JP2003248644A - E-mail storage/notification device and e-mail storage/ notification method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate a need to wait for voice conversion of an e-mail when a user wants to listen to the e-mail in voice. <P>SOLUTION: A destination investigation part 3 investigates whether the destination of an e-mail received from a network is pre-registered in an associated e-mail storage/notification device 1 or not, and if fining a pre-registration, sends the e-mail to a voice conversion part 4. The voice conversion part 4 voice-converts the e-mail into a voice message, and sends it together with the e-mail. A mail storage part 5 stores the voice message in correlation with the e-mail. Upon a request for notification of a voice message and an e-mail, a mail notification part 6 takes the requested voice message and e-mail from the mail storage part 5, and transmits them to a requested destination. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus and an electronic mail storing / notifying method, and more particularly to an electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus for connecting to a network and receiving an electronic mail via this network and notifying the electronic mail. The present invention relates to a device and an e-mail storage / notification method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus of this type has been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-20422, from a terminal such as a telephone for an electronic mail or the like that has arrived while the user is out. It is used to make it accessible from anywhere at any time.

In the mail access system disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-20422, when a voice output is designated for an electronic mail that arrives while the user is out, the written character of the electronic mail is output. Convert to voice and output to the telephone via the telephone interface, and if text output is specified for the email, output the written characters of this email to the display terminal via the telephone interface. I am trying to do it.

[0004]

In the conventional electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus described above, when a voice output is specified for an electronic mail that arrives while the user is out, the electronic mail storage / notification device When the text is converted to voice and output to the telephone via the telephone interface, and the output in text is specified for the email, the written letters of this email are displayed on the display terminal via the telephone interface. Since it is designed to output to, when the user wants to listen to the e-mail by voice, the e-mail is converted to voice and output to the phone when the user requests it by the phone. There is a problem that the user has to wait for the time to convert the voice of the email. In addition, since the user supports listening to the email by voice and viewing the email by text, the user can receive the content of the email by voice and text at the same time. There is a problem that you can not.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks. Therefore, even when a user wants to listen to an e-mail by voice, there is no need to wait for a time for converting the e-mail into voice, and the contents of the e-mail can be voiced. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic mail storage / notification device and an electronic mail storage / notification method that can be simultaneously received by using the characters.

[0006]

A first electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus of the present invention is an electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus which connects to a network and receives an electronic mail via this network to notify the electronic mail. An electronic mail transmitting / receiving unit for receiving the electronic mail from the network, transmitting the electronic mail, receiving the reply mail corresponding to the sent electronic mail, and transmitting the reply mail to the network; Receiving the e-mail sent by the transmission / reception unit, it is checked whether or not the destination of this e-mail is registered in the own e-mail storage / notification device, and the destination is not registered in the own e-mail storage / notification device in advance. At this time, a reply mail notifying that the destination is not registered is sent to the electronic mail transmission / reception unit, and When registered in advance in the storage / notification device, a destination investigation unit that sends out the electronic mail received from the electronic mail transmission / reception unit, and receives the electronic mail sent by the destination investigation unit and converts the electronic mail into voice. Voice mail sent by the voice converter, a mail storage unit for receiving and storing the voice mail sent by the voice converter, and a request for notification of the voice mail stored by the mail storage unit. And a mail notification unit that retrieves the voice mail from the mail storage unit and transmits it to the request destination.

Further, in the address survey section of the first electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus of the present invention, the destination of the electronic mail received from the electronic mail transmitting / receiving section is registered in advance in the own electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus. If the email is written in a foreign language, the reply email is translated into the foreign language and then sent to the email sending / receiving unit, and the destination of the email is the own email. When the e-mail is written in a foreign language when it is registered in the storage / notification device in advance, the e-mail received from the e-mail transmission / reception unit should be translated into its own language before being sent out. There is.

