JP2008186214A - Communication support device, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication support device capable of transmitting and receiving communication information such as e-mail and speech communication by correctly and efficiently creating the communication information. <P>SOLUTION: A mail support device 7-4 transmits one and the same mail to mail support devices 7-1 to 7-3 (step 1001). When the mail support device 7-1 sends return mail 67, the mail support device 7-1 creates warning information (step 1006) and transmits the warning information to the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 (step 1007). The mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 receive the warning information, present the warning information and stop a predetermined operation (step 1008 to step 1010), and release the stopped operation (step 1014) when receiving the return mail 67 from the mail support device 7-1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication support apparatus that supports transmission / reception of communication information such as e-mail and telephone calls.

  A system for exchanging electronic mail (hereinafter referred to as mail) via a network such as the Internet is an important system tool for transmitting information not only for business but also for individuals.

  The mail is sent from the transmission source terminal device to the receiving mail server via the network and stored. The receiving side mail server transmits the received mail to the receiving side terminal device having the corresponding mail address at a predetermined timing via the network. In addition, the receiving terminal device may actively acquire received mail that is stored in the receiving mail server.

For example, it is assumed that the user's terminal device receives mail as one of a plurality of destinations. The user may want to send a reply mail to that mail earlier than any other recipient.
In this case, before creating a reply mail, the user notifies other recipients by mail or the like that he / she plans to create a reply mail first. After checking the reply mail creation of other recipients, the user creates a reply mail.

  In addition, the user may continuously transmit a plurality of related mails from the terminal device. For example, when a user transmits a large amount of data, the data may be divided into a plurality of pieces and attached to a plurality of mails, and a plurality of these related mails may be continuously transmitted. In this case, the user has notified the transmission destination in advance by e-mail or the like that a plurality of related e-mails will be continuously transmitted.

  In addition, it becomes more difficult to understand the relationship between the flow of exchange and the content while exchanging emails many times, as the number of emails increases. In order to solve this, work is done by detecting and analyzing the relevance of contents for multiple documents (emails), editing with the overlapping order removed in consideration of the related order, and improving the visibility of the received list. There is a related document processing apparatus (see, for example, [Patent Document 1]).

JP 2002-236649 A

  However, the related document processing apparatus indicated by [Patent Document 1] detects and analyzes the relevance of a plurality of received mails. The user refers to the analyzed result and determines the mail to be responded. Therefore, the related document processing device indicated by [Patent Document 1] cannot send a warning to the terminal device of another user when replying to the received mail. In addition, the related document processing apparatus shown in [Patent Document 1] has a problem that it is not possible to stop or prohibit operations related to mails of other users' terminal devices.

In addition, when a receiving terminal device that has received a mail as one of a plurality of receiving recipients wants to send a reply mail with priority, the receiving terminal device uses a mail or the like in advance for another receiving device. Thus, the work of notifying that the reply mail is scheduled to be created is inefficient and there is a problem that the priority of reply is not always obtained.
Also, if there is a new reply mail from another recipient before sending the reply mail created by the receiving terminal device, it will be necessary to change the contents of the created mail, resulting in a decrease in work efficiency There is.

  Further, when the terminal device continuously transmits a plurality of mails, there is a problem that the work of creating a mail having the content of sending a plurality of mails and sending it to the transmission destination is burdensome. In addition, in the receiving terminal device, the user erroneously performs an operation (such as a reply operation) on the received mail before receiving all the mails, even though the mail has been sent to the effect that a plurality of mails are to be sent. It may be broken.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication support apparatus capable of accurately and efficiently creating and transmitting / receiving communication information such as e-mail and telephone calls. .

  In order to achieve the above-described object, a first invention is a communication support apparatus that is connected to a communication network and supports transmission / reception of communication information, and related communication information that creates related communication information that is communication information related to each other. Creating information, transmission destination identification information extracting means for extracting transmission destination identification information of the related communication information, and warning information generation for generating warning information related to the related communication information or the transmitted / received communication information corresponding to the related communication information And a warning information transmitting means for transmitting the warning information to a transmission destination indicated by the extracted transmission destination identification information.

The communication support apparatus is a communication apparatus that exchanges communication information such as character information and voice information. The communication support apparatus is an apparatus such as a computer, a mobile phone, or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) that performs transmission / reception of electronic mail and voice communication by a telephone function.
The received communication information is communication information received by the communication support apparatus, and is, for example, received mail, answering machine record, and incoming call history. The transmitted communication information is communication information transmitted by the communication support device, and is, for example, a transmitted mail or a telephone call.
The related communication information is related mail and related telephone call related to each other. For example, the related mail is a reply mail to the received communication information (received mail, answering machine record or incoming call history) or a transmitted mail transmitted continuously to the transmitted communication information (transmitted mail or telephone call). The related telephone call is a telephone call that responds to received communication information (received mail, answering machine record or incoming call history) or a telephone call that is continuously sent to transmitted communication information (transmitted mail or telephone call).
The transmission destination identification information is information that specifies the transmission destination of the related communication information. The transmission destination identification information is information such as a transmission destination mail address and a telephone number, for example.

  The communication support apparatus on the transmission side creates related communication information. The communication support device transmits related communication information and warning information related to transmitted / received communication information corresponding to the related communication information to a transmission destination of the related communication information, before the related communication information is created or transmitted.

