and referencing the registration list when transmitting the e-mail, the e-mail address of the transmission destination can be detected. (Step) can be omitted, and erroneous transmission to the destination due to a recognition error of the reading unit can be prevented or reduced.

[0024] Further, since the type of banner advertisement to be provided to the destination is selected according to the attributes of the destination such as male, female, age, and hobby, the advertising effect of the banner advertisement can be further improved. .

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the fax manuscript can be transmitted to a portable information terminal such as a mobile computer by e-mail, so that the convenience can be further improved.

[0026]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a facsimile original electronic mail transmission system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a processing procedure on the OCR center 5 side.

As shown in FIG. 1, a facsimile original e-mail transmission system 1 connects facsimile machines (facsimile machines) 2, 2, 2,... As devices of a plurality of senders to a public telephone line 3 such as ISDN. The public telephone line 3 is connected to a gateway of a predetermined access point 6 for the OCR center 5 of the Internet 4 so as to freely communicate data.

The predetermined access point 6 is a gateway designated as a facsimile destination when a document to be transmitted is faxed from the OCR center 5 to the sender, that is, the user. Receiving means for receiving facsimile document data of image data transmitted by FAX 2 from the company, converting means for converting the facsimile document received by the receiving means into a protocol which can be transferred on the Internet 4, and conversion by the converting means Transfer means for transferring the fax manuscript data to the OCR center 5 via the Internet 4.

The Internet 4 is connected to a plurality of transmission destinations (recipients) such as personal computers via interfaces such as a plurality of other access points (not shown), a public telephone line, and a communication control unit (CCU). .. And the server 8 of the OCR center 5 for data communication. The server 8 stores the e-mail address portion of the fax original data transferred by the gateway of the access point 6. A character reading means (OCR) 9 such as OCR software for reading and converting into a character code is provided.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the server 8. In FIG. 2, reference numerals with numbers attached to S indicate steps in the flowchart, and the processing is performed in ascending numerical order.

That is, the server 8 first receives the fax original data transferred from the gateway of the predetermined access point 6 in S1. This fax document data is written on the front page or the last page of the first page of the document to be transmitted by the user by writing a page in which only the e-mail address of the transmission destination is written by the user in the center of the paper by a word processor (word processor) or handwriting. It is received by the gateway of the access point 6 again by fax, and the
And the data of the fax manuscript transferred via the.

In the next S2, the fax manuscript data is
For example, it is determined whether there is a sender number (caller ID) of a sender registered in advance with a fax communication service provider such as NTT, etc., and if there is, the process jumps to S3, and if there is no caller ID, goes to S4. move on.

In S3, since the sender ID of the sender is registered in advance, the fax number of the sender and the e-mail address of the transmission destination (recipient) are already registered.
The e-mail address of the transmission destination is searched from the registration list of the transmission ID, and the received fax manuscript is, for example, TI
The image file is converted into an image file of the FF format or the like, and an e-mail with this image file as an attached file is created.

On the other hand, in S4, since the sender ID of the sender is not registered in advance, it is determined whether or not there is electronic mail address data in the fax original data. That is, when a document is transmitted by facsimile by using a facsimile provided with an input unit for inputting an e-mail address among various facsimiles (devices), an e-mail address of a transmission destination is input, so that the facsimile original data is electronically transmitted. Email address can be attached.

The server 8 determines whether or not this e-mail address is present in the fax manuscript data. If it is determined that this e-mail address is present, the server 8 jumps to S6, while if it is determined that there is no e-mail address, Proceed to S5.

In step S5, the facsimile document data is scanned by the reading means 9 to read out the e-mail address and convert it into a character code.

In the next step S6, it is searched whether at least one of the sender and the receiver is registered in the OCR center 5 as a user in advance by referring to a user registration list.
If there is a user registration, the process proceeds to the next S7, while if there is no user registration, the process jumps to S8.

That is, the OCR center 5 recommends that at least one of the sender and the recipient be registered in advance as a user of the e-mail transmission service for the fax original. A simple questionnaire for at least one of the banner advertisements, such as the gender, age, hobbies, etc.
Information that is effective when the information is provided by "to One", that is, information on the attribute of the user is acquired, and a user registration list is created. However, personal information is not required for the information on the attributes of the user until the individual can be specified.
The reason is that the privacy of personal information that can identify individuals can be retained even by conducting surveys, and by appealing to users that they will not be infringed, it is possible to acquire the attributes of many users that are effective for the advertising provider. This is for smoothness.

On the other hand, in S7, the destination, that is, the attribute of the receiver is extracted from the user registration list, and a banner advertisement matching the attribute of the receiver is selected. For example, select a sports car banner ad for young men who are interested in sports cars, or a cosmetic or esthetic salon banner ad for women who are interested in makeup or esthetics. You have to choose.

In the next step S8, the fax manuscript data is converted into an image file of, for example, the TIFF format, and an e-mail with this image file as an attached file is created.
Further, the banner advertisement selected in S7 is pasted on this e-mail.

In the next S9, the e-mail created in S3 or S8 is transmitted to the e-mail address of the transmission destination read by the reading means 9. As a result, the transmission destination (recipient) can receive the fax manuscript faxed by the sender by e-mail, and can open and view the e-mail at any time as convenient as the recipient.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a display screen received by a computer such as a personal computer of the transmission destination (recipient) and displayed on a display. The display screen includes a mail header a and a mail body b. And a banner advertisement c. The occupied area of the banner advertisement c can be applied and adjusted from a minimum area of 1 step to a maximum area of 8 steps, and an e-mail of the attached TIFF file can be obtained by double-clicking the attached field of the mail header a. Can be opened at any time. FIG. 4 shows an example of a display screen of the mail text b when the attached file is opened.

