JP2007013233A - Facsimile server - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile server capable of easily executing paperless reception. <P>SOLUTION: When facsimile or Internet facsimile transmission is received, if automatic delivery is set at OFF, a received original document is printed out (steps 101-103). If the automatic delivery is set at ON and a narrowing-down condition of the automatic delivery is not set, the received original document is subjected to delivery processing (steps 104 and 105). If the narrowing-down condition is set and a destination table narrowing-down condition is set at OFF, the delivery processing is executed on another narrowing-down condition, e. g. whether or not a set transmission source number match (steps 106 and 107). If the destination narrowing-down condition is set at ON, it is determined whether or not TSI (transmission source information) or the e-mail address of a transmission source has already registered on a telephone directory destination table, and it has been registered on the destination table, the delivery processing is executed (steps 110 and 111). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a facsimile server, and more particularly, to a facsimile server capable of delivering a fax or mail received based on set conditions to a user's personal folder or a shared folder, or for printing out.

  Recently, facsimile systems have spread in offices and the like, and play a useful role in data communication. Such a system is configured by connecting a facsimile server or a terminal device so-called client personal computer through a communication network such as a LAN. The facsimile server transfers data received by facsimile to a client personal computer or When data specifying a transfer destination is received from a personal computer, the received data is transmitted to the specified transfer destination.

Such a facsimile server is usually provided with a network board having a web server function. When a fax / mail is received, the facsimile server not only prints out but also forwards it to another facsimile apparatus according to the distribution setting, or the network board. A paperless reception function is provided in which image data is temporarily stored in a user's personal folder or shared folder, and the user accesses the network board storage location to capture the image data (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).
JP 2001-186320 A

As mentioned above, the facsimile server is equipped with a paperless reception function, and the conditions for performing this paperless reception are all fax numbers and email addresses, and the destination fax number and email address that are set in advance. However, the number of cases that can be registered as senders is usually about 5 for each of fax and e-mail, and many senders cannot be registered, which is sufficient for paperless reception conditions. It was not a thing.
In addition, in order to perform the distribution processing as described above, it is necessary to register conditions for each transmission source, and there is a problem that maintenance and management of distribution conditions becomes troublesome when the number of target transmission sources increases. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a facsimile server that can easily perform paperless reception.

  In order to achieve the above object, the facsimile server of the invention according to claim 1 is a facsimile server provided with a control means for distributing received data based on a set condition, and the telephone book narrowing is set. If there is, the control means collectively receives paperless reception for the destinations registered in the telephone directory.

Further, the facsimile server of the invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the facsimile server according to claim 1, it is possible to select whether or not to set down a telephone directory.
A facsimile server according to a third aspect of the present invention is the facsimile server according to the first aspect, wherein the received data stored in the storage unit inside the device is left when the received destination is registered in the telephone directory. If not registered in the telephone directory, the received data held in the storage unit inside the device is deleted.

  According to the facsimile server of the invention according to claims 1 to 3 of the present invention, it is possible to select whether or not to enter the fax number and mail address of the telephone book registered separately in the paperless reception condition, and paperless reception When selected as a condition, it is determined whether the recipient fax number (TSI) and recipient email address are registered in the phone book when fax reception or Internet fax reception is performed. Paperless reception is possible, especially without having to set delivery conditions, easily transfer the received data to another facsimile machine, or save it in the user's personal folder or shared folder Can do.

  Embodiments in which the facsimile server of the present invention is applied to a digital multifunction machine will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration example of a system including a digital multifunction peripheral, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the digital multifunction peripheral.

