JPH11194980A - Device and method for mail time-limit management - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manage a response time limit with a simple constitution by displaying the contents of a received mail and an object mail to be sent in editing the mail to be sent, and this editing the response time limit of the received mail. SOLUTION: When an operator selects an edition a response time limit on a mail time-limit management device 100 through a display 130 by using an input device 135, a control circuit 115 executes a program for response time-limit edition, which reads a received mail out of a storage device 120, so that a list of received mails is displayed on the display 130 through a display circuit 125. The operator selects a mail whose response time limit is to be edited out of the list and edits the response time limit. A mail thus edited is stored in the storage device 120. Thus, the contents of the received mail are displayed and when a mail to be sent to edited, the mail to be sent is displayed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mail expiration date management device and a mail expiration date management method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a mail expiration date management device of this type is known as shown in FIG. In the figure, a mail 97 including a response request is sent from a mail sending side 950.
A response request mail registration unit 900 for registering, as management information, the identifier, recipient, and response time limit of the mail at the time of transmission of 0,
If it is a response mail 971 transmitted from the mail transmission / reception unit 910 for transmitting / receiving the mail and the reception side 950 of the mail 970 when the mail arrives, the management information for the responded recipient is deleted from the management information. A response request mail updating unit 920 and a mail response requesting unit 930 that sends a reminder mail 972 for a response request whose response time limit has expired and is stored in the management information and urges a receiver whose response has been delayed to respond. It is composed of

[0003] In the above configuration, the mail sending side 950
Transmits a mail 970 having a response time limit to the receiving side 960, the transmitting side 950 registers the response time limit in the response request mail registration unit 900, and also registers the identifier and the recipient. When this registration is completed, the e-mail 970 is transmitted via the e-mail transmission / reception unit 910. Here, the receiving side 960 that has received the mail 970
When the response mail 971 is sent to the sending side 950 within the registered response time limit, the response request mail update unit 920 receives the mail 971 via the mail transmission / reception unit 910, and The sender is analyzed, and the management information of the receiver 960 that is the sender in the management information is deleted.

A mail 970 having the above response time limit
If the receiving side 950 that has received the response does not respond to the transmitting side 950 with the response mail 971 even after the registered response time limit elapses, the mail response requesting section 930 sends a reminder mail 972 to the receiving side 960. Do. Here, the response time limit registered in the response request mail registration unit 900 can be edited by the registered transmitting side 950, and the receiving side 960 cannot intervene at all.

[0005]

In the above-described conventional mail expiration date management apparatus, the subject that manages the expiration date using the response expiration date is the transmission side, and the mail reception side adds / edits the response expiration date information. Therefore, the response deadline can only be managed based on the one-sided response deadline set by the sender. For this reason, when it is necessary to change the response time limit, the user has to send a confirmation e-mail or a telephone call to the transmission side, which causes a problem that the operation becomes complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an e-mail expiration date management device and an e-mail expiration date management method capable of improving operability and securely managing e-mail response expiration dates. Aim.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mail transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving a mail, a mail managing unit for managing the transmitted / received mail, and storing the received mail. A storage unit for storing the history of the transmitted mail, a response time editing unit for reading out the received mail from the storage unit via the mail management unit and editing the response time limit of the received mail, and displaying the content of the received mail. And a mail display unit for displaying a mail to be transmitted in editing the mail to be transmitted.

In the invention according to claim 1 configured as described above, when the mail transmitting / receiving unit receives a mail, the mail is stored in the storage unit via the mail management unit and displayed on the mail display unit. You. Here, when editing in order to modify the response time limit of the received mail, the mail response time limit editing means reads out the received mail and edits the response time limit.

[0009] However, on the transmitting side, the contents of the response term added at the time of transmission are edited without permission.
Since the receiving side manages the received mail based on the edited response time limit, a trouble may occur that the levels of the transmitting side and the receiving side do not match. Here, if the receiving side notifies that the response time limit set by the transmitting side has been edited, such a problem is solved. Therefore, the invention according to claim 2 is
2. The mail expiration date management device according to claim 1, wherein, when the response expiration date is edited by the response expiration date editing means, the mail expiration date is automatically sent to the sender of the mail whose response expiration date is edited. Is transmitted.

[0010] In the invention according to claim 2 configured as described above, when the mail response time limit editing means edits the response time limit of the received mail read out from the storage unit via the mail management unit, the mail management unit Automatically notifies the sender of the edited received mail of the edited content. Here, the mail management unit only needs to be able to notify the sending end of the response deadline edited by the mail response deadline unit.
Therefore, the response time limit of the received mail may be edited, or the edited response time limit and subject may be extracted and notified. In other words, any content can be used as long as the transmitting side can understand the change of the response time limit.

