JP2002305624A - Internet facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an Internet facsimile equipment that allows even a user unfamiliar with formats to easily perform work that transmits e-mail from a client side and performs device setting of the Internet facsimile machine. SOLUTION: This Internet facsimile equipment is provided with receiving means 10 and 19 for receiving e-mail through a communication network N, a detecting means 10 for detecting a prescribed character string from the e-mail received by the receiving means 10 and 19, and transmitting means 10 and 19 for transmitting a template for changing his/her own set information as e-mail on the basis of the prescribed character string detected by the detecting means 10 to a prescribed transmission destination through the communication network N.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an improvement of an Internet facsimile apparatus having a function of transmitting / receiving an electronic mail to / from a client on a communication network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an Internet facsimile apparatus communicates with a client on a communication network.
It has a function to send and receive e-mails through a mail server. Using this e-mail sending and receiving function, an e-mail that describes various setting information such as the IP address and e-mail address of the facsimile server from the client side Is transmitted to a facsimile server so that device setting on the Internet facsimile apparatus side can be performed.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional Internet facsimile apparatus, in order to set the equipment of this Internet facsimile apparatus,
Since setting information conforming to a predetermined format must be described in an e-mail sent from the client side, there is a problem that inputting the setting information is troublesome and device setting cannot be performed without knowing the format.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and enables a user who does not know the format to easily perform an operation of transmitting an e-mail from a client side and setting an apparatus of an Internet facsimile apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide an Internet facsimile apparatus which can perform the following.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, a receiving means for receiving an electronic mail through a communication network, and an electronic mail received by the receiving means. Detecting means for detecting a predetermined character string from the mail, and a template for changing its own setting information through a communication network, based on the predetermined character string detected by the detecting means, are sent to a predetermined destination by e-mail. Transmission means for transmitting as

In the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the second aspect, the template includes at least its own current setting information and a change command for changing the setting information, and the setting information is edited. When the reply is made, the setting information of the own device is changed to the edited setting information based on the change command.

In the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the third aspect, authentication is performed based on the transmission source of the electronic mail received through the communication network. When the authentication is performed, the template is transmitted as an electronic mail to a predetermined destination.

In the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the fourth aspect, when the setting information of the template is edited and returned, authentication is performed based on the reply source,
At the time of authentication, the server changes its own setting information to edited setting information based on the change command.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a main configuration of an Internet facsimile apparatus 1 according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile system configured using the Internet facsimile apparatus 1 of the present invention.

The Internet facsimile apparatus 1 connects a telephone line L and a LAN (N), which is one of communication networks, as a communication network. The LAN (N) is connected to the LAN (N) as shown in FIG. like,
Client 2 composed of personal computer
, The mail server 3 and the Internet.

Although the LAN (N) is shown here as a communication network, the present invention is not limited to this example, and other types of networks such as WANs and dedicated lines, or LAN (N) and the Internet It may be configured by combining a plurality of types of networks, such as a combination with.

The Internet facsimile apparatus 1 converts image data received through a public line network (PSTN) or a LAN (N) according to a predetermined protocol into a client 2, another facsimile apparatus connected to the public line network, or the Internet. Can be distributed to other facsimile machines connected to the Internet. Further, the image data read by the Internet facsimile machine 1 can be transmitted to the client 2, another facsimile machine connected to the public line network, or another facsimile machine connected to the Internet according to a predetermined protocol. .

Further, the Internet facsimile machine 1
Communicates with the mail server 3 according to a predetermined protocol, so that its own mail address is specified.
Receiving e-mail stored in the mail server 3,
The mail server 3 can store an e-mail specifying a destination mail address.

Thus, the Internet facsimile machine 1 transmits an e-mail to the client 2 or another mail server on the Internet via the mail server 3, or transmits an e-mail from the client 2 or another mail server on the Internet. Can be received.

As shown in FIG. 1, the Internet facsimile apparatus 1 includes a CPU 10 for controlling the following units,
A RAM 11 for storing various setting information such as an IP address and a mail address of the apparatus 1 itself, a ROM 12 for storing a control program and the like in advance, a scanner 13 for reading image data from a document and converting it into image data, A printer 14 for recording on recording paper and a telephone line L
An NCU 15 for controlling the connection to the PC, a modem 16 for modulating and demodulating various signals necessary for facsimile communication, an operation panel 17 including a liquid crystal screen and various operation keys,
MH, MR, MMR for data facsimile communication
CODEC 18 for encoding and decoding by a method
A LAN interface 19 for connecting the AN (N) according to a standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark).

According to such a configuration, the client 2
It is characterized in that the operation of setting the storage contents of the RAM 11 by sending an e-mail from the side can be easily performed even by a user who does not know the format for setting. This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

That is, when the Internet facsimile apparatus 1 receives an electronic mail from the client 2 through the mail server 3 (100), the electronic mail is
Whether it is a template request mail (see FIG. 4) for requesting the transmission of the template is determined based on the presence or absence of a predetermined character string described later (101).

FIG. 4 shows an example of a template request mail. The client 2 specifies the mail address 20 of the Internet facsimile machine 1 when creating an e-mail, and causes the Internet facsimile machine 1 to detect it. As a predetermined character string, "GET
Command 21 "TEMPLATE # 01"
Is described in the title or text. Also, as a security measure of the system, a password 22 corresponding to the requested template is described.

