JP2005072718A - E-mail transmitting method and mail server - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an e-mail transmitting method and a mail server for previously storing an e-mail to be possibly transmitted and transmitting this e-mail to a destination in response to a request from the terminal of a moving destination. <P>SOLUTION: This method is constituted in such a way that the e-mail to be possibly transmitted is previously stored in the mail server, and this e-mail is transmitted to the destination in response to the request from the terminal of the moving destination. With this constitution, the sender of the e-mail can surely transmit even an e-mail containing large quantity of data to the recipient by directing the mail server from the terminal carried to the moving destination. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an e-mail transmission method and a mail server, and in particular, an e-mail including a large amount of data as an attached file is stored in a mail server in advance, and the e-mail is transmitted to a destination in response to a request from a mobile terminal. The present invention relates to an e-mail transmission method and a mail server.

  In recent years, with the spread of communication networks such as the Internet and personal computer communication, an electronic mail transmission / reception service via a provider (Internet connection provider), a personal computer communication provider, and the like has become complicated, and a large amount of data is frequently transmitted and received. With the spread of PCs (Personal Computers), there is an increasing number of cases in which a large amount of e-mail data is transmitted by attaching a file to an e-mail.

  On the other hand, transmission and reception of e-mails using mobile terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) are frequently performed. In this case, the portable terminal can send and receive the text of the e-mail, but for example, a large amount of data (material, image file information, etc.) exceeding 1M size is sent to the other party as an attached file. This is often not possible due to performance limitations such as the capacity of the mobile terminal and the line speed, and usually a large amount of data is transmitted using a PC terminal.

  FIG. 9 shows an outline of a conventional e-mail transmission method.

  A dotted frame is an area where terminals for sending and receiving e-mails are arranged, an area 100 where a first terminal normally used by an e-mail sender is arranged, and a second terminal normally used by an e-mail addressee There are an area 200 where the electronic mail sender is located and an area 300 where the third terminal used by the e-mail sender is located. For example, area 100 is an area within a company, area 200 is an area on the customer side of the company, and as area 300, an e-mail sender who normally works in the company area moves for some reason. A destination area can be assumed.

  In the area 100, a mail server 120 and a PC terminal 110 are installed as a first terminal connected to the mail server 120 to transmit and receive electronic mail. The mail server 120 stores received electronic mail according to the destination of the electronic mail. A mailbox 121 is held. In the area 200, a mail server 220 and a PC terminal 210 are provided as a second terminal connected to the mail server 220 for sending and receiving electronic mail. Usually, when the sender of an e-mail working in the area 100 moves for some reason, the mobile terminal 310 that is the third terminal brought by the sender, and the mobile terminal A mail server 320 is provided for controlling the delivery of electronic mail. For example, the area 100 is a company area, and the employee's customer is addressed by using the PC terminal 110 that is normally used by an employee of the company or by using the mobile terminal 310 in the destination area 300. Assuming that an e-mail is transmitted to the PC terminal 210 used by the customer.

  Dotted arrows S01 and S02 indicate the flow of the transmitted e-mail, and the outline thereof is as follows.

  S01. The sender of the e-mail in the area 100 inputs an e-mail from the PC terminal 110 that is normally used, and the e-mail is sent to the mail server 220 in the area 200 via the mail server 120 and the network 400. Stored in mailbox. Then, when the addressee using the PC terminal 210 in the area 200 accesses the mail server 220 from the PC terminal 210, the electronic mail is delivered to the addressee. In this case, it is often assumed that a terminal that transmits an e-mail and a terminal that receives an e-mail are fixedly connected to the network by a PC terminal, and that a sufficient storage area is secured in the PC. Even if you include a large number of attachments in an e-mail, you can usually send and receive without problems.

  S02. If the sender of the e-mail in area 100 moves for some reason with the portable terminal 310 to the area 300, the e-mail data is input and transmitted to the portable terminal 310 on the spot, thereby transmitting the e-mail. Mail is stored in the addressee area of the mailbox in the mail server 220 in the area 200 via the mail server 320 and the network 400. Then, when the addressee using the PC terminal 210 in the area 200 accesses the mail server 220 from the PC terminal 210, the electronic mail is delivered to the addressee.

  Here, if a portable PC is brought as the portable terminal 310, a large amount of attached files can be attached to an e-mail from the destination if the data to be transmitted to the portable PC is stored in advance. Although it is possible, when the mobile terminal 310 is, for example, a mobile phone, it is often difficult to send a large number of attached files attached to an e-mail due to restrictions on performance conditions such as storage capacity and communication speed. Even if a portable PC is brought, there may be a case in which the portable PC cannot be connected to the network 400 for some reason due to a failure, power failure, or inconsistent connection interface with the network 400. In such a case, it is necessary to return to the area 100 and send an email from the PC terminal 110, and the longer the travel time from the destination area 300, the longer the time for sending the email. It will be. Here, if there is a third party who shares the same information you want to send by e-mail, you cannot call that third party and request to send e-mail. Sending an e-mail by a third party is not preferable and may cause incorrect information to be sent.

