KR100462588B1 - Selective mail retrieval device and method using wireless communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses an apparatus and method for selective mail retrieval using a wireless communication device. The selective mail retrieval apparatus using the wireless communication device according to the present invention in a computer and a telephony integrated system that provides a mail service function that allows a user to retrieve or transmit a mail through a telephone, checks whether a new mail arrives and checks for new mail. When this arrives, the mail check unit outputs confirmation information for the new mail, and gives mail service information to the new mail according to the confirmation information, informs the user of the information through the registered wireless communication device, and inputs the information from the user. And a mail service manager for searching for a new mail corresponding to the received mail service information.

Description

Selective mail retrieval device and method using wireless communication device

The present invention relates to a communication service of a computer, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for selective mail retrieval using a wireless communication device in a computer and a telephony integrated system providing a mail service function.

Recently, computer communication systems provide various communication services to users through communication networks or dedicated communication lines. As a communication service, there is a mail service function for sending and receiving messages between computer users. The mail service function delivers a message by voice as well as text and video. Computer and Telephony Integration (CTI) systems in computer communication systems, in particular, provide a mail service function that allows a user to retrieve and send mail by voice from a telephone from outside.

1 is a flowchart for explaining a mail searching method using a general telephone.

First, the computer is accessed from the outside by telephone (step 100). That is, the user dials into the telephone number to which the computer is connected by modem through the telephone to access the computer. Here, the telephone may be any type of telephone that can be connected via a modem, for example, a telephone connected to a public telephone, a mobile phone, a general office telephone, a home telephone, a portable computer. Next, the computer is automatically turned on (step 102). When a connection signal comes in through a modem, the computer can be implemented to turn on automatically, for example, a computer having an ON-NOW function can be used. When the computer is turned on, the mail is newly received from the mail server connected through the LAN (step 104). Here, the received mail is stored in a predetermined mail storage section of the computer.

Next, the mail list to be read is searched (step 106). In other words, a mail list to be provided to the user is searched. In this case, the mail list corresponds to information of all mails which are not read by the user, including mail received just before and mail previously received. In this case, the mail information generally includes a sender, a received time, whether a file is attached, a type of mail (text, voice, etc.), a title of the mail, and the like. Finally, according to the user's mail listening request for the retrieved mail list, the mail selected by the user in the mail list is heard (step 108). The user listens to the searched mail list and selects the mail he / she wants to listen to. At this time, the user hears the above-mentioned information of the mail through, for example, a text-to-speech (TTS) conversion program. After listening to the mail list, the user selects the mail by voice or tone-call (button on the phone).

When the mail is spoken in step 108, the voice mail is read through the player, and in the case of the text mail, the mail is read to the user using a text-to-speech program. As described above, the conventional mail searching method using the telephone sequentially searches not only new mail but all unread mails stored in the mail list search. In other words, the user continues to search the mail list to be read until the user's desired mail is found. Therefore, the user spends a lot of time when he wants to search only new mail.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention, by using a wireless communication device to notify the user of the arrival of a new mail by using a wireless communication device, to reduce the time required to easily check the desired mail and search for a new mail An optional mail retrieval device is provided.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a selective mail retrieval method using a wireless communication device performed by the selective mail retrieval apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, a selective mail retrieval apparatus using a wireless communication device according to the present invention in a computer and a telephony integrated system that provides a mail service function that allows a user to retrieve or transmit a mail through a telephone, the arrival of a new mail Checking whether or not a new mail arrives, the mail checker outputs the confirmation information for the new mail, and gives the mail service information to the new mail according to the confirmation information, and sends the information to the user through the registered wireless communication device. And a mail service manager for searching for new mail corresponding to the mail service information input from the user.

