JPH04280535A - Electronic mail reception notice equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To implement reception notice with a method suitable for the importance of an electronic mail by storing the relation between the content of the received electronic mail and the method of reception notice as a rule. CONSTITUTION:A reception mail analysis section 3 urges a reception notice section 4 to implement the method of informing it to an electronic mail recipient that an electronic mail reception section 1 receives an electronic mail according to the method depending on the content of the received electronic mail and a rule group stored in a rule storage section 2 described by the electronic mail recipient in advance, and the reception notice section 4 informs the reception of the electronic mail to the electronic mail recipient by the method decided by the reception mail analysis section 3.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention utilizes an e-mail system built on a computer network system, and uses a predetermined method to notify that a computer has received an e-mail addressed to a certain e-mail recipient. The present invention relates to an e-mail reception notification device that notifies a mail recipient.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as a method for notifying an e-mail recipient that a computer used by the e-mail recipient has received an e-mail, if the e-mail recipient is using a computer, the e-mail is received. There was a system that would ring a bell to alert the person and display part of the content of the received e-mail on the computer's display device. Biff, which is a command on UNIX, is an example of a system that employs this method. As shown in FIG. 18, the conventional e-mail reception notification device based on biff includes an e-mail reception section 31 that receives e-mail, and a reception notification section 3 that notifies the reception of e-mail using a predetermined method.
2.

[0003] Furthermore, when the e-mail recipient uses a computer equipped with a bitmap display device, there is a method of displaying a predetermined icon or changing the color of the icon when the e-mail is received. There was something like that. As one that adopts such a method, Ma
ssachusetts Institute of
XWindow developed with Technology
There is xbiff, which is a client program for System.

0004

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional system, the e-mail recipient is notified in the same way that the e-mail has been received regardless of the importance of the received e-mail. If you are working on an important task when you receive an e-mail notification, you may not check the contents of the e-mail even if the e-mail is very important. Was.

[0005]Furthermore, an e-mail recipient who receives a notification of e-mail reception must interrupt the work he was doing at the time of receiving the e-mail in order to check the contents of the e-mail he has received. Another problem is that if the importance of the e-mail is not high, the efficiency of the work performed when receiving the e-mail decreases. The present invention has been developed in view of the above circumstances, and is intended to prevent neglecting to check the contents of important e-mails when they are received.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an e-mail reception notification device that can prevent a decrease in work efficiency caused by checking the contents when an unimportant e-mail is received.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides an e-mail receiving unit that receives an e-mail, a reception notification unit that notifies that the e-mail has been received, and the content of the e-mail that the e-mail receiving unit receives. a rule storage unit that stores one or more rules consisting of a condition regarding the condition and information representing a process to be performed by the reception notification unit when the condition is satisfied; and a received mail analysis unit that prompts the reception notification unit to process according to the content of the received email, and the reception notification unit notifies that the email has been received in a method according to the instructions of the reception mail analysis unit. It is characterized by having a structure that allows

[0007]

[Operation] An e-mail receiving section receives an e-mail addressed to the e-mail recipient, and the received e-mail analysis section sends the e-mail to the e-mail recipient according to the content of the received e-mail and the rules stored in the rule storage section. The reception notification section instructs the reception notification section how to notify the reception of the e-mail, and the reception notification section notifies the e-mail recipient of the reception of the e-mail according to the instructions of the received mail analysis section. In other words, by determining the method of notifying the e-mail recipient that the e-mail has been received, based on the content such as the identifier representing the sender and the title of the received e-mail, and a set of predetermined rules, it is possible to If we receive an email that we believe is important, we will notify you of the receipt of the email in a very alert manner, and if we receive an email that we believe is not important to the email recipient, we will notify you of the receipt of such email. E-mail reception can be notified in a flexible manner, such as notifying the user of e-mail reception only when a predetermined number of e-mails have been received.

[0008]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an e-mail reception notification device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. a rule storage unit 2 that stores a group of rules that describe the relationship between the content of the email received by the email recipient and a notification method to the email recipient; and the content of the email received by the email reception unit 1 and the rule storage unit 2. a received mail analysis unit 3 that determines a method of notifying the email recipient that the email has been received based on the content of the email;
and a reception notification section 4 that notifies the reception of the e-mail using the method determined by the method. Each rule stored in the rule storage unit 2 has a structure as shown in FIG. and an action section 7 indicating a method of notifying that the e-mail has been received.

