JP2013246622A - Email erroneous transmission confirmation system and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an email erroneous transmission confirmation technique which can be easily introduced without complex communication setting, and can prevent confirmation work from losing substance and effectively notify a user of a mistake in destination designation.SOLUTION: A system 12 which is mounted on a client terminal 10 including an email program comprises: a setting storage part 22 which stores correspondence information between a mail address of a recipient and a name of an affiliation organization of the recipient; a transmission control part 14 which stops transmission to a transmission mail server 30; and a transmission confirmation processing part 16 which generates selection quizzes in which the organization name associated with the mail address and a prescribed number of other organization names are listed for each mail address designated as a destination of the email, and displays them on a display 28. The transmission confirmation processing part 16 determines whether answers are correct or not, transmits the email to the transmission mail server 30 when all the quizzes are correctly answered, and displays an error massage when there is a wrong answer.

Description

  The present invention relates to an email misdelivery confirmation system and program, and in particular, provides an opportunity for a user to confirm that there is no error in an email destination before the email is transmitted from a client terminal to a mail server. Regarding technology.

  Currently, the use of e-mail has become established as a means of communication between companies, and highly confidential important documents such as contracts and quotations are frequently sent and received as e-mail attachments. For this reason, prevention of information leakage due to erroneous transmission of electronic mail is recognized as an urgent issue in each company.

As a measure for reducing the erroneous transmission of the e-mail, as shown in Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1, a proxy server is installed between the employee's client terminal and the mail server, and the transmission destination is set in the proxy server. And the contents of e-mails are checked for suitability and the results are returned to the client terminal.
For example, in the service of Non-Patent Document 1, when an e-mail address (To, Cc) includes an external address, the address is highlighted on the transmission confirmation screen (dialog). , Has a function to alert the sender.
By using these existing services, employees are given the opportunity to review their content before sending an email, so it is possible to a certain extent to prevent a troubled email from being sent indiscriminately. .
JP2007-087327 CipherCraft / Mail Internet URL: http://www.ntts.co.jp/products/ccraftmail/function.html#01 Search date: May 9, 2012

  However, this method of installing a proxy server not only increases the cost of installation and maintenance, but also involves changing the SMTP server name and port number on the e-mail program installed on each client terminal. It is necessary to make complicated settings, and this is a big barrier to the introduction.

  Further, in the case of the existing service, there is a problem in that the configuration of the transmission confirmation screen is insufficient and the role of “giving the sender an opportunity to confirm whether or not the transmission is incorrect” cannot be fulfilled sufficiently.

For example, as shown in FIG. 16, in the case of the transmission confirmation screen 200 disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1, the determination is made for three components of “destination”, “text”, and “attached file” of an email in the same screen. Since the result is displayed at once, the sender's attention tends to be distracted.
In particular, with regard to the check for “wrong destination”, which causes the most serious damage even in the case of incorrect email transmission, the email address and the name of the other party are simply listed, and a comprehensive check like “check all recipients” Since the check box is provided, there is a problem that the confirmation act is easily formed.
If there are multiple companies or persons in charge who have similar names to business partners, the mailer's input support function can be used as a trap, making it easy to select the wrong destination unconsciously. In the transmission confirmation screen, the effect of correcting the user's belief could not be expected so much.

  The present invention has been devised to solve such a conventional problem, and can be introduced without complicated communication settings on the client terminal side, and can effectively avoid the confirmation work. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for confirming erroneous transmission of an e-mail that can effectively make a user aware of an address designation error.

  In order to achieve the above object, an erroneous transmission confirmation system for an electronic mail according to claim 1 is a system implemented in a client terminal equipped with an electronic mail program, and includes an email address of the recipient and the recipient's email address. Correspondence information storage means for storing correspondence information with the belonging organization name, means for temporarily stopping transmission to the outgoing mail server when an email is output from the email program, and the correspondence information Referring to each e-mail address designated as the destination of the e-mail, a selection quiz that enumerates the organization name associated with the e-mail address and other predetermined number of organization names at random is generated. A destination confirmation screen in which mail addresses are arranged in units of e-mail addresses, and a means for displaying on the display and the selection completion provided in the destination confirmation screen. When the button indicating is clicked, the organization name that has been selected and input in each selection quiz is compared with the organization name associated with the email address of the selection quiz in the correspondence information, and the correctness of the answer is determined Means for sending the e-mail to the outgoing mail server when all the selected quizzes are correct, and means for displaying an error message on the display when any of the selected quizzes is incorrect And a means for discarding the e-mail when a cancel button on the address confirmation screen is pressed.

The erroneous transmission confirmation system for electronic mail according to claim 2 is a setting value storage means for preliminarily storing setting values for extracting necessary confirmation items from the electronic mail, and the electronic mail output from the electronic mail program. The contents of the above and each setting value stored in the above setting value storage means are compared, and a confirmation screen describing the warning item indicating the existence of this required confirmation item and a confirmation item extracting means for extracting the necessary confirmation item is generated And means for displaying on the display, means for displaying a send button on the confirmation screen when the confirmed input for each confirmation item in the confirmation screen is made, and the case where the send button is pressed 2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting the e-mail to a sending mail server, wherein the confirmation screen includes at least an e-mail. Attachment is formed element, the destination, provided with a separate confirmation page for each body, is characterized in that the confirmation page to be displayed on the front is provided with a mechanism that alternately switched by the selection of the tab.
The “text” includes a subject (title) (the same applies hereinafter).

  The erroneous transmission confirmation system for email described in claim 3 is based on the system of claim 2, and further, on the confirmation screen, a warning icon is displayed for each warning message indicating the presence of an item to be confirmed, When the warning icon is selected via the input device, it is considered that the confirmed input has been made, and the warning icon disappears.

