JP2004054614A - Program and method for displaying response to e-mail - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means for checking response to each incident without having to open a mail folder in which e-mails are stored as they are classified by incidents. <P>SOLUTION: A computer implements a step 4 for storing identification information that indicates the newest sender as the attribute information of each folder, during the storage 3 of received e-mails 1 into a plurality of folders 5 based on preset classification standards 2; and a step 9 for displaying the identification information stored and retained in each folder as the attribute information that indicates the newest sender, when a list 8 of the folders storing the e-mails classified is displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to electronic mail software, and more particularly, to an electronic mail response status display technique.
[0002]
[Prior art]
E-mail software, also called a mailer, that sends and receives e-mails (hereinafter referred to as e-mail software) is the most familiar and convenient tool for PC users.
It is used as an essential equipment in the business world as well as in personal email exchanges. There are various departments in the company, such as various contacts, notification of meetings, distribution of minutes, requests and consultations, distribution of news, etc. It must not be.
[0003]
Arriving mails are sequentially received in the receiving folder, and when the folder is opened, the list of mail sender name, mail title, reception time, etc. is displayed, but users at workplaces with many related departments In, a large number of mails come in one after another from many people, so even if you look at the received mail list, for example, the mail list in order of arrival time shows the name of the displayed sender or the contents Even looking at the title, it is sometimes difficult to find an important mail that needs to be processed with priority, and in some cases it may be overlooked.
[0004]
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 11-31111 discloses a method of organizing and handling such a large amount of mails. As a "e-mail case management system and medium used for it", it is necessary to manage a large amount of e-mails, such as the management of inquiry cases by e-mail. In the field, an electronic mail case management system that facilitates the organization and display of mail data and efficiently supports case management has been proposed.
[0005]
In the above proposal, there is a technology that makes it possible to display a list of e-mails by e-mail with multiple e-mail exchanges as a single case, and to extract and display only the same case from the e-mail list of multiple cases. It has been disclosed.
Various functions can be used in mail software for sending and receiving mail. For example, even when dealing with many departments, it is possible to distinguish the departments with high urgency of the requirements generally by separating the folder to receive for each e-mail address indicating the sender of the department. Among the folders indicating that some incoming calls have been received, a list of the contents of the folders having a high urgency is displayed, and processing of the narrowed down number of mails can be performed with priority.
[0006]
Also, the method of sorting into folders differs depending on each mail software, but in addition to the above-described method using the address of the transmission source, when the character string specified in the title is included, the In some cases, various conditions can be specified, such as when a specified character string is included.
In addition, when the conditions set in this way are satisfied, it is possible to store in a specified folder, add a special mark, change a color to make it stand out, and set other operations. Convenient email software is provided.
[0007]
Examples of using the useful functions of such mail software include questions on how to use the shipped product, inquiries about malfunctions, and support centers that collectively respond to complaints and other information by e-mail. Centers, support desks, call centers, and other departments that use email to exchange messages, receive e-mails from the occurrence of each problem, and send replies several times to solve the problem There is an application to
[0008]
A series of themes to be solved in such a case have the same meaning as "item" in the above-mentioned e-mail item management system, but this is regarded as "event", and here, it is called "incident". To
Incidents handled by the support center are each given an incident name at the time of occurrence, so that the progress of subsequent processing can be monitored and monitored. Then, the transmitted and received e-mails are stored in different folders so that the e-mails exchanged for each incident can be distinguished.
[0009]
By doing so, the response status of a certain incident can be listed in a list of e-mail titles arranged in chronological order, and a copy can be sent to the support center as the destination of the last received or sent e-mail. By specifying, etc., the last sent mail can be known.
When there are a plurality of support center personnel, there may be cases where only the incidents which are allotted depending on the content are handled, but there is also a case where the processing person in charge changes every time depending on the group. In such a case, open the folder for each incident and check the progress of the e-mail response, especially the status of the last e-mail, to make sure that the support center is in the order of responding, or ask the customer to solve the problem. It is understood that the user is waiting for the reception of the e-mail while requesting the information provision.
[0010]
Further, by looking at the chronological mail transmission / reception list, it is possible to know how long has elapsed since the occurrence of the incident.
[0011]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to the above-described conventional technology, in the “e-mail case management system”, as described in the embodiment, mails of unresolved cases are collectively stored in a received mail folder. After opening and displaying the list of emails, by issuing the "display by case" instruction, only the same matter as the specified email is taken out and displayed in a list. I have come to know.
