JP2019068461A - Information processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, and relay system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an information processing apparatus that, when an image forming apparatus not having a FAX transmission/reception function causes the information processing apparatus having a FAX transmission/reception function to integrally transmit/receive FAX to/from a plurality of destinations, transmits a result of communication still in progress to the image forming apparatus before completion of the FAX transmission to all the destinations.SOLUTION: A relay device 1 comprises: mail communication means 100 that receives a broadcast transmission instruction from a terminal device not having a FAX transmission function; creation means 105 that creates communication result information including at least one of information indicating that FAX transmission is currently in communication, information indicating success of the FAX transmission, and information indicating failure of the FAX transmission, before FAX communication means 103 completes the FAX communication to all of a plurality of terminal devices; and transmission means 106 that transmits the communication result information to the terminal device from which the mail communication means 100 receives the FAX transmission instruction, before the FAX communication means 103 completes the FAX communication to the plurality of terminal devices.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a relay system.

  There has been proposed a communication system for managing communication results when transmitting a fax from an end device having no fax function via a relay device having a fax (hereinafter referred to as "fax") transmission / reception function (for example, Patent Document 1) ).

  The communication system disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes an end device (hereinafter, also referred to as an image forming apparatus) not having a FAX transmission / reception function and a relay device (hereinafter, information) having a FAX transmission / reception function capable of fax transmission to the outside through a public network. The terminal device and the relay device are connected by a private network such as a LAN. The communication system uses Internet FAX (Internet fax), which is an example of a technology for converting information described in a facsimile system into packets and transmitting the packets through an IP network, and the terminal device receives the input telephone number. An instruction parameter necessary for Internet FAX is added to the Internet FAX instruction, and the Internet FAX instruction is issued to the relay device, and the relay device performs FAX transmission according to the instruction of the terminal device.

Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2006-222635

  An object of the present invention is to transmit a fax to all destinations when an image forming apparatus not having a fax transmitting / receiving function causes an information processing apparatus having a fax transmitting / receiving function to collectively send and receive faxes to a plurality of destinations. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a relay system, which transmit an intermediate communication result to the image forming apparatus before the completion of the above.

[1] An image forming apparatus provided with an image reading means, an image forming means and a display means, and not provided with a facsimile transmission means capable of direct connection to a public network, broadcasting to a plurality of facsimile machines connected with the public network. Reception means for receiving a transmission instruction via a private network,
Facsimile communication means for sequentially transmitting a facsimile to the plurality of facsimile apparatuses via the public network according to the multicast transmission instruction received by the reception means;
Information indicating that facsimile transmission with any facsimile apparatus among the plurality of facsimile apparatuses is currently in communication before the facsimile communication unit completes facsimile transmission to all of the plurality of facsimile apparatuses. Creation means for creating communication result information including at least one of the information indicating the success of the facsimile transmission and the information indicating the failure of the facsimile transmission;
And transmission means for transmitting the communication result information created by the creation means to the image forming apparatus accepted by the acceptance means before the facsimile communication means completes facsimile transmission to all of the plurality of facsimile machines. An information processing apparatus having:
[2] An image forming apparatus which does not have facsimile transmission means capable of direct connection to a public network, which is not provided.
Accepting means for accepting broadcast transmission instructions for a plurality of facsimile apparatuses connected to the public network;
Transmission means for transmitting the broadcast transmission instruction accepted by the acceptance means to an information processing apparatus which sequentially facsimile-transmits the plurality of facsimile machines via the public network to the plurality of facsimile machines;
The information processing apparatus indicates information indicating that the facsimile transmission is currently in communication, and indicates the success of the facsimile transmission before the facsimile communication unit completes the facsimile transmission to all of the plurality of facsimile apparatuses. Receiving means for receiving communication result information including at least one of the information and the information indicating the failure of the facsimile transmission;
An image forming apparatus comprising: output means for outputting the communication result information received by the receiving means before the facsimile communication means completes facsimile transmission to all of the plurality of facsimile machines.
[3] The image forming apparatus according to [2], wherein the output unit displays the communication result information received by the receiving unit on a display screen of the image forming apparatus.
[4] The image forming apparatus according to [2], wherein the output unit outputs the communication result information received by the receiving unit as printed by an image forming unit included in the image forming apparatus.
[5] An image forming apparatus comprising an image reading means, an image forming means and a display means, and not comprising a facsimile transmission means directly connectable to a public network, broadcasting to a plurality of facsimile machines connected to the public network Reception means for receiving a transmission instruction via a private network,
Facsimile communication means for sequentially transmitting a facsimile to the plurality of facsimile apparatuses via the public network according to the multicast transmission instruction received by the reception means;
Information indicating that facsimile transmission with any facsimile apparatus among the plurality of facsimile apparatuses is currently in communication before the facsimile communication unit completes facsimile transmission to all of the plurality of facsimile apparatuses. Creation means for creating communication result information including at least one of the information indicating the success of the facsimile transmission and the information indicating the failure of the facsimile transmission;
And transmission means for transmitting the communication result information created by the creation means to the image forming apparatus accepted by the acceptance means before the facsimile communication means completes facsimile transmission to all of the plurality of facsimile machines. ,
A relay system having