When receiving the warning information, the communication support device on the receiving side issues a warning regarding the related communication information and the transmitted / received communication information corresponding to the related communication information to the operator. The communication support device issues a warning to the operator at the time of receiving warning information or at the time of starting a predetermined operation on related communication information or transmitted / received communication information corresponding to the related communication information.
In addition, when receiving the warning information, the communication support apparatus may prohibit a predetermined operation on the related communication information and the transmitted / received communication information corresponding to the related communication information. Furthermore, the communication support apparatus may cancel the prohibition of the predetermined operation when all the related communication information is received from the transmission source of the warning information.
The predetermined operations are operations such as a content display instruction, a reproduction instruction, a reply instruction, a transfer instruction, and a deletion instruction. The warning information is information indicating a transmission schedule or transmission end of the related communication information. When a plurality of related communication information is created in advance and then transmitted in a batch, it is desirable to include the planned number of transmissions in the warning information.

In the first invention, when the communication support apparatus on the transmission side creates the related communication information, the communication information of the transmission destination of the related communication information is transmitted to the related communication information and the warning information about the transmitted / received communication information corresponding to the related communication information. Send to support device. As a result, the communication support device on the transmission side can perform its own communication operation after waiting for the communication operation of the communication support device on the reception side or alerting the operator of the communication support device on the reception side. it can.
In addition, the communication support device on the receiving side creates unnecessary communication information by alerting the operator based on the received warning information or prohibiting a predetermined operation on the transmitted / received communication information. And transmission work can be avoided.
Thereby, the communication support apparatus can prevent useless communication information creation for communication information in an incomplete state, or prevent communication information creation by a user who should not create communication information.

  The second invention is a program for causing a computer to function as the communication support apparatus of the first invention.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the communication assistance apparatus which can produce communication information, such as an email and a telephone call, accurately and efficiently, and can transmit / receive can be provided.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a communication support apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description and the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are given to components having substantially the same functional configuration, and redundant description will be omitted.

(1. Configuration of the mail support system 1)
First, the configuration of the mail support system 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the mail support system 1.
The mail support system 1 is configured by connecting mail support devices 7-1 to 7-4 via a network 5.

(1-1. Mail support devices 7-1 to 7-4)
The mail support devices 7-1 to 7-4 are devices such as computers that can communicate with each other via the network 5. It is assumed that the mail support devices 7-1 to 7-4 belong to the user (A) 3-1, the user (B) 3-2, the user (B) 3-3, and the user (Ding) 3-4, respectively.

When each of the mail support apparatuses 7-1 to 7-4 sends the created mail to one of the mail support apparatuses, the mail is sent via a mail server (not shown) used by each mail support apparatus. Sent to the destination mail support device.
Since the functions related to mail transmission / reception of the mail support apparatuses 7-1 to 7-4 have the same configuration, the mail support apparatus 7-1 will be described as a representative.

(1-2. Mail support device 7-1)
The mail support apparatus 7-1 includes a function 11 related to mail transmission and warning transmission and a function 21 related to warning reception. The mail support apparatus 7-1 includes a related mail creation unit 13, a transmission destination address extraction unit 15, a warning information creation unit 16, a warning information transmission unit 17, and a related mail transmission unit 19 as a function 11 related to mail transmission and warning transmission. . As a function 21 related to warning reception, a warning information receiving unit 23, a warning unit 25, and an operation prohibiting unit 27 are provided. A mail management application (mailer) used by the mail support apparatus 7-1 connects to the network 5 via a mail server (not shown) and transmits and receives mail.

The related mail creating means 13 creates a reply mail for the received mail. The related mail creating means 13 creates a continuation mail that continues to the sent mail.
The transmission destination address extracting means 15 extracts the transmission destination address of the reply mail or continuation mail.

  The warning information creation means 16 creates warning information. The content of the warning information is, for example, “The mail support device 7-1 has started creating a reply mail for the received mail”. Alternatively, the warning information creating means 16 creates warning information regarding the sent mail. The content of the warning information is, for example, “mail is continuously sent to the sent mail sent from the mail support device 7-1”. The content of the warning information message can be appropriately created and changed by the user.

The warning information transmission unit 17 transmits the warning information created by the warning information creation unit 16 to the transmission destination address extracted by the transmission destination address extraction unit 15.
The related mail transmission unit 19 transmits the reply mail or continuation mail created by the related mail creation unit 13 to the transmission destination address extracted by the transmission destination address extraction unit 15.

  The warning information receiving means 23 receives the warning information sent to the mail support device 7-1. The warning information is warning information for a received mail sent from another mail support apparatus 7 or warning information for a sent mail sent from another mail support apparatus 7.

  The warning means 25 is means for presenting warning information to the user 3. The warning means 25 presents warning information at the start of a predetermined operation for the sent / received mail or related mail to be warned. The predetermined operation is, for example, an operation such as a content display instruction, a reproduction instruction, a reply instruction, a transfer instruction, or a deletion instruction. The warning information is information that alerts the user 3 by voice or display. The presentation of the warning includes character string display, blinking display, sound generation, video information display, vibration generation, and the like on the display unit of the mail support apparatus 7-1.

