JP2001127888A - Voice output mail system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a voice output mail system improved in operability in the case of verifying a user or designating mail contents. SOLUTION: Concerning the voice output mail system for providing the mail contents with audio signals to a terminal equipment, this system is provided with a mail storage means with stored mail, a reproducing preprocessing communication means for exchanging information for verifying the user or specifying the mail contents to be reproduced with text data through a first communication line between terminal equipments and a mail providing means for providing the mail contents, to which reproducing is requested, with audio signals through a second communication line different from the first communication line with respect to the terminal equipment. Besides, the terminal equipment displays out text data applied from the reproducing preprocessing communication means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a voice output mail system, and more particularly, to a voice mail system and an electronic mail system that performs voice output.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Communication systems centered on telephones provide a high level of service, but depending on the problem that it is difficult to secure contact with people who are talking or going out, or depending on messages and memos. There is a problem that it is unknown whether information is transmitted reliably, and a voice mail system is widely applied at present to solve such a problem.

[0003] In the voice mail system, the terminal device that can listen to the stored voice mail includes not only a wired telephone and a mobile phone but also an information processing device such as a personal computer having a telephone line access function. Call it).

When a user listens to a stored voice mail, the user first makes a call from a terminal device to a voice mail device (hereinafter referred to as a voice mail server).
Thereafter, in accordance with the guidance message from the voice mail server, the terminal device provides the voice mail server with information for user authentication such as a user number and a password, and causes the voice mail server to perform user authentication. After authenticating the user, the voice mail server sends the information of the reproducible mail to the terminal device, and the user selects one or more mails to be heard from one or more mails displayed on the terminal device. And in response, the voicemail server
The corresponding voice mail content will be read aloud.

As described above, in the conventional boil-mail system, in order to listen to the boil-mail contents, it is necessary to perform key input operations such as an operation of inputting information for user authentication and an operation of selecting the contents of voice mail to be read. Has become. For such an operation, a guidance message or the like given from the voice mail server to the terminal device is also given as a voice signal and sounded and output in consideration of the fact that the terminal device is a wired telephone or a mobile phone.

[0006]

As described above, the terminal device of the voice mail system can be a portable telephone, a wired telephone, or a personal computer. When the terminal device is a personal computer, the speaker has a large output, and it is not necessary to bring the ear close to the speaker to hear the sound. On the other hand, when the terminal device is a mobile phone or a wired phone (especially a cordless phone with a button), the speaker has a small output, and it is necessary to bring the ear close to the speaker to hear the sound.

In such a terminal device having a small output speaker, the user places the terminal device near his / her ear when listening to a voice prompting an operation such as a guidance message. It is necessary to position the device at a position where the operation keys (so-called push buttons) can be seen and operated.

That is, in the conventional voice mail system, when the position of the terminal device is frequently changed and the usability in operation is poor, or when the position of the terminal device needs to be changed and the position change is delayed. There is a problem that the voice prompting the operation may be missed.

Problems related to such an operation occur not only in the case of listening to mail contents, but also in the case of, for example, deleting mail contents stored in a voice mail server.

The above-mentioned problem occurs not only in a voice mail system but also in a voice output electronic mail system.

Therefore, there is a demand for a voice output mail system that has good operability when performing user authentication and specifying mail contents.

[0012]

According to the present invention, there is provided a voice output mail system for providing a mail content to a terminal device by a voice signal. (2) Information exchange for user authentication and information exchange for defining the contents of the mail to be reproduced are performed by text data via the first communication line between the means and (2) the terminal device. Pre-playback communication means and (3) mail providing means for providing, to the terminal device, an e-mail content requested to be reproduced by a voice signal through a second communication line different from the first communication line. And (4) the terminal device displays and outputs the text data provided by the pre-playback communication means.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (A) First Embodiment A first embodiment in which a voice output mail system according to the present invention is applied to a voice mail system in which a terminal device is a digital mobile phone having an Internet browser function. The form will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(A-1-1) Configuration of the First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the voice mail system of the first embodiment.

In FIG. 1, a voice mail system 1 according to a first embodiment includes a digital mobile phone (hereinafter, simply referred to as a mobile phone) 2 and a WWW (World Wide Wed).
b) Server 3, Boyle Mail Server 4 and CTI (Co
mputer and Telephony Inte
(gration) server 5. As described above, the mobile phone 2 according to the first embodiment has an Internet browser function, and is connectable to the WWW server 3 via the Internet network 6.

