JPH10336239A - Destination address retrieval system for different kind mail system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To designate a mail destination even when a destination form of a destination mail system is not known in the case of transmission of a mail in a network to which a different kind electronic mail system is connected. SOLUTION: In the case of transmitting a mail to other user from a client terminal 9 by using an electronic mail server 3 belonging to the terminal, the terminal 9 sends a destination address display request instructed by the user to a remote destination address management device 1 via the server 3, the device 1 displays the user organization hierarchical configuration utilizing the electronic mail system to the terminal 9 via the server 3, the instruction of the specific organization of the user from the terminal 9 is sent to the device 1 via the server 3, the device 1 retrieves name of the user and reception mail address information belonging to the organization from a file 2, displays the result on the terminal 9 via the server 3, and the user selects a mail transmission destination among the retrieval result to automatically select the reception mail address of the selected user as the mail transmission destination address.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a mail system, and more particularly to a system for searching for a mail destination address between different types of electronic mail systems connected on a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are several typical electronic mail systems. These e-mail systems employ different mail protocols and mail destination address formats. For this reason, mail exchange between electronic mail systems is made possible via a standard mail protocol. However, even if the mail destination address format is the same as 'Taro Suzuki', 'Suzuki, Taro', 'Taro-Suzuki', 'Taro.Suzu'
Unlike ki ', the user has to input a different destination mail address according to the mail system of the other party when sending the mail. Some mail systems have been improved to automatically select a mail destination only by selecting a name in order to reduce the trouble of inputting a destination address between the same mail systems. This addressing method has not been realized between different types of mail systems.

[0003]

In the prior art, when sending mail between different types of mail systems, it is necessary to input a destination address in a format corresponding to each destination mail system. It is easy to make an input error in the destination address. Also, from the recipient's point of view, in an environment where different types of mail systems are available, if there are multiple mail systems to which the recipient has the right to use, the recipient will be sent to any of the multiple mail systems. I don't know if it was sent. Therefore, it is necessary to operate each mail system individually when referring to the received mail. If there are multiple mail systems to which the recipient has authority to use, if a receiving mail system that performs reception can be selected from these multiple mail systems according to the usage environment such as company, business trip, at home, etc. No hassle. Alternatively, it is better to be able to always operate mail with a used e-mail system. On the other hand, from the mail system administrator's point of view, it is necessary to individually maintain the destination information of each heterogeneous mail system, which requires a lot of man-hours. As described above, in the usage environment of the heterogeneous mail system, there are problems from the viewpoints of the user and the system administrator.

A first object of the present invention is to allow a user to specify an e-mail destination that can be transmitted without knowing the destination format of the destination e-mail system at the time of e-mail transmission in a network configuration to which different types of e-mail systems are connected. It is in. A second object of the present invention is to provide a mail system user,
An object of the present invention is to make it possible to select a receiving mail system from each electronic mail system having usage authority. It is a third object of the present invention to provide a registration support that enables destination addresses of different types of electronic mail systems to be registered together by one device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the first object, the present invention provides a plurality of heterogeneous electronic mail systems,
A destination address search system of a heterogeneous mail system in a network system in which a plurality of client terminals accessing them are connected by a network, wherein information on an organization hierarchy of a user who uses an electronic mail system connected to the network is provided in the network. Is connected to a remote destination address management server connected to a remote destination address file that stores the destination address information of the user, and a destination address display unit is provided for each of the clients. A destination address display request based on a user instruction is transmitted to the e-mail system to which the client belongs, the organization hierarchical structure information is acquired and displayed, and the own client receives the instruction of the specific organization of the user input by referring to the display contents. Email system to which it belongs The e-mail system sends the destination address display request based on the received user's instruction to the remote destination address management server. Receiving the organization hierarchy configuration information from the server and transmitting the information to the client; transmitting the received instruction of the specific organization of the user to the remote destination address management server; Name, received e-mail address information received and transmitted to the client, the remote destination address management server returns the organization hierarchy configuration information in response to a request for the organization hierarchy configuration information from the e-mail system,
Remote destination address search means for searching the remote destination address file according to an instruction of the specific organization of the user from the electronic mail system to obtain the name and received mail address information of the user belonging to the specific organization and returning the same. The client refers to the displayed user name and received mail address information and selects the received mail address to which the mail is to be transmitted.

