JP2005216249A - Information distribution device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a push type information distribution device which can solve the problem of conventional pull type information acquisition and can be easily applied to an existing mail server, a database server or the like. <P>SOLUTION: This information distribution device is provided with: a mail receiving means for receiving mail transmitted to a mail address for push and having no function for storing all received pieces of mail; and a message transmitting means for, when the mail is received by the mail receiving means, transmitting a message to identify the received mail to a terminal preliminarily associated with the mail address for push. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information distribution apparatus.

  With the development of information and communication technology, an environment has been established that allows easy access to mail servers and corporate database servers from mobile terminals (cell-phones with Web access functions, etc.), and owns multiple mail accounts. It's getting harder to do.

  By the way, in order to know the status of incoming mail to the mail server, data update to the database, etc., it is generally necessary for the user to connect to the mail server or the database server from his / her mobile terminal for confirmation. That is, the user pulls out information from the system side, which is a so-called pull type. In general, mail services provided by mobile phone companies are designed to notify incoming calls to mobile phones. However, mail services provided by general companies and Internet service providers have a function to notify incoming calls. It is not done.

On the other hand, unlike the pull type described above, a technique of performing push type information distribution to a mobile terminal is also disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-32750 A

  By the way, when the above pull type information acquisition is performed, there are the following problems.

  In other words, since the user does not know when the incoming mail to the mail server or the data update to the database will be performed, the mail server or database at regular intervals or at any time regardless of whether there is an incoming mail or data update. There is a problem that it is necessary to perform a useless operation in spite of the fact that it is necessary to check by connecting to the server, and in most cases, it is a flick that does not receive new mail or update data. . Some mail software (mailers) for personal computers are equipped with a function that automatically connects to a mail server at regular intervals to automatically check for incoming mail. In many simple web browsers, such a function is not added.

  Also, in order to know that there was an incoming mail or data update for the first time when connected to the mail server or database server, depending on the time interval to be confirmed, it is not real-time, but to obtain urgent information Was inappropriate.

  Furthermore, since many connections for confirmation are made, there is a problem that a lot of traffic is generated that exceeds the effective communication many times and a load is imposed on the network.

  In addition, many web connection services used from mobile terminals are charged a communication fee (packet fee) according to the amount of transfer packets. There was also a problem that unnecessary charging occurred.

  On the other hand, according to the push type information distribution system described in Patent Document 1, the above problem seems to be solved, but such a push type distribution function is provided for each mail server or database server. In reality, it is difficult to realize. That is, in general, users use a plurality of mail services of any Internet service provider that they personally subscribe to in addition to the mail services of companies or organizations to which they belong. Adding a push-type information distribution mechanism as described above to all mail servers operated by the organization is not easy because the cost for system modification is enormous. is there.

  In the push-type information distribution system described in Patent Document 1 above, the information (content) itself to be transmitted is pushed to an external terminal. Therefore, in companies and organizations that handle highly confidential information, There is also a problem that it is difficult to adopt for security reasons.

  In addition, there is a method of forwarding mail to the mail address of the mobile phone owned by the user when mail arrives from the mail server, or automatically sending mail when there is data update from the database server. According to the incoming call notification function of the mobile phone company, it is possible to do things close to push-type information distribution.

  However, in such mail transfer and transmission, since the information to be transmitted is stored in the mail server of the external mobile phone company, the leakage of confidential information is prevented in mail servers and database servers managed by companies and organizations. From this point of view, there are many places where mail forwarding and automatic mail transmission are prohibited, and it is difficult to adopt.

  The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-described conventional problems, and its object is to solve the problems of conventional pull-type information acquisition and to be applied to existing mail servers, database servers, and the like. Is to provide a push-type information distribution apparatus that is easy to implement.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the information distribution apparatus according to the present invention receives a mail transmitted to a push mail address and stores the entire received mail as described in claim 1. A mail receiving means having no function; and a message transmitting means for transmitting a message for identifying the received mail to a terminal previously associated with the push mail address when the mail receiving means receives the mail. I am doing so.