  Such a situation often occurs, for example, when a transmission destination is not specified, but a file of a document related to a business negotiation situation such as a business trip destination is suddenly sent to a business negotiation destination.

  An outline of a conventional e-mail transmission method is described in Non-Patent Document 1, and a protocol for transmitting an e-mail is described in Non-Patent Document 2.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for executing a predetermined job using an e-mail from an external network, and a technique for automatically generating a file on a remote terminal using an e-mail. Is described in Patent Document 2.
JP 2002-358274 A (pages 7 to 12, FIGS. 1 and 2) JP 2000-172593 A (pages 11 to 15, FIGS. 1 to 3) Masatoshi Terashima and Shinkyo Kajima, “TCP / IP Security Experiment”, Ohmsha, April 25, 2001, p.206-216 Edited by Daniel C. Lynch / Marshall T. Rose, translated by Jun Murai, "Internet System Handbook", Impress, Inc., August 11, 1996, p.368-380

  As described above, in the conventional e-mail transmission method, the data stored in the first terminal that is normally used by the sender of the e-mail is used as an attachment file or the like to be the second e-mail destination. Even if the sender of an email tries to send an email from a destination using a mobile terminal, it contains a large number of attached files due to restrictions on performance conditions such as storage capacity and communication speed of the mobile terminal. In many cases, e-mails cannot be sent directly from the mobile terminal, and e-mails containing large amounts of data cannot be sent in a timely manner from the destination.

  The present invention relates to an electronic mail transmission method and a mail server, in which an electronic mail that may be transmitted is stored in a mail server in advance, and the electronic mail is transmitted to a destination in response to a request from a destination terminal. An object is to provide a mail transmission method and a mail server.

  In the present invention, an e-mail that may be transmitted from the first terminal to the second terminal is stored in advance as a reserved mail in the mailbox of the mail server in which the first terminal is accommodated, via the network. The reservation mail is transmitted to the second terminal in response to a request signal from the connected third terminal.

  According to this, the sender moves by storing in advance e-mail data that may be transmitted to the mail server in which the first terminal normally used by the e-mail sender is accommodated. Even from the front, by transmitting a request signal to the mail server using the third terminal, the stored electronic mail data can be transmitted to the second terminal normally used by the addressee. Therefore, if an e-mail sender who normally uses the first terminal moves by bringing the third terminal, the request signal is transmitted from the destination using the third terminal. Even if a large amount of e-mail data cannot be retained and transmitted by the three terminals themselves due to performance limitations, they can be reliably transmitted to the second terminal used by the recipient. .

  In another aspect of the present invention, the electronic mail transmission method is configured to delete the reserved mail stored in the mailbox in response to a request signal from the third terminal.

  According to this, when the sender of the e-mail has finished sending the reservation mail stored in the mail server in advance, the reservation mail is deleted by sending a request signal from the third terminal to the mail server. Can be kept.

  In another aspect of the present invention, in the above e-mail transmission method, a part of the text of the reserved e-mail stored in the mailbox is changed and transmitted in response to a request signal from the third terminal. Configured as follows.

  According to this, even if the sender of the e-mail cannot specify the destination of the e-mail in advance, the e-mail is stored in the mailbox in advance so that the e-mail can be used later at the destination using the third terminal. It is possible to change a part of the text of the reservation mail and add a necessary comment and send it. That is, a part of the contents of the reservation mail can be changed and transmitted according to the situation of the destination of the sender of the electronic mail, and the electronic mail can be transmitted flexibly and timely.

  In another aspect of the present invention, in the above-described e-mail transmission method, the status of reserved mail stored in the mailbox is displayed on the third terminal in response to a request signal from the third terminal. Configured as follows.

  According to this, the sender of the e-mail can check the status of the reservation mail stored in the mail server mailbox at the destination, and can manage the reservation mail reliably.

  In another aspect of the present invention, in the above electronic mail transmission method, the mail server of the first terminal is provided with a communication function by HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), and the first terminal and the third terminal The data exchange between them is performed using HTTP.

  According to this, the sender of the e-mail communicates with the mail server storing the reserved mail and holding the mailbox without using the communication means by e-mail from the third terminal used at the destination. This enables efficient data delivery and flexible operation of the third terminal.

  In another aspect of the present invention, in the above-described e-mail transmission method, a reply mail returned from the second terminal is stored in the mailbox in response to a reservation mail transmitted to the second terminal. When specified in advance, the third terminal is notified of that.

  According to this, when a reply mail is returned from the recipient who sent the reservation mail, even if the sender of the reservation mail is at the destination, it is immediately notified to the third terminal of the sender. Quick response is possible.