The remote destination address file includes, as destination address information, user organization information for each user who uses the e-mail system connected to the network, and the user assigned to each user is authorized to use the system. And a receiving mail address which is a mail address of an e-mail system that receives the mail of the user among the e-mail systems to which the user has authority to use, and .

[0007] Further, the remote destination address management server, based on the organization information of the destination address information of the user stored in the remote destination address file, information on the organization hierarchy of the user who uses all e-mail systems connected to the network. Is generated.

[0008] Further, a plurality of the remote destination address management servers are provided on the network, and an e-mail system for which destination address information is to be managed is provided to each of the remote destination address management servers by a plurality of remote destination address management servers connected to the network. Each remote destination address management server is assigned in advance from among different types of electronic mail systems, and each remote destination address management server collects destination address information of an electronic mail system that is not managed by its own server by exchanging information between the remote destination address management servers. Like that.

[0009] The remote destination address management server can be operated by the remote destination address management server or a client terminal of the remote destination address management server in response to an instruction to change destination address information for new user registration and update of registered information. Updating the destination address information of its own server, and transferring the destination address information to be changed to a plurality of different types of e-mail systems managed by the remote destination address management server;
A remote destination address registering / updating means for instructing a change is provided.

Further, the electronic mail system connects a local destination address file holding destination address information of the user using the own system, and upon receiving an instruction of the specific organization of the user, receives the name of the user belonging to the specific organization. Determining whether the received mail address information is stored in the local destination address file, and if not, transmitting an instruction of the specific organization of the user to the remote destination address management server, and When the name of the user belonging to the organization and the received mail address information are received from the server and transmitted to the client, and held, the name of the user belonging to the organization and the received mail address information are read from the local destination address file. The information is collected and transmitted to the client.

[0011] Further, each of the clients is provided with a receiving mail system changing means, and the remote destination address management server is provided with a remote destination address updating means, and the receiving mail system changing means is provided with the remote destination address updating means according to a user's instruction. Communication with the remote destination address updating means, obtains a list of electronic mail systems available to the user of the client from the remote destination address updating means, selects an electronic mail system to be changed from the obtained list of electronic mail systems, and The remote destination address updating unit transmits the address to the remote destination address updating unit and searches the remote destination address file for a list of e-mail systems to which the user of the client has authority to use, by starting communication with the remote destination address updating unit. The said remote To the destination address update means,
When receiving the destination e-mail system from the remote destination address updating means, the received e-mail system of the user in the received e-mail system is replaced with the current received e-mail address, and the remote destination address file is used as a new received e-mail address. To be stored.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A destination address search system for a heterogeneous mail system according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the embodiments and modifications shown in the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network system to which the present invention is applied. In this system, the heterogeneous e-mail server 3,
5, 7, the client terminal 9 of those servers and the mail destination information of each e-mail server are managed.
They are connected by AN15. The remote destination address management device 1 has a remote destination address file 2 for managing the mail destination information of each e-mail server user. Each of the e-mail servers 3, 5, 7 has a local destination address file 4, 6, 8 for managing the destination address of the user using the own mail server.
Further, via the network 13, the e-mail server 12 is connected to a LAN 15a of a business trip destination, another office, another company, or the like.
The remote destination address management device 10 and the client terminal 9a are connected. The e-mail server 12 and the remote destination address management device 10 have a local destination address file 14 and a remote destination address file 11, respectively.

The client terminal 9 is composed of a PC (personal computer), WS (workstation), etc., and operates as a program under the control of an OS 28 (operating system). The display 31 and the received mail system change 30 are incorporated. The mail client 29 communicates with each e-mail server, and performs processing such as mail transmission / reception and screen display of the related art.

[0014] The destination address display 31 indicates that a
It is activated based on a user's destination address display instruction (click of a button or the like on the screen). Destination address display 3
1 communicates with the electronic mail server 3 to obtain and display organization hierarchy information and destination address information (name, mail address, etc.) of users belonging to the organization. When the user selects the name, the mail address of the destination user is determined. The outgoing mail is transferred to the e-mail server to which the user belongs by a mail exchange function (e-mail protocol such as SMTP or X400) between the e-mail servers.

