JPH05153317A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent remote control from a 3rd party not allowed by the user by devising a remote control function such that the validity is selected optionally. CONSTITUTION:When the operator at a facsimile equipment 1 permits remote control, a remote control on/off changeover means 1b is used to set the remote control function to be ON-state. Moreover, an off-condition changeover means 1d selects the off-condition of the remote control function optionally. The changeover means 1d selects either an immediate OFF or a time limit OFF. Then a prescribed operation is executed according to a remote operation command. When the communication is terminated, the setting of the off-condition of the changeover means 1d is discriminated. Suppose that the OFF-condition is set to the time limit OFF, a timer 1c is started. On the other hand, when the OFF condition is set to the immediate OFF, the remote control function is immediately set OFF and the operation is terminated after the end of communication.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus having a function of performing various operations by remote control in addition to normal image transmission.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ordinary facsimile apparatus such as the G3 standard transmits an image by a standard transmission control procedure based on the CCITT recommendation. On the other hand, apart from such a standard transmission control procedure, a facsimile apparatus which can be remotely operated via a telephone line is put into practical use by a transmission control procedure unique to each manufacturer.

The operation performed by this remote operation is, for example, an operation of reading a user name or one-touch dial information registered in a facsimile machine, or transferring the read information to another facsimile machine and registering it. There is. Such a function is provided, for example, when a user installs a second facsimile device, a serviceman remotely reads registration information of the first facsimile device from the service center, and It is used such as transferring to a facsimile machine and registering.

[0004]

By the way, conventionally, when installing or maintaining a facsimile apparatus, a service person
The remote operation function of the device is fixedly set to be valid or invalid, and the operator on the user side cannot change the setting.

Further, once set to be valid, the facsimile machine must always execute a predetermined operation upon receiving an incoming call and remote control command information. Therefore, there is a problem that the facsimile apparatus may be operated by another person without permission of the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of preventing remote operation from another person who is not permitted by the user.

[0007]

To this end, in the first aspect of the invention, the operator arbitrarily switches between enabling and disabling the remote control function.

Further, in the second aspect of the invention, after the operation by the remote control function is executed, the remote control function is automatically switched to the invalid state.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the remote operation function is enabled only when the user permits the remote operation from another person, so that the remote operation from the unauthorized person can be prevented.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the troublesome operation of the operator, and it is possible to surely prevent an unexpected remote operation by another person due to the operator forgetting the operation.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a facsimile apparatus remote device system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a facsimile machine 1 has a remote control function and is connected to a public telephone line network 2. The facsimile machine 1 includes a remote control operation means 1a, a remote control on / off switching means 1b, and a time limit timer 1.
c and an off condition switching means 1d are provided. The remote control operation means 1a is for performing various operations by remote control. The remote operation on / off switching means 1b is for an operator to arbitrarily switch between an on state for enabling the remote operation function and an off state for disabling the remote operation function. The timed timer 1c measures the passage of time. The off-condition setting means allows the operator to arbitrarily switch the conditions for automatically turning off the remote control function.

The facsimile remote control device 3 is a device for remotely controlling the facsimile device 1 and is connected to the public telephone line network 2. The computer 4 monitors and controls the facsimile remote control device 3. The facsimile remote control device 3 and the computer 4 are installed, for example, in a service center of a facsimile device manufacturer.

Next, the operation of the facsimile apparatus remote device system of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described.

When permitting the remote operation, the operator of the facsimile apparatus 1 sets the remote operation function to the ON state by the remote operation ON / OFF switching means 1b as shown in FIG. Further, the off condition of the remote control function is arbitrarily selected by the off condition switching means 1d. The off condition switching means 1d selects one of "immediate off" and "timed off". "Immediate off" means
The remote control function is set to be turned off immediately after the operation is executed, and the “timed off” is set to be turned off after a predetermined time has passed (process 101).

