JP4478756B2 - Image transmission apparatus, image transmission method, and transmission management program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image transmission apparatus, and more particularly to a transmission management technique for preventing erroneous transmission of important documents that require an administrator's approval.

In an image transmission apparatus such as a facsimile, in order to prevent erroneous transmission due to an incorrect input of a telephone number, a transmission destination telephone number is embedded in a transmission original, which is read by a scanner, and the transmission original is read based on the read telephone number. A technique for transmitting is disclosed.
For example, in Patent Document 1, a telephone number entry field for a transmission destination is provided at a predesignated position of a transmission document, and the telephone number entered in the telephone number entry field is read by a facsimile apparatus and read. A technique for transmitting a transmission document based on a number is disclosed.

In Patent Document 2, a telephone number of a transmission destination written in a color specified in advance on a transmission original is read by a color scanner, and the telephone of the transmission destination written by an OCR (Optical Character Reader) function is used. A technique for extracting a number and transmitting a transmission document based on the extracted telephone number is disclosed.
Also, in Patent Document 3, keywords are registered in advance in a facsimile transmission apparatus, a transmission original is read by a scanner, character recognition processing is performed, and the registered keywords are detected. A technique for extracting a telephone number and transmitting a transmission document based on the extracted telephone number is disclosed.

Thereby, it is possible to prevent erroneous transmission due to erroneous input of a telephone number.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-20467 JP-A-6-268786 JP 2005-311990 A

  However, in the above-mentioned prior art, since the telephone number other than the destination telephone number is not checked, a document that contains confidential information such as customer information is sent to the outside without permission, or a document that requires the approval of the supervisor etc. before transmission However, it cannot be prevented from being accidentally transmitted outside before approval. In particular, when the operator is not a person in the company but is a temporary employee or a part timer, the contents of the document to be transmitted are often not understood, and such erroneous transmission is likely to occur.

Therefore, each time these dispatched employees or part-timers send a transmission manuscript, if they send an employee who can understand the contents of the transmission manuscript, the time of the employee will be divided each time, and the work efficiency will be reduced. The problem of going down arises.
In view of the above problems, the present invention determines whether or not a transmission document can be transmitted easily and quickly even if an operator does not know the content of the transmission document, and takes appropriate measures. An object is to provide an image transmission apparatus, an image transmission method, and a transmission management program.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides an image transmission apparatus that determines whether or not a transmission document is permitted to be transmitted, and a storage unit that stores authentication data of a transmission permission authority.
Extraction means for extracting permission information including identification information of the transmission permission authorized person related to the transmission document and approval information indicating the presence or absence of approval by the transmission permission authorized person from the transmission document, and the extracted permission information The authentication data of the transmission authorized person identified by the identification information included in the information is read from the storage means, the authentication data and the extracted approval information are collated, and based on the collation result, the transmission document And determining a measure to be taken to satisfy a condition for permitting transmission based on the permission information when the determination unit does not permit transmission of the transmission document. And a transmission control means for notifying the determined measure.

The present invention also relates to an image transmission method in an image transmission apparatus that determines whether or not transmission of a transmission document is permitted, the image transmission apparatus including a storage unit that stores authentication data of a person authorized to transmit, and an extraction Means, a determination means, and a transmission control means. In the image transmission method, the extraction means identifies the transmission permission authorized person's identification information related to the transmission document from the transmission document and the transmission permission authorized person. An extraction step for extracting permission information including approval information indicating the presence or absence of approval according to the above, and the determination means includes authentication data of a transmission permission authorized person identified by the identification information included in the extracted permission information reading from the storage means, compares the corresponding authentication data, which is extracted and the approval information, based on the comparison result, the determination step of determining transmission permission of the transmission document, the determination scan If the Tsu transmitting the transmission document in-flop is not permitted, the transmission control unit, based on the permission information, to determine the measures to be taken in order to meet the conditions of the transmission permission, the determined measures And a transmission control step to be notified.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transmission management program for causing an image transmission apparatus for determining whether or not to permit transmission of a transmission document to execute transmission management processing, wherein the image transmission apparatus stores authentication data of a transmission permission authority. A storage unit, wherein the transmission management process extracts permission information including identification information of the transmission permission authorized person regarding the transmission document and approval information indicating whether or not the transmission permission authorized person has approved from the transmission document. Reading the authentication data of the authorized person authorized for transmission identified by the identification information included in the extracted permission information from the storage means, and comparing the authentication data with the extracted approval information , based on the collation result, a determination step of sending permission of the transmission document, the transmission of the transmission document in the determination step is not permitted situ , Based on the permission information, it is possible to include a transmission control step of determining the measures to be taken in order to satisfy the conditions of the transmission permission, and notifies the determined measures.

Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, when the transmission document does not satisfy the requirement for transmission permission, the operator is notified of the measures to be taken to satisfy the requirement. Even if the contents of the document are not known, it is possible to simply and quickly take appropriate measures for transmitting the transmission document.
Here, the determination unit determines that the transmission is not permitted when the approval information included in the permission information is not approved by the transmission permission authority, and the transmission control unit determines that the transmission is not performed by the determination unit. When the transmission of the credit document is not permitted, the transmission permission authorized person who is not approved is identified based on the identification information included in the permission information, and the approval of the identified transmission authorized person is to be obtained. Notification means for notifying may be included.

As a result, when the approval of the transmission permission authority of the transmission document is missing, this is notified to the operator, so that the transmission document is prevented from being erroneously transmitted without being approved. Can do.
Here, the transmission control means further includes position information acquisition means for acquiring position information indicating a seat position of the transmission permission authorized person who is not approved, and the notification means further includes the transmission permission authorized person who is not approved. The seat position can be notified.

As a result, the seating position of the transmission permission authorized person to be approved is notified, so the operator can immediately identify the seating position of the transmission permission authorized person and take measures to satisfy the transmission permission condition of the transmission document. It can be taken quickly.
Here, the transmission permission authority has at least one proxy transmission permission authority, and the transmission permission authority and the proxy transmission permission authority are given a level value indicating a permission authority level, The determination unit determines that transmission is not permitted in the approval information included in the permission information when the transmission permission authority is not approved, and the transmission control unit determines whether the transmission document is transmitted by the determination unit. If the transmission is not permitted to identify the transmission permission authority approval is not based on the identification information included in the authorization information to determine attendance determine whether the transmission permission authority is attendance And means that the approval of the specified transmission permission authority should be obtained when working, and the level of permission authority equal to or less than the specified transmission permission authority when not working. It is possible to identify a proxy transmission permission authority having a level value, and to have a notification unit for notifying to that the approval of the proxy transmission permission authority.

As a result, even in the absence of an approver, the agent can be quickly identified, so the transmission work of the document for transmission was requested promptly through the approval of the agent without delaying the process. You can send a document.
Here, the transmission control means further includes position information acquisition means for acquiring position information indicating a seat position of the transmission permission authorized person who is not approved and position information indicating a seat position of the specified proxy transmission permission authorized person. The notification means further notifies the seat position of the transmission permission authorized person when the transmission permission authorized person without approval is working, and the transmission permission authorized person without approval has gone to work. If not, the seat position of the specified proxy transmission permission authority can be notified.

As a result, the seating position of the authorized transmission authority and his / her agent to be approved is notified, so that the operator can immediately specify the seating position of the authorized transmission person and his / her agent, and permission to transmit the document for transmission. A response to satisfy the condition can be quickly taken.
Here, document type information indicating the document type is further added to the transmission document,
The storage unit stores authentication data of a transmission permission authority for each document type, and the determination unit includes the approval information included in the extracted permission information and the document of the transmission document to be extracted. The transmission permission authorized person's authentication data stored for the type is collated, and based on the collation result, the transmission permission / denial of the transmission document can be determined.

As a result, the transmission permission condition can be changed according to the type of the transmission document, so that appropriate transmission management according to the confidential level of the transmission document can be performed.
Here, the image transmission device is connected to a terminal of a transmission requester of the transmission document,
Further, requester identification information for identifying the transmission requester is added to the transmission document, and the transmission control unit is permitted to transmit the transmission document by the determination unit , and the transmission document Is transmitted to the terminal of the transmission requester specified from the requester identification information.

Thus, when the transmission of the requested transmission document is completed, it is notified, so that it is possible to easily confirm that the requested transmission document has been transmitted correctly without making an inquiry to the operator. .
Here, time limit information indicating a transmission time limit of the transmission document is further added to the transmission document, and the transmission control means performs the transmission by the time limit information acquisition means for acquiring the time limit information and the determination means. When the transmission of the trusted document is not permitted, the measuring means for measuring the current time at predetermined time intervals, and every time the current time is measured, the measured current time indicates the transmission time limit indicated in the time limit information. It is possible to have time limit monitoring means for monitoring whether or not it has passed, and transmission status notifying means for notifying the terminal when the current time has passed the transmission time limit.

  As a result, if the transmission document requested by the user cannot satisfy the conditions for transmission permission by the transmission deadline, the requester is notified to that effect. It is possible to contact the operator, identify the cause of the requested transmission document not being transmitted, and take appropriate measures.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a network to which an image transmission apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected.
The image transmission apparatus 100 is connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) 103, and personal computers (hereinafter referred to as “PCs”) 104 to 108 are connected to the LAN 103, and each PC and the image transmission apparatus 100 are connected to each other. The network is configured so that communication is possible via the LAN 103.

The image transmission apparatus 100 is connected to a communication network 102 configured by a telephone line or the like, and the network is configured to be able to communicate with the counterpart image transmission apparatus 101 via the communication network 102.
(Hardware configuration of image transmitting apparatus 100)
The image transmission apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes a microprocessor, a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk unit, a display unit including a liquid crystal display and a CRT, an image printing machine such as a keyboard, a mouse, a scanner, and a laser printer. It consists of a printer, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) reader / writer, and the like. A computer program is stored in the RAM or the hard disk unit. When the microprocessor operates according to the computer program, the image transmission apparatus 100 achieves each function described in the following functional configuration. Here, the computer program is configured by combining a plurality of instruction codes indicating instructions for the computer in order to achieve a predetermined function.