The received mail system change 30 is used when there are a plurality of mail systems to which the recipient has authority to use and is used to change the received mail system currently used for reception. It is started by clicking a button or the like. The user specifies a receiving mail server on the screen. Incoming mail system change 30
Communicates directly with the remote destination address management device 1 and updates the received mail address in the remote destination address file 2. Thereafter, the designated e-mail server can receive the mail. As a result, the receiving mail system can be selected from a plurality of mail systems having the use authority according to the use environment such as the company, the business trip destination, and the time at home. Or,
Mail operations can be performed using a familiar e-mail system.

The e-mail server 3 incorporates a mail system 26 and a destination address search 27 characteristic of the present embodiment as programs running under the control of the OS 25. The mail system 26 differs from one mail system to another, but the basic processing is responsible for the control of transmission and reception with the client terminal 9 and the control of mail transmission and reception between electronic mail servers in the related art. The e-mail server 3 includes a local destination address file 4 for managing destination address information of the user using the own e-mail server. The destination address search 27 communicates with the client terminal 9 and transfers the organization hierarchy information and the destination address information (name, received mail address, etc.) of the user belonging to the organization to the client terminal group 9 based on the destination address display instruction in the client. I do. These destination address information are transferred from the local destination address file to the user's client terminal in the case of the user using the own mail server, and from the remote destination address management device 1 to the user's client terminal in the case of the user using another mail server. Forward. The organization hierarchy information is transferred from the remote destination address management device 1 to the user's client terminal.

The remote destination address management device 1 is a device characteristic of the present embodiment. It has a network OS 20 (operating system) and mail destination information of all users who use different types of electronic mail servers connected to the network. Manage. The remote destination address management devices 1 connected to the network are connected to the network O
Using the function of S, information is exchanged as needed, and the latest mail destination information is managed. The remote destination address management device 1 incorporates a remote destination address search 21, a remote destination address update 22, an organization hierarchy generation 23, and a remote destination address registration / update 32 as programs running under the control of the network OS 20. Further, the organization configuration buffer 24 and the remote destination address file 2
Is provided.

The organization structure buffer 24 stores organization structure information of all users who use electronic mail. Specifically, (company-office-department-section) or (country-prefecture-city-
It is hierarchical information such as town). These pieces of information are generated by the organization hierarchy generation 23 from the organization configuration information of the remote destination address file 2.

The remote destination address file 2 stores, for each e-mail user on the network, the e-mail address of each e-mail server having the authority to use, organization information, name, received e-mail address, and the like. The received e-mail address is an e-mail address of an e-mail server from which the user actually receives e-mails among e-mail servers in which the user has usage authority.

The remote destination address search 21 returns organization hierarchy information and mail destination information of a user belonging to the organization in response to a request from each electronic mail server. The remote destination address update 22 communicates with the accepted mail system change 30 of the client terminal 9 and updates the received mail address in the remote destination address file 2. The remote destination address registration / update 32 is activated at the time of registering / updating the destination address information, and based on an instruction from the client terminal of the remote destination address management device and the keyboard of the remote destination address management device itself, the content of the remote destination address file 2 To update.

Hereinafter, the operation of this embodiment will be described in more detail. (1) Display / selection procedure of destination address Referring to FIGS. 2 to 6, display / display of destination address to enable transmission of mail without knowing the destination format of the destination mail system when sending mail. The selection procedure will be described. In FIG. 2, steps 41 to 45 are processing flows of the destination address display 31 of the client terminal 9,
Steps 51 to 57 correspond to the processing flow of the destination address search 27 of the e-mail server 3, and
4 is a processing flow of the remote destination address search 21 of the remote destination address management device 1. Step 41, step 43, and step 45 of the destination address display 31
User operation is involved.