  As a result, mail servers such as existing Internet service providers and corporate database servers can perform push-type information distribution simply by transferring or sending mail to a push mail address. Since it is not stored on the information distribution apparatus, it can be easily applied from the viewpoint of preventing confidential leakage. Note that the lack of a storage function for the entire received mail also facilitates the construction and operation of the information distribution apparatus. Furthermore, the information pushed to the terminal is a minimum message for identifying the received mail, and the mail text is acquired by the user connecting to the server himself.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there may be provided filtering means for selecting a received mail to which the message is to be transmitted to the terminal in accordance with a preset condition. Thereby, the information to be pushed can be limited to the necessary information.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, message generation means for generating a message from the received mail according to preset conditions can be provided. As a result, the content of the message can be made appropriate and necessary.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the message transmitting means can transmit the message by a short message service. Thereby, when a mobile phone is used as a terminal, a message can be easily transmitted.

  In addition, as described in claim 5, when the terminal fails to receive the message and needs to send another message to the same terminal later, the old message is deleted. Only the latest message can be transmitted when the terminal becomes receivable. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a similar message from being transmitted many times in succession.

  Further, as described in claim 6, when the terminal fails to receive the message and it is necessary to send another message to the same terminal later, a new message is added to the old message. It is possible to transmit a message in which the above is added when the terminal becomes receivable.

  Further, as described in claim 7, when the terminal fails to receive the message and it is necessary to send another message to the same terminal later, the message content is stored. In addition, it is possible to notify that the message is stored when the terminal becomes receivable, and to enable the stored message to be read from the terminal.

  In addition, as described in claim 8, when the terminal fails to receive the message and it is necessary to transmit another message to the same terminal later, the type of message to be notified Each time the old message is deleted and only the latest message is stored, the terminal is notified that the message is stored when it can be received, and the stored message can be read from the terminal can do.

  In addition, as described in claim 9, when the terminal cannot receive the message and it is necessary to transmit another message to the same terminal later, the terminal can receive the message. It is possible to transmit from the old message at the time, and when the reception completion notification for the message is received from the terminal, the next message is transmitted.

  In addition, as described in claim 10, an application in the terminal can be activated by the message, and a predetermined operation defined in the application can be performed. Thereby, it is possible to automatically acquire information and the like without depending on the manual operation of the user.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a push-type information distribution apparatus that can solve the problems of conventional pull-type information acquisition and can be easily applied to existing mail servers, database servers, and the like.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an information distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, an information distribution system is configured by connecting an information distribution device 1, an external server 2, and a terminal 3 to a network 4 via a wired or wireless connection.

  Here, the information distribution device 1 is a device that performs push-type information distribution to the terminal 3, and is transferred or transmitted from the external server 2 to a push mail address distributed in advance to the user of the terminal 3. It has a function to receive e-mail. In that sense, it can be said to be a kind of mail server, but in principle, it does not have a storage function (mailbox) for the entire received mail. This is because some received mails require attention from the point of view of preventing confidential leaks, such as those that are forwarded from corporate mail servers, etc. This is to make it easy to allow transfer settings to a mail address for push in a company mail server. Further, the service providing side that installs and operates the information distribution apparatus 1 has an advantage that the system construction cost and the operation cost can be kept low.

  Further, when the information delivery apparatus 1 receives a mail addressed to the push mail address from the external server 2, the information distribution apparatus 1 shorts a message for identifying the received mail to the terminal 3 previously associated with the push mail address. It has a function of transmitting by a message service (SMS) or the like. Here, the message that identifies the received mail instead of the mail body is sent because the information pushed to the terminal is the minimum message that can identify the received mail because of security requirements. This is because the user connects to the server and acquires it. In addition, when using a short message service or the like, there is a reason that the number of characters is limited and there are contents unnecessary for the user, so that charging is not generated as much as possible at the time of reception. Note that message transmission is not limited to the short message service, but since the short message service is already generally available for mobile phones, there is an advantage that the system can be easily constructed by using this. .

  On the other hand, the external server 2 is a device to be monitored for state change, and includes a mail server such as a company or an Internet service provider, or a database server of a company. In the case of a mail server, the external server 2 has, in the case of a mail server, a push mail address distributed in advance to the user as a mail transfer destination address to the user by the user of the terminal 3 or the manager of the information distribution apparatus 1. Is set. Further, in the case of a database server, when an event requiring notification such as data update occurs, a function is provided for sending a mail to a push mail address distributed in advance to a user to be notified. The mail transfer or transmission protocol is not limited, but existing equipment can be used as it is by using SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) which is widely used in general.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the information distribution apparatus 1. The mail receiving server 11 that receives mail transferred or transmitted from the external server 2 to the push mail address, A message generation server 13 that receives a message generation request and generates a message, and a message transmission server 15 that receives a message transmission request from the message generation server 13 and transmits a message to the terminal 3 are provided.

