JPH0258451A - Message incoming notifying system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To promptly send an electronic mail by notifying the incoming of a message by means of the electronic mail with the notification from a facsimile terminal to the user of the electronic mail. CONSTITUTION:The user of a mail box 11 is registered in an electronic main center device 1 beforehand, and information concerning the user is accumulated. When the message is received by the mail box 11, from the received message and the accumulated information concerning the user, the information concerning the transmission destination of the message and the additional information to express the outline of the message are extracted. Further, they are converted into a facsimile code, transferred to a facsimile terminal 6 of the transmission destination of the message, and the incoming of the message is notified to the mail box 11. Thus, high speed sending of an electronic mail can be maintained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a method of notifying a user of the arrival of a message in an electronic mail system in which messages are exchanged using a computer.

(Prior art) For e-mail systems, for example, see Nikkei Communication J, 198, published by Nikkei McGraw-Hill.
On pages 59 to 73 of the November 18, 2015 issue, there is a feature article titled ``E-mail is being introduced as a core of OA within companies.''

In such electronic mail systems, an electronic mail message usually includes a heading section that represents information about the recipient or the sender, and a body that is the main text of the message. In this case, the heading section can be defined uniquely for the e-mail system, but it must include at least the recipient's name (address) and the sender's name, and the message title must also be included as important information. There is.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional e-mail system. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes an e-mail center device, which is equipped with a mail box 11 consisting of a file device. The mail box 11 has sections allocated to each user, which will be explained below with reference to FIG. 3, and stores received messages according to their destinations.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the division of the mail box 11.

As shown in FIG. 3, the mail box 11 is divided into users tJI to υn. Each user υ1 to Un consists of user data DI-Dn and messages M1 to Mn.

Referring again to FIG. Terminals 28 to 2n are connected to the e-mail center device 1 through lines 3a to 3n, which are telephone lines or direct lines, respectively. line 3
When a to 3n consist of telephone lines, it is necessary to equip them with a modem (modulator/demodulator) and a network control unit (NCU).
Since this part is not related to the gist of the present invention, illustration thereof is omitted.

In operation, each user checks the users U1 to Un of the mail box 11 assigned to him or her, and if a message has been delivered to them, the message M1
~Read Mn.

In such e-mail systems, users and terminals are not necessarily connected in a one-to-one correspondence so that one terminal can be shared by a plurality of users. Therefore, in order to know whether or not a message addressed to the user has arrived at the e-mail center device, the user must access the e-mail center device himself. Therefore, e-mail
The system had to be configured so that users could access the e-mail center equipment from any available terminal.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the conventional e-mail system, until the user himself or herself accesses the e-mail center device,
This has the drawback that it is impossible to know whether or not a message has arrived addressed to oneself, and as a result, the speed of e-mail delivery is impaired. If, in an attempt to minimize such time loss, users frequently access the e-mail center device to check whether or not messages have been received, it would be very time-consuming and troublesome for the users. Frequent access will result in communication congestion between devices.Furthermore, the e-mail system must be configured so that users can access the e-mail center device from any available terminal. However, it had the disadvantage of complicating the device.
Such solutions impose a heavy burden and inconvenience on users.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to solve these conventional drawbacks, and to provide a message incoming notification method that can promptly notify the user of the incoming message from an e-mail system. The purpose is to

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the message incoming notification system of the present invention is connected to a plurality of terminals and a plurality of facsimile terminals, and also has a mail box for sending and receiving messages. Messages are sent and received between the terminal and the facsimile terminal via the mail box, and the e-mail center device includes: a user of the mail box; In addition to registering in advance,
Information related to the user is stored, and when the destination of a message received from the terminal to the mail box is the pre-registered Icheon, the email center device receives the message. extracts additional information representing the destination of the message and a summary of the message from the message and the stored information about the user; and converts the extracted additional information into a facsimile code. The message is then transferred to the destination facsimile terminal.

(Operation) According to the message incoming notification method configured as described above, when an e-mail center device receives a message in its mail box, it sends information regarding the message and the terminal stored therein, Additional information representing the outline of the message is extracted based on the information regarding the destination. This additional information is then converted into facsimile codes and transmitted to the facsimile terminal associated with its destination. Thereby, by outputting the additional information from the facsimile terminal in an output format that the user can easily read, the e-mail
Notify you that a message has arrived in your box.

(Example) An example will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a message incoming notification system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an e-mail center device 1
is the line 5a to 51 to 5n (n is any integer greater than or equal to 1)
facsimile interfaces 7a to 7n having the same structure and connected to facsimile terminals 6a to 6n via
It has terminal interfaces 8a-8n connected to terminals 28-2n via lines 3a-3n. Further, the e-mail center device 1 includes a facsimile code converter 12.
, incoming notification information editing section 13, mail box management section 1
4, and the aforementioned mail box 11.

Here, the facsimile code conversion section 12 is connected to the facsimile interfaces 7a to 7n, and converts facsimile codes received from these into computer codes.

The incoming notification information editing section 13 has a program-controlled computer, and edits and outputs incoming notification information to be transmitted to the facsimile terminals 6a to 6n via the facsimile code conversion section 12. Further, the mail box management section 14 inputs the incoming call notification information from the incoming call notification information editing section 13, and also transmits and receives the incoming call notification information to and from the terminals 2a to 2n via the terminal interfaces 8a to 8n.