  According to the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, when the image forming apparatus without the facsimile transmission / reception function causes the information processing apparatus having the facsimile transmission / reception function to collectively transmit / receive facsimile to a plurality of destinations, The intermediate communication result can be transmitted to the image forming apparatus before the facsimile transmission to the destination is completed.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a configuration example of a communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the relay device. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the end device. FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a configuration example of communication result information. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an example of an operation of creating and transmitting communication result information to the terminal device by the relay device. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the operation of creating communication result information and the operation of transmitting the communication result information to the end device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the operation of creating communication result information and the operation of transmitting the communication result information to the end device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the operation of creating communication result information and the operation of transmitting the communication result information to the end device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining another example of the operation of creating communication result information and the transmission operation of the relay apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention to the terminal equipment according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the operation of creating communication result information and the transmission operation of the communication result information to the terminal device by the relay device according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

First Embodiment
(Configuration of communication system)
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a configuration example of a communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

  The communication system 5 is configured by communicably connecting the relay device 1 and the terminal devices 2a to 2c by the private network 4. The relay device 1 is communicably connected to the external devices 6a and 6b via the public network 7, and mainly uses a facsimile (hereinafter referred to as "FAX") method with the external devices 6a and 6b. Send and receive information by

  The relay apparatus 1 is an apparatus having a FAX transmitting / receiving function, a printer, a scanner, and a copying 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 alone performs FAX transmission, but in the present embodiment, a case will be described where FAX transmission is performed according to the FAX transmission instruction of the end apparatuses 2a to 2c based on the standard of Internet FAX (Internet fax). .

  The terminal devices 2a to 2c are devices not having a FAX transmitting / receiving function but having a printer, a scanner, and a copying function, and are provided with electronic components such as a CPU and a flash memory having a function for processing information. The terminal devices 2a to 2c instruct the relay device 1 to perform FAX transmission.

  The private network 4 is a communication network capable of high-speed communication, and is, for example, 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 operation company, and is an external network such as a public switched communication network (PSTN: Public Switched Telephone Networks) or an integrated services digital network (ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network). is there.

  In the following, a case will be described in which the terminal devices 2a to 2c instruct the relay device 1 to perform FAX transmission, and collectively send and receive FAX to a plurality of destinations (hereinafter referred to as "multi-address transmission"). Although the originals sent collectively to a plurality of destinations are common, the contents may be changed for each destination using a common template.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the relay device 1.

  The relay device 1 includes a CPU and the like, controls each unit, and executes various programs, a control unit 10, a storage unit 11 including a storage medium such as a flash memory and storing information, and a private network 4 The communication unit 12 communicates with the outside through the FAX communication unit 13 communicating with the outside through the public network 7 according to the FAX method, the printing unit 14 that executes printing on a sheet, and characters, images, etc. are written. The scanning unit 15 is provided to optically scan a sheet. Furthermore, a display unit for displaying characters, images, etc., 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 the mail communication unit 100, the mail title analysis unit 101, the mail text analysis unit 102, the FAX communication unit 103, the reception FAX distribution unit 104, the communication result information creation. It functions as means 105, communication result information transmission means 106, and the like.

