JPH0427747B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electronic mail system in which an audio explanation or message is simultaneously sent along with a document sent electronically to more reliably convey intentions to the other party.

In conjunction with the recent rise in office costs, a concept called office automation has been proposed to improve office productivity.Recently, research and development on this topic has been actively promoted in the United States and other countries as well. Single devices or networked systems are being introduced into offices.

As part of this office automation concept, there is an electronic mail system, which is an example of a system that electronically sends a document consisting of code information created using a word processor or the like to a desired recipient, or a facsimile system. There is a so-called document mail that sends handwritten documents, drawings, etc. as image information, as seen in the system. These document mail systems have the advantage that documents reach the recipient more quickly and reliably than traditional methods of sending documents written on paper, but they also allow the recipient to more accurately understand the content of the document and have more time to finish reading it. However, little improvement has been made to the fundamental purpose of transmitting information, which is to preserve it in people's memories. On the contrary, when information is converted into type by word processors or in monochrome by facsimiles, the information becomes uniform, which makes it less impressive when read, reduces comprehension, and has the disadvantage of being difficult to remember. Ta.

On the other hand, as an alternative to such text mail, there is a so-called voice mail system, which is an extension of an answering machine and sends voice messages. This method involves specifying one or more recipients using a telephone, storing voice messages, etc. on a storage device such as a magnetic disk or magnetic tape installed at the telephone exchange, and then adding the message to the recipient's telephone. For example, a lamp is lit to notify that a voice message is being sent, and the other party, upon learning this, enters a specific code from the same telephone and listens to the voice message stored in the storage device. . Such a system can be realized relatively easily and inexpensively by adding some devices and functions such as a storage device to a so-called electronic exchange system for telephone premises. Not only is it difficult to extract and read what is urgent or of high interest just by looking at the title or sender's name of multiple documents, but audio explanations are generally even less understandable than written explanations. It also had the drawback of being less memorable.

Due to these shortcomings of text mail systems and voice mail systems, in the past, in the case of important matters, the recipient would be called for additional explanations after sending, and the promptness of electronic mail systems would not be possible. , the situation was such that it was not possible to take full advantage of features such as so-called asynchrony, which prevents the sender and receiver from having a conversation at the same time.

This invention was made in view of these circumstances, and by combining text mail and voice mail, it is possible to simultaneously output a document sent electronically and a voice for adding an explanation about this document to the receiving side. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic mail system that can improve the understanding and impression of the contents of the mail and significantly increase the degree of memorability by configuring the contents.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Note that the subject matter is any form of document such as a document or memo made of code information created by the word processor of the present invention, or a document made of image information, memo, or drawing as seen in facsimile systems. However, the following explanation deals with documents based on code information.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a document mail exchange network, to which a plurality of document mail terminals 2 (two in the illustrated example) are connected and which temporarily stores and stores transmitted documents. A document storage control device 3 is connected to constitute a document mail system.

Here, the document mail terminal 2 has a so-called word processing function, for example, as shown in FIG. A display device 22 for displaying a created document, a sent document, and the fact that a document has been sent, a storage device 23 for storing the display contents of one screen of the display device 22, and arithmetic control. A storage device 2 for storing programs for controlling document creation, sending, receiving, etc., kanji patterns, dictionaries, etc. in conjunction with the device 24;
5. Storage device 26 and line 27 for storing created documents or sent documents
It is composed of a modem 28 that performs interface control with the document mail exchange network 1 via the document mail exchange network 1.

On the other hand, 4 is a telephone exchange network 4, to which a plurality of telephones 5 (two in the illustrated example) are connected, and a voice storage control device 6 for temporarily storing and storing voice messages. and configured a voice mail system. Here, the audio storage control device 6 has a storage capacity sufficient to store audio input for adding detailed explanations along with the content of the document.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, one text mail terminal 2 and one telephone 5 are provided on the sending side A, and one text mail terminal 2 and one telephone 5 are provided on the receiving side B. It is provided.

Next, its effect will be explained.

Now, document transmission is performed as follows. First, a document is created on sender A's document mail terminal 2 using the word processing function of the terminal 2, and at the same time a voice explanation or comment (hereinafter referred to as a voice message) is sent using the voice mail system. Add a note to the effect that it is attached to the same document, as well as information for accessing the voice message. Further, in parallel with such document creation, a voice message is input from the telephone 5 of the sending side A, and is stored in the voice storage control device 6. In this case, a specific code is entered from the telephone 5 via dialing or the like to request the telephone exchange network 4 to store it in the storage control device 6, and then a desired voice message is input and the code is temporarily stored in the control device 6. Procedures are taken to allow storage and memorization.

