JPH06326729A - Mail service equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the designation operation of various kinds of designation information without loss of flexibility by processing designation information designated directly among duplicate designation information sets with priority. CONSTITUTION:When designation information is received directly from a terminal equipment 3, an input information processing section 7 sets the designation information 5 to a 1st memory 6. Furthermore, image data 8 from the terminal equipment 3 are received and a 1st page of the data 8 is subject to pattern recognition and when the 1st page is data corresponding to a predetermined mark sheet designating the designation information, a mark information processing section 10 sets the designation information to a 2nd memory 9. Then a service reception section 11 extracts the designation information not set in the memory 6 in the designation information set to both the memories 6, 9. Then a service processing section 12 executes the mail service desired by the user of the terminal equipment 3 based on the designation information from the reception section 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is a mail service which is connected to a switching network (public analog network, ISDN, etc.) and which transfers image data as mail to another terminal in accordance with instructions from a terminal accommodated in the switching network. Regarding the device.

In recent years, with the diversification of user needs, I
Various services have come to be provided using SDN (Service Integrated Digital Network) and other exchange networks, and a mail service by a mail service device is known.

The mail service device is accommodated in the exchange network in the same manner as a general terminal, and the user makes a call connection with the mail service device, and the user's ID, password, service type (desired service type) and After the accompanying parameters and the like (these are referred to as designation information in the present specification), the image data read by the facsimile machine or the scanner is transmitted to the mail service apparatus as a mail. The mail service device transfers the mail to the transfer destination terminal according to the designation.

By the way, as the service type, which is the designation information that the user needs to designate when using the service,
Services used by mail senders such as broadcast communication (simultaneous transfer of the same mail to multiple terminals), time-specified communication, confidential communication, time-specified delivery, and mail recipients such as storage of received mail in a mailbox There are a lot of services such as the services used by, and automatic addition of sending slips (source, destination, etc.) to delivery mails, confirmation of delivery status, confirmation of mailbox storage status, retrieval of storage information, etc. There are many parameters that need to be specified. And these tend to increase with the diversification of user needs.

Therefore, the number of pieces of designation information that the user needs to designate when using the service is large, and the designation operation (designation work) is very complicated, so that improvement is desired.

[0006]

2. Description of the Related Art The following is known as a procedure for a terminal user in a conventional mail service apparatus to specify various kinds of specification information.

That is, the user performs a predetermined call procedure such as dialing the subscriber number of the mail service device, and after the call connection is completed, PB (push button) or DP
All the user's ID, password, service type, and parameters associated therewith are specified using the (dial password) each time the mail service is used.

There are ISDNs in which the above-mentioned various designations are added to a user / user information element of a calling message (SETUP message) and transferred, and in this case also, the operation panel of the terminal By using
It is customary to specify each time when using the mail service.

Further, for a facsimile terminal or a terminal equipped with an image reading device, designated information to be designated is written in advance on a sheet (OCR or OMR sheet) of a predetermined format and transferred as image data. In some cases, the input work of the designated information is omitted when using the mail service.

Further, by using the memory function of the terminal, the designated information to be designated by the PB / DP is registered in advance in the speed dial, the one-touch button, etc., and the designated information is input when the mail service is used. There are some that are simplified.

[0011]

However, the conventional PB /
If you use the DP to specify the mail service each time you use it, you need to specify the same every time, even if there is no change in the specification. Since there are relatively many things to do, the operation is very complicated for the user, and there is a problem that a designation error may occur.

On the other hand, in the case of using the mark sheet, such a problem can be solved when the same designation is made every time, but when a part of the designation is changed, it is necessary to fill in the mark sheet each time. There is a lack of flexibility, and since the user's ID and password must be entered on the mark sheet, the mark sheet must be created for each user even if the same designation is made each time. There was a problem that the work of was very complicated for the user.

Further, although the one registered in the shortening button or the like is effective when the same designation is made every time,
When a part of the designation is changed and specified, it cannot be used flexibly, and there is a problem that the operation for registration is required and the work is complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is that a mail service apparatus connected to an exchange network needs to be carried out by a user when using the mail service. It is to facilitate a designation operation (designation work) of a variety of designated information without impairing flexibility.

[0015]

The principle of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a mail service apparatus, which is connected to the exchange network 2 and which receives image data as mail according to an instruction from a terminal (for example, a terminal 3) accommodated in the exchange network 2. It is a device that provides a mail service for forwarding to a terminal (for example, the terminal 4).