  The mail communication unit 100 transmits and receives electronic mail to and from the terminal devices 2a to 2c via the private network 4. In addition, the mail communication unit 100 also functions as a reception unit that receives a mail including a FAX transmission instruction of Internet FAX, in particular.

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

  The mail text analysis means 102 analyzes the setting at the time of FAX transmission from the mail text of the electronic mail received by the mail communication means 100.

  A FAX communication unit 103 controls the FAX communication unit 13 to transmit and receive image information of a document by a FAX method.

  The reception FAX distribution unit 104 distributes the image information of the document received via the FAX communication unit 13 to the distribution box according to the destination of the document.

  The communication result information generation unit 105, when the FAX communication unit 103 transmits and receives the image information of the document, the date and time when the transmission and reception of the document is performed, the communicating party, the time required for communication, the number of pages of the document, Information such as whether the communication has ended normally is collected and created as communication result information 113.

  The communication result information transmitting means 106 transmits the communication result information 113 created by the communication result information creating means 105 to the corresponding terminal devices 2a to 2c.

  The storage unit 11 stores the FAX transmission / reception program 110 that causes the control unit 10 to operate as the respective units 100 to 106, the transfer destination information by box 111, the distribution box information by dial-in number 112, the communication result information 113, and the like.

  The per-box transfer destination information 111 associates the identifier of the distribution box in which the image information of the document received by fax is temporarily stored with the IP address of the transfer destination (terminal devices 2a to 2c) assigned to each distribution box. It is information.

  The dial-in number-based distribution box information 112 is information that associates a telephone number, which is a destination of image information of a document received by FAX, with the distribution box identifier. A plurality of telephone numbers are registered in the relay apparatus in a dial-in system, and the registered numbers are respectively associated with the end devices 2a to 2c.

  The communication unit 12 transmits and 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 transmission / reception control of electronic mail.

  The FAX communication unit 13 has a function of a modem that performs modulation / demodulation of image data according to a facsimile protocol such as G3 and G4 and a function of an NCU that performs connection control 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 to 2c. Since the configurations of the end devices 2a to 2c are common, the end device 2a will be representatively described.

  The end device 2a comprises a CPU and the like, controls the respective units, and executes a control unit 20 that executes various programs, a storage unit 21 that is configured of a storage medium such as a flash memory and stores information, and a private network 4 The communication unit 22 communicates with the outside via the communication unit 23, the printing unit 23 that executes printing on a sheet, and the scanning unit 24 that optically scans a sheet on which characters, images, and the like are written. Furthermore, a display unit for displaying characters, images, etc., and an operation unit for operating the relay device 1 may be provided.

  The control unit 20 functions as a FAX receiving unit 200, an e-mail text creating unit 201, an e-mail title creating unit 202, an e-mail communication unit 203, a received FAX receiving 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 of the user of the terminal device 2a. The FAX transmission request is input together with the telephone number of the transmission destination when the user operates the operation unit (not shown), and the document to be transmitted by FAX is read by the scanning unit 24.

  The mail text creating means 201 creates the text of the electronic mail to be transmitted to the relay apparatus 1 based on the FAX transmission request and the telephone number of the transmission destination received by the FAX receiving means 200.

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

  The e-mail communication unit 203 exchanges e-mails with the relay device 1 via the private network 4.

  Among the faxes temporarily stored in the relay apparatus 1, the reception fax accepting unit 204 receives the fax stored in the distribution box corresponding to the terminal device 2 a through the private network 4.

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

  The relay apparatus information 211 is information on the IP address of a relay apparatus 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 first embodiment will be (1) basic operation, (2) communication result information creation operation and (3) communication result information transmission operation while referring to FIGS. I will divide and explain. A case will be described in which fax transmission is performed by multicast transmission from the end device 2a via the relay device 1 on behalf of the end devices 2a to 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 reception of a FAX transmission request according to the operation of the user, receives a telephone number of a transmission destination, and is a target to be FAX transmitted to the document table of the scanning unit 24 of the terminal device 2a. Prompt the user to set the original

  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 optically scans the document in the scanning unit 24 to generate image information.

  Next, the mail text creation means 201 creates the text of the electronic mail to be transmitted to the relay apparatus 1 based on the FAX transmission request and the telephone number of the transmission destination received by the FAX reception means 200. In the first embodiment, it is input in the text that the message is broadcast transmission.

