JPH08214021A - Facsimile information service equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To utilize effectively a received telegraphic message by recording a valid period of the message to a management information storage section, adjusting the validity depending on frequency of message in use and deleting the stored message after the expiration of the validity. CONSTITUTION: A telegraphic message received by a facsimile equipment 101 is stored in a facsimile information storage section 107 via a message management section 105 or the like and the validity of each message is stored in a management information storage section 106. The frequency of extraction of each message to a terminal equipment 102 in the storage section 107 is stored in a utility history storage section 109, a validity adjustment section 108 references the storage section 109 to adjust the validity of the storage section 6 longer or shorter depending on the frequency of extraction. On the other hand, the validity stored in the storage section 106 after the lapse of validity is deleted through the management section 105. Thus, the utility efficiency of the received message is effectively enhanced without expanding the storage area capacity of the storage section 107.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile information service apparatus for performing processing such as registration and retrieval of a facsimile electronic message from a facsimile apparatus or a terminal apparatus connected via a communication line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A general facsimile information service is
It is realized by the information user designating a box number or a message number from a facsimile device or a terminal device at hand, and extracting a facsimile message registered by the information provider.

Depending on the service type, an update type box provided to hold only one latest electronic message, an additional type box for adding an electronic message to the same box, or at the time of being taken out by the user A post office box type box from which messages are deleted is prepared and used for various needs.

In the facsimile information service apparatus as described above, an important problem is how to delete unnecessary electronic messages in order to effectively utilize limited storage resources.

Generally, in the case of the update type box, the existing message is deleted when a new message is registered, and in the case of the post office box type box, it is deleted when the message is retrieved from the user. However, in the case of the add-on box, since the electronic messages continue to be accumulated, a method is used in which an effective period is set in advance for each box and the electronic messages whose effective period has elapsed are deleted in order.

In the renewal type box and the post office box type box, in order to prevent unnecessary telegrams from remaining for a long period of time, the validity period is often set in the same manner as the addition type box. FIG. 5 shows the structure of such a facsimile information service apparatus.

In FIG. 5, 501 is a facsimile device, 502 is a terminal device, 503 is a communication line, 504 is a communication control unit, 505 is a message management unit, 506 is a management information storage unit, and 507 is a facsimile information storage unit.

[0008] In the facsimile information service apparatus configured as described above, taking as an example a case where a message registered in the add-on box is deleted after the effective period has passed,
The operation will be described.

First, the information provider uses the facsimile device 501 at hand or the terminal device 502 to connect the communication line 50.
After connecting to the communication control unit 504 through 3, the box number is designated and the facsimile electronic message is input based on the guidance from the communication control unit.

This facsimile electronic message is an electronic message management unit 505.
Is stored in the designated box in the facsimile information storage unit 507. At that time, the validity period information of each box set in the management information storage unit 506 is used to determine the validity period of the corresponding message. The deadline time is calculated, and the content is registered in the management information storage unit.

The message management unit checks at regular intervals whether or not there is a message whose expiration time has expired. If there is a corresponding message, the data in the facsimile information storage unit related to the message and the management information storage unit Delete the data.

There is a case in which a separate validity period message retrieval unit is provided for the checking process of the validity period message, but there is no difference in the basic processing.

As the validity period information for each box, in addition to the method of designating the period until deletion (number of days, time, etc.), the method of directly designating the date and time of deletion may be adopted, and the service of the box itself It is used when the period is limited.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-94849, there is a system in which a user directly specifies a deletion date and time at the time of registering a message so that an effective period corresponding to the content of the message can be set. .

[0015]

The problems in the conventional facsimile information service apparatus are shown below.

[0016] First, in the method of setting the effective period for each box in advance, the information that is still in high demand for extraction is deleted because the set period has expired, or the information that is hardly extracted expires. There is a problem that it will remain forever because it does not become, and a function to adjust the effective period according to the demand for taking out has been desired.

Secondly, when the message registration is concentrated beyond the prediction, there is a possibility that the storage resource has no free space and the new message registration is interrupted. In such a case, the administrator has to individually instruct and delete unnecessary telegrams, which is a problem in that management takes time.

Thirdly, there are cases in which diversifying service requests cannot be met only by determining the effective period for each box, that is, for each type of information. There has been a demand for a function of changing the valid period according to the user and extending the valid period of a highly important message.

