JPH10136093A - Voice mail server - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a voice mail server which sets a system required for a server by means of a mail. SOLUTION: When the server receives the mail sent from a client 6 through a LAN, whether the received mail is a system control mail for setting the system of the server of the regular mail is judged. When it is judged to be the system control mail as the result of judgement, the content of the mail is registered and set in a disk 5 as data required for the control of the system of the server. When it is judged to be the regular mail, the mail is registered in the disk 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a voice mail server that forms a network with a plurality of clients.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electronic mail for exchanging information using a network is known, and transmission and reception of the electronic mail are performed between clients via a server.

[0003]

By the way, conventionally, when setting the system of a server, an input / output device such as an operation panel is prepared on the server side, or a special utility is prepared on the client side via a network. Must be set. In addition, a client is required to view the e-mail, and when the user is out of the office, the e-mail cannot be viewed even if there is an urgent e-mail. In order to deal with such inconveniences, it is necessary to carry a notebook computer or the like. On the other hand, when a message is transmitted to the other party by telephone without using e-mail, the telephone may not be connected. In this case, it is necessary to repeat the call many times until the call is connected or to wait even if the auto call function is used. Therefore, it is desired to improve such inconvenience by e-mail.

Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a voice mail server in which system settings required for the server can be performed by mail. A second object of the present invention is to provide a voice mail server which can check a mail addressed to itself without being restricted by time and place even when a client cannot be used. A third object of the present invention is to provide a voice mail server capable of outputting mail directly to a telephone by an automatic call.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when an e-mail sent from a client via a network is received, the received e-mail is stored in a storage means, and the e-mail is read from the client. When there is a request, a mail corresponding to the request is read from the storage means, and a server which sends out the read mail to a client who has made the request via a network receives the mail when the received mail is received. Determining means for determining whether or not the mail is a specific mail for performing system setting of a server; and when the determining means determines that the mail is the specific mail, the contents of the specific mail are used as data necessary for system control of the server. Setting means for registering and setting in the storage means as above, thereby achieving the first object. .

According to the second aspect of the invention, when a mail sent from a client via a network is received, the received mail is stored in a storage means.
When there is a mail read request from the client, a mail corresponding to the request is read from the storage means, and the read mail is sent to the requesting client via a network. Determining means for determining whether there is a request for reading, and when the determining means determines that there is a request to read the mail, reads the requested mail from the storage means and converts it into an audio signal; The second object is achieved by providing output means for outputting the converted voice signal to the telephone line.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when a mail sent from a client via a network is received, the received mail is stored in a storage means.
When there is a mail read request from the client, the mail corresponding to the request is read from the storage means, and the read mail is sent to the requesting client via a network, and the mail is sent from the client. And a determining means for determining whether or not a specific command is described in the mail, and transmitting the data via a telephone line when the determining means determines that the specific command is described. The connection means for calling the destination telephone and connecting to the telephone, and when connected to the destination telephone by this connection means, the contents of the sent mail are converted into a voice signal and the conversion is performed. The third object is achieved by providing output means for outputting a voice signal to the telephone line.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the voice mail server according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the voice mail server according to the first embodiment includes a main control unit 1, a disk control unit 2, a network control unit 3, a line control unit 4, and a disk 5. The main control unit 1 controls input and output of the disk control unit 2, the network control unit 3, and the line control unit 4.

The disk control unit 2 controls to save or read the system constants, user information, and mail received via the network to or from the disk 5. The network control unit 3 sends and receives mails to and from the client 6 via a LAN (local area network). The line control unit 4 includes a voice output unit 41 and a tone analysis unit 4
2 is provided. The voice output unit 41 converts kana-kanji sentences into voice signals, and outputs the converted voice to the telephone (receiver) 7 via a public line. Tone analysis unit 42
Is the key sound (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, ♯, *) are analyzed and encoded.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment configured as described above will be described. In the first embodiment, when the voice mail server receives a mail from the client 6, it determines whether the mail is a system control mail for performing system setting of the voice mail server or a normal mail. Is determined. Here, when the received mail is a system control mail, as shown in FIG. 2, the mail includes “system control”, and this “system control” is necessary for system control as shown in FIG. This is a mail control command for registering various system constants and users. Therefore, whether the received mail is a system control mail or a normal mail can be determined based on the presence or absence of “system control” in the mail.

Further, if it is determined that the received mail contains the command “system control”, the password (“9999” in FIG. 2) is registered in the disk 5 in advance. Is determined, and if so, the command “system control” is enabled. For this reason, a system setting described later can be performed only by a system administrator, and is protected by a password. As shown in FIG. 2, this password has an initial value "9999", which is common to all but can be changed. In this manner, when the received mail is determined to be a system control mail, the contents of the system control mail as shown in FIG. 2 are recognized based on the mail control command shown in FIG. The data is set and registered in the disk 5 as data necessary for system control of the voice mail server. On the other hand, when the received mail is determined to be a normal mail, the received mail is registered on the disk 5.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the operation thereof is different as shown in the flowchart of FIG. Therefore, in the following description, the description of the configuration will be omitted, and the operation will be described with reference to FIGS. Now, when the telephone number of the telephone of the voice mail server is called from the telephone 7 (step 1) and the telephone 7 is connected to the voice mail server, "P" of the number of retries (the number of times of inputting the password) is set. (Step 2). Next, a message "Enter password" is output to telephone 7 (step 3). Then, the key (0, 0,
When a password is entered by pressing (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, ♯, *), each key emits a different voice. The password is analyzed and recognized (step 4).