By the way, since the response time limit of the received mail is attached to the body of the mail, it is necessary for the receiving side to open the received mail one by one and check whether the response time limit exists. At present, mail is permeating, and the approximate business contact is made via e-mail, so the number may be several tens of e-mails per day. In such a situation, finding and managing a mail having a response time limit on the receiving side places a burden on the worker on the receiving side.
Therefore, the invention according to claim 3 is a mail expiration date management device according to any one of claims 1 and 2,
The mail management unit has a record creation unit that creates a reception record of mail having a response deadline and a transmission record of mail with a response deadline, and the record creation unit stores the record in the storage unit. is there.

[0012] In the invention according to claim 3 configured as described above, the mail record creation means includes, when a response deadline is set for the mail received via the mail transmitting / receiving unit, the mail record creation unit. When a mail for which a response time limit is set is transmitted, the mail is stored in the storage unit as a transmission result. In other words, the worker on the receiving side can confirm the mail having the response time limit from the reception result and grasp the response status of the mail having the response time limit from the transmission result. Further, by comparing these, it is possible to confirm a mail having a response time limit that has not yet been responded to by the transmission side.

[0013] As described above, the management of the response time limit of the mail is as follows.
The method is performed by comparing the reception result of the mail having the response time limit with the transmission result of the mail having the response time limit by the method described in the third aspect. However, since the comparison of these results is performed by printing out or by reading out the information on a display, a burden is imposed on the operator. Therefore, as an example of a configuration capable of removing the burden on the operator and reliably managing the response time limit, the invention according to claim 4 is directed to the mail time limit management according to any one of claims 1 to 3. In the apparatus, the mail management unit periodically refers to the reception result and the transmission result of the mail having the response time limit stored in the storage unit, and is the mail having the response time limit. In this configuration, the e-mail and the e-mail whose response time limit has passed are extracted and displayed on the e-mail display unit.

In the invention according to claim 4 configured as described above, the mail management unit periodically refers to the reception record and the transmission record created by the method according to claim 3, The mail that has reached the response deadline and the mail that has passed the response deadline are displayed on the mail display unit. That is, it is possible to notify the worker of the mail whose response time limit has been reached by displaying the message to call attention. In addition, the timing of displaying the message on the mail display unit may be any one that can draw attention. Therefore, it may be one day before or two days before the day of the response deadline.

[0015] Normally, the mail is received in the order of the time transmitted from the transmitting side. Therefore, when the mail is received, the mail is stored in chronological order and displayed in this chronological order. However, the mixture of mails with near expiration dates and e-mails with sufficient expiration dates or e-mails without expiration dates may interfere with expiration date management. Therefore, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the mail expiration date management device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the mail display unit searches for mails stored in time series in the storage unit. In this configuration, the mail is taken out in the order of the mail having the earliest response time, and the mail is displayed in the order of the mail having the earliest response time.

In the invention according to claim 5, the mail display unit displays a received mail stored in time series in the storage unit, and displays a response time limit area of the received mail. Search for. Then, the data is rearranged by taking out the response expiration date at the earliest position and taking out the response expiration date in order, and displaying the data. That is, the received mail displayed on the mail display section is
Since the order is the response deadline, the worker is always sensitive to the response deadline and can manage the response deadline reliably.

Such a method of editing the response time limit of the received mail and managing the response time limit is not necessarily limited to a substantial device. As an example, the invention according to claim 6 edits the response time limit of a received mail, automatically notifies the sender of the edited response time limit, and creates a response result of the mail having the response time limit. The edited response time limit and the response result are stored, and the stored information is edited into a desired format and displayed. That is, the present invention is not necessarily limited to a physical device, and is also effective in that method.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a mail expiration date management device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a mail expiration date management device 100 has a transmission / reception interface 105 having an external interface of a predetermined standard for transmitting / receiving e-mails to / from the outside, a connection with the transmission / reception interface 105 via a bus line 110, A control circuit 115 for executing a program relating to the response time limit of the device;
0, a storage device 120 which is connected to the control circuit 115 via the control circuit 115 and sequentially stores mail received by the control circuit 115 in chronological order;
A display circuit 125 connected through the control circuit 10 and receiving a display command from the control circuit to perform display processing; and a display connected to the display circuit 125 and displaying a result of the display processing performed by the display circuit. 130, an input device 135 for inputting the editing contents of the response time limit, and the bus line 11
0 and an input interface 1 for transferring the input content from the input device 135 to the control circuit 115.
40.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the contents of the program processing executed when the control circuit 115 edits the response time limit. Email expiration date management device 1
At 00, when the operator selects editing of the response time limit from the display 130 via the input device 135 (step S150), the control circuit 115 executes the response time limit editing program (step S15).
1) The received mail stored in the storage device 120 is read by the program (step S15).
2), a list of the received mails is displayed on the display 150 via the display circuit 125 (step S1).
53).