When a button or icon displayed on the client terminal 9 is selected with a mouse or the like, step 41 is started, and communication with the destination address search 27 of the electronic mail server 3 is started (step 51). A step 51 requests the organization level information from the remote destination address search 21 of the remote destination address management device 1. Step 61 of the remote destination address search 21 is as follows:
Receive request information. In the next step 62, the organization hierarchy information is stored in the organization structure buffer 24 based on the request information.
, And transfer it to the destination address search 27 of the e-mail server 3. In the example of the company organization, the organization structure information as shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the organization structure buffer 24. The destination address search 27 receives the organization hierarchy information and transfers it to the client terminal 9 (steps 52 and 42). First, of the organization hierarchy information, the highest hierarchy is displayed (the (company-business-department-section) hierarchy and the company name level). When the user wants to display the specific company organization in more detail, the user selects the company with the mouse (step 4).
3). The destination address search 27 of the electronic mail server 3
From the organization hierarchy information received in step 53, the next hierarchy organization information (business name) is generated (step 53). next,
It is determined whether or not the destination address information of the constituent members (for example, officers at the company organization level) belonging to the designated organization exists in the local destination address file 4 (step 54).
If it does not exist, a request is made to the remote destination address management device 1. The remote destination address search 21 of the remote destination address management device 1 extracts the destination address information of the members belonging to the organization from the remote destination address file 2 and transfers it to the electronic mail server 3 (step 6).
3, step 64).

FIG. 4 shows the structure of the remote destination address file 2. The search key 111 is a search key for each field from the remote destination address file. These conform to the naming rules of the network OS. Used to extract users belonging to the relevant organizational hierarchy. In this example, each item is separated by the symbol ＠, "taro @ sale
"s @ H @ A" indicates Mr. Taro of the sales department of the H division of A Co., Ltd. Reference numeral 112 is a name, reference numeral 113 is detailed notation information of the job system, and reference numeral 114 is an e-mail system to which the user has use authority. , Each of the mail addresses (individual addresses) 115 indicates the mail address of the e-mail system that currently receives the mail, that is, the received mail address among the mail addresses 114. To the e-mail server 3. Is the name 1 for each user
12, the organization information 113 and the received mail address 115 are passed.

If the destination address information of the member exists in the local destination address file 4, the destination address information is extracted from the local destination address file 4 (step 55). Local destination address file 4
As shown in FIG. 5, destination address information such as the mail address 101, name 102, organization information 103, and received mail address 104 of the user who uses the electronic mail server is stored. Name 102, job information 103,
The received mail address 104 is the same as the contents of the remote destination address file 2.

Next, step 56 in FIG. 2 transfers the destination address information collected in the above step to the client terminal 9. The destination address information is displayed on the client terminal 9 (step 44). Further, according to a user's instruction, it is possible to display the members of another organization. In this case, the processing from step 43 is repeated.

FIG. 6 is a screen display example of the destination address information of the client terminal 9. Windows 71 and 72 display organization hierarchy information, and window 73 displays destination address information of members belonging to the organization. In this example, company A
Is displayed in the window 72, and the names and the received mail address information of the members belonging to a part of the company A are displayed in the window 72.

By selecting the name field to which the mail is to be transmitted from the window 73 with the mouse, the selected destination information is displayed in the destination list of the window 74 (step 45). The received mail address of the selected user is registered as a destination address (step 57). By repeating the above processing steps, a plurality of destinations can be selected.

Next, the processing of the organization hierarchy generation 23 of the remote destination address management device 1 will be described. Organization hierarchy generation 23
Extracts all the organizational information 113 for each user from the remote destination address file 2 shown in FIG. 4, deletes the combination of overlapping organizations, and generates the organization hierarchy information of FIG.

In the present embodiment, as can be seen from the above processing, it is possible to specify the destination at the time of sending a mail without knowing the destination format of the destination mail system through the remote destination address management device 1.

(2) Reception Mail System Update Procedure Referring to FIG. 7, there are a plurality of mail systems to which the recipient has authority to use, and the reception mail system currently used for reception is changed to update the reception mail address. The procedure for updating the received mail address will be described. In FIG. 7, steps 121 to 123 are the processing flow of the incoming mail system change 30 of the client terminal 9, and steps 131 to 134 are the processing flow of the remote destination address update 22 of the remote destination address management device 1.

