JP3932804B2 - Internet fax accounting method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an Internet fax accounting method and apparatus, and more particularly, to an Internet fax accounting method and apparatus for charging a user with a communication fee required for transferring information received by e-mail as fax information.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, with the rapid expansion of the Internet, Internet fax machines have been seen from the viewpoint of reducing communication costs.
[0003]
Among the functions of the Internet fax machine, there is a function of facsimile transfer of documents such as electronic mail received from the Internet.
[0004]
This function is designed to allow data suitable for facsimile communication to be communicated over the Internet. According to this function,
(1) Fax and e-mail can be processed centrally.
(2) An economical and efficient system network can be realized, such as a significant reduction in communication costs.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above-described Internet fax machine, by sending an e-mail addressed to a predetermined mail address, it is possible to send the information attached to the e-mail by facsimile to a fax machine having a designated telephone number.
[0006]
For this reason, while anyone can easily perform facsimile transmission, there is a problem that various charges including communication charges required for facsimile transmission are attributed to the installer of the Internet fax machine.
[0007]
Therefore, the present invention charges the user when transmitting information received by e-mail by facsimile, reduces the burden on the installer of the Internet fax machine, and can easily manage the information. An object of the present invention is to provide an internet fax accounting method and apparatus.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-described object, the invention of claim 1 is directed to an internet fax accounting method for faxing information received by being attached to an e-mail, connected to both the Internet and a telephone line. When it is confirmed from the header information that the e-mail is transmitted from within the intranet, the sender of the e-mail is specified based on the header information, and it is confirmed from the header information that the e-mail is transmitted from outside the intranet. If the e-mail sender is specified, the sender of the e-mail is specified from the digital signature on the condition that the e-mail is attached with a digital signature. When the sender of the e-mail is specified, the e-mail is attached to the e-mail. Allowed to send the specified information by fax and calculate the billing amount for the specified sender , Characterized by recording the cumulative billing amount thus calculated.
[0009]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an internet fax accounting apparatus which is connected to both the Internet and a telephone line and transmits the received information attached to an e-mail by fax, and acquires header information of the received e-mail. When it is confirmed from the header information acquired by the header information acquisition means and the header information acquired by the header information acquisition means that the e-mail is transmitted from within the intranet, the sender of the e-mail is specified based on the header information, and the header When it is confirmed from the header information acquired by the information acquisition means that the electronic mail is transmitted from outside the intranet, the sender of the electronic mail is determined from the digital signature on the condition that the electronic signature is attached to the electronic mail. The sender specifying means to be specified, and the sender is specified by the sender specifying means. The fee attached to the e-mail is permitted to be transmitted, and the charge amount calculating means for calculating the charge amount for the specified sender and the charge amount calculated by the charge amount calculation means are accumulated. Charging amount recording means for recording.
[0034]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of an internet fax accounting method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0035]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an Internet fax accounting system to which the present invention is applied.
As shown in the figure, this billing system comprises a billing server 1, a billing DB (database) 2, a mail server 3, an Internet FAX 4, and a GW (gateway) 5, and each part is connected via a LAN 6. ing.
[0036]
The billing server 1 performs billing management for the use of the Internet FAX 4, and the billing DB 2 records various information used by the billing server 1. The mail server 3 transmits / receives electronic mail, and the Internet FAX 4 transmits / receives and transfers various information using electronic mail and a telephone line. The GW 5 mediates connection to another LAN or the Internet. When directly connected to the Internet, it functions as a firewall.
[0037]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the Internet FAX 4.
As shown in the figure, the Internet FAX 4 includes a CPU 11 and a RAM 12, an operation display device 13, a reading device 14, a printing device 15, an image processing device 16, an image storage device 17, a system control unit 18, a communication control unit 19, and a modem 20. , A line switching device 21, a network control device 22, a network control unit 23, a network I / F (interface) 24, and a system bus 25.
[0038]
The CPU 11 performs various control processes for the entire Internet FAX 4, and the RAM 12 is used as a work area for the CPU 11.
[0039]
Note that the control processing program executed by the CPU 11 and various data necessary for executing the control processing program are stored in the system control unit 18.
[0040]
The operation display device 13 is for operating the Internet FAX 4 and includes various operation keys and various displays. The reading device 14 is for reading a transmission original image with a predetermined resolution, and the printing device 15 is for recording and outputting an image with a predetermined resolution.
[0041]
The image processing device 16 encodes and compresses the image signal, and decodes and decompresses the encoded and compressed image information to the original image signal. In addition to this, processing such as development of a document attached to an e-mail is also performed.
[0042]
The image storage device 17 stores a large number of image data and documents attached to e-mails. The communication control unit 19 is a part for controlling communication suitable for the public switched telephone network, and the network control unit 23 is a part for controlling communication connected to the network.
