JP2007306085A - Electronic mail distribution server apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic mail distribution server apparatus that when the service of distributing various information by diversified information senders to many unspecified information recipients is provided in a form of electronic mail, enables the electronic mail distribution service to be readily utilized and various information to be more surely provided. <P>SOLUTION: A reception keyword registration section 302 receives a receiving condition for selecting information desired by an information recipient from electronic mail from the recipient, extracts a keyword from the electronic mail and determines a pattern obtained from the keyword as the receiving condition of the recipient. A reception keyword database 303 stores one or more receiving condition patterns per one recipient. An information mail distribution section 304 extracts a keyword provided by an information sender to electronic mail from the information sender, analyzes the receiving condition pattern on the basis of the keyword, determines the concerned recipient and distributes the electronic mail to the recipient. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  In the present invention, when realizing a service of providing various information collected from various information senders to an unspecified number of information receivers by electronic mail distribution, Both relate to an electronic mail distribution server device that can easily use the service and can provide information desired by an information recipient more accurately.

  It has been a long time since the exchange of e-mail via the Internet has become popular. Usually, electronic mail software is equipped with a carbon copy (CC) function, and the same mail can be sent to a plurality of destinations at the same time.

  A service called an e-mail magazine is also widely used. A mail magazine is information that is regularly distributed using e-mail, and is a system in which a recipient can receive the information by registering a mail address with an issuer.

  In addition, a service called a mailing list is widely used. This is because the mail server manages the mail addresses of multiple users who exchange information based on a specific theme as one group, and one of those users sends mail to the representative mail address of the group. If transmitted, the system is distributed to the remaining users.

  In addition, with the improvement and popularization of these e-mail services, it is also a fact that unsolicited and indiscriminately distributed e-mails called spam are increasing. No means for complete prevention has been established.

  Furthermore, technologies relating to electronic mail such as Patent Documents 1 to 15 have been devised.

  Although these technologies are slightly different, basically, if a user A is a keyword or some receiving condition is registered, and another user B is sending or registering information that matches the receiving condition. This technique distributes the information to the user A and all users who have registered equivalent reception conditions.

  Although Patent Document 10 is limited to consultation information with various administrative organizations, Patent Document 11 is limited to e-mail magazine information, Patent Document 13 is limited to Keigo information, and Patent Document 15 is limited to intelligence information. May be considered the same.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-13545 JP-A-3-139045 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 04-130839 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-326733 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-168028 JP-A-11-243411 JP 2000-339334 A JP 2001-154936 A JP 2001-331423 A JP 2002-319978 A JP 2003-162482 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-216539 Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-092652 JP 2005-196268 A Japanese Patent No. 36766649

  However, the conventional techniques have the following problems.

  With the carbon copy (CC) function of the conventional electronic mail software, it is necessary to know the mail address of the transmission destination in advance, so it has not been possible to deliver mail to a partner who does not know the mail address. Similarly, in the case of an e-mail magazine, since the issuer needs to know the e-mail address of the destination in advance, the e-mail magazine cannot be distributed to a partner who does not know the e-mail address.

  On the other hand, in the case of a mailing list, it is not necessary to know the individual mail addresses of distribution destinations, and it is possible to distribute information to all the groups by simply sending mail to the representative mail address of the group. However, in order to receive and transmit multiple types of information, such as “health food” information and “golf” information, you must subscribe to the health food mailing list and golf mailing list, respectively. I can not say. In addition, it cannot be said that the information is limited to the limited information, such as “royal jelly” information and “putting” information.

  In addition, it cannot be denied that the improvement and popularization of these e-mail services is a factor in the increase in spam mail. In particular, in a mailing list, it is easy to be targeted for junk mail because it is delivered to all the groups just by sending mail to the representative mail address. For this reason, mailing lists have often been shunned, despite being very useful in terms of information sharing.

  Solving the above problems has been a long-standing problem in e-mail services, and as a proof of this, many techniques have been devised to date. However, the present inventor is not aware of any sign of widespread use of such services.

  This is because these technologies have the following three problems.

  First, the first problem is whether a mail (hereinafter referred to as an information mail) transmitted by a user who transmits information (hereinafter referred to as a transmitting user) matches a reception condition of a user who receives information (hereinafter referred to as a receiving user). This is a case where information mail is searched based on the keyword registered by the receiving user. In this case, for example, when 100,000 receiving users register 10 keywords each, a process of searching 1 million times based on 1 million keywords to process one information mail. Since this is necessary, an extreme load is placed on the server.

  Next, the second problem is a case where the receiving condition of the receiving user is searched based on the keyword included in the information mail without depending on the matching method as in the first problem. In this case, the above-described example of 100,000 receiving users only requires one search. However, since the keyword of the information mail is automatically extracted by guessing from the noun included in the information mail, the keyword intended by the sending user may not be extracted. Also, the sending user cannot give any keyword to the information mail.