In this state, when the sender A's terminal 2 specifies the destination of the document and requests the document to be sent, the document is sent to the document storage control device 3 via the document mail exchange network 1, and then sent to the document storage control device 3. 3 is temporarily stored. At the same time, the destination of the document, that is, the document mail terminal 2 on the receiving side B, is specified, and a message indicating that the document is being sent to the terminal 2 is sent, and the message is displayed on the display device 22 of the terminal 2. Display (it may simply be the lighting of a lamp to indicate that the document has been sent).

When receiving party B learns that a document has been sent from this display device 22, he or she enters a predetermined message, such as the recipient's ID code or a request to view the document being sent, from the keyboard 21 of the document mail terminal 2. When the code is input, the document stored in the document storage control device 3 is read out and sent to the same terminal 2 via the document mail exchange network 1, and sent to the computer control device via the line 27 modem 28. The code information is temporarily stored in the storage device 26 under the control of the computer 24, and then the code information is converted into an image to be displayed using, for example, a kanji pattern stored in the storage device 25, and then displayed on the display device 22. In this state, the receiver learns from the document displayed on the display device 22 that the document is accompanied by a voice message, and uses the telephone 5 of receiver B to access the voice message access information described in the document. When the user inputs a specific code and requests a voice message, a voice message for explaining the content of the document that is stored in the voice storage control device 6 is read out, and the voice message is sent to the telephone exchange network 4. It is output to the telephone 5 via the telephone 5. This allows the recipient to view the document displayed on the display device 22 of the terminal 2 while listening to the audio explanation using the telephone 5. Although the above description has been made with A as the sender and B as the receiver, it is also possible to send a document with B as the sender and A as the receiver.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, one document mail terminal 2 is provided on each of the sending side A and the receiving side B.
and a telephone 5 are provided, respectively, to send the document outputted from the document mail terminal 2 of the sending side A to the document storage control device 3, and to send audio to add an explanation related to the document outputted from the telephone set 5. The document and the voice message corresponding to the document are stored temporarily in the document storage control device 6, and the document and the voice message corresponding to the document are stored until the recipient B is specified by specifying the destination on the document mail terminal 2. The data can be read from the control devices 3 and 6 and sent to the receiving side B. As a result, the recipient on the receiving side B can listen to the audio explanation related to the document sent from the sending side A at the same time, making sure that the recipient understands the contents of the sent document. You will be able to do this. In other words, in the past, information was transmitted through either visual or auditory senses, as seen in text mail or voice mail, but compared to this, this invention utilizes both visual and auditory senses to transmit information. This conveys the message to the recipient, creating a strong interest and impression on the recipient, helping them understand the message, and significantly improving the likelihood that it will remain in their memory even after viewing. Experiments have shown that using both visual and auditory cues improves memory retention 120 hours after explanation by a factor of three to six times compared to visual alone or auditory alone.

In addition, word processors with document transmission functions currently available on the market can be used as document mail terminals, and telephones in voice mail systems are standard ones that do not require any display function to indicate that a voice message is being sent. It is extremely advantageous economically as it allows the telephone to be used as is and can be easily implemented by adding a voice storage control device to an existing telephone exchange network.

Next, FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of this invention.

In this case, FIG.
It is tied at The other parts are the same as those in FIG. 1, and the same parts are given the same reference numerals and the explanation here will be omitted.

In this way, when the sender A's text mail terminal 2 inputs the message that a voice message is to be added when creating a document to be sent, the message is sent via the text mail exchange network 1 and the telephone exchange network 4. Then, additional information of the voice message such as the voice storage control device activation request signal and the sender's telephone number as shown in FIG. 8 is sent to the voice storage control device 6. The sender's telephone number may be entered by the sender from the document mail terminal 2, or may be entered in a database registered in advance in the document mail exchange network using the terminal number of the document mail terminal 2 as a key. This can also be achieved by searching or automatically assigning. As a result, when the control device 6 is activated, the telephone 5 of the sender A is called via the telephone exchange network 4, and the telephone 5 of the sender A is called to send the document to the sender.
request a response. When the sender picks up the handset of the telephone 5 and answers, for example, the voice storage control device 6 issues a request to input a voice message using a synthesized voice. When a voice message is input in accordance with the request, the message is sent to the voice storage control device 6 via the telephone exchange network 4, and is sent to the destination telephone number, document message identification, etc. as shown in FIG. It is temporarily stored here along with additional information such as the number.