  Further, the mail receiving server 11 has a filtering function for selecting received mail to be transmitted to the terminal 3 from received mails according to preset conditions, and stores the conditions at that time. A push condition database 12 is provided. The contents of the push condition database 12 include, for example, “service presence / absence”, “push ON / OFF”, “push filtering condition”, and “push contents”. Note that the filtering function may be provided in the message generation server 13 or the message transmission server 15 without being provided in the mail reception server 11.

  On the other hand, when the terminal 3 is a mobile phone, a message storage unit that temporarily stores the generated message in case the message cannot be received because it is out of service area (out of communication range) 14 and an incoming information server 16 that stores messages as incoming information and makes them accessible from the terminal 3. In addition, a within-area return detection unit 17 is provided for detecting that the terminal 3 has returned to the area. The in-zone return detection unit 17 can be easily realized by obtaining a signal from a basic function for detecting the state of each mobile phone in the mobile phone network.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the operation of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to mail notification. It is assumed that the internal configuration of the information distribution apparatus 1 is as shown in FIG.

  3 and 2, when mail arrives at the mail servers 2A and 2B as the external server 2 (steps S1 and S5), the mail is transferred to the push mail address set in advance. (Steps S2, S6).

  In the information distribution apparatus 1, the mail receiving server 11 receives the mail and refers to the push condition database 12 to determine whether or not to push. If the message is to be pushed, the mail receiving server 11 sends a message generation request to the message generation server 13, and the message generation server 13 generates a message. Here, it is desirable that the message be the minimum necessary number indicating which mail server has received the mail. The message can be read by an application in the terminal 3 and read by the user. The contents of both are the same, but the former is in a machine-readable format and the latter. In case of, it is easy for humans to read and understand. In the latter case, for example, a message such as “A mail has arrived at abc@xxx.ne.jp (1 unread message)” is displayed.

  Next, the message generation server 13 sends a message transmission request to the message transmission server 15, and the message transmission server 15 transmits a message to the terminal 3 (steps S3 and S7).

  In the terminal 3 that has received the message, a dedicated application installed inside is activated, knows which mail server received the mail from the message, accesses the mail servers 2A and 2B in which the mail text is stored, Contents are acquired (steps S4 and S8). Note that when the user of the terminal 3 receives the message, the terminal 3 may be manually operated to access the mail servers 2A and 2B to acquire the contents.

  In this way, the user of the terminal 3 can receive notification of incoming mail for himself / herself in real time only by acquiring a mail address for push in advance and setting forwarding to the mail servers 2A and 2B. Thus, the contents of the mail can be acquired from the mail servers 2A and 2B.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the operation of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to data update notification. It is assumed that the internal configuration of the information distribution apparatus 1 is as shown in FIG.

  4 and 2, when data is updated in the database server 2C as the external server 2 (step S11), mail is transmitted to a preset push mail address (step S12). ). Here, a plurality of terminals 3A, 3B, 3C, etc. are associated with one push mail address, but the number of terminals associated with the push mail address may be one. Needless to say.

  In the information distribution apparatus 1, the mail receiving server 11 receives the mail and refers to the push condition database 12 to determine whether or not to push. If the message is to be pushed, the mail receiving server 11 sends a message generation request to the message generation server 13, and the message generation server 13 generates a message. Here, it is desirable that the message be the minimum necessary value indicating which data in the database server 2C has been updated. The message can be read by an application in the terminal 3 and read by the user. The contents of both are the same, but the former is in a machine-readable format and the latter. In case of, it is easy for humans to read and understand. In the latter case, for example, the message “xxxxx data has been updated” is displayed.

  Next, the message generation server 13 sends a message transmission request to the message transmission server 15, and the message transmission server 15 transmits a message to a plurality of terminals 3A, 3B, 3C, etc. (step S13).

  In the terminals 3A, 3B, 3C, etc. that have received the message, a dedicated application installed therein is activated, knows that the data has been updated in the database server 2C from the message, accesses the database server 2C, and stores the contents. Obtain (step S14). Note that when the user of the terminal 3 receives the message, the terminal 3A, 3B, 3C, etc. may be manually operated to access the database server 2C to acquire the updated content.