  In the network configuration diagram shown in FIG. 1, 1 is a digital multifunction peripheral, 2, 3, 4... Are personal computers, 5 is a public switched telephone network (PSTN), 6 is a LAN (Local Area Network), and 7 is an Internet network. is there. The digital multi-function peripheral 1 has copy mode, printer mode, and fax mode functions, and also has a mail transmission / reception function, and is connected to the PSTN 5 and the LAN 6, and a plurality of personal computers 2, 3, 4.・ ・ Is connected. The LAN 6 is also connected to the Internet network 7, and the digital multi-function peripheral 1 can send and receive mail via the Internet network 7.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the control system of the digital multi-function peripheral 1. As shown in the figure, the digital multi-function peripheral 1 has a CPU 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, and a display. An operation unit 14, a reading unit 15, an image memory 16, a recording unit 17, a codec 18, a modem 19, a network control unit NCU 20, a network board 21 and a LAN interface (I / F) 22 are configured. Connected.

The CPU 11 controls each part of the hardware of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 via the bus 23 and executes various programs based on the programs stored in the ROM 12. The ROM 12 performs various programs necessary for the operation of the digital multi-function peripheral. Operation messages and the like are stored in advance.
The RAM 13 is composed of SRAM or the like, and stores temporary data generated when the program is executed, and also stores a telephone directory table 24 for storing telephone directory data, and a delivery destination setting when a fax or mail is received. A storage area of the distribution setting table 25 to be stored is provided.

The distribution setting table 25 is a table in which conditions for determining a distribution destination are set based on the fax number of the transmission source and information on the e-mail.
That is, when a fax is received, it is usually difficult to specify a transmission destination user. The e-mail is composed of predetermined header information and body text. The header information includes “Data” indicating the date and time of sending the e-mail, “To” indicating the e-mail destination, and the sender of the e-mail. “Subject” indicating additional information such as the “From” and the title of the e-mail, etc. are included. Since the e-mail address is described, the user of the transmission destination cannot be specified.
For this reason, in order to determine the delivery destination from the caller number notification and ISDN subaddress sent from the exchange when receiving an incoming call, the source number sent as a TSI signal in the facsimile procedure, the F code subaddress and password, etc. Is set in the distribution setting table 25.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the delivery setting table 25 described above. In this example, when a fax having a TSI of “03-4567-8999” is received between 9 o'clock and 17 o'clock, it is set as a delivery destination. In addition to forwarding to a mail address, printing out, and if you receive an Internet fax containing the letters “abc” in the sender mail address between Monday and Friday, save it in the USER2 folder and print Does not output.
The setting of the distribution setting table 25 is set by the user by inputting from the setting registration screen displayed on the display / operation unit 14 or the setting input screen of the monitor of the personal computer 2, 3, 4, etc. It is possible to register in the table 25.

  On the other hand, the display / operation unit 14 includes a display unit that displays an operation state of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 and displays operation screens of various functions, and a large number of operation keys for operating the digital multi-function peripheral 1. The reading unit 15 includes a reading document placing table such as an auto document feeder (ADF) or a flatbed scanner (FBS), reads a document with a scanner using a CCD or the like, and outputs dot image data.

  The image memory 16 is configured by using a DRAM or the like, and stores image data to be transmitted or received image data or image data read by the reading unit 15, and a recording unit 17 is a printer device such as an electrophotographic system. The received data, copy original data, or print data transmitted from an external personal computer is printed out.

  The codec 18 encodes and decodes in accordance with a predetermined protocol. In order to transmit the image data of the read original, the codec 18 is encoded by the MH, MR, or MMR method, and decodes image data received from the outside. Also, encoding and decoding are also performed in correspondence with the TIFF method, which is an image format generally used as a file that can be attached to an e-mail.

  The modem 19 is connected to the bus 23 and has a function as a fax modem capable of facsimile communication. The modem 19 is also connected to the NCU 20 connected to the bus 23. The NCU 20 is hardware that closes and opens an analog line, and connects the modem 19 to the PSTN 5 as necessary.

  As shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 4, the network board 21 includes a TCP / IP protocol control unit 31, an HTTPD control unit 32, a homepage management unit 33, and a document management unit 34. These units are a CPU, a ROM And a memory such as a RAM, a magnetic disk (hard disk) storage device, and the like.