Messages transmitted on the lines 3a to 3n have a format consisting of a heading H and a body B, as explained below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a format diagram of messages transmitted from terminals 2a-2n to terminal interfaces 8a-8n via lines 3a-3n. Heading H includes the code 11 of the recipient name (for example, "01" (hexadecimal)), the length Ll of the reception name, the reception name H1 (for example °'ITO); the code I2 of the sender name (for example, "02" (hexadecimal), the length of the sender's name L2, the sender's name H2, the code of the message title 3, L3, H3, and other heading information X (for example, the arrival time of the message). Also, the body B is
It consists of the code Ib of body B, the length Lb of body B, and the character string TX that is the main text of the message.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing details of the facsimile interface 7a and the facsimile code converter 12. Since the facsimile interfaces 78 to 7n all have the same configuration, only the facsimile interface 7a will be shown here, and the following description will be made in accordance with the arrows in the figure showing the flow of signals.

The facsimile code conversion unit 12 includes a character font memory CFM, a character code and font conversion circuit CFC, and a facsimile signal compression circuit FCC.

Character font memory CFM is incoming notification information editing section 1
3 to the information in character code format (e.g., Japanese code compliant with JISXO208) is transferred to facsimile code (e.g.,
G3 facsimile code)
It consists of a read-only memory (ROM) that stores character fonts (the actual types of characters).

The character code/font conversion circuit CFC converts the character font corresponding to the character code to be transmitted (in the case of Japanese, one character is represented by a 2-byte code) into a character font/font.
It has a function of converting a character code into an image information signal by reading it from the memory CFM and sending it out.

The facsimile signal compression circuit FCC converts the image information signal of the character code/font conversion circuit CFC into a normal facsimile signal in which information is compressed and outputs the signal.

The facsimile interfaces 7a to 7n include a control circuit CTC, a modem MDM, and a line interface L.
Consists of NI.

The control circuit CTC has a function of inputting a facsimile signal from the facsimile signal compression circuit FCC and generating control signals such as call origination/disconnection.

The modem MDM has a function of encoding a facsimile signal output from the control circuit CTC into a transmission signal for the lines 5a to 51 to 5n.

The line interface LNI has a function of sending out a transmission signal from the modem MDM onto the line 6a in accordance with a control signal from the control circuit CTC.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. An example will be explained in which the user of the terminal 2a sends a message to the user of the facsimile terminal 6a. The user of terminal 2a is
The mail box management section 14 is accessed through the terminal interface 8a and the terminal interface 8a, and a message is sent thereto. The mail box management unit 14 examines the heading H of the received message, and stores the received message in the mail box 11 corresponding to the contents of the recipient name H1, for example, the message M1 of the user U1.

Next, the mail box management unit 14 checks whether or not the user of the facsimile terminal 6a is registered as a person eligible for the message reception service via the facsimile terminal 6a. Extract the registration information registered in advance in the file (not shown) in 1.
Check the contents against it. This file stores various information regarding each user.

If the user is already registered, please send an email.
The box management unit 14 adds number information representing the facsimile terminal 6a registered corresponding to the user and time information representing the time at which the message was received to the heading H of the received message and receives the message. The information is transferred to the notification information editing section 13.

The incoming call notification information editing section 13 is the mail box management section 1
In response to receiving the message from the facsimile terminal 6a, the information in the heading H is converted into information that can be easily read by the user from the output of the facsimile terminal 6a. for example,
Set the recipient name H1 to "Destination RRRR" and sender name H2 to "Mr. RRRR".
Convert each message into easily readable information, such as "Sender: Mr. 5SSS". In addition, as additional information showing the outline of the message, [Message arrival notification]
, ``Title: TTTTJ'', and ``Message arrival time: XX month XX day XX hour XX minute, XX Showa XX'' are added, and the information is converted into easily readable information.

Further, the incoming call notification information editing unit 13 edits the converted information into the format shown in FIG. Send to.

By the above-described operation, user B is able to quickly know that an e-mail message has been delivered to him/her by the output of the facsimile terminal 6a in the format shown in FIG. 6. Thereby, the user B can read the message stored in the message M1 of the user U1 in the mail box 11 via any of the e-mail terminals 2a to 2n.

(Effects of the Invention) Since the present invention is configured as described in detail above, an e-mail user can easily know that an e-mail message has been received by receiving a notification from a facsimile terminal. , it is no longer necessary to leave messages unattended for long periods of time without noticing that they have been received, or to make unnecessary accesses over and over again even though messages have not been received, and e-mails can be delivered promptly. .

Furthermore, this invention is configured so that only the heading part of the message is converted into facsimile code and sent, and the body part is read out from the e-mail terminal. It is possible to prevent anyone other than the person in question from knowing the contents of the communication. Furthermore, since the e-mail center device is connected to 'fM number of terminals and facsimile terminals, it is possible to efficiently (transmit) a large amount of information in the form of a document to the receiving side, and how to send it when necessary. Messages addressed to oneself can be read even from a terminal, and messages received on the sending and receiving sides can be easily reused as document data.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a message notification system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a conventional message notification system, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing mail box divisions, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a conventional message notification system. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing details of the facsimile interface and facsimile code converter, and FIG. 6 is a format diagram of the output of the facsimile terminal. 1 E-mail center device, 28-2n... terminal, 6a-6n... facsimile terminal, 12... facsimile code conversion section, 13... incoming notification information editing section, 14... mail box management Department. Patent applicant Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An e-mail center device connected to a plurality of terminals and a plurality of facsimile terminals and having a mail box for sending and receiving messages; In an e-mail system that allows messages to be sent and received between terminals, the e-mail center device registers the users of the mail box in advance, and
It stores information related to the user, and when the destination of a message received from the terminal to the mail box is the pre-registered user, the received message and the stored information are stored. information about the user in question, extracts additional information representing the destination of the message and a summary of the message, converts the extracted additional information into a facsimile code, and converts the extracted information to a facsimile code. A message notification method characterized in that the message is forwarded to the destination facsimile terminal.