JP2549768B2 - Electronic mail system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail system capable of surely transmitting a voice description or a message together with a document electronically sent from a composite input section to a composite output section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a concept called office automation has been proposed in order to improve the productivity of offices together with the soaring cost of offices, and this is being actively researched and developed not only in the United States but also in Japan. Is recommended,
Recently, single devices or networked systems are being introduced into offices.

As one of the office automation concepts, there is an electronic mail system, and as an example, an electronic mail system electronically sends a document including code information created by a word processor or the like to a desired partner, or a facsimile system. There are so-called document mails, such as those in which handwritten documents or drawings are sent as image information. Compared to the conventional method of sending a document written on paper, such a document mail system has the characteristic that the document can be delivered to the other party quickly and reliably, but on the other hand, the other party can understand the content of the document more accurately and read it further. After the end, little improvement has been made to the underlying purpose of information transmission to leave memories forever. Rather, the information is standardized by being typeset by a word processor or monochrome by a facsimile, and the impression when reading is weak, the understanding level is lowered, or there is a problem that it is hard to remember.

On the other hand, an answering machine is developed as a form different from such a document mail to send a message by voice.
There is a so-called voice mail system. This is to specify one or more parties with a telephone and temporarily store a voice message in a storage device such as a magnetic disk or magnetic tape provided on the telephone exchange side.
Then, for example, a lamp attached to the other party's telephone is turned on to notify that a voice message is being sent, and the other party who knows this has entered a specific code from the same telephone and stored in the storage device. I try to listen to voice messages. Such a system can be realized relatively easily and inexpensively by adding some devices and functions such as a storage device to a so-called electronic exchange system for telephones, but on the other hand, it is not possible to send it as seen in the document mail system. Not only is it difficult to extract and read those that are urgent, or those that are of great interest, only by looking at the titles or sender names of multiple documents that have been read, and generally speaking with audio explanations, the degree of comprehension is lower than that of documents. However, there was a drawback that the degree of memorability was low.

Further, conventionally, a document mail terminal for transmitting document information and a telephone for transmitting voice information are separately prepared on the transmitting side, and these individual devices are individually handled, and the receiving side is treated. Also prepares a document mail terminal for receiving document information and a telephone for receiving voice information separately, and handles these individual devices individually, so the document information and voice information on the sending side and the receiving side are handled separately. There is a drawback that the operability at the time of transmitting and receiving is deteriorated and the space for installing each individual device becomes large.

[0006]

As described above, conventionally,
Due to the shortcomings of the document mail system and voice mail system, in the case of an important project so far, after sending it, we call the recipient and give a supplementary explanation. In this situation, the features such as so-called asynchronousness, which prevents the sender and the receiver from having a conversation at the same time, cannot be fully utilized. Furthermore, each device for realizing these document mail and voice mail is a separate device. Since it is prepared, the operability is deteriorated, the installation space for each individual device is increased, and the user's desk is unnecessarily occupied.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and combines a document mail with a voice mail to output a document sent electronically and a voice for adding a description about this document at the same time. By making it possible, it is possible to enhance the understanding and impression of the contents of the mail and to significantly increase the memorable degree.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic mail system capable of improving the operability of equipment and reducing the equipment space for realizing these.

[0008]

The electronic mail of the present invention is a document input means for electronically inputting a document consisting of code information or image information, and a voice input for electronically inputting a voice description related to the document. Means and a composite input section having means for inputting an identification signal indicating that the document is accompanied by a voice associated with the document, a document output means for outputting the document, and a voice output A composite output unit having a voice output unit and a unit for notifying that the output document is a composite message accompanied by a voice related to the document, and a document generated by the composite input unit. , A composite transmission means for transmitting a composite message including a voice signal and an identification signal to a desired composite output section, and a document and this document from the composite input section. Together with audio related notifies than the composite output unit of the reception side by the identification signal that was sent as a composite message is obtained by viewable and listening these documents and voice simultaneously.