(Functional configuration of image transmission apparatus 100)
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the image transmission device 100. The image transmission apparatus 100 includes a data communication control unit 11, a print unit 12, an ID tag read / write unit 13, an operation unit 14, a display unit 15, a control unit 16, a modem 17, a FAX communication control unit 18, a network control unit 19, and an image reading unit. Section 20, permission information extraction section 21, encoding / decoding section 22, and storage section 23.

(Data communication control unit 11)
This is an interface for connecting to the LAN 103, and controls communication with the PCs 104 to 108 connected to the LAN 103.
(Print section 12)
A latent image is formed by scanning on a photosensitive drum (not shown) while laser light is turned on / off according to print information, and then a toner is attached to the exposed portion of the photosensitive drum to form a real image. Is printed on printing paper, printed, and printed on printing paper.
(ID tag read / write unit 13, 25)
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the ID tag read / write units 13 and 25. As shown in FIG. 3, the ID tag read / write units 13 and 25 include a transmission unit 32 having a transmission antenna coil 34 and a reception unit 33 having a reception antenna coil 35. The transmission unit 32 and the reception unit 33 are It is connected to the control unit 16.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating positions where the ID tag read / write units 13 and 25 are provided in the image transmission device 100.
As shown in FIG. 10, the ID tag read / write units 13 and 25 are provided in the vicinity of the document conveyance path of the transmission document indicated by reference numeral 113 (dotted line). In FIG. 10, reference numeral 100 denotes an image transmission apparatus, reference numeral 111 denotes a document table, reference numeral 112 denotes a lid, reference numerals 13 and 25 denote reader / writers (ID tag read / write units 13 and 25). Reference numeral 20 denotes a scanner (image reading unit 20), and reference numeral 114 denotes a document discharge table.

The ID tag read / write unit 13 communicates with an RFID tag 41 described later to read data stored in a memory built in the RFID tag 41, and the ID tag read / write unit 25 communicates with an RFID tag 51 described later. Communication is performed to read data stored in a memory built in the RFID tag 51.
When the ID tag read / write units 13 and 25 communicate with the RFID tags 41 and 51, respectively, the carrier signal is modulated by the transmission unit 32, and the RFID tags 41 and 51 are transmitted as power power signals via the transmission antenna coil 34. Send to each.

On the other hand, when a radio wave signal including data stored in the memory is transmitted from the RFID tags 41 and 51, the radio wave signal is received via the receiving antenna coil 35, and the received radio wave signal is demodulated by the receiving unit 33. Output to the control unit 16.
(RFID tag 41)
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an RFID tag 41 that is a communication partner of the ID tag read / write unit 13. As shown in FIG. 4A, the RFID tag 41 is incorporated in a transmission document indicated by reference numeral 40. As shown in FIG. 4B, the RFID tag 41 includes an antenna coil 401, a resonance capacitor 402 that forms a resonance circuit with the antenna coil 401, a switch 403, a decoding unit 404, an encoding unit 405, and a communication control unit. 406, a power supply unit 407, and a memory 408.

  The memory 408 stores document management information as shown in FIG. The document management information includes document identification information indicating the type of document of the transmission manuscript, a document ID indicating the identification number of the transmission manuscript, and an identification number of the employee who requested the transmission of the transmission manuscript (hereinafter referred to as “requester employee”). Requester employee ID indicating the transmission date, transmission time limit information indicating the transmission time limit of the transmission original, and transmission destination information indicating the telephone number of the transmission destination of the transmission original.

In the document management information shown in FIG. 5A, the document type of the transmission original indicated by the document identification information is “confidential” document, the document ID is “XXXXYY”, and the requester employee ID is “JJJJJYYYY”. , The transmission deadline indicated by the transmission deadline information is “14:00 on January 31, 2008”, and the destination telephone numbers indicated by the destination information are “072-XXX-YYYY” and “033-YYY-ZZZZ”. It is shown that there is.
In the RFID tag 41 shown in FIG. 4B, when a power supply signal for power is received from the ID tag read / write unit 13, a current flows through the antenna coil 401 and charges are accumulated in the power supply unit 407.

Then, the communication control unit 406 reads out the document management information stored in the memory 408 using the electric power based on the electric charge accumulated in the power supply unit 407, and reads the read document management information via the encoding unit 405. Encoding is performed, the switch 403 is turned on / off, and a radio wave signal including document management information is transmitted to the ID tag read / write unit 13 via the antenna coil 40.
(RFID tag 51)
The RFID tag 51 is carried by each employee as an ID card for each employee. The configuration of the RFID tag 51 is the same as the configuration of the RFID tag 41 shown in FIG. In the memory of the RFID tag 51, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), employee identification information including an employee ID and a permission level of the employee described later is stored. The RFID tag 51 reads and writes the ID tag. When the power supply signal for power is received from the unit 25, a radio wave signal including employee identification information is transmitted to the ID tag read / write unit 25.