The TCP / IP protocol control unit 31 controls TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) / IP (Internet Protocol), and the HTTPD control unit 32 uses the data stream transfer function of the TCP / IP protocol control unit 31 to perform HTTPD (Hyper Text Transfer). Protocol Deamon) function is executed, and requests from WWW (World Wide Web) browsers such as personal computers 2, 3, 4 are processed.
Note that HTTPPD is a daemon that provides the functions of an HTTP server, and is used when a web server is operated on a UNIX (registered trademark) operating system.

  In addition, the homepage management unit 33 outputs a homepage file to the HTTPD control unit 32 in response to a homepage request from the HTTPD control unit 32, and the document management unit 34 scans a fax transmission document, a scan by an operation from the main body of the digital multifunction peripheral 1. Documents such as documents, fax / mail received delivery documents, etc. are stored / saved, and the list information of the saved documents is converted into HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) format files in response to a request from the HTTP PD control unit 32. Information output to the control unit 32 and input from the HTTPD control unit 32 is analyzed, and processing such as transfer and deletion of stored documents is performed.

  FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of the document management unit 34. As shown in FIG. 5, the document management unit 34 includes a shared folder 41 and folders 42, 43,... For each user. The received document is stored in each folder according to the setting of the table 25.

  On the other hand, the LAN interface 22 is connected to the LAN 6 and receives data from an external personal computer or a signal from the Internet network 7 via the LAN 6, while transmitting signals and data to the LAN 6. Perform interface processing such as protocol conversion.

  The digital multi-function peripheral 1 has the above-described configuration. When transmitting a facsimile, the image data of the original is read by the reading unit 15, compressed by the codec 18, and stored in the image memory 16. The compressed image data is read from the image memory 16, modulated by the modem 19, and transmitted from the NCU 20 to the communication partner through the PSTN 5. At the time of facsimile reception, if delivery settings are not particularly set, the received image data is demodulated by the modem 19 and stored in the image memory 16, then decoded by the codec 18 and printed by the recording unit 17.

  When receiving an e-mail, distribution to a distribution destination specified based on the setting of the distribution setting table 25, that is, storing a received document in a corresponding folder, and print settings are included in the distribution setting. In this case, printout of the received data by the recording unit 17 is executed.

Next, an operation when the document stored in each folder of the document management unit 34 as described above is viewed from the personal computers 2, 3, 4, etc. will be described.
When the user starts the WWW browser and performs access by specifying the IP address of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 on the WWW browser screen displayed on the monitor of the personal computer 2, for example, the HTTPD control unit 32 of the network board 21 The homepage file described in HTML is read from the homepage management unit 33 and transferred to the personal computer 2 via the TCP / IP protocol control unit 31, the LAN interface 22, and the LAN 6.

When the user selects and gives an instruction to display a list of documents from this home page, the list display instruction information is transferred to the digital multi-function peripheral 1 via the LAN 6, and the HTTPD control unit 32 of the network board 21 detects this. As a result, the HTTP PD control unit 32 instructs the document management unit 34 to transfer the document list, and the document management unit 34 converts the stored document list information into an HTML format file and transfers it to the personal computer 2.
As a result, the document list screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the monitor screen of the personal computer 2.

As shown in FIG. 6, at the top of this document list list screen, a scanned image, a transmission document, a reception document, a shared reception document, a bulletin board, a circulation document, a processing request document, an optional switching tag, “transfer”, and “transmission” Function selection buttons such as “”, “print”, “download”, “delete”, “bulletin board”, “circulation”, “processing request” are displayed. In the lower part of the document list screen, in the case of a transmission document, a destination name, a transmission result, a document classification, the number of pages, a transmission date and time, and the like are displayed.
By selecting the document switching tag on this screen, you can display the document with the desired document classification. After specifying the displayed document, click the “Download” function selection button to specify it. The downloaded document can be downloaded, so that the contents can be confirmed or printed using application software on a personal computer.

