JPH06261069A - Electronic mail distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] The present invention relates to an electronic mail delivery system, and an object of the present invention is to improve availability and convenience of an electronic mail system. [Structure] In an electronic mail delivery system comprising a server for sending and receiving electronic mail between networks at opposite ends of each network, an address sending means for sending a user name and a telephone number to an electronic mail sending means is an outgoing electronic mail. Provided in the terminal device, telephone number extraction means,
An address conversion table and address indexing means for indexing the address conversion table by the telephone number from the telephone number extracting means are provided, and the indexed network name and host name are provided.
In addition, the electronic mail is delivered to the incoming electronic mail terminal device determined by the user name.

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 system in which a telephone number is used together with electronic mail delivery.

[0002] There is an electronic mail delivery network (hereinafter referred to as internetwork) used as a network capable of delivering current electronic mail. This internetwork is configured separately from the telephone switching network.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronic mail address is required to deliver electronic mail on the internetwork. Its email address is
It is composed of a three-layered address system including a network name, a host name, and a user name (see (a) in FIG. 4). In addition, for distribution on the telephone exchange network, a three-layered address system of a country code, a station number, and a subscriber number is used.

[0004]

Since the address system of the internetwork and the address system of the telephone exchange network are unique to each network, the terminal device of the internetwork and the terminal device of the telephone exchange network are described. However, even when the places of use are almost the same, the internetwork can only send the email using only the email address.

Addresses used in both networks in such a situation have advantages and disadvantages. For example, an e-mail address used in an internetwork has a characteristic that it has an address for each individual (user) as a unit, whereas a telephone number is well maintained over a long history and is more frequent than a host machine. Has the feature that it does not change.

In the internetwork, when the recipient's host name or network name is changed, the e-mail is not delivered unless the sender changes the host name or the network name specified in the e-mail. The current measures taken are to send an e-mail each time the e-mail address is changed and notify the target terminal device of the change. It is not easy to give the change notification to an unspecified large number of users by this method because the number is large. Also, since the internetwork itself is dynamically expanding and changing, it is extremely difficult to centrally manage the mail addresses used there.

The telephone number used in the telephone exchange network is not changed as much as the e-mail address used in the internetwork, but the telephone number is often used by a plurality of persons, and an individual is designated to communicate. It may be inappropriate to do so.

The present invention was created in view of such technical problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic mail delivery system capable of enhancing the availability and convenience of the electronic mail system.

[0009]

FIG. 1 shows a principle block diagram of the invention according to claim 1, and FIG. 2 shows a principle block diagram of the invention according to claim 2.

The invention according to claim 1 is, as shown in FIG. 1, an electronic mail in which servers 6 and 8 for sending and receiving electronic mail between networks 2 and 4 are provided at opposite ends of each network 2 and 4. In the distribution system, an address is sent which is connected to the network and sends the user name and telephone number of the incoming e-mail terminal device 12 to the e-mail sending means 14 as the e-mail address of the e-mail to be sent from the outgoing e-mail terminal device 10. The means 16 is provided in the outgoing electronic mail terminal device 10, and the telephone number extracting means 6a for extracting the telephone number from the electronic mail address to the servers up to the server to which the incoming electronic mail terminal device 12 receiving the electronic mail belongs. , 8a and an address conversion table for registering network names and host names corresponding to the telephone numbers b, 8b and the electronic mail address of the electronic mail are composed of the user name and the telephone number of the incoming electronic mail terminal device, the address conversion tables 6b, 8b are represented by the telephone numbers from the telephone number extracting means 6a, 8a. And address indexing means 6c and 8c for indexing, and delivering the electronic mail to the incoming electronic mail terminal device determined by the indexed network name and host name and the user name by the incoming server distribution means 8d. To do.

