JPH07123113A - Large-scale mail system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a mail system which can be used by many users and has a high extensibility. CONSTITUTION:This system consists of a representative electronic mail system 11 which mainly accepts connection requests from users and sequence electronic mail system groups 12-1 and 12-2 which mainly store and manage electronic mails. That is, a terminal equipment 4-1 requests connection to the representative electronic mail system 11. When a certain response processing is trminated, the connection is switched to the pertinent sequence electronic mail system 12-1. An arbitrary number of sequence electronic mail system groups can be connected to an exchange 3, and this number is freely increased or reduced. If the representative electronic mail system 11 manages only which system the terminal equipment 4-1 should be connected to, many subscriber connection lines to connect the representative electronic mail system 11 and the exchange 3 are not required. In each sequence electronic mail system, mail boxes can be distributed and many subscriver connection lines are not required.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a large-scale mail system which handles many electronic mails and can be used by many users.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronic mail system stores documents to be transmitted / received in a mailbox of a storage device connected to a network and exchanges information with each other. Information management in a company using a local area network, etc. It has been widely adopted for value-added communication services using networks. FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of such a conventional general electronic mail system. The electronic mail system 1 shown in the figure is connected to an exchange 3 via a plurality of subscriber connection lines 2. Also, such an electronic mail system 1
The terminal device 4 owned by the user who uses the
It is connected to the exchange 3 via.

The electronic mail system 1 is composed of a control portion for controlling transmission / reception of electronic mail and storing it in a mailbox, and a storage device for storing a large amount of electronic mail. The exchange 3 is, for example, a private branch exchange connected to the public network 5. The public network 5 is composed of a telephone line and the like, and the terminal device 4 is composed of a telephone.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the general electronic mail system as described above. First, in step S1, the electronic mail system 1 called by the terminal device 4
When the incoming call is accepted, the electronic mail system 1 executes the subscriber number and password check (step S).
1). In this case, the corresponding subscriber number and password are transmitted by the PB signal (push button signal) of the terminal device 4.

The electronic mail system 1 refers to the subscriber information provided in advance to confirm whether the user operating the terminal device 4 is a legitimate user. When such a check is completed, the process proceeds to step S3, and mail transfer processing is executed. In this case, the electronic mail stored in the mailbox of the electronic mail system 1 may be called by the terminal device 4, and the document input from the general terminal device 4 is stored in the mailbox of a specific partner. Such processing may be performed. When the terminal device 4 is a telephone, the electronic mail is treated as voice information.

[0006]

The conventional electronic mail system as described above has the following problems to be solved. Usually, in the case of configuring the electronic mail system as described above, the number of subscriber connection lines 2 for connecting the exchange 3 and the electronic mail system 1 is determined by the number of users and management capability. Further, when storing an email in the form of voice or document data, the storage capacity is also determined by the number of users and the scale of hardware that can be installed.

Therefore, these are subject to restrictions on hardware or operation management, the maximum number of subscriber connection lines is about 64 to 128, and the storage capacity of e-mail is 200 to 300 hours when converted to voice. The degree is the upper limit. However, as the use of this type of e-mail system expands, the number of subscriber connection lines and the storage capacity of e-mail become insufficient, making it difficult for users to wait for their use for a long time or to sufficiently store and exchange e-mail. There was also a problem of becoming.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide a highly scalable large-scale mail system which can be used by many users.

[0009]

A large-scale mail system of the present invention includes a representative electronic mail system connected to a communication network through an exchange and a series electronic mail system group connected to the communication network through the exchange. The representative electronic mail system includes a response function unit that executes a series of response processing for connection with the electronic mail system when an incoming call is received from the terminal device through the exchange, and the representative electronic mail system. A subscriber information search function unit for performing a confirmation process of a sender / receiver by searching for subscriber information about a subscriber who has joined the affiliated electronic mail system, and a response process and a confirmation process of the sender / receiver. After execution, make a call to call any of the above series e-mail systems and connect the terminal device to the corresponding series e-mail system. Is characterized in that a connection switching function unit changing Ri.

[0010]

This system is mainly composed of a representative electronic mail system that receives a connection request from a user and a group of electronic mail system that mainly stores and manages electronic mail. That is, the terminal device exclusively makes a connection request to the representative electronic mail system. When a certain response process is completed, the connection is switched to the corresponding affiliated electronic mail system. The affiliated e-mail system group can be connected to any number of exchanges and can be increased or decreased freely. If the representative electronic mail system manages which of these systems the terminal device should be connected to, a large number of subscriber connection lines are not required to connect the representative electronic mail system and the exchange. Further, each affiliated electronic mail system group can also distribute mailboxes and does not require many subscriber connection lines.