On the other hand, a document created on the terminal 2 of the sending side A is also sent to the document storage control device 3 via the document mail exchange network 1 after specifying the destination, and is sent, for example, as shown in FIG. It is temporarily stored together with additional information such as destination terminal number and voice message identification number.
A message indicating that the document has been sent is displayed on the display device 22 of the terminal 2.

Based on this display, when the terminal 2 on the receiving side B enters a specific code such as an ID code that is pre-registered in the system for each receiving terminal and requests to view the document, the document stored in the document storage control device 3 will be transferred to the terminal 2.
At the same time, a message indicating that a voice message has been added to the document is displayed. Furthermore, when a request for a voice message is input from the same terminal 2, the request includes, for example, a voice storage control device activation request signal and a recipient telephone number as shown in FIG.
A control signal consisting of a voice message identification number is sent to the voice storage control device 6 via the document mail exchange network 1 and the telephone exchange network 4.
The telephone 5 on the receiving side B is called by the same device 6. When the recipient picks up the handset of the telephone 5, the voice message stored in the voice storage control device 6 is read out and output to the telephone 5 via the telephone switching network 4. This allows the recipient to view the document displayed on the display device 22 of the terminal 2 while listening to the message.

Therefore, in this way, operations related to voice mail can be performed centrally on the document mail terminal 2, which further improves operability.

Next, FIG. 4 shows another different embodiment of the present invention.

In this case, in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the document mail system and the voice mail system were installed independently or in conjunction with each other through control lines, but in the embodiment shown in FIG.
This not only improves operability, but also saves space on the user's desk by combining the document mail terminal and telephone into a combined terminal.

In FIG. 4, 8 is a composite exchange network for transmitting and exchanging documents and voices, and this network 8 includes multiple devices (two in the illustrated example) having document mail and telephone (including voice mail) functions.
A multifunction terminal 9 is connected thereto, as well as a document storage control device 10 and an audio storage control device 11. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the composite terminal 9 includes, in addition to the components shown in FIG. It has a public address system 30, and the other parts are the same as those in FIG. 2, so the same parts are given the same reference numerals and the explanation will be omitted.

In this way, when a document and a voice message to be sent are input from the terminal 9 on the sending side A, they are sent to the document storage control device 10 and the voice storage control device 11, respectively, and are temporarily stored and stored. Then, when the recipient who knows that the same document has been sent to the terminal 9 on the receiving side B inputs a request to view the document, the document storage control device 10 first requests the document and then a voice message. Therefore, a voice message is sent from the voice storage control device 11, and the display device 22 of the terminal 9 on the receiving side B
Phone handset 2 while viewing documents via
9 or a public address system 30 to hear the voice message.

In this way, the operability can be further improved and the space on the user's desk can be advantageously saved. Note that the control signals between the terminal and the network or between the document storage control device and the audio storage control device in this embodiment can be configured in substantially the same manner as in the previously described embodiment, so a description thereof will be omitted.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a further different embodiment of the present invention.

In this case, in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, documents and voice messages are stored in a document or voice storage control device installed at the center of the exchange network, and then sent to the receiving terminal. The same document or voice message is resent in response to a request from someone, but with this method, as the system becomes larger, that is, the number of terminals or users increases, the load on the storage control device increases, and the storage capacity increases significantly. Not only does the burden on the control equipment become heavy, making the device expensive, but also the responsiveness to requests from users deteriorates, resulting in poor service, and furthermore, a failure of the device is likely to spread to the entire system.

The one in Figure 6 is a composite exchange network 12.
A plurality of (two in the illustrated example) compound terminals 13 are connected to the terminal. Here, as shown in FIG. 7, the compound terminal 13 includes the storage device 2 among the components shown in FIG.
6, a large-capacity storage device 31 capable of storing and storing multiple documents and voice messages simultaneously.
Equipped with: Others are the same as in Figure 5,
Identical parts are given the same reference numerals and explanations will be omitted.

