JP2008227781A - Mail-information management device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To confirm the reading or non-reading of an electronic mail without a communication with the whole mail system of a path capable of transferring the mail. <P>SOLUTION: A mail-information management device communicates with a plurality of mail servers 2-1 to 2-n, and manages an information related to the electronic mail. The main-information management device has a data management section 8 recording the information related to the electronic mail and a data control section 7 controlling a specified destination acount when the electronic mail is transmitted to the specified destination acount and recording a mail server information displaying the mail server 2-n holding the transmitted electronic mail to the data management section 8. The data control section 7 specifies the mail server 2-n holding the transmitted electronic mail on the basis of the mail server information recorded on the data management section 8, and acquires the information related to the reading or non-reading of the electronic mail by the communication with the mail server 2-n. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mail information management apparatus that manages information related to e-mail, and in particular, checks whether an e-mail has not been read, etc. without changing the configuration of an existing mail server and without placing a load on the mail server. The present invention relates to a mail information management device.

  In a widely used distributed mail system, an e-mail sent by a sender is sent to a destination account via a plurality of mail servers, thereby enabling exchange of e-mail between terminals. . However, in this distributed mail system, even if it can be confirmed that the transmitted electronic mail has arrived at the destination account, it is impossible to confirm whether or not the recipient has actually read the electronic mail. For this reason, in order to confirm whether or not it has been read, it is necessary to take a response such as requesting a reply mail indicating that the electronic mail has been received. Also, with this method, since the sender cannot grasp whether the e-mail is unread or read until the receiver sends a reply mail, the confirmation is not quick and cumbersome.

  Therefore, as described in Patent Document 1, a mail information management apparatus for easily confirming whether an e-mail has not been read has been proposed. According to the mail information management apparatus, a response mail can be requested. Even if it is not used, it is possible to quickly check the state of the e-mail.

  FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram of the mail information management system. The mail information management system includes a plurality of mail systems 20-1 to 20-n. Have the same configuration. Each of the mail systems 20-1 to 20-n includes existing mail servers 21-1 to 21-n and mail information management devices 22-1 to 22- attached to the mail servers 21-1 to 21-n. n are installed. The mail information management devices 22-1 to 22-n include an additional information acquisition interface 23 for obtaining additional information from the mail servers 21-1 to 21-n, a mail information management unit 24 for managing the additional information, and a user. And a user interface 25 that provides information on an electronic mail to be confirmed, and operates independently of the mail servers 21-1 to 21-n.

  For example, if the sender's outgoing mail is transferred in the order of the mail servers 21-1, 21-2, 21-n and held in the mail server 21-n having jurisdiction over the destination account, the sender is electronic When it is desired to confirm that the mail has not been read, first, the sender requests the user interface 25 of the mail system 20-1 to confirm that the email has not been read. Next, the mail information management device 22-1 of the mail system 20-1 inquires of the mail information management device 22-2 of the subsequent mail system 20-2 about the presence or absence of an email. Upon receiving the inquiry, the mail information management device 22-2 accesses the mail server 21-2 to determine whether or not an e-mail exists, and confirms that there is no e-mail. The information management device 22-n is inquired about the presence or absence of an e-mail. Similarly to the mail information management apparatus 22-2, the mail information management apparatus 22-n accesses the mail server 21-n to determine the presence or absence of an e-mail, and confirms that an e-mail exists. Judge whether to read. Thereafter, the confirmation content is transmitted through the reverse route, whereby the sender is notified of the unread e-mail, and the sender can grasp the state of the sent mail.

In the above mail information management system, the sender requests the user interface 25 of the mail system 20-1 to delete the e-mail, thereby deleting the e-mail existing in the mail server 21-n. It is also possible.
JP-A-6-195275

  However, in the mail information management system described in Patent Document 1, since the email information is distributed and managed in a plurality of mail information management devices, a mail transferable route is available when confirming that the email has not been read. There was a problem that it was necessary to communicate with all the mail systems, and an excessive load was applied.

