JPH05327978A - Multi-address communication system for facsimile communication network - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically generate a destination register mark sheet from destination control information and to transmit it to a facsimile communication network where a destination number is registered by means of the mark sheet. CONSTITUTION:An existing personal computer, a facsimile board, its control program and a facsimile terminal are used. An application program having a destination file editing control function, a function for executing padding and converting image into the destination register mark sheet form of destination information, an original input function, the automatic function for destination register transmission and mark sheet image transmission, the function for multi-address transmission and automatic original transmission and an automatic repeating function of destination register transmission and multi-address transmission is generated and placed in the high-order of a facsimile communication program. Thus, destination register mark sheet can be easily generated and transmission is surely conducted without a reading error. A destination register and multi-address transmission are automatically repeated so that a lot of multi-address communication exceeding the destination register limit of the facsimile communication network is easily conducted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an application of facsimile communication. The main purpose of the present invention is to easily register a broadcast destination with a mark sheet for a facsimile communication network having a broadcast communication function by storage communication. It also includes management of broadcast destinations and cooperation with document transmission to further increase the utility value.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system in which an additional device for facsimile communication is connected to a personal computer, a text file created by the word processor function of the personal computer is converted into image information, which is converted into a facsimile signal and then transmitted is known. Exists. Also,
There is also a system in which a connection function of a facsimile terminal is provided in the system and a transmission original can be input from the facsimile terminal. In addition, these systems have a function of pre-registering and managing broadcast destinations and, assuming a one-to-one connection by a telephone network, sequentially transmitting connections and delivering a transmission document to each destination. There is.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the configuration of a conventional system of this type, which comprises a personal computer main body 1, a keyboard 2, a display 3, and a facsimile (FAX) board 4. The personal computer main body 1 includes a floppy disk drive (FDD) (not shown), and a hard disk may be connected as necessary. The user interactively operates the personal computer with the keyboard 2 and the display 3, and controls the facsimile board 4 with the personal computer to notify the destination to the telephone network and transmit the facsimile signal.

The operation of the conventional system will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. The personal computer always stores the state at that time after the system is started, and performs a predetermined operation according to a new input or according to the autonomous processing procedure of the personal computer. First, when the system is started, a start screen is displayed on the display according to an instruction from the personal computer. When the user who sees this requests the address input screen from the keyboard, the address input screen is displayed by the instruction of the personal computer. When the user inputs the destination setting, the document request screen is displayed according to the instruction from the personal computer. Here the user is FD
When you set the medium to D and enter the text file name from the keyboard, the personal computer stores this file name as the text file name containing the transmission original,
At the same time, the transmission request screen is displayed. When the user inputs a transmission request, the transmission operation starts. First, a fax is transmitted from the FAX board to the telephone network in accordance with an instruction from the personal computer, and when a dial tone is detected, the personal computer is notified, and then the personal computer sends the destination number to the FAX board in a timely manner. The board transmits this as a PB signal and notifies the personal computer of the response from the partner FAX terminal.
Next, the personal computer reads the contents of the file from the medium set in the FDD by the stored original text file name, converts the contents into a facsimile original image, and further encodes for facsimile, for example, modified. Huffman coding (MH coding) and FA
Send to X board. In the case of the standard mode of A4 format, for example, the conversion to the original image of the facsimile is 1728 pixels per scanning line, and the ratio of the pixel density in the scanning line direction to the pixel density in the sub-scanning direction is 2: 1. This is to complement the pixels of the character font so as to meet this condition, or to fold the lines so as to create the same pixel column data as that obtained by the operation of the original image. The FAX board modulates the data sent from the main body of the personal computer as a facsimile signal and sends it to the partner FAX terminal.

The system of FIG. 7 has a facsimile (FA
X) terminal 5 is also connected, but this FAX terminal 5 is used when inputting a document recorded on paper. Figure 10
11 and 12 show a sequence for inputting a document from the FAX terminal. In this case, when inputting the original, the user selects the FAX input instead of the text file input, sets the original on the FAX terminal and presses the send button, and the original read from the FAX terminal is copied as the facsimile data itself. It is recorded in a storage medium such as a disc instructed by a personal computer. Also,
At the time of transmission, this data is sent to the FAX board as it is.

In the system of FIG. 7, it is possible to register a plurality of destinations. In that case, when transmitting, the procedure from transmission to document transmission is automatically repeated for each destination. That is, it is possible to sequentially broadcast the calls.