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

  The mail title is described as “FAX = 044 BBB 1111 @ [192.168.1.33]” as an example. This indicates that the relay apparatus 1 whose IP address is "192.168.1.33" is instructed to send a fax to the telephone number "044 BBB 1111". In addition, it is assumed that there are a plurality of destination telephone numbers because of multi-address transmission.

  Next, the e-mail communication unit 203 attaches image information to the e-mail created by the e-mail text creation unit 201 and the e-mail title creation unit 202, and sends the e-mail to the relay apparatus 1.

(2) Communication Result Information Creation Operation FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the operation of creating and transmitting the communication result information to the end device by the relay device.

  The mail communication unit 100 of the relay device 1 receives the electronic mail sent by the terminal device 2a (S100), and the mail title analysis unit 101 analyzes the mail title "FAX = 044 BBB 1111 @ [192.168.1.33]" Thus, it is recognized that "044-BBB-1111" is the FAX number of the transmission destination. In addition, it is assumed that there are a plurality of destination telephone numbers because of multi-address transmission.

  Next, the FAX communication unit 103 first FAX-transmits the image information attached to the electronic mail to the first destination (S101), for example, to the telephone number "044-BBB-1111" (S102). .

  The communication result information creating unit 105 performs the fax transmission of the image information to the outside via the public network 7 in the above-described “(1) Basic operation”, and the operation is ended (S 103). Information on fax reception is created in the storage unit 11 as communication result information 113 (S104).

  FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a configuration example of the communication result information 113. As shown in FIG.

  The communication result information 113a is an example of the communication result information 113. The communication result information 113a indicates information related to FAX reception transmitted by the FAX communication unit 103. The communication result information 113a indicates a destination (address identification number / total number of destinations) to be sent by broadcasting. It has a number, a FAX transmission destination showing a telephone number for FAX transmission, a communication result showing a state of FAX transmission, and a page showing an amount of pages for FAX transmission.

  As shown in FIG. 4, for example, in the FAX transmission of the broadcast number "1/20", the destination is the telephone number "03-1234-5678", the page amount is "5", and the communication result is "OK". It shows that it is. In addition, for FAX transmission of the broadcast number "3/20", the destination is the telephone number "03-1234-9999", the page amount is "3" pages, and all 5 pages are not transmitted. It indicates that the transmission has failed and the communication result is “NG” (= failure). In addition, FAX transmission of the broadcast number "4/20" is in the process of sending all five pages, with the destination being the telephone number "03-1234-5678", the page amount being "2" pages, and The communication result is "CALLING", which indicates that communication is currently in progress.

(3) Communication result information transmission operation

  The communication result information transmitting means 106 of the relay device 1 transmits the communication result information 113a to the terminal device 2a (S105).

  Next, when the FAX transmission is not completed for all the destinations (S106), steps S102 to S105 are executed for the next destination (S107).

  That is, in the first embodiment, the communication result information generation unit 105 generates the communication result information 113 at the timing when the transmission is completed for each of the multiple destinations of the broadcast transmission, and the communication result information transmission unit Each time the communication result information 113 is created, the communication 106 transmits this.

  The communication result information creation unit 105 may create the communication result information 113 only for the destinations for which transmission has failed among the plurality of destinations for multicast transmission. The timing of creation of the communication result information 113 may be the degree of transmission failure, or may be a predetermined number of retransmissions or a transmission failure. Further, the number of transmission failures may be described in the communication result information 113.

  Although the case where fax transmission is performed by multicast transmission from the end device 2a via the relay device 1 has been described, the present invention is similarly applicable to the case where multicast transmission is not performed.

Second Embodiment
The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that communication result information is created and transmitted at the timing when the terminal device 2a inquires the relay device 1 about the execution state. In the following, the same components as those in the first embodiment will be assigned the same reference numerals, and the description of the common operations will be omitted.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the operation of creating communication result information and the operation of transmitting the communication result information to the end device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the e-mail communication unit 203 of the terminal device 2a attaches the image information 200a to the e-mail created by the e-mail text creation unit 201 and the e-mail title creation unit 202, and sends the e-mail to the relay device 1 (S210).

  Next, the mail communication unit 100 of the relay device 1 receives the electronic mail transmitted by the terminal device 2a (S110), and the mail title analysis unit 101 analyzes the mail title.