A second electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus of the present invention is an electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus which connects to a network and receives an electronic mail via this network and notifies the electronic mail of the network. And an electronic mail transmission / reception unit which transmits this electronic mail to the network when receiving a reply mail corresponding to the electronic mail sent by the electronic mail transmission / reception unit When an e-mail is received, it is checked whether the destination of this e-mail is registered beforehand in the own electronic mail storage / notification device, and when the destination is not registered in the own electronic mail storage / notification device, the destination is registered. Send a reply mail to the effect that the e-mail is not sent, and the destination is the own e-mail storage / notification device When registered in advance, a destination investigation unit that sends the e-mail received from the e-mail transmission / reception unit, and receives the e-mail sent by the destination investigation unit, converts this e-mail into voice, and converts it into voice mail A voice converting unit for sending together with an electronic mail, a mail storing unit for receiving the voice mail and the electronic mail sent by the voice converting unit and storing the voice mail and the electronic mail in association with each other, and the mail storing unit. An email notification unit that receives a request for notification of the voice mail and the electronic mail stored by the e-mail and retrieves the requested voice mail and the electronic mail from the mail storage unit and sends them to the request destination. It is configured.

Further, in the address investigation unit of the second electronic mail storage / notification device of the present invention, the destination of the electronic mail received from the electronic mail transmission / reception unit is registered in advance in the own electronic mail storage / notification device. If the email is written in a foreign language, the reply email is translated into the foreign language and then sent to the email sending / receiving unit, and the destination of the email is the own email. When the e-mail is written in a foreign language when it is registered in the storage / notification device in advance, the e-mail received from the e-mail transmission / reception unit should be translated into its own language before being sent out. There is.

A first electronic mail storing / notifying method of the present invention is an electronic mail storing / notifying method for receiving an electronic mail via a network and notifying the electronic mail, wherein the electronic mail is received from the network, It is checked whether the destination of the received e-mail is registered in advance.If the destination is not registered in advance, a reply mail notifying that this destination is not registered is sent to the network, and the destination is registered in advance. When registered, the e-mail received from the network is converted into voice and stored as voice mail, and a request for notification of the stored voice mail is received, and the requested voice mail is taken out and requested. I am trying to send it to you.

Further, the first electronic mail storing / notifying method of the present invention is such that when the destination of the electronic mail received from the network is not registered in advance, the electronic mail is written in a foreign language. In addition, the reply mail is translated into the foreign language and then transmitted, and when the destination of the electronic mail is registered in advance, when the electronic mail is written in the foreign language, the network The received electronic mail is translated into its own language, converted into voice, and stored as the voice mail.

The second electronic mail storing / notifying method of the present invention is an electronic mail storing / notifying method for receiving an electronic mail via a network and notifying the electronic mail, wherein the electronic mail is received from the network, and It is checked whether the destination of the received e-mail is registered in advance.If the destination is not registered in advance, a reply mail indicating that this destination is not registered is sent to the network, and the destination is registered in advance. When registered, the e-mail received from the network is converted into voice and stored as voice mail together with the e-mail, and a request for notification of the stored voice mail and the e-mail is received and the request is made. Also, the voice mail and the electronic mail are taken out and transmitted to the request destination.

Further, the second electronic mail storing / notifying method of the present invention is such that when the destination of the electronic mail received from the network is not registered in advance, the electronic mail is written in a foreign language. In addition, the reply mail is translated into the foreign language and then transmitted, and when the destination of the electronic mail is registered in advance, when the electronic mail is written in the foreign language, the network The received electronic mail is translated into its own language, converted into voice, and stored as the voice mail.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus of the present invention.

In this embodiment shown in FIG. 1, an electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus 1 for connecting to a network and receiving electronic mail via this network and notifying the electronic mail receives the electronic mail from the network and An electronic mail sending / receiving unit 2 that sends an electronic mail and sends a reply mail to the network when a reply mail corresponding to the sent electronic mail is received, and an electronic mail sent by the electronic mail send / receive unit 2 to receive this electronic mail Whether or not the destination is registered in advance in the own electronic mail storage / notification device 1, and when the destination is not registered in the own electronic mail storage / notification device 1 in advance, a reply mail notifying that the destination is not registered is sent. When the destination is registered in advance in the own e-mail storage / notification device 1, it is sent to the e-mail transmission / reception unit 2 E-mail transmission / reception unit A destination investigation unit 3 for sending the received e-mail, a voice conversion unit 4 for receiving the e-mail sent by the destination investigation unit 3, converting this e-mail into voice and sending it as voice mail, and the e-mail, and a voice A mail storage unit 5 that receives the voice mail and the electronic mail sent by the conversion unit 4 and stores the voice mail and the electronic mail in association with each other, and a notification of the voice mail and the electronic mail stored by the mail storage unit 5 It comprises a mail notification unit 6 which receives a request, retrieves the requested voice mail and electronic mail from the mail storage unit 5 and sends them to the request destination.