  Further, in the mail information management system, unless the user deletes the email using the mail information management device, even if the email is in an unread state, it is retained in the mail server. There is a problem in that it is necessary to regularly check for unread e-mails and delete unread e-mails as necessary.

  Furthermore, in the above mail information management system, even if a user other than the mail sender deletes the unread mail, no notification is sent to the mail sender, so the mail sender cannot grasp that the unread mail has been deleted. There was also a problem.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems in the prior art, and can confirm that an e-mail has not been read without communicating with all mail systems in a mail transferable path, and The purpose is to provide a mail information management device that can efficiently process unread mail without complicating troublesome tasks, and that the mail sender can understand when unread mail is deleted. And

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a mail information management device that communicates with a plurality of mail servers and manages information related to an email transmitted via the plurality of mail servers, A storage unit for recording information, and mail server information indicating a mail server that has jurisdiction over the predetermined destination account and holds the transmitted e-mail when an e-mail is transmitted to the predetermined destination account; And a data control unit for recording in the storage unit.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to quickly identify a mail server that holds an e-mail based on the mail server information recorded in the storage unit without communicating with all mail servers on the mail transferable route. . Therefore, when the e-mail has not been read, if the mail server information recorded in the storage unit is used, the state of the e-mail can be easily and quickly confirmed without applying an excessive load. Become.

  In the mail information management apparatus, the data control unit identifies a mail server that holds the transmitted electronic mail based on the mail server information, communicates with the identified mail server, and transmits the transmitted electronic mail. It can be configured to obtain information about unread. According to this configuration, it is possible to confirm unread e-mails easily and quickly.

  In the mail information management device, the storage unit records unread mail deletion date / time information indicating a date / time at which unread mail should be deleted, and the data control unit, based on the mail server information and the unread mail deletion date / time information, It can be configured to delete unread mail held in the mail server. According to this configuration, since the unread mail is deleted even if the sender does not regularly check the unread e-mail, the burden on the sender can be reduced.

  In the mail information management device, the storage unit records unread mail deletion interval information indicating a period of holding the unread mail in the mail server, and the data control unit, when the electronic mail is transmitted, A period indicated by the unread mail deletion interval information may be added to the reception date and time of the electronic mail, and the addition result may be recorded in the storage unit as the unread mail deletion date and time information. According to this configuration, the user can freely set the period until the unread mail is deleted by setting the unread mail deletion interval information.

  In the mail information management device, when unread mail deletion interval information indicating a period during which the unread mail is held in the mail server is attached to the e-mail, the data control unit performs the unread mail deletion interval information. Is added, the period indicated by the unread mail deletion interval information is added to the reception date and time of the email, and the addition result is recorded in the storage unit as the unread mail deletion date and time information It can be constituted as follows. According to this configuration, by adding the unread mail deletion interval information to the transmission mail, it is possible to set a period until the unread mail is deleted for each electronic mail.

  In the mail information management device, when the data control unit deletes the unread mail, the data control unit is configured to transmit the fact that the unread mail is deleted to a mail server having jurisdiction over a sender account of the unread mail. Can do. According to this configuration, the mail sender is notified that the unread mail has been deleted, and the mail sender can grasp that the unread mail has been deleted.

  In the mail information management apparatus, when the plurality of mail servers receive an e-mail addressed to an account with jurisdiction, the same e-mail as the received e-mail is transferred to the mail information management apparatus. Can do. According to this configuration, when an e-mail is transmitted, the e-mail information management apparatus can automatically acquire information related to the e-mail.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to check whether an e-mail has not been read without communicating with all the mail systems on the mail transferable route, and to efficiently read the e-mail without forcing the sender. Mail can be processed, and when an unread mail is deleted, it is possible to realize that the mail sender can grasp it.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a mail system using a mail information management apparatus according to the present invention. This mail system 1 includes a plurality of mail servers 2-1 for transmitting an email sent by a sender to a destination account. -N, the directory service device 3 that manages the mail accounts and passwords of the mail servers 2-1 to 2-n, and the mail information management device that performs e-mail read confirmation processing, unread mail deletion processing, and the like It is composed of four.