[0011]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a large-scale mail system of the present invention. In the figure, in the exchange 3, a representative electronic mail system 11 and affiliated electronic mail systems 12-1 and 12-2 are respectively connected to subscriber connection lines 2-1 to 2-1.
It is connected via 2-3. In order to use these electronic mail systems, the terminal device 4-1 is connected to the exchange 3 via the public network 5, and the terminal device 4-2 is connected to the exchange 3 via the subscriber connection line 6. ing. The connection form of the terminal device 4-1 is the same as that employed in the conventional electronic mail system, and the exchange 3 is, for example, a private branch exchange connected to a public network or the like.

Here, in the system of the present invention, a plurality of affiliated electronic mail systems 12-1 and 12-2 are provided for distributed management of a large amount of electronic mail. These systems can be arbitrarily added to or removed from the exchange 3.
On the other hand, these electronic mail systems have terminal devices 4-1 and
It does not directly accept the incoming call by 4-2.

That is, a representative electronic mail system 11 is connected to the exchange 3 in order to manage these systems. The representative electronic mail system 11 is provided with a response function unit 13, a subscriber information search function unit 14, and a connection switching function unit 15. The response function unit 13 is a unit having a function of executing a series of response processing for connection with the electronic mail system when an incoming call is accepted from the terminal device 4-1 or 4-2 through the exchange 3.

Further, the subscriber information retrieval function unit 14 holds subscriber information for subscribers who have subscribed to the affiliated electronic mail systems 12-1 and 12-2, retrieves the subscriber information, and confirms the sender / receiver. It is a part. The subscriber information includes a subscriber number, a password, information indicating which affiliated electronic mail system stores the subscriber's mailbox, and the like. After the representative electronic mail system 11 accepts the incoming call, the connection switching function unit 15 executes a confirmation process for the subscriber, and then calls one of the affiliated electronic mail systems to correspond to the terminal device. It is a part having a function of switching the connection so as to connect the affiliated electronic mail system.

That is, in the apparatus of the present invention, a subscriber who intends to use e-mail in advance connects the terminal device 41 to the representative e-mail system 11, and then, for example, his or her own mailbox is the affiliated e-mail system 12-. 2, the connection is switched to the affiliated electronic mail system 12-2 when reading the electronic mail. That is, in this embodiment, the representative electronic mail system 1
The main task 1 is to respond to the terminal device and to confirm the sender / receiver, and the other affiliated electronic mail system is configured to store and manage electronic mail.

Although connection requests and the like are input from a large number of subscribers to the representative electronic mail system 11, individual connection time is short because only response processing and sender / receiver confirmation processing are performed. Therefore, even if the number of the subscriber connection lines 2-1 is relatively small, these services can be processed. On the other hand, although e-mail retrieval from a mailbox is a relatively time-consuming process, this is because each e-mail system uses mailboxes distributed to each affiliated e-mail system. A subscriber connection line corresponding to the capacity may be prepared. Therefore, also in this case, the subscriber connection line can be efficiently used.

In order to describe the present invention more specifically, specific operations of the response function unit 13, the subscriber information retrieval function unit 14 and the connection switching function unit 15 will be described with reference to flowcharts. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the response and sender / receiver confirmation processing. First, in step S1, the representative electronic mail system 11 is in an idle state for accepting an incoming call from the terminal device. Next, in step S2, if there is an incoming call from any of the terminal devices, step S2
3, the subscriber number input guidance is transmitted to the terminal device. That is, for example, when the terminal device 4-1 of the subscriber is a telephone, the representative electronic mail system 11 receives an incoming call and transmits a guidance for prompting the input of the subscriber number by voice. In this case, guidance for entering the password is also provided.

When it is recognized in step S4 that the subscriber number and password have been received, the process proceeds to step S5, and subscriber information is searched. That is, the subscriber information search function unit 14 shown in FIG. 1 stores subscriber information indicating the locations of mailboxes for subscriber numbers of all affiliated electronic mail system groups represented by the representative electronic mail system 11. There is. In step S5, the subscriber number and password input by the subscriber are collated with the subscriber information, and it is confirmed whether there is a match. If it is determined in step S6 that the collation cannot be performed as a result of such a check, the process proceeds to step S7 and, for example, an error guidance that prompts re-input of the subscriber number or the like is transmitted.

On the other hand, when the check is completed in step S6, the process proceeds to step S8, and this time, guidance for selecting the usage method of the electronic mail is given. In particular,
Ask if you want to send a message or listen to a message stored in your mailbox. This completes the series of subscriber responses and sender / receiver confirmation processing. Then, the process proceeds to the next connection switching process.

FIG. 5 shows an operation flowchart of the connection switching function section. After prompting the user to select the usage method in step S8 of FIG. 4 described above, step S9 of FIG.
In, it is determined whether the user's selection is message transmission or listening. Then, in the case of message transmission, the process proceeds to step S10, and guidance for inputting a transmission destination is sent to the terminal device. Step S1
At 1, it is determined whether or not this transmission destination has been received. When the destination of the transmission is confirmed, in step S12, the subscriber information and the like are searched again and the information is checked.
If there is no corresponding subscriber, step S13.
Move to and ask for re-entry etc. of the transmission destination by sending an error guidance.