  In another aspect of the present invention, in the above e-mail transmission method, the content of the reply mail stored in the mailbox is displayed on the third terminal in response to a request signal from the third terminal. Configured as follows.

  According to this, even when the sender of the electronic mail is at the destination, the contents of the reply mail can be displayed on the third terminal held by the sender, and the reply from the addressee of the reservation mail can be displayed. Can respond promptly and reliably.

  The present invention relates to an e-mail transmission method for transmitting an e-mail from a first terminal to a second terminal via a network, and an e-mail that may be transmitted from the first terminal to the second terminal. The reservation mail is stored in advance in a mail server in which the first terminal is accommodated, and the reservation mail is transmitted to the second terminal in response to a request signal from a third terminal connected via the network. Configured to do.

  As a result, the first terminal that is normally used by the sender of the e-mail is accommodated, and e-mail data that may be transmitted to the second terminal used by the addressee is previously stored in the mail server. When the sender sends the request signal to the mail server using the third terminal, the mail server can send the stored electronic mail data to the destination. Therefore, the sender of the e-mail can send a request signal from the third terminal, and even if the third terminal itself has a large amount of e-mail data that cannot be sent due to its performance limitations, Can be reliably transmitted to.

  FIG. 1 is an outline of an e-mail transmission method according to the present invention.

  A dotted frame is an area where terminals for sending and receiving e-mails are arranged, an area 100 where a first terminal normally used by an e-mail sender is arranged, and a second terminal normally used by an e-mail addressee There are an area 200 where the electronic mail sender is located and an area 300 where the third terminal used by the e-mail sender is located. For example, area 100 is an area within a company, area 200 is an area on the customer side of the company, and area 300 is a movement when an e-mail sender usually working in the area moves for some reason. A destination area can be assumed.

  FIG. 1 shows that when an e-mail sender in the area 100 leaves his / her seat for some reason and moves to the area 300 with the mobile terminal 310, the mail in the area 100 is sent by an instruction from the mobile terminal 310 in the area 300. The procedure for delivering the reservation mail held in the reservation mail box 122 of the server 120 to the PC terminal 210 used by the addressee in the area 200 is indicated by using dotted arrows S01 to S04 indicating the main data flow steps. It is shown. In this embodiment, in order to minimize the influence on the mailbox 121 used in the conventional electronic mail transmission method, a reserved mailbox 122 that is a mailbox for storing reserved emails is provided separately.

  S01. An e-mail sender who normally uses the PC terminal 110 in the area 100 reserves an e-mail that may be sent to the addressee in the area 200 in the reserved mailbox 122 in the mail server 120 in advance. Store as email. Here, a large amount of data can be included in the reservation mail as an attached file, for example.

  S02. If the sender has moved to the area 300 for some reason, and it becomes necessary to send a reservation mail containing the above large amount of data to the addressee in the area 200, the reservation mail of the current mail server 120 The list information of the reservation mail stored in the box 122 is displayed on the mobile terminal 310.

  S03. From the list of reservation emails displayed on the mobile terminal 310 in step S02 above, select the reservation email to be sent, and send a transmission request for the reservation email to deliver the selected reservation email to the addressee in the area 200. The data is transmitted to the mail server 120 in the area 100 via the network 400.

  S04. The mail server 120 that has received the transmission request from the mobile terminal 310 extracts the corresponding reservation mail stored in the reservation mailbox 122 and transmits it to the mail server 220 in the area 200 via the network 400. Store in the recipient's mailbox. Thereafter, when the addressee accesses the mail server 220 from the PC terminal 210 as the second terminal, the reserved mail is delivered to the addressee.

  In this way, even an e-mail containing a large amount of data is stored in advance in the reserved mailbox 122 in the area 100, and the sender does not bring the large amount of data without bringing the large amount of data. By simply sending to the mail server 120 instruction information for transmitting the stored reservation mail from the portable terminal 310, the reservation mail including a large amount of data is transmitted from the mail server 120 to the addressee.

  FIG. 2 is a sequence (1) of the electronic mail transmission method of the present invention, and shows a sequence of data exchange between the PC terminal, the mail server, and the portable terminal.

  S01. The sender of the e-mail in the area 100 uses the PC terminal 110 serving as the first terminal, and the e-mail that may be transmitted to the addressee in the area 200 as a reserved e-mail, A reservation mail registration request M01 can be transmitted to the mail server 120 in order to register and store in the reservation mailbox 122 in the mail server 120.

  S02. Upon receiving the reservation mail registration request M01, the mail server 120 adds attribute information to the email included therein, registers and stores it in the reservation mailbox 122 as a reservation mail, and then sends a registration completion notification M02 to the PC. Return to terminal 110.

  S03. If there is an e-mail to be further registered for reservation, the PC terminal 110 returns to step S01 and transmits a reservation mail registration request M01.

