JP2009224999A - Network facsimile system, facsimile data transmission method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network facsimile system which can prevent erroneous transmission of facsimile data by: automatically determining a form of a destination address inputted by a user before transmission of the facsimile data; and making the user confirm whether the determined form of the destination address is a form of the destination address that the user intends. <P>SOLUTION: A transmission confirmation control part 21 controls processing of confirming whether a form of a destination address like an IP address inputted through an operation part 11 by the user is intended by the user. A destination address form determination part 21a determines the inputted form of the destination address. A confirmation screen display control part 21b displays the determined form of the destination address and displays a confirmation screen for confirming that it is the form of the destination address intended by the user, on a touch panel of the operation part 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a network facsimile apparatus, and more particularly to a network facsimile apparatus capable of preventing erroneous transmission of facsimile data by allowing the user to confirm the format of a destination address input by the user.

  Conventionally, a technique for preventing erroneous transmission of facsimile data in a network facsimile apparatus connectable to the Internet has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

  By the way, ITU-T recommendation T.I. In the network facsimile apparatus based on H.38, in addition to the destination address such as the IP address, the host name, the SIP address, and the fax number for specifying the transmission destination, “IP address”, “host name”, “SIP_URI”, “ It may be necessary to input a destination address format (type) such as “E.164 number” or “h.323-id”.

For example, when a user transmits facsimile data to “foo@hogehoge.com” using the SIP protocol using the network facsimile apparatus, the user uses “foo@hogehoge.com” as a destination address. And the destination address format “SIP_URI” corresponding to the destination address must be entered.
JP-A-11-220596

  As described above, when the destination address format must be input, the user must input not only the destination address correctly but also the correct destination address format.

  For example, the user inputs “foo@hogehoge.com” and a correct destination address, but mistakenly inputs “h.323-id” where “SIP_URI” should be input as the destination address format. However, when facsimile data is transmitted, the transmitted facsimile data may not be transmitted to the other party intended by the user.

  Further, as described above, Patent Document 1 is not intended to prevent erroneous input of the destination address format and prevent erroneous transmission, and does not disclose any erroneous input of the destination address format. .

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and automatically determines the format of a destination address input by a user before transmission of facsimile data, and the format of the determined destination address is the destination address intended by the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a network facsimile apparatus that can prevent erroneous transmission of facsimile data by allowing a user to confirm whether or not it is in the format.

  The first technical means includes a determination unit for determining a destination address format of a destination of facsimile data, displays the determined destination address format, and the displayed destination address format is intended by the user. A network facsimile apparatus characterized by transmitting facsimile data to an input destination address when it is confirmed that the format is a destination address.

  According to a second technical means, in the first technical means, the discriminating unit first determines that the destination address format is IP depending on whether or not the characters of the input destination address are composed only of numbers and “.”. It is determined whether the address is an IP address, and if it is not confirmed as an IP address, the format of the destination address is then determined as a host name or a self registration number.

  According to a third technical means, in the second technical means, the format of the destination address is a host name depending on whether or not the input destination address is registered in a DNS server device connected to the network facsimile device. Whether or not the input destination address is registered in the own machine registration number table recorded in the network facsimile apparatus, and the format of the destination address is the own machine registration number. It is characterized by distinguishing.

  According to a fourth technical means, in the third technical means, when the input destination address is not confirmed as the host name or the own device registration number, the format of the input destination address is the SIP address / E. 164 number / h323-ID is determined.

  The fifth technical means includes a step of determining the destination address format of the destination of the facsimile data, displaying the determined destination address format, and the displayed destination address format is the destination address intended by the user. A step for displaying a screen for confirming whether or not the format is correct, and a step for transmitting facsimile data to the input destination address when it is confirmed that the format is the destination address intended by the user. This is a facsimile data transmission method characterized by the above.

  A sixth technical means is a program characterized by executing the facsimile data transmitting method of the fifth technical means.