[0019]

In order to solve the above problem, a facsimile information service apparatus according to the present invention deletes a management information storage section for recording the effective period of each electronic message and a corresponding electronic message after the effective period has elapsed. In addition to the message management unit, the effective period adjustment unit that adjusts the effective period of the message according to the usage status, as a means for recording the usage status, a usage history storage unit that records the frequency of extracting the message, or a user or box It is composed of a resource management unit that manages the amount of stored resources used for each user, or a user information storage unit that records valid period information for each user.

[0020]

In this configuration, the validity period adjusting unit updates the validity period of the relevant message registered in the management information storage unit at the time of message registration by using the information recorded in the usage history storage unit or the like. By doing so, the effective period of the electronic message can be adjusted according to the usage status.

When the extraction frequency information of the electronic messages recorded in the usage history storage unit is used, the effective period of the electronic messages with high usage demand is adjusted to be relatively long, and the effective period of the electronic messages with low usage demand is adjusted to relatively short. can do.

When the utilization rate of the accumulated resource recorded in the resource management section is used, the valid period of the registered electronic message becomes shorter as the available area of the accumulated resource becomes smaller, and the telegram is deleted in order. It is possible to save the trouble of operation management.

Further, by using the validity period information for each user set in the user status storage unit, even for the telegram registered in the same box, the validity period can be adjusted according to the user. it can.

By using the information recorded in the electronic message management information recording unit, it is possible to adjust the effective period of a highly important electronic message to be relatively long and to adjust the effective period of a less important electronic message to be relatively short. it can.

[0025]

Examples of the invention

(Embodiment 1) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 101 is a facsimile device, 102 is a terminal device, 103 is a communication line, 104 is a communication control unit, 105 is a message management unit, 106 is a management information storage unit, 107 is a facsimile information storage unit, and 108 is The effective period adjustment unit 109 is a usage history storage unit.

In the facsimile information service apparatus configured as described above, taking as an example the case where the message (telegram number 101) registered in the additional-type box called "new product information" is deleted after the effective period has passed, The operation will be described.

First, the information provider sends the communication line 10 from the facsimile device 101 or the terminal device 102 at hand.
3 to connect to the communication control unit 104, and based on the guidance from the communication control unit, specify the box number of "new product information" and input a facsimile electronic message.

This facsimile electronic message is an electronic message management unit 105.
Is stored in the "new product information" box in the facsimile information storage unit 107, and at that time, the standard validity period information in the "new product information" box set in the management information storage unit 106 (Table 1). Is used to determine the number of remaining valid days of the message, and the content is registered in the management information storage unit as shown in (Table 2).

[0030]

[Table 1]

[0031]

[Table 2]

After that, each time the information user retrieves this message, the message history is collected by the message management unit and recorded in the usage history storage unit 109 as shown in (Table 3).

[0033]

[Table 3]

The effective period adjusting unit 108 is activated at regular intervals, and uses the frequency of use of each message recorded in the usage history storage unit to update the remaining effective days of the message registered in the management information storage unit. . In this example, it is activated once a day in the midnight hours when the usage is low, and the conversion of the remaining effective days is (Equation 1).
Shall be performed using.

[0035]

[Equation 1]

When the number of remaining valid days becomes 0 or less, the message management unit deletes the data in the facsimile information storage unit and the data in the management information storage unit related to the message.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by providing the effective period adjusting unit for adjusting the effective period of the electronic message by using the extraction frequency information of the electronic message recorded in the use history storage unit, the usage demand is increased. It is possible to adjust the valid period of a high message to be relatively long and the valid period of a message to be used low to be relatively short. As a result, the accumulated resources can be effectively used.

In this embodiment, the remaining valid days are registered in the management information storage unit, but the same effect can be obtained even if the remaining valid period is time or seconds. Further, as described in the related art, the method of registering the expiration time of the effective period can also obtain the same effect.

Further, in the present embodiment, (Equation 1) is used when adjusting the effective period by using the usage frequency, but it is needless to say that the same effect can be obtained as long as the expression includes the usage frequency as a parameter. Yes.

(Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, 201 is a facsimile device, 202 is a terminal device, 203 is a communication line, 204 is a communication control unit, 205 is a message management unit, 206 is a management information storage unit, 207 is a facsimile information storage unit, and 208 is The effective period adjusting unit is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 1 above. The difference from the configuration of FIG. 1 is that the resource management unit 2 is used instead of the usage history storage unit.
This is the point where 09 is provided.

In the facsimile information service apparatus configured as described above, an example is given in which the message (telegram number 101) registered in the add-on box called "new product information" is deleted after the effective period has elapsed. The operation will be described.

First, the information provider sends the communication line 20 from the facsimile device 201 or the terminal device 202 at hand.
3 to connect to the communication control unit 204, and based on the guidance from the communication control unit, specify the box number of "new product information" and input a facsimile message.