  S04. Thereafter, the e-mail sender (registration mail registrant) leaves the area 100, moves to the area 300, and then transmits the reservation mail registered in the sequence S01 to the addressee in the area 200. When the need arises, the mobile terminal 310 that is brought is operated to transmit a reservation mail reference request M03 to the mail server 120 in order to confirm the reservation mail registered in the reservation mail box 122.

  S05. Upon receiving the reservation mail reference request M03, the mail server 120 extracts the reservation mail registered and accumulated by the sender from the reservation mail box 122, and sets the list of attribute information including the title name as the reservation mail list M04 to the portable terminal 310. Send to.

  S06. Based on the received reservation mail list M04, the mobile terminal 310 displays the attribute information of the reservation mail on the screen of the mobile terminal 310 in a list format. The operator of portable terminal 310 selects a reservation mail to be transmitted from the list of reservation mails, and transmits a reservation mail transmission request M05 including the reservation mail identification number to mail server 120. As a result, the operator of the mobile terminal 310 confirms the selection of the reservation mail to be transmitted while confirming the attribute information such as the title name of the reservation mail registered by the user and whether or not the reservation mail has been transmitted. Can be done.

  S07. The mail server 120 extracts the reservation mail corresponding to the identification number included in the received reservation mail transmission request M05 from the reservation mail box 122, and transmits it to the addressee in the area 200 as a reservation mail message M06. Here, actually, the reserved mail message M06 is once stored in the mailbox in the mail server 220, and delivered to the PC terminal 210 when there is an access from the PC terminal 210 used by the addressee.

  S08. The addressee who operates the PC terminal 210 confirms the contents of the received reservation mail message M06, and then sends a reply mail M07 to the mail server 120.

  S09. When the mail server 120 receives the reply mail message M07 and can determine that it is a reply mail corresponding to the reserved mail message M06 sent in the sequence S07, the reply mail message M07 is the reply destination. The reply mail message M07 is also stored in the reserved mail box 122 at the same time as the conventional e-mail receiving process is performed by storing it in the mail sender 121 of the e-mail. Then, referring to the attribute information of the reservation mail in the reservation mail box 122 corresponding to the reservation mail message M06, when the reply mail notification flag indicating whether or not to notify the reply mail is “ON”, the mobile terminal 310 An e-mail for notifying that the reply mail has been received is generated and sent as a reply notification message M08.

  Here, the reply mail notification flag is provided to select whether or not to notify the reception of the reply mail from the addressee who sent the reservation mail to the mobile terminal 310 at the time of registering the reservation mail in the reservation mailbox 122. As a result, it is possible to promptly notify the operator of the portable terminal 310 that the reply mail has been received.

  S10. The mobile terminal 310 that has received the reply notification message M08 outputs a message to that effect and notifies the operator of the mobile terminal 310. Here, the operator of the portable terminal 310 transmits a reply mail reference request M10 to the mail server 120 if necessary, and displays reply mail information M11 returned from the mail server 120 on the screen, thereby replying mail. The contents of can be confirmed. Thereby, the operator of the mobile terminal 310 can confirm the content of the reply mail from the addressee who has sent the reservation mail even from the movement destination.

  S11. Upon receiving the reply mail reference request M10, the mail server 120 extracts the reply mail stored in the reserved mail box 122 in the sequence S09 and transmits it to the portable terminal 310 as reply mail information M11.

  S12. When the e-mail sender returns to the area 100 and the PC terminal 110 accesses the mail server 120, the reply mail message M09 is delivered to the PC terminal 110.

  FIG. 3 is a sequence (2) of the e-mail transmission method according to the present invention, and shows a sequence when the reserved e-mail registered and accumulated in the mail server 120 is deleted.

  S01. When deleting the reserved mail stored in the reserved mailbox 122 of the mail server 120, the operator of the portable terminal 310 first makes a reservation to display the list information of the currently registered reserved mail on the screen. The mail reference request M03 is transmitted to the mail server 120.

  S02. Upon receiving the reservation mail reference request M03, the mail server 120 extracts the reservation mail registered by the sender of the reservation mail, that is, the operator of the mobile terminal 310, from the reservation mailbox 122, and sets the title name of each extracted reservation mail. The attribute information list that is included is transmitted to the portable terminal 310 as a reserved mail list M04.

  S03. The portable terminal 310 displays reservation mail attribute information on the screen based on the reservation mail list M04. When the operator of the mobile terminal 310 selects a reservation mail to be deleted from the reservation mails displayed on the screen and performs a deletion operation, the mobile terminal 310 identifies the reservation mail to be deleted to the mail server 120. The reservation mail deletion request M12 including the number is transmitted.

  S04. The mail server 120 searches the reservation mail box 122 based on the identification number of the reservation mail to be deleted included in the received reservation mail deletion request M12, and deletes the corresponding reservation mail.

  As a result, an unnecessary reservation mail can be reliably deleted while confirming the state of the reservation mail by an operation from the mobile terminal 310.