  The operation prohibiting unit 27 prohibits (locks) a predetermined operation on the transmitted / received mail and the related mail to be warned based on the warning information. The predetermined operation is, for example, an operation such as a content display instruction, a reproduction instruction, a reply instruction, a transfer instruction, or a deletion instruction. Further, the operation prohibiting means 27 cancels the prohibition of the predetermined operation when all reply mails and continuation mails are received from the sender of the warning information.

(2. Hardware configuration)
Next, the hardware configuration of the mail support apparatuses 7-1 to 7-4 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the mail support apparatuses 7-1 to 7-4. Note that the hardware configuration in FIG. 2 is an example, and various configurations can be adopted depending on the application and purpose.

  The mail support devices 7-1 to 7-4 are configured by connecting a CPU 101, a memory 103, a storage unit 105, a display unit 107, an input unit 109, an output unit 111, and a communication unit 113 via a system bus 115.

  A CPU 101 (Central Processing Unit) is a device that performs operation control of arithmetic devices (four arithmetic operations, comparison operations, etc.), hardware and software.

  The memory 103 is a memory such as a RAM and a ROM. A RAM (Random Access Memory) stores a ROM (Read Only Memory), an OS (Operating System) program read from the storage unit 105, an application program, and the like. The RAM functions as a main memory and work area for the CPU 101.

  The storage unit 105 is a device that stores various data, and is, for example, a hard disk. The storage unit 105 stores a program executed by the CPU 101, data necessary for program execution, an OS, various databases, and the like.

  The display unit 107 is a display device, such as a CRT monitor or a liquid crystal panel. The display unit 107 includes a logic circuit (such as a video adapter) for realizing the video function of the computer.

  The input unit 109 is an input device for various data, such as a keyboard and a mouse. The output unit 111 is an output device for various data, for example, a printer. Drive devices that perform data input / output with various media can also be used as the input unit 109 and the output unit 111.

The communication unit 113 is a communication control device that connects and communicates with an external device via the system bus 115. For example, Internet communication using TCP / IP is possible.
The system bus 115 is a path that mediates transmission / reception of control signals, data signals, and the like between the devices.

  The mail support devices 7-1 to 7-4 load programs (application programs, OS programs, etc.) stored in the storage unit 105, ROM, or storage medium into the RAM of the memory 103, and are under the control of the CPU 101. Various processes are executed.

(3. Operations of the mail support devices 7-1 to 7-4)
(3-1. Create reply mail for received mail)
Next, with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7, an operation for creating a reply mail for the received mail in the mail support apparatuses 7-1 to 7-4 will be described.
An operation in which the mail support apparatus 7-1 preferentially creates a reply mail with respect to the mails simultaneously transmitted to the mail support apparatuses 7-1 to 7-3 by the mail support apparatus 7-4 will be described.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mail support apparatuses 7-1 to 7-4.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing transition of screens displayed on the display unit 107 of the mail support apparatuses 7-1 to 7-4.

  The mail support apparatus 7-4 (Ding) simultaneously transmits mail to the mail support apparatuses 7-1 to 7-3 (Exhibit A, B, and Tsubaki) (step 1001). For example, the mail destinations are the mail support apparatus 7-1 as the transmission destination and the mail support apparatuses 7-2 and 7-3 as the CC transmission destination. The mail support apparatus 7-1 (Exhibit A) receives the mail from the mail support apparatus 7-4 (Ding) (Step 1002). The mail support apparatus 7-2 (B) and the mail support apparatus 7-3 (丙) receive the mail from the mail support apparatus 7-4 (Ding) (step 1003).

  A screen (A1) 301 for displaying the received mail list 47-1 is displayed on the display unit 107 of the mail support apparatus 7-1 (Exhibit A).

  FIG. 5 shows a screen (A1) 301. As shown in FIG. The received mail list 47-1 displayed on the screen (A1) 301 includes items such as a sender 39, a state 41 indicating "unread" or "read", a subject 43, and a reception date 45. The received mail records 201 to 205 are displayed in chronological order based on the reception date and time 45, for example.

  In addition, on the screen (A1) 301, a “Create Mail” button 29, a “Reply” button 31, a “Reply All” button 33, a “Send / Receive” button 35, a “Related Person Warning” button 37, and the like are arranged. . When the “Create Mail” button 29 is pressed, a new mail creation screen is displayed.

  When the “reply” button 31 is pressed while any received mail record in the received mail list 47-1 is selected, a reply mail creation screen for the selected received mail is newly displayed. When the “Reply to All” button 33 is pressed, a reply mail creation screen is newly displayed with all persons related to the selected received mail as a destination. When the “transmission / reception” button 35 is pressed, the mail support apparatus 7-1 transmits the created transmission mail and acquires the unread reception mail that has arrived at the mail server.

  When any of the received mail records in the received mail list 47-1 is selected and the “related person warning” button 37 is pressed, the warning information is sent to all persons related to the selected received mail. It is done. The “related person warning” will be described in detail later.

  When the received mail record 202 in the received mail list 47-1 on the screen (A1) 301 is selected, the display unit 107 of the mail support apparatus 7-1 (Exhibit A) displays the contents of the received mail record 202 (received mail 53- 1) is displayed.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a screen (A2) 303 for displaying the received mail 53-1. The received mail 53-1 displayed on the screen (A 2) 303 includes a transmission destination 55 “A”, a CC transmission destination 57 “B” and “丙”, a sender 59 “Ding”, a subject (mail title) 61, a reception Consists of mail text 63 and the like.