Therefore, according to the facsimile original e-mail system 1, a manuscript in which the page describing the e-mail address of the transmission destination by the user is, for example, the cover (first page) or the last page is facsimile (facsimile)
2 to a predetermined access point 6 on the Internet 4
This fax manuscript is sent to access point 6
Received by the gateway. Then, the gateway converts the communication protocol of the received fax document and transfers it to the server 8 of the OCR center 5 via the Internet 4.

In the OCR center 5, a page of an e-mail address such as a cover of a facsimile manuscript is read by the OCR software 9 of the server 8, and a facsimile manuscript other than the e-mail address page is read by the server 8. The image file is converted into an image file in a TIFF format or the like which can be browsed by a computer, and is further created as an e-mail with the image file attached to the e-mail. Is sent to.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the user simply transmits a document to a predetermined access point 6 by facsimile (apparatus), so that the user does not need to perform an e-mail transmission operation of the computer, or the computer itself can be used. Even if the fax document is not held, the fax original in which the destination e-mail address is described can be transmitted by e-mail to the destination e-mail address.

In addition, the transmission cost of the fax original is mainly a communication fee from the fax (apparatus) to the predetermined access point 6, so that the cost can be reduced.

Further, in the case where the electronic mail address of the transmission destination is written in a typeface by, for example, a word processor (word processor), the recognition rate by the reading means using the OCR software can be improved.

Since the page describing the electronic mail address of the transmission destination is set in advance so as to be attached to the cover (first page) or the last page of the transmission original, the server 8
Only prints the cover or last page of this fax manuscript
What is necessary is just to read by CR software 9. For this, OC
The R software 9 can further improve the e-mail address recognition rate and the recognition efficiency.

As a result, it is possible to reduce erroneous transmission when transmitting a fax original to a predetermined destination by e-mail, thereby improving transmission accuracy.

Furthermore, since a banner advertisement is pasted on the above-mentioned e-mail and the e-mail is transmitted to the transmission destination, the transmission cost can be offset or reduced by the advertisement fee of the banner advertisement.

Also, since the banner advertisement providing side can provide the advertisement to the transmission destination person in a one-to-one manner (one-to-one), the advertisement effect is improved as compared with the case where the advertisement is provided one-to-many by mass media. be able to.

Further, when the e-mail address of the transmission destination is registered in advance, the e-mail address can be registered in the OC by referencing a pre-registration list including a data table of the transmission destination and the e-mail address.
The step (step) of reading by the R software 9 can be omitted, and erroneous transmission to the destination due to a recognition error of the OCR software 9 can be prevented or reduced.

Since the type of the banner advertisement to be provided to the destination is appropriately selected according to the attributes of the destination, such as the male, female, age, and hobby, the effect of the banner advertisement can be further improved. it can.

Further, since the fax original can be transmitted to a portable information terminal such as a mobile computer by e-mail, the convenience can be further improved.

In the above embodiment, the case where the access point 6 and the OCR center 5 are provided at different places has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It may be provided. According to this, the step of transferring the fax original data received at the access point 6 to the OCR center 5 via the Internet 4 can be omitted.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention, a fax document that has been faxed by a user can be transmitted to a destination by e-mail at low cost. Also, by sending a banner advertisement to the electronic mail and transmitting the electronic mail, the transmission cost can be further reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a facsimile original e-mail transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a server of the OCR center shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary view showing a display example of an e-mail displayed on the display of the recipient computer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view showing a display example of an attached file of an e-mail displayed on the display of the recipient computer shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 E-mail sending device for fax manuscript 2 Fax (device) 3 Public telephone line 4 Internet 5 OCR center 6 Access point 7 Recipient computer 8 OCR center server 9 OCR software

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Claims (9)

[Claims] A step of receiving, at a predetermined access point on the Internet, a fax document transmitted from a user by facsimile and describing an e-mail address of a transmission destination; and reading the e-mail address of the received fax document by reading means. Reading, converting the portion of the received fax manuscript other than the e-mail address into an image file that can be viewed by a computer, creating an e-mail with the image file as an attached file, and reading the e-mail as described above. Transmitting an e-mail to the e-mail address read by the means via the Internet. 2. A fax manuscript, wherein a page in which only an e-mail address is printed in a typeface is attached to a cover page or a last page in advance.
E-mail transmission method for the described fax manuscript. 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: attaching a banner advertisement to the electronic mail. 4. Registering an e-mail address of a destination in advance and selecting a banner advertisement to be transmitted to the destination based on the attribute of the destination acquired at the time of registration. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the fax original is transmitted by e-mail. 5. A receiving means for receiving, at a predetermined access point on the Internet, a facsimile document transmitted by a user by facsimile and describing an e-mail address of a transmission destination, and an e-mail address of the facsimile document received by the receiving means. Means for reading the received fax manuscript, converts the portion other than the e-mail address of the received fax manuscript into an image file that can be browsed by a computer, creates an e-mail with the image file as an attached file, and converts the e-mail A server for transmitting an e-mail to the e-mail address read by the reading means via the Internet. 6. The fax manuscript, wherein a page in which only an e-mail address is printed in a typeface is attached to a cover page or a last page in advance.
An e-mail transmission system for the described fax manuscript. 7. The server according to claim 5, wherein the server includes means for pasting a banner advertisement to the electronic mail.
Or the e-mail transmission system for fax documents described in 6. 8. The server includes means for registering an e-mail address of a destination in advance, and selecting a banner advertisement to be transmitted to the destination based on an attribute of the destination acquired at the time of the registration. The fax document electronic mail transmission system according to claim 7, wherein: 9. The server according to claim 5, wherein the server includes means for transmitting the fax original as an electronic mail to a portable information terminal such as a mobile computer.
An electronic mail transmission system for a fax manuscript according to any one of claims 1 to 8.