This mail service device 1 stores the specified information 5 sent in the first memory when the ID, password, service type, and other specified information of the user of the mail service are directly input from the terminal 3. The input information processing unit 7 is set to 6. The input information processing unit 7
When the switching network 2 is ISDN, it judges whether or not the designation information directly input from the terminal 3 is added to the transferred call control message. Information is extracted and set in the first memory 6.

Then, the mail service device 1 includes the terminal 3
Image data 8 from
The pattern information of the first page is recognized, and when the first page is data corresponding to a predetermined mark sheet for designating the designated information, the designated designation information is set in the second memory 9. The processing unit 10 is provided.

Further, the first of the designation information set in the first memory 6 and the designation information set in the second memory 9
The service reception unit 11 is provided for extracting designation information that is not set in the memory 6. The service processing unit 12 provides the mail service desired by the user of the terminal 3 based on the designation information from the service receiving unit 11.

[0019]

According to the mail service apparatus to which the present invention is applied, when the designated information is different every time, the mail service desired by the user can be provided based only on the designated information directly input by the terminal user. .

When the designated information is the same every time, the designated information is written (mark) on a predetermined mark sheet.
Then, the mark information processing unit 10 recognizes the designation information written on the mark sheet by transmitting the image data of the mark sheet together with the image data of the original of the mail to be transferred to the mail service device, Based on this, the user can provide the desired email service.

Further, although the designation information to be designated is almost the same every time, when the users are different or when it is desired to change and designate a part of the transfer destination, the designation by the mark sheet and the change are desired. If the terminal user directly inputs some of the specified information and the specified information entered on the mark sheet overlaps with the specified information, the specified information will be given priority. Therefore, the user only has to directly input the designation information for only a part to be changed, and it is possible to flexibly deal with the desired change and the designation work is very easy. Also, no registration work is required.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the embodiment of the present invention.
The mail service device 21 is housed in the analog public network 22, and it is assumed that the service user uses the facsimile terminal (FAX) 23 housed in the public network 22 to use the mail service.

When the user of the facsimile terminal 23 uses the mail service, first, the subscriber number of the mail service device 21 is dialed (operation a). Public network 2
2 performs a predetermined process, and when the mail service device 21 receives the incoming call, the incoming call control unit 24 of the mail service device 21.
Automatically responds to this, and the call connection between the facsimile terminal 23 and the mail service device 21 is completed.

Since the incoming call control unit 24 accepts the designation of the designation information by the push button signal (PB) or the dial pulse signal (DP) from the facsimile terminal 23, the P
Notify the B / DP receiver 25.

After the call connection is completed, at the facsimile terminal 23, the user inputs his or her ID number, designated information such as a password using the push button or the like of the facsimile terminal 23 (operation b). The PB / DP receiving unit 25 of the device 21 sequentially receives the designation information, and when the user receives, for example, “# *” indicating the end of the designation from the user, the designation information is sent to the designation content check unit 26.

The specified content checking unit 26 checks the contents of the specified information received by the PB / DP receiving unit 25. For example, when the designated information is the user ID and the password, it is checked whether the user is a registered valid user.

If the user is not a registered legitimate user, the line disconnecting unit 27 is notified and the line is disconnected.
If it is valid, the specified content check unit 26 stores the specified information (user ID, password, etc.) specified in the first memory 28, notifies the FAX data receiving unit 29 of the specified information, and invites the next operation. A message (a message prompting the transfer of a facsimile document) is sent to the facsimile terminal 23.
Send to.

At the facsimile terminal 23, the user places a predetermined mark sheet on which the designated information is appropriately marked on the facsimile original and transmits it (operation c).
The FAX data receiving unit 29 of the mail service device 21 receives this and writes it in the temporary holding memory 30 or 31 alternately by a fixed amount (for example, 2 kbytes).

The mark sheet recognition section 32 alternately reads data from the temporary storage memory 30 or 31. The reason why the data is alternately written in the temporary storage memory 30 or 31 is to increase the processing speed.

The mark sheet recognizing section 32 recognizes the pattern of the data and judges whether the first page is a predetermined mark sheet. If the first page is a predetermined mark sheet, the mark code is read and the designation is made. The information is stored in the second memory 33. When the mark sheet recognition unit 32 detects the page break of the mark sheet, the mark sheet recognition unit 32 notifies the FAX data receiving unit 29, and when the FAX data receiving unit 29 receives this notification, the subsequent data is set as original data,
It is stored in the document memory 34.

The mark sheet recognition section 32 further notifies the service acceptance determination section 35 of the completion of the mark sheet reception. Upon receiving this notification, the service reception determination unit 35 performs the processing shown in FIG.

