JP2002190881A - Method and system for charging of internet facsimile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and a system for charging Internet facsimile communication that imposes charging on a user in the case of faxing information received by electronic mail so as to relieve the load on a party installing an Internet facsimile terminal and easily manage the charging. SOLUTION: In the case of transferring information attached to electronic mail received by the Internet facsimile terminal 4 through facsimile communication, a charging server 1 identifies a sender of the electronic mail and imposes charging on the identified sender.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an Internet fax charging method and apparatus, and more particularly, to an Internet fax which charges a user for a communication fee required for transferring information received by electronic mail as fax information. A charging method and apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the rapid expansion of the Internet, Internet fax apparatuses have come to be seen from the viewpoint of reducing communication costs.

[0003] Among the functions of the Internet fax machine, there is a function of facsimile transferring a document such as an electronic mail received from the Internet.

This function enables data that is originally suitable for facsimile communication to be communicated over the Internet. According to this function, (1) FAX and e-mail can be centrally processed, (2) significant It is possible to realize an economical and efficient system network, for example, by reducing the communication cost.

[0005]

In the above-described Internet facsimile apparatus, an e-mail is transmitted to a predetermined e-mail address, so that information attached to the e-mail is facsimile-transmitted to a facsimile apparatus having a designated telephone number. It is possible.

[0006] For this reason, while anyone can easily perform facsimile transmission, there has been a problem that various charges including communication charges required for facsimile transmission are applied to the Internet fax machine installer.

Therefore, the present invention charges a user when facsimile transmitting information received by e-mail, reduces the burden on the installer of the Internet facsimile apparatus, and facilitates its management. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for charging an Internet fax.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is an Internet fax which is connected to both the Internet and a telephone line, and transmits information attached to electronic mail by fax. Is characterized in that the sender is charged based on the sender information of the received e-mail.

A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the present invention, the sender information is an electronic mail address of the sender described in header information of the electronic mail.

A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the present invention, the sender information is a digital signature attached to the electronic mail.

[0011] Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, charging is performed based on transfer path information described in header information of the electronic mail.

Further, the invention of claim 5 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the billing amount is determined based on a communication fee required for fax transmission.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the billing amount is determined based on a telephone number of a destination to which a fax is transmitted.

[0014] The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, the billing amount is determined based on transmission conditions at the time of fax transmission.

The invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, the billing amount is determined based on the size of information attached to the electronic mail.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the billing amount is determined based on a type of information attached to the electronic mail.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an Internet facsimile billing method in which image information obtained by reading a document is attached to an e-mail and transmitted at least, the user information being read before the document is read. Is input, and billing is performed based on the user information input in response to the request.

[0018] According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the tenth aspect of the present invention, the billing amount is determined based on a reading condition of the original.

[0021] In a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the tenth aspect, the billing amount is determined based on the size of the image information.

The invention according to claim 13 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 10, the billing amount is determined based on a destination of the electronic mail.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an Internet facsimile billing apparatus connected to both the Internet and a telephone line for facsimile transmitting information attached to an e-mail. Sender information acquisition means for acquiring, and a billing amount calculation means for calculating a billing amount for the sender determined based on the sender information acquired by the sender information acquisition stage,
A charge amount recording means for accumulating and recording the charge amount calculated by the charge amount calculation means.

According to a fifteenth aspect, in the fourteenth aspect, the sender information acquiring means acquires the sender's e-mail address described in header information of the e-mail as the sender information. Features.

The invention of claim 16 is the invention of claim 14, wherein the sender information acquiring means acquires a digital signature attached to the electronic mail as the sender information.

According to a seventeenth aspect, in the fourteenth aspect, the billing amount calculating means calculates the billing amount based on transfer path information described in header information of the electronic mail. Features.

The invention of claim 18 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 14, the billing amount calculating means calculates the billing amount based on a communication fee required for fax transmission.

A nineteenth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the fourteenth aspect, the billing amount calculating means calculates the billing amount based on a telephone number of a destination to which a fax is transmitted.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the fourteenth aspect, the billing amount calculating means calculates the billing amount based on transmission conditions at the time of fax transmission.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the fourteenth aspect, the charge amount calculating means calculates the charge amount based on the size of information attached to the electronic mail. I do.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the charge amount calculating means calculates the charge amount based on a type of information attached to the electronic mail. .

According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, in an Internet facsimile billing apparatus connected to at least the Internet and transmitting image information obtained by reading a document attached to an electronic mail, the user information is read before the document is read. User information input means for requesting the user input and accepting user information input in response to the request, and a charge amount calculation for calculating a charge amount for the user specified based on the user information received by the user information input means Means, and a charge amount recording means for accumulating and recording the charge amount calculated by the charge amount calculation means.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-third aspect of the present invention, the billing amount calculating means determines the billing amount based on a reading condition of the document.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-third aspect of the present invention, the charge amount calculating means determines the charge amount based on the size of the image information.