  The seventh technical means is a recording medium on which the program of the sixth technical means is recorded.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent erroneous transmission of facsimile data by allowing the user to confirm whether or not the format of the destination address input by the user before transmission of the facsimile data is the format of the destination address intended by the user. In addition, erroneous transmission of facsimile data having a high security level can be effectively prevented, and leakage of the facsimile data can be prevented.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a network system including a network facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.
1 is a (T.38) network FAX apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a network facsimile apparatus) according to the present invention, which is connected to an IP network N and transmits / receives G3 standard facsimile data via an IP network packet line. T. The 38 protocol is used to transmit / receive facsimile data to / from another network facsimile apparatus or, for example, (T.30) analog FAX apparatus 6.

A DNS server apparatus 2 manages the IP address of the host name (domain name) and converts the host name into an IP address.
3 is a gatekeeper device. 323 IP address, h323-ID (gwy1@domain.com, etc.) / E. 164 numbers (standard telephone numbers) are converted to IP addresses.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a SIP server device that manages the IP address of SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and executes data transmission / reception control using the SIP protocol.
Reference numeral 5 denotes a gateway device that executes various types of communication control such as communication protocol conversion processing in order to enable data transmission / reception between an IP network and a PSTN network (Public Switched Telephone Networks).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the network facsimile apparatus 1 according to the present invention.
An operation unit 11 includes a numeric keypad and a touch panel for operating the network facsimile apparatus 1, and 12 is a network I / F that provides an interface connected to the network N.
A scanner unit 13 reads a transmission document and converts it into electronic data such as bitmap data. The converted electronic data is converted into a file format such as TIFF format and recorded in the HDD 18 or the like.

  A facsimile unit 14 executes a facsimile function. Specifically, transmission facsimile data (data compressed in a compression format such as MH) is generated from the electronic data of the transmission original read by the scanner unit 13, and the user operates the operation unit 11 with the generated data. Destination address and the format of the destination address, for example, “IP address”, “host name”, “own device registration number (one-touch dial)”, “SIP_URI”, “h323-ID”, “E .164 number "or the like, and the facsimile data transmitted by another facsimile apparatus is received and recorded in the HDD 18 or the like, and the recorded facsimile data is sequentially printed using the printing unit 15. .

  Reference numeral 16 is a ROM, and 17 is a RAM. The HDD 18 is a large-capacity recording device and stores a one-touch dial table in which a simple input number composed of, for example, two digits and a destination address are recorded in association with each other to realize the above-described one-touch dial function. Reference numeral 19 denotes a control unit that controls each functional block.

  21 is a transmission confirmation control unit that controls processing for confirming whether the format of a destination address such as an IP address, SIP address, or fax number input by the user via the operation unit 11 is intended by the user. The destination address format determination unit 21a for determining the format of the input destination address and the format of the determined destination address are displayed. The format of the displayed destination address is the format of the destination address intended by the user. A confirmation screen display control unit 21b that controls processing for displaying a confirmation screen on the touch panel of the operation unit 11.

Hereinafter, functions of the destination address format determination unit 21a and the confirmation screen display control unit 21b will be described in detail.
FIG. 3 shows a correspondence table 50 that is referred to when determining the format of the destination address input by the user.
In the correspondence table 50, characters that can be input are determined in accordance with the formats of various destination addresses. For example, SIP URI “RFC2396, RFC3261”, h323-ID ISO / IEC 10646-1, E.E. In the 164 number, the inputable characters are defined by “JT-H.323”. Based on the inputable characters, the destination address format is determined.
It is assumed that the correspondence table 50 is recorded in the HDD 18.

When the destination address is input, the destination address format determination unit 21a first specifies the character type of the input destination address, and when the input destination address is composed of only numbers and “.”. Then, it is determined that the format of the input destination address is an IP address.
Then, a screen for confirming whether the destination address format is an IP address is displayed on the touch panel of the operation unit 11 by the confirmation screen display control unit 21b. When the user confirms that the format of the determined destination address is the format of the destination address intended by the user, the facsimile data is transmitted to the destination address specified by the input destination address.

Subsequently, when the user confirms that the format of the destination address is not an IP address, or when it is determined by the above determination processing that the format of the destination address is not an IP address, the destination address format determination unit 21a performs the DNS server device. 2 is inquired whether the input destination address is registered in the server device 2, and if the input destination address is registered in the server device 2, the format of the input destination address is the host name. It is determined that
Then, a screen for confirming whether the format of the destination address is a host name is displayed on the touch panel of the operation unit 11 by the confirmation screen display control unit 21b.
Even before the facsimile data transmission procedure is entered, it is possible to access the DNS server device without any timing limitation.

