JPH04241571A - Picture reception informing system for facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To judge the arrival of pictures without fail by a transmitting person by informing picture reception by originating a call to the telephone number of a correspondent informing destination only when a set password code is inputted. CONSTITUTION:The transmitting person sets a transmitting original to an exchange, operates an operation display part 8, sets the facsimile equipment of the destination and inputs an ID code containing the password code and the phone number of the informing destination. On the transmission side, the ID code set corresponding to a receiving person is transmitted to the reception side together with pictures. When a call is incoming, on the reception side, the equipment is informed of the transmission side by an NSS signal, and the ID code and the telephone code of the communicating destination to be received from the transmission side by the NSS signal are stored in a system memory 9. Further, pictures to be transmitted are received and stored in an image memory 4. Only when the ID code having the password code is inputted corresponding to the pictures received at such a time, a response is executed by originating a call. Thus, the transmitting person can judge the arrival of pictures to the receiving person without fail.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image reception notification system for a facsimile machine in which a receiving side notifies a sending side that an image has been received.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art When a sender sends an image to a specific recipient using a facsimile device, even if the receiving facsimile device correctly receives the transmitted image, it is difficult to check whether the received image has reached the recipient. There is an inconvenience that the sender cannot make a decision.

[0003] In order to solve this inconvenience, for example, as seen in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-296433, when the recipient on the receiving side receives the received image and performs a confirmation operation,
A facsimile machine has been proposed that calls the sender and sends a report image indicating that the image has been confirmed.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the confirmation operation in this case can be performed even if the person is not the recipient of the image. For this reason, for example, someone other than the recipient may find an image being received by a facsimile device and perform a confirmation operation to deliver it to the recipient. In this case, the image may not be delivered to the recipient because the other person forgets to deliver the image or loses it.

[0005] Furthermore, when images are received for multiple recipients, one recipient may mistakenly perform a confirmation operation for another person or take another person's image with him or her. Sometimes I do.

However, even in these cases, the facsimile machine sends the above-mentioned report image for image confirmation to each sending side. For this reason, there was a problem in that the sender could not determine whether the image had definitely reached the recipient.

On the other hand, when an image is sent or received, the sender and recipient often communicate over the phone regarding the content. In this case, since the facsimile number and telephone number are usually different, it is necessary to look up the telephone number of the other party and dial the number again using the telephone, which poses a problem in that the dialing operation is troublesome.

The present invention solves the above problems and provides a facsimile machine that allows a sender to reliably determine whether an image is to be delivered to a recipient, and allows the sender and recipient to make telephone calls without any troublesome dialing operations. The purpose is to provide equipment.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] To this end, the present invention is such that the sending side sends the image together with the telephone number of the recipient and the recitation code set according to the recipient, while the receiving side The image is recorded and output only when the recitation code corresponding to the image is input, and then a call is made to the corresponding telephone number to report, and after the called telephone answers, an audio signal is sent. The system notifies you that an image has been received.

[0010]Also, the receiving side is equipped with a telephone for making calls, and when transmitting the voice signal, the device outputs a ring tone to call the operator, and if the telephone is taken off-hook by the operator, the voice signal is The transmission of the signal and the output of the ringing tone are stopped, and the telephone is placed in a conversation state with the other party.

[0011]

[Operation] By setting a recitation code on the receiving side that is known only to the recipient, only the recipient can record and output the received image. This allows the sender to
Delivery of the image to the recipient can be determined reliably.

[0012] Furthermore, when the receiving side notifies the transmitting side telephone of the reception of the image by an audio signal, the receiving side operator can immediately talk to the sender by taking the telephone off-hook. This allows the sender and recipient to easily contact each other by phone without any troublesome dialing operations.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a scanner 1 reads an original image and extracts image information, and a plotter 2 records the image on recording paper. The encoding/decoding unit 3 compresses image information to be transmitted by encoding, and decodes received image information to reproduce the original image information. The image memory 4 is
This is to temporarily store image information.

