JPH08314829A - Electronic mail device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an electronic mail device equipped with a function for automatically transferring mail from a terminal, where that mail was received, to the other destination. CONSTITUTION: This electronic mail device is provided with a mail input part 1 for inputting mail, a transfer information input part 2 for inputting transfer information for transmitting the mail to the receiving terminal of the transfer destination, an address analytic part 3 for analyzing the address information of the receiving terminal, a communication part 4 for performing the communication of mail data, a display part 5 for displaying the mail, a transfer request analytic part 6 for analyzing the transfer information from the received mail data and requesting transfer, a transfer execution judging part 7 for judging whether the mail can be transmitted to the address of the receiving terminal of the transfer destination, and transfer executing part 8 for transmitting the mail to the address of the receiving terminal of the transfer destination to which transfer has been permitted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail device for sending and receiving electronic mail through a network such as a public line network / LAN / infrared communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electronic mail has been sent via a computer. E-mail methods include those that access the center machine to read and write messages, such as PC communications, and those that transmit messages in a bucket brigade between computers, such as the Internet.
There are several types. In addition, as in the method of directly exchanging messages between terminals and exchanging messages, when exchanging messages by directly establishing a communication path between terminals, data transfer such as e-mail and normal voice conversation are required. Could be done on the same machine. For example,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 6-77995 has a function of linking an e-mail and a phone, which reduces the work of the recipient by automatically making a telephone connection when receiving an e-mail and makes a phone connection without error. A computer is disclosed.

In recent years, a method of delivering electronic mails through a collection / delivery machine called a server has been widely adopted.
In this method, even when one mail is delivered to a plurality of persons, the server delivers it to each terminal of a plurality of persons, so there is no problem that the terminals are occupied for a long time. That is, the sender's terminal sends a mail addressed to the server, and the server delivers the mail to the plurality of addresses described in the mail.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional method has the following problems. (1) When electronic mail is delivered by one-to-one communication such as telephone or FAX, there is no server function.
Therefore, if you try to send to multiple terminals,
There is a problem that the communication time increases accordingly. For example, if it takes 1 minute to send one mail, it takes 30 minutes to send the same mail to 30 people.
Therefore, in a system in which mail is delivered on a one-to-one basis using a telephone line, while mail is being sent,
There is the inconvenience of not being able to use the telephone.

(2) When sending a mail from a distance, for example, when an attempt is made to send a report from the United States to a plurality of superiors of a Japanese company by e-mail, in the communication between terminals, the sending from the United States to Japan is performed plural times There is an inconvenience that it is necessary.
That is, unlike facsimiles used in offices or groups, e-mails are often sent individually, so it is necessary to send separate emails to people in close proximity, and communication charges are high. There is a problem of becoming.

(3) When electronic mail is communicated using a telephone line, there is a problem that the electronic mail is occupied by the user when he wants to use the telephone. That is, when only the character information is transmitted, the occupation time is relatively short, but when transmitting a still image or a moving image, the communication time is long, which is a problem. In this case, there is a problem that the user cannot talk because the e-mail is occupied even though the telephone in front of the user is not used.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and a terminal that receives a mail has a function of automatically transferring the mail to another destination, reduces the communication charge, and further reduces the electronic charge. It is an object to provide an electronic mail device having a function of interrupting mail communication.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mail input section for inputting mail and address information of a receiving terminal for receiving the mail, and a predetermined mail receiving section for receiving the mail transmitted from the transmitting terminal. A transfer information input unit for inputting transfer information for the receiving terminal to send the mail to the transfer destination receiving terminal, an address interpreting unit for interpreting the address information of the input receiving terminal and the transfer information, and the input mail , A communication unit for communicating mail data including address information of the receiving terminal and transfer information, and a display unit for displaying mail,
A transfer request interpreting unit that interprets transfer information from mail data received by the predetermined receiving terminal and requests transfer to the receiving terminal, and a transfer destination of the mail based on the transfer information interpreted by the transfer request interpreting unit. A transfer execution determination unit that determines whether or not it is possible to send to the address of the receiving terminal, and a transfer execution unit that sends mail to the address of the receiving terminal of the transfer destination to which the transfer is permitted by the transfer execution determination unit. It is an electronic mail device equipped with.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a mail input unit for inputting mail and address information of a receiving terminal for receiving the mail, a transfer specifying unit for specifying whether or not to transfer the mail, and reception of the transfer destination. A transfer setting unit that selects a receiving terminal that satisfies the transfer request condition from the terminals and sets a transfer request, a transfer request condition storage unit that stores the transfer request condition, and a transfer destination selected by the transfer setting unit. A transfer request assigning unit that assigns a transfer request to the mail sent to the receiving terminal, an address interpreting unit that interprets the address information of the input receiving terminal, and a mail data of the input mail and the address information of the receiving terminal. A communication unit that performs communication, a display unit that displays mail, a transfer request interpretation unit that interprets a transfer request described in the mail received by the receiving terminal and requests the receiving terminal to transfer, and a transfer request interpreting unit. Based on the transfer request interpreted by the request interpreting unit, a transfer execution determining unit that determines whether or not the mail may be transmitted to the address of the receiving terminal of the transfer destination, and the transfer execution determining unit permits the transfer. The electronic mail device includes a transfer execution unit that transmits a mail to the address of the receiving terminal of the transfer destination.