The mobile phone 2 can be connected to the CTI server 5 via the public telephone network 7. WWW
The server 3 and the boy mail server 4 and the WWW server 3 and the CTI server 5 are connected via a dedicated line or a cable without performing a line connection operation.

In practice, the mobile telephone 2 is housed in a base station and connected to the Internet 5 or the public telephone network 6 via a mobile communication network or a data communication management center. In the first embodiment, the mobile phone 2
Since there is no feature in the network components interposed in connection with the Internet network 5 or the public telephone network 6, they are shown as shown in FIG.

The mobile phone 2 has an Internet browser function and performs digital communication, and an existing one can be applied. For example, a mobile phone compatible with i-mode by NTT DoCoMo, Inc. is applicable as the mobile phone 2 of the first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the mobile phone 2 according to the first embodiment.

In FIG. 2, a mobile phone 2 includes a microphone 10, a speaker 11, a voice processing unit 12, a key operation unit 13, a display unit 14, a data processing / control unit 15, and a storage unit 1.
6, a wireless processing unit 17 and a transmitting / receiving antenna 18 are provided.

The microphone 10 captures a voice generated by the user (in this specification, the term “voice” is a concept including “sound” as appropriate), converts the voice into an electric signal, and converts the voice into an audio signal. The speaker 11
Is for sounding and outputting the audio signal provided from the audio processing unit 12. The audio processing unit 12 includes the microphone 1
The audio signal from 0 (analog signal) is converted into a digital audio signal and supplied to the data processing / control unit 15, or the digital audio signal from the data processing / control unit 15 is converted into an analog audio signal and supplied to the speaker 11. Things.

In the first embodiment, as will be described later, the voice mail content is output as a sound from the speaker 11, but information relating to an operation such as a guidance message for extracting the voice mail content is transmitted from the speaker 11. 11
The pronunciation is output from the content.

The key operation section 13 has various operation keys, accepts an input operation by a user, and gives operated key information to the data processing / control section 15. The user performs, for example, an operation of inputting information for user authentication, which is a prerequisite process when listening to the contents of the voice mail, and an operation of selecting the contents of the voice mail to be heard from the key operation unit 13.

The display unit 14 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays the state of the mobile phone 2 under the control of the data processing / control unit 15, covers a screen for input by a user, and the like. Is what you do. For example, a browser screen is displayed on the display unit 14 when accessing the Internet. In the case of the first embodiment, the browser screen of the display unit 14 displays, for example, a guidance message for requesting an input operation of user authentication information required for listening to the voice mail content, and a voice mail content to be heard. A selection menu is also displayed.

The data processing / control section 15 controls the entire mobile phone 2 and performs data processing as appropriate. The storage unit 16 stores programs, fixed data, and the like necessary for the data processing / control unit 15 to perform processing. Since the mobile phone 2 according to the first embodiment has an Internet browser function, the storage unit 16 is also provided with a storage unit 16a for programs and fixed data corresponding to the browser function.

The mobile phone 2 of the first embodiment supports not only voice communication but also so-called data communication (data here does not include voice data). Data communication includes communication via the Internet network 5.

The data processing / control unit 15 mediates the transmission and reception of a voice signal between the voice processing unit 12 and the wireless processing unit 17 when performing voice communication, and performs
It mediates transmission and reception of audio signals between the key operation unit 13 and the display unit 14 and the wireless processing unit 17. In the case of the first embodiment, packet communication is performed on the wireless line between the mobile phone 2 and the base station, and the data processing / control unit 15 also has a packet disassembly and assembly function. For example, at the time of reception, based on the type information of the received packet, it is recognized whether the communication is voice communication or data communication, and the received data is distributed to the voice processing unit 12 or the display unit 14 (the received data is stored in the storage unit 16). I sometimes remember).

Here, even when the data processing / control unit 15 is in a connection state with the Internet network 6, at least during the period when the actual data communication with the Internet network 6 is not performed, the data processing / control unit 15 performs at least the voice data reception processing. You can do it. For example, a mobile phone compatible with i-mode by NTT DoCoMo, Inc. has such a receiving function.

