JPH07123271B2 - Electronic mail system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail system capable of transmitting an explanation or a message by voice together with an electronically sent document to more surely convey the intention to the other party.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a concept called office automation has been proposed in order to improve the productivity of offices together with the soaring cost of offices, and this is being actively researched and developed not only in the United States but also in Japan. Is recommended,
Recently, single devices or networked systems are being introduced into offices.

As one of the office automation concepts, there is an electronic mail system, and as an example, an electronic mail system electronically sends a document including code information created by a word processor or the like to a desired partner, or a facsimile system. There are so-called document mails, such as those in which handwritten documents or drawings are sent as image information. Compared to the conventional method of sending a document written on paper, such a document mail system has the characteristic that the document can be delivered to the other party quickly and reliably, but on the other hand, the other party can understand the content of the document more accurately and read it further. After the end, little improvement has been made to the underlying purpose of information transmission to leave memories forever. Rather, the information is standardized by being printed by a word processor or monochromatic by a facsimile, and the impression when reading is weak, the understanding level is deteriorated, or there is a problem that it is difficult to remember.

On the other hand, an answering machine is developed as a form different from such a document mail to send a message by voice.
There is a so-called voice mail system. This is to specify one or more parties with a telephone and temporarily store a voice message in a storage device such as a magnetic disk or magnetic tape provided on the telephone exchange side.
Then, for example, a lamp attached to the other party's telephone is turned on to notify that a voice message is being sent, and the other party who knows this has entered a specific code from the same telephone and stored in the storage device. I try to listen to voice messages. Such a system can be realized relatively easily and inexpensively by adding some devices and functions such as a storage device to a so-called telephone premises electronic switching system, but on the other hand, it is not possible to send it as seen in the document mail system. Not only is it difficult to extract and read those that are urgent, or those that are of great interest, only by looking at the titles or sender names of multiple documents that have been read, and generally speaking with audio explanations, the understanding level is generally lower than that of documents. However, there was a drawback that the degree of memorability was low.

[0005]

As described above, in the prior art,
Due to the shortcomings of the document mail system and voice mail system, in the case of an important project so far, after sending it, we call the recipient and give a supplementary explanation. The situation was that the characteristics such as so-called asynchronism, in which the sender and the receiver did not have a conversation at the same time, could not be fully utilized.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to output a document sent electronically and a voice for adding a description about this document by combining a voice mail with a document mail. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic mail system that can improve the understanding and impression of mail contents and can significantly increase the degree of memorization by configuring the above.

[0007]

The electronic mail system of the present invention comprises a document input means for electronically inputting a document consisting of code information or image information, and a voice for electronically inputting a voice description related to the document. An input unit having an input unit, a storage unit for storing and storing the document and the voice generated by the input unit, a document output unit and a voice output unit for outputting the document and the voice read from the storage unit And an output unit having the above-mentioned document input means
Document transmission for transmitting the document input from the above to the output section
Means and the voice input from the voice input means are output as described above.
Power transmission means for transmitting to the power unit, and the above-mentioned via a control line.
The above document input between the document transmission means and the voice transmission means
A voice input request input from the means or the above document output hand
Transmission of control information related to audio output request input from the stage
And a voice generated by the input section and a voice related to the description of the document can be simultaneously viewed and heard at the output section.

[0008]

As a result, according to the present invention, from the document input means
Voice input requests and voice output requests from document output means.
You can direct these requests by entering them as your information
Therefore, such document input means or document output means
Performing operations related to voice mail in a unified manner
You can

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The object of the present invention is a document made up of code information created by a word processor or the like, or a document made up of image information as seen in a facsimile system such as a document, a memo, a document of any form such as a drawing. However, in the following description, a document based on code information is targeted.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a document mail exchange network. A plurality of (two in the illustrated example) document mail terminals 2 are connected to the network 1 and transmission documents are temporarily stored and stored. The document storage control device 3 for storing the documents is connected to form a document mail system.

The document mail terminal 2 has a so-called word processing function. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a keyboard for converting and inputting kana and kanji and for inputting a transmission request or a destination. 21,
A display device 22 for displaying the created document or the sent document, and further, the fact that the document has been sent, a storage device 23 for storing the display content of one screen of the display device 22, an arithmetic control Document creation and transmission in cooperation with the device 24,
A storage device 25 for storing a program for controlling reception, a kanji pattern, a dictionary, and the like.
The storage device 26 for storing the created document or the sent document and the modem 28 for controlling the interface with the document mail exchange network 1 via the line 27.