[0012]
Also, even when the incidents are separately stored in the respective folders for incidents, in order to confirm the state of the exchange of transmitted / received e-mails in the state of being stored in the respective folders by being divided for each incident, it is necessary to check each folder from the folder list. I had to open the folder where the incident emails were stored, display a list of emails sent and received, and see the details.
[0013]
Even in the prior art, even if each folder is not opened, the contents of the folder can be understood by the number of unread mails received for each folder. I couldn't distinguish between reading and responding to e-mails or responding to them.
[0014]
In other words, the order of indication by case and opening of each folder only show the case, the processing status of the incident, and the response status, so the processing staff in charge of support for many incidents will repeat the number of incidents in order. I had to give instructions for each case and open each folder to check.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a means for checking the response status of each incident without opening a folder for each incident.
[0015]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of the present invention. The figure shows a method of sorting received mails into a plurality of folders based on a preset sorting criterion, storing the mails, displaying a list of the stored folders and displaying the mail response status. When a mail that has been set in advance is included in the text of the title of the mail and a character string that has been set in advance for each folder is sorted and stored in the folder, identification information indicating the latest sender of the mail and the latest mail Step 4 of updating and storing the attribute information of the folder such as the storage date and time, and identifying the latest sender stored in association with each folder when displaying a list of folders storing the mail separately. Step 9 of displaying information and attribute information such as the latest storage date and time of the mail near the display position of the corresponding folder.
[0016]
Next, the configuration of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. When a mail is received in 1, the mail is classified in 3 and stored in a corresponding mail folder with reference to a preset mail folder classification criterion 2. Various criteria can be applied to the classification of the mail, for example, depending on the sender of the mail, or by the character string included in the title of the mail. Reference numeral 5 denotes a mail folder group, which stores a mail body in each mail folder and stores attribute information corresponding to each folder. In 4, in accordance with the contents of the mail in which the attribute information of the mail folder stored in 3 is stored, for example, the mail address of the sender and the time when it was received are stored in the attribute information as the latest mail reception state.
[0017]
When the folder list is displayed on the display device 7 at 8 according to the user's request or according to a preset display mode at 6, the stored data is stored at 9 corresponding to each folder displayed in the list. The attribute information of each folder is displayed.
Note that the attribute information to be displayed may be displayed as processed attribute information that is easy to see or understand. For example, instead of the latest mail reception date and time, the elapsed time from that date and time to the present may be displayed.
[0018]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
In the present embodiment, a form realized by a computer program executed on a computer used for general purposes such as a personal computer and a workstation will be described.
The mail response status display program of the present invention is realized by being executed as a computer program on a computer including a processing device, a main storage device, an input / output device, and the like. The computer program is provided by being stored in a portable medium such as a floppy disk or a CD-ROM, or in a main storage device or an auxiliary storage device of another computer connected to a network.
[0019]
The computer program of the present invention is loaded directly from a portable medium to a main storage device of a computer, or in a computer having an auxiliary storage device, once copied or installed from a portable medium to an auxiliary storage device, and then stored in a main storage device. Load and execute. Also, when provided by being stored in another device connected to the network, after being received from the other device via the network, it is loaded into the main storage device, or in a computer having the auxiliary storage device, the auxiliary storage device is provided. After copying, the program is loaded into the main storage device and executed.
[0020]
FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 shows an operation image of the "inquiry center" of the embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the present invention is applied to the operation of an "inquiry center" which is a product service department responding to various inquiries and questions from customers who use products.
In FIG. 3, each customer sends a question or an inquiry to the inquiry center system 32 by e-mail using the terminal 31 using the Internet.
[0021]
A computer system is constructed around this inquiry center system, and it is designed to assist the person in charge of the inquiry center to efficiently conduct the work of investigating, examining and answering questions and inquiries sent by e-mail. I have.
The person in charge knows the contents of the inquiry on the screen of each terminal 34, conducts a survey, and answers by e-mail. However, usually, the answer to the question or inquiry raised cannot be solved at once, and In some cases, the user needs to exchange mail several times, such as requesting a reverse question, requesting a more detailed background, usage environment, data, or the like, or asking a question again because he is not satisfied with the answer received.
[0022]
Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, each of the exchanges regarding these series of themes is treated as one incident.