The radio processing unit 17 includes the data processing / control unit 1
5 is transmitted to the transmitting / receiving antenna 18 by converting the transmitting data (speech data or packet data relating to simple data) from the transmitting data from the transmitting / receiving antenna 5 or the receiving data transmitted from the transmitting / receiving antenna 18 by the base station. (Speech data or packet data relating to simple data) to be given to the data processing / control unit 15.

The transmission / reception antenna 18 radiates a transmission radio signal from the radio processing unit 17 into space, captures a radio wave transmitted from a base station, and converts the radio wave into a reception radio signal.
7 or the like.

The WWW server 3 basically has a function of providing the mobile phone 2 with a home page related to the voice mail system. WWW server 3
Is configured by a computer device, and can be represented by a functional block diagram in FIG. Note that W
Two or more of the WW server 3, the boy mail server 4, and the CTI server 5 may be configured by the same computer device. Further, the WWW server 3 may also have a function of providing a homepage other than the homepage related to the voice mail system (in the following description of the first embodiment, basically, the We will not mention the function of providing a homepage other than the homepage).

In FIG. 3, the WWW server 3 has an Internet network I / F unit 20, a voice mail server I / F unit 21, a CTI server I / F unit 22, a control unit 23, and a storage unit 24.

Internet network I / F 20, voice mail server I / F 21, and CTI server I / F 22
Respectively have an interface function with the Internet network 6, the voice mail server 4, and the CTI server 5.

The control unit 23 controls the entire WWW server 3 and performs data processing as appropriate. The storage unit 24 stores programs, fixed data, and the like necessary for the control unit 23 to perform processing. The information stored in the storage unit 24 includes user management information 2
4a, a homepage creation program for creating a homepage according to the processing stage, and fixed data 24b.

The control unit 23 provides the mobile phone 2 with home page information (hereinafter, simply referred to as a home page; described in, for example, an HTML language) relating to the voice mail system or the home page (a browser). (Screen) on the mobile phone 2 side. The control unit 23 performs, for example, a user authentication process and recognizes a voice mail content to be read out (reproduced) based on information provided from the mobile phone 2 side.

For user authentication, the user management information 24a in the storage unit 24 is used. FIG. 4 shows the user management information 2
It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of 4a.

The user management information 24a includes a user number assigned to each user of the voice mail system 1 and a password (personal identification number) arbitrarily set by the user.
And the telephone number of the mobile phone 2 possessed by the user. For example, a user number and a password are used for user authentication. The telephone number is used when reproducing and outputting the selected voice mail content, as described later.

The control unit 23 specifies the user and retrieves the voice mail storage management information from the voice mail server 4 and retrieves the voice mail contents that are required to be read aloud. .

Further, the control unit 23 gives the voice mail contents extracted from the voice mail server 4 to the CTI server 5 together with the telephone number of the user relating to the contents, and sends the voice mail contents to the public telephone network 7. Is requested to be output.

The voice mail server 4 basically has a function of storing voice mail contents. The voice mail server 4 is also constituted by a computer device, but can be represented by a functional block diagram shown in FIG. FIG. 5 shows the voice mail contents from the reproduction side (speech side), which is a feature of the first embodiment, and is not always sufficiently expressed from the voice mail contents storage side. .

In FIG. 5, the voice mail server 4
WWW server I / F unit 30, voice mail storage unit 31,
The storage management information storage unit 32, the audio codec unit 33, the control unit 34, and the storage unit 35 are provided.

The WWW server I / F 30 has an interface function with the WWW server 3.

The voice mail storage section 31 is a storage section for storing voice mail contents, and the storage management information storage section 32 stores management information of voice mail contents stored in the voice mail storage section 31. Is what it is.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the configuration of the storage management information stored in the storage management information storage unit 32.
The storage management information stores and organizes the management information of the stored voice mail contents for each user number, and each management information includes source information of the voice mail contents (for example, name information and name information). Or the telephone number), the storage date and time, the address information stored in the voice mail storage unit 31, the amount of information of the voice mail content, and unread information indicating whether or not the voice mail content has already been read out.

Under the control of the control unit 34, the voice codec unit 33 compresses the digital voice signal when storing the digital voice signal in the voice mail storage unit 31, and reproduces the digital voice signal when the digital voice signal is reproduced from the voice mail storage unit 31. It expands audio data. Note that the digital audio signal may be directly stored in the voice mail storage unit 31. In this case, the audio codec unit 33 is omitted.