According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-third aspect of the present invention, the charge amount calculating means determines the charge amount based on a destination of the electronic mail.

[0034]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an Internet fax charging method and apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an Internet fax charging system to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, this billing system includes a billing server 1, a billing DB (database) 2, a mail server 3, an Internet FAX 4, and a GW (gateway) 5.
And each unit is connected via a LAN 6.

The billing server 1 has an Internet FAX 4
The charging DB 2 records various information used by the charging server 1. The mail server 3 performs transmission and reception of electronic mail, and the Internet FAX 4 performs transmission and reception and transfer of various information using electronic mail and a telephone line. GW5 is another LAN
Or mediate a connection to the Internet. When directly connected to the Internet, it has a function as a firewall.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the Internet FAX 4. As shown in FIG. 1, the Internet FAX 4 includes a CPU 11, a RAM 12, an operation display device 13, a reading device 14, a printing device 15, and an image processing device 1.
6, image storage device 17, system control unit 18, communication control unit 19, modem 20, line switching device 21, network control device 22, network control unit 23, network I / F
(Interface) 24 and a system bus 25.

The CPU 11 performs various control processes for the Internet FAX 4 as a whole.
Used as a work area for the PU 11.

The control processing program executed by the CPU 11 and various data necessary for executing the control processing program are stored in the system control unit 18.

The operation display device 13 is an Internet FA
It is for operating the X4, and includes various operation keys and various display devices. The reading device 14 is for reading a transmission original image at a predetermined resolution, and the printing device 15 is for recording and outputting an image at a predetermined resolution.

The image processing device 16 encodes and compresses the image signal, and decodes and expands the encoded and compressed image information into the original image signal. In addition, it also performs processing such as expansion of a document attached to the e-mail.

The image storage device 17 stores a large number of image data, documents attached to electronic mails, and the like. Communication control unit 1
Reference numeral 9 denotes a unit for controlling communication suitable for the public switched telephone network, and the network control unit 23 is a unit for controlling communication connected to the network.

The modem 20 has a low-speed mode function and a high-speed mode function so as to be compatible with various transmission speeds. The network I / F 24 is an interface for connecting to the LAN 6. The line switching control device 21 connects a plurality of external line interfaces and a plurality of internal communication circuits.

Each component is connected to the system bus 25, and data is exchanged between these components mainly through the system bus 25.

Here, the operation in the case where the information attached to the electronic mail received by the Internet FAX 4 is transmitted by facsimile will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation in the case where the information attached to the electronic mail received by the Internet FAX 4 is transmitted by facsimile.

The Internet FAX 4 accesses the mail server 3 and checks whether or not there is an e-mail addressed to itself (NO in Steps 101 and 102).

Here, if there is an e-mail addressed to the own device (YES in step 102), information on the e-mail is transmitted to the accounting server 1 (step 103). Then, when the facsimile transfer of the information attached to the electronic mail is permitted by the charging server 1 (step 10).
Then, the attached information is transferred as facsimile information to the transfer destination designated by the electronic mail (step 105).

When the facsimile transfer is completed (YES in step 106), the communication end is transmitted to the accounting server 1 as a communication end notification (step 107). This communication end notification includes the communication charge amount required for facsimile transfer.

On the other hand, if the facsimile transfer is not permitted by the charging server 1 (N in step 104)
O), an error mail for notifying an error is transmitted to the transmission source of the electronic mail (step 108). It is not always necessary to transmit the error mail, and the electronic mail may be ignored.

Next, the operation of the accounting server 1 when the information attached to the electronic mail received by the Internet FAX 4 is transferred by facsimile will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation flow of the charging server 1 when the information attached to the e-mail received by the Internet FAX 4 is transferred by facsimile.

The billing server 1 has an Internet FAX 4
(Step 201, the received mail information is the one transmitted in step 103), the sender is identified based on the mail information. And
If the sender is a registered sender (step 20)
2 is YES), the Internet FAX 4 is notified of the transfer permission (step 203), and the Internet FAX 4 is notified.
Wait for a communication end notification from X4 (N in step 204)
O).

When there is a communication end notification from the Internet FAX 4 (YES in step 204), the charge amount for the transfer is calculated (step 205), and the calculated charge amount is recorded in the charge DB2.

On the other hand, if the sender specified based on the mail information received from Internet FAX 4 is not a registered sender (NO in step 202),
The Internet FAX 4 is notified that the transfer is not permitted (step 207), and the process ends.