Next, it is determined whether or not the input and recognized password matches the registered password (step 5). If the result of this determination is that the password does not match the registered password (step 5; N), the user is required to input the password "Please enter a password." Until the number of retries becomes "0" (from step 3). Step 7). Then, when the number of retries becomes "0", a message "Password is not registered" is output to telephone 7 (step 8). On the other hand, if it is determined in step 5 that the password matches the registered password (step 5; Y), it is determined whether or not an e-mail has been received (step 9). Is output to the telephone 7 (step 10).

When it is determined in step 9 that the mail has been received (step 9; Y), the contents of the mail are converted into a voice signal, and the converted voice signal is output to the telephone 7 (step 11). ). Then, after a message "Do you want to hear the contents of the mail again?" Is output to the telephone 7 (step 12), a tone input from the telephone 7 is determined (step 13). As a result, when "♯" on the telephone 7 is pressed, the mail can be heard again, and when "*" is pressed, "Do you want to hear another mail?"
Is output to the telephone 7 (step 1).
4). Next, tone input from the telephone 7 is determined (step 15). When "@" on the telephone 7 is pressed, the process returns to step 11 to listen to the mail again, and when "*" is pressed, a series of processing is performed. To end.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The third embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and the operation thereof is different as shown in the flowchart of FIG. Therefore, in the following description, the description of the configuration will be omitted, and only the operation will be described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 5, and FIG. Now, when the voice mail server receives the mail from the client 6, as shown in FIG. 6, the voice mail server determines whether or not "auto call", which is a command for performing automatic calling, is described in the mail. When it is determined that
After setting "P" for the number of retries (the number of times of inputting the password) (step 21), the destination telephone is called (step 22).

Next, it is determined whether the telephone line of the transmission destination is connected to the telephone line (step 23). If the telephone line is not connected, the number of retries is decremented by "1" (step 24). Is determined (step 25). If the result of this determination is that there is no retry error (step 25; N), the call is made again after waiting for S seconds (auto call retry cycle) (step 26). On the other hand, if there is a retry error (step 25; Y), M minutes (auto call retry cycle)
After waiting (step 27), the call is made again.

In step 23, when the telephone line of the transmission destination is connected to the telephone line (step 23; Y), a message "mail has arrived" is output to the telephone 7 (step 28). Next, the content of the mail is converted into a voice signal, and the converted voice signal is output to the telephone 7 (step 29). Thereafter, after a message "Do you want to listen to the contents of the mail again?" Is output to the telephone 7 (step 30), a tone input from the telephone 7 is determined (step 31). As a result, when "@" on the telephone 7 is pressed, the mail can be heard again, and when "*" is pressed, a series of processing is ended.

[0018]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the system setting can be performed by e-mail, all the system users can send and receive e-mail, which facilitates the introduction of the system. Become.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the contents of the mail addressed to the user can be confirmed by a public telephone or a portable telephone, so that the mail can be confirmed anytime and anywhere without a client.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when an e-mail from a client is received, a destination of the e-mail is automatically called and the contents of the e-mail can be output as voice.
If you send an e-mail from a client, you do not need to repeat the call to the destination, as in the case of sending a message by phone, and you can call multiple recipients once It can be done by e-mail.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system control mail according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a mail control command according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an auto call mail according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main control part 2 Disk control part 3 Network control part 4 Line control part 5 Disk 6 Client 7 Telephone 41 Audio output part 42 Tone analysis part

Claims (3)

[Claims] When an e-mail sent from a client via a network is received, the received e-mail is stored in a storage means. On the other hand, when there is an e-mail reading request from the client, the e-mail corresponding to the request is transmitted. A server that reads the mail from the storage unit and sends the read mail to a requesting client via a network; when the mail is received, whether the received mail is a specific mail for performing system setting of the server; Determining means for determining whether the specific mail is the specific mail, and setting means for registering and setting the contents of the specific mail in the storage means as data necessary for system control of the server. A voice mail server, comprising: 2. When a mail sent from a client via a network is received, the received mail is stored in a storage means. On the other hand, when there is a mail reading request from the client, the mail corresponding to the request is read. A server for reading from the storage means and sending out the read mail to a requesting client via a network; determining means for determining whether or not there is a request to read mail from a telephone via a telephone line; When the determining means determines that there is a mail reading request, the reading means reads the requested mail from the storage means, converts the read mail into a voice signal, and outputs the converted voice signal to the telephone line. A voice mail server, comprising: 3. When a mail sent from a client via a network is received, the received mail is stored in a storage means. On the other hand, when there is a mail reading request from the client, the mail corresponding to the request is read. A server that reads the mail from the storage means and sends the read mail to a requesting client via a network; when a mail is sent from the client, whether or not a specific command is described in the mail; Determining means for determining, when the determining means determines that the specific command is described, calling a destination telephone via a telephone line, connecting means for connecting to the telephone, When connected to the destination telephone by this connection means, the contents of the sent e-mail Output means for converting the voice signal into a signal and outputting the converted voice signal to the telephone line.