  The third problem is not based on the extraction method as in the second problem, and the sending user can assign an arbitrary keyword to the information mail, and the receiving condition of the receiving user is searched based on the keyword. This is the case. In this case, the sending user needs to send the keyword to be given to the server separately from the information mail. For this reason, the sending user needs to send the information mail and the keyword to the server in two steps, or attach the keyword filed to the information mail and send it.

  Furthermore, even if the above three problems are solved, as in the present invention, the receiving user can register complicated receiving conditions by e-mail, or the sending user can set an arbitrary keyword for the e-mail. Since it is not possible to provide a function that can be given to an arbitrary position in a subject or text, or a receiving user can select and receive an information mail of a specific sending user, it is insufficient as a service.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides various information collected from various information senders to an unspecified number of information recipients by electronic mail distribution. An e-mail distribution server device that enables both information senders and information receivers to easily use the service and provides information desired by the information receivers more accurately when realizing the service The challenge is to achieve this.

  The present invention accepts a reception condition for selecting information distributed to itself by a receiver who desires distribution of electronic mail information collected from an information sender by an electronic mail from the receiver, A receiving keyword registration unit that extracts one or more keywords from a character string in an email and determines a pattern obtained by a logical sum, logical difference, and logical product of the keywords as a receiving condition of the recipient; A reception keyword database that allows one or more reception condition patterns determined by the keyword registration unit to be stored for one recipient, and a subject and body of an email collected from the information sender One or more keywords assigned by the information sender are extracted, and the received keyword database is extracted based on the extracted keywords. Analyzing the reception condition pattern obtained by the logical sum, logical difference and logical product stored in the service, determining the corresponding recipient, and delivering the collected e-mail to the corresponding recipient By providing the mail delivery unit, the above-mentioned problems are solved.

  In the above electronic mail distribution server device, a keyword for specifying the information sender by himself / herself is accepted by an electronic mail from the information sender, and a character string in the electronic mail is set as one keyword. And an official keyword registration unit that determines the keyword as a keyword that identifies the information sender, and a keyword that identifies the information sender and is determined by the official keyword registration unit as one information sender. An official keyword database for storing one keyword for the information, and when the information mail distribution unit determines a corresponding recipient, a keyword for identifying the information sender is included in the reception condition pattern. A receiver set as a keyword specifying the sender and a keyword specifying the information sender are set. From the non recipients by determining a recipient appropriate, it is obtained by solving the above problems.

  Further, in the electronic mail distribution server device, a range list database used for expanding a specific designated keyword into a predetermined character string among keywords extracted from the electronic mail by the recipient. In addition, when the reception keyword registration unit determines the reception condition pattern of the recipient, the specified keyword among the extracted keywords is referred to the range list database, and is scheduled. The above-mentioned problem is solved by developing the received character string and determining the reception condition pattern.

  According to the present invention, by realizing the distribution service as described above, the sending user does not need to send the keyword to be assigned to the server separately from the information mail, and the labor can be saved. Therefore, the third problem in the prior art is solved. Is done. In addition, since the keyword intended by the transmission user is correctly extracted, the second problem in the prior art is solved. Further, since it is not necessary to perform a search many times to process one information mail, and therefore the load on the server is reduced, the first problem in the prior art is solved.

  Further, according to the present invention, the receiving user can register complicated receiving conditions by e-mail, and the transmitting user can set an arbitrary keyword for the information e-mail, an arbitrary subject in the e-mail subject and the main text. It becomes possible to give to the position. In addition, the receiving user can receive an information mail to which a keyword within the range is assigned only by specifying a start value and an end value in an arbitrary range as reception conditions. Furthermore, the receiving user can select and receive the information mail of a specific sending user.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, a plurality of types of information such as “health food” and “golf” information can be received and transmitted, and among them, information regarding “royal jelly” and “putting” can be limited. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to register with multiple mailing lists. If you have already registered with multiple mailing lists, it is possible to consolidate them. It has the effect of further expanding and enriching the community.

  In addition, according to the present invention, companies, organizations, individuals, etc. that have distributed the mail magazine do not need to manage the email address of the receiving user, other personal information, etc., which can reduce labor and expenses. Is possible.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when realizing a service for providing various information collected from various information senders to an unspecified number of information receivers by electronic mail distribution, information transmission is performed. It is possible to realize an electronic mail distribution server device that can be used easily by both the information receiver and the information receiver, and can provide information desired by the information receiver more accurately.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

  In this figure, reference numeral 101 denotes a user (hereinafter referred to as a transmitting user) who transmits information, and a PC (Personal Computer) operated by the user or a terminal device equipped with electronic mail software such as a mobile phone (hereinafter simply referred to as a PC). It is noted). 102 is a mail (hereinafter referred to as information mail) transmitted by the transmission user 101, 103 is a server (hereinafter referred to as distribution server) in which an electronic mail distribution apparatus according to the present invention is installed, and 102 'is distributed by the distribution server 103. Information mails 104 to 106 are users (hereinafter referred to as receiving users) who receive the information mail 102 ', which are PCs to be operated. The transmitting user 101, the distribution server 103, and the receiving users 104 to 106 are connected to each other via the Internet (not shown).