  The system for confirming erroneous transmission of an email described in claim 4 is based on the system of claim 3, and further, the warning icon is also displayed on a tab for switching each confirmation page. When the warning icon disappears, the warning icon on the corresponding tab also disappears.

  The system for confirming erroneous transmission of an electronic mail according to claim 5 is based on the system of claim 3 or 4, and the confirmation screen is displayed when a predetermined security label is embedded in an attached file of the electronic mail. An image of the security label is displayed together with the warning message and the warning icon in the attached file confirmation page.

  The system for confirming erroneous transmission of an email described in claim 6 is based on the system of claims 2 to 5, and further, a list of detected keywords is stored in the set value storage means, If any of the detected keywords is included in the confirmation page, the keyword is highlighted in the confirmation page.

  The erroneous transmission confirmation system for electronic mail according to claim 7 is based on the system of claims 2 to 6, and further includes a transmission history storage means for storing the address of the transmitted electronic mail as transmission history information. The required confirmation item extracting means extracts, as a necessary confirmation item, that a destination for which no transmission history exists is specified when the address where the transmission history is not left is included in the destination column of the e-mail. It is characterized by doing.

  The system for confirming erroneous transmission of e-mail according to claim 8 is based on the system according to claims 2 to 7, and further, the means for extracting required items is described with an address of a predetermined number or more in the e-mail address field. In this case, the fact that the number of addresses exceeds the specified value is extracted as a confirmation item.

  The erroneous transmission confirmation system for electronic mail according to claim 9 is based on the system of claims 2 to 8, and further includes means for displaying a final confirmation button on the confirmation screen before displaying the transmission button. When the final confirmation button is pressed, the send button is displayed, and the e-mail can be sent.

  The erroneous email transmission confirmation program according to claim 10 is a program implemented in a client terminal equipped with an electronic mail program, wherein the client terminal includes a recipient's email address, an organization name of the recipient, Correspondence information storage means for storing the correspondence information, means for temporarily stopping transmission to the outgoing mail server when an email is output from the email program, referring to the correspondence information, For each e-mail address specified as the e-mail address, a selection quiz that enumerates the organization name associated with the e-mail address and other predetermined number of organization names at random is generated, and these are arranged in units of e-mail addresses. A means for generating a destination confirmation screen and displaying it on the display, and indicating the completion of selection provided in the destination confirmation screen. When the button is pressed, a means for comparing the organization name selected in each selection quiz with the organization name associated with the email address of the selection quiz in the correspondence information and determining whether the answer is correct or incorrect , Means for sending the e-mail to the outgoing mail server when all the selected quizzes are correct, means for displaying an error message on the display when any of the selected quizzes is incorrect, and the destination confirmation When the cancel button in the screen is pressed, the electronic mail is functioned as a means for discarding.

In the case of the erroneous transmission confirmation system for electronic mail according to claim 1 and the erroneous transmission confirmation program for electronic mail according to claim 10, it is assumed that the electronic mail erroneous transmission confirmation program is individually installed on the client terminal side. Since there is no need to make complicated settings related to the network, which is indispensable for the conventional method of installing a proxy server, there is an advantage that a general employee can easily install and manage without requiring the network administrator.
Also, before the email is sent to the outgoing mail server, for each email address set as the destination, the organization name associated with the email address in advance and other organization names are enumerated at random. The user is aware that the wrong e-mail address has been specified as the recipient through the process of answering the selection quiz, because the system is equipped with a mechanism that allows the selection quiz to be sent and sent only when all questions are correct. Is possible.

In the erroneous e-mail transmission confirmation system according to claim 2, the setting value for extracting the necessary confirmation item is compared with the content of the e-mail, and when the necessary confirmation item is extracted, Since it has a function of displaying a confirmation screen describing a warning message indicating the presence on the display, the user can confirm the suitability of e-mail transmission from a more diversified viewpoint.
In addition, the confirmation screen has a configuration in which an independent confirmation page is bound for each attachment, destination, and text that are the main components of an e-mail, and a confirmation page displayed in front by selecting a tab is displayed. Since the switching mechanism is provided, the user can concentrate attention on each component of the e-mail.
As a result of limiting the number of items to be confirmed that are displayed on the confirmation screen at a time, the space allocated to each item becomes relatively wide, and there is an advantage that visibility is improved.
In addition, when a confirmed input is made for each warning message, the send screen is displayed for the first time, and an e-mail can be sent. Multiple confirmations such as "Check all of" are required. Since a system in which matters cannot be comprehensively checked is adopted, it is possible to effectively prevent the confirmation work by the user from becoming a body.

  The system for confirming erroneous transmission of an email according to claim 3 has a mechanism in which the confirmed input is completed and the warning icon disappears by simply clicking the warning icon corresponding to the warning message on the confirmation screen. Therefore, the user can intuitively check the e-mail.

  In the case of the erroneous e-mail transmission confirmation system according to claim 4, since the warning icon is displayed on the tab for switching each confirmation page, the user needs confirmation on the confirmation page hidden on the back. It is possible to recognize at a glance that there is a matter, and expect improvement in workability.

  In the case of the erroneous e-mail transmission confirmation system according to claim 5, when a security label such as “confidential” or “internal limit” is embedded in the attached file, the corresponding security label is displayed together with a warning message and a warning icon. Since the mechanism is displayed on the confirmation page, the user can more accurately determine whether the electronic mail is appropriate.

  The electronic mail erroneous transmission confirmation system according to claim 6 has a mechanism for highlighting the confirmation keyword on the confirmation page when a preset detection keyword is included in the body of the electronic mail. It is possible to call the user's attention about the character string requiring attention.

  In the erroneous transmission confirmation system for electronic mail according to claim 7, since a warning message is issued when the first address is designated as the destination, the user may reconfirm the erroneous input of the address. It becomes possible.