The modem 5 modulates and demodulates image information and transmits it, and also transmits and receives various procedure signals for transmission control. The network control device 6 is connected to the telephone set 7 and a telephone line, and performs switching between telephone calls and facsimile communications and line control when making and receiving calls. Further, within the network control device 6, a signal tone sending circuit 6a for sending out a constant audio signal is provided.

The operation display section 8 displays the operating status of the device and is used by the operator to perform various operations. A buzzer 8a for calling an operator is provided within the operation display section 8. The system memory 9 temporarily stores various information necessary for communication operations. The system control section 10 is a microcomputer that controls each of the above sections, and the system bus 11 is a signal line through which the above sections exchange various control signals and data with each other.

With the above configuration, next, communication processing of the facsimile machine of this embodiment will be explained.

On the sending side, as shown in FIG. 2, the sender sets the original to be sent on the scanner 1 (process 101) and sets the telephone number of the destination facsimile machine by performing a predetermined operation on the operation display section 8. On the other hand, the ID code and the telephone number of the reporting party are input (process 102).

[0019] The above-mentioned ID code is agreed upon in advance with the destination recipient, and is set to, for example, a four-digit number. Further, the notification destination telephone number is a telephone number for receiving a notification when the transmitted manuscript reaches the recipient. After these settings, a transmission operation is started (process 103).

When the sending facsimile machine is activated, it makes a call to the destination (process 104), and when the receiving facsimile machine responds, it begins a known transmission control procedure. At this time, the device function of the receiving side is notified by the NSF signal transmitted from the receiving side. The receiving facsimile machine in this embodiment is as follows:
When the received image is recorded and output, it is equipped with a function to notify the above-mentioned notification destination telephone number.

[0021] The transmitting side uses the received information of the NSF signal to
Determine whether the receiving side has the reporting function (processing 106)
. Then, if there is a reporting function (Y in process 106), N
The ID code and the destination telephone number are notified to the receiving side by the SS signal (processing 107). Thereafter, the document image is read and the image is transmitted using a known transmission control procedure (process 108).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, when the receiving facsimile machine receives a call (processing 201), it notifies the transmitting side of the device function using the NSF signal as described above (processing 20).
2). Next, the above I received from the transmitting side as an NSS signal
The D code and the destination telephone number are stored in the system memory 9 (process 203).

Next, the transmitted image is received and stored in the image memory 4 (process 204). When the operation is finished, communication is ended and the line is disconnected (process 205). At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, a reception management table is created in the system memory 9, which includes the received ID code, the telephone number of the destination, and a pointer indicating the storage position of the received image in the image memory 4. Processing 206). Also, the fact that the image has been received is displayed on the display of the operation display section 8 (
Processing 207).

The receiving facsimile machine executes the above processing for each communication. Therefore, when a plurality of communications are executed, each received image is accumulated to create a respective reception management table.

When the recipient on the receiving side retrieves the received image, as shown in FIG. 4, the recipient inputs the ID code agreed upon with the sender (process 301).

When the ID code is input, the facsimile machine determines whether the ID code is stored in the reception management table (process 302). Here, that I
If the D code is stored (Y in process 302), the corresponding received image is read out from the image memory 4 and recorded and output (process 303).

Next, a call is made to the destination telephone number corresponding to the image (process 304). This reporting phone number is
This is the telephone number of the sender's location. This causes the sender on the sending side to respond by telephone.

[0028] When the other party responds (Y in process 305),
After starting a timer for measuring the elapsed time (process 306), a signal tone is sent out (process 307). This signal tone is a constant audible signal such as a tone signal of 700 Hz that is intermittent at a period of 3 seconds.

[0029] Also, at this time, the buzzer 8a is sounded (
Process 308), monitor off-hook of telephone 7 and elapsed time (process 309, process 310 from N of process 309,
(Proceed to process 309 from N in process 310).