  An outline of the information mail delivery flow is shown below.

  First, the receiving users 104 to 106 register desired keywords in the distribution server 103. After that, when the sending user 101 sends the information mail 102 in which the corresponding keyword is set to the distribution server 103, the sender mail address (From value in the mail header) of the information mail 102 is changed to the receiving users 104 to 106. Information mail 102 'is distributed.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of hardware used for each device of the present embodiment.

  FIG. 2 shows an electronic mail distribution server 103 and a certain computer used as a PC (Personal Computer) used when a transmission user or a reception user transmits / receives an electronic mail to / from the electronic mail distribution server 103. The hardware configuration of the device is shown. The computer apparatus of this figure may be a general PC (Personal Computer) apparatus or an apparatus such as a cellular phone in which Windows (registered trademark) of US Microsoft Corporation is installed as an example of the OS (Operating System). There is no particular limitation. Alternatively, other hardware may be used. For example, hardware such as a server device or a so-called workstation such as an EWS (Engineering Work Station) may be used. In this figure, the hardware configuration is partially abstracted for the sake of explanation.

  In this figure, the computer apparatus includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 410, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 411, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 412, a LAN-I / F (Inter Face) 413, and a MODEM (modulator). -Demodulator) 414 and various I / Fs 420 to 422. These are interconnected by a bus 406.

  Further, a screen display device 430 is connected to the bus 406 via the I / F 420. Further, the keyboard 431, the mouse 432, and the printer device 433 that are interconnected by the bus 408 are connected to the bus 406 via the I / F 421.

  Furthermore, an HDD (Hard Disc Drive) device 440, a CD (Compact Disc) drive device 441, and an FDD (Floppy (registered trademark) Disc Drive) device 442 are connected to the bus 406 via the I / F 422. Has been. These are interconnected by a bus 407.

  In the hardware configuration as described above, the storage means and storage devices are the RAM 411, the ROM 412, the HDD device 440, the CD drive device 441, the FDD device 442, and the like. In such storage means and storage devices, various programs executed by the CPU 410, databases and various files and data accessed in the present embodiment are stored, and can be accessed electronically. For example, an OS, a database, a program for providing an environment for using software resources such as JAVA (registered trademark), JSP, an application program according to the present embodiment, and a web browser program are stored in the HDD device 440. It is stored and read out to the RAM 411 and executed by the CPU 410 at the time of execution. Note that the LAN-I / F 413 is used for connection to a network connected to another computer device in order to transmit and receive electronic mail. The application program executed by the CPU 410 includes a JAVA (registered trademark) applet acquired via the network.

  Further, when executing the OS, application programs, and the like, the operator performs character input and various operations with the keyboard 431 while referring to information displayed and output on the screen display device 430, and coordinate input and various operations with the mouse 432. Or input. Further, necessary information can be printed out from the printer device 433 as appropriate. Needless to say, these outputs and inputs are performed electronically by a program executed by the CPU 410.

  The CD drive device 441 and the FDD device 442 are used for application program installation and other offline information exchange when the present invention is applied.

  Next, FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the distribution server 103.

  The distribution server 103 includes a mail transmission / reception unit 301, a reception keyword registration unit 302, a reception keyword database 303, an information mail distribution unit 304, an information mail database 305, an official keyword registration unit 306, an official keyword database 307, A range list database 308 and a WEB page generation unit 309 are included.

  The details of the information mail distribution flow centered on the distribution server 103 will be described below. The main flow of the information mail distribution flow includes normal distribution (1) and official distribution (2). Further, as a secondary flow, there is range designation registration (3), and other functions are shown in the additional function (4). Thereafter, the mail address of the distribution server 103 is assumed to be “***@example.com” (“***” is a predetermined character string), and the words and character strings in the brackets in this sentence are All are examples.

(1) Normal Distribution (1-A) Reception Keyword Registration Hereinafter, reception keyword registration in normal distribution will be described. Each step is referred to the flowchart of FIG.

  In the PC, the receiving user 104 inputs a receiving keyword registration mail address “keyword@example.com” as a mail destination and a keyword desired to be received (hereinafter referred to as a receiving keyword) in the mail body. Then, the PC receives the input and transmits this e-mail to “keyword@example.com” (step 401). As a method for inputting a received keyword, “Jazz CD” is entered with a space delimiter, or each keyword is enclosed in “<” and “>” as in “<Jazz> <CD>”. These "<" and ">" are special symbols used in this service, and more complicated keywords can be set using other special symbols such as "-", "|", and "~". is there. “−” Means a logical difference, “|” means a logical sum of the left side and the right side, “˜” means a range designation (described later), and finally a logical product of all these keywords as one reception pattern, Information mail corresponding to the pattern can be received. For example, when registering by e-mail in FIG. 5, an information e-mail is received in which “CD” or “DVD” is set as a keyword, “Jazz” is set as a keyword, and “New Orleans” is not set as a keyword. It becomes possible. Note that the above-mentioned “CD (Compact Disc)” and “DVD (Digital Video Disc)” are distributed (recording media) recording audio and video related to music such as jazz.