According to the invention of claim 3, a mail input section for inputting mail and address information of a receiving terminal for receiving the mail, a transfer specifying section for specifying whether or not to set transfer of the mail, and a destination A transfer request destination selection unit that selects a reception terminal that satisfies the transfer request condition from among the reception terminals, a transfer condition storage unit that stores the transfer condition that describes which reception terminal the transfer request is performed, and a transmission destination And a charge estimation unit that estimates the charge by comparing the addresses of the two reception terminals extracted from the set of the reception terminals, and grouping that uses the estimated charge between the terminals obtained by the charge estimation unit 35 Section, a transfer request assigning section that assigns a transfer request to a mail so that at least one receiving terminal in each group makes a transfer request, an address interpreting section that interprets the input address information of the receiving terminal, and an input section. A communication unit that communicates the mail data including the received mail and the address information of the receiving terminal, a display unit that displays the mail, a transfer request described in the mail received by the receiving terminal, and transfers it to the receiving terminal. A transfer request interpreting unit, and a transfer execution determining unit that determines whether or not the mail may be transmitted to the address of the receiving terminal of the transfer destination based on the transfer request interpreted by the transfer request interpreting unit. An electronic mail device comprising: a transfer execution unit that transmits a mail to an address of a transfer destination receiving terminal permitted by the transfer execution determination unit.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, an input / output unit for inputting mail, address information of a receiving terminal that receives the mail, displaying the mail, and inputting / outputting a real-time communication request, and the transmitted mail and the receiving terminal A mail receiving unit that receives mail data consisting of address information and a real-time communication request, a suspend / resume request receiving unit that receives a suspend request during transmission / reception of mail or a restart request during suspension of mail communication, and a receiving terminal are specified. To send a mail, a suspend / resume request sender that sends a suspend request during sending and receiving of a mail or a restart request while suspending mail communication when a real-time communication request is input, and communication of mail data Real-time communication unit that performs real-time information communication, real-time communication request An electronic-mail apparatus having a real-time communication request unit indicating that the input.

[0012]

According to the electronic mail apparatus of claim 1, since the predetermined receiving terminal which receives the mail has a function of automatically transferring the mail to the receiving terminal of another destination, The received mail can be instructed to be transferred to another receiving terminal. Further, since the predetermined receiving terminal has a function of checking whether or not the mail can be transferred, unnecessary transfer is avoided.

According to the electronic mail apparatus of the second aspect, a mechanism for determining the number of destinations when there are many destinations, and a mechanism for changing to transmission by transfer from the destinations if the set number is equal to or more than a certain number. Since it is equipped with, the transmission by transfer is automatically performed. In addition, since the receiving terminals that can be forwarded are actually decided due to security concerns, the forwarding is automatically performed by the receiving terminal that receives the forwarding request, even if the user does not specify it one by one by setting the conditions in advance. To do it. Therefore, the user can move the transfer function without considering which receiving terminal can transfer.

