JP3543067B2 - Facsimile apparatus and facsimile communication method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a communication device such as a facsimile device for transmitting received facsimile data to an electronic mail.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, there is an increasing tendency to connect office devices to a LAN (local network) to improve the efficiency of business. Some devices have been proposed that connect a facsimile to a LAN and transmit data sent from the facsimile as electronic mail addressed to an individual. As an example, a configuration described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 6-164645, which is connected to an ISDN and a LAN, and transmits data sent via the ISDN to an electronic mail based on the subaddress of the ISDN will be described below.
[0003]
FIG. 13 shows a conventional facsimile apparatus for transmitting received facsimile data to an electronic mail. Reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU, which controls the apparatus. A ROM 2 stores a program. Reference numeral 3 denotes a RAM which is used for program data. Reference numeral 5 denotes a FAX data transmission / reception unit which receives and transmits FAX data. Reference numeral 6 denotes a LAN control unit which sends and receives e-mail data.
[0004]
When the facsimile data is received from the facsimile data transmission / reception unit 5, a destination e-mail address is searched for from the ISDN sub-address number using a correspondence table of numbers and e-mail addresses registered in advance, and the facsimile data is transmitted to the destination e-mail address. Through the LAN control unit 6.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described conventional configuration, when an error occurs when an electronic mail is transmitted, the error cannot be notified to the facsimile of the transmission source. Therefore, there is a problem that the sender cannot know whether or not the transmitted original has arrived normally.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention provides a facsimile receiving means for receiving facsimile data , a recognizing means for recognizing a destination e-mail address and a notification e-mail address indicating a notification destination in the received facsimile data, and the notification as a source e-mail address. And an e-mail transmission means for setting an e-mail address for use and converting and transmitting the received data to the recognized destination e-mail address.
[0007]
With this configuration, an error mail or the like can be sent without passing through the present device, and the operation efficiency of the present device can be improved as compared with a configuration in which an error is notified via the present device.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an environment in which the apparatus operates. This apparatus has a telephone line interface and a LAN interface, and the LAN is based on an environment in which electronic mail can be used. The LAN protocol is Ethernet, but other methods may be used.
[0010]
This apparatus receives data from a G3 facsimile (G3 FAX) and transmits the data converted into an e-mail format to a terminal such as a personal computer (PC) connected to a LAN or the Internet. The terminal is specified using the subaddress described in the data. The subaddress is specified by T-30, which is a facsimile protocol standard. When an error such as an unknown e-mail destination occurs, a facsimile number for notifying that the error has occurred uses TSI (sender identification) in the facsimile data. The TSI is also specified by T-30, like the subaddress. As described above, there are various methods for holding the contact information in the facsimile data, and the TSI may be used, the sub address may be used, or the contact information may be used together.
[0011]
FIG. 2 shows a basic schematic block diagram of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU, which controls the apparatus. A ROM 2 stores a program. Reference numeral 3 denotes a RAM which is used for program data. Reference numeral 4 denotes a format conversion unit that converts image data into an e-mail format. Reference numeral 5 denotes a FAX data transmission / reception unit which receives and transmits FAX data. Reference numeral 6 denotes a LAN control unit which sends and receives e-mail data. A compression / decompression unit 7 compresses an image obtained by expanding character data into a bitmap into a facsimile format. Reference numeral 8 denotes a character / image conversion unit that performs bitmap development on character data. Reference numeral 9 denotes a multiple e-mail address generating unit, which generates a user name so that there is only one user name on the left side of @ of the e-mail address in this apparatus (so as to be unique).
[0012]
FIG. 3 shows a flow when facsimile data is received. In step s11, facsimile data is received from the FAX data transmitting / receiving unit 5. The user who transmits the facsimile sets his / her facsimile number in advance to the numerical ID of the facsimile, and inputs the transmitted e-mail address to the subaddress. In S12, the TSI of the facsimile data is stored as a facsimile number for notification. In the TSI, the registered number is entered in the numeric ID of the facsimile to be transmitted. Also, the sub address is stored as the destination mail address. At this time, since the destination mail address is described in alphabetical characters, it is necessary to convert numbers into alphabetic characters and store the converted characters. For this conversion, an ASCII code may be used, or the conversion may be performed according to a predetermined rule.
