JPH07240828A - Facsimile communication method and facsimile equipment using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the facsimile equipment in which a content of a transmission original and a received original is grasped to manage the originals. CONSTITUTION:The facsimile equipment is provided with an operation section 14 receiving report management information such as information specifying a content described in a transmission original, a report memory section 13 storing the sent report management information and the received report management information, a print section 18 providing an output of report management information based on the information stored in the report memory section 13, and a control section (FAX control section 10 and report management section 12) reading the report management information from the report memory section 13 and sending the information to an opposite party and transferring the report management information sent from the opposite party to the report memory section 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine, and more particularly to a facsimile machine which manages communication information between facsimile machines which transmit or receive image information to a remote place using a telephone line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a facsimile apparatus for transmitting or receiving image information to a remote place by using a telephone line has been put into practical use. Usually, this type of device has a function of managing communication information such as transmission information or reception information.

However, communication information such as transmission information or reception information managed by a conventional facsimile machine is
Unique information of the transmitter or receiver such as the telephone number of the telephone line to which the device is connected or the name of the user of the device, and the originals sent or received, the date of communication and the total number of originals communicated However, it was not possible to manage even the information of the contents described in the transmitted manuscript.

[0004]

By the way, as a method of using a facsimile apparatus, image information such as a document is transmitted from an unspecified number of senders to an unspecified number of recipients in a short time, and the transmission is performed. There is a use for replying a necessary reply from the receiver as image information to the information thus obtained.

In such use, it is necessary for the sender side and the receiver side to grasp the question items required to be answered and the status of answers to the questions.

However, as the absolute amount of questions and answers increases, it becomes more difficult for the sender side and the receiver side to grasp the situation.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of managing information regarding the contents of a transmission document and a reception document.

[0008]

According to the facsimile communication method of the present invention, information to specify the contents described in the original to be transmitted together with the original to be transmitted and the document management information such as the destination are transmitted to the other party. The document management information transmitted from the other party is received together with the transmitted document.

Further, the facsimile apparatus of the present invention has an input means for inputting information for specifying the contents described in a document to be transmitted and document management information such as a destination, the document management information for transmission and the received document. Storage means for storing the management information, output means for outputting the document management information based on the information stored in the storage means, the document management information is read from the storage means and transmitted to the other party, and transmitted from the other party. Control means for transferring the received document management information to the storage means.

Further, the document information may be output to a report.

[0011]

According to the present invention, in communication between facsimile machines, the information for specifying not only the other party of transmission / reception but also the content of communication is provided by each facsimile by the document management information relating to the question items and answer items exchanged with each other. The device can be managed independently. Therefore, even if the absolute amount of questions and answers increases, the situation can be easily grasped on the sender side and the receiver side.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a FAX control unit that controls the entire facsimile, and a ROM unit that stores a control program and an RA that temporarily stores data.
A main memory section 11 having an M section is connected.

Further, the FAX control unit 10 has a display unit 15 for displaying a destination number and the like, an operation unit 14 provided with a numeric keypad, an image input unit 16 for reading an image of a document, and a printing unit for printing image data and the like. 18, a FAX modem 17 for modulating / demodulating a signal transmitted through the telephone line 19 is connected.

Further, in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, the report management section 12 for managing the information on question items and answer items exchanged between the facsimile apparatuses is connected to the FAX control section 10 and stored in the report memory section 13. Information management is performed based on the stored document management information about each question item and answer item described later.

In the present invention, in order to manage a document, document transmission information and document management information such as information for specifying a question item or an answer item described therein are communicated between facsimile machines. By doing so, information is exchanged and document management is facilitated. Therefore, in the present invention, document management information (hereinafter, referred to as report management information) such as a transmission destination or an answer destination, a question document name and question item, or an answer document name and answer destination is input from the operation unit 14. The report management information input from the operation unit 14 is stored in the report memory unit 13 from the FAX control unit 10 through the report management unit 12. As a method of inputting the report management information, necessary information can be input from a computer terminal or the like in addition to the operation unit 14.

The report management information sent from the destination enters the report management unit 12 via the telephone line 19, the FAX modem unit 17 and the FAX control unit 10. This report management information is managed by the report management unit 12 and stored in the report memory unit 13. Then, this report management information is output from the printing unit 18 in a format as shown in FIGS. 10 to 13 as required by the user of the apparatus or when the printing conditions are satisfied.

Next, a method of inputting report management information according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

2A and 2B are flow charts showing the input operation of the report management information of the present invention.

FIG. 2A shows the case of transmitting a question by the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, and shows the simplest operation method. In the operation mode, the question manuscript is set, and then the document management mode is entered by operating the keys of the operation unit 14 or the like. In the document management mode, the question manuscript name, the number of question items, and the other party are sequentially displayed on the operation unit 1.
4, and the report management information is stored in the report memory unit 13 from the report management unit 12 via the FAX control unit 10.