  Further, in the same way, the second reception pattern is transmitted to “keyword2@example.com”, and the Nth reception pattern is transmitted to “keyword [N] @ example.com” (“N” is an arbitrary natural number). Thus, a plurality of reception patterns can be registered simultaneously.

  It is also possible to register received keywords from the web page form shown in FIG. 6 generated by the web page generation unit 309 that generates various web pages in conjunction with each database. (Hereafter, it is assumed that all functions of the distribution server 103 can be used on the WEB page, and the description is omitted.)

  Here, in FIG. 6 and in the present embodiment, “XX railway road” operated by “XX electric railway company” is assumed as a virtual example. Then, “railway station A” to “railway station H” are the names of stations that exist virtually in this order from A to H on the route.

  Next, the received keyword registration process of the distribution server 103 will be described. When the mail transmission / reception unit 301 receives a mail addressed to “keyword@example.com”, the mail transmission / reception unit 301 delivers the mail to the reception keyword registration unit 302 (step 402).

  The received keyword registration unit 302 extracts the character string in the delivered mail body, associates it with the sender mail address, and stores it in the received keyword table 701 of the received keyword database 303 as shown in FIG. 7 (step 403). . Specifically, if there is no “<” or “>” in the text, a text string separated by a space is extracted as one keyword, and if there are “<” and “>” in the text, A character string enclosed by “<” and “>” is extracted as one keyword.

  Although various methods can be considered for extracting keywords, it is practical to use regular expressions implemented in many programming languages. For example, it is suitable for text search, extraction, and report creation. In the widely used programming language Perl (Practical Extraction and Report Language), matching is performed with a regular expression “<([^>] +)>”. Since the character string between “<” and “>” is stored in the variable “$ 1”, “$ 1” can be extracted as a keyword, and by repeating the matching, all the keywords in the sentence can be extracted. Can be extracted.

  Finally, the reception keyword registration unit 302 transmits the registration result as an e-mail to the reception user 104 through the mail transmission / reception unit 301, thereby completing the reception keyword registration (step 404). Then, the mail can be received at the PC of the receiving user 104.

(1-B) Information Mail Distribution Information mail distribution in normal distribution will be described below. Further, each step shall refer to the flowchart of FIG.

  On the PC, the sending user 101 uses the mail address “mailing@example.com” for information mail delivery as the mail destination, the keyword set in the information mail 102 as the subject of the mail, and “Jazz movie DVD” separated by a space. input. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9, the transmission user 101 encloses keywords in the text with “<” and “>” and inputs them. Then, the PC accepts what is input in this way, and transmits this e-mail to “mailing@example.com” (step 801).

  When the mail transmission / reception unit 301 receives a mail addressed to “mailing@example.com”, the mail transmission / reception unit 301 delivers the mail to the information mail distribution unit 304 (step 802).

  If there is no “<” or “>” in the delivered mail body, the information mail delivery unit 304 extracts a character string in which the subject is separated by a space as one keyword, and includes “<” and “>” in the body text. ”Is extracted in the same manner as the received keyword registration described above, with a character string enclosed by“ <”and“> ”as one keyword. Furthermore, a random character string, for example, “S7we9Ep2eA” is generated, and the extracted keyword, the sender mail address, the body text, etc. are associated with each other in the information mail temporary storage table 1001 provided in the information mail database 305 as shown in FIG. Temporary storage (step 803).

  Further, the information mail delivery unit 304 adds the random character string generated earlier to the end of the mail subject, sets the sender mail address to “mailing_ok@example.com”, and sends it to the sending user 101 as shown in FIG. A delivery confirmation mail is transmitted (step 804). Then, the mail can be received at the PC of the transmission user 101.

  Further, the information mail distribution unit 304 collates the extracted keyword with the reception keyword table 701, lists the corresponding reception users, and associates them with the information mail temporary storage table 1001 and temporarily stores them in the distribution user list temporary storage table 1002. (Step 805).

  Specifically, for example, keywords such as “jazz”, “movie”, and “DVD” are extracted from an electronic mail as shown in FIG. The keyword is set to the first reception pattern of the user “aaa@aaa.co.jp” in the reception keyword table 701 of FIG. 7, that is, “CD” or “DVD”, and “jazz”. Corresponds to a pattern in which “Keyword” is set and “New Orleans” is not set as a keyword. As a result, “aaa@aaa.co.jp” is added to the distribution user list temporary storage table 1002 as a distribution candidate. In this way, by listing the distribution destinations in advance, when the transmission user 101 determines the distribution, the distribution process can be performed promptly.

  Next, the transmission user 101 receives the delivery confirmation mail from the delivery server 103 (step 806), and when delivering it, returns the mail to the delivery server 103 as it is (step 807). (At that time, it will be automatically replied to "mailing_ok@example.com".)