(Operation unit 14)
An input device such as a touch panel and a keyboard is received, receives an instruction input from the user, and outputs it to the control unit 16.
(Display unit 15)
The display data is composed of a liquid crystal display, a CRT, or the like, and the display data input from the control unit 16 is displayed on the screen.

(Control unit 16)
It performs overall control of the image transmission apparatus 100 and transmission control processing and transmission state management processing of a transmission document, which will be described later.
(Modem 17)
This is used to modulate a transmission signal transmitted to the image transmission device on the other side and demodulate a reception signal received from the image transmission device on the other side.

(FAX communication control unit 18)
The modem 17 modulates a transmission signal to be transmitted to the counterpart image transmission apparatus and demodulates a reception signal received from the counterpart image transmission apparatus.
Further, it connects to the communication network 102 via the network control unit 19 and communicates with the image transmission apparatus on the other side.

(Network control unit 19)
Used to connect to the communication network 102.
(Image reading unit 20)
Information such as characters and graphics described in the transmission original is read to form image data.
(Permission information extraction unit 21)
The permission information included in a predetermined area is extracted from the image data having an OCR function and formed by the image reading unit 20 (extracted for each permission information when a plurality of permission information is included). The approver's employee ID included in the permission information is acquired by performing character recognition processing based on the OCR function on the imprint image data of the approver and the extracted image data.

Here, “permission information” refers to the employee ID of the approver who has permission to transmit the transmission document (hereinafter referred to as “transmission permission authority”) described in the transmission document, and whether or not there is approval. This is information composed of approval information (here, image data of an area where an approval mark is pressed in a transmission original).
Reference numerals 42, 43, and 44 shown in FIG. 4A indicate positions where permission information is described in the transmission document.

In addition, the description position of permission information is not limited to the position shown to Fig.4 (a), Other positions may be sufficient if it is a predetermined position.
In addition, permission information including a keyword is described at an arbitrary position of a transmission original, and a keyword included in the permission information is detected and detected as described in Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-311990). It is good also as extracting permission information from the near field of a keyword.

FIG. 7 shows a specific example of each permission information indicated by reference numerals 42, 43, and 44 in FIG. The permission information shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B is a specific example of permission information whose approval information indicates “Approved”, and the permission information shown in FIG. This is a specific example of permission information indicating “no”.
Although not shown, the approval information becomes permission information indicating “no approval” even when the employee ID does not match the approval mark.

(Encoding / Decoding Unit 22)
The image data read by the image reading unit 20 is encoded and converted into a transmission signal, and a reception signal received from another image transmission device is decoded.
(Storage unit 23)
The storage unit 23 stores various data such as employee data, a document-specific transmission permission authority list, a waiting-for-transmission document list, a fixed message, and authentication data.

(Employee data)
“Employee data” refers to data indicating the employee ID, name, PC number, and IP address of each employee (including temporary employees and part-timers) working at the company.
Here, the PC number is an identification number of the PC used by the employee, and the IP address is an address on the PC network. FIG. 15 shows a specific example of employee data.

(List of authorized senders by document)
The “transmission permission authorized person list by document” refers to a list of authorized transmission authorized persons for each document type of the transmission manuscript, and specifically, the employee ID, employee name, This is information indicating the seat position, permission level, attendance status, and authentication data storage destination address, and is stored in the storage area of the storage unit 23 in association with the document type of the transmission original.

Here, the “seat position” refers to a place in the company where the desk of the authorized transmission authority is located.
The “permission level” refers to a value indicating the level of transmission permission authority for a transmission document. Here, the larger the value, the greater the authority.
The “attendance status” refers to information indicating whether or not the transmission authorized person is in the company. The attendance status includes, for example, the employee ID and the information indicating that he / she has left the office from his / her PC when he / she is authorized to send work or leaves the office. Notification to the control unit 16 of the image transmission apparatus 100 via the LAN 103 to which the PC is connected, and based on the notified information, the corresponding transmission permission authorized person in the per-document transmission permission authorized person list It is managed by updating the state.

Further, the control unit 16 monitors whether or not the PC of the transmission permission authorized person is connected to the LAN 103, so that the transmission permission authorized person in the document-specific transmission authorized person list is monitored. It is good also as managing the attendance status of.
The “authentication data storage destination address” refers to address information indicating the storage destination of the authentication data in the storage unit 23.

Here, “authentication data” refers to image data stored in the storage area of the storage unit 23 in advance as image data for authentication by reading the imprint of the approval seal of the authorized transmission authority by the image reading unit 20. That means.
FIG. 6 shows a specific example of the document-specific transmission authorized person list. FIG. 6A shows a document-by-document transmission permission authorized person list whose document type is “confidential document”, and FIG. 6B shows a document-by-document transmission authorized person list whose document type is “article ordering document”. .

