JP3780754B2 - E-mail system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an e-mail exchanged between a plurality of terminal users connected to a line, or an e-mail exchanged with a person in charge of an e-mail service provider dealing with inquiries from terminal users. Regarding management.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As the use of e-mail spreads, various e-mails (technical questions, clerical questions, approval reviews for e-mail use, etc.) are sent from terminal users to e-mail service providers. . E-mail service providers have dedicated service personnel (persons in charge) to deal with this, and e-mails from terminal users are distributed and processed according to the content. .
[0003]
When the use of e-mail becomes more active, it is difficult for a small number of people to respond quickly, so a plurality of people are always assigned.
[0004]
However, if there is more than one person in charge, if one question from the terminal user is sent multiple times without being completed in one e-mail, the e-mail of the previous related question does not necessarily respond to the previous e-mail Since the information is not delivered to the user, there is a problem in that it takes time for the person in charge this time to understand the matters related to the previous time. Alternatively, there is a problem that it takes time to search for a person in charge who knows the inquiry matter of the terminal user, resulting in a decrease in service.
[0005]
Therefore, there has been a need for a service system in which a plurality of persons in charge can respond accurately and promptly to an inquiry by e-mail.
[0006]
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-307484 (Japanese Patent Application No. 08-118989), “After the mailing list server adds a necessary header to the mail sent to the mailing list, the message is applied to the member as a mail server. The mail server that received the message and forwarded the message to the mail address that the message was read to the notification address and the reply was sent by referring to the header added when the member read the mail. A technique of “send” is disclosed.
[0007]
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-54733 (Japanese Patent Application No. 07-205487), “a transmission management table and a reception management table are provided. In the related mail column, enter the identifier of the original mail for reply mail, the identifier of the target mail for forward mail, and the reply management table with the accompanying information when receiving mail. If it is an email, enter the identifier of the original outgoing email in the specified field, search the transmission management table, and enter the identifier in the related email column if the email is for your outgoing email. By e-mail, the relationship between sent and received e-mails is clearly specified, and that relationship is automatically extracted by the search. '' Technology that was to have been disclosed.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-307484 (Japanese Patent Application No. 08-118989), “the person in charge who read or responded to the mail after forwarding the mail sent to the window address to a plurality of persons in charge. E-mail system that can be managed ”, and a header for management is added to the mail sent to the contact address, and the mail software such as a mail server must store and manage these headers. It cannot be used in a normal mail environment.
[0009]
Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-54733 (Japanese Patent Application No. 07-205487), “e-mail that can be used to search the original mail and the large mail without storing the transmitted mail and reading and judging its contents. Management method ”, is a correspondence between identifiers (IDs) of mails, and is not a technique for cooperating with a plurality of persons in charge. .
[0010]
This invention is invented in view of such a point, and makes it a subject to provide the means in which several persons in charge can respond to the email from a terminal user in cooperation.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The above-described problems are solved by the present invention configured as follows.
[0012]
FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of claim 1 of the present invention.
[0013]
As shown,
Receiving means 2 for receiving an e-mail sent from a user mailbox or a visitor mailbox;
Storage means 3 for storing the message identifier recorded in the received e-mail and the address of the user mailbox that sent the e-mail;
Registration means 4 for registering the address of the receptionist mailbox;
Sending means 5 for sending the received electronic mail to a user mailbox and / or a receptionist mailbox registered in the registration means 4;
Confirmation means 6-1 for confirming the sender of the received electronic mail based on the registration means 4, a message identifier recorded in the received electronic mail according to the confirmation result of the confirmation means 6-1, and the message identifier A control unit 6 including a setting unit 6-2 for storing a related user address in the storage unit 3 and setting a transmission destination and / or a reply destination;
A contact mailbox 1 that relays email exchanged between the user mailbox and the service mailbox,
as well as,
A reply destination setting means 8 for setting a user address as a reply destination based on a message identifier recorded in an e-mail received via the line 9;
The receptionist mailbox 7 including
Consists of.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0015]
First, an e-mail format will be described with reference to FIG.
[0016]
As shown in the figure, a message 501 that forms an electronic mail 590 is transmitted from the “sender address” to the “destination address” by the communication protocol 501-1.
[0017]
The message 501 is composed of a header 502 in which exchange information is recorded and a body 507 in which the mail text is described.
[0018]
The header 502 is recorded as a mail sender address 503 recorded in the format “From: mail address”, a destination address 504 recorded in the format “To: mail address”, and MSG-ID (Message-ID). The message identifier is abbreviated as “MSG” for convenience of explanation) 505, and further, “Reply-To: mail address” and “In-Reply-To: mail address” formats as required. The reply address 506 recorded in (1) is included.