  Next, the FAX communication unit 103 first FAX-transmits the image information attached to the electronic mail from the first destination (S111).

  Next, when the user of the terminal device 2a desires an inquiry about the execution status of the multicast transmission, the user operates the terminal device 2a, and the terminal device 2a inquires the relay device 1 about the execution status according to the operation content Is sent (S211).

  Next, when the relay device 1 receives an execution state inquiry from the terminal device 2a (S112), the communication result information creating means 105 causes the FAX communication means 103 to transmit image information to the outside through the public network 7 by the time the inquiry is received. The communication result information 113 as an intermediate process is created in the storage unit 11 with respect to the communication content of the FAX transmission of (S113).

  The communication result information transmitting means 106 of the relay device 1 transmits the communication result information 113 as an intermediate process to the terminal device 2a (S114).

  The terminal device 2a receives the communication result information 113 as an intermediate process (S212).

  Note that the FAX communication unit 103 of the relay device 1 may interrupt or cancel the FAX transmission when the execution state inquiry is received, or may continue the FAX transmission as it is.

Third Embodiment
The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the communication result information is created and transmitted at a timing when a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the multicast transmission in the terminal device 2a.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the operation of creating communication result information and the operation of transmitting the communication result information to the end device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the e-mail communication unit 203 of the end device 2a attaches the image information 200a to the e-mail created by the e-mail text creation unit 201 and the e-mail title creation unit 202, and sends the e-mail to the relay device 1 (S220).

  Next, the mail communication unit 100 of the relay device 1 receives the electronic mail transmitted by the terminal device 2a (S120), and the mail title analysis unit 101 analyzes the mail title.

  Next, the FAX communication unit 103 first FAX-transmits the image information attached to the e-mail from the first destination (S121).

  Next, when a predetermined time has elapsed (S122; Yes), the communication result information creating unit 105 of the relay apparatus 1 determines that the FAX communication unit 103 is external via the public network 7 before the predetermined time passes. The communication result information 113 as the progress is created in the storage unit 11 with respect to the communication content in which the image information is transmitted by fax to (step S123).

  The communication result information transmitting means 106 of the relay device 1 transmits the communication result information 113 as an intermediate process to the terminal device 2a (S124).

  The terminal device 2a receives the communication result information 113 as an intermediate process (S221).

  The relay device 1 repeats steps S121 to S124 until broadcast transmission is completed for all the destinations (S125).

Fourth Embodiment
The fourth embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that communication result information is created and transmitted at the timing when the relay device 1 executes FAX transmission for the priority destination designated in the terminal device 2a. It is different.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the operation of creating communication result information and the operation of transmitting the communication result information to the end device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the e-mail communication unit 203 of the end device 2a attaches the image information 200a to the e-mail created by the e-mail text creation unit 201 and the e-mail title creation unit 202, and sends the e-mail to the relay device 1 (S230). At this time, in the e-mail text of the e-mail, a destination desired by the user with priority given to transmission of the communication result information is input as a priority destination. When there are a plurality of priority destinations, the plurality of priority destinations may be ranked.

  Next, the mail communication unit 100 of the relay device 1 receives the electronic mail transmitted by the terminal device 2a (S130), the mail title analysis unit 101 analyzes the mail title, and the mail text analysis unit 102 analyzes the mail text. And accept priority destinations simultaneously.

  Next, the FAX communication unit 103 first FAX-transmits the image information attached to the electronic mail from the first destination (S131).

  When the destination under processing is designated as the priority destination (S 132; Yes), the communication result information creating unit 105 of the relay device 1 transmits the image information to the outside through the public network 7 by the FAX communication unit 103 for the priority destination. The communication result information 113 as the intermediate process is created in the storage unit 11 with respect to the communication content in which the facsimile transmission is performed (S133).

  The communication result information transmitting means 106 of the relay device 1 transmits the communication result information 113 as an intermediate process to the terminal device 2a (S134).

  The terminal device 2a receives the communication result information 113 as an intermediate process (S231).

  The relay device 1 executes steps S131 to S134 for all the destinations (S135), and thereafter, in the communication result information creation means 105 of the relay device 1, the FAX communication means 103 is external via the public network 7 for all the destinations. The communication result information 113 is created in the storage unit 11 for the contents of the communication in which the image information has been faxed to (step S136).