Subsequently, when the user confirms that the format of the destination address is not a host name, or when it is determined by the above determination processing that the format of the destination address is not a host name, the destination address format determination unit 21a stores it in the HDD 18. With reference to the one-touch dialing table, it is determined whether or not the input destination address (input simple number) is registered in the table, and if it is registered, the format of the input destination address is It is determined as the destination address of the own device registration number.
Then, a screen for confirming whether the format of the destination address is the own device registration number is displayed on the touch panel of the operation unit 11 by the confirmation screen display control unit 21b.

Subsequently, when the user confirms that the format of the destination address is not the own device registration number, or when it is determined that the destination address format is not the own device registration number by the above determination processing, the destination address format determination unit 21a , Destination address format is SIP address / E. 164 number / h323-ID.
Then, the SIP address / E. In the order of 164 number / h323-ID, a screen requesting the user to confirm the format of the destination address is displayed on the touch panel of the operation unit 11 by the confirmation screen display control unit 21b.

(IP address)
First, the process of determining that the destination address format is an IP address and confirming to the user will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 and the display screens shown in FIGS.
The user presses an “address input key” on the standby screen (see FIG. 5A) displayed on the touch panel of the operation unit 11. Then, a destination input screen (see FIG. 5B) is displayed by the confirmation screen display control unit 21b, and the user inputs a destination address via the input screen (step S1).

  Next, the destination address format determination unit 21a determines the format of the input destination address (step S2). Specifically, the character type of the input destination address is specified, and when the input destination address is composed only of numbers and “.”, The format of the input destination address is an IP address. Determine that there is.

If it is determined that the format of the input destination address is an IP address (step S2 / YES), the confirmation screen display control unit 21b prompts the user whether the format of the destination address input by the user is an IP address. A screen for confirming whether or not (see FIG. 6A) is displayed to prompt confirmation (step S3).
When the user confirms that the format of the destination address input by the user is an IP address and touches the “Yes” button in FIG. 6A (step S4 / YES), the transmission confirmation control unit 21 The input IP address is set as the destination of the transmission facsimile data (step S5). At the same time, the confirmation screen display control unit 21b displays a screen (see FIG. 6B) indicating that the facsimile data is transmitted to the IP address.

  Then, the transmission confirmation control unit 21 instructs the facsimile unit 14 to transmit the facsimile data to the destination set in step S5 (step S6).

  If it is determined that the format of the destination address input in step S2 is not an IP address (step S2 / NO), or if the user touches the “No” button in FIG. 6A in step S4 (step S4) / NO), the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 is executed.

(hostname)
Next, processing for determining that the format of the destination address is a host name and confirming to the user will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 and the display screen shown in FIG.
Here, as described in step S1 of FIG. 4, the user inputs the host name as the destination address via the destination input screen (see FIG. 8A), and the execution of each step described in FIG. 4 ends. Then, it is assumed that the processing starts from the flowchart “A” in FIG.
The destination address format determination unit 21a executes a process for inquiring whether the destination address input to the DNS server device 2 is registered in the server device 2, that is, so-called address resolution (step S11).

When the input destination address is registered in the server device 2 (step S12 / YES), the destination address format determination unit 21a determines that the format of the input destination address is a host name.
Then, the confirmation screen display control unit 21b prompts the user to confirm by displaying a screen (see FIG. 8B) for confirming whether or not the format of the destination address input by the user is a host name (see FIG. 8B). Step S13).

When the user confirms that the format of the destination address input by the user is a host name and touches the “Yes” button in FIG. 8B (step S14 / YES), the transmission confirmation control unit 21 An address corresponding to the input host name acquired from the DNS server device 2 is set as the destination of the transmission facsimile data (step S15). At the same time, the confirmation screen display control unit 21b displays a screen (see FIG. 8C) indicating that the facsimile data is transmitted to the input host name.
Then, the transmission confirmation control unit 21 instructs the facsimile unit 14 to transmit the facsimile data to the destination set in step S15 (step S16).