That is, as a function of the inquiry center system 32, first, a folder for each incident is provided, and questions and inquiry mails are sorted and stored in the respective folders. When the person in charge determines that a new incident has occurred in the incident-specific question / answer history database 33, a new incident-response folder is set and the mail is stored, and as a second function, the question / answer is set for each incident. Record the history of
[0023]
In general, multiple persons are responsible for responding to many incidents, and depending on the incident, one person may need to continue responding depending on the content, but someone is available Some things may be compatible. Therefore, many incidents are listed, and incidents that should be answered with priority are found and processed.Conventionally, each incident folder is opened and the title of the mail stored there is displayed as a list By doing so, the history of the interaction between the customer and the person in charge of the inquiry was known from the occurrence of the inquiry, and the one that should be answered immediately was found.
[0024]
In the embodiment of the present invention, as a third function, the latest response status, the elapsed time since the occurrence of the incident, and the like can be understood at a glance without opening the folder for each incident. Is displayed. As a result, efficient incident response can be achieved.
Next, the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention that realizes the three functions described above will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.
[0025]
Reference numeral 22 denotes a mail sorting unit, which selects a folder based on a mail sorting criterion 23 and stores a mail when there is a mail reception 21. The mail sorting criterion 23 is also a folder list to be sorted, and a person who has determined that a new incident has occurred sets a new folder and adds it to the folder list. In the folder list, a folder ID for identifying a folder and a condition for selecting mail to be sorted into this folder are set as folder selection conditions.
[0026]
Folder selection conditions used in the prior art are used, and there are matching of sender addresses, matching of character strings included in the title or body of mail, etc., and a plurality of these may be combined. In the present embodiment, the incident ID is used as a sorting condition such that the mail address of the person in charge of responding to the mail and the ID for identifying the incident are included in the title of the mail to be exchanged.
[0027]
The mails sorted by the mail sorting unit 22 are sequentially stored in the mail storage unit of each folder 24. The mails are sorted and stored in folders A, B, and C as shown in FIG. In addition, the folder opening date and time, the latest mail reception date and time, and the latest mail sender ID are stored in the folder attribute storage unit of the folder 24 in addition to the folder ID. When a folder is opened, the date and time of opening is updated, and each time a mail is sorted and stored thereafter, the latest mail reception date and time and the latest mail sender ID are updated.
[0028]
In this way, the mail corresponding to each incident is stored in the folder corresponding to each incident, and the information on who sent the latest mail and when the latest mail was received is updated.
Based on the information stored in the mail folder sorted and stored for each incident as described above, the person in charge of the inquiry center can read in a list the status of incidents to be processed prior to the display device of the terminal. become.
[0029]
That is, when a mail folder list display is instructed, the folder list display unit 26 displays the contents of the folder list 23 as a folder list 28. Further, the folder attribute display unit 27 stores the folder opening date and time, the latest mail reception date and time, and the latest mail transmission as attribute information stored in the folder attribute storage unit of the folder 24 for each incident at a position corresponding to the list-displayed folder. The user ID (mail address) is displayed.
[0030]
As a specific example, next to the display of the folder whose incident folder ID is A, the opening date and time is 13:30 on 2002/06/20, the latest mail receiving date and time is 10:15 on 2002/06/25, and the latest mail is sent. User ID (mail address) is mmm @ sc. co. jp, is displayed.
Here, assuming that this screen display is on June 26, the status of the incident corresponding to folder A on the folder list display screen is that the latest mail exchange was performed yesterday, June 25, Six days have passed since the folder was opened, and the sender of the last mail is the mail address mmm @ sc. co. It can be seen that the person is the person in charge of the center staff having jp. That is, yesterday, the person in charge of the center sent a response mail several times, and it can be seen that the response status of this incident is awaiting contact from the customer.
[0031]
In addition to the display of the e-mail address on the screen, what is displayed as answer or question is the e-mail address as described above, and it is clear whether it is a response mail from the center or an inquiry e-mail from the customer, but more For the sake of clarity, it is automatically determined whether or not the address is the center staff, and if the sender is one of the center staff, this includes an answer mail or a reverse question on the content of the question, but in any case It is clearly displayed that the mail has been sent from the center to the customer. Of course, in other cases, the question is displayed as a question or inquiry mail from the customer.
[0032]
In addition, outgoing mail from the center is treated as received mail in the same way as received mail from customers, but it can be realized by specifying the center itself as the destination of the copy of outgoing mail as an operation method It is.
FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the folder sorting operation at the time of mail reception. The operation will be described according to the step numbers.
[0033]
Upon receiving the mail, the inquiry center system 32 checks in step S40 whether the character string of the title of the mail includes a character string indicating the incident ID. For this character string, a character that is not normally used as a character string in a title, such as “#INC”, is selected. The incident ID is used to distinguish incidents by using a number that is followed by a number of digits.
[0034]
That is, if the character string #INC is included somewhere in the title character string, this mail is a part of the mail to which the incident number has already been assigned and the inquiry and answer are exchanged between the customer and the center. Interpret as
First, when a normal mail without this character string is received, a person in charge of the center is made to determine in step S41 whether the mail requires a new incident setting or a mere message according to the contents of the mail.
[0035]
In particular, if the mail is not handled as an incident, it is stored as a general mail in the common reception folder in step S42.
If opening of a folder is required as a new incident, a folder opening process is started, and a new incident ID is issued in step S43.
Then, in step S44, a new incident ID is added as a folder selection condition to the folder list for storing the folder sorting criteria, and in step S45, a new folder is opened and a folder ID is given. The folder ID is a name for distinguishing the folder, and a character string representing the content of the incident is used so that the person in charge of the center can recognize the folder ID when displayed. For example, if the question is about the method of changing the image size, the question may be “image size question”.
[0036]
The first mail received in step S46 is stored in the opened folder, the folder attribute is first set in step S47, and the opening date and time, the reception date and time and the sender ID are stored with the same value.
If the incident number has already been added to the title in step S40, the process proceeds to step S48. Here, mails are sorted and stored in folders by incident ID. That is, a folder selection criterion is searched for with reference to the folder list 23 as a mail distribution criterion, and if there is one that matches the incident ID character string in the title, it is stored in the corresponding folder.
[0037]
In step S49, the attribute of the stored folder is updated to update the latest reception date and time and the latest sender ID.
By doing so, although not shown in the flowchart, when the folder list is displayed in response to the set display mode or the request by the operation of the center staff, as shown in FIG. The contents of the incident are displayed as a list by the list display, and the date and time when the incident was opened, the date and time when the latest received mail was received, and the sender are displayed for each folder.
[0038]
As described above, the inquiry center supporting the product exchanges e-mails for inquiries from customers started by receiving e-mails in different folders as responses to raised problems, questions, requests, inquiries, etc. When storing, organizing, recording, and processing, it is understood that the incidents to be examined and answered can be efficiently selected by only looking at the list of folders and without the need to open each folder.
[0039]
(Appendix 1)
Storing the received mail in a plurality of folders based on a preset sorting criterion, storing identification information indicating the latest sender as attribute information of the folder to be stored;
Displaying a list of folders in which the mail is divided and stored, displaying identification information indicating the latest sender stored and held as attribute information for each folder;
A mail response status display program characterized by operating.
[0040]
(Supplementary Note 2) The step of displaying the identification information indicating the latest sender includes adding identification information indicating an answer when the identification information indicating the latest sender matches any of the identification information of the senders stored in advance. 3. A mail response status display program according to claim 1, wherein the program is displayed, and if not matched, identification information indicating an inquiry is added and displayed.
[0041]
(Supplementary Note 3) The step of storing the attribute information of the folder includes storing the latest storage date and time of the mail stored separately,
3. The mail response status display program according to claim 1, wherein the displaying step further displays the latest storage date and time stored as the attribute information.
[0042]
(Supplementary Note 4) The storing step may store the storage date and time of the mail stored first in the corresponding folder, and the displaying step may display the storage date and time of the mail stored first. The mail response status display program according to any one of supplementary notes 1 to 3, characterized in that:
(Supplementary note 5) The mail response status display program according to any one of Supplementary notes 1 to 4, wherein the displaying step displays the attribute information near a display position of a corresponding folder.
[0043]
(Supplementary Note 6) When the character string set corresponding to each folder is included in the character string of the mail title,
6. The mail response status display program according to any one of Supplementary notes 1 to 5, wherein the mail is stored in a folder corresponding to the mail.
(Supplementary Note 7) A mail response status display program that stores received mails in a plurality of folders based on a preset sorting criterion, and displays a list of folders in which the mails are stored. On the computer,
When the received mail is sorted and stored in the folder when the character string set corresponding to each folder in advance is included in the character string of the mail title, the attribute information of the folder indicates the latest sender of the mail. Holding the identification information and the latest storage date and time of the email;
When displaying a list of folders in which the mails are separately stored, the corresponding folders are displayed by using the identification information indicating the latest sender stored in association with each folder and the latest storage date and time of the mail as attribute information. Displaying a mail response status in the vicinity of the position.
