JPH05199345A - Facsimile server - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manage picture data or to attain automatic transmission of picture data corresponding to a substantial destination by informing it to the destination only when picture data are received from a facsimile equipment. CONSTITUTION:The server is provided with a facsimile communication control unit 101, a LAN communication control unit 102, a transmission slip recognition section 103, a picture file 107 to store received facsimile picture and a management information database 108, and each facsimile terminal equipment adds a transmission slip to a facsimile text and sends the result to a server facsimile equipment. The server applies character recognition to a destination person of the received transmission slip and obtains a facsimile terminal number and a LAN terminal number of the destination party from a conversion table to implement automatic transfer of the received facsimile or the incoming notice to the relevant LAN terminal equipment automatically. When a facsimile document is sent from each terminal equipment to the server, the incoming notice from the server to the facsimile destination party or the automatic transfer of the picture data to the destination facsimile equipment is implemented, the result of recognition is utilized and the facsimile reception data are managed corresponding to the destination.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile server, and more particularly to a facsimile server having a function of automatically distributing image data received from a facsimile device to a fax destination terminal device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique relating to a facsimile server, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-64461, document image data for a plurality of pages is received from a facsimile machine, and only the first document image data is received. A technique for delivering image data for all pages to a terminal device (workstation) connected to a facsimile server via a LAN or the like, and transmitting a request for transmission from any of the terminal devices. Is disclosed.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-289364 discloses a facsimile server which converts code data received from a terminal device connected by a LAN or the like into image data and sends the image data to a facsimile device.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the conventional technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 461, the server distributes the first image data received from one facsimile device to all the terminal devices. At the terminal, the received first image data is wasted. Further, when the document image data is stored in the facsimile server, the stored image data cannot be managed according to the destination. Further, since all the image data is sent after the terminal device side makes a transmission request, there is a problem in that there is a delay in the distribution of image data from the server to the terminal device.

Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile server capable of notifying only an original destination when image data is received from a facsimile machine and managing the image data corresponding to the destination. It is in.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile server which can automatically send image data to its original destination when the image data is received from a facsimile machine.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, in a first aspect, a facsimile server according to the present invention comprises a facsimile receiving means for receiving image data from a facsimile device and a received fax. An image data storage means for storing image data, an information extraction means for extracting address information from specific fax image data, and a terminal device having an address corresponding to the extracted address information are notified of an incoming fax. And a means for sending a message for sending as code data.

According to a second aspect, a facsimile server according to the present invention comprises a facsimile receiving means for receiving image data from a facsimile device, an image data storing means for storing the received fax image data,
It has information extracting means for extracting management information including destination information from specific fax image data, image data managing means for managing the fax image data by the extracted management information, and an address corresponding to the extracted destination information. Means for delivering fax image data to the terminal device.

[0009]

In the facsimile server according to the first aspect of the present invention, the destination information is extracted from the image data received from the facsimile device, and the incoming notification is sent as code data to the terminal device specified by the destination information. Therefore, there is no waste of delivering the fax data to other than the original destination. In addition, the management of the image data stored in the image file can be performed for the fax destination.

In the facsimile server according to the second aspect of the present invention, the destination information is extracted from the image data received from the facsimile device, and the image data is sent to the terminal device specified by the destination information. Therefore, the image data can be delivered to the fax destination device without delay.

[0011]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. The present invention is not limited to this.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the function of the facsimile server according to the present invention. The facsimile server 10A includes a facsimile communication control unit 10
1, a LAN communication control unit 102, and an image memory 1
06, a transmission form recognition unit 103, an address conversion table 104, an image file 107, a management information database 108, a display 109, a keyboard 110, and a printer 111.

Image data sent from the other facsimile server 10D, the facsimile 20, or the workstation / personal computer 60 equipped with the facsimile communication adapter 40 to the facsimile server 10A via the facsimile communication network 50 is controlled by facsimile communication. Part 101
The image data is received by, and temporarily stored in the image memory 106, and then sequentially stored in the image file 107. Of the image data stored in the image file 107, the image data of the FAX transmission slip, which is the first page of each fax document, is then read into the image memory 101 and subjected to recognition processing by the transmission slip recognition unit. It

The transmission slip recognition unit 103 performs transmission slip format recognition processing on the image data of the FAX transmission slip such as the structure of the frame line and the character string included in the image data, the extraction of the character area, and the like. At the same time, each character in the cut-out character area is recognized and the destination information and the sender information of the fax document are obtained.

Many techniques are known for recognizing the format and character of a document image, and these techniques may be used. For example, the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-179570 proposed by the applicant of the present application can be applied.