  The communication result information transmitting means 106 of the relay device 1 transmits the communication result information 113 for all the destinations to the terminal device 2a (S137).

  The terminal device 2a receives the communication result information 113 for all the destinations (S232).

Fifth Embodiment
The fifth embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that communication result information is created and transmitted at a timing when an end device 2a requests the relay device 1 to stop execution.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the operation of creating communication result information and the operation of transmitting the communication result information to the end device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the e-mail communication unit 203 of the end device 2a attaches the image information 200a to the e-mail created by the e-mail text creation unit 201 and the e-mail title creation unit 202, and sends the e-mail to the relay device 1 (S240).

  Next, the mail communication unit 100 of the relay device 1 receives the electronic mail transmitted by the terminal device 2a (S140), and the mail title analysis unit 101 analyzes the mail title.

  Next, the FAX communication unit 103 first FAX-transmits the image information attached to the electronic mail from the first destination (S141).

  Next, when the user of the terminal device 2a desires to cancel the execution of multicast transmission, the user operates the terminal device 2a, and the terminal device 2a requests the relay device 1 to cancel the execution according to the operation content. It transmits (S241).

  Next, when the relay device 1 receives the request for suspension of execution from the terminal device 2a (S142), the communication result information creating means 105 causes the FAX communication means 103 via the public network 7 by the time the request for suspension of execution is received. The communication result information 113 as the progress is created in the storage unit 11 for the communication contents in which the image information is transmitted by fax to the outside (S143).

  The communication result information transmitting means 106 of the relay device 1 transmits the communication result information 113 as an intermediate process to the terminal device 2a (S144).

  The terminal device 2a receives the communication result information 113 as an intermediate process (S242).

Sixth Embodiment
In the sixth embodiment, as compared with the first embodiment, when the end device 2a requests the relay device 1 to suspend execution and the execution content is changed, the modification of the execution content is included. It differs in that communication result information is created and transmitted.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the operation of creating communication result information and the transmission operation of the communication result information to the terminal device by the relay device according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the e-mail communication unit 203 of the terminal device 2a attaches the image information 200a to the e-mail created by the e-mail text creation unit 201 and the e-mail title creation unit 202, and sends the e-mail to the relay device 1 (S250).

  Next, the mail communication unit 100 of the relay device 1 receives the electronic mail transmitted by the terminal device 2a (S150), and the mail title analysis unit 101 analyzes the mail title.

  Next, the FAX communication unit 103 first FAX-transmits the image information attached to the electronic mail from the first destination (S151).

  Next, when the user of the terminal device 2a desires to interrupt the execution of broadcast transmission, the user operates the terminal device 2a, and the terminal device 2a requests the relay device 1 to interrupt the execution according to the operation content. Send (S251).

  Next, the relay device 1 receives a request for suspension of execution from the terminal device 2a (S152), and the FAX communication means 103 interrupts the execution of broadcast transmission. Communication result information may be created for the progress of the execution state until the execution is interrupted, and may be transmitted to the terminal device 2a.

  Next, the user of the terminal device 2a operates the terminal device 2a to change the address of part of the multicast transmission or change the contents of the image information, and the terminal device 2a responds to the operation content. A request for changing the contents of broadcast transmission is transmitted to the relay device 1 (S252).

  Next, the relay device 1 receives a request for content change from the terminal device 2a (S153), and the FAX communication means 103 resumes the execution of broadcast transmission based on the changed content (S154).

  Next, when the multicast transmission is completed, the communication result information creation unit 105 performs communication based on the communication content in which the FAX communication unit 103 faxed the image information to the outside through the public network 7 and the history of the content change. Result information 113 is created in the storage unit 11 (S155).

  Next, the communication result information transmitting means 106 of the relay device 1 transmits the communication result information 113 to the terminal device 2a (S156).

  The terminal device 2a receives the communication result information 113 (S253).