[0007]

However, the conventional system does not consider a facsimile communication network connection having a broadcast communication function, and employs a sequential broadcast system in which each destination is sequentially delivered. However, there are drawbacks that it takes a long time to deliver when the number of destinations increases, and there is a drawback that the probability that transmission cannot be performed increases due to the use of the partner terminal.

On the other hand, various facsimile communication networks for carrying out broadcast communication based on accumulated communication have been realized. In it, the destination number is written on the mark sheet and the broadcast destination is registered. In the broadcast communication, simply specify the broadcast communication or the group of the broadcast destination, and only once from the sending terminal. Some of them automatically deliver the manuscripts to the destinations registered in the network. However, registration with the mark sheet causes writing habits, tilt of the mark sheet,
It may not be recognized due to the condition of the terminal, and there is a drawback that the registration work becomes complicated when there are many destinations or the update frequency is high. Further, if the registered capacity per sending terminal is not sufficiently large, there is a drawback that it is not possible to carry out broadcast distribution to as many destinations as necessary without preparing a plurality of terminals.
The present invention has been made for the purpose of improving the above-mentioned drawbacks.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the drawbacks of the conventional terminal system and network of this kind, the present invention is based on a facsimile communication network having a broadcast communication function and a destination registration function by mark sheet recognition. By implementing a function to create a destination registration mark sheet by a computer, combining this with a conventional facsimile communication function, and adding a destination editing processing function, you can freely register broadcast destinations with a simple human-machine interface. It is the one.

[0010]

1 is a block diagram of the state transition of the system of the present invention. Specific state transitions are shown in FIGS. Of course, in an actual system, it is necessary to consider various abnormal cases, and it is not easy to use unless one state is divided into several child states. Also, there is something between input waiting and input waiting. Although there is a transient state in which the processing of (1) is performed, those irrelevant to explaining the system operation of the present invention are omitted in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4.

2 to 4, the destination editing, the transmission original input, and the transmission are independently performed, and the relationship between them is inherited by the file. Further, in the direct editing and the file registration in the destination editing, if the same destination file is selected, the processing result performed later remains. The mark sheet is created for the destination file that exists at that time. The specific operation will be described below.

First, in the case of destination editing, when destination editing is selected in the initial menu selection waiting state, the editing method selection waits, and when direct editing is selected, destination file selection waits, and the destination file (this When you enter a destination, edit processing is performed. Although the edited result is output to the destination file, the number of destination files is not limited to one, and a plurality of files may be used depending on the destination group. If file registration is selected as the editing method, the destination file selection waits, if the destination file is selected, the registration file designation waits, and if more registration files are designated, the destination file selection waits again.
The registration file mentioned here is a destination file created externally by the user, and the file registration is registration of the destination file created externally as a destination file in the system of the present invention. When the mark sheet creation is selected as the editing method, the destination file selection waits. When the destination file is specified here, the destination sheet registration mark sheet for the network is created based on the destination file. The record format of the destination file is, for example, as shown in FIG. 5. The destination number 6 is taken out of the record format, developed into an image for mark sheet, and embedded in the mark sheet format as shown in FIG. 6, for example. The shortened number 7 is preset as fixed data, and only the destination number 6 is embedded. for that reason,
Prepare the embedded position information corresponding to the record number and the digit number and the dedicated number font. Depending on the conditions of the mark sheet, it is possible that the font is not a dedicated font, but the font itself that the personal computer incorporates or a transformation such as double-width characters is sufficient.

The destination registration is completed by the above procedure. The case where the original is further transmitted will be described below.

If the transmission original input is selected, the input method selection waits, and if the file input is selected, the file name input waits, and the file is read from the medium set in the FDD or the like into the transmission original file by inputting the file name. If FAX input is selected, the FAX input waits and the original is read from the FAX when the FAX is started. The detailed sequence of reading from the FAX is the FA of FIGS. 10 and 11.
This is similar to the X document input section.