As a method of automatically obtaining the destination information and the sender information, for example, the first page of each fax document is shown in FIG.
A transmission slip 200 having a format as shown in is used. By recognizing this format, the destination information area 201 including the field 201b containing the name of the recipient and the field 201a containing the address or affiliation of the recipient, the field 202a containing the name of the sender, and the address or affiliation of the sender are identified. A source information area 202 including a field 202b including the field is extracted, and character patterns in these fields are recognized to obtain character code data indicating a destination and a source.

As another method of automatically obtaining the addressee information and the sender information, for example, a keyword 301a for specifying the addressee field and the contents of the addressee field, such as the fax transmission slip 300 shown in FIG. There is a rule that a colon is used to separate the registration keyword 302a for identifying the transmission source field and the content of the transmission source field 302b from the 301b. Extract the extracted character strings (words) and match these character strings with the keywords registered in the dictionary memory in advance to identify the destination field area and the source field area, and to identify the character strings corresponding to each field. Content 301b, 3
02b may be converted into code data by character recognition. In this case, the keywords 301b and 302b
By using a thesaurus to analyze, it is possible to relax the restrictions on the registered keywords that must be used in the fax transmission form.

Still another method for automatically obtaining the destination information and the sender information is, for example, a language (Japanese, English,
Etc.) Using the analysis technology, "The recipient is **" and "The sender is **" included in the fax transmission form.
Such a sentence is automatically extracted, and the address information (“*
* Portion) may be obtained.

In FIG. 1, the transmission form recognition unit 103
After recognizing the destination information and the transmission source information described above, the L corresponding to the name of the recipient from the address conversion table 104.
The address of the AN terminal is obtained and given to the LAN communication control unit 102.

The address conversion table 104 stores, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, a field 104A for storing the name data (character code) of the addressee and the address of the LAN terminal device corresponding to the addressee. It includes a field 104B for storing and a field 104C for storing the attribute information of the LAN terminal device. As the attribute information, the LAN terminal device receives the fax image data.
It includes information indicating whether or not the data reception function is provided. The address information (character code data indicating the recipient and the sender) obtained by the recognition processing is stored in the management information database (table) 108 together with the fax arrival time information.

The management information table 108 is, for example,
As shown in FIG. 5, a field 108A for storing the ID information of the received fax, a field 108B for storing the name data of the addressee, and a field 108C for storing the name data of the sender. , A field 108D for storing the time the fax was received,
Field 10 for storing page number of received fax
8E and a field 1 for storing a status code indicating a status of output processing of fax image data to a terminal device.
08F and a field 108G for storing other management information, the record corresponding to the reception fax.

Upon receiving the LAN terminal address from the recognition unit, the LAN communication control unit 102 receives the LAN 70
The workstation / personal computer 60 corresponding to the LAN terminal address is called through the image memory 106.
Send fax image data at. Image file 1 is used to send fax image data to LAN terminals.
From 07, the fax image data of a plurality of pages is sequentially read out to the image memory 106, and the line control unit 11
7 to supply.

When the workstation / personal computer 60, which is the destination of the fax, has only the function of receiving the code data, the fax server stores the character code data forming the notification message "there is an incoming fax image data". The fax document identification number and the code data of the sender name are transmitted.

The recipient who knows the arrival of the fax by this notification message accesses the management information database 108 by the communication between the workstation / personal computer 60 and the facsimile server 10A or the direct operation of the keyboard 110 of the facsimile server 10A. Then, based on the management information record corresponding to the fax document identification number stored therein, the corresponding fax image data is retrieved from the image file 107,
The fax document printed out by the printer 111 is received.

When the fax image data is received,
The facsimile server 10A may send only the code data such as the fax identifier and the sender to the workstation / personal computer 60 as the fax destination, and then send the image data at the request of the receiver.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the facsimile server according to the present invention which realizes the functions described in FIG. The facsimile server 10B includes a facsimile communication control unit 101, a microprocessor (CP
U) 112, memory 113, and display 109
A keyboard 110, a printer 111, an image memory 106, a format recognition unit 114, a character recognition unit 115, a received facsimile image data file 107, and a large-capacity storage forming a management information database 108. Device 116 and LAN communication control unit 1
02 and a bus 120 connecting these elements.

The memory 113 has a format recognition unit 114.
And a memory area for storing the recognition result by the character recognition unit 115 and the address conversion table 10 described above.
4 and a memory area for storing various programs executed by the CPU 112.
Here, in order to increase the processing speed, the format recognition unit 1
Although the 14 and the character recognition unit 115 are provided as hardware separate from the CPU 112, the functions of these units may be realized by a program routine executed by the CPU 112.