In the invention according to claim 2, as shown in FIG. 2, servers 6 and 8 for sending and receiving electronic mail between the networks 2 and 4 are provided at opposite ends of the networks 2 and 4, respectively.
In an e-mail delivery system that uses e-mail addresses for e-mail delivery, in an e-mail sent from an outgoing e-mail terminal device 11 connected to the networks 2 and 4, together with the e-mail address, an incoming e-mail terminal device ( 12) The address sending means 15 for sending to the electronic mail sending means 14 with the telephone number of 12) is provided in the outgoing electronic mail terminal device 11 and the incoming server 9
The detecting means 9a for detecting that the electronic mail cannot be delivered at the destination electronic mail address, the address conversion table 9b for converting the telephone number into the destination electronic mail address, and the electronic mail detected by the detecting means 9a. And a delivery control means 9c for causing the delivery means 9d to deliver the undeliverable e-mail to the destination e-mail address obtained by indexing the address conversion table 9b with the telephone number. Is provided.

[0012]

In the invention according to claim 1, when an electronic mail terminal device connected to a certain network wants to send an electronic mail to an electronic mail terminal device of another network, the user name of the incoming electronic mail terminal device and Send the e-mail with the telephone number as the e-mail address.

In a server of one network or two networks on the way of receiving the electronic mail, or a server of an incoming network, the network name of the network to receive the electronic mail and the host name are separately provided. , Or collectively from the address conversion tables 6a, 8a, etc., the address indexing means 6
c, 8c.

The network name thus obtained,
And the host name are distributed by the distribution means 8d of the server of the incoming network to the incoming electronic mail terminal device belonging to the network.

As described above, since the user name and the telephone number are used as the electronic mail address, the ease of storing the telephone number can be more effectively utilized for sending the electronic mail than the electronic mail address. It is possible to reduce the undeliverable e-mail due to a wrong e-mail address. Therefore, it is possible to cause the e-mail system to perform a normal e-mail delivery operation while eliminating the increase in e-mail traffic that increases due to non-delivery, and thus the availability of the e-mail system can be improved. The ease of storing the telephone number makes the e-mail system easier to use and may improve the convenience of using the e-mail system.

According to the invention of claim 2, the telephone number is used together with the conventional electronic mail address.
In addition to the effect obtained by the invention of claim 1, even if the e-mail address is undeliverable, the destination of the e-mail address change can be sought using the telephone number, so the availability and convenience of the e-mail system is enhanced. It is possible to further reduce the traffic of the electronic mail system and reduce the load of the system function related to the transfer processing of the electronic mail of this kind while enjoying the above.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a system for carrying out the invention according to claims 1 and 2. This network is
Internetwork 30 and telephone exchange network 3
It consists of 2. In FIG. 3, 34, 36, ..., 42
Is a user of the internetwork 30, has user names A, B, ..., E and is also a user of the telephone switching network 32. Users 34, 36, 38
Are hosts (hereinafter referred to as electronic mail terminal devices) 44, 46, 4 on the internetwork 30.
It is accommodated in the network 60 via The network 60 is designated as a network name N1, and the electronic mail terminal devices 44, 46, and 48 have host names X and 46, respectively.
Y and Z are attached. Therefore, the users 34, 36, 3
8 uses electronic mail on the network name N1 and host names X, Y, Z on the internetwork 30.
The users 34, 36, and 38 are in the same organization as the user 40, which will be described later, and constitute the telephone switching network 32. The telephone switching network 32J of Japan.
The representative telephone number assigned above, eg 044-754-4111
To have.

Each of the electronic memory terminal devices has a conventional configuration, that is, an electronic memory creation program for creating an electronic mail from each character input from the CPU, memory, and keyboard, as well as the above-mentioned telephone number from the keyboard. An address processing program is stored in the memory to process the telephone number so that it becomes an e-mail address as shown in FIG. 4 (b) instead of the conventional e-mail address for e-mail. .