In order to achieve the above another object, the selective mail retrieval method using the wireless communication device according to the present invention, (a) checking whether a new mail has arrived, (b) if a new mail arrives in step (a), Assigning a mail service number to the mail; (c) informing the user of the mail service number through a registered wireless communication device; and (d) entering a mail service number from the user to create a new mail corresponding to the mail service number. And a step of searching.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the configuration and operation of the selective mail retrieval apparatus using the wireless communication device according to the present invention and the method thereof will be described.

A telephone and computer integrated system will be described to aid in the understanding of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a telephone and computer integrated system to which the present invention is applied, and is composed of a telephone 200, a computer 202 having an on-now function, and a mail server 204.

2, a computer 202 having an on-now function is connected to an external telephone 200 through a modem and to a mail server 204 via a network card. When the user dials the telephone number from the outside, the user is connected to the computer 202 through the telephone 200. Computer 202 is turned on and connected to mail server 204 for retrieval and transmission of new mail. At this time, the computer has an on-now function which is always ready for fast booting even when the power is off.

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of the telephone and computer integration system shown in FIG. 2, showing telephone 302 and fax 304, computer 310 and LAN for computer communication coupled to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 300; And a mail server 354 connected to a (LAN) 352. Computer 310 is a fax modem 312 connected to telephone 302 and fax 304 via PSTN 300, a microphone / keyboard 314 illustrated as input, and a speaker / monitor 316 illustrated as output. Network adapter connected to the mail server 354 via a LAN 352 and a communication service provider 320 (in the present invention, DIALOG) for managing communication services between these computer peripherals and a communication network. It consists of 350. Here, the dialog 320 is composed of a modem interface 322, a local interface 324, an information storage database 326 and an application and voice related database 328.

Referring to FIG. 3, a relationship with a computer peripheral device and a location on a communication network of a system to which the present invention is applied may be known based on the dialog 320. The dialog 320 is an application program that is equipped with software capable of recognizing voice commands (C & C: command and control) in a personal computer and inputs a program by voice commands input through a telephone line or a microphone. The dialog 320 is a communication service that is more convenient for a user, for example, by allowing a user to perform commands commonly used in a personal computer and a user-defined command by using a voice input through a microphone in front of the computer or a remote telephone. Provide an environment. That is, the dialog 320 is connected to the telephone 302 and the fax 304 which are communication devices through the PSTN 300, and is an application program inside the computer connected to the mail server 354 through the LAN 352. Exists in the form of.

Looking at the configuration of the dialog 320, the modem interface 322 controls the fax modem 312 to send and receive input or output data and commands via the PSTN (300). The local interface 324 inputs data through a microphone / keyboard 314 connected as a computer peripheral and outputs the processed results through the speaker / monitor 316. That is, the modem interface 322 and the local interface 324 serve to connect various application programs executed in the dialog 320 to the outside. In addition to these interfaces, the dialog 320 manages a network adapter (LAN card) connecting to an external mail server 354 through the LAN 352. The information storage database 326 is used for retrieval and storage of data for processing in an application program. In addition, the dialog 320 has various voice related databases for processing voice commands and synthesizing voices. This will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

4 is a block diagram illustrating the dialog illustrated in FIG. 3 in detail, and includes a modem interface 422, a local interface 424, an application program 428, a text-to-speech (TTS) interface 442, and a speech synthesis engine. 444 and speech recognition module 446. Applications 428 include Personal Information Management System (PIMS) 432, mail 434, fax mailbox 436, and voice mailbox 438.

Referring to FIG. 4, the dialog frequently interacts with the user. This is divided into input and output on the system side and processing in the application program. First, when the input is described, data such as general command, voice command, tone-call (phone button), voice, and fax input by the user are input through the fax modem 412 or the microphone / keyboard 414. Modem interface 422 and local interface 424 are required to control the input and output of such devices. At this time, when data is input through the fax modem 422 (a telephone call or a fax comes), the computer recognizes this and turns on the available state. That is, according to the on-now function, the computer can process data input aperiodically through the fax modem 412.