  If the input destination address is not registered in the server device 2 in step S12 (step S12 / NO), or if the user touches the “No” button in FIG. 8B in step S14 (step S14 / NO), the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9 is executed.

(Own machine registration number)
Next, processing for determining that the format of the destination address is the self registration number and confirming with the user will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 and the display screen shown in FIG.
Here, as described in step S1 of FIG. 4, the user inputs his / her registration number as the destination address via the destination input screen (see FIG. 10A). It is assumed that the execution of the step is completed and the processing is started from the flowchart “B” in FIG.

  The destination address format determination unit 21a determines whether or not the input destination address (input simple number) is registered in the one-touch dial table stored in the HDD 18, and the input is performed in the table. If it is determined that the destination address is registered (step S22 / YES), the format of the input destination address is determined as the destination address of the own device registration number.

  Then, the confirmation screen display control unit 21b displays a confirmation screen (see FIG. 10B) for confirming to the user whether or not the format of the destination address input by the user is the own device registration number. Prompt (step S23).

When the user confirms that the format of the destination address input by the user is the self registration number and touches the “Yes” button in FIG. 10B (step S 24 / YES), the transmission confirmation control unit 21. Acquires an address in the table corresponding to the input address, and sets the acquired address as the destination of the transmission facsimile data (step S25). At the same time, the confirmation screen display control unit 21b displays a screen (see FIG. 10C) indicating that the facsimile data is transmitted to the input host name.
Then, the transmission confirmation control unit 21 instructs the facsimile unit 14 to transmit the facsimile data to the destination set in step S25 (step S26).

  When it is determined in step S22 that the input address is not present in the table (step S22 / NO), or in step S24, the user touches the “No” button in FIG. 10B (step S24 / NO). ), The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 11 is executed.

(SIP address / E.164 number / h323-ID)
Next, processing for determining that the destination address is a SIP address and confirming to the user will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 11 and the display screens shown in FIGS.
Here, as described in step S1 of FIG. 4, the user uses the SIP address (FIG. 12A) /E.P as the destination address via the destination input screen (see FIG. 12). 164 number (FIG. 12B) / h323-ID (FIG. 12C) is input, the execution of each step described in FIGS. 4, 7, and 9 is completed, and the flow of FIG. It is assumed that the processing starts from the figure “C”.

  The confirmation screen display control unit 21b prompts the user to confirm by displaying a screen (see FIG. 13A) for confirming whether the format of the destination address input by the user is a SIP address (step S31). ).

  When the user confirms that the format of the destination address input by the user is a SIP address and touches the “Yes” button in FIG. 13A (step S32 / YES), the transmission confirmation control unit 21 The input SIP address is set as the destination of the transmission facsimile data (step S33). At the same time, the confirmation screen display control unit 21b displays a screen (see FIG. 13B) indicating that the facsimile data is transmitted to the input SIP address. Then, the facsimile unit 14 is instructed to transmit the facsimile data to the destination set in step S33 (step S34).

  In step 32, when the user confirms that the format of the destination address input by the user is not a SIP address and touches the “No” button in FIG. 13A (step S32 / NO), a confirmation screen display is displayed. The control unit 21b notifies the user that the format of the destination address input by the user is E.E. A screen for confirming whether or not the number is 164 (see FIG. 14A) is displayed to prompt confirmation (step S35).

  In step 36, the user sets the format of the destination address entered by the user to E.E. When it is confirmed that the number is 164 and the “Yes” button in FIG. 14A is touched (step S36 / YES), the transmission confirmation control unit 21 receives the input E.E. The 164 number is set as the destination of the transmission facsimile data (step S37). At the same time, the confirmation screen display controller 21b receives the input E.E. A screen (see FIG. 14B) for transmitting facsimile data to the 164 number is displayed. Then, the facsimile unit 14 is instructed to transmit the facsimile data to the destination set in step S37 (step S34).

  In step 36, the user sets the format of the destination address entered by the user to E.E. When it is confirmed that the number is not 164 and the “No” button in FIG. 14A is touched (step S36 / NO), the confirmation screen display control unit 21b notifies the user of the destination address h323-inputted by the user. A screen (see FIG. 15A) for confirming whether or not the ID is displayed is displayed to prompt confirmation (step S38).