(Sending document list)
The “transmission waiting document list” is a list of transmission originals that have been rejected for transmission in the transmission control processing described later, and are not yet transmitted. Specifically, transmission is rejected. The document ID of the transmission original that has not been transmitted yet, the requester employee ID of the transmission original, and information indicating the transmission deadline of the transmission original set by the requester employee.

FIG. 11 shows a specific example of the transmission waiting document list.
(Standard message)
The “standard message” refers to a standard message that is notified to the operator or the requesting employee of the transmission manuscript according to the transmission permission / non-transmission judgment result of the transmission manuscript in the transmission control process described later. , (1) a transmission rejection fixed message for operator notification, (2) a transmission permission fixed message for operator notification, and (3) a fixed message for requester employee notification.
(1) Transmission rejection fixed message for operator notification The transmission rejection fixed message for operator notification is a message for notifying the operator of conditions for permitting transmission of the transmission original when transmission of the transmission original is rejected. Yes, it consists of a first message for operator notification that is notified when a transmission-permitted authorized person who needs approval is working, and a second message for operator notification that is notified when the transmission-permitted authorized person is absent, It is displayed on the display unit 15.

  FIG. 8A shows a specific example of the first message for operator notification displayed on the display unit 15. The text other than the underlined portion shown in FIG. 8 (a) is a portion corresponding to the first message for operator notification, and information on the authorized transmission person and the seat position of the underlined portion is specified in the transmission control process, In combination with the first message for operator notification, it is displayed on the display unit 15 as first instruction information.

  FIG. 8B shows a specific example of the second message for operator notification displayed on the display unit 15. The text other than the underlined portion shown in FIG. 8 (b) is a portion corresponding to the second message for operator notification, and the transmission permission authorized person, proxy transmission authorized person and the seat position information in the underlined part are transmitted. It is specified in the control process, combined with the second message for operator notification, and displayed on the display unit 15 as second instruction information.

In this case, “substitute transmission authorized person” means a person who has the authority to perform proxy approval for transmission of a transmission document on behalf of the authorized person when there is no applicable transmission authorized person. Specifically, it means a person whose permission level is not lower than the permission level of the authorized transmission person.
(2) Transmission permission fixed message for operator notification The transmission permission fixed message for operator notification notifies the operator that transmission of the transmission original is permitted when transmission of the transmission original is permitted in the transmission control process. Message.

FIG. 8C shows a specific example of a transmission permission fixed message for operator notification.
(3) Requester employee notification fixed message The requester employee notification fixed message is used when transmission of a transmission manuscript is permitted or when transmission of a transmission manuscript has not yet been transmitted even after the transmission deadline has passed. This is a message notified to the client employee, and the message notified in the former case is called a client employee notification first message, and the message notified in the latter case is called a client employee notification second message.

  FIG. 9B shows a specific example of the first message for client employee notification displayed on the display unit 15. The text other than the underlined portion is a portion corresponding to the first message for the client employee notification. The information regarding the document ID and the transmission time of the transmission manuscript in the underlined portion is specified in the transmission control process, and the client employee notification first Combined with one message, it is displayed on the display unit 15 as transmission result information.

  FIG. 9A shows a specific example of the client employee notification second message displayed on the display unit 15. The text other than the underlined part is a part corresponding to the second message for requester employee notification, and the information regarding the document ID of the transmission original in the underlined part and the transmission deadline of the transmission original is specified in the transmission control process, and the client It is displayed on the display unit 15 in combination with the second message for employee notification.

(Timekeeping unit 24)
The current time is measured and output to the control unit 16.
<Operation>
(Transmission control processing)
12 and 13 are flowcharts showing the operation of the transmission control process performed by the control unit 16. Hereinafter, the operation will be described with reference to FIGS.

  When a transmission document is inserted into the document conveyance path of the image transmission apparatus 100, the control unit 16 instructs the ID tag read / write unit 13 to transmit a power supply signal for power, and is transmitted from the RFID tag 41 incorporated in the transmission document. Receiving the radio signal including the document management information, acquiring the document management information from the ID tag read / write unit 13 (step S1201), extracting the document type information from the acquired document management information (step S1202), and the storage unit 23, a document-specific transmission-permitted authority list associated with the document type indicated by the extracted document type information is acquired (step S1203).

Next, the control unit 16 causes the image reading unit 20 to read the transmission original, forms image data of the transmission original, and causes the permission information extraction unit 21 to obtain permission information included in a predetermined area from the image data. Are extracted (step S1204).
Next, the control unit 16 specifies the storage location of the authentication data corresponding to the employee ID of the transmission-permitted authority included in the permission information in the acquired document-specific transmission-permitted authority list, and the storage unit 23 specifies The authentication data is read from the storage destination, the read authentication data is compared with the approval information included in the permission information, and the two are collated (step S1205).