When the destination of the electronic mail received from the electronic mail transmission / reception unit 2 is not registered in the own electronic mail storage / notification device 1 in advance, the destination investigation unit 3 writes the electronic mail in a foreign language. Then, the reply mail is translated into a foreign language and then sent to the electronic mail transmitting / receiving unit 2, and when the destination of the electronic mail is registered in the own electronic mail storing / notifying device 1 in advance, this electronic mail is written in the foreign language. When written, the electronic mail received from the electronic mail transmitting / receiving unit 2 is translated into its own language and then sent.

Next, the operation of the electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and an example of the electronic mail storing / notifying method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example in which the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is realized by a more specific device, circuit, etc. The electronic mail transmitting / receiving unit 2 is the electronic mail transmitting / receiving device, and the destination investigation unit 3 Is a CPU, the voice conversion unit 4 is a voice conversion device, the mail storage unit 5 is a voice mail and a CPU, and the mail notification unit 6 is a CPU, an extension line circuit, an external line circuit, and a display control circuit. ing. The functions of the electronic mail storage / notification device 1 are realized by executing the program stored in the storage device.

In FIG. 1, the electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus 1 is installed in, for example, each home or office (for example, it may be incorporated in a button telephone), and the electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus is previously set. 1 (for example, the mail storage unit 5. Other storage units, such as other storage units, may be other than the mail storage unit 5, but here is the mail storage unit 5). It is registered as an address / number table by associating it with the number of the storage area inside. The storage area number is, for example, a serial number sequentially assigned to each storage area (S1). Then, the electronic mail transmission / reception unit 2 receives the electronic mail from the network and sends the electronic mail to the destination investigation unit 3 (S2).
The destination investigation unit 3 receives the e-mail sent by the e-mail transmission / reception unit 2, divides the e-mail into a header, a body (expressed by characters), and a destination of this e-mail, and this destination is stored in advance in the own e-mail storage / notification device 1. Whether or not it is registered is checked by the address / number table in the mail storage unit 5 (S3).
When the result of the investigation indicates that the destination is not registered in advance in the own electronic mail storage / notification device 1, the destination investigation unit 3 sends a reply mail indicating that the destination is not registered from the electronic mail transmission / reception unit 2. The sender address of this electronic mail in the header of the received electronic mail is added and sent to the electronic mail transmission / reception unit 2. At this time, if the e-mail received from the e-mail transmission / reception unit 2 is written in a foreign language, this reply mail is translated into a foreign language and then sent to the e-mail transmission / reception unit 2. When a reply mail corresponding to the electronic mail sent to the investigation unit 3 is received from the destination investigation unit 3, this reply mail is transmitted to the sender address added to this reply mail via the network (S4). The address investigation unit 3 performs step 3 (S
When the result checked in 3) indicates that this destination is registered in advance in the own electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus 1, the electronic mail received from the electronic mail transmitting / receiving unit 2 is sent to the voice converting unit 4. At this time, when the electronic mail received from the electronic mail transmission / reception unit 2 is written in a foreign language, this electronic mail is translated into its own language and then sent out, and the voice conversion unit 4 is sent out by the destination investigation unit 3. The e-mail is received, the e-mail is converted into voice, and the voice is sent to the mail storage unit 5 as a voice mail (expressed by voice) together with the e-mail received from the address research unit 3. In response to the sent voice mail and e-mail,
(By the CPU shown in FIG. 3) The number corresponding to the destination of the received electronic mail is searched from the address / number table, and the voice mail and the electronic mail are stored in the storage area of the searched number in association with each other (S5). . Email notification unit 6
Is connected to a telephone line, and a transmission request (notification request) for a voice mail and an electronic mail stored in the mail storage unit 5 is sent from the telephone (extension, external line, etc.) via this telephone line. Received via the telephone line, the requested voice mail and electronic mail are taken out from the mail storage unit 5 and transmitted to the requested telephone set via the telephone line.
That is, for example, the number of the storage area is received from the telephone via the telephone line, the voice mail and the electronic mail stored in the storage area of this number in the mail storage unit 5 are taken out and transmitted to the telephone via the telephone line. To do. At this time, the character code of the text of the electronic mail is sent by the display control circuit to the extension telephone set via the extension line circuit and displayed on the display unit such as an LCD. Further, since the number of displayable characters is limited, the sentence is scrolled forward and backward by an operation from the telephone (S6).