  When the mail transmission / reception unit 301 receives a mail addressed to “mailing_ok@example.com”, the mail transmission / reception unit 301 delivers the mail to the information mail distribution unit 304 (step 808).

  The information mail delivery unit 304 confirms whether the delivered character string at the end of the mail subject and the source mail address match those of the information mail temporary storage table 1001 (step 809). If they match, the information mail 102 'is distributed to distribution candidates in the distribution user list temporary storage table 1002, and the information mail in the information mail temporary storage table 1001 is moved to the information mail table 1003 (step 810).

  Finally, the information mail distribution unit 304 transmits the distribution result as an e-mail to the transmission user 101 through the mail transmission / reception unit 301 to complete the information mail distribution (step 811). Then, the mail can be received at the PC of the transmission user 101.

(2) Official distribution (2-A) Official keyword registration Hereinafter, the official keyword registration in the official distribution will be described. Each step is referred to the flowchart of FIG.

  On the PC, the sending user 101 inputs the official keyword registration email address “official@example.com” as the mail destination, and the keyword for identifying the sending user 101 himself (hereinafter “official keyword”) in the mail body. To do. Then, the PC receives the input and transmits this e-mail to “official@example.com” (step 1201). In normal distribution, the receiving user receives all information emails corresponding to the receiving pattern, so it is effective for exchanging information with an unknown partner. It was enough for exchanging information that was not requested. However, it is impossible to receive an information mail transmitted by a specific transmitting user, and therefore an information mail with high reliability, and it is impossible to distinguish a specific transmitting user. Therefore, in the official distribution, the transmission user registers the official keyword in advance, and the receiving user can set to receive only the information mail transmitted from the registrant of the official keyword. The official keyword input method is, for example, that the local government XX ward (may be XX prefecture, XX city, etc.) is "XX ward office" (XX prefecture is XX prefectural office XX When registering the keyword “XX City Hall if it is a city” as an official keyword, enter “XX City Office” in the body of the email and send it.

  When the mail transmission / reception unit 301 receives a mail addressed to “official@example.com”, the mail transmission / reception unit 301 delivers the mail to the official keyword registration unit 306 (step 1202).

  The official keyword registration unit 306 extracts the character string of the delivered mail body as an official keyword, and whether the same official keyword has already been registered in the official keyword table 1302 of the official keyword database 307 as shown in FIG. Is confirmed (step 1203). If registered, the transmission user 101 is notified that “already registered”, and if not registered, generation of a random character string and the official keyword temporary storage table 1301 as in the case of information mail distribution of normal distribution Temporary storage of data (step 1204), addition of a random character string at the end of the email subject, conversion of the sender email address (in this case "official_ok@example.com"), and sending of an official keyword registration confirmation email ( Step 1205). Further, after the transmission, through the reply (step 1206, step 1207, step 1208), when the transmission user 101 is confirmed (step 1209), the official keyword of the official keyword temporary storage table 1301 is moved to the official keyword table 1302. (Step 1210).

  Finally, the official keyword registration unit 306 transmits the registration result as an e-mail to the transmission user 101 through the mail transmission / reception unit 301 to complete the official keyword registration (step 1211). Then, the mail can be received at the PC of the transmission user 101.

(2-B) Reception Keyword Registration Hereinafter, reception keyword registration in official distribution will be described. Reception keyword registration in official distribution is the same as reception keyword registration in normal distribution, but differs in the following points.

  When the receiving user inputs the receiving keyword on the PC, if he / she wants to receive only the information mail of the sending user who has registered the official keyword, the sending user's official keyword is enclosed in “<<” and “>>”. For example, when registering by e-mail in FIG. 14, it is possible to receive an information e-mail of a transmission user in which “volunteer” or “flea market” is set as a keyword and “XX ward office” is registered as an official keyword.

  Further, when the received keyword registration unit 302 extracts the character string in the delivered mail body, the character string enclosed by “<<” and “>>” is extracted as an official keyword, and the official keyword database shown in FIG. It is confirmed whether or not the official keyword is already registered in the official keyword table 1302. If not registered, the receiving user is informed that “there is no sending user who has registered the official keyword”. Alternatively, if registered, the remaining keywords are extracted and stored in the received keyword database 701 in FIG. 7 in association with the sender mail address, in the same manner as the received keyword registration for normal distribution.

(2-C) Information Mail Distribution Information mail distribution in official distribution will be described below. Information mail distribution in official distribution is the same as information mail distribution in normal distribution, but differs in the following points.