The user 40 is connected to the internetwork 30.
On the network 6 via the e-mail terminal device 50
It is housed in 2. The network 62 is attached with the network N2, and the electronic mail terminal device 50 is attached with the host name V. Therefore, the user 40 has the network name N2 and the host name V on the internetwork 30.
Use email above. It is assumed that the user 40 also has the above-mentioned representative telephone number which is assigned to the telephone exchange network 32J of Japan which constitutes the telephone exchange network 32 and which is shared with the users 34, 36 and 38.

The user 42 is the internetwork 30.
Above the network 6 via the email terminal 52
It is housed in 2. The network 62 is attached with the network N3, and the electronic mail terminal device 52 is attached with the host name W. Therefore, the user 42 has the network name N3 and the host name W on the internetwork 30.
Use email above. User 42 is User 3
Unlike 4, 36, 38, 40, it has a telephone number, such as 312-996-2111, assigned on the U.S. telephone switching network 32U that makes up the telephone switching network 32.

The networks N1 and N2 are connected to the server SV1.
And the network N3 by the server SV2
Each is managed. The server SV1 is provided at each end of each network between the networks 60, 62, 66. The same applies to the server SV2. Each server is configured on a UNIX workstation,
Each server has an address list of e-mail terminal devices belonging to each server accommodated in the network to which the server belongs and a user list registering a user for each e-mail terminal device. .
These lists are used by a mail management system (MCS) (having a program) provided in each server and used for controlling the sending and receiving of electronic mail. Further, the server has a sending unit and a receiving unit (not shown), and the electronic mail sent under the control of the mail management system is transferred to the opposite server, and the electronic mail from the opposite server is received by the receiving server. Received by the department. If the received e-mail is addressed to the network, the e-mail is delivered to the e-mail terminal device in the network under the control of the e-mail management system. Will be similarly distributed to the network.

Incidentally, ESS in FIG. 3 indicates a telephone exchange, and 70 indicates a telephone exchange network. FIG. 5 shows an extracted structure of the internetwork between the user 34 and the user 42 of FIG. The server SV1 and the server SV2 in this internetwork have a mail management system MCS1, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively.
MCS2 is provided. These mail management systems MCS1 and MCS2 are provided with mail sending / receiving control programs MAS1 and MAS2, network address control programs NAC1 and NAC2, address translation control programs ATC1 and ATC2, and address databases ADB1 and ADB2, respectively. There is. The mail management systems MCS1 and MCS2 provided in the server SV1 and the server SV2 described above are similarly provided in other servers in the internetwork. Figure 5
The numbers 1 and 2 in the circle mark indicate that they continue to the numbers 1 and 2 in the circle mark in FIG. 7, and the numbers 3 and 4 in the circle mark in FIG. 5 indicate the circles in the circle mark in FIGS. 6 and 10. No. 3 and No. 4 of No.

In FIGS. 3 to 12, the network 6
0 and the like correspond to the network 2 in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the network 64 and the like correspond to the network 4 in FIGS. The server SV1 or the server SV2 corresponds to the server 6 of FIGS. 1 and 2, and the server SV2 or the server SV
V1 corresponds to the server 8 in FIGS. 1 and 2. The electronic mail terminal device 44 and the like correspond to the outgoing electronic mail terminal devices 10 and 11 in FIGS. 1 and 2. E-mail terminal device 50
And the like correspond to the incoming electronic mail terminal device 12 of FIGS. 1 and 2. CPU such as the electronic mail terminal device 44, memory,
An outgoing / incoming call control program and an outgoing call unit correspond to the electronic memory sending means 14 shown in FIGS.
A CPU, memory, address processing program, and keyboard such as 4 correspond to the address sending means 15 and the address sending means 16 shown in FIGS. The CPU of the server SV1, or the server SV2, the memory, and the program for processing step S3 of FIG. 8 correspond to the telephone number extraction means 6a, 8a of FIG. 1, and the address database AD of FIG.
B1 and the address database ADB2 of FIG. 7 correspond to the address conversion tables 6b and 8b of FIG. The CPU of the server SV1, or the server SV2, the memory, and the program that processes steps S4 and S5 of FIG.
Corresponding to the address indexing means 6c, 8c of the server SV
2, or the CPU of the server SV1, the memory, and the program for processing step S6 of FIG. 8 are the distribution means 8 of FIG.
Corresponds to d. The server SV1 or the server SV2 corresponds to the incoming server 9 in FIG. 2, and the CPU, the memory, and the memory outgoing / incoming control program of the server SV1 or the server SV2 correspond to the detecting means 9a in FIG. 2 corresponds to the address conversion table 9b of FIG. 2, and the CP of the server SV1 or the server SV2.
The U, the memory, and the program that processes steps S1 to S5 in FIG. 11 correspond to the delivery control means 9c in FIG.
The CPU of the server SV1, or the server SV2, the memory, and the program for processing step S6 of FIG.
Corresponds to the delivery means 9d.