  If the verification is not possible (step S1206: N), the control unit 16 causes the ID tag read / write unit 25 to acquire the permission level from the RFID tag 51 of the ID card carried by the operator (step S1207). It is determined whether or not the permission level is lower than the permission level associated with the employee ID of the transmission permission authority who has not been verified in the obtained document-specific transmission permission authority list (step S1208).

  In step S1206, when the two can be collated (step S1206: Y), the control unit 16 reads out the transmission permission fixed message for operator notification from the storage unit 23 and displays it on the display unit 15 (step S1209). ), Information on the telephone number of the transmission destination of the transmission document included in the acquired document management information is displayed on the display unit 15 (step S1210), and the telephone number of the transmission destination is selected by the operator via the operation unit 14 When a transmission instruction to the transmission destination is input, the transmission original is transmitted to the selected transmission destination (step S1211), and the current time indicating the transmission time is acquired from the time measuring unit 24 (step S1212). .

  Next, the control unit 16 reads the first message for sending requester notification and the employee data stored in the storage unit 23, refers to the employee data, and sets the requester employee ID indicated in the acquired document management information. The associated IP address is specified, and the transmission result information is created by combining the document ID of the transmission document included in the document management information, the acquired transmission time, and the first message for notification of the transmission requester. The transmission result information is transmitted to the requesting employee's PC having the specified IP address via the data communication control unit 11 (step S1213), and the transmission waiting document list is read from the storage unit 23 and transmitted. Whether or not the document ID exists in the waiting document list (step S1214). If it exists (step S1214: Y), the document ID is related to the document ID. Remove that record from the transmission waiting document list (step S1215), it performs transmission state management process described later (step S1221).

If the determination result in step S1208 is affirmative (step S1208: Y), the control unit 16 is associated with the employee ID of the transmission permission authority who has not been collated in the acquired document-specific transmission permission authority list. The information indicating the “attendance status” is referred to (step S1216), and it is determined whether or not the transmission permission authority is attending (step S1217).
When the transmission permission authorized person is at work (step S1217: Y), the control unit 16 reads out the first message for operator notification from the storage unit 23, and further displays the acquired document-specific transmission authorized authority list. The employee name and the seat position associated with the employee ID of the person authorized to transmit are referred to, and the transmission permission authority is determined by combining the identified employee name and seat position with the first message for operator notification. First instruction information related to the person is created, and the created first instruction information is displayed on the display unit 15 (step S1218).

    When the authorized transmission permission person is not at work (step S1217: N), the control unit 16 reads the second message for operator notification from the storage unit 23, and further obtains the obtained transmission permission authorized person list for each document. Referring to the transmission authority who has a permission level not lower than the permission level associated with the employee ID of the transmission permission authority and indicates that the “attendance status” is at work. The transmission permission authority is determined by combining the employee name of the transmission permission authority identified as the authorized transmission permission authority and the employee name and seat position of the identified proxy transmission permission authority and the second message for operator notification. The second instruction information related to the person is created, and the created second instruction information is displayed on the display unit 15 (step S1219).

After performing the process of step S1216 or 1217, the control unit 16 stores the document ID, the client employee ID, and the transmission time limit included in the document management information of the transmission original that has not been verified and is not permitted to be transmitted. It adds to the transmission waiting document list memorize | stored in the part 23 (step S1220), and performs the transmission state management process mentioned later (step S1221).
(Transmission status management process)
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the transmission state management process performed by the control unit 16. Hereinafter, the operation will be described with reference to FIG.

  The control unit 16 obtains the current time from the time measuring unit 24 every predetermined time interval (for example, 10 minutes) (step S1301), and further reads out the transmission waiting document list from the storage unit 23 and is included in the document list. The document ID of the transmission manuscript whose transmission time limit has passed the acquired current time is searched from the documents of the transmission manuscript being sent (step S1302), and whether there is a document ID of the transmission manuscript whose transmission time limit has passed. Is determined (step S1303).

When there is a document ID of a transmission document whose transmission deadline has passed (step S1303: Y), the control unit 16 reads out the second message for notification of the transmission requester and employee data from the storage unit 23, and refers to the employee data. Then, the IP address associated with the employee ID of the requester employee who requested the transmission of the transmission original whose transmission deadline has passed is specified, the document ID of the transmission original and the second message for notification of the transmission requester, To generate untransmitted document information, and transmit the generated untransmitted document information to the transmission requester's PC having the specified IP address (step S1304). If it does not exist (step S1303: N), the process proceeds to step S1301.
<Supplement>
As described above, the image transmission apparatus 100 according to the present invention has been described based on the embodiment, but it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.
(1) In this embodiment, the document management information is recorded in the RFID tag. However, a background pattern is formed on the transmission original, and the document management information is embedded and embedded in the background pattern of the transmission original. The document management information may be acquired by scanning and reading the document management information.