On the other hand, the “option” switching tag in the screen of FIG. 6 is a switching tag for performing various settings of the network multifunction device 1 and confirming information. When this tag is clicked, on the monitor screen of the personal computer, A selection screen as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed.
On this selection screen, user information can be set by selecting “user information”, “address book” as a phone book, “forwarding” function, etc., and “communication job” function or “ The “Print Job” function can be selected and set. In addition, “Device information”, “Fax communication history”, and “Mail communication history” can be viewed as device information / history, and “Common”, “Scan”, “Send”, “Communication data” can be viewed as device settings. ”,“ Automatic distribution ”,“ Subject / document classification ”,“ Folder ”,“ Communication data storage ”,“ Shared reception ”,“ Bulletin board ”,“ Circuit / distribution ”,“ Process request ” Can be set. Furthermore, in the environment setting, various environment settings such as “TCP / IP” and “mail option” can be selected and set.

  When the user clicks “automatic delivery” on the option selection screen of FIG. 7, an automatic delivery setting screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. On this screen, the “number” of the automatic distribution setting, the “distribution setting name” of the automatic distribution setting of the number, and whether the distribution setting is valid or invalid are displayed. To modify an already registered distribution setting, click on the number you want to modify to display the modification screen. To create a new distribution setting, click on any unregistered number. Thus, a new distribution setting can be created for that number.

  For example, when the user clicks the number 001, the automatic distribution setting correction screen shown in FIG. 9 is displayed. In this modification screen (same for the new creation screen), check boxes for whether or not to enable distribution settings, a name input field for distribution settings, a search condition setting field, a destination input field, e-mail distribution, and folder distribution File format selection field, printability setting field, application function selection field such as shared document distribution, and period setting field are provided, and after entering and checking necessary items, click "Settings" As a result, the input setting is transmitted to the digital multifunction peripheral 1 and stored in the distribution setting table 25, and then the automatic distribution setting screen of FIG. 8 is displayed again.

On the other hand, in the search conditions of the automatic delivery setting screen of FIG. 9, it is possible to set narrowing conditions. When the user clicks “restriction condition setting” in the received fax or received mail column on the screen of FIG. The setting screen is displayed.
FIG. 10 shows an example of a narrowing condition setting screen when “restriction condition setting” in the received fax column is clicked. In this screen, whether the destination table stored in the phone book table 24 of the RAM 13 is valid is displayed. There are provided a check column for whether or not, five input fields for the sender number and number display, an F code input field, and a search condition check field.
Note that when the “restriction condition setting” in the received mail field is clicked, a sender mail address input field is displayed instead of the sender number, number display, and F code.

  When “ON” is selected for “Address Book Valid” on the screening condition setting screen in FIG. 10 and “OK” is clicked, when a fax or Internet fax is received, the fax number or mail address of the sender is the phone book in the RAM 13. When it is determined whether or not it is stored in the table 24, and the fax number or mail address of the transmission source is stored in the telephone book table 24 of the RAM 13, the distribution destination set on the automatic distribution setting screen of FIG. Automatically delivered.

The operation of the CPU 11 of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 when a fax or Internet fax is received after the above-described distribution setting is performed will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
The CPU 11 always executes the program shown in the flowchart of FIG. 11, and determines whether or not a fax or Internet fax document has been received (step 101). If it is determined that a fax or Internet fax document has been received, the CPU 11 determines whether any of the distribution settings on the automatic distribution setting screen of FIG. If the automatic distribution setting is all OFF, or if the automatic distribution setting is not set, the received document is printed out by the recording unit 17 (step 102). 103).

  On the other hand, if it is determined that any of the automatic distribution settings is ON, the CPU 11 determines whether the effective distribution setting narrowing condition is set, thereby determining whether the narrowing condition is ON or OFF ( If it is determined in step 104) that the narrowing condition is not set, the received document is distributed to the distribution destination set on the automatic distribution setting screen of FIG. 9 (step 105).