  On the screen (A2) 303, a “reply” button 31, a “reply to all” button 33, a “forward” button 49, a “delete” button 51, a “related person warning” button 37, and the like are arranged.

  When the “Reply” button 31 is pressed, a reply mail creation screen is newly displayed. When the “Reply to All” button 33 is pressed, a reply mail creation screen is displayed with all the persons related to the received mail 53-1 as destinations (“E”, “O”, “丙”). When the “Forward” button 49 is pressed, a forward mail creation screen is newly displayed. When the “delete” button 51 is pressed, the received mail 53-1 is deleted. When the “related person warning” button 37 is pressed, warning information is sent to all persons related to the received mail 53-1. The “related person warning” will be described in detail later.

  It is assumed that the user 3-1 (the former) creates and sends a reply mail with priority over the other recipients with respect to the mail received from the mail support apparatus 7-4 (choking). The mail support apparatus 7-1 (Exhibit A) shows information about the mail received from the mail support apparatus 7-4 (Ding) in the received mail record 202 of the screen (A1) 301. User 3-1 (Exhibit A) selects the received mail record 202 and presses the “Related Person Warning” 37 button.

  The mail support apparatus 7-1 detects pressing of the “related person warning” 37 button (step 1004). Alternatively, the user 3-1 (Exhibit A) may press the “Related Person Warning” 37 button on the screen (A2) 303 on which the contents (the received mail 53-1) of the received mail record 202 are displayed. At the same time that the “Related Person Warning” 37 button is pressed, the related mail creating means 13 of the mail support device 7-1 (Exhibit A) displays a screen for creating a reply mail 67 whose destination is all concerned persons on the display unit 107. (A3) 304 may be displayed.

The transmission destination address extracting means 15 of the mail support apparatus 7-1 acquires the transmission destination address (the addresses of the second, second, and singing) related to the received mail 53-1.
The warning information creating means 16 creates the warning information 65 “! Attention back has started reply work” (step 1006). The warning information creation unit 16 may appropriately create the content of the warning information 65 in response to an instruction from the user 3-1. The warning information transmission unit 17 transmits the warning information 65 created by the warning information creation unit 16 to the destination address (addresses of B, B, and Ding) (step 1007).

The mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 (B, B, Ding) receive the warning information 65 (Step 1008).
When the mail support apparatuses 7-2 and 7-3 (B, B) perform a predetermined operation on the mail sent from the mail support apparatus 7-4 (Ding), the warning information 65 received by the warning unit 25 is received. Present. For example, when the mail support devices 7-2 and 7-3 (B, B) perform the display operation of the contents of the received mail 53-2, the warning unit 25 displays the warning information 65 at the same time (step 1009). Further, if the mail support device 7-4 (Ding) has activated the mail management application, the warning information 65 may be displayed in a pop-up on another screen.

  FIG. 7 is a screen (B2) 305 showing the received mail 53-2 displayed on the display unit 107 of the mail support apparatuses 7-2 and 7-3 (B, B). When the display operation of the contents of the received mail 53-2 is performed, the warning unit 25 displays warning information 65 “! Attention back has started reply work” on the screen (B2) 305. As a result, the users 3-2 and 3-3 of the mail support devices 7-2 and 7-3 (the second and the second) can know that the user 3-1 (the former) has started the reply work first. . In addition, the user 3-4 (Ding) of the mail support apparatus 7-4 (Ding) can know that the user 3-1 (Ex) has started replying to the mail he / she sent.

  The warning means 25 not only presents the warning information 65 when the operation for displaying the contents of the received mail 53-2 is performed, but also displays the warning information 65 when a predetermined operation is performed for the received mail 53-2. You may make it show. For example, on the screen (B2) 305 on which the received mail 53-2 is displayed, a “reply” button 31, a “reply to all” button 33, a “forward” button 49, a “delete” button 51, and a “related person warning” button The warning means 25 may present warning information 65 when any one of 37 and the like is pressed. Further, the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 (B, B, Ding) may present the warning information 65 immediately when the warning information 65 is received.

  The warning information 65 can be presented by a method such as pop-up display, blinking display, voice notification, image display, or vibration generation on the screen of the display unit 107. Note that the warning unit 25 may transmit a warning mail including the warning information 65 to the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 (Ding, B, and Tsubaki).

Returning to FIG. 3, the operation prohibiting means 27 cancels or prohibits the operation of the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 (B, B, Ding) on the received mail 53-2 (Step 1010).
When the users 3-2 to 3-4 (B, B, Ding) confirm the warning information 65, the users 3-2 to 3-4 voluntarily cancel the operation for the received mail 53-2. Further, the operation prohibiting means 27 is a “Reply” button 31 or “Reply to all” button by the users 3-2 and 3-3 (B, B) on the screen (B 2) 305 on which the received mail 53-2 is displayed. 33, operation of the “transfer” button 49 is prohibited. In addition, in the mail support device 7-4 (Ding) that is the mail transmission source, an operation such as “retransmission” of the transmitted mail may be prohibited.

  The mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 may perform both of the processing of presenting the warning information 65 by the warning means 25 and prohibiting the reply operation by the operation prohibiting means 27, or perform either one of the processes. You may do it.

