JP2008067011A - E-mail system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an e-mail system which is capable of recording history information of an e-mail with a history information database each time the e-mail passes through a data repeater. <P>SOLUTION: A data repeater 12 for relaying the e-mail is installed between an Internet server 10 and a terminal machine 11 in a company, and history information of the relayed e-mail is recorded in a history information database 12a and is displayed on the terminal machine 11 in accordance with authority for reference of members, which is set by an authority setting means 12d. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic mail system for sharing electronic mail transmitted / received by relaying a data relay apparatus installed between an Internet server and a terminal in an enterprise, and more particularly, history of electronic mail relayed by a data relay apparatus The present invention relates to an electronic mail system in which information is recorded in a history information database and the history information is shared between terminals in a company.

  Conventional e-mail systems share received e-mails within a company using software (MUA: Abbreviation of Mail User Agent) that sends and receives e-mails and stores and manages received e-mails. It is.

  In Patent Document 1, for a user, a mail reference authority such as a mail confirmation (browsing) authority and a mail response / processing authority is set in advance, and received for one terminal that is sorted and stored for each category. An electronic mail system that shares mail among a plurality of terminals is disclosed. This e-mail system includes a means for storing e-mail information received or transmitted from a mail server in a storage means, and a past e-mail stored in the storage means based on a reference authority given to a user. And a control means for permitting display of the mail. The e-mail received by the mail server is sorted and stored for each category such as a sender and a business set in advance by the storing means, and stored in a storage means such as a database. Reference authority is given to each user, and authority is set and registered for each category. The control means checks whether or not the user's reference authority is appropriate for each category, and controls so that a plurality of users having the reception authority can simultaneously read the received mail.

Patent Document 2 is equipped with an e-mail storage database for sorting and storing e-mails transmitted and received by a mail server for each work group, and e-mail stored for each work group in the e-mail storage database. An e-mail system is disclosed that is shared among members belonging to each work group. This e-mail system is used for storing e-mail servers and e-mails that are set for multiple workgroups and store e-mails for each workgroup, as well as storage areas that can be accessed from each workgroup E-mails are sorted and stored in the database and the e-mail storage database storage area corresponding to the e-mail storage database corresponding to the e-mail destination work group determined by the e-mail address determination procedure. Have a storage procedure.
JP 2002-044124 A JP 2003-198633 A

  However, as described above, in the conventional electronic mail system, in order to share an electronic mail transmitted / received by one terminal among a plurality of terminals, the electronic mail transmitted / received by the mail server is stored in a storage device, and a past electronic mail is stored. It is necessary to access the storage device via the mail server every time the user is referred to. Therefore, there has been a problem that it is necessary to prepare a storage device such as a database for storing electronic mail data and to provide a process for storing electronic mail from the mail server to the storage device. In addition, when a failure occurs in the mail server, there is a problem that access to the storage device becomes impossible and the electronic mail data cannot be referred to.

  In addition, in the setting method of the e-mail reference authority, the e-mail address of the user who is a member is registered for each work group, or the user who can be referred for each category classified by the contents of the e-mail is registered. Therefore, in the case of a user who can refer to a plurality of workgroups and categories, there is a problem that the setting of reference authority becomes complicated.

  Further, in the search for e-mails, the mail server sorts e-mails by category and saves them in the corresponding area in the storage device. Therefore, if the search target category is unknown, the e-mail is sorted for each sorted area. There was also a problem that had to search for mail.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and transmits / receives an e-mail in which an Internet server of the provider is connected to an internal terminal of the company via the Internet using a provider outside the company. E-mail system or an e-mail system that uses an internet server installed inside the company to send and receive e-mail by connecting the company's internal internet server and the company's internal terminal via the internet In the former case, a router that relays between the outside of the company and the inside of the company, and a data relay device that relays e-mail between the terminal, and in the latter case, an Internet server inside the company The data relay device is installed between the terminal and the data relay device History recording means for recording history information in a history information database, search means for searching for all history information recorded in the history information database under desired conditions, and results retrieved under the desired conditions as the history Solution to solve by sharing e-mails sent and received inside and outside the company, including extraction means for extracting from the information database and display means for displaying the history information extracted by the extraction means on the terminal It is.