That is, in FIG. 4, first, the first memory 2
8 and the second memory 33, the designated information stored in each is extracted and compared with each other (ST1). Then
It is determined whether or not the designated information compared is duplicated (ST2). If there is duplicated information, the contents of the first memory 28 are prioritized (ST3), and all designated information is designated as a service. The data is stored in the information memory 36 (ST4). If there is no duplicate, all the designation information is stored in the service designation information memory 36 (ST4).

It is judged whether or not the check has been completed for all the designation information extracted from the first memory 28 and the second memory 33 (ST5).
When the process is returned to step 1 and is completed, it is determined whether or not all the designation information (for example, the service type and the parameters corresponding thereto) necessary for receiving the service are prepared (ST6).

In ST6, if all the specified information is not available, the line disconnecting unit 27 is notified and the line is disconnected (ST7). If all the designated information is available, the contents of the service designated information memory 36 (designated information)
Based on the above, the service processing unit 37 is instructed to execute the corresponding mail service processing such as transferring the content (mail) of the document data 34 to another terminal (ST8). The service processing unit 37 provides a predetermined mail service according to this instruction.

In the FAX data receiving unit 29, when an error or the like occurs when receiving data from the user and normal data cannot be received or stored in the temporary storage memory 30 or 31, it is possible to disconnect the line. 27 is notified and the line is disconnected.

According to the above-described embodiment, the designated information that is almost the same each time is written on a predetermined mark sheet,
By sending this to the mail service device 21 and directly designating only the designated information to be changed (including addition) out of the designated information written on this mark sheet by a push button or the like, the duplicate designated information is directly designated. Since we have prioritized handling of designated information,
The designation work can be facilitated without impairing the flexibility of designation.

Here, to clarify the correspondence relationship between each part of the mail service device 21 shown in FIG. 2 and each part of the mail service device 1 shown in FIG. 1, the first memory 28 shown in FIG. In the first memory 6, the PB / DP receiving unit 25 and the designated content checking unit 26 of FIG. 2 correspond to the input information processing unit 7 of FIG.

Similarly, the second memory 33 is in the second memory 9, the FAX data receiving unit 29 and the mark sheet recognition unit 32 are in the mark information processing unit 10, and the service acceptance determination unit 3 is the same.
5 corresponds to the service receiving unit 11, and the service processing unit 37 corresponds to the service processing unit 12.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. The mail service device 41 is housed in an ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network) 42, and the ISDN 4
It is assumed that the mail service is used by using the facsimile terminal (FAX) 43 accommodated in No. 2.

It is assumed that the facsimile terminal 43 has a function of setting the designation information input and designated by the user at the time of calling to the called subaddress information element of the calling message (SETUP message) transmitted to the ISDN 42.

When making a call to the mail service device 41, the user designates the other party's number (destination address) and arbitrary designation information, and performs a predetermined call procedure (operation a). The outgoing call message in which the information is set is sent to the incoming call control unit 44 of the mail service apparatus 41 via the ISDN 42. The message received by the incoming call control unit 44 is passed to the incoming sub address information extraction unit 45.

The destination sub-address information extraction unit 45 extracts the designation information set at the time of calling to the destination sub-address from the received call message, and passes these designation information to the designation content check unit 46.

The designated content check unit 46 checks the content of the passed designated information. For example, when the designated information is the user ID and the password, it is checked whether the user is a registered valid user.

If the user is not a registered legitimate user, the designated content check unit 46 sends an incoming call rejection message (RELCOMP message) to the ISDN 42.

If the user is a registered and legitimate user, the specified content check unit 46 stores the specified information (user ID, password, etc.) in the first memory 4.
8 and the connection message (C
The ONN message) is transmitted and the FAX data receiving unit 49 is notified.

At the facsimile terminal 43, the user places a predetermined mark sheet on which the designated information is appropriately marked on the facsimile original and transmits it (operation b).
The FAX data receiving section 49 of the mail service apparatus 41 receives this and writes it in the temporary storage memory 50 or 51 alternately by a fixed amount (for example, 2 kbytes).

The mark sheet recognition section 52 alternately reads data from the temporary storage memory 50 or 51. The reason why the data is alternately written in the temporary storage memory 50 or 51 is to increase the processing speed.

The mark sheet recognition section 52 recognizes the pattern of the content of the data and determines whether the first page is the data corresponding to the predetermined mark sheet. If the first page is the predetermined mark sheet, the mark code is detected. It is read and the designated information is stored in the second memory 53.

When the mark sheet recognition unit 52 detects the page break of the mark sheet, the mark sheet recognition unit 52 notifies the FAX data receiving unit 49, and when the FAX data receiving unit 49 receives this notification, the subsequent data is set as the manuscript data. It is stored in the document memory 54.