  In the electronic mail wrong transmission confirmation system according to claim 8, the system includes a mechanism for issuing a warning message when the number of addresses equal to or greater than the threshold value is specified in the e-mail destination field. It becomes possible to reconfirm the suitability of.

  In the case of the erroneous email transmission confirmation system according to claim 9, a final confirmation button is displayed before the transmission confirmation button is displayed, and the transmission confirmation button is displayed on the confirmation screen only when the final confirmation button is pressed. Since it has a mechanism to be displayed and the user is given an opportunity to reconfirm the entire electronic mail, the user can perform confirmation work with care.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of an erroneous e-mail transmission confirmation system 12 provided in the client terminal 10, and includes a transmission control unit 14, a transmission confirmation processing unit 16, a setting processing unit 20, A setting storage unit 22 and a transmission history storage unit 24 are provided.

  The client terminal 10 is a PC, and the transmission control unit 14, the transmission confirmation processing unit 16, and the setting processing unit 20 described above are realized by the CPU of the client terminal 10 executing predetermined processing according to the OS and a dedicated application program. Is done. The setting storage unit 22 and the transmission history storage unit 24 are provided in the external storage device of the client terminal 10.

The client terminal 10 is also provided with a mail client unit 26 realized by a general-purpose electronic mail program (mailer).
The user can create a new e-mail via the mail client unit 26 and send it to the e-mail address of the recipient.
In addition, a file storage unit 27 is provided in the external storage device of the client terminal 10. The file storage unit 27 stores various image files collected by the user (details will be described later).

First, the user sets up an application program for realizing the erroneous transmission confirmation system 12 for the e-mail in the client terminal 10, and then performs various settings for controlling the operation of the erroneous transmission confirmation processing.
That is, when the user selects “control item setting” from the program menu, the setting processing unit 20 generates a control item setting screen and displays it on the display 28 of the client terminal 10 (not shown).

For example, the user performs the following settings through the control item setting screen.
(1) Necessity of warning display when inputting a large number of addresses
(2) Destination list not subject to popup
(3) Necessity of pop-up when inputting local address
(4) Necessity of forced pop-up when there is an attached file
(5) List of detection keywords
(6) Conversion list of “domain name ⇔ organization name”
(7) Language switching (Japanese / English / Chinese)
(8) Necessity of displaying the final confirmation button
(9) Necessity of extracting the security label set in the attached file
(10) Necessity of final confirmation of destination by image etc.
(11) Necessity of final confirmation of destination by selection quiz

  The setting in (1) above is to select whether or not to display a warning message when a large number of addresses are entered in the destination field (To, Cc). In addition, the number of addresses (threshold value) determined as “large” can be set.

  The setting in (2) above specifies a destination that is not displayed as a pop-up warning message by domain name or e-mail address, and can be set to "* (any number of characters)" or "? (Any one character) ) ”Can also be specified.

  Specify the setting in (3) above when local addresses (addresses after @) are considered to be addressed to the company and are not subject to pop-up warning message display.

  The setting in (4) above specifies whether or not to force a pop-up if there is an attached file even if a destination that is not set as a pop-up target in the setting of (2) or (3) above is entered. It is an item.

  The setting (5) is to input a list of keywords to be detected from the title of the attached file or the text of the body. For example, a character string such as “Estimate”, “Financial Statement”, or “Top Secret” corresponds to the detection keyword

  In the setting of (6) above, a correspondence list of domain names and organization names used in organization name conversion (details will be described later) is input.

  The setting (7) is for switching the language displayed on the pop-up and the transmission confirmation screen.

  The setting in (8) above selects whether or not to display the final confirmation button before displaying the transmission button (details will be described later).

  The setting in (9) above specifies whether or not to detect a security label such as “Top Secret” or “Restricted Person” in the attached file (details will be described later) ). It is also possible to specify the type of label to be detected.

The setting in (10) above is whether or not the final confirmation of the address using the image (face photo, illustration, etc.) related to the recipient of the email or the image related to the organization (logo mark, company building photo, etc.), nickname Here, when the user selects “necessary” as “necessity of final confirmation of destination by image”, registration of the corresponding image is requested through a dedicated setting screen (details will be described later).

The setting in (11) above selects whether to perform final confirmation of the destination using the function that corrects the user's misunderstanding by selecting the organization name to which the mail recipient belongs from among multiple choices Is.
Here, when the user selects “necessary” as “necessity of final confirmation of destination by selection quiz”, registration of “email address / organization name correspondence information” is requested through a dedicated setting screen (details will be described later).

  When the user who has completed the setting input via the control item setting screen clicks the “Register” button on the screen, the setting processing unit 20 stores the setting data in the setting storage unit 22.

Hereinafter, the processing contents of the system 12 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
First, the transmission control unit 14 constantly monitors the communication status between the mail client unit 26 and the transmission mail server 30, and when detecting that an email is transmitted from the mail client unit 26 to the transmission mail server 30, The electronic mail data is temporarily blocked from being captured and sent to the Internet 32 (S10 in FIG. 2), and a copy of the electronic mail data is passed to the transmission confirmation processing unit 16.

The transmission confirmation processing unit 16 analyzes the content of the e-mail data and determines whether it is appropriate (S12). When determining the suitability, the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 refers to the setting value stored in the setting storage unit 22.
Next, the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 generates a transmission confirmation screen reflecting the determination result and displays it on the display 28 (S14).
6 to 11 show specific examples of the transmission confirmation screen 34, and three switching tabs of “attached file”, “destination”, and “text” are provided.

  In the case of the transmission confirmation screen 34 shown in FIG. 6, since the attached file tab 36 is selected, only the attached file confirmation page 38 is displayed in the foreground. The attached file confirmation page 38 includes a header area 40 and a file list area 42.