The control unit 34 controls the voice mail server 4
And performs data processing as appropriate. The storage unit 35 stores programs, fixed data, and the like necessary for the control unit 34 to perform processing. Note that the voice mail storage unit 31 and the storage management information storage unit 32 are also storage units. In FIG. 5, the storage unit of information other than those stored in these storage units is represented by the storage unit 35.

The control unit 34 includes a WWW server I / F unit 30
When the user number is specified from the WWW server 3 and the storage management information is obtained via the WWW server 3, the corresponding storage management information is taken out from the storage management information storage unit 32 and the WWW is stored.
The data is transferred to the WWW server 3 via the server I / F unit 30. Further, when a read-out (reproduction) of a predetermined voice mail content is requested via the WWW server I / F unit 30, the control unit 34 causes the voice mail storage unit 31 to output the corresponding content, and the voice codec unit 33, and takes in the decompressed digital audio signal from WWW server I / F unit 3
0 to the WWW server 3. At this time, if the system also provides the user with information such as the source of the stored information and the storage date and time, the information is also extracted from the storage management information storage unit 32 and given to the WWW server 3.

In FIG. 5, the voice mail server 4 has the storage management information storage unit 32.
The W server 3 may be provided with the storage management information storage unit 32, and the voice mail server 4 and the WWW server 3 may both have the same storage management information storage unit 32.

The CTI server 5 basically has a function of sending voice mail contents to the public telephone network 7. The CTI server 5 is also configured by a computer device, but can be represented by a functional block diagram in FIG.

In FIG. 7, the CTI server 5 is
It has a server I / F unit 40, a public telephone network I / F unit 41, a text / voice conversion unit 42, a control unit 43, and a storage unit 44.

The WWW server I / F section 40 and the public telephone network I / F section 41 have an interface function with the WWW server 3 and the public telephone network 7, respectively.

The text / voice conversion unit 42 includes a control unit 43
Under the control of, text data such as information on the source of storage information and storage date and time is converted into audio data.

The control section 43 controls the entire CTI server 5 and performs data processing as appropriate. The storage unit 44 stores programs, fixed data, and the like necessary for the control unit 43 to perform processing. When a voice mail content (management information and voice mail content main body) accompanied by a mobile phone number is given via the WWW server I / F unit 40, the control unit 43 transmits the voice mail content via the public telephone network I / F unit 41. After performing connection processing with the public telephone network 7 through the public telephone network 7, the control information is sent to the public telephone network 7 via the public telephone network I / F unit 41 in the order of the voiced signal of the management information and the voice mail content itself. It is to let.

(A-2) Operation of First Embodiment Next, the operation of the voice mail system 1 when the user listens to the voice mail contents stored in the voice mail server 4 will be described with reference to the drawings. explain.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram when the user listens to the contents of the voice mail in the voice mail system 1 of the first embodiment.

When the user wants to listen to the contents of the voice mail addressed to himself / herself, the user inputs the Internet address assigned to the WWW server 3 to the mobile phone 2 or inputs the Internet address on the browser screen. The mobile phone 2 is connected to the WWW server 3 via the Internet network 6 by selecting a link destination item having the Internet address assigned to the WWW server 3 as a link destination (step 50).

Although the first embodiment considers that the WWW server 3 supports only the voice mail system 1, it is assumed that the WWW server 3 is not only a voice mail system 1 but also an electronic mail system. Mail system and fax
If it is compatible with a mail system or the like, in the process of step 50, a connection process defining the voice mail system 1 is also performed. For example, from a menu screen that specifies a voice mail system, an e-mail system, and a fax mail system, a connection process with the Internet network 6 that specifies the voice mail system is performed.

The WWW server 3 assembles home page information for user authentication and sends it to the mobile phone 2 via the Internet network 6, and the mobile phone 2 displays a browser screen corresponding to the home page content (step 51). ).

The user sends information necessary for user authentication from the mobile phone 2 to the WWW server 3 via the Internet network 6 in accordance with the displayed contents (step 52). At this time, a user number or a password may be input using the key operation unit 13. In addition, when displaying the browser screen of the homepage for requesting user authentication in step 51 described above, a user number and a password are displayed together, and the user operates the key operation unit 1.
3 may be used to instruct only transmission.