According to the electronic mail apparatus of claim 3, a mechanism for estimating a relative charge between addresses of a plurality of destinations,
Since there is a grouping mechanism for grouping the items with the smallest similarity, one mail is sent for each group, and there is little communication at long distances and many transfers at short distances. That is, it is automatically set so that the communication charge is low as a whole.

According to the electronic mail apparatus of claim 4, a mechanism for inputting a transmission request (for example, off-hook) from a user, a mechanism for transmitting a request to suspend or cancel mail during communication, and a request for suspension or cancellation. When the user inputs a request for transmission, the communication of the mail is immediately cut off and the communication of the user is prioritized. Therefore, even if the mail is in communication, when the user makes a request for communication, it is prioritized and the waiting time of the user is reduced.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The electronic mail device of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of an electronic mail device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a mail input unit for inputting a mail. Examples of the mail input unit 1 include a keyboard for inputting characters, a camera for inputting images, a microphone for inputting voice, and the like. Further, in the mail input unit 1, address information of a receiving terminal (destination terminal) that receives a mail is also input, as in a normal electronic mail. The address information is
The format differs depending on the software that handles e-mail. The simplest thing is a phone number. For example, when the receiving terminal is connected to a telephone line like a facsimile, the address information is a telephone number. In addition, the Internet mail format is such as ueda@iml.sharp.co.jp. Here, the address format of the email is not particularly limited.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a transfer information input section for inputting transfer information for a predetermined receiving terminal which has received the mail transmitted from the transmitting terminal to transmit the mail to the receiving terminal of the transfer destination. As the transfer information, for example, when the address information is a telephone number (extension), the address information of the receiving terminal and the transfer information are as follows. Destination: 3123, 3124 Via: 3123 Destination: 4234, 4236 Via: 4230 In this example, 3123 and 3124 terminals go through 3123 terminal and 4234 and 4236 terminals go through 4230.
Indicates that an email will be sent via the terminal. The extension number of the destination corresponds to the address information of the receiving terminal of the transfer destination, and the extension number of the route corresponds to the transfer information. If the 3123 terminal is in communication, 312
It is also possible to postpone 3 and try to communicate with the terminal of 4230. The transfer information input unit is a part of the mail input and is performed on the transmission side.

An address interpreting unit 3 interprets the input address information and transfer information of the receiving terminal and determines to which terminal the mail is communicated. In this embodiment, 3123 and 423 actually send the mail.
0 terminals. Reference numeral 4 denotes a communication unit that communicates mail data including the input mail, address information of the receiving terminal, and transfer information. It is conceivable that the communication unit 4 uses a telephone line or goes through the Internet.
Especially here the means is not a problem.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a display unit for displaying a mail after the transmitting terminal transmits the mail by the communication unit 4 and the receiving terminal similarly receives the mail by the communication unit 4. The display means is not limited to a visual means, but may be a speaker for music or voice. A transfer request interpreting unit 6 interprets transfer information from the mail data received by the predetermined receiving terminal and requests the receiving terminal to transfer. In the case of the above example, it can be understood that the terminal 3123 (predetermined receiving terminal) needs to transfer the received mail data to the transfer information 3124.

Reference numeral 7 is a transfer execution determination unit that determines whether or not the mail may actually be transmitted to the address of the receiving terminal of the transfer destination based on the transfer information interpreted by the transfer request interpreting unit 6. Here, it is determined from the information of the sender and the destination of the mail whether the transfer can actually be performed. The transfer execution conditions are illustrated below. Possible sources: 3 ***, (299) 87 **, (299) 8600 Possible destinations: 3 ***, (299) 87 **, (299) 8600, 4 *** Possible sources Is information indicating from which terminal the mail may be transferred. In the above example, all four-digit numbers starting with 3 and all seven-digit numbers following 29987 and 29
Mails coming from the number 98600 can be transferred. On the other hand, "possible forwarding destination" designates the receiving terminal of the forwarding destination of the received mail, and in the above example, in addition to the possible sending terminal, all four-digit numbers starting with 4 are designated. . Of course, it is also possible to specify a number that prohibits transfer.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a transfer execution unit for transmitting mail to the address of the receiving terminal of the transfer destination to which the transfer execution determination unit 7 has permitted the transfer. The transfer performed by the transfer execution unit 8 is similar to the transmission procedure.