[0022]

As described above, according to the electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus and the electronic mail storing / notifying method of the present invention, the destination checking unit causes the destination of the electronic mail received from the network to be stored in the own electronic mail. It is checked whether or not it has been registered in the notification device in advance, and when it is registered in advance, this e-mail is sent to the voice conversion section, and the voice conversion section converts this e-mail into voice to make it a voice mail. And the voice storage unit stores the voice mail in association with the e-mail, and the mail notification unit receives the request for the notification of the voice mail and the e-mail, and the requested voice mail and the e-mail. Is sent from the mail storage unit and sent to the request destination,
When an email is received, this email is converted to voice and stored as a voicemail together with the email. When the email notification request is received, the stored voicemail and email are sent. , When a user wants to listen to an e-mail by voice, there is no need to wait for the time to convert the e-mail to voice. Further, the contents of the electronic mail can be received at the same time by voice and characters.

Further, according to the electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus and the electronic mail storing / notifying method of the present invention, the destination checking unit may be configured such that the electronic mail received from the electronic mail transmitting / receiving unit is written in a foreign language. In addition, the e-mail received from the e-mail transmission / reception unit is translated into its own language and then sent to the voice conversion unit, and the voice conversion unit converts this e-mail into voice to form a voice mail and the translated e-mail. Since the e-mail received from the network is written in a foreign language because it is sent to the mail storage section together with this, the e-mail is translated in its own language and the translated e-mail is handled. Even when written, the content of this e-mail can be received by the voice and characters (voice or characters) of the native language.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic mail storage / notification device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and showing an example of an electronic mail storing / notifying method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the embodiment shown in FIG.
It is a figure which shows an example implement | achieved by a circuit etc.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 E-mail storage / notification device 2 E-mail sending and receiving section 3 Address Research Department 4 Voice converter 5 Mail storage 6 Email notification section