Here, in the file list area 42, three attached files are listed. For the second “financial statement (June 25, 2012 edition) .xls” from the top, “!” A warning icon 44 and a popup 46 in which a warning message “Keywords are included” are added.
Since this warning display includes the “financial statement”, which is one of the detection keywords, in the file name of the attached file, the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 recognizes it as a necessary confirmation item and inserts it in the file list area 42. Is.

  In addition, a warning message “Please check the attached file./A keyword is included in the attached file name” is displayed in the header area 40 of the attached file confirmation page 38, and a warning icon “!” Is displayed. 48 is displayed. Also, a warning icon 50 of “!” Is displayed in the attached file tab 36, and it is clearly shown that there is a matter to be confirmed on the attached file confirmation page 38.

Here, when the user clicks on the “financial statement (June 25, 2012 version) .xls” in question, the application program associated with the extension of the file is activated and the attached file is displayed.
The user who checks the contents of the attached file and finds no particular problem closes the file and clicks the warning icon 44 displayed in the file list area 42.

  Upon receiving the confirmation input for the warning icon 44 (S16 / confirmation input), the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 extinguishes the warning icon 44 and displays the confirmed icon 52 of “ok” (S18). In addition, since all the warning icons in the file list area 42 are thereby deleted, the warning icon 48 in the header area 40 and the warning icon 50 in the attached file tab 36 are also replaced with “ok” confirmed icons.

On the other hand, if the user confirms the contents of the attached file and determines that there is a problem, the user clicks a “cancel” button 54 (S16 / cancel). As a result, the e-mail data held by the transmission control unit 14 is discarded (S38 in FIG. 3), and the transmission itself to the transmission mail server 30 is stopped.
Thereafter, the user again creates an e-mail to which a correct file is attached on the mail client unit 26, and performs transmission processing.

  FIG. 7 shows another pattern in which there is a problem with the attached file. In the header area 40 of the attached file confirmation page 38, “Please check the attached file. / A file with a highly confidential label is displayed. Yes / This email cannot be sent "and a warning icon 48 of"! "Are displayed. Also, a warning icon 50 of “!” Is displayed on the attached file tab 36.

Three file attachments are listed in the file list area 42, and a “!” Warning icon 44 and a “confidential” security label 56 are affixed to the first “financial statement.xls”.
In addition, a warning icon 44 of “!” And a security label 56 of “internal limit” are also attached to the third “minutes.doc”.

If any security label is embedded in the attached file, the corresponding label ID is set as the property of the file, so the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 that has detected this has the security label associated with the label ID. Is inserted into the file list area 42, the security label 56 is pasted.
Incidentally, when a file with this security label set is opened with a corresponding program such as a word processor or spreadsheet, a label image such as “Top Secret” is displayed in the header portion of each page.

As a result of checking the attached file confirmation page 38, the user who has determined that there is no problem in sending clicks the attached file warning icon 44 displayed in the file list area 42.
As a result, the warning icon 44 is replaced with the confirmed icon 52 of “ok”, and at the same time, the warning icon in the header area 40 and the attachment file tab 36 disappears, and a confirmed icon of “ok” appears instead.
On the other hand, if the user determines that there is a problem, the user clicks a “cancel” button 54 and stops sending the e-mail.

In the case of FIG. 8, since the destination tab 58 is selected, the destination confirmation page 60 is displayed in front of the transmission confirmation screen 34.
In this case, since a large number of recipients (for example, 10 or more) are specified in the To and Cc fields, the header area 62 on the recipient confirmation page 60 displays “Please confirm recipients./To, Cc has a large number of email addresses. A warning message “Specified” and a warning icon 64 “!” Are displayed.
In addition, a warning icon 66 of “!” Is also displayed on the destination tab 58, which clearly indicates that there is a confirmation item on the page.

In the address list area 68 of the address confirmation page 60, e-mail addresses are grouped in units of domains such as “Nris.co.jp” and “Nris.dev.co.jp” and displayed in a list.
If the conversion information of “main name / organization name” is set in the setting storage unit 22 in advance, the organization name is displayed instead of the domain name.
For example, since the conversion information of “abc-labo.com ⇔ABC Laboratories” was stored in the setting storage unit 22, “[Cc] Goro Yamada <goro_yamada@abc-labo.com>” Regarding the e-mail address, the organization name “ABC Laboratories” is named.

  Further, if an e-mail address set as a destination includes a message whose past transmission history information is not left in the transmission history storage unit 24, a warning “!” Is issued for the e-mail address. An icon 69 is added, and a pop-up 70 in which a warning message “This is a destination that does not exist in the transmission history” is displayed.

  In the case of the person who sends the e-mail for the first time, there is a high possibility that there is an input error in the e-mail address, so the user's attention is drawn, but the user who confirmed that there is no problem in the address description is a warning icon When 69 is clicked, the warning icon 69 is replaced with a confirmed icon 71 of “ok”.

The user who has confirmed that there is no particular problem with the large number of destinations clicks the warning icon 64 displayed in the header area 62 and inputs confirmation.
As a result, the warning icon 64 disappears and a confirmed icon of “ok” is displayed instead. In addition, since all the warning icons in the destination confirmation page 60 disappear due to this, the warning icon 66 in the destination tab 58 also disappears, and a confirmed icon of “ok” appears instead.

On the other hand, if the user determines that there is an error in the destination, a “cancel” button 54 is clicked. As a result, the electronic mail data is discarded, and transmission to the transmission mail server 30 is stopped.
Thereafter, the user again creates an e-mail specifying the correct destination on the mail client unit 26 and performs transmission processing.