  The mail support device 7-1 (the former) transmits the warning information 65 indicating the intention of reply to the destination address (the addresses of the second, the second, and the second) (step 1007), and then the mail support device 7-1 (the first) ) Related mail creating means 13 creates a reply mail 67 (step 1011).

  The related mail transmitting means 19 transmits the reply mail 67 created by the related mail creating means 13 to the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 (B, B, Ding) (step 1012).

  The operation prohibiting means 27 of the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 continues to suspend or prohibit the predetermined operation until the reply mail 67 from the mail support device 7-1 (the former) is received (step). 1013 NO). When the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 receive the reply mail 67 from the mail support device 7-1 (the former) (YES in Step 1013), the operation prohibiting means 27 of the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 is used. Resumes the canceled operation and cancels the prohibited operation (step 1014). That is, the mail support apparatuses 7-2 and 7-3 resume the reply operation for the received mail 53-2 sent from the mail support apparatus 7-4 (cutter) or cancel the prohibition of the reply operation.

Through the above process, the mail support device 7-1 creates and transmits warning information 65 to all the destinations of the reply mail when creating the reply mail for the received mail. The mail support apparatuses 7-2 to 7-4 that have received the warning information 65 display the warning information 65 or cancel or prohibit a predetermined operation on the received mail based on the warning information 65. When the reply mail from the mail support apparatus 7-1 is received, the mail support apparatuses 7-2 to 7-4 resume the suspended operation and cancel the prohibited operation.
Note that the mail support device 7-1 on the transmission side creates warning information 65 at the same time that the user 3-1 (Exhibit A) presses the “Related Person Warning” 37 button, and creates the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-. It is desirable to send to 4 (Otsuto, Tsuji, Ding). Then, the receiving side mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 (B, B, and Ding) may present the warning information 65 immediately upon receiving the warning information 65, or the users 3-1 to 304 ( The warning information 65 may be presented at the time of starting the mail operation by the second, second, and second).

As described above, the mail support apparatus 7-1 preferentially creates and transmits a reply mail with respect to the received mail, and indicates other mail support apparatuses 7-2 to 7-4 related to the received mail. As warning information 65. Accordingly, the mail support apparatus 7-1 on the transmission side creates a reply mail and sends it after waiting for the mail operation in the mail support apparatuses 7-2 to 7-4 on the reception side or calling attention. be able to. Further, the mail support apparatuses 7-2 to 7-4 can avoid creating unnecessary reply mails, and can create an accurate mail after receiving the reply mail from the mail support apparatus 7-1.
Note that the mail support device 7-1 may transmit only the warning information 65 to the other mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4, not only when a reply mail for the received mail is created.

(3-2. Continuation email creation)
Next, the operation of creating a continuous mail in the mail support apparatuses 7-1 to 7-4 will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mail support apparatuses 7-1 to 7-4.

  The mail support apparatus 7-1 creates and transmits a plurality of continuous mails to the mail support apparatuses 7-2 to 7-4. The continuation mail is mail that has the same transmission source and transmission destination, and is continuously sent over a plurality of times with content relevance. As a case of using continuation mail, for example, a summary mail is first sent first, and then a mail with detailed contents is sent, or a plurality of files are attached to a plurality of mails.

  The mail support apparatus 7-1 (the former) completes the creation of the mail (step 2001). FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a screen (A11) 306 showing the creation mail 77 that has been created. The created mail 77 displayed on the screen (A11) 306 includes a destination 55 “B”, a CC destination 57 “５７” and “Ding”, a sender 59 “A”, a subject (mail title) 61, and a mail text 79. Etc.

  On the screen (A11) 306, a “Send” button 69, a “Save” button 71, a “Cancel” button 73, a “Continuous send” button 75, and the like are arranged.

  When the “Send” button 69 is pressed, the creation mail 77 is sent to the destination 55 “B”, the CC destination 57 “５７”, and “Ding”. When the “save” button 71 is pressed, the created mail 77 is saved in the storage unit 105. When the “Cancel” button 73 is pressed, the creation of the creation mail 77 is stopped. The “continuous transmission” button 75 will be described in detail later.

  When sending a mail continuously to the created mail (YES in step 2002), the user 3-1 (E) presses the “continue transmission” button 75 of the created created mail 77 (screen (A11) 306). . If the mail support apparatus 7-1 does not detect pressing of the “continuous transmission” button 75 (NO in step 2002), the process proceeds to step 2010.

  When the mail support apparatus 7-1 detects that the “continuous transmission” button 75 is pressed (YES in step 2002), the transmission destination address extracting unit 15 transmits the transmission destination addresses (addresses of B, B, and Ding) related to the created mail 77. ) Is acquired (step 2003).

  The warning information creating means 16 creates warning information 81 “! CAUTION There is a continued mail” (step 2004). The warning information creation unit 16 may appropriately create the content of the warning information 81 in response to an instruction from the user 3-1. The warning information transmission unit 17 transmits the warning information 81 created by the warning information creation unit 16 to the transmission destination address, and the related mail transmission unit 19 transmits the created mail to the transmission destination address (step 2005).

The mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 (B, B, Ding) receive the mail and the warning information 81 (step 2006).
When the mail support apparatuses 7-2 to 7-4 (B, B, and Ding) perform a predetermined operation on the mail sent from the mail support apparatus 7-1 (Exhibit A), the warning unit 25 displays warning information 81. Present. For example, when the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 (B, B, Ding) perform the display operation of the contents of the received mail 85-1, the warning unit 25 displays the warning information 81 at the same time (step 2007).