  In step 39, when the user confirms that the format of the destination address input by the user is h323-ID and touches the “Yes” button in FIG. 15A (step S39 / YES), transmission confirmation is performed. The control unit 21 sets the input h323-ID as the destination of the transmission facsimile data (step S40). At the same time, the confirmation screen display control unit 21b displays a screen (see FIG. 15B) indicating that facsimile data is transmitted to the input h323-ID. Then, the facsimile unit 14 is instructed to transmit the facsimile data to the destination set in step S40 (step S34).

  In step 39, when the user confirms that the format of the destination address input by the user is not h323-ID and touches the “No” button in FIG. 15A (step S39 / NO), transmission confirmation control is performed. The unit 21 cancels the transmission process (step S41).

Each step described in the flowchart can be executed by a program. The program can be recorded on various recording media such as a CD-ROM and a DVD.
The order of the confirmation processing described in the above flowchart is an example, and the order can be arbitrarily changed.
The determination method of the destination address is not limited to the above method. For example, if the destination address includes “0-9”, “#”, “*”, the format of the destination address is E.E. It may be determined that the number is 164. When “@” is included, it may be determined as a SIP address or h323-ID.

1 is a diagram illustrating a network system including a network facsimile apparatus and the like according to the present invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the network facsimile apparatus concerning this invention. It is the figure which showed the correspondence table in which the character which can be input is defined corresponding to the format of a destination address. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process which discriminate | determines that the format of a destination address is an IP address, and confirms with a user. It is the figure which showed an example of the display screen. It is the figure which showed the other example of the display screen. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process which discriminate | determines that the format of a destination address is a host name, and confirms with a user. It is the figure which showed the other example of the display screen. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining processing for determining that the format of a destination address is a self-registration number and confirming with a user. It is the figure which showed the other example of the display screen. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process which discriminate | determines that a destination address is a SIP address etc. and confirms with a user. It is the figure which showed the other example of the display screen. It is the figure which showed the other example of the display screen. It is the figure which showed the other example of the display screen. It is the figure which showed the other example of the display screen.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Network facsimile apparatus, 2 ... DNS server apparatus, 3 ... Gatekeeper apparatus, 4 ... SIP server apparatus, 5 ... Gateway apparatus, 6 ... Analog facsimile apparatus. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Operation part, 12 ... Network I / F, 13 ... Scanner part, 14 ... Facsimile part, 15 ... Printing part, 16 ... ROM, 17 ... RAM, 18 ... HDD, 19 ... Control part, 21 ... Transmission confirmation control part , 21a... Destination address format determination unit, 21b... Confirmation screen display control unit, 50.

Claims (7)

A discriminator for discriminating the format of the destination address of the destination of facsimile data;
The format of the determined destination address is displayed, and when it is confirmed that the displayed destination address format is the destination address format intended by the user, facsimile data is transmitted to the input destination address. A network facsimile machine.   The determination unit first determines whether or not the destination address format is an IP address depending on whether or not the characters of the input destination address are composed of only numbers and “.”, And confirms the IP address. 2. If not, the network facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein next, the destination address format is determined to be a host name or a self registration number.   Whether the input destination address is registered in a DNS server device connected to the network facsimile device is used to determine whether the destination address format is a host name or the input destination address 3. The format of the destination address according to claim 2, wherein the destination address format is determined to be the own device registration number depending on whether or not the destination address is registered in the own device registration number table recorded in the network facsimile apparatus. Network facsimile machine.   If the input destination address is not confirmed as the host name or the self registration number, the format of the input destination address is SIP address / E. 4. The network facsimile apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the network facsimile apparatus determines that the number is 164 number / h323-ID. Determining the format of the destination address of the destination of the facsimile data;
Displaying the determined destination address format and displaying a screen for confirming whether or not the displayed destination address format is the destination address format intended by the user;
A facsimile data transmission method comprising: a step of transmitting facsimile data to an input destination address when it is confirmed that the format is a destination address intended by a user.   6. A program for executing the facsimile data transmission method according to claim 5.   A recording medium on which the program according to claim 6 is recorded.

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