[0013]
At present, it is stipulated that the sub-address can only use numbers, but it is expected that alphabetic characters will be allowed in the future, so in this embodiment, the mail address is directly input to the sub-address. If the apparatus is installed in the same company as the facsimile to send, the correspondence table between the numbers of the sub-addresses and the mail addresses can be registered. In step s13, a multiple mail address generation unit 9 generates a user name of a mail unique to the apparatus. Specifically, numbers from 1 to 9999 are assigned so that they do not overlap. The user name of the generated mail address is registered in the correspondence table of FIG. 0001,0002 described in the source e-mail address in FIG. 5 is the user name, and the e-mail address of this apparatus is 0002@intfax.mgcs.co.jp. Here, intfax is the host name of this device, and the following address indicates the domain of the company that installed this device. At s14, the notification facsimile number and the destination mail address are registered in the record of the newly generated source electronic mail address in the correspondence table of FIG. The facsimile data received in s15 is converted into an e-mail format. The format of the e-mail is facsimile data in TIFF (a format for managing images on a personal computer) format, and a MIME (standard for sending and receiving data other than text data in e-mail) header. In s16, the format-converted data is transmitted to the destination mail address through the LAN control unit 6.
[0014]
FIG. 4 shows a flow for receiving an e-mail and transmitting data to a facsimile number for notification. An e-mail is received in s21. The received e-mail is, for example, sent to an address of 0002@intfax.mgcs.co.jp, where intfax is the host name of the apparatus. The email is sent to a host called intfax. [0002] Reference numeral 0002 denotes a unique user name generated by the apparatus, and the apparatus determines which user the e-mail is sent to after receiving the e-mail. In s22, a facsimile number for notification is searched from the user name in the correspondence table. The mail that arrives at the unique user name generated by the apparatus usually informs an error of the mail generated by the user or a mail returned by the destination user. This is impossible because a third party user cannot know the user name of the present apparatus. In the case of a transmission error, when an e-mail is transmitted from the facsimile apparatus, an error notification is returned from the gateway in the LAN to the facsimile apparatus. The gateway is returned to the facsimile machine based on the source e-mail address in the transmitted e-mail, and the facsimile machine searches based on the source e-mail address and notifies the contact information.
[0015]
At s23, the mail data is converted to facsimile data. If the mail data is character data, it is converted to image data using the character / image conversion unit 8 and then converted to facsimile data using the compression / expansion unit 7. In step s24, the facsimile data is transmitted to the facsimile number for notification using the facsimile data transmitting / receiving unit 5.
[0016]
As described above, according to the first embodiment, when the apparatus owns a plurality of e-mail addresses as the source e-mail addresses, the e-mail becomes an error and the e-mail notifying the error is returned. In addition, the problem of which facsimile is notified of the error is solved. Here, the facsimile number is registered so as to notify the facsimile, but the present invention is not limited to this, and includes other contact information such as a telephone number and an e-mail address.
[0017]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The schematic block diagram of the device is similar to FIG. FIG. 6 shows a flow for transmitting facsimile data describing "error transmission". Until the electronic mail is received and the facsimile number for notification is searched from the correspondence table, the flow is the same as that of receiving the electronic mail of FIG. 4 and transmitting data to the facsimile for notification. However, in the first embodiment, since the data of the e-mail is printed as it is, an error indicating a transmission error is usually described in English. Also, it is difficult for a person who does not know the mechanism of e-mail to understand the error by looking at the content. Therefore, in s31, the description of “error transmission” is described in Japanese in an easy-to-understand manner, the destination mail address and the like are added thereto, and the text / image conversion unit 8 expands the image data into image data, and the compression / decompression unit 7 converts the data into facsimile data Convert. In s34, the facsimile data is transmitted to the facsimile number for notification. Here, when an error notification or an e-mail from a destination e-mail address that is not registered is received, a notification of "error transmission" stored in advance in Japanese is sent to the registered contact. I have.