The distribution process of the electronic mail in the invention according to claim 1 having the above-mentioned structure will be described below. As shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that the user E becomes the calling user and designates the electronic mail address as shown in FIG. 4B as the electronic mail address. The format of the telephone number shown in FIG. 4 (b) is an internationally determined telephone number. The "+" in the telephone number is the first character of the country-specific code of the telephone number, which is an international standard, and is used as a delimiter from the user name. The country code 81 of the telephone numbers is shown in FIG.
As shown in, it shows Japan.

[0025] MAC2 call control program MAC2 of the server SV2 which received the specified e-mail address
Identifies the country code of the e-mail address (see S1 in FIG. 8) and sends the e-mail to the corresponding distribution destination server SV1. At that time, the electronic mail address of the electronic mail is referred to because the electronic mail is transmitted (see Yes in S2 of FIG. 8). Since the e-mail address is a telephone number (Yes in S3 of FIG. 8)
Network address control program NAC2)
Passes the telephone number to the address conversion program ATC2, and its domestic telephone number, for example, 44-7 shown in (b) of FIG.
54-4111 indexes the address database ADB2 to obtain the incoming network address name and host address name. The e-mail address is set to the e-mail to be sent, and the e-mail is sent to the next relay network or destination network.

A relay network for receiving electronic mail,
Alternatively, in the processing of the mail transmission / reception control program executed in the server of the destination network, the processing for determining whether or not the mail is an incoming / outgoing is a relay or an incoming call (see No in S2 of FIG. 8). In the e-mail address type determination, it is in the telephone number format (Fig. 8
(See Yes in S10), the destination country network is searched (see S11 in FIG. 8), the route of the destination country network is determined (see S12 in FIG. 8), and the e-mail sending process is performed (see S12 in FIG. 8). (See S6 in FIG. 8). In the server of the relay network, all or part of the conversion processing to the network name and the host name may be performed instead of the server of the transmission network.

Further, as described above, in the case where the telephone number conversion process is not performed in whole or in part by the server of the transmission side network or the server of the relay network, it becomes an e-mail address. When the telephone number is carried in the e-mail and transferred to the incoming server in the called network, the incoming server
After converting the above-mentioned telephone number to the network name and host name and converting it to the conventional mail address format, the e-mail is sent to the e-mail terminal device specified by the network name and host name. Receive e-mail.

According to the e-mail system capable of delivering the e-mail as described above, the easiness of storing the telephone number can be more effectively utilized for sending the e-mail than the e-mail address. It is possible to reduce the undeliverable e-mail due to an incorrect address. Therefore, it is possible to cause the e-mail system to perform a normal e-mail delivery operation while eliminating the increase in e-mail traffic that increases due to non-delivery, and thus the availability of the e-mail system can be improved. The ease of storing the telephone number makes the e-mail system easier to use and may improve the convenience of using the e-mail system.

