JPH05252201A - Electronic mail delivery equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid a troublesome operation by storing a text whose delivery is disable in excess of automatic re-transmission number of times, storing a number corresponding to an unarrived text and automatically re-transmitting the unarrived text when a re-transmission request comes. CONSTITUTION:When a delivery processing section 14 cannot deliver all texts, an unarrived text management section 13 extracts an unarrived text from a file 21 based on delivery information received from the processing section 14 and registers a reception number to a file 23a of an unarrival management file 23. Then the unarrival text corresponding to the reception number is registered to the file 23b and it is informed to a sender FAX. When a sender makes a re-transmission request, a reception processing section 11 of an electronic mail delivery device MC receiving the request informs the reception number of the management section 13 to allow the management section 13 to extract a text corresponding to the relevant reception number from the file 23b of the file 23 and sends it to the processing section 14, in which retransmission processing is implemented. Thus, a simple re-transmission request is attained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail delivery device, and more particularly, when a message sent from a sender is received and delivered to a receiver, a message that is undelivered beyond the number of automatic resends is sent. The present invention relates to an electronic mail delivery device for notifying a sender of non-delivery.

FIG. 11 shows a multimedia mail delivery apparatus connected to a plurality of telephones or FAXes via a public network or a private network NW, and such a mail delivery apparatus provides various services ( For example, it is expected that mail services, message services, etc. will be used in various media voice / fax, but mails (hereinafter, mainly referred to as electronic messages) that have been tried to be delivered via such a mail delivery device are It is necessary to take measures in case of failure.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 12 conceptually shows an operation of an electronic mail device MC when a message is delivered from a sender to a receiver such as a FAX via an electronic mail device (mail center) MC. Yes, the mail device MC that received the transmission request (1) from the sender accepts the message with the destination instructed by this transmission request and sends it to the recipient (2)
However, when the electronic message transmission (2) cannot be delivered due to some abnormality (NG), the electronic mail device MC normally executes the automatic resend operation a predetermined number of times, and the automatic resend operation ends. If it cannot be retransmitted at that time, it is determined that the retransmission is over (3).

In such a case, the transmission result notification shown in the non-delivery message format as shown in FIG.
In other words, the non-delivery notification (5) is sent to the sender, and the sender who receives this determines which recipient resulted in the non-delivery result and individually indicates the non-delivery recipient. A resend request (6) is sent to the mail device MC.

Therefore, the mail device MC accepts the resend request (6) and transmits (7) again, and when the delivery is carried out, the delivery is terminated at this point, but the message can still be delivered. If not, the same procedure as above will be repeated.

[0006]

According to the conventional electronic mail delivery apparatus as described above, the sender keeps the message in preparation for the retransmission of the undelivered message, and when the message is undelivered, the undelivered addressee. However, there is a problem in that the message cannot be discarded until the transmission is completed, and the destination of the undelivered message must be individually specified, and it takes time to retransmit.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when a message sent from the sender is received and delivered to the receiver, an electronic message is sent to the sender to notify the sender of the unsuccessful message exceeding the number of automatic retransmissions. It is an object of the delivery device to eliminate the need to store a telegram on the sender side and to simplify the resending procedure.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, in the electronic mail delivery device according to the present invention, each electronic message is stored with a receipt number, and when an undeliverable message is received, the undeliverable electronic message and the undeliverable message are sent. The receipt number corresponding to the incoming call message is stored and a non-delivery notification is given by the receipt number, and when the sender requests a resend by the receipt number, the undelivered message corresponding to the receipt number is automatically retransmitted. ..

In this case, when the reception number is attached to each message, the destination is extracted and stored by including it in the reception number, and the sender is notified of the destination of the reception number at the time of the non-delivery notification. be able to.

In addition, in the electronic mail delivery device according to the present invention, the non-delivery message is numbered and stored, the destination of the non-delivery message is extracted, and the non-delivery message number is composed of the destination and the non-delivery message number. The delivery control number is stored, the non-delivery notification is given by the non-delivery message number, and when the sender requests to resend with the non-delivery message number, the non-delivery message corresponding to the non-delivery message number is automatically sent. It may be retransmitted.

In this case, the destinations of the non-delivery message may be listed as a broadcast list for each sender and a non-delivery destination list number may be attached to form the non-delivery management number with the non-delivery message number.

Further, the sender's request for resending may be made by a push button signal.

Further, the non-delivery notification may be made by an optical reading device signal, and the sender's request for resending may be made by returning the optical reading device signal.