When a button or icon displayed on the client terminal 9 is selected with a mouse or the like, step 121 is started, and communication with the remote destination address update 22 of the remote destination address management device 1 is started (step 131). Step 131 receives the request information. In the next step 132, a list of mail systems available to the user is obtained from the remote destination address file 2 and transferred to the client terminal 9. A list of the received mail systems is displayed on the client terminal 9 (step 122). In the next step 123, the instruction information selected by the user with the mouse or the like from the received mail system list on the screen is transferred to the remote destination address management device 1. The remote destination address update 22 updates the received mail address 115 of the user in the remote destination address file 2 based on the instruction information (step 133). In the next step 134, the received mail address information is transferred to a group of e-mail servers used by the user. Each e-mail server updates the user's received e-mail address 104 in the local destination address file.

In this embodiment, the mail system user can select the received mail system by providing a means for directly changing the received mail address of the remote destination address file 2 from the client terminal 9.

(3) Destination Address Update Procedure With reference to FIG. 8, a destination address update procedure for realizing the update of the destination address of the remote destination address file will be described. In FIG. 8, steps 151 to 156 correspond to remote destination address registration / update 3 based on an instruction of the remote destination address management device 1 such as a mouse and a keyboard.
2 is a processing flow of FIG. This operation is executed when the mail system administrator updates the destination address information of the electronic mail server group connected to the network. It is activated by selecting a button or icon displayed on the screen of the remote destination address management device 1 with a mouse or the like.
A step 151 determines whether the instructed request is a new registration of a user or an update of information of a registered user. At the time of updating, steps 152 and 153 are executed. At the time of registration, step 154 is executed.

In step 152, an e-mail user list is generated from the remote destination address file 2 and displayed. The system administrator specifies a user to be updated from the screen. In the next step 153, the destination management information of the designated user is searched from the remote destination address file 2, and an update screen of the user is displayed. The system administrator updates and adds organization configuration information or mail address information. In step 155, based on the change information,
Update the remote destination address file 2.

Next, when newly registering an e-mail user,
Step 154 is executed. A step 154 displays a new user registration screen. On the screen, the search key 111 of the remote destination address file 2 described in FIG.
Name 112, job information 113, email address 114,
Received mail address information 115 can be input for each user. The system administrator inputs registration information of the new user. In step 155, the remote destination address file 2 is updated based on the input information, and a new e-mail user is registered. In the next step 156, the registration / update information is transferred to the related e-mail server group. Each email server updates the local destination file.

In this embodiment, it is possible to collectively register destination addresses of different types of electronic mail systems from the remote address management device.

In the above-described embodiment, the remote destination address management device is provided. However, the function performed by the remote destination address management device may be configured so that one of the e-mail servers also performs the function. Further, in the above embodiment, for the users managed by the e-mail server, the destination address information is obtained from the local destination file. However, the information may be requested from all the users to the remote destination address management device.

[0038]

According to the present invention, in a network configuration to which different types of electronic mail systems are connected, it is possible to send a mail without knowing the destination format of the destination mail system.
The mail destination can be specified. Further, when there are a plurality of mail systems to which the mail system user has authority to use, the mail system user can select a receiving mail system to be actually used. In addition, it is possible to register destination addresses of different types of electronic mail systems collectively by one device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a destination address display (31), a destination address search (27), and a remote destination address search (21) used in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a tissue configuration held in a tissue configuration buffer (24) of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a remote destination address file (2) of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a local destination address file (4) of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a screen configuration example of a destination address display of the electronic mail client terminal (9) in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 shows a change of the received mail system used in FIG.
0) and a flowchart of remote destination address update (22).

FIG. 8 is a view showing a flowchart of remote destination address registration / update (32) used in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 10 remote destination address management device 2, 11 remote destination address file 3, 5, 7, 12 email server 4, 6, 8, 14 local destination address file 9, 9a email client terminal 13 network 15, 15a LAN 21 Remote Destination Address Search 22 Remote Destination Address Update 23 Organization Hierarchy Creation 24 Organization Structure Buffer 26 Mail System 27 Destination Address Search 29 Mail Client 30 Change Received Mail System 31 Destination Address Display 32 Remote Destination Address Registration / Update 32 Remote Destination Address Registration / Update