  FIG. 4 is a sequence (3) of the e-mail transmission method according to the present invention, and shows a sequence when a part of the e-mail text of the reservation e-mail is edited from the mobile terminal 310 and transmitted to the destination.

  S01. When the operator of the mobile terminal 310 wants to edit the reservation mail stored in the reservation mail box 122 of the mail server 120, first, the reservation information is displayed in order to display the list information of the currently registered reservation mails on the screen. The mail reference request M03 is transmitted to the mail server 120.

  S02. Upon receiving the reservation mail reference request M03, the mail server 120 extracts the reservation mail registered by the sender of the reservation mail, that is, the operator of the mobile terminal 310, from the reservation mailbox 122, and sets the title name of each extracted reservation mail. The attribute information list that is included is transmitted to the portable terminal 310 as a reserved mail list M04.

  S03. When the operator of the mobile terminal 310 selects the reservation mail to be edited from the list information of the reservation mail displayed on the screen, the mobile terminal 310 includes the identification information of the reservation mail to be edited. The reservation mail text reference request M13 is transmitted to the mail server 120.

  S04. The mail server 120 extracts the reserved email to be edited included in the reserved email text reference request M13 from the reserved mailbox 122, and uses the extracted reserved email text data as the reserved email text information M14 as the mobile terminal 310. Send to.

  S05. The mobile terminal 310 displays the received reservation mail text information M14 on the screen, and the operator of the mobile terminal 310 changes a part of the text information of the reservation mail displayed on the screen, and then transmits the reservation mail edit transmission. A request M15 is transmitted to the mail server 120.

  S06. The mail server 120 adds an attachment file of the corresponding reservation mail information in the reservation mailbox 122 to the edited reservation mail body included in the received reservation mail edit transmission request M15, and edits the reservation mail message. Send to destination as M16.

  S07. The edit reservation mail message M16 is temporarily stored in the mail box in the mail server 220, and delivered to the PC terminal 210 when there is an access from the PC terminal 210 used by the addressee. As a result, it is possible to send a reservation email with a part of the text of the reservation email changed by operation from the mobile terminal 310, and when registering the reservation email, the destination of the reservation email cannot be specified, It is possible to send a flexible reservation email corresponding to the situation of the destination, such as adding a comment.

  In the sequence shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the communication between the mail server 120 and the portable terminal 310 can be realized by using HTTP to exchange data other than the reply mail notification M08 shown in FIG. . In that case, by providing a web server function in the communication control unit of the mail server 120, the portable terminal 310 may have only a browser function based on HTTP.

  In addition, by setting not to send a reply email notification to the mobile terminal 310 when registering the reservation email, the reply email notification message M08 sent using the conventional email technology becomes unnecessary. The mail server 320 does not need to be provided in the 300, and thus the mobile terminal 310 does not have to have an electronic mail transmission / reception function.

  Therefore, if a mobile phone having a browser function for HTTP is used as the mobile terminal 310, the above-described sequence can be realized without any additional function change, and a setting for not receiving a reply mail reception to the mobile terminal 310 is made. If this is the case, there is no need for an e-mail transmission / reception function.

  FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the mail server of the present invention.

  The communication control unit 123 performs an email transmission / reception process with the PC terminal 110 in the area 100 and an email transmission / reception process with the area 200 and the area 300 via the network 400. In addition, a Web server function for transmitting and receiving data by HTTP via the mobile terminal 310 in the area 300 and the network 400 is provided.

  The message analysis unit 124 analyzes and sorts the received data delivered from the communication control unit 123. In the case of email data according to the prior art, the message is delivered to the email transmission / reception control unit 126, and the email transmission method of the present invention In the case of the data handled by, it is delivered to the reservation mail control unit 125. However, the reply mail data to the transmitted reservation mail is delivered to both the reservation mail control unit 125 and the mail transmission / reception control unit 126. As a result, a reply mail to the transmitted reservation mail can be notified to both the PC terminal 110 in the area 100 and the mobile terminal 310 in the area 300.

  The distribution process of the electronic message analysis unit 124 can add the function of the e-mail transmission method of the present invention without affecting the conventional e-mail transmission / reception function.

  The mail transmission / reception control unit 126 performs an email delivery process according to the prior art. When the received email is temporarily stored in the mailbox 121 and accessed from a user terminal in the area 100, the user To be handed over.

  The mail box 121 stores electronic mail according to the prior art, and the electronic mail received by the mail server 120 is stored in an area provided for each user as the destination. Then, when there is an access from the user, the stored electronic mail is delivered.

  The reservation mail control unit 125 processes data handled by the electronic mail transmission method of the present invention. The reservation mail registration request M01, the reservation mail transmission request M05, and the reply mail message M07 shown in the sequence of FIGS. When the mail server 120 receives data of the reply mail reference request M10, the reservation mail deletion request M12, the reservation mail text reference request M13, and the reservation mail edit transmission request M15, processing corresponding to each data is performed.