The operator selects a mail whose response time limit is to be edited from the list and edits the response time limit. When the editing is completed, the operator inputs an end from the input device 135. This end is notified to the program executed in the control circuit 115 via the input interface 140 (step S15).
4), the program stores the edited mail in the storage device 120 (step S155).

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described. E-mail expiration date management device 100
The operator selects a target whose response time limit is to be edited from the list of received mails displayed on the display 130, corrects the response time limit, and ends the editing work (steps S151 to S154). As described above, since the response time limit can be edited on the receiving side, the response time limit set unilaterally by the transmitting side can be changed, and the response time limit management of the mail on the receiving side can be realized. it can.

Next, in the block diagram of the e-mail expiration date management device shown in FIG. 1, processing contents of a program executed in the control circuit 115 when a notification e-mail is transmitted to the transmitting side when the response expiration date is edited. 3 is shown in FIG. In the e-mail expiration date management device 100, the operator edits the response expiration date on the display 130.
From the input device 135 (step S
170), the control circuit 115 executes a program for editing a response time limit (step S171), and reads out the received mail stored in the storage device 120 by the program (step S172). A list of the received e-mails is displayed on the display 130 (step S173).

The operator selects a mail whose response time limit is to be edited from the list and edits the response time limit. When the editing is completed, the operator inputs an end from the input device 135. This end is notified to the program executed in the control circuit 115 via the input interface 140 (step S17).
4), the program extracts the response time limit of the edited mail (step S175), extracts the sender's mail address from the identifier of the mail, and edits the response time limit for the mail address. An e-mail notifying that the operation has been performed is transmitted (step S176). here,
As shown in FIG. 10, the notification mail may add a message to the changed response time limit.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described. E-mail expiration date management device 100
The operator selects a target whose response time limit is to be edited from the list of received mails displayed on the display 130 and corrects the response time limit, and automatically responds to the sender of the mail whose response time limit has been edited. An email notifying that the time limit has been edited is transmitted (steps S171 to S171).
S176). As described above, even if the response time limit is arbitrarily changed on the receiving side that has received the mail with the response time limit, the changed response time limit is automatically notified to the sender of the mail. It is possible to unify the recognition of the response time limit on the side.

Next, a mail expiration date management apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG. In the figure, a mail expiration date management device 200 has a transmission / reception interface 205 having an external interface of a predetermined standard for transmitting and receiving e-mails to and from the outside. A control circuit 215 for executing a program relating to the response time limit of the device;
10, a received mail file 220a for sequentially storing mail received by the control circuit 215 in chronological order, and the control circuit 21
A storage device 220 having a reception result file 220b for storing a mail with a response time limit among the received mails 5 and a transmission result file 220c for the control circuit 215 storing a mail with a response time limit among the outgoing mails; A display circuit 225 connected to the control circuit 215 via the bus line 210 and receiving a display command from the control circuit to perform display processing; and the display connected to the display circuit 225 and performed by the display circuit. A display 230 for displaying the result of the processing, an input device 235 for inputting the edited content of the response time limit, and an input interface 240 connected to the bus line 210 and transferring the input content from the input device 235 to the control circuit 215 It is composed of

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a program for creating the reception result file 220b performed by the control circuit 215. When the mail is received via the transmission / reception interface 205 and the response time limit of the mail in the first embodiment is edited (step S300), it is determined whether the corresponding mail has a response time limit (step S305). If there is a response time limit, the response time limit is extracted (step S310).
At the same time, it is stored in the reception result file 220b (step S315). Then, the received mail and the mail whose response time limit has been edited are stored in the received mail file 220a (step S320). Here, the reception record file 220b has the configuration shown in FIG. 8, and stores an identifier and a response time limit for each mail. In this case, it can be seen that the identifiers are stored in the order of A, B, and C. Of course, when the response time limit is edited for the same target, the corresponding portion of the reception result file 220b is overwritten.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a program for creating the transmission result file 220c performed by the control circuit 215. When an e-mail is transmitted from the e-mail expiration date management device 200 (step S350), it is determined whether the e-mail to be transmitted has a response expiration (step S355). If there is a response time limit, the response time limit is extracted (step S36).
0), and store it in the transmission result file 220c (step S365). Then, the transmission target mail is transmitted via the transmission / reception interface 205 (step S370). Here, the transmission result file 220c has a configuration shown in FIG. 9, and stores an identifier and a response time limit for each transmitted mail. In this case, it is found that the identifiers are stored in the order of C, D, and A.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a program for notifying the screen when a response mail is not transmitted even after the response time limit has expired, which is executed in the control circuit 215. Since this notification is performed at a constant cycle, it is determined whether the set time has elapsed (step S400). When the set time has elapsed, the reception result file 220b and the transmission result file 220c are read (step S405), and the two files are compared. Here, the reception result file 220
b is compared with the identifier existing in the transmission result file 220c (step S41).
0), determine whether there is a matching identifier.