Image data sent from the other facsimile server 10D, the facsimile 20, or the workstation / personal computer 60 with the facsimile communication adapter 40 via the facsimile communication network 50 is received by the facsimile communication control unit 101, After being stored in the image memory 106, it is stored in the mass storage device 116.

In the format recognition unit 114, the image memory 1
Format recognition of the first image data stored in 06 is performed, and the character recognition unit 115 performs character recognition of the character strings located in the destination information area and the transmission source information area.

7 and 8 show flowcharts of program modules executed by the CPU 112. Figure 7
An image data reception processing module executed in response to a reception interrupt from the fax communication control unit 101. When a fax is received, first, a fax ID required for managing the received fax image is generated (step 1001), and a page counter, which is a parameter indicating the number of pages of the received fax, is set to zero (step 1001). 1002). The fax ID is, for example, a sequential number given to the received fax document in the order of reception.

When one page of image data is stored in the image memory 106 from the FAX communication control unit 101 (step 1003), the page counter is incremented (step 1004), and this image data is stored in the image file 107.
(Step 1005). It is determined whether the image data is the last page of the fax document (step 100).
6) If it is not the final page, that is, if the image data of the subsequent page is being received, the process returns to step 1003 and steps 1004 to 1006 are repeated.

When the image data transferred to the image file is the last page of the fax document, the large capacity file 116
After adding a new record including management information such as the fax ID of the received fax document, the fax reception time, the number of pages of image data, to the received fax management table 108 in step 7 (step 1007), FIG. The transmission form recognition / transmission module shown in is activated (step 100
8).

In the transmission form recognition / transmission module, first,
Regarding the unsent fax document registered in the received fax management table 108, the image data of the first page (fax transmission slip) is read from the image file to the image memory 106 (step 1100). Next, the format recognition unit 114 is activated to recognize the format of the image data of the transmission form in the image memory 106 (step 11).
01) When this is completed, the character recognition unit 115 is activated to convert the character strings existing in the destination information area and the source information area of the transmission form into code data (step 110).
2). Instead of the format recognition unit and the character recognition unit, the format recognition processing and the character recognition processing may be performed by software in steps 1101 and 1102, respectively.

After the character recognition of the transmission slip is completed, it is judged whether or not the character strings of the fax destination and the sender have been correctly recognized (step 1103). If the recognition fails, this is determined. Exit the module.

When the character recognition is successful, the character codes of the recognized destination and sender are registered in the reception fax management table 108 (step 1104), and then the address conversion table 104 is referred to, and the recognized destination is recognized. Obtain the corresponding LAN terminal address (step 110)
5). Next, a message for notifying the arrival of the fax is generated, and this message is transmitted to the destination LAN terminal via the line control unit 117 (step 110).
7). The notification message includes a fax ID and a character code indicating the destination and sender of the fax.

Next, the address conversion table 104
Then, by referring to the attribute field 104C of the destination LAN terminal device, it is determined whether or not the destination terminal device has a fax image data receiving function (step 110).
8). If the destination terminal device has a function of receiving fax image data, the image data of the fax transmission slip already read in the image memory 106 is sent to the destination via the line control unit 117. It is transmitted to the LAN terminal device (step 1109) and it is judged whether or not the transmitted image data is the last page of the fax document (step 111).
0). If the transmission data is not the final page of the fax document, the fax image data of the next page is read from the image file 107 into the image memory 106 (step 111).
1) Return to step 1109 to send this.

When the transmission of the last page of the fax document is completed, in step 1112, the status code indicating the end of fax transmission is recorded in the field 108C of the reception fax management table 108, and this program module is terminated. If it is determined in the determination step 1108 that the destination terminal device does not have the fax reception function, in step 1112, the status code indicating that the fax reception notification has been transmitted is recorded in the field 108F of the reception fax management table 108. Then, this program module ends.

In the flow chart shown in FIG.
When one fax document finishes the transmission process, the transmission module is terminated. When the step 1112 is finished, the output status code of the fax management table 108 is checked, and if the fax document which has not finished the transmission process is found, If so, the process may return to step 1100.

As is clear from the above description of the embodiment,
The present invention relates to a FAX terminal 2 connected to the network 50.
0 and 60 send the fax image data of the document with the first fax transmission vote to the file server 10A, and the fax server 10A automatically recognizes the fax recipient and sender from the fax transmission vote. The characters are recognized, the address conversion table prepared in advance is used to obtain the address of the terminal device corresponding to the fax recipient, and the fax is automatically transferred to this terminal device. ..

Therefore, according to the configuration of the present invention, for example,
Within a company, connect a plurality of terminals (LAN terminals) arranged in each section to a file server, and from outside the company, send a fax document to the file server that will be the representative fax of the company. For example, a fax system can be obtained in which fax documents are automatically delivered to each terminal device in a company.