Next, the operation of the received mail analysis section 3 will be explained step by step using the flowchart shown in FIG. Note that the e-mail receiving section 1 always waits for the arrival of an e-mail and starts the received mail analyzing section 3 every time it receives an e-mail. Further, the reception notification section 4 notifies the user that the e-mail has been received in accordance with the instructions from the received mail analysis section 3. (Step S1) Check whether the content of the e-mail, for example, M, received by the e-mail receiving section 1 satisfies the condition of the condition section 6 of any rule in the rule group stored in the rule storage section 2, and step S2 Proceed to.

(Step S2) If the content of the e-mail M satisfies the condition of the condition section 6 of a certain rule, for example, rule K, the process advances to step S3. If not, terminate. (Step S3) The method for notifying that the e-mail M has been received is determined to be the notification method shown in the action section 7 of rule K, for example, W, and the process proceeds to step S4.

(Step S4) The reception notification unit 4 is prompted to notify the reception of the e-mail M by method W, and the process ends. Next, the specific operation of the e-mail reception notification device of this embodiment will be explained. Here, the rule group stored in the rule storage unit 2 includes the rules shown in FIG.
1 shall be received. In FIG. 4, 401 indicates if the sender of the received e-mail has the identifier "suzuki".
This is a rule that indicates that if the person is the person represented by , the bell will ring at a volume of 1, that is, a low volume, and 402 is a rule that indicates that if the sender of the received e-mail has the identifier "tanaka"
403 is a rule that indicates that if the person is a person represented by , the bell should be rung at a volume of 5, that is, a high volume, and 403 is a rule that indicates that if the title of the received e-mail includes the character string "patent", the volume is set to 5. 5, that is, the rule represents ringing the bell at a loud volume. Also, Figure 5
, 501 is the sender of the email M1 as an identifier.
502 is a line indicating that the person is a person represented by "Gijiroku", and 502 is a line indicating that the subject of e-mail M1 is "Gijiroku".
”, and 503 is the line indicating that the e-mail M1
This is part of the main text.

(1) The e-mail receiving unit 1 receives an e-mail M1 addressed to an e-mail recipient R1. (2) Next, the received mail analysis section 3 determines a method for notifying the reception of the e-mail M1 addressed to the e-mail recipient R1 according to the contents of the received e-mail M1 and the contents of the rule storage section 2. In this case, from rule 402 in FIG. 4 and line 501 in FIG.
It is found that the notification method for receiving 1 is to ring a bell at a volume of 5, and the reception notification section 4 is instructed to ring a bell at a volume of 5 from the terminal used by the e-mail recipient R1.

(3) Next, the reception notification section 4 notifies the e-mail recipient R1 that the e-mail has been received by ringing a bell at a volume of 5 from the terminal used by the e-mail recipient R1. As described above, according to the present embodiment, by the e-mail recipient writing a group of rules related to e-mail in the rule storage section 2 in advance, the e-mail receiving section 1 can store the contents of the received e-mail and the rule storage section. The received mail analysis section 3 determines a method of notifying the e-mail recipient of the receipt of the e-mail according to the rule group stored in the rule group 2, and the reception notification section 4 notifies the e-mail recipient of the receipt of the e-mail using that method. may be notified to that effect. Therefore, it is possible to prevent each e-mail recipient from neglecting to check the contents when receiving an important e-mail, and also prevent a decrease in work efficiency caused by checking the contents when receiving an unimportant e-mail. becomes possible.