[0018]
As described above, in the second embodiment, even a user of a facsimile who has never used an e-mail can recognize that the facsimile he / she sent is an e-mail transmission error.
[0019]
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The schematic block diagram is similar to FIG. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that when the sender transmits a facsimile, a message to the effect that "a person who saw this manuscript should reply with a blank e-mail" should be included in the data. . FIG. 7 shows a flow for transmitting facsimile data describing "normal transmission". An e-mail is received in s40. The facsimile number for notification and the destination mail address are searched from the address of the mail received in s41, that is, the user name and correspondence table generated by the apparatus. In S42, the mail address of the sender described in the header of the e-mail is compared with the destination mail address in the correspondence table. If they match in s43, a description of "normal transmission" is written in Japanese in s44, and a destination address is added to convert to facsimile data. If they do not match, s45 describes "error transmission" and converts the data to facsimile data. In s46, the facsimile data is transmitted to the facsimile number for notification.
[0020]
According to this embodiment, when the e-mail is normally transmitted, the sender of the facsimile transmission can know that the recipient of the destination e-mail actually saw the transmitted original.
[0021]
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 8 shows a schematic block diagram for deleting data in the correspondence table after a predetermined time has elapsed. A timer 10 is added to FIG. After registering the notification facsimile number and destination e-mail address in the correspondence table by this timer, the record is deleted after a predetermined time, usually 24 hours, has elapsed. When sending an e-mail results in an error, an error mail is usually returned immediately. Therefore, if no mail is returned even after one day, it is determined that the mail has been sent normally, and the corresponding record is deleted.
[0022]
According to this embodiment, the records of the correspondence table are managed so that the number of callers who perform facsimile transmission is not limited.
[0023]
Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The block diagram is similar to FIG. In this embodiment, an e-mail is received, a facsimile number for notification is searched from a correspondence table, and facsimile data is transmitted to the facsimile number for notification, and then the corresponding record is deleted.
[0024]
According to this embodiment, the records of the correspondence table are managed so that the number of callers who perform facsimile transmission is not limited. By combining with the fourth embodiment, the correspondence table can be managed more effectively.
[0025]
Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The block diagram is similar to FIG. FIG. 9 shows a flow in which the recipient of the e-mail manages the facsimile number of the sender. Steps s50 to s53 are the same as those in the flow of FIG. If they match, the electronic mail data is converted to facsimile data in s54. At s56, it is determined whether or not there is a "delete" character in the e-mail data. If it is determined that it is s57, the corresponding record is deleted from the correspondence table in s58, and the facsimile data is transmitted in s59. If they do not match in s53, the e-mail data is converted to facsimile data, and the facsimile data is immediately transmitted in s59.
[0026]
According to this embodiment, the recipient who has received the e-mail can manage the e-mail address corresponding to the facsimile as the sender. Therefore, the user who has received the e-mail can send the e-mail to the registered facsimile until he / she sends the e-mail of “deletion of correspondence table”.
[0027]
Next, a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram for notifying the designated telephone of the transmission result. An audio signal transmitting unit and an audio signal combining unit are added to FIG. The user who transmits the facsimile registers in advance the notifying facsimile number, not the telephone number for notification, in the numeric ID. Alternatively, the destination mail address and the telephone number are put in the sub-address by using a separator such as #. When a facsimile is received, a telephone number for notification is registered in the correspondence table instead of the facsimile number for notification. FIG. 11 shows a flow of notifying the designated telephone of the transmission result. When the e-mail is received in s60, the notification telephone number and the destination mail address are searched from the address of the mail received in s61, that is, the user name and the correspondence table. At s62, the mail address of the sender described in the header of the e-mail is compared with the destination mail address. If the addresses match at s63, a voice file indicating "normal transmission" is selected from the ROM 2 at s65, and the destination mail address and Combine. Then, the audio signal is reproduced by the audio signal combining unit in s64, and the audio signal transmitting unit 11 makes a call to the notification telephone to transmit the audio. If there is no match in s63, the process proceeds to s64, and a voice file indicating "error transmission" is read out as described above and combined with the destination mail address. Then, in s66, the telephone number for the notification is called, and the audio data is reproduced.