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A destination address search system for a heterogeneous mail system in a network system in which a plurality of heterogeneous electronic mail systems and a plurality of client terminals accessing them are connected via a network, wherein the network is connected to a network. A remote destination address management server connected to a remote destination address file storing destination address information of the user, wherein organizational hierarchy configuration information of a user who uses the electronic mail system is stored; The destination address display means transmits a destination address display request based on a user instruction to the e-mail system to which the client belongs, and acquires the organization hierarchy configuration information.
Display, send the instruction of the specific organization of the user inputted by referring to the display contents to the e-mail system to which the client belongs, obtain and display the name and the received e-mail address information of the user belonging to the specific organization, The electronic mail system transmits a destination address display request based on the received user instruction to the remote destination address management server, receives the organization hierarchy configuration information from the server, transmits the information to the client, and receives the user. Transmitting the instruction of the specific organization to the remote destination address management server, receiving the name of the user belonging to the specific organization, received mail address information from the server and transmitting the information to the client, the remote destination address management server, In response to a request for the organization hierarchy information from an electronic mail system, the organization hierarchy A remote destination to search for the remote destination address file according to an instruction of the specific organization of the user from the e-mail system to obtain the name and received mail address information of the user belonging to the specific organization and return A destination address search system for a heterogeneous mail system, comprising address search means, wherein the client refers to the displayed user's name and received mail address information to select a received mail address to send a mail. 2. The destination address search system for a heterogeneous mail system according to claim 1, wherein the remote destination address file is used as destination address information for each electronic mail system user connected to the network. And an e-mail address of each e-mail system assigned to each user to which the user has use authority, and an e-mail system for receiving the user's e-mail from each e-mail system to which the user has use right A destination address search system for a heterogeneous mail system, wherein a received mail address which is a mail address of the same is held. 3. The destination address search system for a heterogeneous mail system according to claim 1, wherein the remote destination address management server connects to a network based on organization information of user destination address information stored in the remote destination address file. A destination address search system for a heterogeneous mail system, comprising: organization hierarchy generation means for generating organization hierarchy configuration information of users who use all e-mail systems. 4. The destination address search system for a heterogeneous mail system according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said remote destination address management servers are provided on said network, and destination address information is managed for each of said remote destination address management servers. A target e-mail system is allocated in advance from among a plurality of different types of e-mail systems connected to the network, and each of the remote destination address management servers stores destination address information of an e-mail system that is not managed by its own server.
A destination address search system for a heterogeneous mail system, wherein information is collected by exchanging information between the remote destination address management servers. 5. The destination address search system of a heterogeneous mail system according to claim 1, wherein the remote destination address management server receives a new user registration from the remote destination address management server or a client terminal of the remote destination address management server.
The destination address information of the own server is updated in response to an instruction to change the destination address information for updating the registered information, and the destination address information to be changed is transmitted to a plurality of different e-mail systems managed by the remote destination address management server. A destination address search system for a heterogeneous mail system, comprising remote destination address registration / update means for transferring address change information and instructing the change. 6. The destination address search system for a heterogeneous mail system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail system connects a local destination address file holding destination address information of a user using the own system, and the user's specific organization. When the instruction of the specific organization is received, it is determined whether or not the name and the received mail address information of the user belonging to the specific organization are stored in the local destination address file. Send to the remote destination address management server, receive the name and received mail address information of the user belonging to the organization from the remote destination address management server and send them to the client. Name of the user belonging to the organization from the file, received e-mail address The destination address search system disparate mail systems, characterized in that to collect multi-address to send to the client. 7. The destination address search system for a heterogeneous mail system according to claim 2, wherein each of the clients is provided with a receiving mail system changing unit, and the remote destination address management server is provided with a remote destination address updating unit. The system changing means starts communication with the remote destination address updating means according to a user's instruction, acquires a list of electronic mail systems available to the user of the client from the remote destination address updating means, and acquires the acquired electronic mail system. Selecting an e-mail system to be changed from the list and transmitting the selected e-mail system to the remote destination address updating means, the remote destination address updating means starting communication with the remote destination address updating means, Client's When the user searches the list of e-mail systems to which the user has authority to use and transmits the list to the remote destination address updating means, and receives the destination e-mail system from the remote destination address updating means, A destination address search system for a heterogeneous mail system, wherein the received mail address of the user is replaced with the current received mail address and stored as a new received mail address in the remote destination address file.