Here, a supplementary explanation will be given of the determination as to whether or not transfer is possible by the charging server 1 and the method of calculating the charging amount. First, in the determination of whether or not the transfer is possible, the sender is specified with reference to the sender information (From) described in the header of the mail as the sender information. However, since the sender information described in the header is not reliable (possibly spoofing), the transfer path information (R
received or a digital signature attached to an e-mail. For example, if it is determined based on the transfer route information that the source of the e-mail is reliable (e-mail in an intranet, e-mail from a mobile phone, etc.), the sender is identified based on the sender information. However, in the case of other e-mails, the sender is identified based on the digital signature, and for those without a digital signature, the sender is treated in the same way as in the case of unspecified, and facsimile transmission is not performed. Permitted.

In addition to the calculation of the billing amount, in addition to the calculation based on the communication charge amount included in the communication end notification from the Internet FAX 4, the telephone number of the transfer destination performing facsimile transfer based on the mail information received earlier The calculation may be performed based on the size or type of the number or the attached information, or may be calculated by combining various types of information. The charge amount may be calculated by a different method for each sender.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a recording example of a billing DB in which the billing server 1 records information to be referred to when the sender is specified and a billing amount.

By the way, as described above, when the information attached to the received e-mail is transferred, charging is performed.
Same type of Internet FA from Internet FAX4
When the electronic mail is transmitted to X, the Internet FAX 4 is charged as the sender.

Therefore, it is conceivable that even if the fee for transmitting the electronic mail itself is low, a large fee is generated as a result.

For this reason, in the Internet FAX 4, even when a document is scanned and transmitted by e-mail, the user is charged.

Here, the operation when the information scanned by the Internet FAX 4 is attached to an electronic mail and transmitted will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when the information scanned by the Internet FAX 4 is attached to an electronic mail and transmitted.

In the Internet FAX 4, when the user attempts to execute a scan, the operation display device 13 requests the user to input user information (step 3).
01), and waits for the input (NO in step 302). The user information requested here is, for example, a set of a user ID and a password.

When user information is input from operation display device 13 (YES in step 302), the user information is transmitted to billing server 1. Then, when the charging server 1 authenticates that the user is a user who is permitted to send an e-mail (YES in step 304), the document is scanned (step 305), and the information obtained by the scan is sent to the e-mail. It is attached and transmitted via the mail server 3 (step 306). Then, when the transmission of the e-mail is completed (YES in step 307), the end of the transmission is transmitted to the accounting server 1 as a transmission end notification (step 308). Note that the transmission end notification includes information related to scanning of the document and transmission of the e-mail. For example, the information includes a scan condition, an information amount of a scan result, a transmission destination of an e-mail, and the like.

On the other hand, if the transmission of the e-mail is not permitted by the accounting server 1 (N in step 304)
O), the operation display device 13 displays an error (step 309), and ends the processing.

Next, the operation of the accounting server 1 when the information attached to the electronic mail received by the Internet FAX 4 is transferred by facsimile will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the accounting server 1 when the information scanned by the Internet FAX 4 is attached to an electronic mail and transmitted.

The billing server 1 has an Internet FAX 4
(Step 401, the received mail information is the one transmitted in step 303), the user is authenticated based on the user information. If the user is a registered user (YES in step 402), the Internet FAX 4 is notified of permission to transmit an e-mail (step 403), and waits for a transmission end notification from the Internet FAX 4 (step 404). NO).

When there is a transmission end notification from the Internet FAX 4 (YES in step 404), the charge for the transmission is calculated (step 405), and the calculated charge is recorded in the charge DB2.

On the other hand, if the user authenticated based on the user information received from Internet FAX 4 is not a registered user (NO in step 402), transmission of electronic mail to Internet FAX 4 is prohibited. Is notified (step 407), and the processing ends.

Here, a supplementary explanation will be given of the determination as to whether the electronic mail can be transmitted by the charging server 1 and the method of calculating the charging amount. First, the user is authenticated to determine whether or not to send an e-mail. User authentication is performed using a user ID or a user's mail address and password.

In calculating the charge amount, the charge amount is calculated based on various information included in the transmission end notification from the Internet FAX 4. For example, a billing amount is calculated based on scan conditions at the time of scanning and the size of information obtained as a result. In addition, the destination of the e-mail is specified, and if the destination is clearly not charged (for example, a specific user in the intranet or the previously authenticated user himself), the charge amount is reduced. Can be discounted or exempted.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a recording example of a charging DB for recording information and a charging amount that the charging server 1 refers to when authenticating a user.