[0019]
Next, the e-mail transmission state according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0020]
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an inquiry e-mail sent from the user to the person in charge according to the present invention, and shows a case where an e-mail is sent from the user 1 mailbox. Incidentally, the contents of e-mails from users are diverse, such as technical questions, clerical procedures, and requests.
[0021]
As shown in the drawing, the inquiry mail 500 from the user 1 mailbox 101 reaches the window mailbox 300.
[0022]
In the contact mailbox 300, cooperation information 510 (to be described later) is stored in the history table 312, and a request mail 521 in which a reply mail address is added to the header of the inquiry mail 500 (to be described later) is created. Broadcast to the mailboxes (201, 202).
[0023]
That is, the inquiry mail 500 arrives from the user 1 mailbox at the address “U1 @ dom” to the contact mailbox at the address “C @ com” by the communication protocol 500-1.
[0024]
The message ID “U-ID1” recorded following “MSG-ID:” in the header of the inquiry mail 500 is “cooperation ID”, and this “cooperation ID” is recorded following “From:”. The user information “U1 @ dom” is stored in the history table 312 as linkage information 510.
[0025]
Next, a reply email “Reply-To: C @ com” in which “C @ com” indicating the window address is recorded following “Reply-To:” is created in the header, and a request mail 521 is created in the header. The mails (201, 202) of the person in charge 1 and the person in charge 2 are broadcasted by the protocol 521-1.
[0026]
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a reply e-mail sent from the person in charge to the user in the present invention, and is a case where a reply e-mail from the person in charge 1 mailbox 201 is sent.
[0027]
As shown in the figure, the reply mail 530 from the person-in-charge 1 mailbox 201 reaches the window mailbox 300. In the contact mailbox 300, cooperation information 540 described later is stored in the history table 312, a reply mail 550 in which a reply mail destination and a reply destination described later are rewritten is transmitted to the user 1 mailbox 101. , It is also broadcast to the mailboxes (201, 202) of the person in charge 2 respectively.
[0028]
That is, the reply mail 530 arrives at the contact mailbox of the address “C @ com” from the person 1 mailbox of the address “T1 @ div” by the communication protocol 530-1.
[0029]
In the reply mail 530, the sender address indicating the person in charge 1 is recorded as “T1: @div” followed by “From:”, and the destination address indicating the counter mail box 300 is indicated as “To:” followed by “C @”. com ”, followed by“ MSG-ID: ”as the message ID,“ Re-ID ”, and an e-mail from the user 1 (source) that is the source of the reply (FIG. 4, inquiry) The message ID “U-ID1” recorded in the mail 500) is recorded following “In-Reply-To:”.
[0030]
The message ID “Re-ID” in the header of the reply mail 530 is used as the linkage ID, and “U-ID1” in “In-Reply-To: U-ID1” recorded as the reply destination address is used. The history table 312 is searched, the user 1 address “U1 @ dom” that is the source of the reply is read by the cooperation information 510, and the message ID “Re-ID” and the user 1 address “U1 @ dom” are read. Is added to the history table 312 as new linkage information 540 and stored.
[0031]
Next, the destination address in which “C @ com” indicating the contact address is recorded following “To:” of the reply mail 530 is rewritten to the user 1 address “U1 @ dom” in the linkage information 510, and “Reply− “To:” followed by “C @ com” indicating the contact address is recorded and a reply mail 550 is recorded, and a communication protocol 550-1 is used to create a user 1 mailbox 101, a person in charge 1, a person in charge Broadcast to the mail box (201, 202) of the second party.
[0032]
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a postscript e-mail sent from the person in charge to the user in the present invention, and is a case in which a postscript e-mail from the person in charge 2 mail box 202 is sent.
[0033]
As shown in the figure, the postscript mail 560 from the person-in-charge 2 mailbox 202 reaches the window mailbox 300. In the contact mailbox 300, linkage information 570, which will be described later, is stored in the history table 312, and a reply email 580 in which the address and reply destination of a postscript mail to be described later are rewritten is transmitted to the user 1 mailbox 101. , It is also broadcast to the mailboxes (201, 202) of the person in charge 2 respectively.
[0034]
That is, the postscript mail 560 arrives at the contact mailbox of the address “C @ com” from the person in charge 2 mailbox of the address “T2 @ div” by the communication protocol 560-1.