Then, the destination facsimile machine is dialed. This dial may be configured such that the dial number corresponding to the other party is stored in the memory in advance, and the dialing is automatically performed according to the other party's name input from the operation unit 14. You can enter it. Then, the normal communication mode is entered, and in this document management mode, the report memory unit 1
The report management information stored in No. 3 is transmitted to the destination facsimile machine as the report management information.

FIG. 2B shows the operation of the facsimile apparatus when sending a reply, and shows the simplest operation method. In the operation mode, the answer original is set, and then the key operation of the operation unit 14 is performed to enter the document management mode. In the document management mode, the answer manuscript name, the answer item, and the recipient are sequentially input by the key operation of the operation unit 14, and the report management information is stored in the report memory unit 13 from the report management unit 12 via the FAX control unit 10. To be done. Then, since the answer items are stored in the report memory unit 13 that stores the report management information transmitted from the facsimile machine of the answer destination, the items to be answered are sequentially displayed and selected by the device. It is also possible to adopt a method.

Next, the facsimile machine of the other party to which the reply is transmitted is dialed. This destination can also be stored in the memory of the facsimile device and dialed using the information, as in the above case, or further dial numbers may be input. After that, the normal communication mode is entered, and the information registered in this document management mode is transmitted as report management information to the destination facsimile machine of the reply destination.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a sequence showing the transfer of a signal in the communication mode in the facsimile apparatus. Normally, the facsimile machine on the transmission side receives an NSF signal (NON-STAND) from the facsimile machine on the receiver side.
ARD FACILITY), CSI signal (CALLE
D SUBSCRIBER IDENTIFICATI
ON) and DIS signal (DIGITAL IDENTI
FICATION SIGNAL). In particular,
In the case of a facsimile machine having the same function, the above N
According to the function described in the SF signal, the transmitter is NS
By giving an instruction by S (NON-STANDARD SET-UP), the communication in the unique mode can be performed.

Therefore, in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, a document management function bit is provided in the NSF signal,
Document management can be performed, and report management information is transmitted to each other by adding the above-described report management information to the NSS signal to perform document management.

Next, the communication operation when both the transmitting side and the receiving side are facsimile machines according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

4 to 13 are views showing the basic procedure of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, first, as described above, the NSF is executed in accordance with the procedure of the facsimile communication generally put into practical use.
The report management function bit provided in the signal indicates that the A device 1 and the B device 2 are in communication with each other in a state where report management is possible. When both the devices 1 and 2 are in the communicable state, the information B1 is sent from the device B 2 to the device A 1. This information B1 is information for specifying the device that receives the question, and is only required to be specified. Therefore, normally, the information B1 such as the company name of the user who is using the B device 2 is sent to the A device 1. The information B1 is of the same type as the communication information managed by the conventional facsimile apparatus. Information B sent from device B
1 enters the report management unit 12 via the telephone line 19, FAX modem unit 17 and FAX control unit 10, and
It is stored in the report memory unit 13.

Next, the information A1 is sent from the A device 1 to the B device 2. This information A1 is information for specifying the A device 1 that transmits a question and the document A1 transmitted from the A device 1 and the question item described therein, and is stored in the report memory unit 13 in the document management mode. This is the report management information, and in this embodiment, the answer destination, the name of the question document, and the question item correspond to each other. Information A1 indicating each of these items is transmitted from the A device 1 to the B device 2. The information A1 sent from the A device 1 is the telephone line 19,
The report management unit 12 is entered through the FAX modem unit 17 and the FAX control unit 10, and then the report management unit 12 is entered.
And is stored in the report memory unit 13.

After that, the image information of the original A1 is transmitted, and normal facsimile communication is executed. As a result of this communication,
The information shown in FIG. 5 for the A device 1 and the information shown in FIG. 6 for the B device 2 are stored and managed in the report memory unit 13.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing information managed by the A-device A. In this embodiment, the name of the question document is the manuscript A1, the question items are 1 to N, and the question destination is: The B device 2 given from the information B1 is recorded.
However, at this stage, since the B device 2 has not returned the reply, the information as the name of the reply document has not been obtained,
For convenience, it is “none”.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the information managed by the device B 2, which is the content of the information A1 transmitted from the device A 2. The contents are the manuscript A1 as the name of the question document, 1 to N as the question items, and A as the answer destination.
Device 1 is recorded. However, at this stage, since the B-apparatus 2 has not returned the response, the information as the name of the response document has not been obtained, which is "none" for convenience.