  The reservation mailbox 122 normally stores an e-mail (reservation mail) that a user who is working using the PC terminal 110 in the area 100 may instruct and send from the destination later. This is a file to be stored, and an area for storing reservation mail is allocated for each user.

  FIG. 6 shows the record structure of the reservation mailbox according to the present invention.

  The reserved mail box 122 is assigned an area for storing the reserved mail for each user, and each area is configured as a collection of records having the configuration shown in FIG. Each record includes attribute information including status information R01, date and time R02, reply mail notification flag R03, and mail address R04 of the mobile terminal, mail text R05, and attached file R06.

  The status information R01 is information indicating the status of the record, and is set with three types of status identification information: “not transmitted”, “transmitted”, and “received”. “Not sent” indicates that the registered reservation mail (the mail text and attached file included in the record) has not been sent to the destination, and “Sent” indicates that the registered reservation mail is not sent to the destination. “Received” indicates that the reply mail has been sent back from the recipient and the reply mail is stored in the mail body part of this record. Indicates. The mail server 120 notifies the operator of the mobile terminal 310, that is, the sender of the reservation mail, of the reservation mail transmission status and the reply mail reception status by transmitting the contents of the status information R01 to the mobile terminal 310. can do.

  The meaning of the date and time R02 varies depending on the contents of the status information R01. When the status information R01 is “Not sent”, it indicates the date and time when the reserved email was registered, and when the status information R01 is “Sent”, the reserved email is sent. When the status information R01 is “Received”, it indicates the date and time when the reply mail was received.

  The reply mail notification flag R03 is a flag indicating whether or not to notify the portable terminal 310 by e-mail when a reply mail is returned from the destination after the reservation mail is transmitted to the destination. Thus, when “ON” is received, a reply mail is received and the mobile terminal 310 is notified to that effect by e-mail, and when “OFF” is not notified. The mobile terminal mail address R04 is valid information when the reply mail notification flag R03 is “ON”, and indicates the mail address of the mobile terminal 310 to be notified when the reply mail is received. Thus, when the mail server 120 receives a reply mail from the recipient after the reservation mail is transmitted, the mail server 120 indicates that the reply mail has been received to the operator of the mobile terminal 310 that is the sender of the reservation mail. You can send an email to be notified.

  The mail text R05 is the text of the registered reservation mail, and the header part includes the sender address R05a of the reservation mail, the title name R05b of the electronic mail, and the destination address R05c.

  The attached file R06 is an attached file that is transmitted by being attached to the mail text R05.

  In the present embodiment, among the information included in the above record, status information R01, date / time R02, sender address R05a, title name R05b is assigned with the record identification number as attribute information, and the attribute information is a mail server. By transmitting from 120 to the portable terminal 310, list information as shown in the screen display of the portable terminal of the present invention in FIG. 8 described later can be displayed on the portable terminal 310.

  FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of the reservation mail control unit of the present invention. The reservation mail control unit 125 is activated by the message analysis unit 124, and at that time, request data including user identification information and request type information is delivered.

  S01. The request type information of the request data delivered from the message analysis unit 124 is determined, and the process proceeds to a step corresponding to each type.

  When the type is a reservation mail registration request, the process proceeds to step S02. When the type is a reservation mail reference request, the process proceeds to step S03. When the type is a reservation mail transmission request, the process proceeds to step S04. When the request is a reservation mail edit transmission request, the process proceeds to step S05. When the type is a reservation mail deletion request, the process proceeds to step S06. When the type is a reply mail reference request, the process proceeds to step S07. When the reservation mail text reference request is made, the process proceeds to step S08, and when the type is a reply mail reception request, the process proceeds to step S09.

  S02. Reservation registration date / time, status information, reply mail notification flag, and email address of the mobile terminal as necessary are added to the email data included in the reservation mail registration request delivered from the message analysis unit 124, Registration is made in the reservation mailbox 122 and the process is terminated.

  S03. About the reservation mail registered in the area in the reservation mailbox 122 corresponding to the user identification information included in the reservation mail reference request M03 delivered from the message analysis unit 124, the title name, status information, and reservation date and time are displayed. Extracted and transmitted to the portable terminal 310 as a reservation mail list M04, and the process is terminated. Here, the information included in the reserved mail list M04 may be added and changed according to the type of information displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal 310.

  S04. Search and extract the reservation mail corresponding to the identification number included in the reservation mail transmission request M05 delivered from the message analysis unit 124 from the reservation mail box 122, send it as the reservation mail message M06, and terminate the process. .

  S05. Edit by adding the attached file included in the corresponding reservation mail in the reservation mailbox 122 to the edited reservation mail text included in the reservation mail edit transmission request M15 delivered from the message analysis unit 124 The reservation mail message M16 is transmitted, and the process is terminated.