  In the present invention, the history information database includes at least transmission date / time, reception date / time, sender name, recipient name, email title, email text, sender email address, recipient email address, or It is composed of items of data size of electronic mail.

  Further, in the present invention, the data relay device includes an affiliated group master that sets a reference range between groups in a company, and an attribute master that sets a reference range in attributes of members of the company, and authority setting means The group authority and the attribute master are combined for each member to set a reference authority, and history information other than the reference range is controlled to be hidden from the terminal.

  Further, in the present invention, the authority setting means includes the member's personal information, an area for designating a group to which the member belongs, an area for designating other groups that the member can view, The reference authority is set on a screen having an area for designating the attribute of the member.

  Further, in the present invention, the search means performs a search only for an e-mail transmitted / received between a desired sender and a desired recipient, and the extraction means transmits the searched e-mail in a time series of transmission / reception. Are extracted and displayed on the display means.

  As described above, in the electronic mail system of the present invention, the data relay device that relays electronic mail is installed between the terminal outside the company or the Internet server installed inside the company and the terminal, thereby providing data. Each time an e-mail passes through the relay device, the e-mail history information can be recorded in the history information database. This makes it possible to easily use each function of the data relay device by simply connecting the data relay device to the network without changing the current settings connected to the provider outside the enterprise and the Internet server inside the enterprise. It is possible to remove the data relay device from the network. In addition, it is not necessary to install a storage device for storing the e-mail in the mail server and to perform processing for storing in the storage device. Furthermore, it is possible to access the data relay device regardless of the failure of the mail server, and share the history information of the emails transmitted and received inside and outside the company.

  According to the present invention, the history information database includes at least a transmission date / time, a reception date / time, a sender name, a recipient name, an email title, an email text, an email address of the sender, an email address of the recipient, By including an item of the mail data size, it is possible to perform detailed search in item units by the search means, and rearrange in ascending order or descending order in item units by the display instruction means. This facilitates limited search and data editing.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, by having the belonging group master that sets the reference range between the groups and the attribute master that sets the reference range in the attribute, it is possible to combine the belonging group master and the attribute master to give reference authority for each member. Can be set. Thereby, different reference authority can be easily set for each member. And since history information without reference authority can be controlled so as not to be displayed on the terminal, it is not necessary to distribute the history information database for each member and manage it by area, and all history information can be managed centrally. .

  Further, according to the present invention, the member's personal information, the area for specifying the group to which the member belongs, the area for specifying the other group that can be viewed by the member, By providing an area for designating the attributes of employees, it is possible to easily set individual reference authority. This makes it easy to operate even if you are not an administrator who is familiar with the system. In particular, it is possible to set the reference authority for each individual by simply selecting the contents of each item on the authority setting screen, so it is ideal for companies that do not have a system administrator as a company member or small and medium-sized companies with few company members. is there.

  In addition, according to the present invention, a search limited to a desired sender and a desired recipient, and the results can be displayed along the time series of sent and received e-mails, so that exchanges between the two can be easily performed. I can grasp. Thereby, even a person other than the person in charge of business or the person can understand the past history from the history information.

  Furthermore, members of the company can share e-mails recorded in the history information database, so even if the person in charge is taking over a business due to a sudden transfer or is absent due to a vacation or business trip, the person in charge A new person in charge or another member can act on behalf of a person. This prevents delays in dealing with customers and shortens the work time that members spend on behalf.

  Furthermore, since the data relay device includes a history information recording function, a management function, and a function for setting different authorities for each member, data can be shared by one device. This eliminates the need to prepare multiple devices for data sharing, making it easy to manage and share history information, even for small and medium businesses that cannot afford to build a network environment or system. Can be realized.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

  First, FIG. 1 shows an electronic mail system of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a configuration diagram showing the first mode, and FIG. 1B is a configuration diagram showing the second mode.