In the case of FIG. 9, since the body text tab 75 is selected, the body text confirmation page 76 is displayed in front of the transmission confirmation screen 34. The “text” here includes “subject (title)” in addition to “text” in a narrow sense.
First, in the header area 77 of the page, a warning message “Please check subject / body / Keyword is included in subject / body” and a warning icon 78 of “!” Are displayed. In addition, a warning icon 79 of “!” Is also displayed on the body text tab 75 to clearly indicate that there is an item to be confirmed on the page.

In the subject area 80, the subject line “About our stock price status” is displayed, but since the “stock price” portion corresponds to the detection keyword stored in the setting storage unit 22, font enlargement and coloring ( (Red), bold, underlined character string highlighting.
In the text area 81, the text “Yamada-sama / Thank you for your support. I am Yoshida of NRI Secure./ Now, consult about confidential matters that have been a concern ...” is displayed. However, since the “confidential matter” portion corresponds to the detection keyword stored in the setting storage unit 22, the same character string emphasis display as described above is performed.
The character string highlighting described above is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.

On the other hand, when the user examines the highlighted character string and confirms that there is no particular problem, the user clicks the warning icon 78 displayed in the header area 77 and performs confirmation input.
As a result, the warning icon 78 disappears and a confirmed icon of “ok” is displayed instead. At the same time, the warning icon 79 in the body text tab disappears, and a confirmed icon of “ok” appears instead.

  When the confirmation input is made for the warning icon in each confirmation page and all the warning icons are changed to the confirmed icons (S20 / Y in FIG. 2), the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 performs the final processing as shown in FIG. A confirmation button 86 is displayed at the bottom of the transmission confirmation screen 34 (S22).

On the other hand, the user switches the tabs to perform the final check of each confirmation page, and clicks the final confirmation button 86 when determining that there is no problem throughout.
Upon receiving this final confirmation input (S24 / final confirmation), the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 displays a "Send" button 91 at the bottom of the transmission confirmation screen 34 as shown in FIG. 11 (S26 in FIG. 3). At this stage, e-mail can be sent for the first time.

  Here, when the user clicks the “Send” button 91 (S28 / Send), unless “required” is set for “Destination final confirmation by image etc.” and “Destination final confirmation by selection quiz” (S30). / N, S32 / N), a transmission permission notification is output from the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 to the transmission control unit 14, and the transmission control unit 14 transmits the suspended e-mail to the transmission mail server 30 (S34).

This electronic mail α is transferred from the transmission mail server 30 to the reception mail server 93 and transmitted to the client terminal 94 of the recipient.
The transmission confirmation processing unit 16 registers the e-mail address described in the destination of the e-mail in the transmission history storage unit 24 as transmission history information (S36).

  On the other hand, when the user clicks the “Cancel” button 54 (S28 / Cancel), the e-mail data held by the transmission control unit 14 is discarded (S38 in FIG. 3) and transmitted as described above. Transmission to the mail server 30 is stopped.

  If the user has not selected “Display final confirmation button” on the control item setting screen, the final confirmation button 86 is not displayed on the transmission confirmation screen 34, and confirmation input for all necessary confirmation items is made. Upon completion, the “Send” button 91 is immediately displayed on the send confirmation screen 34.

  The above-mentioned confirmation items of e-mail are merely examples, and the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 can extract other confirmation items according to the setting values stored in the setting storage unit 22 and pre-programmed determination rules. Needless to say.

  When the user has set “required” for “final destination confirmation by image etc.” on the control item setting screen (S30 / Y), the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 sets the destination of the e-mail from the setting storage unit 22 Recipient information such as an image file related to each mail address is extracted (S40 in FIG. 4), and a “destination final confirmation screen by image etc.” is generated and displayed on the display 28 (S42).

As shown in FIG. 12, the final destination confirmation screen 100 based on this image or the like is provided with a belonging organization display column 104 and a recipient display column 106 for each mail address 102 described in the e-mail destination.
In the organization display column 104, the name (abbreviation) 108 of the organization to which the recipient belongs is described, and an image (logo mark or the like) 110 related to the organization is displayed.
In the receiver display field 106, the name 111 and nickname (feature) 112 of the receiver are described, and an image (a face photograph, an illustration, an avatar, etc.) 114 related to the receiver is displayed.

Thus, on the final address confirmation screen 100 by image etc., not only the email address and name of each recipient are displayed, but also the organization name and logo mark to which the recipient belongs, the nickname and face of the recipient Since photos and the like are displayed in a conspicuous form, even when the wrong destination is selected due to a misunderstanding, the user is likely to notice an error.
In particular, if there are multiple customers with similar email addresses, there is a risk that the mailer's input support function may unintentionally specify the wrong destination, but refer to the recipient's face photo or nickname. This makes it easier to notice errors due to assumptions.

When the user who is convinced that there is no mistake in the destination by examining the destination final confirmation screen 100 by this image or the like again clicks the “Send” button 91 (S44 / Send), similarly to the above, the sending control unit 14 Thus, the e-mail is transmitted to the transmission mail server 30 (S34 in FIG. 3).
On the other hand, when the user who has found an error in the destination clicks the “Cancel” button 54 (S44 / Cancel), the e-mail data held by the transmission control unit 14 is discarded as described above (FIG. 3). S38).

In order to use this destination final confirmation function using an image or the like, the user is required to register recipient information in advance.
FIG. 13 illustrates a destination final confirmation setting screen 120 based on an image or the like generated by the setting processing unit 20 and displayed on the display 28.
In this setting screen 120, an address input box 122, a name input box 124, a work place input box 126, a nickname input box 128, an individual image selection field 130, and a work image selection field 132 are provided for each receiver. .

