JP2016171595A - Relay device and fax transmission/reception program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a relay device and a FAX transmission/reception program that execute FAX transmission to a plurality of destinations by a plurality of relay devices when an end terminal not having a FAX transmission function causes the relay device having the FAX transmission function to execute the FAX transmission to the plurality of destinations.SOLUTION: A relay device 1a includes: mail communication means 100 for accepting a FAX transmission instruction from an end terminal 2a-2c via a private network 4; FAX communication means 103 for transmitting FAX to the outside via a public network 7 on the basis of the FAX transmission instruction accepted by mail communication means 100; transfer determination means 105 for determining whether or not to request FAX transmission to other relay devices 1b and 1c connected with the private network 4 on the basis of content of the FAX transmission instruction; and FAX transmission request means 106 for requesting the other relay device 1b and 1c to transmit a part or all of the FAX transmission instruction if the transfer determination means 105 determines to request FAX transmission to the other relay devices 1b and 1c.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a relay apparatus and a FAX transmission / reception program.

  There has been proposed a communication system for managing communication results when FAX transmission is performed from a terminal device not having a FAX function via a relay apparatus having a facsimile (hereinafter referred to as “FAX”) transmission / reception function (for example, Patent Document 1). ).

  The communication system disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a terminal device that does not have a FAX transmission / reception function and a relay device that has a FAX transmission / reception function that can transmit a fax to the outside through a public network. Connected by private network. The communication system uses Internet FAX (Internet Fax), which is an example of a technique for converting information described in a facsimile system into a packet and transmitting the packet over an IP network. At the same time, the relay apparatus issues a FAX transmission instruction to the relay apparatus, and the relay apparatus performs FAX transmission according to the instruction from the terminal apparatus.

JP 2006-222635 A

  An object of the present invention is to execute FAX transmission to a plurality of destinations by a plurality of relay apparatuses when a terminal apparatus having no FAX transmission function causes a relay apparatus having a FAX transmission function to perform FAX transmission to a plurality of destinations. It is to provide a relay device and a FAX transmission / reception program.

[1] Accepting means for receiving a facsimile transmission instruction from a terminal device having no facsimile transmission function via a private network;
A facsimile communication means for performing facsimile transmission to the outside via a public network based on the facsimile transmission instruction received by the reception means;
Determining means for determining whether or not to request facsimile transmission to another device connected via the private network based on the content of the facsimile transmission instruction received by the receiving means;
Requesting means for requesting the other apparatus to send part or all of the facsimile transmission instruction received by the receiving means when the determining means determines that the other apparatus requests facsimile transmission;
The determination means determines to request a facsimile transmission from another apparatus connected to the private network when the result of facsimile transmission by the facsimile communication means of the facsimile transmission instruction received by the reception means is a communication failure. And
The request unit is a relay device that transmits a communication condition transmitted by facsimile transmission from the facsimile communication unit to the other device determined by the determination unit together with the transmission request when communication fails.

[2]
A receiving means for receiving a facsimile transmission instruction from a terminal device having no facsimile transmission function via a private network;
A facsimile communication means for performing facsimile transmission to the outside via a public network based on the facsimile transmission instruction received by the reception means;
Determining means for determining whether or not to request facsimile transmission to another device connected via the private network based on the content of the facsimile transmission instruction received by the receiving means;
A program for causing a part or all of a facsimile transmission instruction received by the receiving unit to function as a requesting unit for requesting transmission to another device when the determining unit determines that the other device requests facsimile transmission. And
The determination means determines to request a facsimile transmission from another apparatus connected to the private network when the result of facsimile transmission by the facsimile communication means of the facsimile transmission instruction received by the reception means is a communication failure. And
A fax transmission / reception program for transmitting, to the other apparatus determined by the determination unit together with the transmission request, the request unit, together with the transmission request, when the communication unit fails in communication.

  According to the invention according to claim 1 or 2, when a terminal device that does not have a FAX transmission function causes a relay device having a FAX transmission function to perform FAX transmission to a plurality of destinations, a plurality of destinations are transmitted by a plurality of relay devices. FAX transmission can be executed. In addition, when the result of FAX transmission by the facsimile communication means of the FAX transmission instruction received by the reception means is a communication failure, the facsimile communication means may transmit the conditions of communication transmitted by FAX to another apparatus together with a transmission request. it can.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the relay apparatus. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the terminal device. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of transfer destination information. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a communication success probability between the relay apparatus and each destination. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the fax transfer operation of the relay apparatus.