  When the information mail distribution unit 304 lists corresponding receiving users, the keyword extracted from the information mail 102 and the official keyword of the transmitting user are checked against the receiving keyword table 701 to list the corresponding receiving users. Specifically, when the sending user who has registered the official keyword “XX ward office” sends the mail shown in FIG. 15 as an information mail, the extracted keywords “March 19” “XX Park” “Disaster drill”, “Circle”, and “Volunteer” are keywords of the second reception pattern of the “aaa@aaa.co.jp” user in the reception keyword table 701 of FIG. 7, that is, “Volunteer” or “Flea Market”. Since this is a pattern that is set and “XX ward office” is set as an official keyword, “aaa@aaa.co.jp” is added to the distribution user list temporary storage table 1002 as a distribution candidate. .

  If a sending user whose official keyword is not “XX City Office” sends the same email as in FIG. 15, the extracted keywords “March 19”, “XX Park”, “Disaster Prevention Training”, “Circle”, “Volunteer” "Corresponds to the second reception pattern of the user" aaa@aaa.co.jp ", but the official keyword does not match, so" aaa@aaa.co.jp "is not listed as a delivery candidate.

  Therefore, the receiving user can limit the sending user of the information mail to be distributed. For example, if the receiving user simply registers the received keyword “tsunami information”, “tsunami information” sent by individuals, “tsunami information” sent by amateur observation groups, etc., “tsunami information” sent by weather forecasting organizations A lot of information may be distributed. At this time, if the weather forecasting agency has registered the official keyword, the receiving user can limit the information to only the information transmitted by the weather forecasting agency by setting the keyword in the received pattern. It is possible to limit information that is highly likely to be inaccurate. In addition, said weather forecast organization is not specifically limited, The thing by the public, such as the government, or the private sector may be used.

(3) Range designation registration The range designation registration will be described below. Range designation registration is a method of registering received keywords. When registering received keywords, by transmitting the start value and end value of a certain continuous value to the distribution server 103, the values existing between those values are determined. It automatically compensates.

  Reception keyword registration in range designation registration is the same as reception keyword registration in normal distribution, but differs in the following points.

  When a receiving user inputs a received keyword, if he / she wants to receive an information mail in which a keyword in a specific range is set, the range is designated using the special symbol “˜”. For example, when registering by e-mail in FIG. 16, a station name in the range of “railway station A” to “railway station G” is set as a keyword, and a monetary unit in the range of “100000 yen” to “135000 yen” Is set as a keyword, and an information mail in which the floor plan for a house within the range of “2DK” from the minimum value is set as a keyword can be received.

  Further, when the received keyword registration unit 302 extracts a character string in the delivered mail body, if the special symbol “˜” is present, it is displayed in any table of the range list database 308 as shown in FIG. The character string on the left side of “˜” (“railway station A”, “100000 yen”) and the character string on the right side (“railway station G”, “135,000 yen”, “2DK”) are checked. If it does not exist, it informs the receiving user that there is an error in the specified range. Alternatively, if it exists, a value within the range of “Railway Station A” to “Railway Station G” in the XX Railway Company XX Railway Line Table 1701 in FIG. The value within the range of “135,000 yen” and the value within the range of “2DK” from the minimum value of the floor plan type table 1703 are combined with “|” respectively, and associated with the sender mail address to receive the received keyword database in FIG. Saved in the keyword table 701.

  The information mail distribution in the range designation registration is the same as the information mail distribution in the normal distribution.

  That is, at the time of receiving keyword registration, the designation “<Rail Station A to Railway Station G>” is “<Rail Station A | Rail Station B | Rail Station C | Rail Station D | Rail Station E | Rail Station F |” Railway station G> ”. The designation “<100,000 yen to 135,000 yen>” is replaced with “<100,000 yen | 101000 yen | 102000 yen | (omitted) | 133,000 yen | 134,000 yen | 135000 yen>”. The designation “<˜2DK>” is replaced with “<1R | 1K | 1DK | 1LDK | 2K | 2DK>”. Therefore, when searching for distributing information, since the received keyword has already been replaced, for example, “120,000 yen”, “railway station D”, and “1LDK” are set as keywords. It is possible to receive information mail as shown in FIG.

(4) Additional function In addition, in normal distribution, official distribution, and range designation registration, the following functions and other flows may be added.

  When the keyword registered by the receiving user is very general, the distribution server 103 analyzes the past information mail in the received keyword registration unit 302, the information mail database 305, etc., and “keyword <part-time job> Tell the receiving user that there is a possibility of receiving more than 100 e-mails, so you can refuse the registration, or "Keyword <Singer A> can receive more than 10 e-mails per hour" It is possible to notify the receiving user that the user wants to register, and ask the receiving user to make a registration decision.

  By sending an empty mail to “clear@example.com”, “clear [N] @ example.com” (“N” is an arbitrary natural number) or “clear_official@example.com”, the received keyword registration unit 302 or In the official keyword registration unit 306 or the like, the reception pattern or the official keyword may be deleted.

  By sending "<10: 0 to 21:00>" to "accept@example.com", you can set the reception reception time from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm, or "stop@example.com" By transmitting “<1:00 to 11:00>”, the reception refusal time may be set from 1 am to 11:00 am. This is effective for a receiving user who is receiving information mail at a terminal such as a mobile phone.