  The mail servers 2-1 to 2-n are general mail servers that are connected to a network (not shown) such as the Internet and have an email reception function, a transfer function, and a storage function. In the present embodiment, a setting is added to the mail transfer function, and the mail servers 2-1 to 2-n send the same e-mail to the mail information when the e-mail arrives at the e-mail account managed by the mail server 2-1 to 2-n. It is configured to forward to the management device 4.

  The directory service device 3 is connected to the mail servers 2-1 to 2-n via a network and holds user information such as a mail account and a password. The directory service device 3 is also connected to the mail information management device 4, and provides the stored information to the mail information management device 4 when accessed from the mail information management device 4.

  The mail information management device 4 includes a mail server communication control unit 5, a directory service communication control unit 6, a data control unit 7, a data management unit 8, and a user interface unit 9, and is connected to a mail server via a network. 2-1 to 2-n and the directory service device 3 are connected. Unlike the conventional mail information management devices 22-1 to 22-n shown in FIG. 5, only one mail information management device 4 is installed for a plurality of mail servers 2-1 to 2-n.

  The mail server communication control unit 5 uses a communication protocol such as SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) to receive e-mail from the mail servers 2-1 to 2-n, and also uses a mail server using the SMTP. 2-1 to 2-n is used to acquire e-mail information from the mail servers 2-1 to 2-n and delete the e-mail using a transmission function for transmitting e-mail to POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) or the like. It has a mail deletion function.

  The directory service communication control unit 6 acquires user information from the directory service device 3 using LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) or the like.

  The data control unit 7 sets a mail information table 8a stored in the data management unit 8 and an unread mail deletion information table 8b according to the contents of the e-mail transferred from the mail servers 2-1 to 2-n. To do. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the mail information table 8a, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the unread mail deletion information table 8b.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the mail information table 8a is a table for recording information on message ID, transmission source IP address, transmission destination mail address, reply destination mail address, unread mail deletion time, and mail title. The message ID is a unique identifier for identifying each e-mail, and the transmission source IP address is the mail server that has transferred the e-mail (the e-mail sent by the sender who has jurisdiction over the e-mail destination account) Is the IP address of the mail server that holds The transmission destination email address is the recipient's email address, and the reply destination email address is the sender's email address. Further, the unread mail deletion date and time indicates the date and time when the electronic mail should be deleted, and the mail title is a title attached to the electronic mail by the sender.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the unread mail deletion information table 8b is a table that records information on mail addresses and unread mail deletion intervals. The mail address is the same as the destination mail address in the mail information table 8a, and is the mail address of the recipient. The unread mail deletion interval indicates a period from when an e-mail arrives until it is deleted, that is, an e-mail retention period. The unread mail deletion interval can be determined freely by both the sender and the receiver by the setting process. The sender can determine the holding period of the email sent by the sender, It is possible to set the holding period of the e-mail that reaches the address to an arbitrary period.

  In addition to setting the unread mail deletion interval by the setting process as described above, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, by attaching information on the deletion interval of unread mail to the body of the outgoing mail, It is possible to specify an unread mail deletion interval in. Here, “deltimer-day”, “deltimer-hour”, and “deltimer-minitue” in FIG. 4 indicate the deletion intervals in units of days, hours, and minutes, respectively, in the example shown in FIG. Indicates that the e-mail should be deleted two days after the e-mail arrives.

  The data control unit 7 periodically monitors the unread mail deletion time in the mail information table 8a, and if there is an e-mail that has passed the unread mail deletion time, the mail server 2- It is confirmed whether or not unread mail exists in 1 to 2-n. If there is an unread mail, the unread mail is deleted, and at the same time, an e-mail notifying that the unread mail is deleted is sent to the mail address recorded in the mail address of the unread mail deletion information table 8b (unread mail deletion notification ).

  The user interface unit 9 is an interface for accepting a request from a user terminal, and accepts an unread confirmation request for a transmitted electronic mail, a request for setting an unread mail deletion interval, and the like.