  As described above, when an event such as data update occurs in the database server 2C in advance, the terminals 3A, 3B, 3C, etc. are simply sent to the user's push mail address to be notified of the event. Can receive notification of data update in the database server 2C in real time, and can acquire the update contents from the database server 2C.

  Next, FIG. 5 to FIG. 9 show examples of measures when the message cannot be received because the terminal 3 is out of the service area. That is, in a general short message service or the like, a message that has not been normally transmitted is retransmitted when the terminal returns to the service area. When performing the minimum necessary notification such as data update, a similar message (for example, a simple message such as “There is a new mail on the server”) may be sent over and over again. Since this is unnecessary and troublesome for the user, such a situation is avoided. 5 to 9 show a case in which a mail server is assumed as the external server 2 and a message that a mail has been received is notified as a message. However, even when a data update of the database server is notified. Needless to say, the same applies.

  FIG. 5 shows a case where the terminal 3 cannot receive the message, and if it is necessary to send another message to the same terminal 3 later, the old message is deleted and only the latest message is displayed by the terminal 3. The transmission is performed when reception becomes possible.

  In FIG. 5, for example, a mail addressed to “abc@xxx.ne.jp” is received at the external server 2 (step S101), and the mail is transferred from the external server 2 to the mail receiving server 11 of the information distribution apparatus 1. (Step S102), the mail receiving server 11 sends a message generation request to the message generation server 13 (Step S103). The message generation server 13 generates a message and sends a message transmission request to the message transmission server 15. (Step S104), the message transmission server 15 transmits a message to the terminal 3 (Step S105). The content of the message is, for example, a machine-readable text equivalent to “A mail has arrived at abc@xxx.ne.jp. (1 unread message)” or a character string as it is.

  At this time, assuming that the terminal 3 is out of service and cannot receive the message, the arrival of the reception completion notification times out after a predetermined time (step S106).

  In response to this, the message generation server 13 stores the undelivered message in the message storage unit 14 (FIG. 2) (step S107).

  Next, there is another incoming mail addressed to the same external server 2 such as “abc@xxx.ne.jp” (step S108), and the mail is transferred from the external server 2 to the mail receiving server 11 of the information distribution apparatus 1. Then (step S109), the mail receiving server 11 sends a message generation request to the message generation server 13 (step S110), and the message generation server 13 generates a message. However, since the terminal 3 is out of the service area, a message transmission request is not made, and an old message is deleted from the message storage unit 14 and a new message is stored (step S111).

  Thereafter, when the terminal 3 returns to the area, the message generation server 13 receives the area return signal from the terminal 3 via the area return detection unit 17 (FIG. 2) (step S112). Thereby, the message generation server 13 sends a message transmission request to the message transmission server 15 (step S113), and the message transmission server 15 transmits a message to the terminal 3 (step S114). The content of the message is, for example, a machine-readable text equivalent to “A-mail has arrived at abc@xxx.ne.jp. (2 unread messages)” or a character string as it is.

  In the terminal 3 that has received the message, a dedicated application is activated to access the external server 2 and acquire information (step S115). Note that the user of the terminal 3 may operate the terminal 3 to access the external server 2 and acquire information.

  FIG. 6 shows a case where the terminal 3 cannot receive the message, and when it is necessary to transmit another message to the same terminal 3 later, the terminal 3 displays a message in which a new message is added to the old message. The transmission is performed when reception becomes possible. In other words, in the countermeasure example shown in FIG. 5, the old message is deleted and only the new message is transmitted. Therefore, when monitoring the incoming mail status of a plurality of mail servers, the old message is deleted. If this happens, the contents to be transmitted in the message will not be transmitted, but such inconvenience is eliminated in the countermeasure example of FIG.

  In FIG. 6, one of the external servers 2 has an incoming mail addressed to “abc@xxx.ne.jp” (step S201), and the mail is transferred from the external server 2 to the mail receiving server 11 of the information distribution apparatus 1. Then (step S202), the mail reception server 11 sends a message generation request to the message generation server 13 (step S203), and the message generation server 13 generates a message and sends a message to the message transmission server 15. The message transmission server 15 transmits a message to the terminal 3 (step S205). The content of the message is, for example, a machine-readable text equivalent to “A mail has arrived at abc@xxx.ne.jp. (1 unread message)” or a character string as it is.