[0035]
In the postscript mail 560, the sender address indicating the person in charge 2 is recorded as “T2 @ div” followed by “From:”, and the destination address indicating the contact mailbox 300 is recorded as “To:” followed by “C @”. com ", message ID" MSG-ID: "followed by" PS-ID ", and a reply mail from the person in charge 1 who made the postscript (see reply mail 530 in FIG. 5) The message ID “Re-ID” recorded in () is recorded following “In-Reply-To:” indicating the reply destination address.
[0036]
Then, the message ID “PS-ID” in the header of the postscript mail 560 is used as the linkage ID, and “Re-ID” in “In-Reply-To: Re-ID” recorded as the reply destination address is used. The history table 312 is used to retrieve the user 1 address “U1 @ dom” to which the postscript mail should be sent by the cooperation information 540, and the message ID “PS-ID” and the user 1 address “U1 @” are read. dom ”is added to the history table 312 as new linkage information 570 and stored.
[0037]
Next, the destination address in which “C @ com” indicating the contact address is recorded following “To:” in the postscript mail 560 is rewritten to the user 1 address “U1 @ dom” in the linkage information 540, and further the reply destination Create a reply mail 580 with the newly added “Reply-To: C @ com” format with the address set as the contact address, and use the protocol 580-1 for the user 1 mailbox 101, the person in charge 1 and the person in charge 2 Broadcast to the mailbox (201, 202).
[0038]
FIG. 2 is a functional block configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention for performing transmission / reception of the electronic mail described above.
[0039]
In the figure, reference numerals 101 and 102 denote the user's user 1 and user 2 mailboxes that use the e-mail after concluding a use contract with the e-mail service provider, and “U1 @ dom, U2 @ dom "is assigned to each.
[0040]
Reference numerals 201 and 202 denote mailboxes of a person in charge 1 and a person in charge 2 who interact with users on the e-mail service provider side, and are assigned with “T1 @ div, T2 @ div” as the person-in-charge addresses. ing.
The mail relay system 410 is connected.
[0041]
Reference numeral 400 denotes a mail server installed on the e-mail service provider side, who is responsible for exchanging e-mails between users and various inquiries from users via the mail relay system. It has a function of transmitting to the user a mailbox and sending an e-mail such as a reply or postscript from the person in charge to the user.
[0042]
Reference numeral 300 denotes a contact mailbox, which is assigned “C @ com” as a contact address, and has a function of receiving an e-mail transmitted and received between the user and the person in charge from the mail server 400 and performing a relay process.
[0043]
In the contact mailbox 300, an e-mail receiving unit 311, a transmitting unit 314, an e-mail service provider's person-in-charge address “T1 @ div, T2 @ div” are registered in the person-in-charge table 315, relayed electronic A mail storage 321 for temporarily storing the header and body of the mail, a memory 320 including a classification shelf 322 for separating individual details of the email, a history table 312 for storing the history of relayed emails, and a confirmation unit 313-1 And a control unit 313 including a setting unit 313-2.
[0044]
The operation of the configuration shown in FIG. 2 will be described below with reference to FIGS.
[0045]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the control unit, and is an explanatory diagram of processing processes of the confirmation unit 313-1 and the setting unit 313-2 included in the control unit 313 (FIG. 2).
[0046]
In FIG. 2, an electronic mail (inquiry mail 500; see FIG. 4, reply mail 530; see FIG. 5, postscript mail 560) from either the user mailbox (101, 102) or the person in charge mail box (201, 202). 6) is transmitted, and reaches the window mailbox 300 via the mail server 400.
[0047]
Hereinafter, the operation of the contact mailbox 300 will be described.
[Receiver operation]
The reception unit 311 stores the header 502 and the body 507 of the message 501 (see FIG. 3) received from the mail server 400 in the mail storage 321 in the memory 320 and activates the control unit 313.
[0048]
Hereinafter, a description will be given along steps S1 to S7 of FIG.
[0049]
[Operation of confirmation unit]
The confirmation unit 313-1 is activated in the control unit 313.
[0050]
Step S1: The sender category 326 in the classification shelf 322 is reset.
[0051]
Step S2: The sender address 503 (see FIG. 3) is read out from the message 501 written in the mail storage 321 and written into the classification shelf 322 to be the user address 323. However, if it is an email from the person in charge, it is replaced with “user address” in step S6 described later.