In this way, documents and voice messages input from the terminal 13 on the sending side A are temporarily stored in the storage device 31 of the same terminal 13 and then sent to the terminal 13 on the receiving side B via the composite exchange network 12. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the message is stored in the storage device 31 of the terminal 13 along with additional information indicating that the message is a composite message consisting of a document and a voice message. When the receiver learns of the arrival of the compound message through the display device 22 of the terminal 31 and requests viewing of the document and a voice explanation using the keyboard 21, the document and voice message stored in the storage device 31 are read out. This allows the user to view the document displayed on the display device 22 while listening to the audio explanation through the telephone handset 29 or the public address system 30.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be implemented with appropriate modifications without changing the gist. For example, in the above example, the document to be emailed is code information created using a word processor, etc., but it is also possible to target handwritten documents or documents consisting of image information such as drawings. Documents consisting of code information can be created by providing a scanner for inputting image documents such as those seen on the screen, and by adding means such as adding a function to the arithmetic and control unit to compress the band of the image information input by the scanner. It goes without saying that almost the same effect can be obtained. In addition, when transmitting and storing voice messages, it goes without saying that by compressing the bandwidth using voice analysis and synthesis technology, the transmission capacity and storage capacity can be significantly reduced, creating a system with excellent cost performance. . In addition, in the above explanation, voice mail is used as an additional function of text mail to listen to explanations, but conversely, for example, in lectures or speeches, text mail is mainly used for explanations by voice, and text mail is added. As a modification of the present invention, it is also possible to use the system as a functional function, that is, to listen to a voice message sent as a voice mail and refer to a drawing sent as a document mail. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the electronic mail system becomes more convenient by adding, for example, a printer to the above-mentioned document mail terminal or multifunction terminal and outputting on paper in addition to the output on the display device.

As described above, according to the present invention, text mail and voice mail are combined so that a document sent electronically can be simultaneously output to the receiving side along with a voice message related to the same document, thereby improving understanding and impression of the contents of the mail. We can provide an e-mail system that can increase the

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a document mail terminal used in the same embodiment, Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. The figure is a block diagram showing a different embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a composite terminal used in the different embodiment of FIG.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a further different embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a composite terminal used in still another embodiment of FIG. 6, and FIGS. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining control signals used in other embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 to 7; 1... Exchange network for document mail, 2... Document mail terminal, 3, 10... Document storage control device,
4, 11...Telephone exchange network, 5...Telephone,
6...Audio storage control device, 7...Control line, 8, 12
...Composite exchange network, 9,13...Compound terminal,
21...keyboard, 22...display device, 23,2
5, 26, 31... Storage device, 24... Arithmetic control unit, 27... Line, 28... Modem, 29... Telephone handset, 30... Public address device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Document input means for electronically inputting a document consisting of code information or image information, voice input means for electronically inputting voice for adding an explanation related to the document, and the document and voice. a transmitter having a destination specifying means for specifying the destination of the
a storage means for temporarily storing and storing the above-mentioned documents and sounds generated by the above-mentioned transmitting section; and a receiving section that is specified as the destination of the above-mentioned documents and sounds by the destination designation by the destination specifying means of the above-mentioned transmitting section; , specifies the receiving section as the destination of the document and audio according to the destination specified by the destination specifying means, notifies the receiving section that the document and audio are being sent, and requests the receiving section. comprising network means for reading out the document and audio from the storage means and sending them to the receiving section;
An electronic mail system characterized in that it is possible to simultaneously view and listen to a document output from the transmitter and audio related to the document. 2. The electronic mail system according to claim 1, wherein the storage means has a storage means for storing documents and voices separately. 3. The electronic mail system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the receiving section has a display device for displaying a document and a public address device for outputting audio. 4. The network means has separate document network means for sending documents to the receiving section and audio network means for sending audio to the receiving section. Third
The electronic mail system described in any of the paragraphs. 5. The network means has separate document network means for sending documents to the receiving section side and audio network means for sending audio to the receiving section side, and also for exchanging control information between these network means. An electronic mail system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the electronic mail system is connected by a line. 6. The network means of the patent claim is characterized in that the document network means for sending documents to the receiving section side and the audio network means for sending audio signals to the receiving section side are constituted by a common network means. The e-mail system according to any one of items 1 to 4. 7. The e-mail system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the storage means is incorporated in the transmitter or the receiver.