  At this time, assuming that the terminal 3 is out of service and cannot receive the message, the arrival of the reception completion notification times out after a predetermined time (step S206).

  In response to this, the message generation server 13 stores the undelivered message in the message storage unit 14 (step S207).

  Next, another external server 2 receives a mail addressed to the same user but a different mail address, for example, “xyz@yyy.co.jp” (step S208). The mail from the external server 2 to the information distribution apparatus 1 is received. When the mail is transferred to the receiving server 11 (step S209), the mail receiving server 11 sends a message generation request to the message generation server 13 (step S210), and the message generation server 13 generates a message. However, since the terminal 3 is out of service area, a message transmission request is not made, and a new message is added to the old message stored in the message storage unit 14 and stored (step S211).

Thereafter, when the terminal 3 returns to the service area, the message generation server 13 receives the service area return signal from the terminal 3 via the service area return detection unit 17 (step S212). Thereby, the message generation server 13 sends a message transmission request to the message transmission server 15 (step S213), and the message transmission server 15 transmits a message to the terminal 3 (step S214). The content of the message is, for example, “A mail has arrived at abc@xxx.ne.jp. (1 unread message)
An email has arrived at xyz@yyy.co.jp. (1 unread)
It is a machine readable equivalent of or a character string as it is.

  Upon receiving the message, a dedicated application is activated to access each external server 2 in response to two mail arrival notifications and acquire information (step S215). Note that the user of the terminal 3 may operate the terminal 3 to access the external server 2 and acquire information.

  FIG. 7 shows a case where the terminal 3 cannot receive the message, and when it is necessary to transmit another message to the same terminal 3 later, the message content is stored so that the terminal 3 can receive the message. At this point, it is notified that the message has been accumulated, and the accumulated message can be read out from the terminal 3. In other words, in the countermeasure example shown in FIG. 6, messages are added, but the number of characters that can be used as a message is limited (up to 140 bytes in the case of short message service). It is an example.

  In FIG. 7, one of the external servers 2 has an incoming mail addressed to “abc@xxx.ne.jp” (step S301), and the mail is transferred from the external server 2 to the mail receiving server 11 of the information distribution apparatus 1. Then (step S302), the mail receiving server 11 sends a message generation request to the message generation server 13 (step S303).

  The message generation server 13 first requests the incoming information server 16 to write incoming information (step S304), and the incoming information server 16 stores the information (step S305).

  Next, the message generation server 13 generates a message and sends a message transmission request to the message transmission server 15 (step S306), and the message transmission server 15 transmits the message to the terminal 3 (step S307). The content of the message is, for example, a machine-readable text equivalent to “there is a new mail”, or a character string as it is, and only notifies the incoming call.

  At this time, assuming that the terminal 3 is out of service area and cannot receive the message, the reception completion notification times out after a predetermined time (step S308).

  Next, another external server 2 receives a mail addressed to the same user but a different mail address, for example, “xyz@yyy.co.jp” (step S309), and the mail from the external server 2 to the information distribution apparatus 1 is received. When the mail is transferred to the receiving server 11 (step S310), the mail receiving server 11 sends a message generation request to the message generation server 13 (step S311).

  The message generation server 13 requests the incoming information server 16 to write incoming information (step S312), and the incoming information server 16 adds the new incoming information to the old incoming information and stores it (step S313). Since 3 is out of service area, the message generation server 13 does not make a message or send a message.

  Thereafter, when the terminal 3 returns to the service area, the message generation server 13 receives the service area return signal from the terminal 3 via the service area return detection unit 17 (step S314). Thereby, the message generation server 13 sends a message transmission request to the message transmission server 15 (step S315), and the message transmission server 15 transmits a message to the terminal 3 (step S316). The content of the message is, for example, a machine-readable text equivalent to “there is a new mail”, or a character string as it is, and only notifies the incoming call.

  Upon receiving the message, a dedicated application is activated to access the incoming information server 16 (step S317), acquire incoming information (step S318), and access each external server 2 according to the incoming information. Information is acquired (step S319). The user of the terminal 3 may operate the terminal 3 to access the incoming call information server 16 and the external server 2 to acquire information.

  FIG. 8 shows a case where the terminal 3 cannot receive a message, and when it is necessary to send another message to the same terminal 3 later, an old message is deleted for each type of message to be notified. Only the latest message is stored, and when the terminal 3 becomes receivable, the fact that the message is stored is notified, and the stored message can be read from the terminal 3.