  The electronic mail system according to the present invention includes an Internet server 10 installed in a provider outside the company or inside the company, a terminal 11 connected to the Internet server 10 via the Internet, and between the Internet server 10 and the terminal 11. And a data relay device 12 installed in the network.

  The Internet server 10 is a computer that is installed inside the company shown in FIG. 1A or inside the company shown in FIG. 1B, and provides a client computer with its own functions and data. It is. Specifically, it is a mail server, and the mail server 10 is a computer that is always connected to the Internet and transmits and receives a user's e-mail in its own network.

  The terminal 11 is a computer installed in a company that is connected to the Internet and can send and receive electronic mail. Terminals 11 in the company are connected by a LAN, and data is relayed to / from an external network via a router 13.

  The data relay device 12 is connected between the router 13 and the terminal 11 that relays data inside the company to the mail server 10 of the provider outside the company shown in FIG. 1A, or inside the company shown in FIG. It is installed between the mail server 10 and the terminal 11 and relays an electronic mail transmitted and received between the mail server 10 and the terminal 11 and records the relayed electronic mail information as history information in the history information database 12a. It is a device to do. The data relay device 12 can be used alone without changing the setting of the mail server (Internet server) 10 outside the company or inside the company. The data relay device 12 includes a history information database 12a, a belonging group master 12b, an attribute master 12c, an authority setting unit 12d, a history recording unit 12e, a search unit 12f, an extraction unit 12g, a display unit 12h, And display instruction means 12i.

  The history information database 12a is a set of history information relayed through the data relay device 12, and includes at least transmission date / time, reception date / time, sender name, recipient name, email title, email body, sender email address, receipt Contents such as a person's e-mail address or e-mail data size are managed. The history information database 12a does not divide the area for each member and manages the history information, but manages all the history information in a unified manner.

  The belonging group master 12b is a master that sets a reference range of history information between groups in a company. Specifically, the browsing authority for each group such as the general affairs department, the sales department, and the development group is managed. Details of the affiliated group master 12b will be described later.

  The attribute master 12c is a master that sets a reference range of history information in attributes of members of a company. Specifically, the viewing authority in the attributes such as the chief officer, manager, system administrator, general user, etc. is managed. Details of the attribute master 12c will be described later.

  The authority setting means 12d is a means for setting the reference authority for each member by combining the group master 12b and the attribute master 12c for each member. The authority setting unit 12d performs control so that history information other than the reference range is not displayed on the terminal 11. A specific example of the screen for setting the reference authority of the authority setting means 12d will be described later in detail.

  The history recording means 12e is means for recording the history information of the electronic mail transmitted / received via the data relay device 12 in the history information database 12a.

  The search means 12f is means for instructing a desired search condition and searching whether or not history information corresponding to the search condition exists in the history information database 12a. Specific examples of the screen for setting the search condition of the search unit 12f and the screen for displaying the search result of the display unit 12h will be described in detail later.

  The extraction unit 12g is a unit that extracts the search result of the search unit 12f from the history information database 12a. The data is extracted in the order of data recorded in the history information database 12a, specifically, in order of date and time.

  The display unit 12 h is a unit that displays the history information extracted by the extraction unit 12 g on the display unit of the terminal 11.

  The display instruction unit 12i is a unit that gives an instruction to rearrange the history information displayed on the display unit 12h in ascending order or descending order in item units of the history information database 12a. Specifically, an instruction to sort in ascending order (descending order) by the sender, or an instruction to sort in ascending order (descending order) by the recipient for each sender is given.

  By combining the functions of the above-described means and resources such as a database in one data relay device, costs can be reduced as compared with the case where devices for search and data management are prepared. In addition, by simplifying the operation of the function of each means, it is possible to easily manage the data relay device without having knowledge of a special system, so it is suitable for installation in a small and medium enterprise. And since the contents of the history information database can be shared by the members of the company, it is possible to track past history information even when there is no business person in charge or when the business person is suddenly transferred. You will be able to easily grasp the circumstances of

  Next, FIG. 2 shows an example of a screen for setting the group master and attribute master of the present invention. FIG. 2A is an example of a group master setting screen, and FIG. 2B is an example of an attribute master setting screen.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (A), the group master setting screen 20 includes a group name column 20a, a column 20b indicating permission for browsing to other groups, and a column 20c indicating permission for browsing from other groups. And a correction column 20d.