[0014] In step S2 and step S3 of FIG. 3, if a plurality of rules are detected in the rule storage unit 2 in which conditions that are satisfied by the content of the email received by the email receiving unit 1 are written in the condition unit 6. The method for notifying the reception of the e-mail may be to notify only the contents of the action section 7 of the first detected rule, or to notify the contents of the action section 7 of all detected rules.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the volume of the bell is changed as a method of distinguishing the degree to which the e-mail recipient's attention is called for in the notification of e-mail reception. Alternatively, an icon may be displayed, and the size of the icon may indicate the extent to which the e-mail recipient's attention is called for. (Embodiment 2) FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an e-mail reception notification device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In addition to the notification section 4, there is a counter section 9 that holds one or more numerical values, and a counter section 9 that stores one or more numerical values according to the contents of the e-mail received by the e-mail receiving section 1 and the contents of the rule storage section 2.
while changing any numerical value held by the counting section 9.
A received mail analysis unit 10 that prompts the reception notification unit 4 to process according to one of the numerical values held by the rule storage unit 2 and the contents of the rule storage unit 2.
It is equipped with Each rule stored in the rule storage unit 2 has a structure as shown in FIG.
Condition part 1 that indicates one of the conditions for the numerical value held by
2, and information that instructs to change the numerical value held by the counting section 9 when the condition of the condition section 12 is met, or information that indicates a notification method of receiving an e-mail, or a rule having the structure shown in FIG. 7. and an action section 13 consisting of one of the series.

Next, the operation of the received mail analysis section 10 will be explained step by step using the flowchart shown in FIG. Note that the e-mail receiving section 1 always waits for the arrival of an e-mail and starts the received mail analyzing section 10 every time it receives an e-mail. Further, the reception notifying unit 4 notifies that the e-mail has been received according to instructions from the received mail analyzing unit 10. (Step S11) Check whether the content of the e-mail, for example, M, received by the e-mail receiving section 1 satisfies the condition of the condition section 12 of any rule in the rule group stored in the rule storage section 2, and step S12 Proceed to.

(Step S12) If the content of the e-mail M satisfies the condition of the condition section 12 of a certain rule, for example, rule K, the process advances to step S13. If not, terminate. (Step S13) Change any numerical value held by the counting unit 9 according to the contents of the action unit 13 of the rule K, or change the rule group stored in the rule storage unit 2, e-mail M, and the counting unit 9. The method of notifying the reception of the e-mail M is determined in accordance with a certain numerical value, and the process proceeds to step S14.

(Step S14) If the notification method for notifying the reception of e-mail M is determined to be, for example, W based on the contents of the action section 13 of rule K, the process advances to step S15. If not, terminate. (Step S15) The reception notification unit 4 is prompted to notify the reception of the e-mail M by method W, and the process ends.

Next, the specific operation of the e-mail reception notification device of this embodiment will be explained. Here, the counting unit 9 in this embodiment has the contents shown in the conceptual diagram of FIG. 9 before starting the operation described below, and the rule group stored in the rule storage unit 2 includes the rules shown in FIG. 10. During the operation described below, the e-mail receiving unit 1 receives an e-mail M11 containing the contents of FIG. 11, an e-mail M12 containing the contents of FIG. 12, and an e-mail M13 containing the contents of FIG. shall be taken as a thing. In FIG. 9, 901 indicates that among the numerical values held by the counting unit 9, the numerical value represented by the identifier “COUNTER1” is currently 1, and 902 indicates the numerical value represented by the identifier “COUNTER2” among the numerical values held by the counting unit 9. 903 indicates that the numerical value displayed is currently 0, and 903 indicates that the counting unit 9
This indicates that among the numerical values held by , the numerical value represented by the identifier "COUNTER3" is currently 0. In addition, in FIG. 10, 1001 indicates that if the sender has the identifier "suzuki"
” or the identifier “sato”, the identifier “COUNT” out of the numerical values held by the counting unit 9.
Increment the number represented by ``ER1'' by 1, then add the identifier ``
If the number represented by ``COUNTER1'' is 5 or more, an icon of size 3, that is, a medium-sized icon is displayed on the display, and then the identifier ``CO'' is displayed.
This is a rule that indicates that the value represented by "UNTER1" is set to 0. Also, 1002 is a rule that indicates that if the sender has an identifier "t"
If the person is a person represented by "Anaka", the number represented by the identifier "COUNTER1" among the numerical values held by the counting unit 9 is increased by 3, and then the number represented by the identifier "COUNTER1" is increased by 3.
If the value represented by "1" is 5 or more, an icon of size 3, that is, a medium-sized icon is displayed on the display, and then the identifier "COUNTER1" is displayed.
This is a rule that indicates that the numerical value represented by is set to 0. In FIG. 11, 1101 is a line indicating that the sender of the e-mail M11 is the person represented by the identifier "sato", and 1102 is a line in which the title of the e-mail M11 is "bowl".
1103 is a part of the body of the e-mail M11. In FIG. 12, 1201 indicates that the sender of the e-mail M12 has the identifier "su
This is a line indicating that the person is represented by "Zuki", and 1
In 202, the title of email M12 is "hello!!"
1203 is a line indicating that e-mail M
This is part of the text of No. 12. Also, in FIG. 13, 130
1 indicates that the sender of e-mail M13 has the identifier "tanaka".
1302 is a line indicating that the title of the e-mail M13 is "Gijiroku," and 1303 is a part of the body of the e-mail M13.