  In FIG. 8, there is an incoming mail addressed to “abc@xxx.ne.jp” in the external server 2 (step S401), and the mail is transferred from the external server 2 to the mail receiving server 11 of the information distribution apparatus 1. (Step S402), the mail reception server 11 sends a message generation request to the message generation server 13 (Step S403). The message generation server 13 generates a message and sends a message transmission request to the message transmission server 15. (Step S404), the message transmission server 15 transmits a message to the terminal 3 (Step S405).

  At this time, if it is assumed that the terminal 3 is out of service and cannot receive the message, the arrival of the reception completion notification times out after a predetermined time (step S406), but the message generation server 13 sends the mail separately from the arrival of the message. The arrival information is stored in the message storage unit 14 (step S407). At this time, the mail arrival information is stored in the message box BOX1 corresponding to the mail destination “abc@xxx.ne.jp”.

  Next, there is another incoming mail addressed to the external server 2, for example, “xyz@yyy.co.jp” (step S408), and the mail is sent from the external server 2 to the mail receiving server 11 of the information distribution apparatus 1. When forwarded (step S409), the mail receiving server 11 makes a message generation request to the message generation server 13 (step S410).

  However, since the terminal 3 is out of service area, the message generation server 13 does not make a message and does not send a message, and mail arrival information is stored in the message box BOX2 corresponding to the mail destination “xyz@yyy.co.jp”. Are stored (step S411). The contents of the message box BOX1 are stored as they are.

  Next, there is another incoming mail addressed to the same external server 2 such as “xyz@yyy.co.jp” (step S412), and the mail is transferred from the external server 2 to the mail receiving server 11 of the information distribution apparatus 1. Then (step S413), the mail receiving server 11 sends a message generation request to the message generation server 13 (step S414).

  Also in this case, the message generation server 13 does not make a message and does not send a message, deletes the old mail arrival information in the message box BOX2 corresponding to the mail destination “xyz@yyy.co.jp”, and creates a new one. Mail arrival information is accumulated (step S415). The contents of the message box BOX1 are stored as they are.

  Thereafter, when the terminal 3 returns to the service area, the message generation server 13 receives the service area return signal from the terminal 3 via the service area return detection unit 17 (step S416). Thereby, the message generation server 13 sends a message transmission request to the message transmission server 15 (step S417), and the message transmission server 15 transmits a message to the terminal 3 (step S418).

  In the terminal 3 that has received the message, a dedicated application is activated to access the external server 2 and acquire information (step S419). Note that the user of the terminal 3 may operate the terminal 3 to access each external server 2 and acquire information.

  Further, when the size of the message increases, the message generation server 13 is accessed from the terminal 3 to acquire the mail arrival information, and the external server 2 is accessed according to the mail arrival information to acquire the information. It may be.

  In FIG. 8, the message box is switched for each e-mail address. However, e-mails from the external server 2 such as application types, e.g. e-mail applications for e-mail notifications, and database access applications for database update notifications, are displayed. Switching can be made according to any sortable item.

  FIG. 9 shows a case where the terminal 3 cannot receive the message, and when it is necessary to transmit another message to the same terminal 3 later, the old message is transmitted when the terminal 3 becomes receivable. When the terminal 3 receives a reception completion notification for the message, the next message is transmitted.

  In FIG. 9, one of the external servers 2 has an incoming mail addressed to, for example, “abc@xxx.ne.jp” (step S501), and the mail is transferred from the external server 2 to the mail receiving server 11 of the information distribution apparatus 1. When received (step S502), the mail receiving server 11 sends a message generation request to the message generation server 13 (step S503), and the message generation server 13 generates a message and sends a message to the message transmission server 15. Is transmitted (step S504), and the message transmission server 15 transmits a message to the terminal 3 (step S505). The content of the message is, for example, a machine-readable text equivalent to “A mail has arrived at abc@xxx.ne.jp. (1 unread message)” or a character string as it is.

  At this time, assuming that the terminal 3 is out of service and cannot receive the message, the arrival of the reception completion notification times out after a predetermined time (step S506).

  In response to this, the message generation server 13 stores the undelivered message in the message storage unit 14 as incoming mail information (step S507).