Next, an embodiment of the invention according to claim 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 5, and 9 to 12. The present invention provides a remedy for a case where an electronic mail is undelivered (an electronic mail is not delivered) under the conventional electronic mail address.

The relieving means has the following structure added to the structure of the embodiment of the invention according to claim 1 described with reference to FIGS. First, any of the electronic mail terminal devices has a conventional configuration, that is, in addition to an electronic memory creation program for creating an electronic mail from each character input from the CPU, memory, and keyboard, the above-mentioned telephone from the keyboard. That is, when a number is input, an address processing program for processing the telephone number so that it becomes an electronic mail address as shown in FIG. 9 is stored in the memory instead of the conventional electronic mail address of electronic mail.

Second, as shown in FIG. 10, each server,
For example, when the server SV1 finds that the e-mail is undelivered in the e-mail sending / receiving control of the e-mail sending / receiving control program MAC1, the server SV1 is notified, and the phone number in the e-mail is checked to check the e-mail address for change Mail delivery control program UDC1 that causes delivery control to the changed e-mail address when the notification is sent
(See FIG. 11) and the mail non-delivery control program UDC
That is, the entire electronic mail system is configured by providing the mail address list (see FIG. 12) referred to by 1. The mail address list, when there is a change in the host name, or the network name and the host name that is the destination of the e-mail that arrives at each server, the old and new host names related to the change in the telephone number used by the host, Alternatively, the old and new network names and the old and new host names are registered and placed as shown in FIG. Other configurations are the same as those described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 8.
Since the configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment of the invention, the description thereof will not be repeated.

The distribution process of the electronic mail in the invention according to claim 2 having the above-mentioned structure will be described below. In the distribution process of the electronic mail according to the present invention, if the electronic mail is not undelivered in the distribution process, the distribution of the electronic mail described about the embodiment of the invention according to claim 1 described with reference to FIGS. Is the same as.

In the delivery, if the non-delivery occurs in the incoming server, for example, the server SV1, the non-delivery is detected by the mail sending / receiving control program MAC1. The non-delivery is the email non-delivery control program UDC1
Will be notified to.

In the mail non-delivery control program UDC1,
The undelivered e-mails are collected (see S1 in FIG. 11) and it is checked whether or not there is an entry in the care Co of the e-mails (S2 in FIG. 11, see FIG. 9). If not (refer to No in S2 of FIG. 11), the non-delivery notification is sent to the sender (see S7 of FIG. 11).

If there is (see Yes in S2 of FIG. 11),
The mail address list is indexed by the telephone number to obtain the old host name, old network name and old host name, and new host name, or new network name and new host name (see S3 in FIG. 11). If the old host name or old network name and old host name match the host name or network name and host name of the email that has arrived (see Yes in S4 of FIG. 11), the new host name. ,
Alternatively, the new network name and the new host name are set in the e-mail (see S5 in FIG. 11) and the sending process of the e-mail is performed (see S6 in FIG. 11). If no match is obtained (see No in S4 of FIG. 11), the sender is notified of non-delivery (see S7 of FIG. 11).

As a result, the reliable delivery function of the electronic mail system can be improved, and the availability of the electronic mail system can be improved. Further, also in the present invention, the usability of the electronic mail is good and the convenience can be improved. Further, when the e-mail becomes undelivered, the e-mail causes an increase in the traffic of the e-mail system. However, in the invention according to claim 2, since it is useful for the decrease, the e-mail transfer process is not performed. The burden on the system function can be reduced.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, as described above, the telephone number is used as the electronic mail address, or the telephone number is used in combination with the conventional electronic mail address.
The ease of storing a telephone number can be more effectively utilized for sending an e-mail than the e-mail address, and it is possible to reduce the failure of the e-mail to be delivered due to an error in the e-mail address. Therefore, it is possible to cause the e-mail system to perform a normal e-mail delivery operation while eliminating the increase in e-mail traffic that increases due to non-delivery, and thus the availability of the e-mail system can be improved. The ease of storing the telephone number makes the e-mail system easier to use and may improve the convenience of using the e-mail system.