[0009]

As a result, according to the present invention, a compound input section generates a document and a voice related to the document, and a notification that the voice is attached to the document is added to the desired composite output section. On the other hand, the composite output unit outputs additional information indicating that the voice related to the document is attached, and simultaneously outputs the document and the voice.
As a result, in the composite output unit, which transmits the composite message composed of the document and the voice from the composite input unit, in advance,
Since the notification that the document and the voice message related to the document are sent at the same time is output, the recipient does not receive only one of the document and the sound by mistake, and You can definitely receive both. By receiving these documents and voice messages at the same time, and simultaneously browsing and listening to the documents and the voices related to the description of the documents, the understanding and impression of the mail contents can be further enhanced.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The present invention is applicable to any form of document such as a document consisting of code information created by a word processor or a message or a document consisting of image information as seen in a facsimile system, a memo, a drawing and the like. However, in the following description, a document based on code information is targeted.

In FIG. 1, a composite switching network 12 includes a plurality (two in the illustrated example) of composite terminals 13 having the functions of a document mail and a telephone (including voice mail). Connected.

Here, the compound terminal 13 is, for example, a pseudonym for having a function as a document mail, as shown in FIG.
A keyboard 21 for converting and inputting Chinese characters, inputting a transmission request or a destination, a display device 22 for displaying a created document or a sent document, and a message that the document has been sent, a display device 22 thereof. Storage device 23 for storing the display content of one screen of
A storage device 25 for storing a program for controlling document creation, sending, receiving, etc. in conjunction with 4, a kanji pattern, and a dictionary, a created document or a sent document. A storage device 26 for storing, a telephone handset 29 having a function as a telephone and a function as a voice mail, and a loudspeaker 30 for making a loudspeaker of the telephone handset 29, and
It comprises a modem 28 for performing interface control with the composite switching network 12 via a line 27.

In the example of FIG. 1, one composite terminal 13 is provided on the transmitting side A, and one composite terminal 13 is provided on the receiving side B.
Is provided.

Next, the operation will be described.

Now, document transmission is performed as follows. First, the sender A's compound terminal 13 uses the word processing function of the terminal 13 to create a document, and at the same time, a voice explanation or comment using the voice mail system (hereinafter referred to as voice message) is written in the document. The accompanying identification signal and the information for accessing the voice message are added. In addition, a voice message is input from the telephone handset 29 in parallel with such document creation. Then, the document and the voice message are accumulated and stored in the storage device 26 as a composite message.

In this state, when the destination of the transmission is specified from the composite terminal 13 of the sender A and the delivery of the document and the voice message is requested, the document and the voice message are delivered to the destination via the complex exchange network 12. Is sent to the composite terminal 13 of the receiving side B, and is stored in the storage device 26 of the composite terminal 13 of the receiving side B together with an identification signal indicating that the message is a composite message including a document and a voice message as shown in FIG. It is stored and stored. Further, in the multi-terminal 13 on the receiving side B, a message indicating that a document with a voice message is sent to the same terminal 13 is displayed on the display device 22 of the same terminal 13 (simply a lamp for indicating the sending of the document). May be lit only.)

The composite terminal 1 on the receiving side B who has learned from the display device 22 that a document with a voice message has been sent.
When a predetermined code such as the ID code of the recipient, the browsing of the sent document, and an explanation request by voice is input with the keyboard 21 at 3, the document and voice message stored and stored in the storage device 26 are read out. As a result, the display device 2 can be operated while listening to the audio description through the telephone handset 29 or the loudspeaker 30.
The document displayed in 2 can be browsed.

In the above description, the transmitting side is A and the receiving side is B.
However, it is possible to send a document with B as the sender and A as the receiver.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the transmitting side A
One composite terminal 13 is provided on each of the reception side B and the reception side B, and when the composite terminal 13 on the transmission side A generates a composite message including a document and a voice message, the composite message is once stored in the storage device 26 of the same terminal 13. Then, it is sent to the composite terminal 13 on the receiving side B via the composite exchange network 12,
Since it is stored and stored in the storage device 26 of the terminal 13 and is output to the telephone handset 29 or the loudspeaker 30 and the display device 22, the composite terminal 13 of the receiving side B.
You can browse the document while listening to the explanation by voice, and you can surely understand the contents of the document to be sent.