  In response to this, the user first inputs the expected recipient's e-mail address (eg, ““ Kaneda ”<kaneda@abc.com>”) in the address input box 122 and the recipient's name ( For example, “Taro Kaneda”), the organization name (for example, “ABC Construction”) to which the recipient belongs in the workplace input box 126, and the nickname and characteristics of the recipient in the nickname input box 128 (for example, “Mahjong lover Kaneyan”). Enter.

Next, the user clicks the “reference” button 134 in the personal image selection field 130. As a result, the folder selection screen of the client terminal 10 is displayed on the display 28 (not shown). On this screen, the user opens a folder of the file storage unit 27 and designates a recipient image file stored in advance.
As a result, the image 136 of the selected image file is displayed in the principal image selection field 130.

Next, the user clicks a “reference” button 138 in the work image selection field 132. As a result, the folder selection screen of the client terminal 10 is displayed on the display 28 (not shown) as described above. On this screen, the user opens a folder of the file storage unit 27 and designates an image file of an ABC construction logo mark stored in advance.
As a result, the image 140 of the selected image file is displayed in the work image selection field 132.

If an image file for ABC construction has not been prepared in advance, the user clicks the “acquire from the net” button 142.
In response to this, the setting processing unit 20 acquires a plurality of related image files from the in-house server 144 and the external server 146 connected through a communication network such as the Internet 32 using “ABC construction” as a keyword. An image selection screen displaying a list of images is generated and displayed on the display 28 (not shown).
When the user selects one image from the image selection screen, the image 140 of the image file is displayed in the work image selection field 132.

  In order to obtain an image file from the in-house server 144, correspondence information that associates the name of the company's main business partner and the location (URL) of the image file is registered in advance in the external storage device of the in-house server 144. It is necessary to keep.

An example of the external server 146 is a search server such as Google (registered trademark).
In this case, the setting processing unit 20 accesses the search page of the search server, inputs a keyword such as “ABC construction logo” in the search window, and requests an image search.

In addition, since many companies have recently subscribed to a social networking service (SNS) service such as Facebook (registered trademark), an SNS server can be used as the external server 146.
In order to acquire an image file from the SNS server, it is necessary to register a user account and password in the setting storage unit 22 in advance.
In this case, the setting processing unit 20 accesses the login page of the SNS server, logs in to the SNS with the user account and password, and then collectively obtains image files of the target company.

As described above, the user inputs the e-mail address, name, work place, and nickname for each necessary recipient, and selects the person image and work place image.
When registering for a large number of recipients, the user clicks an “add item” button 148 to add an input box and a selection field for each recipient.

Finally, when the user clicks the “Setting Complete” button 150, the recipient information (e-mail address, name, office, nickname, personal image, office image combination) input / selected so far is stored in the setting storage unit 22. Stored in
Note that the user does not have to register all of the recipient's name, workplace, nickname, personal image, and workplace image for each e-mail address. Of course, some of these may be registered as recipient information. Is acceptable.

The user can freely modify / delete the registered recipient information later.
Specifically, if you enter a name, part of a nickname, or work name in the search window of the search screen displayed on the display 28 by the setting processor 20, a list screen of hit recipient information is displayed on the display 28. (Not shown).
When the user selects specific recipient information from this list, a detailed screen thereof is displayed on the display 28 (not shown), and it becomes possible to correct the nickname, replace the personal image, delete the recipient information itself, and the like.

In addition, when the user designates an e-mail address for which the recipient information has not been registered in advance as the e-mail destination, in the final address confirmation screen 100 by an image or the like, of course, the e-mail address, nickname, The work image is not displayed, and only the e-mail address and name are displayed.
For this reason, these email addresses are given some highlighting (highlighting, underlining, bolding, etc.) so that they are not buried between the personal images and work images related to other email addresses. It is desirable to do.

  When the user has set “necessary” for “final destination confirmation by selection quiz” on the control item setting screen (S32 / Y in FIG. 3), the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 reads “mail address− “Organization name correspondence information” is acquired (S50 in FIG. 5), and a “destination final confirmation screen by selection quiz” is generated using the organization name described there and displayed on the display 28 (S52).

As shown in FIG. 14, the destination final confirmation screen 160 by this selection quiz has, as an option, the name of the organization to which the recipient belongs and the other two organization names for each email address 162 described in the email destination. A three-choice selection quiz 164 arranged at random is displayed.
In response to this, the user answers by checking the radio button 166 of the organization name that matches the contents of the current e-mail from among the choices (organization name).

Then, the user who notices the mistake in the destination in the process of answering clicks the “Cancel” button 54 (S54 / Cancel).
As a result, as described above, the e-mail data held by the transmission control unit 14 is discarded (S38 in FIG. 3), and the e-mail transmission is stopped.

When a user who has finished inputting responses for all addresses without recognizing an error in the response, clicks the “Send” button 91 (S54 / Send), the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 determines whether the user's answer has been correctly entered. (S56).
Specifically, the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 refers to the “mail address-organization name correspondence information” stored in the setting storage unit 22, and the organization name selected by the user is associated with the destination email address. It is determined whether or not they match.

As a result, if all the questions are correctly answered (S58 / Y), the e-mail is transmitted to the e-mail server 30 by the transmission control unit 14 as described above (S34 in FIG. 3).
On the other hand, if even one question is incorrect (S58 / N), the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 has a dialog box with an error message such as "There is a possibility that the destination is wrong, please check again." Is displayed on the display 28 (S60), and the destination final confirmation screen 160 by the selection quiz is displayed again (S62).
At this time, an emphasis display (highlight display or the like) is given on the screen so that the selection quiz 164 that is an incorrect answer can be seen at a glance.

  The user reviews the mail address 162 that has been recognized as an incorrect answer, and if an error is noticed, the user clicks the “cancel” button 54 (S64 / cancel), and stops sending the e-mail.