The WWW server 3 to which the user authentication information is given performs user authentication using the user management information 24a, and then transfers the storage management information relating to the user number of the authenticated user to the voice mail server. 4 (step 53), the voice mail server 4 gives the corresponding storage management information to the WWW server 3 (step 54).

FIG. 8 shows a case where the user has been correctly authenticated.
The server 3 sends the home page information including the fact that the user could not be authenticated and the transmission of the user authentication information again to the mobile phone 2 via the Internet network 6.

The WWW server 3 to which the storage management information relating to the current user is given, assembles home page information for requesting selection of voice mail content to be reproduced (read out) and sends it to the mobile phone 2 via the Internet network 6. And
The mobile phone 2 displays a browser screen corresponding to the contents of the homepage (step 55).

The display screen for selection at this time may be a hierarchical display screen. For example, in the display of the upper hierarchy, “unread reproduction” for requesting reproduction of all unread voice mail contents, “unread list” for obtaining list information of unread voice mail contents, and accumulating irrespective of unread and read "List of all" requesting list information of voicemail contents
Is displayed, and when "unread list" or "all list" is selected, the display shifts to a lower hierarchical level, and the storage management information belonging to the selected list is displayed on the menu and reproduced. May be selected. According to such a menu display, the selection designation operation becomes simple.

When the user performs the operation of selecting the voice mail content to be reproduced, the cellular phone 2 sends information specifying the voice mail content to be reproduced to the WWW server 3 via the Internet network 6 (step). 56), WWW
The server 3 fetches the corresponding voice mail content from the voice mail server 4 (steps 57 and 58). In addition,
At the time of this retrieval, the voice mail server 4
The storage management information that has been set as unread until now is rewritten as read.

FIG. 8 shows a sequence in the case of reproducing voice mail contents. When the selection screen of the voice mail contents to be reproduced is displayed on the mobile phone 2, the user operates the voice mail server. The voice mail contents to be deleted can be specified from the voice mail server 4. When the voice mail contents are specified, the information is given to the WWW server 3 via the Internet network 6 and under the control of the WWW server 3. Will be erased.

WWW server 3 to which voice mail contents (including some management information) are given from voice mail server 4
Adds the telephone number of the mobile phone 2 to the contents of the voice mail and gives it to the CTI server 5 (step 59).

The CTI server 5 performs a connection process (outgoing process) with the mobile phone 2 via the public telephone network 7 based on the given telephone number (step 60). And the like, and the voice mail content itself is also output as voice (step 61).
As a result, in the mobile phone 2, the voice mail content is output as sound.

As described above, the mobile phone 2 according to the first embodiment is connected to the Internet
When communication via the Internet network 6 is not actually performed, voice communication is possible, and the voice mail content can be output as described above.

(A-3) Effects of the First Embodiment According to the voice mail system of the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

Since information for requesting user authentication and selecting voice mail content to be reproduced is displayed on the mobile phone 2, the user can surely recognize the information.
In other words, when providing such information by voice, there is a risk of overlooking it, but such a situation can be prevented.

The user can input and specify information for user authentication and information for specifying the content of the voice mail to be reproduced while viewing the display of the relevant home page. There is no need to change, and the input operation is simplified.

(B) Second Embodiment A second embodiment in which a voice output mail system according to the present invention is applied to a voice mail system in which a terminal device is a digital mobile phone having an Internet browser function will be described below. This will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 9 shows the overall configuration of the voice mail system according to the second embodiment. The same and corresponding parts as those in FIG. 1 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. Is shown.

As is clear from the comparison between FIG. 9 and FIG.
In the voice mail system 1A of the second embodiment, a voice mail server and a CTI server are not separately provided, and the voice mail server 4A also has a CTI function (a function of a computer accessing a telephone line). Things.

Since the voice mail server 4A with the CTI function is applied, in the case of the second embodiment,
The sequence when the user listens to the voice mail content is as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 10, the sequence from the portable telephone 2 to the WWW server 3A through the Internet network 6 to give the selection information of the voice mail contents to be reproduced is the same as that of the first embodiment, and thereafter. Is different from that of the first embodiment.