The data thus input is processed by the speech recognition module 444 having a speech database when speech recognition is required according to the format of the data. The data passing through the interface is input to the application program, and in the case of the mail 434 in the application program, data about the mail is transmitted from the mail server through the network 450. There are a periodic method and a non-periodic method for accessing a mail server through the network 450 and obtaining mail. First, the periodic method is to turn on the computer at predetermined time by using the on-now function of the computer, access the mail server, and receive and store newly arrived mail. In this case, when there is a new mail, the user is notified through a wireless pager or the like, or notified periodically when the computer is turned on by the user. On the other hand, when the computer is turned on aperiodically by a user, a non-periodic method is to access a mail server as needed and retrieve and store newly arrived mail (generally, a method of searching a mail by turning on the computer locally via a telephone). Corresponding to).

The user stores the transmitted data (simple data and data about commands and mails) in the information storage database 426, and sends an output requesting new input to the user in non-periodic cases. do. There are three forms of output. First (1 in Fig. 4), the text is synthesized by voice in the output from the application program and is heard by the user. In this case, the speech is output using the speech synthesis engine 444 through the text-to-speech conversion (TTS) interface 442, which is an application program that speaks a text document to speech. Of course, as with the input, the modem interface 422 or the local interface 424 is controlled and output to the modem 412 and the speaker / monitor 416. Second (2 in FIG. 4), the case in which the TTS interface 442 is not passed through the above-described case. Third (3 in FIG. 4) is a case of sending mail through the network 450 in the case of mail transmission.

As mentioned above, the input and output of a dialog involves frequent interactions while these processes maintain a relationship between the user and other systems. Now, an apparatus and method according to the present invention for retrieving mail as an application program for mail in a dialog will be described.

5 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the selective mail retrieval apparatus according to the present invention, wherein the selective mail retrieval apparatus 510 includes a new mail checker 512, a mail storage unit 514, a mail service manager 516, and a mail. And a service information output unit 518 and a mail service information input unit 520.

Referring to FIG. 5, the selective mail retrieval apparatus according to the present invention uses a wireless communication device, preferably a wireless pager, in a computer and a telephony integrated system that provides a mail service function through which a user can retrieve or transmit mail through a telephone. The present invention relates to an apparatus for efficiently processing newly arrived mail.

Specifically, the new mail checker 512 periodically checks whether new mail has arrived through the mail server 500, and outputs confirmation information about the new mail when the new mail arrives. The mail server 500 stores mail received by the user, and is a part that actually provides an e-mail service. Mail information of all mail lists not read by the user is stored in the mail storage unit 514, including mail received just before through the mail server 500 and mail previously received. Here, the mail storage unit 514 corresponds to the information storage database in FIG. 3 or 4.

The mail service manager 516 knows that a new mail has arrived according to the confirmation information for the new mail input from the new mail checker 512, and assigns mail service information for the user to the new mail. Here, the mail service information includes a mail service number as a unique number for identifying a new mail. That is, the mail service manager 516 assigns a mail service number to newly arrived mail stored in the mail storage 514.

The mail service information output unit 518 outputs the mail service information provided by the mail service management unit 516 to a wireless pager owned by the user, that is, a wireless pager 502 registered for a mail service provided by a computer. At this time, the mail service information is transmitted to the pager 502 together with the telephone number connected to the modem of the computer used by the user. As such, when the service information for the new mail is transmitted to the pager 502, the user knows whether a new mail has arrived through the pager 502.

The user dials the telephone 504 from the outside and turns on the computer connected via the modem, and then inputs the mail service information received by the wireless pager 502 by voice or tone-call (telephone button). The mail service information input unit 520 inputs the mail service information at this time and delivers it to the mail service manager 516. The mail service manager 516 compares the input mail service information with previously stored mail service information. As a result of the comparison, if there is corresponding mail service information, the mail is read from the mail storage unit 514 and provided to the user.

That is, the mail service manager 516 checks only the mail service information for the new mail, so that the mail service manager 516 can search for other read mail lists (all mail lists unread by the user, including just received mail and previously received mail). no need. In addition, since the user does not need to search for a mail list to be read and receive information about the mail and select the mail list, the time required for searching the mail is greatly reduced.