Next, when transmission is selected, first, a request for designation of a destination file and a manuscript file is requested, and if these are designated, the destination file and the manuscript file to be transmitted to the destination in the destination file are automatically associated with each other in the system. The registration of the broadcast address is started. Of course, it is possible to incorporate a function such as transmission time designation, but since it is not directly related to the gist of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. When registering a broadcast destination, first, a broadcast registration request is automatically made to the network and a response is awaited. Specifically, the broadcast registration request is to call the network and send a number for requesting the broadcast by a PB signal or the like, and in detail, it is the same as the connection sequence with the network in FIG. Here, when a normal response is returned, the mark sheet corresponding to the destination file to be transmitted is transmitted. The transmission of the mark sheet is the facsimile transmission itself except that the content is the mark sheet, and in detail, it is the same as the facsimile transmission sequence of FIGS. 10 and 11. The number of mark sheets may be plural. When the mark sheet corresponding to the destination file has been sent, a broadcast communication request is automatically made to the network, a response is awaited, and document transmission is started in response to a normal response. These detailed sequences are also shown in FIG. 10 and FIG.
This is the same as the connection with one network and the facsimile transmission sequence, and only the data to be transmitted is different. The number of manuscripts may be multiple. After sending the manuscript to the destination, perform the same process for another destination file,
When all the predetermined transmissions are completed, the process returns to the initial menu selection waiting state. That is, if one destination file is considered as one group, different originals (of course, the same original may be delivered) can be automatically broadcast to a plurality of groups one after another. If the number of destinations per group is set to be equal to or less than the registrable capacity per one terminal of the network, a fellow who exceeds the registrable capacity per one terminal of the network can be realized as a whole.

In the state transition of FIG. 1, in the case of transmission, the initial menu is automatically returned when the transmission is completed, but in the destination editing and the input of the transmission original, the input of the end is always returned to the previous state by one step. Go. However, there is no need to make such a structure, and for example, the initial menu may be returned directly from the waiting for the registration file designation.

In the above description, the document transmission is performed subsequent to the destination registration, but a procedure for inquiring of the user whether or not the document transmission is necessary may be added before the document transmission.

[0018]

As described above, when the system of the present invention is used, destination management by a personal computer, mark sheet registration, and document distribution can be performed by a series of conversation processing between a person and a terminal. Moreover, since the mark sheet is not created manually and does not pass through the reading by the sensor of the facsimile terminal at the time of transmission, there is no disturbance of the image signal due to the dirt of the sensor or the inclination of the paper, and the transmitted mark sheet information is recognized by the network The function is extremely easy to recognize, and simple and reliable registration becomes possible.

That is, if the mark sheet is handwritten,
It takes time and effort to rewrite every time an address is added, deleted, or changed. Moreover, if it is not written as cleanly as possible, it may cause a reading error, which is a heavy burden for users who frequently update. When the registration function of the present invention is used, destination management and mark sheet creation are integrated, destinations can be added, deleted, and changed with an easy-to-understand human interface, and the handwriting is eliminated.

In particular, if the number of broadcast destination registrations on the network is limited, by automatically repeating the destination registration and the document transmission alternately, the broadcast to a large number of destinations exceeding the registered capacity of the network can be easily realized. it can. Further, even when the number of destinations is not so large, it is possible to provide an extremely convenient registration means in the sense that the destination management and the registration on the network can be linked when the update frequency of the destinations is high.

[0021]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a state transition of a system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a state transition diagram of transmission original input selection of the system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a state transition diagram of transmission selection of the system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a state transition diagram of destination edit selection of the system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an example of a record format of a destination file of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an example of a style of a mark sheet targeted by the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional system.

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory diagram of a conventional system (text file transmission).

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory diagram of a conventional system (text file transmission).

FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory diagram of a conventional system (facsimile input file transmission).

FIG. 11 is an operation explanatory diagram of a conventional system (facsimile input file transmission).

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Haruo Shikoda 1-3-1 Gotenyama, Musashino City, Tokyo NTT Advanced Technology Co., Ltd. (72) Shinji Soneda Uchiyuki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A means for registering a broadcast distribution address corresponding to a calling terminal or a calling party by using a facsimile communication network having a function of receiving a facsimile signal from a calling terminal, temporarily storing it, and delivering it to a plurality of destinations. Means for creating and managing destination information as a text file, and means for converting information in the text file into image information according to the image information format of destination registration defined by the facsimile communication network in the previous term And a means for making an outgoing connection to a facsimile communication network, and a means for converting image information of destination information into a facsimile signal and transmitting the image information after the outgoing connection, the broadcast communication system for a facsimile communication network. 2. In the broadcast communication system for facsimile communication network according to claim 1, means for inputting a transmission original to the facsimile communication network as image information or converting text information as a transmission original into image information. A broadcasting communication system for a facsimile communication network, characterized in that it has a means for performing both or both, and a means for converting image information of a transmission document into a facsimile signal and transmitting the same after transmission of a broadcast distribution destination in the previous period.