  In the group name column 20a, a list of groups of companies in which the data relay device 12 is installed is described. Specifically, the general affairs department, the first sales department, the product development group, the human resources department, and the like. If an organizational change or organization name change occurs, press the “Add” or “Delete” button shown in the figure to add a new group or delete an unnecessary group. Prepare the master 12b.

  In the column 20b indicating permission to browse other groups, whether or not permission to browse other groups is set. Specifically, “◯” is set when browsing is permitted, and “X” is set when browsing is not permitted. In the case of the general affairs department, members belonging to the general affairs department indicate that browsing of history information of other groups is permitted.

  In the column 20c indicating permission for viewing from other groups, whether or not viewing permission from other groups is necessary is set. Specifically, “O” or “X” is set in the same manner as in the column 20b indicating permission to browse other groups. In the case of the general affairs department, members belonging to other groups indicate that browsing of the history information of the general affairs department is not permitted.

  The correction column 20d is provided with a button for each group for instructing the change and deletion of the contents of the affiliated group master.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the attribute master setting screen 21 includes a chief officer setting column 21a, a manager setting column 21b, and a system administrator setting column 21c.

  In the setting section 21a for the chief officer, the name of the chief officer of the company and the necessity of permission to view the history information of the chief officer are set. Specifically, “X Yamaichiro”, the company's chief executive, is set not to allow other members to view his / her history information.

  In the manager setting column 21b, the name of the manager and whether or not the manager's history information is permitted to be browsed are set. Specifically, managers “Taro Yamayama, Hanako Ooka” are prohibited from referring to history information other than the group to which the administrator belongs, and other members except the chief executive are It is set to prohibit the reference of information.

  In the system administrator setting column 21c, the name of the system administrator and the necessity of permission to view the history information of all members are set. Specifically, “X Village Kenji” who is a system administrator is given a setting to permit reference to the history information of all members.

  When the above-described attribute master setting is completed, the “set” button at the bottom of the screen is pressed to confirm the setting contents. If the member name is not in the list, the user may be registered by selecting Add User provided on the right side of each column.

  Note that the screen layout illustrated in FIG. 2A or 2B is not limited to this form, and the layout may be different as long as each column is provided.

  Next, FIG. 3 shows an example of a screen for setting authority by the authority setting means of the present invention.

  The authority setting means 12d is a means for setting the reference authority by combining the belonging group master 12b and the attribute master 12c for each member. The authority setting screen 22 by the authority setting means 12d includes the member's personal information 22a, An area 22b for specifying a group to which the member belongs, an area 22c for specifying another group that can be viewed by the member, and an area 22d for specifying the attribute of the member are included. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, it is composed of a member information area 22a, a belonging group setting area 22b, a browsable group setting area 22c, and an attribute setting area 22d.

  The member information area 22a is an area for setting a member's name, reading of the name, an e-mail address, and a password.

  The belonging group setting area 22b is an area for selecting a group to which a member belongs from a group list. In the group list displayed here, the contents of the group master 12b set in FIG. 2A are displayed.

  The group setting area 22c that can be browsed is an area for selecting a group from which the member is permitted to browse history information from the group list, and may be one group or a plurality of groups depending on the member. The group list displayed here is also the one set in FIG.

  The attribute setting area 22d is an area for selecting a member attribute from the attribute list. In the attribute list displayed here, the contents of the attribute master 12c set in FIG. 2B are displayed.

  By setting each area described above, different reference authorities can be easily set for each member. Specifically, Yamataro Taro belongs to the General Affairs Department and is an attribute of general users. 2A, the general affairs department can browse to other groups, but as shown in FIG. 3, in the group setting area 22c that can be viewed, the “general affairs department, By designating as “first sales department”, it is possible to limit the reference range of history information for each individual even in the general affairs department.