As a modified embodiment of the present invention, the mass storage device 116 is divided into a plurality of fax receiving file areas in advance, a unique file name (file address) is assigned to each of these file areas, and each received file area is received. When the destination information automatically recognized from the fax transmission slip matches any of the above file names, the image data of the received fax may be stored in a file corresponding to the file name. In this way, a large number of virtual fax receiving terminals can be formed in the mass storage device 116, and the administrator of the fax receiving file can retrieve the contents of the received fax at his or her own convenient timing. You can

As another modified example of the present invention, the LAN communication control unit 102 in FIG. 1 is replaced with a line communication control device for a private telephone line, and the private line network is used.
The image data of the received fax from the outside may be transmitted to each workstation / personal computer 60.

As still another embodiment of the present invention, the facsimile server 10A may be provided with a function of converting code data into image data and transmitting the image data to the facsimile communication network 50. By doing so, the facsimile server 10A shown in FIG. 1 transmits the code data received from the workstation / personal computer 60 to the fax image data.
The data can be transmitted to the fax terminal 20 outside the facility, and has the same fax transmission function as the file server 10D in FIG.

[0044]

According to the facsimile server of the present invention,
When the image data is received from the facsimile apparatus, it can be notified only to the original destination, and the image data can be automatically sent if the terminal device of the destination can receive the image data. Further, the image data can be managed in correspondence with the destination.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing blocks for explaining a function of a facsimile server and a network configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission slip having a predetermined format.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission form using a registered keyword.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of an address conversion table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of a fax data management table.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a facsimile server of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is one of reception processing modules (program routines) executed by a processor of a facsimile server.
The flowchart which shows an Example.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a recognition-transmission processing module (program routine) executed by a processor of a facsimile server.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10A: Facsimile server 10B: Facsimile server 20: Facsimile device 40: Facsimile adapter 50: Public line network 60: Workstation / PC 70: LAN 101: Facsimile communication control unit 102: LAN communication control unit 103: Transmission vote recognition unit 104: Address conversion table 106: image memory 107: image file 108: management information database 109: display 110: keyboard 111: printer 112: microprocessor (CPU) 113: memory 114: format recognition unit 115: character recognition unit 116: large-capacity storage Device 120: Bus

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication location H04L 12/54 12/58 H04N 1/32 Z 2109-5C (72) Inventor Hidefumi Iwami Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture 1099 Ozenji, Aso-ku, Hitachi, Ltd. Inside the Hitachi, Ltd. System Development Laboratory (72) Inventor Tetsuo Machida 1099, Ozenji, Aso-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside the Hitachi, Ltd. System Development Laboratory

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. Facsimile receiving means connected to a plurality of facsimile devices and a plurality of terminal devices for receiving a series of fax image data from the facsimile device, and storing the received series of image data. Image data storage means, means for converting destination information included in one fax image data into character code data, and means for generating an address code of a specific terminal device corresponding to the destination character code. A facsimile server comprising means and means for sending a message in the form of code data for notifying an incoming fax to a specific terminal device having the generated address code. 2. The facsimile server according to claim 1,
The converting means recognizes the recording area of the destination information existing in the image data, and the means for converting the destination character string included in the destination information recording area into the code data by character recognition. A facsimile server comprising: 3. The facsimile server according to claim 1,
Further, the facsimile server is provided with means for transmitting a series of fax image data read from the image data storage means to a specific terminal device having the address code. 4. Facsimile receiving means connected to a plurality of facsimile devices and a plurality of terminal devices for receiving a series of image data from the facsimile device, and a series of image data received by the receiving means. Image data file means for storing, means for extracting a character string indicating a fax destination from one image data in a series of image data, and converting the character string to character code data; A facsimile server comprising means for delivering a series of fax image data to a terminal device specified by destination character code data. 5. The facsimile server according to claim 4,
Means for recognizing the recording area of the destination information existing in the image data by the converting means, and means for converting the destination character string included in the destination information recording area into code data by character recognition. Facsimile server consisting of. 6. The facsimile server according to claim 4, further comprising means for receiving an address code for specifying a destination fax machine and a character code data string forming a document from the terminal device, and the received character code. A facsimile server having means for converting a data string into document image data, and means for transmitting the image data to a facsimile device designated by a received address code. 7. The facsimile server according to claim 4, wherein the image data file means comprises a plurality of file areas each having a unique file name, and the file server further comprises the destination character code data. A facsimile server having means for storing the received fax image data in the file area when the file name corresponds to the file name of any file area in the image data file means.