[0014]

The operation principle of the electronic mail delivery device (1) according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. First, the sender sends a transmission request (1) including a destination instruction and a message instruction to the mail device MC.
To the mail device MC, the mail device MC accepts and sends (2), but when the message cannot be received by the recipient, the automatic resend operation is performed a predetermined number of times,
Retransmission is not possible even if this fails (3)
To determine.

Then, the mail device MC stores (4) the undelivered message and also stores the receipt number of the undelivered message. It should be noted that this reception number is a number given when each electronic message is received by the mail device MC, and when the reception number is given, its destination may be extracted and included in this reception number for storage. ..

After this, the mail device MC sends a non-delivery notification (5) containing the above receipt number to the sender, and the sender looks at the receipt number by this non-delivery notification and preferably its destination and resends it. Since the request (6) is made by the reception number, the mail device MC receives the reception number and preferably the reception number included in the resend request (6), and sends (7) a message corresponding to this reception number. Become.

FIG. 2 conceptually shows the operation of the electronic mail delivery device (No. 2) according to the present invention. In the present invention, as in the case of FIG. When the message is sent, the mail device MC stores the undelivered message.
At the same time as (4), a number is assigned to this non-delivery message and the destination of the non-delivery message is extracted (8). Then, the non-delivery message number and the non-delivery destination are collectively given to the non-delivery management number.
(9).

By including the above-mentioned non-delivery management number in the non-delivery notification (5), the sender gives only the non-delivery management number when making the resend request (6). In the received mail device MC, the non-delivery message number and non-delivery address are searched from the non-delivery management number in the resend request (6), and the non-delivery message corresponding to this non-delivery message number is retrieved and Transmission (7) will be performed.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is only necessary to instruct the mail device of the accepted reception number or the non-delivery management number notified by the non-delivery notification, and since only the non-delivery message is stored, it is efficient. The storage can be realized, and since the electronic message is automatically stored when the non-delivery occurs, it is not necessary for the sender to store it or to store the entire transmitted message in the mail device.

[0020]

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the electronic mail delivery device (No. 1) according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1, and the electronic mail delivery device MC becomes a sender via the exchange EX. The line is connected to the FAX or the FAX that is the recipient.

In this embodiment, 1 is an incoming call line control unit for processing incoming calls and receiving data from the line, and 2 is a calling line control unit for performing outgoing call processing and data transmission to the line. .. The electronic mail delivery device MC is provided with a reception processing unit 11, a notification processing unit 12, a non-delivery message management unit 13, and a delivery processing unit 14 as processing units, and a reception message file 21 and a reception number as files. A (+ destination) file 22 and a non-delivery management file 23 are provided,
A notification table 31 and a delivery table 32 are provided as tables.

In the operation of such an electronic mail delivery device MC, first, the data received from the incoming line control unit 1 is filed by the reception processing unit 11 as a reception electronic message, and the reception number is added to each electronic message to obtain the file 21. The reception message is stored in the file 22 and only the reception number of each message is stored in the file 22. In addition, it is preferable that the reception number stored in the file 22 also stores the destination included in the electronic message.

The acceptance processing unit 11 also creates delivery information from the accepted electronic message and registers the delivery information in the delivery table 32 in the order of delivery. Note that the difference between the delivery information and the receipt number is that, for example, a time designation or the like may be included in a telegram, and the receipt number and the delivery order may be different.

Thereafter, the delivery processing unit 14 reads out the corresponding telegram from the reception telegram file 21 based on the delivery information in the delivery table 32, and delivers the telegram to the recipient FAX via the calling line control unit 2.

As a result, when all the messages have been delivered, the delivery processing unit 14 passes through the non-delivery message management unit 13 and notifies the notification processing unit 12 that all the messages have been delivered. Reference numeral 12 retrieves the reception number corresponding to the already-delivered electronic message from the file 22, registers the notification information in the notification table 31 in the order of delivery, and notifies the sender FAX via the calling line control unit 2 of this notification information.

On the other hand, when the delivery processing unit 14 cannot deliver all the messages, the undelivered message management unit 13 causes the delivery processing unit 14 to perform delivery.
The undelivered message is taken out from the file 21 based on the delivery information received from the user, the receipt number is registered in the file 23a in the undelivery management file 23, and the file 23
The undelivered message corresponding to the receipt number is simultaneously registered in b. In addition, it is preferable that the reception number registered in the file 23a includes the destination included in each electronic message.