[0052]
Step S3: It is verified whether or not the sender address 503 (see FIG. 3) of the mail storage 321 matches the person-in-charge address “T1 @ div, T2 @ div” registered in the person-in-charge table 315. If there is a matching person-in-charge address, the sender category 326 is set to the person in charge (for example, T), and if it does not match, it is set to the user (for example, U) and the setting unit 313-2 is activated. .
[0053]
Incidentally, in this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, if the customer is a caller, the caller address 503 is “U...”, And if the person in charge is the caller, “T. .
[0054]
[Operation of setting unit]
Within the control unit 313, the setting unit 313-2 is activated.
[0055]
Step S4: The MSG-ID 505 (see FIG. 3) is read from the message 501 written in the mail storage 321 and written in the classification shelf 322, and is set as the linkage ID 324.
[0056]
The next processing step differs between the case of the user (inquiry mail) and the person in charge (reply or follow-up mail), and the process branches to step S5 or step S6 depending on the sender category 326 described above.
[0057]
Step S5: In the case of a user (inquiry mail), the date and time read from the timer (not shown) are written in the date 325 of the classification shelf 322, and the process branches to step S7.
[0058]
Step S6: In the case of a person in charge (reply / postscript mail), the message ID (specifically, recorded from the reply destination address 506 (see FIG. 3) of the mail storage 321 following “In-Reply-To:” Is recorded with either “Re-ID” or “PS-ID”) and collated with the cooperation ID in the history table 312. The “user address” and “date” corresponding to the collated IDs are written in the classification shelf 322, and the user address 323 and date 325 are set, and the process branches to step S7.
[0059]
Step S7: The user address 323, linkage ID 324, and date 325 written in the classification shelf 322 are added to the history table 312 as linkage information.
[0060]
When the above processing is completed, the transmission unit 314 is activated.
[Operation of transmitter]
The transmission unit 314 requests the mail server 400 to transmit a message in which a destination and a reply destination are set in the mail storage 321 using a communication protocol.
[0061]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the transmission unit.
[0062]
Hereinafter, a description will be given along steps S21 to S25 in FIG.
[0063]
Step S21: The sender category 326 of the classification shelf 322 is confirmed, and if the user (U; see step S3 of the confirmation unit) is written, the process branches to step S24, and the person in charge (T) is written. Branches to step S22.
[0064]
Step S22: The destination address 504 (see FIG. 3) of the mail storage 321 is replaced with the user address 323 of the classification shelf 322.
[0065]
Step S23: The user address 323 of the classification shelf 322 is written in the destination address list of the communication protocol (521-1; FIG. 4, 550-1; FIG. 5, 580-1; FIG. 6).
[0066]
Step S24: The addresses of all persons in charge registered in the person-in-charge table 315 are added to the destination address list of the communication protocol (5211-1; FIG. 4, 550-1; FIG. 5, 580-1; FIG. 6). To do.
[0067]
Step S25: Send the destination address list and the sender address of the mail storage 321 to the mail server 400 as a communication protocol (5211-1; FIG. 4, 550-1; FIG. 5, 580-1; FIG. 6). To send an email.
[0068]
In the above-described electronic mail distribution process, it is possible to delete the cooperation ID after a predetermined time has elapsed by using the date in the history table 312.
[0069]
In addition, a remarks column may be provided in the history table 312 to check an e-mail for which reply processing has been performed.
[0070]
Through the above process, the person-in-charge mailboxes (201, 202) have the request mail 521 (FIG. 4) based on the inquiry mail 500 from the user, the reply mail 550 (FIG. 5) based on the reply mail 530, and the postscript mail 560. An answer mail 580 (FIG. 6) based on is delivered.
[0071]
These delivered mails are stored in a storage unit (not shown) provided in the person-in-charge mailbox (201, 202).
[0072]
For a mail sent from the person in charge to the user, that is, a response mail for the distributed mail, the message ID in the distributed mail is used as a reply destination address.
[0073]
That is, in the case of a response (reply) to the inquiry mail 500, “U-ID1” in the request mail 521 is transferred after “In-Reply-To:” in the reply destination address.
[0074]
In the case of a response (postscript) to the reply mail 530, “Re-ID” in the reply mail 550 is transferred to the reply destination address after “In-Reply-To:”.
[0075]
Further, in the case of re-postscript with respect to postscript, “PS-ID” in the reply mail 580 is posted after “In-Reply-To:” as the reply destination address.
[0076]
It should be noted that a program for creating the above request mail and reply mail and a program for setting a reply address in the reception person mailbox are provided from the outside of each processing device, that is, a program is loaded via a line, or You may provide with portable media, for example, a floppy disk, CD-ROM, MO.