On the other hand, 4 is a telephone switching network, and a plurality of (two in the illustrated example) telephones 5 are connected to the network 4 and a voice storage control device for temporarily storing a voice message. 6 are connected to form a voice mail system. Here, the voice storage control device 6 has a storage capacity enough to store a voice input for adding a detailed description according to the document content.

In the example of FIG. 1, the sender A is provided with one document mail terminal 2 and one telephone 5, and the receiver B is provided with another document mail terminal 2 and one. Telephone 5 is provided.

Next, the operation will be described.

Now, document transmission is performed as follows. First, at the document mail terminal 2 of the sender A, the terminal 2
Create a document using the word processing function of
At the same time, it should be noted that a voice explanation or comment using the voice mail system (hereinafter referred to as voice message) is attached to the document, and information for accessing the voice message. Further, in parallel with such document creation, a voice message is input from the telephone set 5 on the transmitting side A, and the voice message is stored and stored in the voice storage control device 6. In this case, a specific code is input from the telephone 5 via a dial or the like, and after requesting the telephone exchange network 4 to store and store in the voice storage control device 6, a desired voice message is input to store the voice storage. A procedure for temporarily storing and storing in the control device 6 is taken.

In this state, when the sending side A terminal 2 requests sending of the document, the document is sent to the document storage control device 3 via the document mail exchange network 1 and temporarily sent to the device 3. Be remembered. At the same time, if there is a destination designation from the terminal 2 on the sending side A, the corresponding terminal 2 for document mail on the receiving side B is specified.
A message indicating that the document is sent is sent to the display device 22, and the message is displayed on the display device 22 of the terminal 2 (the lamp may simply be turned on to indicate the sending of the document).

The document mail terminal 2 on the receiving side B, which is the destination of the notification, knows that the document is being sent by the display device 22.
When a predetermined code such as an ID code of the recipient or a request for viewing a sent document is input by the keyboard 21 of the document, the document stored in the document storage control device 3 is read out and the document mail exchange network 1 Is sent to the terminal 2 via the line 27, is temporarily stored in the storage device 26 under the control of the arithmetic and control unit 24 via the line 27 and the modem 28, and is then stored in the storage device 25. The code information is converted into an image image to be displayed and displayed on the display device 22.

In this state, the receiver knows from the document displayed on the display device 22 that the voice message is attached to the document, and the telephone 5 on the receiver side B describes the document. When a specific code is input by the access information of the voice message and a voice message is requested, a voice message for explaining the document contents attached to the above document stored in the voice storage control device 6 is read out, and the telephone exchange network 4 Is output to the telephone 5 via the. As a result, the recipient can browse the document displayed on the display device 22 of the terminal 2 while listening to the audio description on the telephone 5.

In the above, the transmitting side is A and the receiving side is B.
However, it is possible to send a document with B as the sender and A as the receiver.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the sender A
Further, one document mail terminal 2 and one telephone 5 are provided respectively on the receiving side B and the receiving side B, and the document output from the document mail terminal 2 on the transmitting side A is stored in the document storage control device 3.
Voices for adding explanations related to the document output from the telephone 5 are temporarily accumulated and stored in the voice accumulation control device 6, respectively, and the receiver side is designated by the destination of the document mail terminal 2 of the sender A. When B is specified, the document and the voice message corresponding to this document are read from the storage control devices 3 and 6 and can be sent to the receiving side B. As a result, on the receiving side B, the document storage control device 3
Since it is possible to simultaneously listen to the read document and the voice description related to the document read from the voice storage control device 6, it is possible to surely understand the contents of the sent document. become. That is, in the past, information was transmitted via either visual or auditory intervals as seen in document mail or voice mail. In contrast to this, the present invention utilizes both visual and auditory information. Since it conveys the information, it gives a strong interest and impression to the recipient, helps the understanding, and greatly improves the degree of memorability even after browsing. According to the experiment, when both the visual and auditory senses are utilized, such an effect is confirmed to improve the memory retention three to six times after 120 hours from the explanation as compared with the visual sense or the auditory sense alone. ing.

Further, as the document mail terminal, a word processor with a so-called document transmission function which is currently on the market can be used as it is, and the telephone in the voice mail system does not need any display function indicating that a voice message is sent. It is very economically advantageous because the ordinary standard telephone can be used as it is and the existing telephone exchange network can be easily realized by adding a voice storage control device.

Next, FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention.

In this case, in FIG. 3, the document mail exchange network 1 and the telephone exchange network 4 are connected to each other by a control line 7. Others are the same as those in FIG. 1, and the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted here.