The WWW server 3A to which the information defining the voice mail content to be reproduced is given,
In addition to the telephone number of the mobile phone 2, the voice mail server 4
A is given to A (step 62).

The voice mail server 4A performs connection processing (calling processing) with the mobile phone 2 via the public telephone network 7 based on the given telephone number (step 63). The management information such as the date and time is output by voice, and the voice mail content body is also output by voice (step 64). As a result, in the mobile phone 2, the voice mail content is output as sound.

The same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained by the voice mail system of the second embodiment.

(C) Other Embodiments In the above embodiments, the present invention is applied to a voice mail system. However, an electronic mail system in which an electronic mail is converted into a voice signal on a server side and output is also provided. The present invention can be applied. That is, if the network (line) for transmitting the voice mail is different from the network (line) for transmitting and receiving information for user authentication and mail selection, the applicable object is a voice mail system. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

In the description of each of the above embodiments,
Although the type of the stored mail is described as one type, a mail system that can handle two or more mails such as voice mail, electronic mail, and fax mail may be used. The present invention can be applied to at least some mail types as long as they are output as audio signals.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, even when the portable telephone 2 is connected to the Internet network 6 and voice communication is possible when communication via the Internet network 6 is not actually performed. As shown in the figure, in the connection state with the Internet network 6 side, the Internet network 6
The present invention can be applied to a mobile phone that cannot perform voice communication even if communication via the communication is not actually performed. For example, after the mobile phone sends the prescribed information of the voice mail content to be reproduced to the Internet network 6 side,
The connection with the terminal may be disconnected to prepare for an incoming voice signal.

Further, in each of the above embodiments,
Although the terminal device is a mobile phone, the terminal device may be a wired phone or another device having both a voice communication function and a character information communication function.

In each of the above embodiments, the communication network (line) that is used for transmitting and receiving information such as user authentication and mail selection is the Internet network, and the communication network that is used for transmitting and receiving mail as voice signals. Although (line) is a public telephone network, the present invention is not limited to this. The point is that the first communication line for interchanging information such as user authentication and mail selection should be different from the second communication line for interchanging mail as voice signals. For example, if the terminal device is compatible with ISDN, each of the two B channels of the ISDN line can be used as the first and second communication lines.

[0085]

As described above, according to the voice output mail system according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the operability at the time of performing user authentication and designating mail contents.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a voice mail system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the mobile phone according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a WWW server according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of user management information in a WWW server according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a voice mail server according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of storage management information in a voice mail server according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a CTI server according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram when the user listens to the voice mail content in the voice mail system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a voice mail system according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram when a user listens to voice mail contents in the voice mail system according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1A: Voice mail system, 2: Digital mobile phone, 3: WWW server, 4: Voice mail server, 5:
CTI server, 6: Internet network, 7: Public telephone network.

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) H04L 12/54 H04M 11/08 5K101 12/58 H04B 7/26 Q H04M 3/42 109H H04L 11/20 101B 11/08 F-term (reference) 5B089 GA11 GA21 GA25 GA26 GB04 HA10 HA11 JA31 JB22 KA03 KC58 LB13 5K015 AA00 AB00 AB01 AF01 AF06 AF08 AF09 GA00 GA02 GA04 GA07 5K024 AA72 BB00 BB05 CC11 DD01 DD02 EE01 EE04 EE06 GG03 GG03 GG06 GG06 GG03 GG03 GG03 GG03 GG03 HB01 HC02 HC09 JT01 JT09 LB05 5K067 AA21 AA34 BB04 BB21 DD51 EE02 FF02 FF23 GG01 HH05 HH21 HH23 HH24 5K101 KK05 LL00 LL01 LL11 MM07 NN02 NN03 NN13 NN18 PP04 TT04 QQ09

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A voice output mail system for providing a mail content to a terminal device by a voice signal, wherein information for user authentication is exchanged between a mail storage means storing mail and the terminal device. And a pre-reproduction communication means for transmitting and receiving information for defining the contents of the mail to be reproduced through text data via the first communication line; and transmitting the mail contents requested to be reproduced to the terminal device. A mail providing means for providing a voice signal through a second communication line different from the first communication line, and the terminal device displays and outputs text data given from the reproduction pre-processing communication means; A voice output mail system, characterized in that: 2. The voice output mail system according to claim 1, wherein said first communication line is an Internet network.