[0077]
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for loading this computer program into a processing device (a contact mailbox or a person in charge mailbox).
[0078]
In the figure, 900 is a processing device, 901 is a display provided in the processing device, 903 is a driver for reading a computer program recorded on a portable medium, 902 is a memory of the processing device 900, and 904 is a portable medium. Reference numeral 905 denotes another device that is a computer program provider, and reference numeral 906 denotes a line, such as a floppy disk or CD-ROM.
[0079]
As shown in the figure, when the computer program provider is another processing device 905 connected online such as a network, the computer program is installed in the processing device 900 via the line 906 and then loaded into the memory 902 for execution. Is done. When the portable medium 904 is directly provided, the portable medium 904 is set in the driver 903 and installed in the processing apparatus 900, and then loaded into the memory 902 and executed.
[0080]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the conventional one-to-one mail mechanism is maintained without adding to the software used in the mail server and mailbox of each of an unspecified number of users and pre-registered persons in charge. , An effect of realizing a coordinated mail flow among a plurality of persons in charge of "unspecified number of users-window-multiple persons in charge" or "person in charge-window-user-multiple persons in charge" is achieved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of claim 1 of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a functional block configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an e-mail format.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an inquiry e-mail.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a reply e-mail.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of postscript electronic mail.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a control unit.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a transmission unit.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for loading a program into a processing device;
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Window mailbox 2 Reception means 3 Storage means 4 Registration means 5 Transmission means 6 Control means 6-1 Confirmation means 6-2 Setting means 7 Reception person mailbox 8 Reply destination setting means 9 Lines 101 and 102 User mailbox 201, 202 Reception Mailbox 300 Counter Mailbox 311 Reception Unit 312 History Table 313 Control Unit 313-1 Confirmation Unit 313-2 Setting Unit 314 Transmission Unit 315 Person in charge Table 320 Memory 321 Mail Storage 322 Classification Shelf 323 User Address 324 Cooperation ID
325 date 326 sender classification 400 mail server 410 mail relay system 500 inquiry mail 500-1, 521-1, 530-1, 550-1, 580-1, 560-1 protocol 501 message 501-1 protocol 502 header 503 transmission Address 504 Destination address 505 MSG-ID
506 Reply-to address 507 Body 510, 540, 570 Linked information 521 Request mail 530 Reply mail 550, 580 Reply mail 560 Postscript mail 590 E-mail 900 Processing device 901 Display 902 Memory 903 Driver 904 Portable medium 905 Other device 906 Line

Claims (2)

An email system for managing email,
A receiving unit for receiving e-mails of user mailboxes and person-in-charge mailboxes;
Check whether the sender address of the e-mail matches the person-in-charge address in the person-in-charge table registered in advance. If they match, the sender category is assigned as the person in charge. The confirmation department,
If the sender category is a user, the message identifier is read from the e-mail, the user address as the sender address and the message identifier are added to the history table as linkage information, and the sender category is in charge. In the case of a user, the reply source message identifier included in the email is read, and the user address in the history table corresponding to the reply source message identifier and the message identifier of the email are linked to the history table as linkage information. Setting part to add,
If the sender category is a user, add the addresses of all the personnel registered in the responsible person table to the destination address list and send the e-mail. If the sender category is the responsible person A transmission unit that replaces the destination address of the e-mail with a user address, and adds the addresses of all persons in charge registered in the person-in-charge table to a destination address list and transmits the e-mail
An e-mail system characterized by comprising: A computer-readable recording medium recording an e-mail management program for managing e-mail,
On the computer,
Receiving means for receiving e-mails of user mailboxes and person-in-charge mailboxes,
Check whether the sender address of the e-mail matches the person-in-charge address in the person-in-charge table registered in advance. If they match, the sender category is assigned as the person in charge. Confirmation means,
If the sender category is a user, the message identifier is read from the e-mail, the user address as the sender address and the message identifier are added to the history table as linkage information, and the sender category is in charge. In the case of a user, the reply source message identifier included in the email is read, and the user address in the history table corresponding to the reply source message identifier and the message identifier of the email are linked to the history table as linkage information. Setting means to append,
If the sender category is a user, add the addresses of all the personnel registered in the responsible person table to the destination address list and send the e-mail. If the sender category is the responsible person A transmission means for transmitting the e-mail by replacing a destination address of the e-mail with a user address, and additionally adding addresses of all persons in charge registered in the person-in-charge table to a destination address list
A computer-readable recording medium on which an e-mail management program is recorded.

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