[Embodiment]
(Configuration of communication system)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The communication system 5 is configured by connecting the relay apparatuses 1a to 1c and the terminal apparatuses 2a to 2c so that they can communicate with each other via a private network 4. The relay apparatuses 1a to 1c are connected to the external apparatuses 6a and 6b through the public network 7 so as to be communicable with each other, and are connected to the external apparatuses 6a and 6b by a facsimile (hereinafter referred to as “FAX”) system. To send and receive information.

  The relay device 1a-1c is a device having a FAX transmission / reception function, a printer, a scanner, and a copy function, and includes electronic components such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a flash memory having a function for processing information. The relay apparatus 1 performs FAX transmission alone, but in the present embodiment, a case will be described in which FAX transmission is performed in accordance with the FAX transmission instruction of the terminal apparatuses 2a-2c based on the Internet FAX (Internet Fax) standard. .

  The terminal devices 2a to 2c are devices that do not have a FAX transmission / reception function but have a printer, a scanner, and a copy function, and include electronic components such as a CPU and a flash memory that have a function for processing information. The terminal devices 2a to 2c give a FAX transmission instruction to the relay device 1.

  The private network 4 is a communication network capable of high-speed communication. For example, the private network 4 is a communication network such as an intranet or a local area network (LAN), and may be wired or wireless.

  The external devices 6a and 6b may be any information processing device having a FAX transmission / reception function, such as a printer or a PC.

  The public network 7 is, for example, a pay communication network set up by a communication operating company, and is an external network such as a public switched communication network (PSTN) or an integrated service digital network (ISDN). is there.

  Hereinafter, a case will be described in which a FAX transmission instruction is issued from the terminal apparatuses 2a-2c to the relay apparatuses 1a-1c, and a plurality of destinations perform FAX transmission / reception.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the relay device 1a. Since the relay apparatuses 1a to 1c have a common configuration, the relay apparatus 1a will be described as a representative.

  The relay device 1a includes a CPU and the like, and controls each unit and executes various programs, a storage unit 11 that includes a storage medium such as a flash memory and stores information, and a private network 4. A communication unit 12 that communicates with the outside via the public network 7, a FAX communication unit 13 that communicates with the outside via the public network 7 by a FAX method, a printing unit 14 that executes printing on paper, and characters and images are written. A scanning unit 15 that optically scans the paper is provided. Further, a display unit for displaying characters, images, and the like, and an operation unit for operating the relay device 1 may be provided.

  The control unit 10 executes a FAX transmission / reception program 110 to be described later, whereby a mail communication unit 100, a mail title analysis unit 101, a mail text analysis unit 102, a FAX communication unit 103, a received FAX distribution unit 104, and a transfer determination unit 105. And functions as FAX transmission request means 106 and the like.

  The mail communication means 100 transmits / receives electronic mail to / from the end devices 2a-2c via the private network 4. In addition, the mail communication unit 100 also functions as a reception unit that receives a mail including an Internet FAX FAX transmission instruction.

  The mail title analysis unit 101 analyzes the FAX transmission destination and the like from the Internet FAX FAX transmission instruction included in the mail title of the e-mail received by the mail communication unit 100.

  The mail body analyzing unit 102 analyzes the setting at the time of FAX transmission from the mail body of the electronic mail received by the mail communication unit 100. For example, a setting for broadcasting the same document to a plurality of destinations, a setting for preferential transmission, and the like are analyzed.

  A FAX communication unit 103 controls the FAX communication unit 13 to transmit / receive a document by a FAX method.

  The reception FAX distribution unit 104 distributes the document received via the FAX communication unit 13 to the distribution box according to the destination of the document. It is assumed that the relay apparatus 1a can receive a fax with a plurality of telephone numbers as destinations.

  For example, when receiving a plurality of FAX transmission instructions, the transfer determining unit 105 determines whether or not to request FAX transmission to another relay apparatus 1b or 1c and which relay apparatus 1b or Whether to transfer to 1c is determined.

  The FAX transmission request means 106 performs a FAX transmission instruction and document transmission to the relay apparatus 1b or 1c, which is the transfer destination, when the transfer determination means 105 determines that another relay apparatus 1b or 1c requests FAX transmission. Request FAX transmission.

  The storage unit 11 is a FAX transmission / reception program 110 that causes the control unit 10 to operate as each of the units 100 to 106 described above, transfer destination information 111 by box, distribution box information 112 by dial-in number, transfer destination information 113, and success probability information 114. Memorize etc.

  The box-specific transfer destination information 111 is information for associating an identifier of a distribution box in which a document received by FAX is temporarily stored with an IP address of a transfer destination (terminal device 2a-2c) assigned to each distribution box. .