  S06. Reservation mail information corresponding to the identification number included in the reservation mail deletion request M12 delivered from the message analysis unit 124 is searched and specified in the reservation mailbox 122, and it is deleted and the process is terminated. .

  S07. The reply mail stored in the reservation mail box 122 is extracted and transmitted to the portable terminal 310 as reply mail information M11, and the process is terminated.

  S08. The reserved mail corresponding to the identification information included in the reserved mail text reference request M13 delivered from the message analysis unit 124 is extracted from the reserved mail box 122, and the mail text therein is carried as the reserved mail text information M14. The data is transmitted to the terminal 310, and the process ends.

  S09. When the mail server 120 receives a reply mail for the transmitted reservation mail, the reply mail is delivered via the message analysis unit 124. At that time, after the reply mail is stored in the reserved mail box 122, the corresponding reserved mail information in the reserved mail box 122 is extracted from the title name and the sender address of the reply mail, and the reply mail included therein Referring to notification flag R03, if the flag is “ON” (YES), the process proceeds to the next step S09, and if the flag is “OFF” (NO), the process is terminated.

  S10. A reply notification message M08 in an electronic mail format indicating that the reply mail has been received is generated and transmitted to the mobile terminal 310, and the process is terminated.

  FIG. 8 shows an example in which a list of reserved mails is displayed on the screen display of the portable terminal according to the present invention.

  The screen 330 of the mobile terminal 310 is provided with a function selection key area 340 for selecting a function that the operator of the mobile terminal 310 wants to execute. The function selection key area 340 includes a reference key 341, a send key 342, a delete key 343, an edit key 344, and a reply mail reference key 345. The operator of the portable terminal 310 selects a function that the operator desires to execute by selecting these function selection keys on the screen using a pointing function held by the portable terminal such as a cursor.

  The screen 330 of the mobile terminal 310 is provided with a reservation mail information display area 350 for displaying reservation mail information registered in the reservation mail box 122 of the mail server 120. In the reservation mail information display area 350, for the reservation mail information registered by the operator of the mobile terminal 310 in the reservation mail box 122, the identification number 351, the date and time 352, the status information 353 indicating the status of the reservation mail, the title name of the reservation mail Attribute information including title information 354 indicating the sender information and sender information 355 indicating the sender of the reservation mail is displayed in a list format. Here, the assignment of the identification number 351 is, for example, a serial number assigned in the order in which the mail server 120 stores the reservation mail or the reply mail in the reservation mail box 122, and the correspondence between the serial number and the record is a table. It can be realized by a known method such as By passing this identification number 351 between the portable terminal 310 and the mail server 120, the mail server 120 can specify a record in the reserved mailbox 122 to be processed.

  For example, when the operator of the mobile terminal 310 first selects the reference key 341 in the function selection key 340, the reservation mail information stored in the reservation mail box 122 of the mail server 120 is displayed in the reservation mail information display area 350. Listed. Next, after selecting the reservation mail information to be operated from the reservation mail information listed in the reservation mail information display area 350, a transmission key 342, a delete key 343 in the function selection key 340, By selecting a necessary function from the edit key 344 and the reply reference key 345, the reservation mail can be operated remotely from the portable terminal 310.

  When the transmission key 342 is designated, the reservation mail selected in the reservation mail information display area 350 is extracted from the reservation mail box 122 of the mail server 120 and transmitted to the destination. When the delete key 343 is designated, the reservation mail selected in the reservation mail information display area 350 is deleted from the reservation mail box 122 of the mail server 120. When the edit key 344 is specified, the email text of the reserved email selected in the reserved email information display area 350 is displayed on the screen, and after changing the email text information, operating the send key 342, An e-mail in which the attached file is added to the changed body mail is transmitted to the destination. When the reply reference key 345 is designated, the contents of the reply mail stored in the reserved mail box 122 of the mail server 120 are displayed on the screen.

  The above-described screen display and operation procedure of the mobile terminal 310 can be realized by, for example, the mail server 120 and the mobile terminal 310 passing data by HTTP. In this case, a known Web is transmitted to the communication control unit 123 of the mail server 120. The server function can be implemented, the known HTTP browser function can be implemented in the mobile terminal 310, and the mail server 120 can be configured to have the function of the present invention.

  In the above embodiment, the PC terminal is described as an example of the first terminal normally used by the sender of the e-mail and the second terminal used by the addressee of the e-mail. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Any terminal may be used as long as it has a function of sending and receiving electronic mail. In addition, the third terminal used by the sender of the e-mail in the destination area has been described by taking a mobile terminal as an example. However, the third terminal does not necessarily require a function of transmitting / receiving e-mail. When not receiving a reply mail, any terminal may be used as long as it has a browser function based on HTTP.