Alternatively, the document management information may be converted into a barcode and printed on the transmission original, and the barcode management may be read to obtain the document management information from the transmission original.
Also, document management information is printed on a transmission original with fluorescent transparent toner that develops color under ultraviolet irradiation, and a portion printed with fluorescent transparent toner is caused to emit light by irradiation with ultraviolet light of a predetermined wavelength to read and transmit the original. Document management information may be acquired from

Also, the document type information included in the document management information is acquired by reading the contents of the transmitted original by character recognition processing and detecting specific keywords (for example, “confidential document”, “article order document”, etc.). It is good to do.
(2) In the present embodiment, the seal imprint is used as the approval information included in the permission information. However, the approval information is not limited to the seal imprint, and other information may be used.

For example, the signature of the authorized transmission authority may be used, or the password of the authorized transmission authority may be embedded invisible using a tint block pattern or fluorescent transparent toner.
(3) In the present embodiment, in the operation of the transmission control process shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, notification of messages (first instruction information and second instruction information) to the operator is displayed on the display unit 15. However, it may be notified by other methods, for example, by voice.
(4) In this embodiment, employee data, document-specific transmission permission authority list, transmission waiting document list, and authentication data are stored in the storage unit 23 of the image transmission apparatus 100. May be stored in a server connected to the LAN 103, and the image transmission apparatus 100 may acquire such information from the server.
(5) In this embodiment, the transmission destination information is stored in the RFID tag as document management information. However, in the document management information, transmission destination identification information for identifying the storage destination of the transmission destination information is described. The transmission destination information may be stored in association with the transmission destination identification information in the image transmission apparatus 100 or the server described in (4).

For example, a keyword indicating a project group name or the like is used as transmission destination identification information,
A telephone number indicating the transmission destination of each member belonging to the group may be stored in the storage unit 23 of the server or the image transmission device 100 in association with the keyword.
(6) In this embodiment, the document management information is added to the transmission original. However, two types of transmission originals including the document management information and the transmission original not including the document management information are used. In the transmission control process shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, when the document management information is not detected, the normal transmission process may be performed without performing the transmission permission / rejection determination.

  If the document management information includes confidential level information indicating the confidential level as a value, and the confidential level value indicated by the confidential level information exceeds the threshold, the operator permission level is the same as the processing in step 1207 shown in FIG. Information is acquired, and only when the acquired permission level exceeds the threshold value, a transmission permission message is displayed. When the acquired permission level does not exceed the threshold, for example, a message “Do not transmit the transmission document” may be displayed. Good.

As a result, with respect to important documents with high confidentiality, it is possible to limit employees having transmission authority, and thus security for transmission management of confidential documents can be enhanced.
(7) Documents to which this embodiment can be applied are not limited to paper documents, but can be applied to electronic documents as well. The document transmission method to which this embodiment can be applied is not limited to fax transmission, but can also be applied to e-mail transmission and FTP transmission.

  The present invention relates to an image transmission apparatus, and can be used as a transmission management technique for preventing erroneous transmission of an important document that requires an administrator's approval.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a network to which an image transmission device 100 is connected. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the image transmission device 100. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of ID tag reading / writing part 13 and 25. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the RFID tag 41 used as the communicating party of ID tag reading / writing part 13. FIG. A specific example of information recorded in the RFID tags 41 and 51 is shown. A specific example of the document-specific transmission authorized person list will be shown. The specific example of each permission information shown with the code | symbol 42, 43, 44 of FIG. 4 is shown. The specific example of the fixed text message notified to an operator is shown. A specific example of the fixed message sent to the client of the client will be shown. In the image transmission apparatus 100, it is a figure which shows the position in which the ID tag read / write parts 13 and 25 are provided. A specific example of a document list waiting for transmission will be shown. 7 is a part of a flowchart showing an operation of a transmission control process performed by the control unit 16; 7 is a part of a flowchart showing an operation of a transmission control process performed by the control unit 16; 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a transmission state management process performed by a control unit 16. A specific example of employee data is shown.

Explanation of symbols

11 Data communication control unit 12 Print unit
13, 25 ID tag read / write unit 14 operation unit 15 display unit 16 control unit 17 modem 18 FAX communication control unit 19 network control unit 20 image reading unit 21 permission information extraction unit 22 encoding / decoding unit 23 storage unit 24 timing unit 32 Transmission unit 33 Reception unit 34 Coil for transmitting antenna 35 Coil for receiving antenna 35
40 transmission document 41, 51 RFID tag 42-44 permission information description position 100, 101 image transmission apparatus 102 communication network 103 LAN
104-108 PC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 111 Document table 112 Cover 113 Document conveyance path 114 Document discharge table 401 Coil for antenna 402 Resonance capacitor 403 Switch 404 Decoding unit 405 Encoding unit 406 Communication control unit 407 Power supply unit 408 Memory

Claims (10)