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An electronic mail storage / notification device which is connected to a network and receives electronic mail via this network and notifies the electronic mail, wherein the electronic mail is received from the network and the electronic mail is sent out. The electronic mail sending / receiving unit that sends the reply mail to the network when the reply mail corresponding to the electronic mail is received, and the electronic mail sent by the electronic mail sending / receiving unit is the destination of the electronic mail. It is checked whether or not the destination is not registered in the mail storing / notifying device, and when the destination is not registered in the own electronic mail storing / notifying device, a reply mail indicating that the destination is not registered is sent to the electronic mail transmitting / receiving unit. And send the e-mail when the destination is registered in advance in the own e-mail storage / notification device. A destination research unit that sends the e-mail received from the receiving unit, a voice conversion unit that receives the e-mail sent by the destination research unit, converts the e-mail into voice, and sends the voice mail as voice mail; A mail storage unit for receiving and storing the voice mail sent by the unit, and a request destination for taking out the requested voice mail from the mail storage unit upon receiving a request for notification of the voice mail stored by the mail storage unit. An electronic mail storage / notification device comprising: a mail notification unit for sending to an e-mail. 2. The e-mail is written in a foreign language when the e-mail address received from the e-mail transmission / reception unit is not registered in advance in its own e-mail storage / notification device. In this case, the reply mail is translated into the foreign language and then sent to the electronic mail transmission / reception unit, and when the destination of the electronic mail is registered in advance in the own electronic mail storage / notification device, The electronic mail storage according to claim 1, wherein when the electronic mail is written in a foreign language, the electronic mail received from the electronic mail transmitting / receiving unit is translated into a native language and then sent out. -Notification device. 3. The mail storage unit is configured to store the voice mail in a storage area corresponding to the destination of the electronic mail that is the source of the voice mail. E-mail storage and notification device. 4. The mail notification unit connects to a telephone line, receives a request for notification of the voice mail via the telephone line, takes out the voice mail stored in the mail storage unit, and retrieves the voice mail to the telephone line. The electronic mail storing / notifying apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the electronic mail is transmitted. 5. An electronic mail storage / notification device which is connected to a network and receives an electronic mail via this network and notifies the electronic mail, wherein the electronic mail is received from the network and the electronic mail is transmitted. The electronic mail sending / receiving unit that sends the reply mail to the network when the reply mail corresponding to the electronic mail is received, and the electronic mail sent by the electronic mail sending / receiving unit is the destination of the electronic mail. It is checked whether or not the destination is not registered in the mail storing / notifying device, and when the destination is not registered in the own electronic mail storing / notifying device, a reply mail indicating that the destination is not registered is sent to the electronic mail transmitting / receiving unit. And send the e-mail when the destination is registered in advance in the own e-mail storage / notification device. A destination investigation unit that sends the e-mail received from the receiving unit, and a voice conversion unit that receives the e-mail sent by the destination investigation unit and converts the e-mail into voice and sends it as voice mail together with the e-mail A mail storage unit that receives the voice mail and the electronic mail sent by the voice conversion unit and stores the voice mail and the electronic mail in association with each other; and the voice mail and the electronic mail stored by the mail storage unit. An electronic mail storage unit comprising: a mail notification unit that receives a request for notification of a mail and retrieves the requested voice mail and the electronic mail from the mail storage unit and sends them to the request destination. Notification device. 6. The e-mail is written in a foreign language when the e-mail received from the e-mail transmission / reception unit is not registered in advance in the e-mail storage / notification device of the e-mail. In this case, the reply mail is translated into the foreign language and then sent to the electronic mail transmission / reception unit, and when the destination of the electronic mail is registered in advance in the own electronic mail storage / notification device, 6. The electronic mail storage according to claim 5, wherein when the electronic mail is written in a foreign language, the electronic mail received from the electronic mail transmission / reception unit is translated into a native language and then sent out. -Notification device. 7. The mail storage unit is configured to store the voice mail and the electronic mail in association with each other in a storage area corresponding to the destination of the electronic mail. E-mail storage / notification device described. 8. The mail notification unit is connected to a telephone line, receives a request for notification of the voice mail and the electronic mail via the telephone line, and stores the voice mail and the voice mail stored in the mail storage unit. 8. The electronic mail storing / notifying device according to claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the electronic mail is taken out and transmitted to the telephone line. 9. An electronic mail storing / notifying method for receiving an electronic mail via a network and notifying the electronic mail, wherein the electronic mail is received from the network, and a destination of the received electronic mail is registered in advance. Check if there is any, and if the destination is not registered in advance,
A reply mail notifying that this destination is not registered is transmitted to the network, and when the destination is registered in advance, the electronic mail received from the network is converted into voice and stored as voice mail, and this storage An electronic mail storing / notifying method, characterized in that upon receiving the request for notification of the voice mail, the requested voice mail is taken out and transmitted to a request destination. 10. When the destination of the electronic mail received from the network is not registered in advance, and when the electronic mail is written in a foreign language, the reply mail is translated into the foreign language. When the destination of the e-mail is registered in advance and the e-mail is written in a foreign language, the e-mail received from the network is translated into a native language and is transmitted. 10. The electronic mail storing / notifying method according to claim 9, wherein the electronic mail storing / notifying method is adapted to be converted into and stored as the voice mail. 11. The electronic mail storing / notifying method according to claim 9, wherein the voice mail is stored in a storage area corresponding to the destination of the electronic mail received from the network. 12. A voice mail notification request is received via a telephone line, and the stored voice mail is taken out and transmitted to the telephone line. E-mail storage and notification method. 13. An electronic mail storing / notifying method for receiving an electronic mail via a network and notifying the electronic mail, wherein the electronic mail is received from the network, and a destination of the received electronic mail is registered in advance. Check if there is any, and if the destination is not registered in advance,
A reply mail notifying that this destination is not registered is sent to the network, and when the destination is registered in advance, the electronic mail received from the network is converted into voice and stored as a voice mail together with the electronic mail. In response to the request for notification of the stored voice mail and the electronic mail, the requested voice mail and the electronic mail are taken out and transmitted to the request destination. Notification method. 14. When the destination of the electronic mail received from the network is not registered in advance, and when the electronic mail is written in a foreign language, the reply mail is translated into the foreign language. When the destination of the e-mail is registered in advance and the e-mail is written in a foreign language, the e-mail received from the network is translated into a native language and is transmitted. 14. The method for storing and notifying an electronic mail according to claim 13, wherein the method is converted into the above and stored as the voice mail. 15. The voice mail and the electronic mail are stored in association with each other in a storage area corresponding to the destination of the electronic mail received from the network. E-mail storage and notification method. 16. A request for notification of the voice mail and the electronic mail is received via a telephone line, and the stored voice mail and the electronic mail are taken out and transmitted to the telephone line. Claim 1
The method for storing and notifying e-mail described in 3, 14, or 15.