[0043]
The modem 20 includes a low-speed mode function and a high-speed mode function, and is configured to be compatible with various transmission speeds. The network I / F 24 is an interface for connecting to the LAN 6. The line switching control device 21 connects a plurality of external line interfaces and a plurality of internal communication circuits.
[0044]
Each component is connected to the system bus 25, and data exchange between these components is mainly performed via the system bus 25.
[0045]
Here, the operation when the information attached to the e-mail received by the Internet FAX 4 is transferred by facsimile will be described.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when information attached to an electronic mail received by the Internet FAX 4 is transferred by facsimile.
[0046]
The Internet FAX 4 accesses the mail server 3 to confirm whether there is an e-mail addressed to its own device (NO in Step 101 and Step 102).
[0047]
If there is an e-mail addressed to the own apparatus (YES in step 102), information relating to the e-mail is transmitted to the accounting server 1 (step 103). When the accounting server 1 permits facsimile transfer of the information attached to the e-mail (YES in step 104), the attached server uses the attached information as facsimile information to transfer the information to the destination specified by the e-mail. (Step 105).
[0048]
When the facsimile transfer ends (YES in step 106), the end of communication is transmitted to the accounting server 1 as a communication end notification (step 107). This communication end notification includes the communication fee amount required for facsimile transfer.
[0049]
On the other hand, if the facsimile transfer is not permitted by the billing server 1 (NO in step 104), an error mail notifying the error to the sender of the electronic mail is transmitted (step 108). Note that it is not always necessary to send an error mail, and the electronic mail may be ignored.
[0050]
Next, the operation of the accounting server 1 when the information attached to the electronic mail received by the Internet FAX 4 is transferred by facsimile will be described.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the accounting server 1 when information attached to an electronic mail received by the Internet FAX 4 is transferred by facsimile.
[0051]
When the billing server 1 receives mail information from the Internet FAX 4 (step 201, the received mail information is the one sent in step 103), the billing server 1 identifies the sender based on the mail information. If the sender is a registered sender (YES in step 202), the Internet FAX 4 is notified of transfer permission (step 203), and a communication end notification from the Internet FAX 4 is waited (NO in step 204). .
[0052]
When a communication end notification is received from the Internet FAX 4 (YES in step 204), a charge amount for the transfer is calculated (step 205), and the calculated charge amount is recorded in the charge DB 2.
[0053]
On the other hand, if the sender identified based on the mail information received from the Internet FAX 4 is not a registered sender (NO in Step 202), the Internet FAX 4 is notified that transfer is not permitted. (Step 207), the process is terminated.
[0054]
Here, a supplementary explanation will be given on the determination of whether or not transfer by the charging server 1 is possible and a method of calculating the charging amount.
First, in determining whether transfer is possible or not, the sender is identified by referring to the sender information (From) described in the header of the mail as the sender information. However, since the sender information described in the header is not reliable (may be spoofed), the transfer path information (Received) described in the header or the digital signature attached to the e-mail is referred to. For example, when it is determined that the sender of the e-mail is reliable based on the transfer route information (e-mail within the intranet, e-mail from a mobile phone, etc.), the sender is specified based on the sender information. However, in the case of other e-mails, the sender is identified based on the digital signature, and for those without a digital signature, the sender is treated in the same manner as in the unspecified case, and facsimile transmission is disabled. Permission.
[0055]
In addition to calculating the charge amount based on the communication charge amount included in the communication end notification from the Internet FAX 4, the telephone number of the transfer destination for performing the facsimile transfer and the attached file are used based on the previously received mail information. You may perform based on the magnitude | size and classification of information, and you may calculate combining various information. Note that the billing amount may be calculated by a different method for each sender.
[0056]
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a recording example of a charging DB that records information and a charging amount that the charging server 1 refers to when a sender is specified.
[0057]
By the way, as described above, when charging is performed when information attached to a received electronic mail is transferred, when an electronic mail is transmitted from the Internet FAX 4 to the same type of Internet FAX, the Internet FAX 4 is charged as the sender. Will be done.
[0058]
Therefore, even if the fee for sending an e-mail itself is low, a large fee may be generated as a result.
[0059]
For this reason, the Internet FAX 4 charges the user even when a document is scanned and transmitted by e-mail.
[0060]
Here, an operation in a case where the information scanned by the Internet FAX 4 is attached to an e-mail and transmitted will be described.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when the information scanned by the Internet FAX 4 is attached to an e-mail and transmitted.
[0061]
In the Internet FAX 4, when the user tries to execute scanning, the operation display device 13 requests the user to input user information (step 301), and waits for the input (NO in step 302). The user information requested here is, for example, a set of a user ID and a password.
[0062]
When user information is input from the operation display device 13 (YES in step 302), the user information is transmitted to the billing server 1. When the billing server 1 authenticates that the user is permitted to send an email (YES in step 304), the document is scanned (step 305), and the information obtained by the scan is converted into an email. Attached and transmitted via the mail server 3 (step 306). When the transmission of the e-mail ends (YES in step 307), the end of transmission is transmitted to the accounting server 1 as a transmission end notification (step 308). Note that the transmission end notification includes information related to document scanning and email transmission. For example, the scan condition, the amount of information of the scan result, the destination of the e-mail, and the like.