  FIG. 10 is a screen (B11) 307 showing the received mail 85-1 displayed on the display unit 107 of the mail support apparatuses 7-2 to 7-4 (B, B, and Ding). When the display operation of the contents of the received mail 85-1 is performed, the warning means 25 simultaneously displays warning information 81 “! CAUTION Continued Mail” on the screen (B 11) 307.

  The warning means 25 not only presents the warning information 81 when the operation for displaying the contents of the received mail 85-1 is performed, but also displays the warning information 81 when a predetermined operation is performed for the received mail 85-1. You may make it show. For example, on the screen (B11) 307 on which the received mail 85-1 is displayed, a “reply” button 31, a “reply to all” button 33, a “forward” button 49, a “delete” button 51, and a “related person warning” button. The warning means 25 may present the warning information 81 when any one of 37 or the like is pressed.

  The warning information 81 can be presented by a method such as pop-up display, blinking display, voice notification, image display, or vibration generation on the screen of the display unit 107. The warning unit 25 may transmit a warning mail including the warning information 81 to the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 (Ding, B, and Tsubaki).

Returning to FIG. 8, the operation prohibiting means 27 stops or prohibits (locks) the operation to the received mail 85-1 by the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 (B, B, Ding) (step 2008).
Upon confirming the warning information 81, the users 3-2 to 3-4 (B, B, Ding) voluntarily cancel the operation for the mail. Further, the operation prohibiting means 27 is a screen (B11) 307 on which the received mail 85-1 is displayed, and a “Reply” button 31 by the users 3-2 to 3-4 (B, B, Ding), “Reply to all” "Button 33," transfer "button 49, etc. are prohibited. The operation prohibiting unit 27 cancels or prohibits the operation on the mail sent from the mail support device 7-1 (the former). That is, the operation for all mails sent from the mail support device 7-1 (Exhibit A) is stopped or prohibited.

  The mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 may perform both of the processing of presenting the warning information 81 by the warning means 25 and prohibiting the predetermined operation by the operation prohibiting means 27, or any one of the processes. You may do it.

  Subsequently, when the creation of the continuation mail by the mail support device 7-1 (the former) is completed (step 2009), the process returns to step 2002. If the mail support device 7-1 (Exhibit A) does not detect pressing of the “continuous transmission” button 75 (NO in step 2002) and detects pressing of the “transmit” button 69 (YES in step 2010), a warning is given. The information creating means 16 creates an end notification 87 “! Last email” (step 2011).

  Next, the warning information transmitting unit 17 transmits the end notification 87 created by the warning information creating unit 16 to the transmission destination address (addresses B, B, and Ding), and the related mail transmission unit 19 sends the last mail to the transmission destination. It is transmitted to the address (addresses of B, B, and Ding) (step 2012).

  The operation prohibiting means 27 of the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 indicates that the predetermined operation is stopped or prohibited until the last mail and the end notification 87 are received from the mail support device 7-1 (the former). Continue (NO in step 2013). When the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 receive the last mail and the end notification 87 from the mail support device 7-1 (the former) (YES in step 2013), the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 The last mail and the end notification 87 are displayed on the display unit 107 (step 2014).

  FIG. 11 is a screen (B12) 308 showing the last received mail 85-2 displayed on the display unit 107 of the mail support apparatuses 7-2 to 7-4 (B, B, Ding). The warning means 25 displays an end notification 87 “! Last mail” on the screen (B12) 308. The end notification 87 can be presented by a method such as pop-up display, blinking display, voice notification, image display, vibration generation, or the like on the screen of the display unit 107.

  Further, when the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 receive the last mail and the end notification 87 from the mail support device 7-1 (the former), the operation prohibiting means 27 of the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4. Resumes the canceled operation and cancels the prohibited operation (step 2015). That is, the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 cancel the prohibition of the reply operation to the series of received mails 85-1 and 85-2 sent from the mail support device 7-1 (the former).

  FIG. 12 is a screen (B13) 309 showing the received mail list 89-1 displayed on the display unit 107 of the mail support apparatus 7-2 (B). Mail (received mail record 402, received mail record 405) continuously sent from mail support device 7-1 (Exhibit A) is displayed in chronological order in the order of reception time, like other received mail. If it is known in advance from the mail support device 7-1 (the former) that p mails are sent in total, “1 / p” is received in the received mail record 402 and “2 / p” is received in the received mail record 405. May be additionally displayed.

  FIG. 13 is a screen (B14) 310 showing the received mail list 89-2 displayed on the display unit 107 of the mail support apparatus 7-2 (B). A series of mails (received mail record 402, received mail record 405, received mail record 406) continuously sent from mail support device 7-1 (Exhibit A) are displayed together in time series. If a total of three mails are sent from the mail support device 7-1 (the former), the received mail record 402 is “1/3”, the received mail record 405 is “2/3”, and the received mail record 406 is “3/3” may be additionally displayed.

  Through the above process, the mail support apparatus 7-1 creates and transmits warning information 81 to the transmission destination when continuously sending a plurality of mails. The mail support apparatuses 7-2 to 7-4 that have received the warning information 81 display the warning information 81, or cancel or prohibit a predetermined operation on the continuation mail based on the warning information 81. Further, the mail support apparatus 7-1 creates and transmits an end notification 87 when the last mail is transmitted. Receiving the end notification 87, the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 resume the suspended operation and cancel the prohibited operation.