On the other hand, the facsimile remote control device 3 is activated by the computer 4 and transmits to the facsimile device 1 via the public telephone line network 2.

When the facsimile device 1 receives an incoming call (process 102), it executes a transmission control procedure unique to the device manufacturer to determine whether the communication is a remote control communication (process 10).
3). In this transmission control procedure, for example, the facsimile device 1 uses the NSF signal to send the facsimile remote control device 3
The facsimile remote control device 3 side receives various information such as a remote control command by an NSS signal.

When the facsimile apparatus 1 receives the information of the remote operation command (Y in process 103), the time limit timer 1c.
If the operation is in progress, the timed timer 1c is reset to stop the operation (Process 10).
4).

After that, a predetermined operation is executed according to the remote operation command. For example, the one-touch dial information registered in the facsimile device 1 is transmitted, or the one-touch dial information is received from the facsimile remote control device 3 and registered in the device (process 105). When the operation ends, the line is disconnected and the communication ends (process 1).
06).

Thereafter, the setting of the off condition of the off condition switching means 1d is judged (process 107). Now, assuming that the off condition is set to "time off" (Y in process 107), the time timer 1c is started (process 10).
8). Then, the incoming call is monitored for a predetermined period set in advance (process 109, process N from process 109, process 110, process 1).
From N of 10 to processing 109).

Here, if an incoming call is received again from the facsimile remote control device 3 within the fixed period (Y in process 110), various operations by remote control are executed in the same manner as described above (to process 103). In this case, the timed timer 1c operating in the process 104 is stopped.

When a predetermined time has passed without any incoming call (Y in step 109), the remote operation function is turned off and the operation is finished (step 111).

On the other hand, when the off condition is set to "immediately off" (N in step 107), the remote operation function is immediately turned off after the end of communication and the operation ends (step 111).

When an incoming call is received from another facsimile device instead of the facsimile remote control device 3 (N in step 103), the facsimile communication is executed as usual.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the operator can arbitrarily switch between enabling and disabling the remote control function. This ensures that the operator will only
By turning on the remote control function, it is possible to prevent remote control from being performed by an unauthorized person.

Further, since the remote operation function is automatically turned off after the operation of the remote operation is completed, the labor of the operator's operation is reduced, and when the operator forgets to operate, the remote operation is unexpectedly performed by another person. It can be surely prevented.

Further, since the remote control function can be turned off after a lapse of a predetermined time, the facsimile remote control device 3 side can once complete the communication and then make a call again to perform the remote control again.

In the above-described embodiment, the facsimile machine 1 is designed to turn off the remote control function according to the set conditions, but the remote control function is turned off according to the command information from the facsimile remote control device 3. You may do it.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to arbitrarily switch between enabling and disabling the remote operation function, so that remote operation from another person who is not permitted by the user is prevented. be able to. Also, after the remote operation function has been executed, it is automatically disabled so that the operator's time and effort can be reduced and the remote operation from unexpected people due to forgetting the operation can be reliably prevented. can do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a facsimile apparatus remote control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of a facsimile apparatus by remote control.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facsimile apparatus 1a Remote operation operation means 1b Remote operation on / off switching means 1c Timed timer 1d Off condition switching means 2 Public telephone line network 3 Facsimile remote operation device 4 Computer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus having a remote control function for executing various operations other than image transmission upon receipt of an incoming call and reception of various command information, and whether the remote control function is enabled or disabled is arbitrarily switched. A facsimile apparatus comprising a remote control on / off switching means. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an automatic off means for automatically switching the remote operation function to invalid after the execution of the various operations by the remote operation function. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising time-off means for enabling the remote control function for a certain period of time after the execution of the various operations, and then automatically switching the function to the disabled state. 4. An automatic off means for automatically switching off the remote operation function, and an off condition setting for arbitrarily setting whether to turn off the remote operation function immediately after execution of the various operations or after a lapse of a predetermined time. 2. A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means.