(1) E-mail receiving section 1 receives e-mail M11 addressed to e-mail recipient R1. (2) Next, the received mail analysis unit 10 changes the numerical value held by the counting unit 9 according to the content of the received email M11 and the content of the rule storage unit 2, and
The notification method for receiving the e-mail M11 is determined. In this case, rule 1001 in FIG. 10 and row 11 in FIG.
01, first, among the numerical values held by the counting unit 9, the numerical value represented by the identifier "COUNTER1" is increased by one. FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram of the contents of the counting section 9 at this point. In FIG. 14, 901 indicates that among the numerical values held by the counting unit 9, the numerical value represented by the identifier "COUNTER1" is currently 2.

(3) Next, the received mail analysis unit 10 extracts the identifier “COUNTER1” from among the numerical values held by the counting unit 9.
It is checked whether the numerical value represented by is 5 or more, and since it is not, the received mail analysis section 10 does nothing. (4) Next, the e-mail receiving unit 1 sends the e-mail recipient R
The e-mail M12 addressed to 1 is received.

(5) Similarly, the received mail analysis section 10 changes the numerical value held by the counting section 9 according to the contents of the received e-mail M12 and the contents of the rule storage section 2, and sends an e-mail to the e-mail recipient R1. A method for notifying the reception of emails M11 and M12 is determined. In this case, rule 1 in Figure 10
001 and row 1201 in FIG. 12, first, among the numerical values held by the counting unit 9, the numerical value represented by the identifier "COUNTER1" is incremented by one. FIG. 15 is a conceptual diagram of the contents of the counting section 9 at this point. In FIG. 15, 901 is an identifier "COUNTER1" among the numerical values held by the counting section 9.
” indicates that the current value is 3.

(6) Next, the received mail analysis unit 10 extracts the identifier “COUNTER1” from among the numerical values held by the counting unit 9.
It is checked whether the numerical value represented by is 5 or more, and since it is not, the received mail analysis section 10 does nothing. (7) Next, the e-mail receiving unit 1 sends the e-mail recipient R
The e-mail M13 addressed to No. 1 is received.

(8) Similarly, the received mail analysis section 10 changes the numerical value held by the counting section 9 according to the contents of the received e-mail M13 and the contents of the rule storage section 2, and sends an e-mail to the e-mail recipient R1. Email M11, M12, M13
Determine the method of notification of receipt. In this case, from the rule 1002 in FIG. 10 and the row 1301 in FIG.
” is increased by 3. FIG. 16 is a conceptual diagram of the contents of the counting section 9 at this point. In FIG.
01 is the identifier "COUN" among the numerical values held by the counting section 9.
This indicates that the value represented by TER1'' is currently 6.

(9) Next, the received mail analysis unit 10 extracts the identifier “COUNTER1” from among the numerical values held by the counting unit 9.
It is checked whether the numerical value represented by is 5 or more, and if so, the received mail analysis section 10 instructs the reception notification section 4 to display an icon of size 3 on the display. (10) Next, the reception notification unit 4 displays an icon of size 3 on the display to notify the e-mail recipient R1 that the e-mail has been received.