It should be noted that the mail on the Internet goes through the computers on the network one after another and reaches the final destination machine. In this case, routing information is stored in advance in each computer in order to trace the computer. Unlike the above, the present invention specifies each mail.

It is also possible to specify a plurality of destinations for one user. In this case, if at least one of the plurality of destinations succeeds in communication, the remaining destinations are ignored. For example, if the user has a wireless mobile terminal or the like, the power for receiving is not always on. Therefore, both the mobile terminal and the office terminal are designated as the destinations, and if the mobile terminal is not connected, reliable communication can be realized by connecting to the office terminal.

In FIG. 1, the mail input unit 1, the transfer information input unit 2, the address interpretation unit 3, the communication unit 4, and the mail display unit 5 are blocks on the transmission side, and the communication unit 4 and the mail display unit 5 are included. The transfer request interpretation unit 6, the transfer execution determination unit 7, and the transfer execution unit 8 are blocks of the device (reception side) that performs the transfer.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the first embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention. First, the user inputs a mail (S1), and then inputs a destination address of the mail, that is, address information of a receiving terminal that receives the mail (S2). The address information of the receiving terminal is the "destination" portion in the above example. Next, the user inputs transfer information for transmitting the mail to the receiving terminal of the transfer destination (S3). The forwarding information is the “pass” portion in the above example, and is information that specifies which receiving terminal will forward the email.

Next, the destination address and the transfer information are used to interpret which receiving terminal the mail is actually sent to (S4), and then the mail is actually sent (S4).
5). This ends the communication of the sending terminal (EN
D). The sent mail is received by a predetermined receiving terminal (S6), and the received mail is displayed for the user on the receiving side (S7). In general, this generally notifies only that the mail has arrived and displays the contents of the mail when requested by the user.

Next, the mail transfer request received by the receiving terminal is interpreted (S8), and it is determined whether or not the mail can be transferred based on the transfer information (S9). This determination is made based on a condition such as the transfer execution condition of the above example. Then, it is determined whether the transfer is possible (S10), and if the transfer is permitted (Y), the mail transfer is executed (S11),
The mail communication of the receiving terminal ends (END). on the other hand,
When the transfer is not permitted (N), the notification that the transfer is not performed is returned to the sender (S12).

Although the receiving terminal displays the received mail in S7, there may be a receiving terminal that only forwards the mail without actually displaying the mail. In the above example, the receiving terminal 4230 only transfers, and is not the terminal that finally receives the mail and displays the message. In such a case, it is possible not to display the mail.

FIG. 3A is an explanatory diagram showing a concrete example of a conventional electronic mail device, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a concrete example of the first embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention. It is a figure. When a conventional electronic mail device sends a mail that takes one minute to send to 30 parties, it takes at least 30 minutes as shown in FIG. 3 (a). On the other hand, when the electronic mail device according to the present invention is used to make a transfer request to three parties and a predetermined receiving terminal that has received the transfer request makes a transfer once to each of the nine receiving terminals, Since the communication is performed in parallel on the three routes, the communication is completed in 12 minutes as shown in FIG. However, since transmission to the first three receiving terminals cannot be performed in parallel, it takes 2 minutes instead of 10 minutes. As described above, by using the electronic mail device according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the communication speed.

Some fax machines, answering machines, etc. also have a function for transferring received messages.
These specify the transfer destination address and the like from the outside for the received data. On the other hand, the electronic mail device of the present invention is different in that the transfer information is sent from the sending terminal together with the mail text.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the electronic mail apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, 1
Reference numeral 1 is a mail input unit for inputting a mail. Examples of the mail input unit 11 include a keyboard for inputting characters, a camera for inputting images, a microphone for inputting voice, and the like. Further, in the mail input unit 11, address information of a receiving terminal (destination terminal) that receives a mail is also input, as in a normal electronic mail. The address information is as described in the first embodiment.