Then, the non-delivery message management unit 13 informs the notification processing unit 12 of the reception number of such non-delivery message, so that the notification processing unit 12 extracts the reception number from the file 22 and uses it as the reception number in the table 31. The fact that the corresponding electronic message has not been delivered is registered, and the calling line control unit 2 notifies the sender FAX as a non-delivery notice.

In this way, the sender who has received the non-delivery notification can know the receipt number of the non-delivery message, and the non-delivery notification includes the receipt number and the destination. For example, it is possible to easily know which recipient did not deliver the message. Therefore, the sender requests the retransmission of the receipt number by a push button (hereinafter abbreviated as PB) signal, and the acceptance processing unit of the electronic mail delivery device MC that receives the receipt number. In 11, the non-delivery message management unit 13 notifies the non-delivery message management unit 13 of this receipt number, and the non-delivery message management unit 13
File 2 for the non-delivery message corresponding to the corresponding receipt number from
3b is taken out and sent to the delivery processing unit 14 to perform the delivery processing similar to the above.

FIG. 4 shows an operation procedure of a non-delivery resend request sent from the sender to the mail device MC via the exchange EX. First, when the sender off-hooks and dials, the mail device MC is called. The mail device MC automatically operates off-hook and is connected to the sender via the exchange EX, and the mail device MC prompts the user to input the subscriber number as voice guidance.

In response to this, the sender sends his / her subscriber number to the mail device MC by the PB signal, and the mail device MC again prompts the input of the function code by the voice guidance. Then, the sender sends a non-delivery resend function code to the mail device MC, and the mail device MC prompts again by voice guidance to input a parameter for a resend request.

Therefore, the sender inputs the receipt number in the above example by the PB signal, and the mail device MC receiving this again gives the end message by the voice guidance, and the sender receiving this receives the message via the exchange EX. The mail device MC is disconnected and the mail device MC is taken off-hook.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the PB signal is used for the resend request, but as shown in FIG. 5, the notification processing unit 12 uses the OMR (optical reading device) sheet format.
If you send a non-delivery notice to the sender FAX with the receipt number and the destination marked as shown in the figure, the sender who sees such OMR sheet format can immediately know where the non-delivery is. Further, by transmitting the OMR sheet format as it is (or partially changing it) by FAX, the undelivered message can be retransmitted in exactly the same manner as above without inputting the PB signal one by one.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the electronic mail delivery device (part 2) according to the present invention shown in FIG. 2, and the main difference between this embodiment and the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is a file. 24
The non-delivery management number is registered in a, the destination (list number) is registered in the file 24b, the non-delivery message number is registered in the file 24c, and the non-delivery message is registered in the file 24b.

In the operation of such an embodiment, the same operation as in the embodiment of FIG. 3 is performed when the delivery processing of the reception message is normally performed, but when the non-delivery occurs,
The process is executed according to the example of the non-delivery process as shown in FIG. 7.

That is, the delivery processing unit 1 reports that a non-delivery has occurred.
The non-delivery message management unit 13 notified from 4 retrieves the corresponding telegram from the file 21 based on the delivery information and stores it in the file 24d of the non-delivery management file 24 as the non-delivery message and the non-delivery telegram. The file 24c is numbered and stored in the file 24c (step S1).

Then, the non-delivery message management unit 13 extracts only non-delivery destinations from the notification table 31 via the notification processing unit 12, creates a list, and stores the list in the file 24b (step S2).

Then, from such a list, a non-delivery destination list is created as a broadcast list for each sender, the list number is given, and it is also stored in the file 24b (step S3).

The process of creating the broadcast list for each sender is shown in FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 8A, there are six destinations at the time of transmission, and as shown in FIG. When only three non-delivery destinations remain, the non-delivery destinations are grouped and given a list number including the destinations corresponding to the number of destinations as shown in (c) of FIG. ..

In this way, the non-delivery message management unit 13 stores the non-delivery message number and the destination list number in the non-delivery management file 24. The configured non-delivery management number is added and stored in the file 24a (step S4).

Then, in order to add the non-delivery management number stored in the file 24a to the notification information, the non-delivery message management unit 13 sends the notification table 31 via the notification processing unit 12.
Is changed (step S5).

The notification processing unit 12 sends the non-delivery notification information recorded in the notification table 31 in this manner to the calling line control unit 2.
The non-delivery notification is performed by transmitting the non-delivery to the sender FAX via (step S6).

The non-delivery management number is, for example, information including a date and a serial number.