An identifier corresponding to the identifier existing in the reception record file 220b is stored in the transmission record file 220b.
c, it means that the mail has already been transmitted, and the identifier exists in the reception result file 220b, but the identifier that does not exist in the transmission result file 220c and the mail whose response time limit has passed is set to the response time limit. Has not been transmitted yet (step S
415, S420). In this way, if there is an email that has not been sent despite the response deadline,
The information is displayed on the display 230 via the display circuit 225 (step S425). This display is sufficient for the operator of the e-mail expiration date management device 200 to be able to judge, for example, an identifier and a response expiration date are displayed.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. E-mail expiration date management device 200
If the operator has completely forgotten that there is a mail whose response time limit has passed, the display 230 informs that there is a mail whose response time limit has expired on the display 230 (steps S400 to S425). This allows the operator to recognize that there is a mail whose response time limit has passed, and to take appropriate measures.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, a mail expiration date management device capable of editing the response expiration date of a received e-mail and securely managing the expiration date of the response expiration date with a simple configuration is provided. Can be provided. Also,
According to the second aspect of the invention, by notifying the transmitting side to which the response time limit has been added that the response time limit has been edited, it is possible to appropriately manage the response time limit between the transmitting side and the receiver. Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the mail having the response deadline can be managed by counting it as the actual result, the response deadline can be surely managed.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4,
The response time limit can be confirmed, and even if the response time limit has been inadvertently passed, a warning can be displayed to alert the user. Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 5, since the received mails are automatically displayed in the order of the response deadlines, it is possible to manage the response deadlines without being conscious. Further, according to the invention according to claim 6, it is possible to provide a method of managing a deadline of a received mail which can reliably perform a response deadline management with a simple configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mail expiration date management device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the contents of program processing executed when a response time limit is edited by a control circuit according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of transmitting a notification e-mail to a transmission side when a response time limit is edited by a control circuit according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mail expiration date management device according to a second embodiment of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing of a program for creating a reception record file 220b performed by a control circuit 215 according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing of a program for creating a transmission result file 220c performed by the control circuit 215 according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by the control circuit according to the embodiment to notify a screen when a response mail is not transmitted even after a response time limit expires.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a reception record file 220b according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a transmission result file 220c according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a notification mail according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional mail expiration date management device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 100 mail expiration date management device 105 transmission / reception interface 110 bus line 115 control circuit 120 storage device 125 display circuit 130 display 135 input device 140 input interface

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A mail sending / receiving unit for sending / receiving mail, a mail managing unit for managing mail to be sent / received, a storage unit for storing received mail and storing a history of sent mail, and a mail managing unit for storing received mail. Response time editing means for reading from the storage unit via the storage unit and editing the response time limit of the received mail; and a mail display unit for displaying the contents of the received mail and displaying the mail to be transmitted in editing the mail to be transmitted. An e-mail expiration date management device comprising: 2. The mail expiration date management device according to claim 1, wherein the mail management unit automatically transmits the edited contents to a transmission side of the mail whose response expiration time has been edited by the response expiration time editing means. An e-mail expiration date management device, characterized in that: 3. The mail expiration date management device according to claim 1, wherein the mail management unit stores the reception result of the mail having the response time limit and the transmission result of the mail having the response time limit. An e-mail expiration date management device comprising: an achievement creating means for creating; and the achievement creating means storing the achievement in the storage unit. 4. The mail expiration date management device according to claim 1, wherein the mail management unit periodically receives the mail having a response expiration date stored in the storage unit. A mail expiration date management device, which refers to the transmission result and the mail whose response time limit has expired and the mail whose response time limit has passed, and causes the mail display unit to display the mail. 5. The e-mail expiration date management device according to claim 1, wherein the e-mail display unit searches for e-mails stored in the storage unit in chronological order, and the e-mail expiration date is set to the shortest. An e-mail expiration date management device, wherein the e-mail expiration date is taken out in the order of the e-mail and the e-mail is displayed in the e-mail order with the earliest response time limit. 6. Edit the response deadline of the received mail,
In addition to automatically notifying the sender of the edited response time limit, creating a response result of the mail having the response time limit, storing the edited response time limit and the response result, and requesting the stored information. An e-mail expiration date management method characterized in that the e-mail is edited and displayed.