This facsimile electronic message is an electronic message management unit 205.
Is stored in the "new product information" box in the facsimile information storage section 207, and at that time, the standard effective period information in the "new product information" box set in the management information storage section 206 (Table 1). Is used to determine the number of remaining valid days of the message, and the content is registered in the management information storage unit as shown in (Table 2).

The resource management unit 209 is activated every time the electronic message is registered and deleted, and records the utilization status of the accumulated resource for each box as shown in (Table 4).

[0046]

[Table 4]

The valid period adjusting unit 208 is activated at regular intervals, and uses the utilization rate of the accumulated resource for each box recorded in the resource managing unit to determine the remaining valid days of the message registered in the management information storing unit. Update. In this example, it is assumed that the system is activated once a day in the midnight hours when the usage is low, and the remaining effective days are converted using (Equation 2).

[0048]

[Equation 2]

When the number of remaining valid days becomes 0 or less, the message management unit deletes the data in the facsimile information storage unit and the data in the management information storage unit related to the message.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by providing the effective period adjusting unit for adjusting the effective period of the electronic message by utilizing the utilization rate of the accumulated resource recorded in the resource managing unit, the accumulation resource becomes available. As the area becomes smaller, the validity period of the registered electronic message is changed to be shorter, so that it is less likely that the free area of the accumulated resource will be exhausted. Further, even if the free area of the accumulated resource is exhausted, the electronic message is automatically deleted, so that the labor of operation management can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the remaining valid days are registered in the management information storage unit, but the same effect can be obtained even if the remaining valid period is time or seconds. Further, as described in the related art, the method of registering the expiration time of the effective period can also obtain the same effect.

Further, in this embodiment, the effective period is adjusted by utilizing the utilization rate of the storage resource for each box, but the same effect can be obtained by utilizing the utilization rate of the storage resource for each user.
Similarly, with respect to (Equation 2), the same effect can be obtained as long as it is a mathematical expression including the usage rate of the storage resource as a parameter.

(Embodiment 3) A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of the present invention.

In FIG. 4, 301 is a facsimile device, 302 is a terminal device, 303 is a communication line, 304 is a communication control unit, 305 is a message management unit, 306 is a management information storage unit, and 307 is a facsimile information storage unit. Is similar to that of FIG. The difference from the configuration of FIG. 1 is that a user information storage unit 30 is used instead of the usage history storage unit and the effective period adjustment unit.
8 is provided.

In the facsimile information service apparatus configured as described above, an example is given in which the message (telegram number 101) registered in the add-on box called "new product information" is deleted after the effective period has elapsed. The operation will be described.

First, the information provider makes a communication line 30 from the facsimile device 301 or the terminal device 302 at hand.
3 to connect to the communication control unit 304, and based on the guidance from the communication control unit, specify the box number of “new product information” and input a facsimile electronic message.

This facsimile message is a message management unit 305.
Is stored in the "new product information" box in the facsimile information storage unit 307, and at that time, the standard effective period information in the "new product information" box set in the management information storage unit 306 (Table 1). And the user information storage unit 308
Validity information about registrants set in (Table 5)
Is used to determine the expiration time of the valid period of the message, and the content is registered in the management information storage unit. The formula for calculating the expiration date of the valid period used here is shown in (Equation 3).

[0058]

[Table 5]

[0059]

(Equation 3)

The message management unit 305 checks at regular intervals whether there are any messages whose expiration time has expired. If there is a message, the data in the facsimile information storage unit and the management information storage unit related to the message will be checked. Delete the data of.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the effective period of the telegram is adjusted by using the effective period information for each registrant recorded in the user information storage section, so that the effective period with a high degree of freedom is obtained. Can be set.

In the present embodiment, the method of registering the expiration date of the effective period in the management information storage unit is adopted, but the same effect can be obtained by the method of registering the remaining effective period.

In the present embodiment, (Equation 3) is used when the effective period is adjusted by using the user information, but the same effect can be obtained as long as it is a mathematical expression including parameters defined for each user. can get.

(Embodiment 4) A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of the present invention.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 401 is a facsimile device, 402 is a terminal device, 403 is a communication line, 404 is a communication control unit, 405 is a message management unit, 406 is a management information storage unit, and 407 is a facsimile information storage unit. Is similar to that of FIG. 3 is different from the configuration in FIG. 3 in that instead of the user information storage unit, a means for recording the importance of the electronic message designated by the registrant in the management information storage unit is provided.