Further, in the non-delivery occurrence process shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to proceed from step S2 to step S4. However, when step S3 is executed, the OMR sheet format shown in FIG. 5 is used. When used, the non-delivery notification notified from the notification table 31 by the notification processing unit 12 is used as a broadcast list other than the reception number as shown in the figure, not the individual recipients such as “Sapporo” and “Tokyo” but the sender. It is also possible to notify the specified broadcast list number for each group.

The sender who receives the non-delivery notification from the electronic mail delivery device MC in this way is, for example, the OMR shown in FIG.
When the sheet format is requested and a request for resending is made, the OMR sheet format may be directly applied to the FAX, and in the electronic mail delivery device MC which receives the OMR sheet format as the data, the reception processing unit 11 sends the data to the non-delivery message management unit 13. By sending, the non-delivery message management unit 13 searches the non-delivery management file 24 and retrieves the non-delivery message number in the file 24c from the non-delivery management number required for the resend request (step S11), and also from the file 24b to the destination list. The number is searched (step S12).

In this way, the undelivered message number is taken out and the undelivered destination list number is known, so that the undelivered message management unit 13 retrieves the undelivered message from the file 24b.
This non-delivery message is delivered to the corresponding non-delivery destination via the delivery processing unit 14 (step S13).

Note that the non-delivery message, the non-delivery destination list number, and the non-delivery management number can be automatically deleted from the non-delivery management file 24 when the non-delivery retransmission is executed or when a certain time has elapsed ( Step S14).

[0047]

As described above, according to the electronic mail delivery device of the present invention, a message that has not been delivered after the number of times of automatic resending is stored and a number corresponding to the undelivered message is stored. When the notification is sent to the sender including the number in the non-delivery notification, the non-delivery message corresponding to the number is automatically retransmitted when the sender requests a resend with that number. There is an effect that a simple resend request can be made without performing a troublesome operation such as re-input of a message or a need to individually specify a non-delivery destination on the sender side.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram showing an operation principle of an electronic mail delivery device (1) according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing an operation principle of the electronic mail delivery device (Part 2) according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic mail delivery device (1) according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a sender operation at the time of non-delivery retransmission.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an OMR sheet format used in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic mail delivery device (2) according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a process when a non-delivery occurs in the electronic mail delivery device (2) according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram when generating a non-delivery destination list.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another OMR sheet format used in the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an electronic mail delivery device according to the present invention (part 2).
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing non-delivery retransmission acceptance processing in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an outline of a multimedia information network.

FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram showing an operation principle of a conventional example.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a conventional non-delivery message format.

[Explanation of symbols]

 MC e-mail delivery device 11 reception processing unit 12 notification processing unit 13 non-delivery message management unit 14 delivery processing unit 21 reception telegram file 22 reception number file 23, 24 non-delivery management file 31 notification table 32 delivery table Indicates the same or corresponding part.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication H04N 1/32 H 2109-5C

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An electronic mail delivery device for, when receiving a message sent from a sender and delivering it to a receiver, notifying the sender of a message that has been undelivered beyond the number of automatic retransmissions. , Storing each message with a receipt number, and storing the non-delivery message and the receipt number corresponding to the non-delivery message when the non-delivery occurs and performing the non-delivery notification by the receipt number,
An electronic mail delivery device characterized in that when the sender makes a resend request using the receipt number, the non-delivery message corresponding to the receipt number is automatically resent. 2. When the reception number is attached to each electronic message, the destination is extracted and stored by including it in the reception number, and the sender is notified of the destination of the reception number when the non-delivery notification is made. The electronic mail delivery device according to claim 1. 3. An electronic mail delivery device that, when receiving a message sent from a sender and delivering it to a receiver, notifies the sender of a message that has been undelivered beyond the number of automatic retransmissions. The non-delivery message is numbered and stored, the destination of the non-delivery message is extracted, the non-delivery management number composed of the destination and the non-delivery message number is stored, and the non-delivery notification is sent to the non-delivery notification. An electronic mail delivery device, characterized in that an undelivered message number is performed, and when the sender requests a resend with the undelivered message number, the undelivered message corresponding to the undelivered message number is automatically retransmitted. 4. The non-delivery management number is formed by listing the destinations of the non-delivery message to make a broadcast list for each sender and assigning the non-delivery destination list number. The electronic mail delivery device according to claim 3. 5. The electronic mail delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the sender's request for retransmission is made by a push button signal. 6. The non-delivery notification is made by an optical reading device signal, and the sender's request for resending is made by returning the optical reading device signal. 4. The electronic mail delivery device according to any one of 4 above.