FIG. 7 shows a case where the device B 2 sends a reply to the document A1 to the device A 1 after the above communication, and the device A 1 is followed by the general facsimile communication procedure similar to the above.
And B device 2 are in a communication state with the report management enabled.

Information A2 is sent from the A device 1 to the B device 2. This information A2 is information for identifying the device that receives the reply, and is the same information as the reply destination shown in FIG.
The device 1.

Next, the information B2 is sent from the device B 2 to the device A 1. This information B2 is information for identifying the B device 2 that transmits the reply and the document B2 that is transmitted from the B device 2 and which question the reply described therein is, and the report memory in the document management mode. This is the report management information stored in the unit 13. That is, this information B2 is the name and question item of the question document that specifies which question the device B2 that sends the answer and the document B2 that is sent from the device B2 and the answer described therein are for. is there. Then, in the A device 1, the information B2 sent from the B device 2 enters the report management unit 12 via the telephone line 19, the FAX modem unit 17 and the FAX control unit 10, and is managed by the report management unit 12. And is stored in the report memory unit 13.

After that, the image information of the original B2 is transmitted,
Normal facsimile communication is executed. As a result of this communication, the device A 1 manages the information shown in FIG. 8 and the device B 2 manages the information shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 shows information managed by the A device 1, in which the name of the question text is the original A1, the question items are 1 to N, and the question destination is the B device 2. Further, as a result of this communication, since the reply is returned from the device B 2, the document B2 is recorded in the name of the reply document.

FIG. 9 shows information managed by the B device 2, in which the name of the question document is the original document A1, the question items are 1 to N, and the answer destination is the A device 1. Further, as a result of this communication, since the reply is returned from the device B 2, the manuscript B2 is recorded in the name of the reply document.

10 and 11 are question fax management reports showing question information managed by the A-device 1.

12 and 13 are reply fax management reports showing reply information managed by the B-apparatus 2.

Each of these reports is managed by the report management section 12 of each facsimile machine, and the report management information stored in the report memory section 13 must be satisfied by the user of the apparatus or the printing conditions must be satisfied. Is output from the printing unit 18.

With the question fax management report shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 and the answer fax management report shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the user of the apparatus can easily grasp the status of questions and answers. Become.

As a measure against the memory overflow of the report management information, a generally practiced method of managing the communication management information may be adopted. An outline of the management method will be described below.

For example, when document management communication is performed in the A device 1, it is possible to classify information into two groups, that is, the question document is not answered and the question document is answered. When a memory overflow occurs in response to no response, the oldest information is erased, but the management information erased at that time is output from the printing unit 18 as a report so that the device A indicates that there is no response. 1 user can recognize.

With respect to the answers, the user of the device A 1 recognizes that the answers have been given by automatically outputting the management information as a report when the number of predetermined information is reached. can do. After that, if all memory areas are cleared, information can be continuously managed without any problem.

As a more practical information management method, it is possible to add information on the date and time of the question and information on the date and time of the answer to the above-described embodiment.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, the information of the question situation and the answer situation conventionally managed for a question asked by a facsimile document can be easily operated by a simple document management information input operation and a normal facsimile. It can be managed by a facsimile machine by communication. Therefore, even if the absolute amount of questions and answers increases, the situation can be easily grasped on the sender side and the receiver side.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, in which (a) shows the operation of the apparatus for transmitting a question and (b) shows the operation of the apparatus for transmitting an answer.

FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing the transfer of signals in the communication mode.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of a question transmitting and question receiving procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the content of information managed by the device that transmitted the question, showing the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of information managed by the device that receives a question, showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of reply transmission and reply reception procedures according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of information managed by the device that sent the reply, showing the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of information managed by the device that received the reply, showing the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a question facsimile management report printed by the device that sent the question according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a question facsimile management report printed by the device that sent the question according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of an answer facsimile management report printed by the device that sent an answer according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of an answer facsimile management report printed by the device that sent an answer, showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 Facsimile device 10 FAX control unit 12 Report management unit 13 Report memory unit 14 Operation unit 15 Display unit 17 FAX modem unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A document to be transmitted together with information for specifying the content described in the document to be transmitted and document management information such as a transmission destination are transmitted to the other side, and the document management information transmitted from the other side is transmitted. A facsimile communication method characterized by receiving together with a transmitted original document. 2. An input unit for inputting information for specifying contents described in a manuscript to be transmitted and document management information such as a destination, and a storage unit for storing the document management information to be transmitted and the received document management information. And output means for outputting document management information based on the information stored in the storage means,
A facsimile apparatus, comprising: control means for reading out the document management information from the storage means and transmitting it to the other party, and transferring the document management information transmitted from the other party to the storage means.