  Next, for example, a mail addressed to “xyz@yyy.co.jp” is received at another external server 2 (step S508), and the mail is transferred from the external server 2 to the mail receiving server 11 of the information distribution apparatus 1. (Step S509), the mail receiving server 11 sends a message generation request to the message generation server 13 (Step S510), and the message generation server 13 generates a message. However, since the terminal 3 is out of service area, a message transmission request is not made, and a new message is stored in the message storage unit 14 as incoming mail information (step S511). At this time, the old mail incoming information is stored as it is.

  Thereafter, when the terminal 3 returns to the service area, the message generation server 13 receives the service area return signal from the terminal 3 via the service area return detection unit 17 (step S512). As a result, the message generation server 13 sends a message transmission request from the old message stored in the message transmission server 15 (step S513), and the message transmission server 15 transmits the message to the terminal 3 (step S514). . The content of the message is, for example, a machine-readable text equivalent to “A mail has arrived at abc@xxx.ne.jp. (1 unread message)” or a character string as it is.

  Next, when the message is normally received by the terminal 3, a reception completion notification is returned (step S515).

  In response, the message generation server 13 requests the message transmission server 15 to transmit the next message stored (step S516), and the message transmission server 15 transmits the message to the terminal 3 (step S517). ). The content of the message is, for example, a machine-readable text equivalent to “A mail has arrived at xyz@yyy.co.jp (1 unread message)” or a character string as it is.

  Upon receiving the message, a dedicated application is activated and accesses each external server 2 in response to two incoming mail notifications to acquire information (step S519). Note that the user of the terminal 3 may operate the terminal 3 to access the external server 2 and acquire information.

  The present invention has been described above by the preferred embodiments of the present invention. While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, various modifications and changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims. Obviously you can. In other words, the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the details of the specific examples and the accompanying drawings.

It is a block diagram of the information delivery system concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of an information delivery apparatus. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of embodiment which applied this invention to the notification of mail arrival. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of embodiment which applied this invention to the notification of data update. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram (part 1) illustrating a countermeasure example when a terminal cannot receive a message. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram (part 2) illustrating a countermeasure example when a terminal cannot receive a message. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram (part 3) illustrating a countermeasure example when the terminal cannot receive a message. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram (part 4) illustrating a countermeasure example when the terminal cannot receive a message. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram (part 5) illustrating a countermeasure example when the terminal cannot receive a message.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information delivery apparatus 11 Mail receiving server 12 Push condition database 13 Message generation server 14 Message storage part 15 Message transmission server 16 Incoming information server 17 Return detection part 2 External server 2A Mail server 2B Mail server 2C Database server 21 Database 3 Terminal 3A Terminal 3B Terminal 3C Terminal 4 Network

Claims (10)

A mail receiving means for receiving a mail sent to a push mail address and not having a storage function for the entire received mail;
An information distribution apparatus comprising: a message transmission unit configured to transmit a message for identifying a received mail to a terminal previously associated with the push mail address when the mail reception unit receives the mail. .   The information distribution apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a filtering unit that selects a received mail to which the message is to be transmitted to the terminal based on a preset condition.   The information distribution apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a message generation unit configured to generate a message from the received mail in accordance with a preset condition.   4. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the message transmission unit transmits the message by a short message service.   If the terminal fails to receive the message and it is necessary to send another message to the same terminal later, the old message is deleted and the terminal can receive only the latest message. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information distribution apparatus transmits the information at a point in time.   If the terminal fails to receive the message and it is necessary to send another message to the same terminal later, the terminal can receive a message in which a new message is added to the old message. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information distribution apparatus transmits the information at a point in time.   If the terminal fails to receive the message and it is necessary to send another message to the same terminal later, the message content is stored and the terminal becomes ready for reception. The information distribution apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a message that the message is stored is notified, and the stored message can be read from the terminal.   If the terminal fails to receive the message and you need to send another message to the same terminal later, delete the old message for each type of message to be notified and only the latest message 5. The message according to claim 1, wherein the message is stored when the terminal becomes receivable, and the stored message can be read from the terminal. The information distribution apparatus as described in any one of Claims.   If the terminal fails to receive the message and it is necessary to send another message to the same terminal later, the old message is sent when the terminal is ready to receive the message. 5. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a next message is transmitted when a reception completion notification is received from the terminal.   The information distribution apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein an application in the terminal is activated by the message, and a predetermined operation defined in the application is performed.

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