  Next, the operation of the mail information management apparatus 4 in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the sender's outgoing mail is forwarded in the order of the mail servers 2-1, 2-2, 2-n and held in the mail server 2-n having jurisdiction over the destination account. And

  When the mail sender sends an e-mail to a predetermined destination account, the e-mail reaches the mail server 2-n via the mail servers 2-1 and 2-2, and the mail server 2-n sends the e-mail. After storing, the same electronic mail is transmitted to the mail information management device 4.

  When the mail information management device 4 receives the electronic mail transmitted from the mail server 2-n, the data control unit 7 displays the contents of the mail and the IP address of the transmission source mail server (IP address of the mail server 2-n). Send to. The data control unit 7 acquires the message ID, transmission source IP address, transmission destination mail address, and reply destination mail address of the electronic mail specified in the mail header, and records them in the mail information table 8a. At the same time, it is checked whether an unread mail deletion interval is specified in the mail body.

  When the unread mail deletion interval is specified in the mail text, the specified unread mail deletion interval is added to the reception date / time of the electronic mail, and the addition result is set as the unread mail deletion date / time in the mail information table 8a. On the other hand, when the unread mail deletion interval is not specified in the mail body, the unread mail deletion interval set in the unread mail deletion information table 8b is acquired, and the received unread mail deletion interval is received as an e-mail. The date / time added to the date / time is set as the unread mail deletion date / time in the mail information table 8a.

  In such a state, when the sender requests the mail information management device 4 to confirm that the transmitted mail has not been read, the data control unit 7 refers to the mail information table 8a of the data management unit 8 and transmits the data. The mail server 2-n that holds the e-mail and the e-mail destination mail address are specified using the e-mail message ID specified by the user.

  Next, the destination mail address is transmitted to the directory service device 3 via the directory service communication control unit 6, and the provision of a password for the destination mail address is requested. When the password is transmitted from the directory service device 3, the data control unit 7 transmits the IP address, transmission destination mail address, and password of the mail server 2-n to the mail server communication control unit 5.

  The mail server communication control unit 5 logs in to the mail server 2-n using the destination mail address and password, and accesses the mailbox, mail folder, etc. of the mail server 2-n, and the designated e-mail is received. Check if it is unread or read. If the confirmation is completed, the data control unit 7 is notified that the confirmation process has been completed.

  When the data control unit 7 receives the notification from the mail server communication control unit 5, the mail address of the sender and the title attached to the email by the sender are determined from the reply destination mail address and the mail title of the mail information table 8a. And the acquired mail address and title information are transmitted to the mail server communication control unit 5.

  The mail server communication control unit 5 creates an e-mail in which the title attached to the e-mail by the sender and the confirmation result of the unread e-mail are attached to the e-mail body, and then the e-mail having jurisdiction over the sender account It communicates with the server 2-1 and sends an e-mail addressed to the sender's mail address. Thereby, the sender is notified whether or not the transmitted electronic mail is in an unread state.

  As described above, in this embodiment, since the information of the mail server holding the e-mail is recorded in the e-mail information table 8a, the e-mail can be transferred when an unread confirmation request for e-mail is received. Even without communicating with all the mail servers on the route, the mail server holding the electronic mail can be quickly identified based on the mail server information recorded in the mail information table 8a. Therefore, it is possible to quickly check the state of the e-mail without applying an excessive load.

  On the other hand, the unread mail deletion process is not performed in response to a request from the sender or the receiver, but is automatically performed by the mail information management device 4 by monitoring the unread status of the e-mail.

  The data control unit 7 periodically checks the unread mail deletion time in the mail information table 8a of the data management unit 8. As a result of the check, if there is e-mail data that has passed the unread e-mail deletion time in the e-mail information table 8a, the same procedure as described above is performed in order to confirm the presence / absence of e-mail and unread e-mail. The password of the destination mail address is acquired from the directory service device 3 and is logged in to the mail server 2-n that holds the e-mail via the mail server communication control unit 5.

  The mail server communication control unit 5 checks the electronic mail held by the mail server 2-n, and confirms whether the electronic mail recorded in the mail information table 8a exists in the mail server 2-n. . If the e-mail exists in the mail server 2-n, the e-mail is read together and the confirmation result is transmitted to the data control unit 7.