  Various modifications are possible for the data transfer sequence between the mail server 120 and the mobile terminal 310, the record structure of the reservation mailbox 122, the operation flowchart of the reservation mail control unit 125, the screen display and operation procedure of the mobile terminal 310. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to them. In the above embodiment, the reservation mailbox 122 is provided separately from the mailbox 121 used for normal email communication in order to minimize the influence on the conventional email communication processing. By adding necessary attribute information to the conventional mailbox, the function of the reservation mailbox 122 can be included in the conventional mailbox.

  The embodiment of the present invention described above is as follows.

(Supplementary note 1) E-mail that may be transmitted from the first terminal to the second terminal is stored as a reserved mail in the mailbox of the mail server that accommodates the first terminal in advance,
In response to a request signal from a third terminal connected via a network, the reservation mail is transmitted to the second terminal.
An e-mail transmission method characterized by the above.
(Appendix 2) In the e-mail transmission method described in Appendix 1,
In response to a request signal from the third terminal, the reservation mail stored in the mailbox is deleted.
An e-mail transmission method characterized by the above.

(Appendix 3) In the e-mail transmission method described in Appendix 1,
In response to a request signal from the third terminal, a part of the text of the reservation mail stored in the mailbox is changed and transmitted.
An e-mail transmission method characterized by the above.
(Appendix 4) In the e-mail transmission method described in Appendix 1,
In response to a request signal from the third terminal, the status of the reservation mail stored in the mailbox is displayed on the third terminal.
An e-mail transmission method characterized by the above.

(Appendix 5) In the e-mail transmission method according to any one of Appendices 1 to 4,
A communication function by HTTP is provided in the mail server of the first terminal,
Data transfer between the first terminal and the third terminal is performed using HTTP.
An e-mail transmission method characterized by the above.

(Appendix 6) In the e-mail transmission method described in Appendix 1,
For the reservation mail sent to the second terminal, the reply mail sent back from the second terminal is stored in the mailbox,
If specified in advance, notify the third terminal to that effect,
An e-mail transmission method characterized by the above.

(Appendix 7) In the e-mail transmission method described in Appendix 6,
In response to a request signal from the third terminal, the content of the reply mail stored in the mailbox is displayed on the third terminal.
An e-mail transmission method characterized by the above.

(Supplementary Note 8) A mailbox that stores in advance e-mail that may be transmitted from the first terminal to the second terminal as a reserved mail;
In response to a request signal from a third terminal connected via a network, means for transmitting the reserved mail stored in the mailbox to the second terminal,
A mail server characterized by that.

Outline of Email Sending Method of the Present Invention Sequence (1) of e-mail transmission method of the present invention Sequence (2) of the e-mail transmission method of the present invention Sequence (3) of e-mail transmission method of the present invention Configuration of the mail server of the present invention Record structure of reservation mailbox of the present invention Operation flow chart of reservation mail transmission control unit of the present invention Screen display of portable terminal according to the present invention Overview of prior art email sending methods

Explanation of symbols

100 Area where the first terminal is located
110 PC terminal (first terminal)
120 mail server
121 mailbox
122 Reservation mailbox
123 Communication control unit
124 Message Analysis Department
125 Reservation email control part
126 Mail transmission / reception controller
200 Area where the second terminal is located
210 PC terminal (second terminal)
220 mail server
300 Area where the third terminal is located
310 Mobile device (third device)
320 mail server
330 Mobile device display screen
340 Function selection key area
341 Reference key area
342 Send key area
343 Delete Key Area
344 Edit Key Area
345 Reply reference key area
350 Reservation email information display area
351 identification number
352 date and time
353 status information
354 Title Information
355 From information
400 network
M01 Reservation email registration request
M02 Registration completion notification
M03 Reservation email reference request
M04 Reservation mail list
M05 Reservation email transmission request
M06 Reservation email message
M07, M09 Reply mail message
M08 Reply notification message
M10 Reply mail reference request
M11 Reply mail information
M12 Reservation email deletion request
M13 Reservation email text reference request
M14 Reservation email text information
M15 Reservation email edit send request
M16 edit reservation email message
R01 Status information
R02 Date
R03 Reply mail notification flag
R04 Mobile device email address
R05 Mail text
R05a From address
R05b Title name
R05c Destination address
R06 attachment

Claims (3)

E-mail that may be transmitted from the first terminal to the second terminal is stored in advance as a reserved mail in the mailbox of the mail server in which the first terminal is accommodated,
In response to a request signal from a third terminal connected via the network, the reservation mail is transmitted to the second terminal.
An e-mail transmission method characterized by the above. The e-mail transmission method according to claim 1,
In response to a request from the third terminal, change and send a part of the text of the reservation mail stored in the mailbox,
An e-mail transmission method characterized by the above. A mailbox that stores emails that may be transmitted from the first terminal to the second terminal in advance as reserved mails;
In response to a request signal from a third terminal connected via a network, means for transmitting the reserved mail stored in the mailbox to the second terminal,
A mail server characterized by that.

Images