Other Embodiments
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  Further, it is also possible to store the above-mentioned FAX transmission / reception program 110 and 210 in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM and provide it, and download it from a server apparatus connected to a network such as the Internet to the storage unit in the apparatus. May be Also, some or all of the units 100 to 106 and the units 200 to 204 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC. In addition, each step shown by the operation | movement description of the said embodiment can perform change of an order, abbreviation | omission of a step, and addition.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Relay apparatus, 2a-2c ... Terminal apparatus, 4 ... Private network, 5 ... Communication system, 6a, 6b ... External apparatus, 7 ... Public network, 10 ... Control part, 11 ... Storage part, 12 ... Communications part, 13 ... FAX communication unit, 14 ... printing unit, 15 ... scanning unit, 20 ... control unit, 21 ... storage unit, 22 ... communication unit, 23 ... printing unit, 24 ... scanning unit, 100 ... mail communication means, 101 ... mail title Analysis means 102 ... mail text analysis means 103 ... FAX communication means 104 ... reception FAX distribution means 105 ... communication result information creation means 106 ... communication result information transmission means 110 ... FAX transmission / reception program 111 ... by box Transfer destination information 112: distribution box information by dial-in number 113: communication result information 200: FAX reception means 200a: image information 201: mail text creation means 20 2 ... mail title creation means, 203 ... mail communication means, 204 ... reception FAX reception means, 210 ... FAX transmission / reception program, 211 ... relay device information

Claims (5)

An image forming apparatus comprising an image reading means, an image forming means and a display means, and not comprising a facsimile transmission means capable of direct connection to a public network, instructs broadcast transmission instructions to a plurality of facsimile machines connected to the public network. , And means of acceptance via a private network,
Facsimile communication means for sequentially transmitting a facsimile to the plurality of facsimile apparatuses via the public network according to the multicast transmission instruction received by the reception means;
Information indicating that facsimile transmission with any facsimile apparatus among the plurality of facsimile apparatuses is currently in communication before the facsimile communication unit completes facsimile transmission to all of the plurality of facsimile apparatuses. Creation means for creating communication result information including at least one of the information indicating the success of the facsimile transmission and the information indicating the failure of the facsimile transmission;
And transmission means for transmitting the communication result information created by the creation means to the image forming apparatus accepted by the acceptance means before the facsimile communication means completes facsimile transmission to all of the plurality of facsimile machines. ,
An information processing apparatus having An image forming apparatus which does not have facsimile transmission means capable of direct connection to a public network, wherein
Accepting means for accepting broadcast transmission instructions for a plurality of facsimile apparatuses connected to the public network;
Transmission means for transmitting the broadcast transmission instruction accepted by the acceptance means to an information processing apparatus which sequentially facsimile-transmits the plurality of facsimile machines via the public network to the plurality of facsimile machines;
The information processing apparatus indicates information indicating that the facsimile transmission is currently in communication, and indicates the success of the facsimile transmission before the facsimile communication unit completes the facsimile transmission to all of the plurality of facsimile apparatuses. Receiving means for receiving communication result information including at least one of the information and the information indicating the failure of the facsimile transmission;
Output means for outputting the communication result information received by the receiving means before the facsimile communication means completes facsimile transmission to all of the plurality of facsimile machines;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The output means displays the communication result information received by the receiving means on a display screen provided in the image forming apparatus.
An image forming apparatus according to claim 2. The output unit is output as the communication result information received by the receiving unit is printed by an image forming unit included in the image forming apparatus.
An image forming apparatus according to claim 2. An image forming apparatus comprising an image reading means, an image forming means and a display means, and not comprising a facsimile transmission means capable of direct connection to a public network, instructs broadcast transmission instructions to a plurality of facsimile machines connected to the public network. , And means of acceptance via a private network,
Facsimile communication means for sequentially transmitting a facsimile to the plurality of facsimile apparatuses via the public network according to the multicast transmission instruction received by the reception means;
Information indicating that facsimile transmission with any facsimile apparatus among the plurality of facsimile apparatuses is currently in communication before the facsimile communication unit completes facsimile transmission to all of the plurality of facsimile apparatuses. Creation means for creating communication result information including at least one of the information indicating the success of the facsimile transmission and the information indicating the failure of the facsimile transmission;
And transmission means for transmitting the communication result information created by the creation means to the image forming apparatus accepted by the acceptance means before the facsimile communication means completes facsimile transmission to all of the plurality of facsimile machines. ,
A relay system having

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