If it is determined that the filtering condition is set, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the “address table valid” field in FIG. 10 is ON in the filtering condition, thereby turning on the address table filtering condition. , OFF is determined (step 106), and when it is determined that the destination table narrowing condition is OFF, it is determined whether or not other narrowing conditions, for example, the transmission source number are matched (step 107).
If it is determined that the other narrowing conditions are met, the CPU 11 performs processing for distributing the received document to the distribution destination set on the automatic distribution setting screen in FIG. 9 (step 108), and does not meet the other narrowing conditions. If it is determined, the received original stored in the image memory 16 is deleted (step 109).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 106 that the destination table narrowing condition is ON, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the TSI or the mail address of the transmission source has been registered in the phone book table 24 of the RAM 13 (step 110). If it is determined that the TSI or the mail address of the transmission source has been registered in the phone book table 24 of the RAM 13, the received document is distributed to the distribution destination set on the automatic distribution setting screen of FIG. 9 (step 111), If it is determined that the TSI or sender mail address is not registered in the phone book table 24 of the RAM 13, the received original stored in the image memory 16 is deleted (step 112).
If a plurality of automatic distribution settings are enabled, the automatic distribution setting condition determination is executed sequentially, and after the automatic distribution setting condition determination is completed, the received document is deleted. .

  As described above, if the address list narrowing is set to ON, when fax reception or Internet fax reception is performed, if the other party's fax number (TSI) and the other party's mail address are registered in the phone book, the distribution process is performed. As a result, paperless reception can be performed for the destinations registered in the telephone directory without setting delivery conditions.

In the above embodiment, in the case of Internet fax, automatic delivery is performed based on the mail address of the sender. However, in order to determine the delivery destination from the “Subject” field of the email or the contents described in the text. It is also possible to set the information in the distribution setting table 25.
In the above embodiment, the sender's telephone number and mail address are set as the receiving conditions. However, for example, only the sender's area code or a part of the mail address is used as a condition. It is possible to set various conditions such as setting various conditions.

  Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which the facsimile server of the present invention is applied to a digital multi-function peripheral has been described. Is possible.

1 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration example of a system including a digital multi-function peripheral to which a facsimile server of the present invention is applied. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a digital multifunction peripheral. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a delivery setting table. 2 is a functional block diagram of a network board in a digital multifunction peripheral. FIG. It is a figure which shows the concept of the document management part in a network board. It is a figure which shows an example of a document list list display screen. It is a figure which shows an example of an option selection screen. It is a figure which shows an example of an automatic delivery setting screen. It is a figure which shows an example of the input screen of automatic delivery setting. It is a figure which shows an example of a narrowing-down condition setting screen. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a CPU when receiving a fax or an Internet fax.

Explanation of symbols

1 Digital MFP 2, 3, 4 PC 5 PSTN
6 LAN
7 Internet 11 CPU
12 ROM
13 RAM
14 Display / Operation Unit 15 Reading Unit 16 Image Memory 17 Recording Unit 18 Codec 19 Modem 20 NCU
21 Network board 22 LAN I / F
23 Bus 24 Phonebook table 25 Distribution setting table 31 TCP / IP protocol control unit 32 HTTPD control unit 33 Homepage management unit 34 Document management unit

Claims (3)

A facsimile server comprising a control means for distributing received data based on set conditions,
A facsimile server characterized in that, when telephone book narrowing is set, the control means collectively receives paperless reception for destinations registered in the telephone book. The facsimile server according to claim 1,
A facsimile server characterized in that it is possible to select whether or not to set the telephone directory narrowing. The facsimile server according to claim 1,
If the recipient is registered in the phone book, the received data held in the storage unit inside the device will remain, and if it is not registered in the phone book, the reception held in the storage unit inside the device A facsimile server characterized by deleting data.

Images