(11) The received mail analysis section 10 is the counting section 9
Among the numerical values held by , the numerical value represented by the identifier "COUNTER1" is set to 0. Figure 17 shows the counting section 9 at this point.
It is a conceptual diagram of the contents. In FIG. 17, 901 is an identifier "COUNTER1" among the numerical values held by the counting unit 9.
Indicates that the value represented by is currently 0. As described above, according to this embodiment, by the e-mail recipient writing a group of rules regarding e-mail in the rule storage section 2 in advance, the points given to the received e-mail according to the contents of the rule storage section 2 can be assigned. When the total number exceeds a certain value, the reception notification unit 4 can notify the e-mail recipient that the e-mail has been received. Therefore, when the e-mail receiving unit 1 receives an e-mail that is considered not to be very important to the e-mail recipient, it immediately notifies the e-mail recipient that the e-mail has been received, and the e-mail recipient confirms the contents. It is possible to prevent the e-mail recipient's work efficiency from decreasing.

[0027] In this embodiment, only one numerical value represented by a certain identifier among the numerical values held by the counter 9 is changed each time an e-mail that satisfies the conditions is received. The numerical values represented by different identifiers held by the counting unit 9 may be changed depending on a plurality of conditions regarding the content of the e-mail, and the e-mail recipient may be notified each time the plurality of conditions are satisfied.

[0028]

As explained above, according to the present invention, there is provided an e-mail receiving section that receives e-mail, a reception notification section that notifies that the e-mail has been received, and an e-mail receiving section that receives e-mail. a rule storage section that stores one or more rules consisting of a condition regarding the content of the email and information representing a process to be performed by the reception notification section when the condition is satisfied; and a rule storage section that stores the contents of the rule storage section and the email reception section. a received mail analysis unit that prompts the reception notification unit to process according to the content of the email received by the department, and the reception notification unit receives the email in a method according to the instructions of the reception notification unit. For example, if an e-mail is received that seems important to the e-mail recipient, the system will notify the recipient of the e-mail reception in a way that calls for attention, and the e-mail will be notified of the e-mail reception in a way that calls for attention. If a user receives an e-mail that appears to be the same, the user can notify the user of the e-mail reception using a flexible method such as notifying the user of the e-mail reception only when a predetermined number of such e-mails have been received. Therefore, it is possible to prevent neglecting to check the contents of an important e-mail when it is received, and also to prevent a decrease in work efficiency caused by checking the contents when an unimportant e-mail is received. It has a great effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an e-mail reception notification device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of each rule included in the rule storage unit in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of a received mail analysis section in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing part of the contents of a rule storage unit in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing part of the contents of an e-mail received by the e-mail receiving section in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an e-mail reception notification device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of each rule included in the rule storage unit in Example 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a received mail analysis section in Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing part of the contents of the counting section before the e-mail receiving section receives the first e-mail in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram showing part of the contents of a rule storage unit in Example 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing part of the content of the first e-mail received by the e-mail receiving section in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram showing part of the contents of the second e-mail received by the e-mail receiving section in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram showing part of the content of the third e-mail received by the e-mail receiving section in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram showing part of the contents of the counter after the e-mail receiving section receives the first e-mail in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a conceptual diagram showing part of the contents of the counting section after the e-mail receiving section receives the second e-mail in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a part of the contents of the counting section after the e-mail receiving section receives the third e-mail until the e-mail recipient receives notification that the e-mail has been received in Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG.

FIG. 17 shows part of the contents of the counter after the e-mail receiving section receives the third e-mail and the e-mail recipient receives notification of the reception of the e-mail in the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a conventional e-mail reception notification device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 E-mail receiving section 2 Rule storage section 3 Received email analysis department 4 Reception notification section 9 Counting part 10 Received email analysis department

Claims (2)

[Claims] [Claim 1] An e-mail receiving section that receives an e-mail, a reception notification section that notifies that the e-mail has been received, a condition regarding the content of the e-mail received by the e-mail receiving section, and whether the condition is satisfied. a rule storage section that stores one or more rules consisting of information representing a process to be performed by the reception notification section; and a received mail analysis section that prompts the reception notification section to process, and the reception notification section notifies that the e-mail has been received by a method according to instructions of the reception mail analysis section. E-mail receipt notification device. 2. A counting unit that holds one or more numerical values, and a received mail analysis unit that stores numerical values that the counting unit holds according to the content of the email received by the email receiving unit and the content of the rule storage unit. change one or more numerical values, and
The e-mail reception notification device according to claim 1, characterized in that the e-mail reception notification device is configured to prompt the reception notification unit to perform processing according to one or more numerical values held by the counting unit and the contents of the rule storage unit.