  Note that the authority setting screen is not limited to the illustrated form, and the layout may be different as long as it has the member information area 22a, the belonging group setting area 22b, the browsable group setting area 22c, and the attribute setting area 22d. Good.

  Finally, history information retrieval in the electronic mail system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4A is an example of a search condition setting screen by the search means, and FIG. 4B is an example of a screen displaying the search results by the display means.

  The history information is searched by searching the history information database 12a according to the search conditions set by the search means 12f, extracting the history information searched by the extraction means 12g, and searching the display unit of the terminal 11 by the display means 12h. Display the results.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the search condition setting screen 23 has a group, search target, internal staff (or address), external registration name (or address), search character string, target item, period, and attached file. It consists of areas for setting conditions for Specifically, the reception log and the transmission log are set as search targets, the period is August 1, 2006 to August 30, 2006, both attached files are set, and the search button is pressed.

  The search result is displayed on the search result screen 24 as shown in FIG. Specifically, from the left side of the screen, send / receive date / time, sender, recipient, attached file, title, remarks are displayed in this order. , To the previous 50 cases, to the next 50 cases).

  In addition, although the state arranged in descending order by the transmission / reception date and time is illustrated, the display instruction means 12i can also arrange and display in ascending order of the sender name or in order of the remark data.

  Although not shown, the search means 12f can also search history information only for e-mails sent and received between a desired sender and a desired recipient. The search result is extracted along the time series of the transmission / reception date and time by the extraction unit 12g and displayed on the display unit of the terminal 11 by the display unit 12h. Thereby, even a member other than the desired sender or recipient can grasp the history information in chronological order, thereby easily grasping the exchange between the two.

It is the block diagram which shows the (A) 1st form of the electronic mail system of this invention, and the (B) 2nd form. It is an example of the setting screen of (A) belonging group master of this invention, and is an example of the setting screen of (B) attribute master. It is an example of the screen which performs the authority setting according to individual in the authority setting means of this invention. FIG. 4A is an example of a screen for setting search conditions by a search means in the electronic mail system of the present invention, and FIG. 5B is an example of a display screen for search results by a display means.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Internet server 11 Terminal 12 Data relay apparatus 12a History information database 12b Member group master 12c Attribute master 12d Authority setting means 12e History recording means 12f Search means 12g Extraction means 12h Display means 12i Display instruction means 13 Router

Claims (5)

Using an provider outside the company, an Internet system installed inside the company, or an electronic mail system for sending and receiving emails in which the Internet server of the provider is connected to an internal terminal via the Internet In an e-mail system for sending and receiving e-mails connecting the company's internal Internet server and the company's internal terminal via the Internet,
In the former case, a router that relays between the outside of the company and the inside of the company, and a data relay device that relays e-mails between the terminal, and in the latter case, the Internet server and the terminal inside the company The data relay device is installed between the machine and
The data relay device includes history recording means for recording history information of relayed e-mails in a history information database, search means for searching for all history information recorded in the history information database under desired conditions, Extraction means for extracting results retrieved according to desired conditions from the history information database, and display means for displaying history information extracted by the extraction means on the terminal, are transmitted and received inside and outside the company An e-mail system characterized by sharing e-mail.   The history information database includes at least transmission date / time, reception date / time, sender name, recipient name, email title, email body, sender email address, recipient email address, or email data size. The electronic mail system according to claim 1, comprising items.   The data relay device has an affiliated group master that sets a reference range between groups in a company, and an attribute master that sets a reference range in the attributes of members of the company. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a reference authority is set by combining a group master and the attribute master, and history information other than the reference range is controlled to be hidden from the terminal. Mail system.   The authority setting means includes the member's personal information, an area for specifying a group to which the member belongs, an area for specifying another group that the member can view, and the attribute of the member. The electronic mail system according to claim 1, wherein the reference authority is set on a screen having an area for designating.   The search means performs a search only for e-mails transmitted / received between a desired sender and a desired recipient, and the extraction means extracts the searched e-mails along a transmission / reception time series. 2. The electronic mail system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail system is displayed by the display means.

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