On the other hand, after carefully reconsidering, the user who determines that “no problem” still clicks the “Send” button 91 again.
As a result, a transmission permission notification is output from the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 to the transmission control unit 14, and the transmission control unit 14 transmits the electronic mail that has been suspended to the transmission mail server 30 (S34 in FIG. 3).

  By the way, in the case of “no problem” even though an error message of incorrect answer is displayed, in addition to a simple selection mistake at the time of answering, the recipient selects the organization concerned (the user selects as the organization to which the recipient belongs). It can be said that this is a rare case, for example, when the user has just moved to the organization identified as an error by the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 and has not yet updated the “mail address-organization name correspondence information”.

If there are omissions in the user's answer input and there is an unanswered selection quiz 164, the transmission control unit 14 will display an error such as "There are unanswered selection quizzes. Please answer all selection quizzes." After the dialog box describing the message is displayed on the display 28, the destination final confirmation screen 160 by the selection quiz is displayed again.
At this time, highlighting (highlight display or the like) is given on the screen so that the unanswered selection quiz 164 can be seen at a glance.

In response to this, the user answers the selected quiz 164 pointed out as unanswered and clicks the “Send” button 91 again.
Receiving this, the transmission confirmation processing unit 16 again determines whether the answer input by the user is correct.

In a business field, if an e-mail to one customer is mistakenly sent to another customer, it leads to a great loss of trust.
On the other hand, if the organization name selected by the user as the organization to which the recipient belongs as described above does not match the organization name associated with the destination email address in the "email address-organization name correspondence information" By providing a mechanism for displaying, it is possible to effectively reveal the fact that an incorrect mail address is set as the destination.

In the case of business mail, the user is often more conscious of the organization name to which the recipient belongs than the individual name of the recipient, so by selecting the intended organization name, a more reliable answer result can be obtained. It can be expected to be obtained.
In addition, email addresses are basically composed of single-byte alphanumeric characters, and misunderstandings are likely to occur. On the other hand, the organization name is often composed of double-byte kanji and kana characters, so users can select the organization name by selecting the organization name. Also has the advantage of making it easier to notice an addressing error.

  Note that the organization name other than the correct answer is also selected from the organization name of the recipient (email address-organization name in the organization name correspondence information) of the recipient to whom the user regularly sends e-mails. Since irrelevant organization names are not listed, the user's consciousness can be concentrated on each organization name at the time of answering, and the check can be prevented from becoming a skeleton.

  In the above description, the example of adopting the three-choice selection quiz 164 for checking the correct answer from the three choices has been shown, but it is naturally possible to adopt a selection quiz format of two or more choices.

In order to use the destination final confirmation function by this selection quiz, the user is required to register “mail address-organization name correspondence information” in the setting storage unit 22 in advance.
FIG. 15 illustrates a destination final confirmation setting screen 170 by a selection quiz generated by the setting processing unit 20 and displayed on the display 28.
On this setting screen 170, an address input box 172, a name input box 174, and a work place input box 176 are provided for each receiver.

In response to this, the user inputs the expected recipient's e-mail address in the address input box 172, the recipient's name in the name input box 174, and the organization name to which the recipient belongs in the work input box 176. I will do it.
If the number of recipients is large, an “add item” button 178 is clicked, and each input box is added in units of recipients.

  Finally, when the user clicks the “setting complete” button 180, correspondence information (combination of mail address, name, and work) entered by the user is stored in the setting storage unit 22. This correspondence information is used as the “mail address / organization name correspondence information”.

The user can freely modify / delete the correspondence information once registered later.
Specifically, when a name, an e-mail address, and a company name are entered in the search window on the search screen displayed on the display 28 by the setting processing unit 20, a list screen of hit correspondence information is displayed on the display 28 ( (Not shown).
When the user selects specific correspondence information from this list, a detailed screen thereof is displayed on the display 28 (not shown), and it is possible to correct the work place or the like and to delete the correspondence information itself.

In the above, an example of performing destination final confirmation using an image or the like and final destination confirmation using a selection quiz after checking necessary confirmation items using the transmission confirmation screen 34 is shown, but the present invention is limited to this. is not.
That is, the configuration may be simplified so that only a destination confirmation process using an image or the like or a destination confirmation process using a selection quiz is executed when sending an e-mail without checking items to be confirmed in advance.

  In addition, by providing both the “final destination final confirmation function using images, etc.” and the “final destination final confirmation function by selection quiz” in the system 12, it is possible to provide a wide range of options to the user. Of course, it is possible to adopt a system configuration that employs only one destination final confirmation function.

It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the erroneous transmission confirmation system of the email which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the said system. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the said system. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the said system. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the said system. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the attachment confirmation page in a transmission confirmation screen. It is a figure which shows the other example of a display of the attached file confirmation page in a transmission confirmation screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the destination confirmation page in a transmission confirmation screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the text confirmation page in a transmission confirmation screen. It is a figure which shows the example in which the final confirmation button was displayed on the transmission confirmation screen. It is a figure which shows the example in which the transmission button was displayed on the transmission confirmation screen. It is a figure which shows the destination final confirmation screen by an image etc. FIG. It is a figure which shows the destination final confirmation setting screen by an image. It is a figure which shows the destination final confirmation screen by a selection quiz. It is a figure which shows the destination final confirmation setting screen by a selection quiz. It is a figure which shows the confirmation screen in the conventional erroneous transmission confirmation system.