When the check of the transmission destination is completed, the process proceeds to step S14 to call the affiliated electronic mail system to which the transmission destination belongs. That is, it recognizes the affiliated electronic mail system to which the transmission destination belongs written in the subscriber information, and uses the subscriber connection lines 2-1 and 2-3 for the corresponding affiliated electronic mail system 12-2, A call is made by the intervention of the exchange 3. In this case, the representative electronic mail system 11 makes a call while holding the path to the terminal device 4-1. If the affiliated electronic mail system 12-2 does not accept the incoming call, the process moves from step S15 to step S16, the subscriber is informed as an error guidance that this transmission is not successful, and the process returns to step S3 shown in FIG.

On the other hand, when the response of the affiliated electronic mail system 12-2 is detected, the representative email system 11 sends the information such as the subscriber number and the message transmission code previously received from the terminal device 4-1 to the affiliated electronic mail. System 12
-2 (step S17). In this way, the terminal device 4-1 is connected to the affiliated electronic mail system 12-2,
The representative electronic mail system 11 is separated. After that, from the terminal device 4-1 to the affiliated electronic mail system 12-
A predetermined e-mail is transferred to the mailbox of the other party's subscriber.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S9 that the subscriber requests the e-mail listening, the process proceeds to step S19 to call the corresponding affiliated electronic mail system. That is, in step S5 shown in FIG. 4, when the subscriber information is searched, it is determined in advance which affiliated electronic mail system the subscriber has his / her mailbox. And next step S
At 9, the corresponding affiliated electronic mail system is called. When this affiliated electronic mail system is the affiliated electronic mail system 12-1 shown in FIG. 1, the representative electronic mail system 11 transmits the subscriber number and the password by the PB signal in the same manner as described above, and the affiliated electronic mail system 12-1. System 1
Perform 2-1 login operation.

If the response of the affiliated electronic mail system 12-1 is not detected in step S20, the process moves to step S21 to display an error guidance that the electronic mail system cannot be transferred, and step S3 in FIG. Return to. When the affiliated electronic mail system 12-1 is logged in, the affiliated electronic mail system 12-1 is connected to the terminal device 4-1 at this point and the representative electronic mail system 11 is disconnected. After that, step S2
3, the electronic mail stored in the corresponding mailbox of the affiliated electronic mail system 12-1 is the terminal device 4
-1.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The number of affiliated electronic mail systems connected to the exchange may be any, and the terminal device may be any communication terminal such as a telephone or a facsimile terminal connected to the exchange 3 directly or via a public network. . Further, the transferred mail may be any content such as voice mail, facsimile mail, text mail, etc.,
Further, the subscriber name, password, etc. sent from the representative electronic mail system to the affiliated electronic mail system may be a PB signal, or may be a signal for transmitting a certain fixed code such as another MF signal. Further, the representative electronic mail system itself may house a very small electronic mail mailbox or the like as long as the connection management for the affiliated electronic mail system is not hindered.

[0026]

According to the large-scale mail system of the present invention described above, a representative electronic mail system and a group of affiliated electronic mail systems are connected to an exchange, and the representative electronic mail system accepts an incoming call from a terminal device through the exchange and maintains a constant value. After performing the response process and the confirmation process of the sender / receiver, the necessary information was transferred to the corresponding affiliated e-mail system and the terminal device and affiliated e-mail system were connected. It is possible to build a large-scale e-mail system that could not be realized in capacity.

That is, the representative electronic mail system can handle the response with the terminal device and the confirmation processing of the sender / receiver at one hand, and it is possible to accept the requests of a large number of subscribers through an appropriate amount of subscriber connection lines, while at the same time. Since the mailboxes themselves are distributed in the affiliated electronic mail system and the expansion is free, the individual electronic mail system does not require significantly many subscriber connection lines. Moreover, the e-mail storage capacity of the affiliated e-mail system is not required to be unnecessarily large. As a result, a large-scale e-mail system is realized which allows the system to be sufficiently expanded.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a large-scale mail system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a general electronic mail system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a general electronic mail system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a response and sender / receiver confirmation processing.

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of a connection switching function unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2-1 to 2-3 Subscriber connection line 3 Switch 4-1 and 4-2 Terminal device 5 Public network 11 Representative electronic mail system 12-1, 12-2 Series electronic mail system

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A representative electronic mail system connected to a communication network via an exchange, and a group of affiliated electronic mail systems connected to the communication network via an exchange, wherein the representative electronic mail system is the exchange. A response function unit that executes a series of response processing for connection with an electronic mail system when an incoming call is accepted through the terminal device, and is subscribed to the affiliated electronic mail system on behalf of the representative electronic mail system. A subscriber information search function unit that searches subscriber information regarding a subscriber and performs sender / receiver confirmation processing; and after executing the response processing and the sender / receiver confirmation processing, issue one of the affiliated email systems. A connection switching function unit for switching the connection so as to connect the terminal device and the corresponding affiliated electronic mail system. Large-scale mail system and butterflies.