  The dial-in number-specific distribution box information 112 is information that associates a telephone number that is a destination of a document received by FAX with an identifier of the distribution box. Note that it is assumed that a plurality of telephone numbers are registered in the relay apparatus by a dial-in method, and the registered numbers are associated with the terminal apparatuses 2a to 2c, respectively.

  The transfer destination information 113 is information regarding other relay apparatuses 1b and 1c having a FAX transmission function.

  The success probability information 114 is information indicating the success probability of past FAX transmission to a specific destination from the relay apparatus 1a.

  The communication unit 12 transmits / receives data via the private network 4 in accordance with a communication protocol such as TCP / IP, and performs control related to the network and e-mail transmission / reception control.

  The FAX communication unit 13 has a modem function for performing modulation / demodulation of image data according to a facsimile protocol such as G3 and G4, and an NCU function for controlling connection with the public network 7, and performs FAX communication via the public network 7. .

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the end devices 2a-2c. Since the configuration of the terminal devices 2a-2c is common, the terminal device 2a will be described as a representative.

  The terminal device 2a is composed of a CPU or the like, and controls each part, and executes a control unit 20 that executes various programs, a storage unit 21 that is composed of a storage medium such as a flash memory and stores information, and a private network 4. A communication unit 22 that communicates with the outside, a printing unit 23 that executes printing on paper, and a scanning unit 24 that optically scans paper on which characters, images, and the like are written. Further, a display unit for displaying characters, images, and the like, and an operation unit for operating the relay device 1 may be provided.

  The control unit 20 functions as a FAX reception unit 200, a mail body creation unit 201, a mail title generation unit 202, a mail communication unit 203, a reception FAX reception unit 204, and the like by executing a FAX transmission / reception program 210 described later.

  The FAX receiving unit 200 receives a FAX transmission request from the user of the terminal device 2a. The FAX transmission request is input together with the telephone number of the transmission destination when the operation unit (not shown) is operated by the user, and the document to be transmitted by FAX is read by the scanning unit 24.

  The mail body creation unit 201 creates a body of an e-mail to be transmitted to the relay apparatus 1 based on the FAX transmission request received by the FAX receiving unit 200 and the destination telephone number.

  The mail title creating unit 202 creates a mail title of an email to be transmitted to the relay apparatus 1 based on the FAX transmission request received by the FAX receiving unit 200 and the destination telephone number.

  The mail communication unit 203 transmits and receives electronic mail to and from the relay device 1 via the private network 4.

  The reception FAX receiving unit 204 receives the image information stored in the distribution box corresponding to the terminal device 2 a among the image information of the received document temporarily stored in the relay device 1 via the private network 4. .

  The storage unit 21 stores a FAX transmission / reception program 210, relay device information 211, and the like that cause the control unit 20 to operate as the above-described units 200-204.

  The relay device information 211 is information on the IP address of a relay device to which the terminal device 2a can transmit a FAX transmission instruction.

(Operation of communication system)
Hereinafter, the operation of the communication system 5 according to the present embodiment will be described by dividing it into (1) basic operation, (2) FAX transfer operation, and (3) transfer determination operation, with reference to FIGS. In addition, the case where FAX transmission is performed by broadcast transmission from the terminal device 2a through the relay device 1a will be described on behalf of the terminal device 2a-2c.

(1) Basic operation First, the user of the terminal device 2a operates an operation unit (not shown) of the terminal device 2a to prepare for FAX reception.

  The FAX receiving unit 200 of the terminal device 2a starts receiving a FAX transmission request in response to a user operation, receives a destination telephone number, and transmits a FAX to the document table of the scanning unit 24 of the terminal device 2a. Prompt the user to set the original document.

  The user inputs the telephone number of the transmission destination, sets the document on the document table, and operates the operation unit to cause the scanning unit 24 to read the document.

  The FAX receiving unit 200 of the terminal device 2a generates image information by optically scanning the document in the scanning unit 24.

  Next, the mail body creation unit 201 creates a body of an e-mail to be transmitted to the relay apparatus 1a based on the FAX transmission request received by the FAX receiving unit 200 and the destination telephone number. For example, the fact that the message is a broadcast transmission and that a plurality of destinations have priority is input.

  Further, the mail title creating unit 202 creates a mail title of an e-mail to be transmitted to the relay device 1a based on the FAX transmission request received by the FAX receiving unit 200 and the destination telephone number.

  The mail title is described as “FAX = 044BBB1111 @ [192.168.1.33]” as an example. This indicates that for the telephone number “044BBB1111”, a fax transmission instruction is given to the relay apparatus 1a whose IP address is “192.168.1.33”. In the case of broadcast transmission, it is assumed that there are actually a plurality of destination telephone numbers.