[0071]

As described above, according to the present invention, when information attached to a received electronic mail is transmitted by facsimile, the sender of the electronic mail is specified, and the specified sender is charged. Because it was configured to do
The Internet FAX installer or administrator can easily operate the Internet FAX without worrying about extra expenses such as communication charges.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an Internet fax charging system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of Internet FAX4.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of an operation in a case where information attached to an e-mail received by the Internet FAX 4 is transmitted by facsimile.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the charging server 1 when facsimile transferring information attached to an electronic mail received by the Internet FAX 4;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a recording example of a billing DB that records information and a billing amount that the billing server 1 refers to when specifying a sender.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when information scanned by the Internet FAX 4 is attached to an electronic mail and transmitted.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of an operation of the charging server 1 when information scanned by the Internet FAX 4 is attached to an electronic mail and transmitted.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a recording example of a billing DB that records information and a billing amount that the billing server 1 refers to when authenticating a user.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Billing server 2 Billing DB 3 Mail server 4 Internet FAX 5 GW 6 LAN 11 CPU 12 RAM 13 Operation display device 14 Reading device 15 Printing device 16 Image processing device 17 Image storage device 18 System control unit 19 Communication control unit 20 Modem 21 Line Switching device 22 Network controller 23 Network controller 24 Network I / F 25 System bus

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) NN21 NN48

Claims (26)

[Claims] 1. An Internet facsimile billing method connected to both the Internet and a telephone line for facsimile sending information attached to an e-mail and transmitting the received information to a sender based on the sender information of the received e-mail. A billing method for Internet fax, wherein billing is performed. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sender information is an e-mail address of the sender described in header information of the e-mail. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sender information is a digital signature attached to the electronic mail. 4. The Internet fax charging method according to claim 1, wherein charging is performed based on transfer path information described in header information of the electronic mail. 5. The Internet fax charging method according to claim 1, wherein the charging amount is determined based on a communication fee required for fax transmission. 6. The Internet fax charging method according to claim 1, wherein the charging amount is determined based on a telephone number of a destination to which the fax is transmitted. 7. The Internet fax charging method according to claim 1, wherein the charging amount is determined based on a transmission condition at the time of transmitting a fax. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the charge amount is determined based on a size of information attached to the electronic mail. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the charge amount is determined based on a type of information attached to the electronic mail. 10. An Internet facsimile billing method for transmitting image information obtained by reading a document attached to an electronic mail at least connected to the Internet, wherein a request for input of user information is made before reading the document. A billing method for Internet fax, wherein billing is performed based on user information input in response to a request. 11. The Internet fax charging method according to claim 10, wherein the charging amount is determined based on a reading condition of the document. 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the charge amount is determined based on a size of the image information. 13. The Internet fax charging method according to claim 10, wherein the charging amount is determined based on a destination of the electronic mail. 14. A sender information acquiring means for acquiring sender information of a received e-mail in an Internet facsimile billing device connected to both the Internet and a telephone line for facsimile transmitting information attached to an e-mail. Charge amount calculating means for calculating a charge amount for the sender determined based on the sender information acquired by the sender information acquisition stage; and a charge amount record for accumulating and recording the charge amount calculated by the charge amount calculating means. Means for charging an Internet fax. 15. The Internet fax charging apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said sender information acquiring means acquires an e-mail address of a sender described in header information of said e-mail as said sender information. 16. The Internet fax charging apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said sender information acquiring means acquires a digital signature attached to said electronic mail as said sender information. 17. The Internet fax charging apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said charging amount calculating means calculates said charging amount based on transfer path information described in header information of said electronic mail. 18. The Internet fax charging apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said charging amount calculating means calculates said charging amount based on a communication fee required for fax transmission. 19. The Internet fax charging apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said charging amount calculating means calculates said charging amount based on a telephone number of a destination to which a fax is transmitted. 20. The Internet fax charging apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said charging amount calculating means calculates said charging amount based on transmission conditions at the time of fax transmission. 21. The Internet fax charging apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said charging amount calculating means calculates said charging amount based on the size of information attached to said electronic mail. 22. The Internet fax charging apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said charging amount calculating means calculates said charging amount based on a type of information attached to said electronic mail. 23. An Internet facsimile billing device that is connected to at least the Internet and that attaches image information obtained by reading a document to an e-mail and transmits the electronic mail. User information input means for receiving user information input in response to a request; charge amount calculation means for calculating a charge amount for a user specified based on the user information received by the user information input means; And a charging amount recording means for accumulating and recording the charging amount calculated by the means. 24. The Internet fax charging apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said charging amount calculating means determines said charging amount based on a reading condition of said document. 25. The Internet fax charging apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said charging amount calculation means determines said charging amount based on the size of said image information. 26. The Internet fax charging apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said charging amount calculating means determines said charging amount based on a destination of said electronic mail.