  In this way, the mail support device 7-1 sends warning information 81 to the other mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 related to the sent mail to the effect that the continuation mail that is continued to the sent mail is sent. Send. Accordingly, the mail support device 7-1 on the transmission side creates and transmits a continuation mail after waiting for the mail operation in the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 on the reception side or calling attention. be able to. In addition, the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 can avoid creating useless reply mails, and can efficiently create accurate mails after receiving all continuation mails.

  In addition, since the mail support devices 7-2 to 7-4 collectively display the continuous mails related to the received mail list 89-2, the user 3 avoids a confirmation mistake or omission of confirmation of the contents of the continuous mail. be able to.

In addition, when a plurality of continuous mails are created in advance and then transmitted in a batch, or when the planned number of continuous mails to be transmitted is determined in advance, the mail support device 7-1 determines the number of scheduled mails to be transmitted. May be included in the warning information 81. At this time, the mail support apparatus 7-1 transmits, for example, warning information 81 “there are more consecutive mails”. On the screen (B11) 307 (FIG. 10) of the mail support apparatuses 7-2 to 7-4 (B, B, and Ding), warning information 81 “There are more mails to be continued” is displayed.
Thereby, the mail support apparatuses 7-2 to 7-4 (B, B, Ding) on the receiving side can improve the work efficiency by grasping the number of mails that are continuously received.

(5. Effects, etc.)
As described in detail above, the mail support apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, when creating a related mail (reply mail or continuation mail), warns about the related mail and the transmitted / received mail corresponding to the related mail. Since the information is transmitted to the mail support apparatus to which the related mail is transmitted, the related mail can be created and sent after waiting for the mail operation in the mail support apparatus on the receiving side or calling attention.
In addition, the mail support device on the receiving side creates useless mail based on the received warning information by calling attention or prohibiting predetermined operations on related mail and sent / received mail corresponding to the related mail. Work and transmission work can be avoided. Therefore, it is possible to improve the work efficiency of the entire organization related to mail communication.

  Further, the mail support apparatus may transmit a warning mail as the warning information. As a result, even if the destination does not have a function such as a warning means or an operation prohibition means, if a mail management application is provided, a warning mail can be received and the same effect can be obtained. Can do.

  In addition, the mail support device can be applied not only when creating a reply mail for a received mail or when creating a continuous mail following a sent mail, but also when creating a new mail or creating a forwarded mail. it can. For example, the warning information can be sent to the transmission destination before the user sets the transmission destination and the warning information and creates a mail. The user may send the warning information as a warning mail. The receiving-side device that has received the warning mail may display a warning when the mail management application is activated. As a result, since it is possible to notify the mail transmission destination in advance of the creation of the mail, it is possible to avoid unnecessary mail exchange and improve the work efficiency.

Further, when the mail support apparatus transmits, as warning information, information indicating that a continuation mail to be transmitted is transmitted as a transmitted mail, the warning information may include the scheduled number of transmission mails in advance in the warning information.
As a result, the receiving side can improve the work efficiency by grasping the number of mails continuously received.

Further, the mail support apparatus on the receiving side may be provided with operation prohibition canceling means for canceling prohibition of the predetermined operation. Thereby, even if the operation of the mail support apparatus on the receiving side is prohibited by the warning information from the mail support apparatus on the transmitting side, the prohibition of operation can be manually canceled in the mail support apparatus on the receiving side.
Further, the mail support apparatus on the receiving side may automatically cancel the prohibition of operation when a predetermined operation is prohibited and a predetermined time elapses (timeout). Further, when the prohibition of operation is canceled in the mail support apparatus on the reception side, the fact that the operation prohibition is canceled may be notified to the mail support apparatus on the transmission side.

  Moreover, regarding the function of the mail support apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, a setting mode in which functions are made between limited members may be provided. For example, the function may be performed only for a broadcast mail designated by the mail support apparatus on the transmission side or a designated mailing list.

  The mail support apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention can be applied not only to a mail system but also to a telephone system as a communication support apparatus. The communication support apparatus handles not only character information but also voice information in a similar manner. The reply mail creation instruction in the mail system corresponds to the redial operation of the telephone system. A new mail creation instruction in the mail system corresponds to a call operation of the telephone system. The presence of received mail in the mail system corresponds to the reception history of the telephone system or the presence of an answering machine record.

  For example, in a mobile phone having both mail and telephone functions, the user 3-1 (the former) sends a reply mail to the sender of the received mail received in common by the communication support devices of the users 3-1 to 3-4. Is created or transmitted to the communication support devices of the other users 3-2 to 3-4 when a telephone call operation is performed. As a result, warning information is transmitted in advance, so that the communication support apparatus can perform efficient communication while avoiding miscommunication.

  Also, the user 3-1 (Exhibit A) displays warning information when performing a redial operation or creating a reply mail to the communication support terminal that is the source of the incoming call history of the telephone system and the answering machine record. You may create and send it. As warning information, warning mail, warning sound generation, image display, vibration generation, and the like can be used. As a result, warning information is transmitted in advance, so that the communication support apparatus can perform efficient communication while avoiding miscommunication.