10 Client terminal
12 Error transmission confirmation system
14 Transmission control unit
16 Transmission confirmation processing part
20 Setting processing section
22 Setting memory
24 Transmission history storage
26 Mail client part
27 File storage
28 display
30 Outgoing mail server
32 Internet
34 Send confirmation screen
36 Attachment tab
38 Attachment confirmation page
40 Header area
42 File list area
44 Warning icon
46 Pop-up
48 Warning icon
50 warning icons
52 Confirmed icon
54 Cancel button
56 Security label
58 Destination tab
60 Address confirmation page
62 Header area
64 Warning icon
66 Warning icon
68 Destination List Area
69 Warning icon
70 popup
71 Confirmed icon
75 Text tab
76 Text confirmation page
77 Header area
78 Warning icon
79 Warning icon
80 subject area
81 Text area
86 Final confirmation button
91 Send button
93 Incoming mail server
94 Client terminal
100 Destination final confirmation screen
102 email address
104 Organization display column
106 Recipient display field
120 Destination final confirmation setting screen
122 Address input box
124 Name input box
126 Workplace input box
128 Nickname input box
130 Personal image selection field
132 Work image selection field
134 Browse button
136 Images
138 Browse button
140 images
142 “Get from the Internet” button
144 Internal server
146 External server
148 “Add Item” button
150 “Setting complete” button
160 Destination final confirmation screen
162 email address
164 selection quiz
166 radio button
170 Destination final confirmation setting screen
172 Address input box
174 Name input box
176 Workplace input box
178 “Add Item” button
180 “Setting complete” button α Email

Claims (10)

A system implemented in a client terminal equipped with an e-mail program,
Correspondence information storage means for storing correspondence information between a recipient's email address and the organization name of the recipient;
Means for temporarily stopping transmission to the outgoing mail server when an email is output from the email program;
With reference to the above correspondence information, for each email address specified as the destination of the email, a selection quiz that enumerates the organization name associated with the email address and other predetermined number of organization names at random is generated. And a means for generating a destination confirmation screen in which these are arranged in units of email addresses and displaying them on the display,
When the button indicating completion of selection provided on this address confirmation screen is pressed, the name of the organization that has been selected and input in each selection quiz, and the organization name associated with the email address of the selected quiz in the corresponding information And a means for judging whether the answer is correct,
Means for sending the e-mail to the outgoing mail server when all the selection quizzes are correct,
Means for displaying an error message on the display when there is an incorrect answer to any of the selection quizzes;
Means for discarding the e-mail when the cancel button in the address confirmation screen is pressed;
An e-mail error transmission confirmation system characterized by comprising: A set value storage means for storing in advance a set value for extracting a confirmation item from the e-mail;
The required item extracting means for comparing the contents of the e-mail output from the e-mail program with each set value stored in the set value storage means, and extracting the required items to be checked,
A means for generating a confirmation screen describing a warning message indicating the presence of this confirmation item and displaying it on the display;
Means for displaying a send button on the confirmation screen when a confirmed input is made for each confirmation item on the confirmation screen;
The erroneous transmission confirmation system for an email according to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting the email to a transmission mail server when the transmission button is pressed.
The confirmation screen has an independent confirmation page for each attached file, addressee, and body, which are at least components of the email, and has a mechanism in which the confirmation page displayed on the front can be switched alternately by selecting a tab. E-mail error transmission confirmation system characterized by In the above confirmation screen, a warning icon is displayed for each warning message indicating the presence of items that require confirmation.
3. The erroneous transmission of an e-mail according to claim 2, wherein when the warning icon is selected through an input device, it is considered that the confirmed input has been made, and the warning icon disappears. Confirmation system.   The warning icon is also displayed on the tab for switching each confirmation page, and when the warning icon on each confirmation page disappears, the warning icon on the corresponding tab also disappears. The erroneous transmission confirmation system for electronic mail according to claim 3.   When the specified security label is embedded in the attached file of the e-mail, the image of the security label is displayed together with the warning message and warning icon on the confirmation page of the attached file on the confirmation screen. The e-mail erroneous transmission confirmation system according to claim 3 or 4. The set value storage means stores a list of detection keywords,
6. The e-mail according to claim 2, wherein when any of the detected keywords is included in the body of the e-mail, the keyword is highlighted in the confirmation page. Wrong transmission confirmation system. A transmission history storage means for storing the address of the transmitted email as transmission history information;
The required confirmation item extracting means extracts, as a required confirmation item, that a destination for which no transmission history exists is specified when the address where the transmission history is not left is included in the destination column of the e-mail. The e-mail erroneous transmission confirmation system according to any one of claims 2 to 6.   The required confirmation item extracting means extracts, as required confirmation items, that the number of addresses exceeds a specified value when more than a predetermined number of addresses are described in an e-mail address field. Item 8. An erroneous email transmission confirmation system according to any one of Items 2 to 7. Before displaying the send button, it has means for displaying a final confirmation button on the confirmation screen,
9. The erroneous transmission confirmation system for an electronic mail according to claim 2, wherein when the final confirmation button is pressed, the transmission button is displayed, and an electronic mail can be transmitted. A program implemented in a client terminal equipped with an e-mail program,
Client terminal
Correspondence information storage means for storing correspondence information between the recipient's email address and the organization name of the recipient;
Means for temporarily stopping transmission to the outgoing mail server when an email is output from the email program;
With reference to the above correspondence information, for each email address specified as the destination of the email, a selection quiz that enumerates the organization name associated with the email address and other predetermined number of organization names at random is generated. And a means for generating a destination confirmation screen in which these are arranged in units of email addresses and displaying them on the display,
When the button indicating completion of selection provided on this address confirmation screen is pressed, the name of the organization that has been selected and input in each selection quiz, and the organization name associated with the email address of the selected quiz in the corresponding information , And a means for judging whether the answer is correct or not,
Means for sending the e-mail to the outgoing mail server when all the selected quizzes are answered correctly;
Means for displaying an error message on the display when there is an incorrect answer to any of the selected quizzes,
Means for discarding the e-mail when the cancel button in the address confirmation screen is pressed;
An erroneous transmission confirmation program for e-mails, characterized by functioning as

Images