[0044]
(Supplementary Note 8) A mail response status display method for storing received mails in a plurality of folders based on a preset sorting criterion, and displaying a list of folders storing the sorted mails,
When the received mail is sorted and stored in the folder when the character string set corresponding to each folder in advance is included in the character string of the mail title, the attribute information of the folder indicates the latest sender of the mail. Storing the identification information and the latest storage date and time of the mail;
When displaying a list of folders in which the mails are separately stored, the corresponding folders are displayed by using the identification information indicating the latest sender stored in association with each folder and the latest storage date and time of the mail as attribute information. Displaying the mail response status in the vicinity of the position.
[0045]
(Appendix 9)
Storing the received mail in a plurality of folders based on a preset sorting criterion, storing identification information indicating the latest sender as attribute information of the folder to be stored;
Displaying a list of folders in which the mail is divided and stored, displaying identification information indicating the latest sender stored and held as attribute information for each folder;
A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for operating a computer is recorded.
[0046]
(Supplementary Note 10) A mail response status display program that stores received mails in a plurality of folders based on a preset sorting criterion, and displays a list of folders in which the mails are stored. On the computer,
When the received mail is sorted and stored in the folder when the character string set corresponding to each folder in advance is included in the character string of the mail title, the attribute information of the folder indicates the latest sender of the mail. Holding the identification information and the latest storage date and time of the email;
When displaying a list of folders in which the mails are separately stored, the corresponding folders are displayed by using the identification information indicating the latest sender stored in association with each folder and the latest storage date and time of the mail as attribute information. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for operating the step of displaying near the position.
[0047]
(Supplementary Note 11) Received mail sorting storage means for sorting received mail into a plurality of folders based on a preset sorting criterion, and storing the received mail.
Folder attribute information storage means for storing, as attribute information of each folder, identification information indicating the sender of the latest mail for each folder in which the received mail is stored separately;
Folder list display means for displaying a list of information for identifying a folder in which the mail is classified and stored;
Latest mail sender identification information display means for displaying identification information indicating the sender of the latest mail stored as attribute information for each folder, in association with each folder identification information displayed in the list,
A mail response status display device comprising:
[0048]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, since the response status for each incident is stored as the attribute of the folder that stores the mail for each incident separately, it is displayed along with the folder list. At a glance at the attributes of each folder, you can see the response status of each incident email without opening each folder, and you can easily know the necessity of responding. It works.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an operation image of an “inquiry center” according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a folder sorting operation at the time of mail reception.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Mail reception
2 Classification criteria for mail folders
3 Steps for storing separately in mail folders
4. Step of updating and storing the attributes of the stored mail folder
5 mail folder group (mail + attribute)
6 Folder list display instruction
7 Display device
8 Steps to list folders
9 Step of displaying attribute information for each folder

Claims (5)

On the computer,
Storing the received mail in a plurality of folders based on a preset sorting criterion, storing identification information indicating the latest sender as attribute information of the folder to be stored;
Displaying a list of folders in which the mail is divided and stored, displaying identification information indicating the latest sender stored and held as attribute information for each folder;
A mail response status display program characterized by operating. The step of storing as the attribute information of the folder further stores the latest storage date and time of the mail stored separately,
2. The mail response status display program according to claim 1, wherein the displaying step displays the latest storage date and time stored as the attribute information. 3. The mail response status display program according to claim 1, wherein the displaying step displays the attribute information near a display position of a corresponding folder. When the character string set corresponding to each folder is included in the character string of the mail title,
The mail response status display program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the mail is stored separately in the corresponding folder. A mail response status display method of storing received mails in a plurality of folders based on a preset sorting criterion, and displaying a list of folders storing the sorted mails,
When the received mail is stored separately in the folder when the character string set in advance for each folder is included in the character string of the mail title, the attribute information of the folder indicates the latest sender of the mail. Storing the identification information and the latest storage date and time of the mail;
When displaying a list of folders in which the mails are separately stored, the corresponding folders are displayed by using the identification information indicating the latest sender stored in association with each folder and the latest storage date and time of the mail as attribute information. Displaying the mail response status in the vicinity of the position.

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