With this arrangement, when a document to be sent is created by the document mail terminal 2 of the sender A, if a voice message is also added, it will be transmitted via the document mail exchange network 1 and the telephone exchange network 4. Then, the additional information including the voice storage control device activation request signal and the transmission source telephone number as shown in FIG. 8 of the voice message is sent to the voice storage control device 6.

The sender telephone number may be input by the sender from the document mail terminal 2, or the database registered in advance in the document mail exchange network 1 may be used as a key for the terminal number of the document mail terminal 2. It can also be realized by automatically adding by searching for.

When the control device 6 is activated in this way, the telephone 5 of the sender A is called via the telephone exchange network 4 and requests the sender of the document to respond to the telephone 5. When the sender picks up the handset of the telephone 5 and responds, a request is made, for example, from the voice storage control device 6 to input a voice message with a synthetic voice. If you enter a voice message according to the request,
The message is sent to the voice storage control device 6 via the telephone exchange network 4, and is temporarily stored here together with additional information such as a destination telephone number and a document message identification number as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the document created by the terminal 2 on the sending side A is also sent to the document storage control device 3 via the document mail exchange network 1 after designating the destination, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in 0, it is temporarily stored together with additional information such as the destination terminal number and the voice message identification number. Then, a message indicating that the document has been sent is displayed on the destination, that is, the display device 22 of the terminal 2 on the receiving side B.

By this display, a specific code such as an ID code registered in advance in the system is input from the terminal 2 on the receiving side B to each receiving terminal, and when the document is requested to be viewed, the document stored in the document storage control device 3 is stored. Is sent to and displayed on the terminal 2, and the fact that a voice message is added to the document is displayed.

When a voice message request is input from the terminal 2, the request is documented as a control signal consisting of a voice accumulation control device activation request signal, a receiving telephone number, and a voice message identification number as shown in FIG. It is sent to the voice storage control device 6 through the mail exchange network 1 and the telephone exchange network 4, and the telephone device 5 on the receiving side B is called by the device 6. When the recipient picks up the handset of the telephone 5, the voice message stored in the voice storage control device 6 is read and output to the telephone 5 via the telephone exchange network 4. As a result, the recipient can view the document displayed on the display device 22 of the terminal 2 while listening to the message.

Therefore, in this way, the operation relating to the voice mail can be centrally performed at the document mail terminal 2, and the operability is further improved.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a different embodiment of the present invention.

In this case, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the document mail system and the voice mail system are provided separately or in association with each other via a control line. The system is configured as one system, and thereby the operability is further improved, and the device space on the user's desk can be saved by using the document mail terminal and the telephone as a compound terminal.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 8 denotes a composite exchange network for transmitting and exchanging documents and voices. The network 8 includes a plurality of (two in the illustrated example) functions of a document mail and a telephone (including voice mail). In addition to connecting the composite terminal 9, the document storage control device 10 and the voice storage control device 11 are connected. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the composite terminal 9 has a handset 29 for having a function as a telephone and a function as a voice mail in addition to the components shown in FIG. 2 is the same as that of FIG. 2, and the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this way, when a document and a voice message to be sent are input from the terminal 9 of the sender A, they are sent to the document storage control device 10 and the voice storage control device 11, respectively, and temporarily stored and stored. . Then, when the recipient who knows that the same document is sent at the terminal 9 on the receiving side B inputs a document browsing request, first, the document storage controller 10 requests the document and then the voice message. As a result, a voice message is sent from the voice storage control device 11, whereby the telephone handset 2 while browsing the document via the display device 22 of the terminal 9 on the receiving side B.
9 or a voice message can be heard via the loudspeaker 30.

In this way, it is possible to further improve the operability, and it is possible to advantageously save the device space on the user's desk. Note that the terminal 9 in this embodiment
And network 8 or document storage control device 10
Since the control signals between the voice storage control device 11 and the like can be substantially the same as those in the above-described embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

Next, FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention.

In this case, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the document and the voice message are transmitted from the receiving side terminal which is temporarily stored in the center of the exchange network for the document or stored in the voice storage control device. The same document or voice message is retransmitted in response to the request of the above, but with such a method, as the system becomes large in scale, that is, the number of terminals or the number of users increases, the addition of the storage control device increases and the storage capacity increases significantly. At the same time, the load on the control device is increased, the device becomes expensive, the responsiveness to the request from the user is deteriorated, the service is deteriorated, and the failure of the device is likely to spread to the entire system.