  Next, the mail communication unit 203 attaches image information to the email created by the email body creation unit 201 and the email title creation unit 202, and sends the email to the relay apparatus 1a.

  The mail communication unit 100 of the relay device 1a receives the electronic mail transmitted by the terminal device 2a, and the mail title analysis unit 101 analyzes the mail title “FAX = 044BBB1111 @ [192.168.1.33]”. "044-BBB-1111" is recognized as the transmission destination FAX number. In the case of broadcast transmission, it is assumed that there are actually a plurality of destination telephone numbers.

  Next, the FAX communication unit 103 transmits the image information attached to the e-mail to the telephone number “044-BBB-1111” by FAX.

  In addition to the basic operation described above, when a condition described later is met, the relay apparatus 1a transfers a part or all of the FAX transmission instruction received by itself to the other relay apparatus 1b or 1c, and requests FAX transmission. .

(2) FAX Transfer Operation FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the FAX transfer operation of the relay device.

  First, when the mail communication unit 100 of the relay device 1a receives a FAX transmission instruction from the terminal device 2a (S10), the transfer determination unit 105 determines that another relay device is based on “(3) transfer determination operation” described later. It is determined whether or not to request FAX transmission to 1b or 1c (S11).

  When it is determined that the FAX transmission is requested (S11; Yes), the transfer determination unit 105 refers to the transfer destination information 113 to determine which relay device 1b or 1c to transfer (S12).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the transfer destination information 113.

  The transfer destination information 113a shown in FIG. 4 is an example of the transfer destination information 113, and is information related to another relay apparatus having a FAX transmission function. The transfer destination information is assigned to the relay apparatus and the transfer destination apparatus ID indicating the identifier of the relay apparatus. A transfer destination IP address indicating the assigned IP address and a telephone number indicating the telephone number assigned to the relay apparatus.

  Which transfer destination is requested to send a fax will be described in “(3) Transfer determination operation”.

  The transfer destination information 113a may be registered in the relay device 1a in advance, or connected to the relay device 1a via the private network 4 at the initialization timing of each unit such as when the relay device 1a is turned on. It may be obtained by making an inquiry to the other relay apparatuses 1b and 1c.

  Next, the FAX transmission request unit 106 transfers the FAX transmission instruction to the transfer destination determined by the transfer determination unit 105 (S13).

  Note that the FAX transmission request means 106 transmits the FAX transmission instruction original and destination information received from the terminal apparatus 2a by the relay apparatus 1a using the protocol such as e-mail or FTP as the transmission of the FAX transmission instruction. To the other relay device 1b or 1c.

  Next, the FAX communication unit 103 executes FAX transmission in the same manner as “(1) Basic operation” for a destination that has not been transferred. Further, the other relay apparatus 1b or 1c that has received the transferred FAX transmission instruction executes FAX transmission in the same manner as in “(1) Basic operation”.

  Further, when the transfer determining means 105 determines in step S11 that it does not request the other relay apparatus 1b or 1c for FAX transmission (S11; No), the FAX transmission is executed in the same manner as “(1) basic operation” (S15). ).

(3) Transfer Determination Operation Hereinafter, the operation in which the transfer determination unit 105 determines whether or not to request FAX transmission to another relay device 1b or 1c in step S11 will be described in detail.

(3-1)
As an example, when the received FAX transmission instruction is a broadcast transmission that transmits the same document to a plurality of destinations, the transfer determination unit 105 transmits the half of the plurality of destinations to one of the other relay apparatuses. It is determined that the transmission is requested. Further, a FAX transmission request may be made so that the destinations are equally divided among all the other relay apparatuses, or a FAX transmission request may be made so as not to be equal.

(3-2)
Further, as another example, the transfer determination unit 105 is a case where the relay apparatus 1a accepts a plurality of FAX transmission instructions, and when the number of received cases exceeds a predetermined number, the excess FAX transmission is performed. It is determined that the request is made to any other relay device.

  If another relay device 1b or 1c is requested to send a fax from the relay device 1a, and the number of fax transmissions received by the relay device 1b or 1c exceeds a predetermined number, a relay is performed. The request from the device 1a may be rejected. The rejected FAX transmission request is re-requested to another relay apparatus by the relay apparatus 1a.

(3-3)
As another example, when the priority order is set for a plurality of destinations in the terminal device 2a, the transfer determination unit 105 performs a fax earlier from all the relay devices 1a-1c including itself. Fax transmission is executed in a relay apparatus that can execute transmission.