Note that “# 0” included in the request command 21
The character string “1” is a type code that specifies the type of the setting information of the device 1, and the Internet facsimile device 1 transmits a template describing the setting information based on the type code in a process described later.

If the received e-mail is a template request mail, the Internet facsimile machine 1 authenticates the client 2 based on the password 22 described in the mail (102).

The authentication is performed depending on whether the source mail address described in the template request mail completely matches the mail address registered in advance, or whether the domain of the mail address of the sender matches the domain registered in advance. May go.

With the authentication, the Internet facsimile machine 1 generates a template (see FIG. 5) corresponding to the specified type code (103).

FIG. 5 shows an example of a template. In the Internet facsimile machine 1, "TEMPLATE" corresponding to the specified type code "# 01" is displayed.
The command “# 01” is the setting information change command 23
And the current setting information 2 corresponding to the type
4 is described. In addition, a changeable value may be described in addition to the current setting information.

As a security measure of the system, a password 25 corresponding to the template is also described. Here, the content of the password 25 is the same as the content of the password 22 described above, but this is because a password is set for each template.

Here, in this template, the change command 23, the setting information 24, and the password 25 are described in the body of the e-mail, but may be attached as an attached file.

The client 2 which has received the setting mail by the processing described later edits the described setting information and returns the edited mail to the Internet facsimile apparatus 1 as a setting mail. Can be changed.

If a reply destination address is specified in the template request mail (not shown in FIG. 4), the address is set as the transmission destination (105). The source address of the mail is set as the destination (106).

Next, it is determined whether the destination address is the same domain as the device 1 itself (107), and if it is the same domain, the template is transmitted as it is as an e-mail (108). , Encrypted by an encryption method such as ID-NIKS, and transmitted as an electronic mail (109, 10).
8).

The encryption of the template may be performed for all templates, or may be performed on the basis of the mail address to which the template is transmitted, or the domain of the mail address.

On the other hand, the Internet facsimile machine 1
If the received e-mail is not the template request mail but the setting mail described above (110), authentication is performed based on the password 25 of the setting mail (11).
1).

This authentication is also performed depending on whether the source mail address described in the setting mail completely matches the previously registered mail address, or whether the domain of the source mail address matches the previously registered domain. You may.

If the received setting mail is encrypted, it is decrypted (112, 113), and a change is made to match its own setting information with the setting information described in the setting mail (114). Is completed, a completion notification is transmitted to the source of the setting mail (115).

According to the above-described embodiment, the Internet facsimile apparatus 1 transmits the template based on the designation of the type code from the client 2, but the present invention is not limited to this example. May be divided into groups in advance according to the corresponding setting types, and a group code may be assigned to each group, and the client 2 may transmit all templates of the specified group code. In this way, the client 2 can pick up and use a necessary one from the templates of the specified group.

[0034]

As can be understood from the above description, in the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, a template for changing its own setting information through a communication network is transmitted to a predetermined destination. Since the electronic facsimile is transmitted as an e-mail, a user who does not know the format can easily perform the operation of transmitting the e-mail from the client side and setting the device of the Internet facsimile apparatus.

In the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the second aspect, the template includes at least its own current setting information and a change command for changing its own setting information, and the setting information is edited. When the reply is sent, the setting information of the own is changed to the edited setting information based on the change command. Therefore, the client only needs to edit and return the setting information described in the received template. The setting information of the Internet facsimile apparatus can be changed, which is extremely convenient.

In the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the third aspect, the authentication is performed based on the source of the electronic mail received through the communication network. When the authentication is performed, the template is transmitted to the predetermined destination as the electronic mail. Destinations can be limited, which is beneficial for security measures.

In the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the fourth aspect, when the template setting information is edited and returned, authentication is performed based on the reply source, and
At the time of authentication, based on the above change command, the own setting information is changed to the edited setting information, so that it is possible to prevent the setting change from an unauthorized device, such as when the template is transferred illegally. This is useful for security measures.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a main configuration of an Internet facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a facsimile system configured using an Internet facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of the Internet facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a template request mail.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a template.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Internet facsimile apparatus 10 ... CPU 19 ... LAN interface 21 ... Template request command 23 ... Change command 24 ... Current setting information N ... LAN

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5C062 AA02 AA29 AC41 AC42 AC43 AC58 AE08 AF00 BA04 5C075 AB90 BB05 BB07 BB11 CA14 CF01 CF05 EE06

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A receiving means for receiving an e-mail via a communication network, a detecting means for detecting a predetermined character string from the e-mail received by the receiving means, and a detecting means for detecting a predetermined character string detected by the detecting means. A transmission means for transmitting a template for changing its setting information through the communication network to a predetermined transmission destination as an electronic mail. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the template includes at least its own current setting information and a change command for changing the setting information, and the setting information is edited. An Internet facsimile machine that, when returned, changes its own setting information to edited setting information based on the change command. 3. The Internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein authentication is performed based on a source of the electronic mail received through the communication network, and when the authentication is performed, the template is transmitted to a predetermined destination as an electronic mail. 4. The method according to claim 2, wherein when the setting information of the template is edited and returned, authentication is performed based on the reply source, and when authentication is performed, its own setting information is transmitted based on the change command. Internet facsimile machine that changes to edited setting information.