When the buzzer 8a rings, the recipient takes the telephone 7 off-hook if he or she needs to talk to the sender.

When the telephone 7 is taken off-hook (Y in process 309), the facsimile machine stops transmitting the signal tone to the other party and stops ringing the buzzer 8a (processes 311 and 312). Then, the telephone 7 is connected to the line. This allows the recipient to talk to the sender (processing 3).
13).

[0032] Also, if the telephone 7 is not off-hook,
If the preset time limit has passed (process 31)
0), similarly to the above, the transmission of the signal sound and the ringing of the buzzer 8a are stopped (processing 314, processing 315), and the operation is ended.

On the other hand, if a call is made to the destination and there is no response (N in process 305), after waiting for a certain period of time (process 31
6), make a call again (process 304).

Furthermore, if the input ID code does not match the stored ID code (N in process 302), the above operations are not executed.

As described above, in this embodiment, when a specific ID code is input, on the receiving side, an image is recorded, and a call is made to the specified destination and a signal tone is used to notify that the image has been received. I try to do that. Therefore, if the sender agrees on an ID code with the recipient in advance, the sender can receive a notification when a specific recipient retrieves the image. Thereby, delivery of the image to the recipient can be determined reliably.

Furthermore, on the receiving side, if the telephone 7 is taken off-hook while the signal tone is being sent to the destination, it is possible to immediately communicate with the sender. This allows the sender and recipient to easily communicate by telephone without having to take the trouble to dial the recipient's phone number.

[0037] In the above embodiment, when the receiving side notifies the destination of reception, a certain signal tone is sent out, but it is of course possible to send out a voice message. It is. Further, although the signal tone is sent out for a certain period of time, the operator may be able to set the sending time arbitrarily.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, when transmitting an image, the sending side sets and transmits the recitation code and the telephone number of the destination, while the receiving side The system records and outputs the image only when it is input, calls the corresponding notification phone number, and notifies the reception of the image with an audio signal, so the sender can request delivery of the image to a specific recipient. You will be able to make decisions with certainty.

[0039] Also, on the receiving side, when transmitting a voice signal, the operator is called with a ring tone, and if the telephone is off-hook, the transmission of the voice signal and the output of the ring tone are stopped, and the telephone is placed at the other party's destination. Since the sender and recipient can easily communicate by phone without any troublesome dialing operations,

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart showing transmission processing on the transmitting side.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart showing reception processing on the receiving side.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of storage information of a reception management table.

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart showing received image output processing on the receiving side.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Scanner 2 Plotter 3 Encoding/decoding section 4 Image memory 5 Modem 6 Network control device 6a Signal tone sending circuit 7　Telephone 8 Operation display section 8a Buzzer 9. System memory 10 System control section

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: In an image reception notification method of a facsimile machine, in which the receiving side notifies the sending side that the image has been received by performing a certain confirmation operation on the receiving side after the sending side sends the image to the receiving side. The side is equipped with a transmitting means for transmitting the image together with a reporting destination telephone number and a recitation code set according to the recipient of the image to the receiving side,
The receiving side includes a recording means for recording and outputting a received image only when a recitation code corresponding to the image is input, a calling means for making a call to a reporting destination telephone number corresponding to the recorded and outputted image, and a calling means for making a call to a reporting destination telephone number corresponding to the recorded and outputted image. 1. An image reception notification method for a facsimile machine, characterized in that the facsimile apparatus is equipped with a voice signal sending means for sending a constant voice signal after a called telephone answers. 2. The receiving side includes a ringing tone output means for outputting a ringing tone from the device when transmitting the audio signal, a telephone for talking, and a device for transmitting the audio signal tone when the telephone is off-hook. 2. The image reception notification system for a facsimile machine according to claim 1, further comprising a stop means for stopping the output of the ring tone, and a communication means for placing the telephone in a communication state with the other party.