[0063]
On the other hand, if transmission of the e-mail is not permitted by the billing server 1 (NO in step 304), the operation display device 13 displays an error (step 309), and the process ends.
[0064]
Next, the operation of the accounting server 1 when the information attached to the electronic mail received by the Internet FAX 4 is transferred by facsimile will be described.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of operation of the billing server 1 when information scanned by the Internet FAX 4 is transmitted as an email attachment.
[0065]
When the billing server 1 receives user information from the Internet FAX 4 (step 401, the received mail information is sent in step 303), the billing server 1 authenticates the user based on the user information. If the user is a registered user (YES in step 402), the Internet FAX 4 is notified of permission to send an e-mail (step 403), and a transmission end notification from the Internet FAX 4 is awaited (in step 404). NO).
[0066]
When there is a transmission end notification from the Internet FAX 4 (YES in step 404), a charge amount for the transmission is calculated (step 405), and the calculated charge amount is recorded in the charge DB 2.
[0067]
On the other hand, if the user who has been authenticated based on the user information received from the Internet FAX 4 is not a registered user (NO in Step 402), the Internet FAX 4 is notified that transmission of e-mail is not permitted. (Step 407), and the process ends.
[0068]
Here, a supplementary explanation will be given regarding the determination of whether or not the e-mail transmission by the accounting server 1 is possible and the calculation method of the accounting amount.
First, the user is authenticated in determining whether or not the electronic mail can be transmitted. User authentication is performed using a user ID or a user's email address and password.
[0069]
In calculating the charge amount, the charge amount is calculated based on various information included in the transmission end notification from the Internet FAX 4. For example, the billing amount is calculated based on the scanning conditions at the time of scanning and the size of the information obtained as a result. Also, if the destination of the e-mail is specified and the destination is a party that does not clearly charge (for example, a specific user in the intranet or a user who has been authenticated first), the charge amount is set. Can be discounted or exempted.
[0070]
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a recording example of a charging DB that records information and a charging amount that the charging server 1 refers to when authenticating a user.
[0071]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when the information attached to the received e-mail is transferred by facsimile, the sender of the e-mail is specified, and the specified sender is charged. Therefore, an Internet FAX installer or administrator can easily operate the Internet FAX without worrying about unnecessary expenses such as communication charges.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an Internet fax accounting system to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the Internet FAX 4;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when information attached to an electronic mail received by the Internet FAX 4 is transferred by facsimile.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the accounting server 1 when information attached to an electronic mail received by the Internet FAX 4 is transferred by facsimile.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a recording example of a charging DB that records information and a charging amount that the charging server 1 refers to when a sender is specified.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when information scanned by the Internet FAX 4 is transmitted as an attachment to an e-mail;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of operation of the accounting server 1 when information scanned by the Internet FAX 4 is transmitted as an attachment to an e-mail.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a recording example of a charging DB that records information and a charging amount that the charging server 1 refers to when authenticating a user.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 charging server 2 charging DB
3 Mail server 4 Internet FAX
5 GW
6 LAN
11 CPU
12 RAM
13 Operation display device 14 Reading device 15 Printing device 16 Image processing device 17 Image storage device 18 System control unit 19 Communication control unit 20 Modem 21 Line switching device 22 Network control device 23 Network control unit 24 Network I / F
25 System bus

Claims (2)

In the Internet fax billing method, which is connected to both the Internet and a telephone line, and faxes the received information attached to an e-mail,
When it is confirmed from the header information of the received email that the email is transmitted from within the intranet, the sender of the email is identified based on the header information, and the email is sent from outside the intranet based on the header information. If it is confirmed that the e-mail has been sent, the e-mail sender is specified from the digital signature on the condition that the e-mail is digitally signed, and when the e-mail sender is specified, A method for charging an Internet fax, which permits fax transmission of information attached to an e-mail, calculates a charge amount for the specified sender, and accumulates and records the calculated charge amount. In an Internet fax billing device that is connected to both the Internet and a telephone line and faxes the information received attached to an e-mail,
Header information acquisition means for acquiring header information of received e-mail;
When it is confirmed from the header information acquired by the header information acquisition means that the email is transmitted from within the intranet, the sender of the email is specified based on the header information, and the header information acquisition means acquires Sender identification means for identifying the sender of the electronic mail from the digital signature on the condition that the electronic mail is attached with a digital signature when it is confirmed from the header information that the electronic mail is transmitted from outside the intranet; ,
When the sender is specified by the sender specifying means, a charge amount calculating means for permitting fax transmission of the information attached to the e-mail and calculating a charge amount for the specified sender;
A billing apparatus for Internet fax, comprising billing amount recording means for accumulating and recording the billing amount calculated by the billing amount calculating means.

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