  Note that the transfer determination unit 105 compares the number of FAX transmission requests that are waiting for processing in the relay apparatuses 1b and 1c in order to determine which apparatus can perform FAX transmission earlier than other apparatuses. Alternatively, the comparison may be performed in consideration of the number of pages of each FAX transmission request.

(3-4)
As another example, the transfer determination unit 105 requests a fax transmission to another relay device when it becomes impossible to perform the fax transmission due to a failure or a communication error in the relay device 1a. You may judge.

  Note that it is known that a condition of a physical line connected between each relay device 1a-1c and an external receiving device that is a destination affects a communication error, and each relay device 1a-1c The success rate of communication between external receiving devices as destinations may be calculated from the past history, and it may be determined which of the relay devices 1a-1c is requested.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a communication success probability between the relay device 1a and each destination.

  The success probability information 114a is an example of the success probability information 114, and is information indicating the success probability calculated from the history of FAX transmission in the past between the relay device 1a and the destination in the destination column.

  In the relay device 1a, the destinations “03-XXXX-1234” and “045-XXYY-0000” have a high probability of success, so that fax transmission is often requested from another relay device 1b or 1c. Further, since the destination “07-ZZZZ-1111” has a low success probability, if there is another relay device having a high success probability without being executed by the relay device 1a, a request for FAX transmission is made to another relay device. To do.

  The FAX transmission request unit 106 executes FAX transmission in the relay apparatus 1a together with the FAX transmission request, and transmits communication parameters such as a transmission level, a reception level, a cable equalizer, and a communication speed at the time of the failure as communication conditions. Also good. The requested relay device 1b or 1c may be configured to select a communication parameter that can increase the success probability based on the communication parameter.

[Other embodiments]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  Further, the FAX transmission / reception programs 110 and 210 can be provided by being stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, and can be downloaded from a server device connected to a network such as the Internet to a storage unit in the device. May be. Moreover, you may implement | achieve part or all of each means 100-106 and each means 200-204 by hardware, such as ASIC. Note that each step shown in the operation description of the above embodiment can be changed in order, omitted or added.

1a-1c Relay device 2a-2c Terminal device 4 Private network 5 Communication system 6a, 6b External device 7 Public network 10 Control unit 11 Storage unit 12 Communication unit 13 FAX communication unit 14 Printing unit 15 Scan unit 20 Control unit 21 Storage unit 22 Communication unit 23 Printing unit 24 Scan unit 100 Mail communication unit 101 Mail title analysis unit 102 Mail text analysis unit 103 FAX communication unit 104 Reception FAX distribution unit 105 Transfer determination unit 106 FAX transmission request unit 110 FAX transmission / reception program 111 Transfer destination by box Information 112 Sorting box information by dial-in number 113 Forwarding destination information 114 Success probability information 200 FAX reception means 201 Mail body creation means 202 Mail title creation means 203 Mail communication means 204 Reception FAX reception means 210 FAX transmission / reception program 211 Relay device information

Claims (2)

A receiving means for receiving a facsimile transmission instruction from a terminal device having no facsimile transmission function via a private network;
A facsimile communication means for performing facsimile transmission to the outside via a public network based on the facsimile transmission instruction received by the reception means;
Determining means for determining whether or not to request facsimile transmission to another device connected via the private network based on the content of the facsimile transmission instruction received by the receiving means;
Requesting means for requesting the other apparatus to send part or all of the facsimile transmission instruction received by the receiving means when the determining means determines that the other apparatus requests facsimile transmission;
The determination means determines to request a facsimile transmission from another apparatus connected to the private network when the result of facsimile transmission by the facsimile communication means of the facsimile transmission instruction received by the reception means is a communication failure. And
The request unit is a relay device that transmits a communication condition transmitted by facsimile transmission from the facsimile communication unit to the other device determined by the determination unit together with the transmission request when communication fails. Computer
A receiving means for receiving a facsimile transmission instruction from a terminal device having no facsimile transmission function via a private network;
A facsimile communication means for performing facsimile transmission to the outside via a public network based on the facsimile transmission instruction received by the reception means;
Determining means for determining whether or not to request facsimile transmission to another device connected via the private network based on the content of the facsimile transmission instruction received by the receiving means;
A program for causing a part or all of a facsimile transmission instruction received by the receiving unit to function as a requesting unit for requesting transmission to another device when the determining unit determines that the other device requests facsimile transmission. And
The determination means determines to request a facsimile transmission from another apparatus connected to the private network when the result of facsimile transmission by the facsimile communication means of the facsimile transmission instruction received by the reception means is a communication failure. And
A fax transmission / reception program for transmitting, to the other apparatus determined by the determination unit together with the transmission request, the request unit, together with the transmission request, when the communication unit fails in communication.

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