  By sending a blank e-mail to "no_url@example.com", if there is a URL notation in the body of the information e-mail, it can be set not to receive that information e-mail, or a blank e-mail can be sent to "no_unofficial@example.com" By sending, you can set the rejection of information mail of sending users who are not officially registered, or by sending a keyword to "never@example.com", all the information mails that contain that keyword in the text The reception user may be able to make various reception rejection settings.

  By sending a blank e-mail to “info@example.com”, it may be possible to check the receiving user status such as the current keyword registration status, time setting, and reception rejection setting.

  The character string serving as a keyword may be unified with character fluctuations. For example, “moving”, “moving”, and “moving” may all be “moving” and “diamond” and “diamond” may be all “diamond”, and may be registered and distributed.

  In the official distribution, the receiving user can be limited to information by a specific sending user, but the sending user sends an information mail to "official_mailing@example.com" You may enable it to limit so that a mail may be delivered only to the receiving user who has set his official keyword. In this case, as in 1901 in FIG. 19, the information mail is not delivered to the receiving user who has not set the official keyword in the reception pattern. In addition, the case of the above-mentioned official distribution (2) is shown in 1902, and the case of normal distribution (1) is shown in 1903.

  Range list database FIG. 17 may add various tables according to the user's request or the like. For example, you can specify “<Sopranino ~ Contrabass>” by adding a range table, you can specify “<Seismic intensity 5>” by adding a seismic intensity table, or add a boxing class table Thus, it is possible to designate “<Featherweight to Heavyweight>”.

  By listing the URL at the end of the information mail and clicking the URL, the number of distribution of the information mail, whether the sending user is officially registered, and if it is officially registered, what is the official keyword, etc. You may be able to browse the information. In addition, it may be configured so that information from this transmission user will not be received in the future from this page. When this service is operated with an advertising fee, it is ideal to place an advertisement on this page. In that case, the advertiser may be able to determine what keyword is used to place the advertisement in the information mail set.

  In addition, when sending information emails and registering official keywords, a random character string was added to the end of the subject of the confirmation email to confirm the sender, but this can be done if the sender can be confirmed. Another method may be used. Further, when a confirmation character string such as a password is simultaneously transmitted from the form on the WEB page, this confirmation means can be omitted.

  Also, since the reception of information mail is normally received by various electronic mail software, the received information mail is stored in the inbox of the electronic mail software, but the received information mail is stored on the WEB, By logging in from the WEB page, the received information mail may also be displayed on the WEB page.

  Thereby, the receiving user can browse the received information mail only by logging in from any terminal on the WEB page. Also, this is because, for example, the received keyword is very general, and there is a possibility that a large amount of mail will be received, or when receiving mail at midnight or early morning such as a mobile phone, it is received at an inconvenient mail address Useful in cases. This can also be used for simply archiving received information mail.

  In addition, since the information mail is normally transmitted by various e-mail software, the transmitted information mail is stored in the transmitted tray of the e-mail software, but the transmitted information mail is stored on the WEB, and the transmission user is stored. By logging in from the WEB page, the information mail transmitted on the WEB page may be displayed.

  Specifically, when a user's mail address, for example, “xxx@xxx.ne.jp” is transmitted from the form at the time of login, the WEB page generation unit 309 inquires the information mail table 1003 in FIG. A row having “xxx@xxx.ne.jp” in the “transmission user” column is extracted and listed, and displayed on the WEB page in various orders such as the order of transmission date and time, the order of keywords, and the order of the number of distributions.

  Thereby, the transmission user can display the transmitted information mail only by logging in from any terminal on the WEB page. Moreover, if this page is made public, it can be used like a diary (blog) on the Internet, which has become a hot topic these days. In addition, the general user may not only be able to view information mails transmitted by the transmitting user in the past, but also be able to reply to each displayed information mail. Note that this can also be used for archiving sent information mails.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the present invention can be effectively applied.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when realizing a service of providing various information collected from various information senders to an unspecified number of information receivers by electronic mail distribution, Both the sender and the information receiver can easily use the service, and can realize an electronic mail distribution server device that can provide information desired by the information receiver more accurately.

  For example, a weather forecasting organization can distribute earthquake information, tsunami warnings, various warnings and warnings, etc. through this e-mail distribution service. Also, public organizations such as governments, local governments, schools, and fire stations can distribute information on activities, event information, notifications, volunteer recruitment, etc. through this e-mail distribution service. News sites can distribute the latest news such as sports, bulletin bulletins, extras, etc. through this email distribution service. Through this e-mail distribution service, companies can receive information on their products such as package travel, latest movies, new CDs, latest mobile devices, various insurance, health / beauty related goods, broadcast programs, company PR, IR information, job information, Company information such as questionnaires, as well as information on other unique services such as horoscope and sweepstakes can be distributed. Shopping streets, restaurants, department stores, etc. can distribute discount coupons, bargain information, gourmet information, etc. through this e-mail distribution service. Securities companies can distribute securities information, stock price information, etc. through this e-mail distribution service. Real estate companies can distribute the latest property information through this e-mail distribution service. Individual property owners can also distribute private property information.