An image transmission apparatus for determining whether or not transmission of a transmission document is permitted,
A storage means for storing authentication data of a person authorized to send,
Extraction means for extracting permission information including identification information of the transmission permission authorized person related to the transmission document and approval information indicating the presence or absence of approval by the transmission permission authorized person from the transmission document ;
The authentication data of the transmission authorized person identified by the identification information included in the extracted permission information is read from the storage means, the authentication data and the extracted approval information are collated, and based on the collation result Determining means for determining whether the transmission document is permitted to be transmitted ;
When the transmission of the transmission document is not permitted by the determination unit, a transmission control unit that determines a measure to be taken to satisfy a transmission permission condition based on the permission information and notifies the determined measure An image transmitting apparatus comprising: In the approval information included in the permission information, the determination unit determines that transmission is not permitted when there is no approval from the transmission permission authority .
The transmission control means includes
When the transmission of the transmission document is not permitted by the determination unit, the transmission permission authorized person who is not approved is identified based on the identification information included in the permission information, and the identified transmission authorized person The image transmission apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a notification unit that notifies that approval should be obtained. The transmission control means further includes position information acquisition means for acquiring position information indicating a seat position of the transmission-permitted authority without approval,
The image transmission device according to claim 2, wherein the notifying unit further notifies the seat position of the transmission authorized person who is not approved. The transmission permission authority has at least one proxy transmission permission authority, and the transmission permission authority and the proxy transmission permission authority are given a level value indicating a level of permission authority,
In the approval information included in the permission information, the determination unit determines that transmission is not permitted when there is no approval of the transmission permission authority,
The transmission control means identifies the transmission authorized person who is not approved based on the identification information included in the permission information when the determination means does not permit transmission of the transmission document, and transmits the transmission Attendance determination means for determining whether or not the authorized authority is attending work,
When working, notify the approval of the specified authorized person for transmission, and when not working, specify a level value that is equal to or higher than the authorized authorized person and the authorized authority level. The image transmission apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a notification unit that identifies a proxy transmission permission authorized person and notifies that the approval of the proxy transmission permission authorized person should be obtained. The transmission control means further includes position information acquisition means for acquiring position information indicating a seat position of the transmission permission authorized person who is not approved and position information indicating a seat position of the specified proxy transmission permission authorized person. ,
The notification means further notifies the seating position of the transmission permission authorized person when the transmission permission authorized person without approval is working, and when the transmission permission authorized person without approval does not work, The image transmission apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a seat position of the specified authorized person for proxy transmission is notified. The transmission document is further added with document type information indicating the document type,
The storage means stores authentication data of a transmission authorized person for each document type,
The determination unit collates the approval information included in the extracted permission information with the authentication data of the transmission permission authorized person stored for the document type of the transmission document that is the extraction target. based on the results, an image transmission apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the determining the transmission permission of the transmission document. The image transmission device is connected to a terminal of a transmission requester of the transmission document;
Further, requester identification information for identifying the requester of transmission is added to the document for transmission,
The transmission control means, when the transmission of the transmission document is permitted by the determination means and the transmission document is transmitted , notifies the transmission requester's terminal specified from the requester identification information to that effect. The image transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein notification is performed. The transmission document is further added with deadline information indicating the transmission deadline of the transmission document,
The transmission control means includes
Time limit information acquisition means for acquiring the time limit information;
When transmission of the transmission document is not permitted by the determination means ,
A measuring means for measuring the current time at predetermined time intervals;
Time limit monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the measured current time has passed the transmission time limit indicated in the time limit information each time the current time is measured;
The image transmission device according to claim 7, further comprising: a transmission status notifying unit that notifies the terminal when the current time has passed the transmission time limit. An image transmission method in an image transmission apparatus for determining whether transmission of a transmission document is permitted,
The image transmission device includes a storage unit that stores authentication data of a transmission-permitted authorized person, an extraction unit, a determination unit, and a transmission control unit,
The image transmission method includes:
An extraction step wherein the extracting means, for extracting the permission information including the authorization information indicating a presence or absence of approval by the identification information and the transmission permission authority of the transmission permission authority about the transmission document from the transmission document,
The determination unit reads out authentication data of a transmission authorized person identified by the identification information included in the extracted permission information from the storage unit, and collates the authentication data with the extracted approval information. A determination step of determining whether to permit transmission of the transmission document based on a collation result ;
When the transmission of the transmission document is not permitted in the determination step, the transmission control unit determines a measure to be taken to satisfy a transmission permission condition based on the permission information, and the determined measure A transmission control step of notifying A transmission management program for causing an image transmission apparatus that determines whether transmission of a transmission document is permitted or not to execute transmission management processing,
The image transmission device includes a storage unit that stores authentication data of a transmission-permitted authorized person,
The transmission management process includes:
An extraction step of extracting permission information including identification information of the transmission permission authorized person regarding the transmission document and approval information indicating the presence or absence of approval by the transmission permission authorized person from the transmission document ;
The authentication data of the transmission authorized person identified by the identification information included in the extracted permission information is read from the storage means, the authentication data and the extracted approval information are collated, and based on the collation result A determination step for determining whether to permit transmission of the transmission document ;
A transmission control step of determining a measure to be taken in order to satisfy a transmission permission condition based on the permission information and notifying the determined measure when transmission of the transmission document is not permitted in the determination step. And a transmission management program comprising:

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