In FIG. 6, a plurality (two in the illustrated example) of composite terminals 13 are connected to the composite exchange network 12. Here, as shown in FIG. 7, the composite terminal 13 includes a large-capacity storage device 31 capable of accumulating and storing a plurality of documents and voice messages at the same time, instead of the storage device 26 among the components in FIG. . Others are Figure 5
The same parts are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this way, the document and the voice message input from the terminal 13 on the sending side A are temporarily stored in the storage device 31 of the terminal 13 and then the terminal on the receiving side B via the complex switching network 12. 13, and is stored and stored in the storage device 31 of the terminal 13 together with additional information indicating that it is a composite message including a document and a voice message as shown in FIG. When the recipient knows the arrival of the composite message through the display device 22 of the terminal 13 and requests the document browsing and voice explanation using the keyboard 21, the document and voice message stored and stored in the storage device 31 are read out. As a result, the document displayed on the display device 22 can be viewed while listening to the audio description through the telephone handset 29 or the loudspeaker 30.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be carried out by appropriately modifying it without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in the above description, the electronic mail target document is code information created by a word processor or the like, but a handwritten document or a document composed of image information such as a drawing may be the target. By providing a scanner for inputting such an image document and a means for adding a function for band-compressing the image information input by the scanner to the arithmetic and control unit, almost the same effect as that of the document including the code information can be obtained. It goes without saying that it will be done.

It is also exaggerated to say that when the voice analysis / synthesis technology is utilized in transmission and storage of voice messages and band compression is performed, the transmission capacity and storage capacity can be significantly reduced and a system with excellent cost performance can be formed. There is no end.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the explanation is made by using the voice mail as an additional function of the document mail, but on the contrary, the explanation is given by the voice as seen in, for example, a lecture or a speech. A method of using the document mail as an additional function as an entity, that is, listening to a voice message sent as a voice mail and referring to the drawings sent as the document mail in the voice message is also referred to in the present invention. It can be realized as a modification.

Further, it is also possible to realize the application of the present invention in which the page turning of a document consisting of a plurality of pages and the explanation by the voice mail are synchronized and the page turning is automatically performed on the display device according to the progress of the audio explanation. Is. This includes
For example, as shown in FIG. 13, a document control signal is inserted into a voice signal, the control signal is detected by the arithmetic and control unit 24 described above, and the content of the document control signal is decoded based on the table illustrated in FIG. However, it can be realized by transferring or displaying the document of the desired page to the above-mentioned document storage control devices 3 and 10 or the document storage device 23 according to the result of this decoding. In this case, it may be necessary to insert a delimiter or flag having a specific signal pattern before (if necessary after) the document control signal in order to distinguish the document control signal from the voice signal.

Needless to say, the electronic mail system becomes more convenient by adding a printer, for example, to the above-mentioned document mail terminal or compound terminal and outputting the data on paper in addition to the output by the display device.

[0046]

According to the present invention, from the document input means
Voice input requests and voice output requests from document output means.
You can direct these requests by entering them as your information
Therefore, such document input means or document output means
Performing operations related to voice mail in a unified manner
And improve the operability of the system.
be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a document mail terminal used in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a composite terminal used in another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a composite terminal used in still another embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining control signals used in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining control signals used in the embodiment of FIG.

10 is a diagram for explaining control signals used in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining control signals used in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining control signals used in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining control signals used in still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a table used in this further different embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Document mail exchange network, 2 ... Document mail terminal, 3, 10 ... Document storage control device, 4, 11 ... Telephone exchange network, 5 ... Telephone, 6 ... Voice storage control device, 7 ... Control line, 8, 12 ... Composite switching network,
9, 13 ... Compound terminal, 21 ... Keyboard, 22 ... Display device, 23, 25, 26, 31 ... Storage device, 24 ... Arithmetic control device, 27 ... Line, 28 ... Modem, 29 ... Telephone handset, 30 ... Loudspeaker device .

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Comprising code information or image information
Inputting means for electronically inputting a document to be used and the above document
Input that electronically inputs audio description related to
An input unit having means, and the above-mentioned document and voice generated by this input unit are stored and stored.
A storage means for remembering, outputting the above-mentioned document and voice read from this storage means
An output unit having a document output unit and a voice output unit,The document input from the document input means is transmitted to the output section.
A transmission means for the document to be sent, The voice input from the voice input means is transmitted to the output section.
Audio transmission means to be sent, The above-mentioned document transmission means and voice transmission means phase via a control line
The voice input request input from the document input means between the two
Or the voice output request input from the document output means.
And a transmission means for transmitting such control information,  Related to the document generated from the above input section and the description of this document
The output voice can be viewed and heard at the same time.
An electronic mail system characterized by that.