The operation of the facsimile information service apparatus configured as described above will be described by taking as an example the case where the validity period of the message (message number 101) registered in the additional type box "new product information" is determined. To do.

First, the information provider sends the communication line 40 from the facsimile device 401 at hand or the terminal device 402.
3 is connected to the communication control unit 404 through 3, and based on the guidance from the communication control unit, the box number of “new product information” and the importance of the electronic message are designated and the facsimile electronic message is input.

This facsimile message is sent to the message management unit 405.
Then, it is stored in the “new product information” box in the facsimile information storage unit 407, and the designated importance is recorded in the management information storage unit 406 as shown in (Table 6).

[0069]

[Table 6]

At this time, the standard expiration date information (Table 1) in the “new product information” box set in the management information storage unit 406 and the expiration date of the expiration date of the relevant message are calculated using the importance of the message. It is decided, and its contents are registered in the management information storage unit. The formula for calculating the expiration date of the valid period used here is shown in (Equation 4).

[0071]

[Equation 4]

The message management unit 405 checks at regular intervals whether or not there is a message whose expiration time has expired. If there is a message, the data in the facsimile information storage unit and the management information storage unit related to the message will be checked. Delete the data of.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the validity period of a message is adjusted by using the significance level of the message recorded in the management information storage unit, so that the validity period according to the significance level can be changed freely. Can be set.

In the present embodiment, the method of registering the expiration date of the effective period in the management information storage unit is used, but the same effect can be obtained by the method of registering the remaining effective period.

Further, in the present embodiment, (Equation 4) is used when adjusting the effective period by using the importance, but the same effect can be obtained if the importance is a mathematical expression including a parameter.

[0076]

As described above, according to the present invention, the management information storage section for recording the valid period of each message, the message management section for deleting the relevant message after the valid period has elapsed, and the valid period of the message according to the usage situation. In addition to the effective period adjusting unit for adjusting the usage rate, as a means for recording the usage status, a usage history storing unit for recording the frequency of fetching electronic messages, or a resource management unit for managing the usage amount of accumulated resources for each user or each box Alternatively, by providing a user information storage unit that records valid period information for each user, the conventional technique can be improved in the following points.

First, the effective period of the electronic message can be adjusted according to the extraction demand, and the limited storage can be effectively used.

Secondly, since the electronic message is automatically deleted according to the usage status of the accumulated resource, the labor required for operation management can be reduced.

Thirdly, since the effective period can be changed according to the user and the effective period of a highly important message can be lengthened, various service forms can be dealt with.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a facsimile information service device according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Facsimile device 102 Terminal device 103 Communication line 104 Communication control unit 105 Telegram management unit 106 Management information storage unit 107 Facsimile information storage unit 108 Effective period adjustment unit 109 Usage history storage unit 201 Facsimile device 202 Terminal device 203 Communication line 204 Communication control Part 205 Message management part 206 Management information storage part 207 Facsimile information storage part 208 Effective period adjustment part 209 Resource management part 301 Facsimile device 302 Terminal device 303 Communication line 304 Communication control part 305 Message management part 306 Management information storage part 307 Facsimile information Storage unit 308 User information storage unit 401 Facsimile device 402 Terminal device 403 Communication line 404 Communication control unit 405 Message management unit 406 Management information storage unit 407 Facsimile information storage Part 501 facsimile apparatus 502 terminal device 503 communication line 504 the communication control section 505 message management section 506 managing information storage unit 507 facsimile information storing unit section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Registration of a facsimile electronic message from a facsimile device or a terminal device connected via a communication line,
In a facsimile information service device that performs processing such as retrieval, in addition to a management information storage unit that records the valid period of each message and a message management unit that deletes the relevant message after the expiration of the valid period, use to record the retrieval frequency of each message A facsimile information service apparatus comprising: a history storage unit; and an effective period adjustment unit that adjusts the effective period of a message according to the extraction frequency. 2. A resource management unit that manages the usage amount of the stored resource for each user or each box, instead of the usage history storage unit, and the validity period adjustment unit validates the message according to the usage status of the stored resource. The facsimile information service apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the period is adjusted. 3. A management information storage unit for recording the validity period of each message, a message management unit for deleting the corresponding message after the validity period has elapsed, and a user information storage for recording validity period information for each user. A facsimile information service device that has a section and adjusts the validity period of a message according to the registrant. 4. A means for recording the degree of importance of a message specified at the time of message registration in the management information storage instead of the user information storage, and adjusting the validity period of the message according to the degree of importance. Item 3. A facsimile information service device according to item 3.