  Further, the user 3-1 (Exhibit A) creates and transmits warning information to the transmission destination when creating a continuation mail that continues to the transmitted mail or subsequently performing a telephone call operation. As a result, the continuation of communication can be warned in advance, so that the communication support apparatus can perform efficient communication while avoiding miscommunication.

  In addition, when the user 3-1 (the former) performs the telephone call operation continuously after the telephone call operation or creates a continuation mail, the user 3-1 (the former) creates and transmits warning information to the call destination. For example, it is understood that the information is continuously sent because the destination receives a warning when, for example, reproducing the incoming call history or the answering machine record or performing a redial operation. As a result, the continuation of communication can be warned in advance, so that the communication support apparatus can perform efficient communication while avoiding miscommunication.

  As described above, the communication support apparatus can avoid useless mail creation and telephone call, so that work efficiency can be improved. The communication support apparatus can prevent useless communication transmission with respect to unfinished communication information, or block communication transmission from a user who should not transmit. In particular, the convenience of the user 3 can be improved by applying to a mobile phone having both mail and telephone functions.

  The preferred embodiments of the communication support apparatus according to the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to such examples. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications can be conceived within the scope of the technical idea disclosed in the present application, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

Configuration diagram of mail support system 1 The figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the mail assistance apparatuses 7-1 to 7-4 Flow chart showing operation of mail support devices 7-1 to 7-4 The figure which shows the screen transition in the display part 107 of the mail assistance apparatuses 7-1 to 7-4. The figure which shows the screen (A1) 301 which displays the received mail list 47-1. The figure which shows the screen (A2) 303 which displays the received mail 53-1. The figure which shows screen (B2) 305 which displays received mail 53-2 and warning information 65 Flow chart showing operation of mail support devices 7-1 to 7-4 The figure which shows mail creation screen (A11) 306 The figure which shows screen (B11) 307 which displays received mail 85-1 and warning information 81 The figure which shows screen (B12) 308 which displays received mail 85-2 and the completion notification 87 The figure which shows screen (B13) 309 which displays the received mail list 89-1. The figure which shows the screen (B14) 310 which displays the received mail list 89-2

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ......... Mail support system 3-1 to 3-4 ......... User 5 ......... Network 7-1 to 7-4 ......... Mail support device 13 ......... Related mail creation means 15 ......... Destination Address extracting means 16... Warning information creating means 17... Warning information transmitting means 19... Related mail transmitting means 23... Warning information receiving means 25... Warning means 27. …… Related mail reception warning means 29 ………… “Compose Mail” button 31 ……… “Reply” button 33 ……… “Reply to all” button 35 ……… “Send / receive” button 37 ……… “Related party "Warning" button 39, 59 ......... Sender 41 ......... State 43, 61 ... …… Subject 45 ......... Reception date 47-1, 89-1, 89-2 ......... Reply mail list 49 ......... “Forward” button 51 …… “Delete” Buttons 53-1, 85-1, 85-2 ......... Received mail 55 ......... Destination 57 ......... CC (carbon copy) destination 63, 83-1, 83-2 ......... Received mail text 65 81 ......... Warning information 69 ......... "Send" button 71 ......... "Save" button 73 ......... "Cancel" button 75 ......... "Continuous send" button 77 ... …… Compose mail 79 ... …… Mail text 87 ……… End notification 101 ……… CPU
103 ......... Memory 105 ......... Storage unit 107 ......... Display unit 109 ......... Input unit 111 ......... Output unit 113 ......... Communication unit 115 ......... System buses 201-206, 401-406 ... ... Received mail records 301, 303, 304, 306 ... …… Screen A
302, 305, 307, 308, 309, 310 ..... screen B

Claims (9)

A communication support device connected to a communication network and supporting transmission / reception of communication information,
Related communication information creating means for creating related communication information which is communication information related to each other;
Destination identification information extraction means for extracting destination identification information of the related communication information;
Warning information creating means for creating warning information related to the related communication information or the transmitted / received communication information corresponding to the related communication information;
Warning information transmitting means for transmitting the warning information to a transmission destination indicated by the extracted transmission destination identification information;
A communication support apparatus comprising: Warning information receiving means for receiving the warning information;
Based on the warning information, warning means for warning the operator about the related communication information or the transmitted / received communication information corresponding to the related communication information;
The communication support apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   The warning means performs the warning at the time of receiving the warning information or at the start of a predetermined operation on the related communication information or the transmitted / received communication information corresponding to the related communication information. The communication support apparatus according to 1. Warning information receiving means for receiving the warning information;
Based on the warning information, operation prohibiting means for prohibiting a predetermined operation on the related communication information or the transmitted / received communication information corresponding to the related communication information;
The communication support apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   The communication support apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the operation prohibiting unit cancels the prohibition of the predetermined operation when all the related communication information is received from a transmission source of the warning information.   The communication support apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the predetermined operation includes at least one of a content display instruction, a reproduction instruction, a reply instruction, a transfer instruction, and a deletion instruction. .   The communication support device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the warning information is information including at least one of a transmission schedule of the related communication information, a planned number of transmissions, and a transmission end. .   8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the related communication information includes at least one of reply communication information with respect to received communication information and communication information continuously transmitted with respect to transmitted communication information. A communication support apparatus according to claim 1.   A program that causes a computer to function as the communication support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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