That is, in the past, each device for realizing a document mail and a voice mail was prepared as a single device, but in comparison with this, the present invention is configured as one system, and an input unit and an output unit are provided. In the department, by combining the document mail terminal and the telephone as a combined terminal, operability at each terminal can be improved and the device space of each terminal can be saved, so that the user's desk can be kept safe. The inconvenience of occupying it as necessary can also be eliminated. Further, in the past, information was transmitted through either visual or auditory intervals as seen in document mail or voice mail. In contrast to this, the present invention utilizes both visual and auditory information. Since it conveys the information, it gives a strong interest and impression to the recipient, helps the understanding, and greatly improves the degree of memorability even after browsing. According to the experiment, when both the visual and auditory senses are utilized, such an effect is confirmed to improve the memory retention three to six times after 120 hours from the explanation as compared with the visual sense or the auditory sense alone. ing.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be carried out by appropriately modifying it without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in the above description, the electronic mail target document is code information created by a word processor or the like, but a handwritten document or a document including image information such as a drawing may be the target. For that purpose, the terminal is found in a facsimile terminal. By providing a scanner for inputting such an image document and a means for adding a function for band-compressing the image information input by the scanner to the arithmetic and control unit, almost the same effect as that of the document including the code information can be obtained. It goes without saying that it will be done.

It is also exaggerated to say that when voice messages are transmitted and stored, voice analysis and synthesis technology is utilized and bandwidth compression is performed, whereby transmission capacity and storage capacity can be significantly reduced and a system with excellent cost performance can be established. There is no end.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the explanation is made by using the voice mail as an additional function of the document mail, but on the contrary, the explanation is given by the voice as seen in, for example, a lecture or a speech. It is also a modification of the present invention to use the document mail as an additional function, that is, to listen to a voice message sent as a voice mail and refer to the drawings sent as the document mail in the voice message. Is feasible as

Further, it is possible to realize the application of the present invention to synchronize the page turning of a document consisting of a plurality of pages with the description by the voice mail and automatically turn the page on the display device according to the progress of the audio description. Is. This includes
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a document control signal is inserted in a voice signal, the control signal is detected by the arithmetic and control unit 24 described above, and the content of the document control signal is decoded based on the table illustrated in FIG. However, it can be realized by transferring or displaying the document of the desired page to the above-mentioned document storage device 23 according to the result of this decoding. In this case, it may be necessary to insert a delimiter or flag having a specific signal pattern before (if necessary after) the document control signal in order to distinguish the document control signal from the voice signal.

Further, it goes without saying that the electronic mail system becomes more convenient by adding a printer to the above-mentioned document mail terminal or compound terminal and outputting on paper in addition to output by the display device.

[0027]

According to the present invention, since the respective devices for realizing the document mail and the voice mail for the input unit and the output unit are made into a composite terminal, the operability at each terminal can be improved and The device space of each terminal can be reduced, and the inconvenience of occupying the user's desk unnecessarily can be solved. In addition, in the compound output part to which the compound message composed of the document and the voice is transmitted from the compound input part,
Since the notification that the document and the voice message related to the document are sent at the same time is output in advance, the recipient will not accidentally receive only one of the document and the sound, and the document sent at the same time. You can receive both audio and audio reliably. By receiving these documents and voice messages at the same time, and simultaneously browsing and listening to the documents and the voices related to the description of the documents, the understanding and impression of the mail contents can be further enhanced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a composite terminal used in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an identification signal used in the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining control signals used in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a table used in another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 ... Compound switching network, 13 ... Compound terminal, 21 ...
Keyboard, 22 ... Display device, 23, 25, 26 ... Storage device, 24 ... Arithmetic control device, 27 ... Line, 28 ... Modem, 29 ... Telephone handset, 30 ... Loudspeaker device.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-55-143858 (JP, A) “INTERNET MESSAGE PROTOCOL” USC / Information Sciences Institote RFC: 753 (issued March 1979)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A document inputting means for electronically inputting a document consisting of code information or image information, a voice inputting means for electronically inputting a voice description related to the document, and a voice related to the document. , A composite input section having means for inputting an identification signal indicating that the composite message is attached, a document output means for outputting the document, a voice output means for outputting the voice, and the output document. A composite output unit having means for notifying that it is a composite message accompanied by a voice related to a document, and a composite message including the document, voice and identification signal generated by the composite input unit is desired. A composite transmission means for transmitting to the composite output part of the document, and the document and the voice related to the document are transmitted as a composite message from the composite input part. Electronic mail system that notifies than the composite output unit of the reception side, characterized in that it is in these documents and voice simultaneously viewing and audible by the identification signal that it was. 2. The electronic mail system according to claim 1, wherein the composite output unit has a display device for displaying a document and a loudspeaker for outputting a voice.