By using a telephone number in combination with a conventional electronic mail address, even if the electronic mail address is undelivered, it is possible to obtain the change destination of the electronic mail address with the telephone number. While enjoying improved availability and convenience, it is possible to further reduce the traffic of the electronic mail system and reduce the load on the system function related to the electronic mail transfer process.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a principle block diagram of an invention according to claim 1;

FIG. 2 is a principle block diagram of an invention according to claim 2;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a system for carrying out the invention according to claim 1 and claim 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional electronic mail address and an electronic mail address used in the invention according to claim 1.

FIG. 5 is one user of the system shown in FIG.
It is a figure which extracts and shows the structure of the internetwork between two users.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a mail management system built in a server that services one user in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a mail management system built in a server that services another user of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a processing flow related to the invention according to claim 1 and claim 2 in the mail management system built in the server.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a structure of an electronic mail address used in the invention according to claim 2;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a mail management system corresponding to FIG. 6 of the invention according to claim 2;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a characteristic part of the invention according to claim 2;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a mail address list.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 network 4 network 6 server 8 server 10 outgoing electronic mail terminal device 11 outgoing electronic mail terminal device 12 incoming electronic mail terminal device 14 electronic mail sending means 15 address sending means 16 address sending means 6a telephone number extracting means 8a telephone number extracting means 6b Address conversion table 8b Address conversion table 6c Address indexing means 8c Address indexing means 8d Distribution means 9a Detection means 9b Address conversion table 9c Distribution control means 9d Distribution means 44 E-mail terminal device 46 E-mail terminal device 48 E-mail terminal device 50 E-mail Terminal device 52 Email terminal device 60 Network 62 Network 64 Network 66 Network SV1 Server SV2 Server

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electronic mail delivery system comprising a server (6, 8) for sending and receiving electronic mail between networks (2, 4), which is provided at the opposite end of each network (2, 4). The outgoing e-mail terminal device (1
0) an e-mail address of an e-mail to be transmitted from an e-mail terminal of the incoming e-mail terminal device (12) and an address sending means (16) for sending to the e-mail sending means (14) Device (1
0), and the incoming e-mail terminal device (1) for receiving e-mail.
Telephone number extraction means (6a, 8a) for extracting a telephone number from an electronic mail address, and an address conversion table (for registering a network name and a host name corresponding to the telephone number) in servers up to the server to which 2) belongs. 6b, 8b) and the e-mail address of the e-mail consists of the user name and the telephone number of the incoming e-mail terminal device, the address conversion table using the telephone number from the telephone number extraction means (6a, 8a). An address indexing means (6c, 8c) for indexing (6b, 8b) is provided, and means for delivering an electronic mail to an incoming mail terminal device determined by the indexed network name and host name and the user name of the incoming server ( E-mail delivery method characterized by delivering by 8d). 2. A server (6, 8) for sending and receiving electronic mail between networks (2, 4) is provided at the opposite end of each network (2, 4), and an electronic mail address is used for electronic mail delivery. In the electronic mail delivery system, an incoming electronic mail terminal device (1) is connected to the network (2, 4) and is sent to an outgoing electronic mail terminal device (11) in an electronic mail together with the electronic mail address.
The sending electronic mail terminal device (11) is provided with an address sending means (15) for sending to the electronic mail sending means (14) with the telephone number of 2), and the incoming destination server (9) is provided with the destination electronic mail. The detection means (9a) for detecting that the e-mail cannot be delivered by the address, the address conversion table (9b) for converting the telephone number into the destination e-mail address, and the e-mail detected by the detection means (9a). When there is a telephone number, the delivery control that causes the delivery means (9d) to deliver the undeliverable e-mail to the destination e-mail address obtained by indexing the address conversion table (9b) with the phone number. An electronic mail delivery system, characterized in that means (9c) is provided.