6 is a flowchart for explaining a selective mail searching method according to the present invention.

First, it is checked whether a new mail has arrived (step 602). That is, by periodically checking whether new mail has arrived through the mail server, it is confirmed whether new mail has arrived. It is determined whether there is a new mail (step 604). If there is a new mail, a mail service number is assigned to the new mail as mail service information (step 606). If there is no new mail, the flow returns to step 602 to periodically check whether the new mail has arrived.

After step 606, the assigned mail service number is output to a registered pager, that is, a wireless pager that is connected to a modem of a computer and has a user (step 608). At this time, the user is called the mail service number with a telephone number accessible to the modem of the computer by the wireless pager. After operation 608, it is determined whether a predetermined number, that is, a mail service number that is called by the user by a wireless pager, is input to the telephone from the outside (operation 610).

If the predetermined number is not input, the process returns to step 610 to wait for the user to make a call and input the predetermined number. When the predetermined number is input, it is determined whether the input predetermined number is the mail service number given in step 606 (step 612). If the predetermined number is a mail service number, the user is notified of a mail corresponding to the mail service number (step 614). Here, the mail retrieval is shown to be terminated unless the mail service number is provided, which illustrates only one mail retrieval method.

As a result, when a predetermined number entered by the user is matched with a predetermined mail service number in step 610, the new mail corresponding to the mail service number without searching other mails, that is, without searching for unread previous mails is matched. Can only read.

As described above, the selective mail retrieval apparatus and method using the wireless communication device according to the present invention, by using a wireless communication device, preferably a pager to notify the user of the arrival of a new mail, the new mail desired by the user It is possible to easily check the mail service information of a wireless pager and reduce the time required to search for a new mail.

1 is a flowchart for explaining a mail searching method using a general telephone.

2 is a schematic block diagram of a telephone and computer integrated system to which the present invention is applied.

3 is a detailed block diagram of the telephone and computer integration system shown in FIG.

4 is a detailed block diagram of the inside of the system shown in FIG.

5 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the selective mail retrieval apparatus according to the present invention.

6 is a flowchart for explaining a selective mail searching method according to the present invention.

Claims (5)

In the selective mail retrieval device using a wireless communication device in a computer and a telephony integrated system that provides a mail service function that allows a user to retrieve or send mail over a telephone, A mail checker which checks whether a new mail arrives and outputs confirmation information regarding the new mail when a new mail arrives; And Mail for providing mail service information to the new mail according to the confirmation information, informing the user of the information through a registered wireless communication device, and searching for the new mail corresponding to the mail service information input from the user. Optional mail retrieval apparatus using a wireless communication device comprising a service management unit. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the selective mail retrieval device is A mail service information output unit for transmitting the mail service information input from the mail service manager to the wireless communication device owned by the user; A mail service information input unit which inputs the mail service information from the user through the telephone and transmits the mail service information to the mail service manager; And Further comprising a mail storage unit for storing the mail to which the mail service information is given, Selective mail retrieval apparatus using a wireless communication device, characterized in that the mail stored in the mail storage unit is read by the mail service management unit. The selective mail retrieval apparatus using the wireless communication device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mail service information includes a mail service number as a unique number for identifying a new mail. In the selective mail retrieval method using a wireless communication device in a computer and a telephony integrated system that provides a mail service function that allows a user to retrieve or send mail over a telephone, (a) checking whether a new mail has arrived; (b) when a new mail arrives in step (a), assigning a mail service number to the new mail; (c) informing the user of the mail service number through a registered wireless communication device; And and (d) searching for a new mail corresponding to the mail service number by inputting the mail service number from the user. The method of claim 4, wherein step (d) The mail service number input by the user is compared with the mail service number given in step (b), and a new mail corresponding to the mail service number is read without searching for other mails. Way.