The mark sheet recognition unit 52 further notifies the service acceptance determination unit 55 that the mark sheet has been received. Upon receiving this notification, the service reception determination unit 55 performs the processing shown in FIG.

That is, the first memory 48 and the second memory 53
The designated information stored in each is extracted and compared with each other (ST1). Next, it is judged whether or not there is any overlap in the compared designation information (ST2). If there is any overlap, the contents of the first memory 48 are given priority (ST3), and all the designation information is deleted. It is stored in the service designation information memory 56 (ST4). If there is no duplicate, all the designation information is stored in the service designation information memory 56 (ST4).

It is judged whether or not the check has been completed for all the designation information extracted from the first memory 48 and the second memory 53 (ST5).
When the process is returned to step 1 and is completed, it is determined whether or not all the designation information (for example, the service type and the parameters corresponding thereto) necessary for receiving the service are prepared (ST6).

In ST6, if all the specified information is not available, the line disconnecting unit 47 is notified, and the line disconnecting unit 47 sends a disconnection message, thereby disconnecting the line (ST7).

If all the specified information is available,
Based on the content (designation information) of the service designation information memory 56, the service processing unit 57 is instructed to execute a mail service process such as transferring the content (mail) of the document memory 54 to another terminal (ST8). Service processing unit 57
In response to this instruction, will provide a predetermined mail service.

In the FAX data receiving section 49, when an error or the like occurs when receiving data from the user and normal data cannot be received, or the data cannot be stored in the temporary storage memory 50 or 51, The line disconnection unit 47 is notified, a line disconnection message is transmitted, and the line is disconnected.

According to the other embodiment described above, in the ISDN, similar to the above embodiment, the designated information which is almost the same each time is written on a predetermined mark sheet and transmitted to the mail service apparatus 41. Of the designated information entered on the mark sheet, only the designated information that you want to change (including addition) can be designated directly when making a call, and all designated information can be designated without impairing flexibility. The work can be facilitated.

Here, the correspondence relationship between each part of the mail service device 41 shown in FIG. 3 and each part of the mail service device 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be clarified. The first memory 48 shown in FIG. In the first memory 6, the destination sub-address extracting unit 45 and the designated content checking unit 46 of FIG. 3 correspond to the input information processing unit 7 of FIG.

Similarly, the second memory 53 is in the second memory 9, the FAX data receiving section 49 and the mark sheet recognition section 52 are in the mark information processing section 10, and the service acceptance determination section 5 is the same.
5 corresponds to the service receiving unit 11, and the service processing unit 57 corresponds to the service processing unit 12.

In the other embodiment, the directly input designation information can be set in the call control message other than the calling message, and is set in the user / user information element or the like instead of the sub-address information element. You can also

In the above embodiments and other embodiments, the terminal used by the user has been described as a facsimile terminal, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an image reading device (scanner device). It goes without saying that it may be another data terminal equipped with the above.

[0061]

Since the mail service apparatus according to the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to specify various kinds of specification information that the user needs to use when using the mail service without losing flexibility. There is an effect that it can be facilitated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of a service acceptance determination unit according to the embodiment of the present invention or another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Mail Service Device 2 Switching Network 3, 4 Terminal 5 Designation Information 6 First Memory 7 Input Information Processing Section 8 Image Data 9 Second Memory 10 Mark Information Processing Section 11 Service Reception Section 12 Service Processing Section

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A terminal which is connected to a switching network (2) and which receives image data sent from the terminal (3) as mail according to an instruction from a terminal (3) accommodated in the switching network (2) to another terminal. (Four)
When the ID, password, service type, and other specified information of the mail service user are directly input at the terminal (3) in the mail service device (1) to be transferred to The input information processing unit (7) for setting the specified information (5) in the first memory (6) and the image data (8) from the terminal (3) are received, and the first information of the image data (8) is received. The first page is recognized by pattern recognition and the first
A mark information processing unit (10) for setting the designated designation information in the second memory (9) when the page is data corresponding to a predetermined mark sheet for designating the designation information
Of the designation information set in the first memory (6) and the designation information set in the second memory (9),
A mail service characterized by comprising a service reception unit (11) for extracting designation information not set in (6), and providing a mail service according to the designation information by the service reception unit (11). apparatus. 2. When the switching network (2) is ISDN, it is judged whether or not the designated information directly input from the terminal (3) is added to the transferred call control message, and the addition is made. The mail service apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the designated information is extracted and passed to the input information processing unit (7) when it is specified.