[0028]
Next, an eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The block diagram is similar to FIG. The user who transmits the facsimile registers in advance the notification e-mail address instead of his / her facsimile number in the numeric ID. Alternatively, in the sub-address, two destination mail addresses and two notification mail addresses are entered using a separator such as #. FIG. 12 shows a flow of notifying the designated e-mail of the transmission result. After receiving the facsimile data in s70, the destination mail address and the notification e-mail address are recognized from the facsimile data in s71, and the facsimile data is converted into an e-mail format in s72. Then, the notification mail address is registered as the source mail address of the header of the e-mail to be transmitted in s73. The e-mail data converted from the facsimile data to the destination e-mail address in s74 and the notification e-mail address is registered is transmitted in s74. From s72, the transmission result can be notified without transmitting through the present device by transmitting the destination e-mail from the destination e-mail to the destination mail address set in the e-mail data. As for the flow of data, in FIG. 1 as an example, the data is transmitted from the G3 FAX 1 to the apparatus via the PSTN, and is transmitted from the apparatus to the PC 1 via the Ethernet, LAN, or the like. If a notification e-mail address is set to PCn from PC1, for example, an e-mail is sent to PCn, and the transmission result and the like can be notified to the set destination without passing through this apparatus. .
[0029]
According to this embodiment, a sender who has transmitted a facsimile can know the transmission result by e-mail at his desk. In order to send an image by e-mail, it is necessary to input the image from the scanner, edit the image, and send the image to the e-mail. The use of this device has the effect that an image can be transmitted from an existing facsimile to an e-mail, and the transmission result can be known by the user's own e-mail without being transmitted by the facsimile device as the present device.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, it is possible to perform an error mail or the like without passing through the present apparatus by this configuration, and to improve the operation efficiency of the present apparatus as compared with a configuration in which an error is notified via the present apparatus. Can be.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system in which a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention operates. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for transmitting data to the facsimile for notification of the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a correspondence table of the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the transmission result of the second embodiment in Japanese. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a transmission result of the third embodiment. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus which deletes data of a correspondence table of the fourth embodiment after a predetermined time. FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for deleting data of a correspondence table according to an instruction of the seventh embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus which notifies a transmission result by voice according to the seventh embodiment. FIG. Schematic block diagram of the flowchart 13 conventional apparatus for notifying the flowchart FIG. 12 transmission result to the specified e-mail of the eighth embodiment for notifying the transmission result by voice embodiment EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
1 CPU
2 ROM
3 RAM
4 Format conversion unit 5 FAX data transmission / reception unit 6 LAN control unit 7 Compression / expansion unit 8 Character / image conversion unit 9 Multiple mail address generation unit 10 Timer 11 Audio signal transmission unit 12 Audio signal decoding unit

Claims (5)

Facsimile receiving means for receiving facsimile data, recognizing means for recognizing a notification e-mail address indicating a destination e-mail address and a notification destination in the received facsimile data, and the notification e-mail address as a source e-mail address A facsimile apparatus comprising: an e-mail transmitting unit that converts the received data to the recognized destination e-mail address and transmits the converted data. 2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein a notification e-mail address is recognized from a TSI signal in the facsimile data. 2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein a notification e-mail address is recognized from a sub address in the facsimile data. 4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication electronic mail address is obtained by converting numerical information into alphabets. Receiving facsimile data , recognizing a destination e-mail address and a notification e-mail address indicating a notification destination in the received facsimile data , setting the notification e-mail address as a source e-mail address, and performing the recognition. A facsimile communication method comprising: converting received data to a designated destination e-mail address; and transmitting the converted data by e-mail .

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