  Furthermore, for example, through this e-mail distribution service, individuals can distribute trivia, culture, diaries, informational advertisements, etc., and can exchange questions and answers, exchange opinions, and the like. Further, through this electronic mail distribution service, individuals can distribute article sales information. This can also be utilized in an auction format by recruiting purchasers for a certain period while the price of the goods is not yet determined.

  Furthermore, for example, a social circle and a meeting place can be provided between individuals through this electronic mail distribution service. In addition, a common character string common to inner circle friends (for example, <Kikihamo Momomi Mimoyo>) is registered as an incoming keyword, and this keyword (<Kikihawa Mozumi Mimoyo>) is sent to information mail. By setting and distributing, the functions equivalent to the mailing list can be used only by the inner circle friends. It can also be used as security-related information such as local circulation versions and suspicious sightings, mailing lists for club activities, study groups, seminars, etc., alumni information, etc.

  Therefore, the present invention can be used for e-mail delivery services in various fields, and is particularly effective when handling information that is updated daily or information that requires freshness.

The block diagram which shows the whole structure of embodiment to which this invention was applied. The block diagram which shows the structure of the hardware used for each apparatus of the said embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structure of the delivery server in the said embodiment. The flowchart which shows the process of receiving keyword registration in the said embodiment. The diagram which shows the received keyword registration mail in the said embodiment. The diagram which shows the form of the web page of the reception keyword registration in the above-mentioned execution form. The diagram which shows the received keyword database in the said embodiment. The flowchart which shows the information mail delivery process in the said embodiment. The diagram which shows the information mail in the said embodiment. The diagram which shows the information mail database in the said embodiment. The diagram which shows the delivery confirmation mail in the said embodiment. The flowchart which shows the process of the official keyword registration in the said embodiment. The diagram which shows the official keyword database in the said embodiment. The diagram which shows the reception keyword registration mail containing the official keyword in the said embodiment. The diagram which shows the information mail by the official keyword registration user in the said embodiment. The diagram which shows the received keyword registration mail which concerns on the range designation | designated in the said embodiment. The diagram which shows the range list database in the said embodiment. The diagram which shows the information mail in the said embodiment. The block diagram which shows the comparison of the delivery destination of the information mail by the main delivery flows in the said embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Sending user 102, 102 '... Information mail 103 ... Distribution server 104-106 ... Receiving user 301 ... Mail transmission / reception part 302 ... Reception keyword registration part 303 ... Reception keyword database 304 ... Information mail distribution part 305 ... Information mail database 306 ... Official keyword registration unit 307 ... Official keyword database 308 ... Range list database 309 ... WEB page generation unit 406 to 408 ... Bus 410 ... CPU
411 ... RAM
412 ... ROM
413 ... LAN-I / F
414 ... MODEM
420-422 ... I / F
430 ... Screen display device 431 ... Keyboard 432 ... Mouse 433 ... Printer device 440 ... HDD device 441 ... CD drive device 442 ... FDD device

Claims (3)

The receiving condition for selecting the information distributed to itself by the receiver who wants to distribute the e-mail information collected from the information sender is accepted by the e-mail from the receiver, and the characters in the e-mail A received keyword registration unit that extracts one or more keywords from a column and determines a pattern obtained by logical sum, logical difference, and logical product of the keywords as a reception condition of the recipient;
A reception keyword database that enables one or more patterns of reception condition patterns determined by the reception keyword registration unit to be stored for one recipient;
One or more keywords assigned by the information sender are extracted from the subject and body of the e-mail collected from the information sender, and the received keyword database is based on the extracted keywords. Information mail for analyzing the reception condition pattern obtained by the logical sum, logical difference and logical product stored in, determining the corresponding recipient, and delivering the collected electronic mail to the relevant recipient A distribution department;
An e-mail delivery server device comprising: In the electronic mail delivery server device according to claim 1,
Furthermore, a keyword for identifying itself by the information sender is received by an email from the information sender, a character string in the email is extracted as one keyword, and the keyword is assigned to the information An official keyword registration unit that determines a keyword that identifies the sender, and an official keyword database that stores the keyword that identifies the information sender determined by the official keyword registration unit for one information sender. With
In addition, when the information mail distribution unit determines a corresponding recipient, a keyword for identifying the information sender is set as a keyword for identifying the information sender in the reception condition pattern. An e-mail delivery server device characterized in that a corresponding recipient is determined from the inside. In the electronic mail delivery server device according to claim 1,
In addition, a range list database used for expanding a keyword designated specifically among keywords extracted from an e-mail by the recipient into a planned character string,
In addition, when the receiving keyword registration unit determines the receiving condition pattern of the recipient, the keyword specified in the extracted keyword is referred to the range list database and is scheduled. An e-mail delivery server device, which is expanded into a character string and determines the reception condition pattern.

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