  When the electronic mail exists in the mail server 2-n and the electronic mail is in an unread state, the data control unit 7 again sends the mail server 2 via the mail server communication control unit 5. -Log in to n and delete unread mail. As a result, even if the sender does not regularly check for unread e-mails, the unread mail can be deleted efficiently, and the burden on the sender can be reduced.

  When the electronic mail is deleted, the data control unit 7 acquires the reply destination mail address and title information of the unread mail from the mail information table 8a, adds the IP address of the mail server 2-n to them, and the mail server communication control unit Send to 5.

  The mail server communication control unit 5 creates an e-mail in which the title attached to the transmitted mail by the sender and the notification that the unread mail has been deleted is attached to the mail text, and transmits it to the sender's mail address. Thereby, the sender is notified that the unread mail has been deleted, and the sender can grasp that the unread mail has been deleted.

  When the e-mail is transmitted, the mail server communication control unit 5 notifies the data control unit 7 that the e-mail has been transmitted, and the data control unit 7 deletes the unread mail data deleted from the data in the mail information table 8a. Is deleted.

  On the other hand, if an e-mail exists in the mail server 2-n but the e-mail is in a read state, the data control unit 7 does not send a notification e-mail to the sender. The e-mail data that has been read is deleted from the data in the e-mail information table 8a and excluded from the subsequent monitoring targets.

  In addition, even when an e-mail does not exist in the mail server 2-n, a notification e-mail is not sent to the sender as in the above, and the e-mail is sent from the data in the e-mail information table 8a. E-mail data that did not exist in the server 2-n is deleted.

It is a whole lineblock diagram showing the mail system using the mail information management device concerning the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the mail information table of FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the unread mail deletion information table of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the designation | designated method of an unread mail deletion interval. It is a whole block diagram which shows the conventional mail information management system.

Explanation of symbols

1 Mail system 2 (2-1 to 2-n) Mail server 3 Directory service device 4 Mail information management device 5 Mail server communication control unit 6 Directory service communication control unit 7 Data control unit 8 Data management unit 8a Mail information table 8b Unread Mail deletion information table 9 User interface part

Claims (7)

A mail information management device that communicates with a plurality of mail servers and manages information related to an electronic mail transmitted via the plurality of mail servers,
A storage unit for recording information about the e-mail;
A data control unit that records, in the storage unit, mail server information indicating a mail server that has jurisdiction over the predetermined destination account and holds the transmitted e-mail when an e-mail is transmitted to the predetermined destination account A mail information management device comprising:   The data control unit identifies a mail server that holds the transmitted e-mail based on the mail server information, and communicates with the identified mail server to acquire information on unread of the transmitted e-mail The mail information management device according to claim 1, wherein: The storage unit records unread mail deletion date and time information indicating a date and time when unread mail should be deleted,
3. The mail information management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data control unit deletes unread mail held in the mail server based on the mail server information and unread mail deletion date / time information. The storage unit records unread mail deletion interval information indicating a period of holding the unread mail in the mail server,
The data control unit, when the e-mail is transmitted, adds a period indicated by the unread mail deletion interval information to the reception date and time of the e-mail, and adds the addition result as the unread mail deletion date and time information to the storage unit The mail information management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the mail information management apparatus records the mail information. When unread mail deletion interval information indicating a period of holding the unread mail in the mail server is attached to the e-mail,
The data control unit, when an e-mail attached with the unread mail deletion interval information is transmitted, adds a period indicated by the unread mail deletion interval information to the reception date and time of the e-mail, and adds the addition result to the 4. The mail information management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein unread mail deletion date / time information is recorded in the storage unit.   The said data control part transmits that the said unread mail was deleted to the mail server which manages the transmission origin account of the said unread mail, when the said unread mail is deleted. The mail information management device described in 1.   7. The plurality of mail servers, when receiving an e-mail addressed to an account with jurisdiction, transfers the same e-mail as the received e-mail to the mail information management device. The mail information management device according to the above.

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