Reference numeral 12 is a transfer designation section for designating whether or not to automatically set the forwarding of the mail. A transfer setting unit 13 selects a receiving terminal that satisfies the transfer request condition from the receiving terminals of the transfer destination when the transfer destination is automatically set, and automatically sets the transfer request. The transfer setting unit 13 will be described in detail later. A transfer request condition storage unit 14 stores transfer request conditions. That is, the transfer request condition storage unit 14 stores the transfer request conditions that describe how to perform the transfer. It is desirable that this condition can be set for the user.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a transfer request assigning unit that assigns a transfer request to a mail sent to the receiving terminal of the transfer destination selected by the transfer setting unit 13. Even if the transfer request format is automatically set, it has the same format as that given by the user as in the first embodiment. Subsequent processing, that is, the address interpretation unit 16, the communication unit 17, the mail display unit 18, the transfer request interpretation unit 19, the transfer execution determination unit 20, and the transfer execution unit 21.
Is the same as that described in the first embodiment. In FIG. 4, the mail input unit 11 to the mail display unit 18 are blocks on the transmission side, and the transfer setting unit 13
The transfer execution unit 21 is a block on the transfer side.

The transfer request condition stored in the transfer request condition storage unit 14 is in the following format, for example. Transfer start number: 4 Transfer request destinations: 3 ***, 4 ***, 5 ***, (299) 87 ** The transfer start number indicates the number of transfer destinations to be transferred. Is. In the above example, the issuance of the transfer request is attempted when transmitting to four or more places. The transfer request destination is the address of the receiving terminal that requests the transfer. In the above example, when the destination has a 4-digit number starting with 3, 4, and 5, or a 7-digit number starting with 29987, the transfer is requested. Obviously, it may be an Internet format rather than a number address. For example,
* Addresses such as @ iml.sharp.co.jp are @ iml.sharp.co.
All addresses ending in jp may be shown.

As a condition for giving a transfer request, for example, the own terminal may not communicate 5 times or more, or the transfer requesting terminal may not transfer 4 times or more. Further, it is more preferable that more complicated conditions can be set. For example, if an urgent designation is made by the user, the number of forwarding destinations should be increased so that all destinations can be reached quickly, or if an important designation is made by the user, forwarding is not performed and all It can be considered that the data is directly transmitted to the receiving terminal.

The receiving terminal receiving the transfer request may add the transfer request in the same procedure. For example, when transfer is requested to 10 destinations, it is also possible to divide it into two, make five destinations, and give a transfer request to the representative terminals of each group for transmission. By performing such an operation recursively, the overall transmission time can be shortened.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the second embodiment of the electronic mail apparatus according to the present invention. First, the user inputs the mail text (S21), and also inputs whether or not to forward the mail (S22). For this portion, it is possible to use a preset value stored in advance. When transferring (Y), the transfer information is judged (S23). This is to create a transfer request from the destination terminal input in the mail and the transfer request conditions input in advance. Then, after adding the created transfer request to the mail (S24), the address of the receiving terminal, the transfer information, etc. are interpreted for the actual communication (S25). On the other hand, when not transferring (N), the address of the receiving terminal, the transfer information, etc. are directly interpreted (S2).
5).

After the interpretation is completed, the mail is transmitted to the receiving terminal as the destination (S26). This ends the mail communication of the sending terminal (END). When the receiving terminal receives the mail (S27), the reception result is displayed to the user (S2).
8). Then, the transfer request is interpreted, it is determined whether the transfer needs to be performed (S29), and the transfer execution condition stored in advance is compared with the transfer request to determine whether or not the transfer can be performed. It is determined (S30). Then, it is determined whether or not the transfer is possible (S31), and when it is determined that the transfer is possible (Y), it is determined whether or not the transfer request is given to the current transfer mail (S32). This determination is similar to the processing performed in S23.

Next, the transfer request created in S32 is added to the mail (S33), and this process is similar to that in S24. The processes of S32 and S33 are processes for permitting the receiving terminal that has received the transfer request to further attach the transfer request to the mail to be sent to the receiving terminal that is further ahead. Therefore, if this process is repeated, it becomes possible to recursively assign any number of transfer requests. Of course, such recursive processing can be prohibited in order to prevent a decrease in reliability of delivery due to heavy use of forwarding. Then, after the transfer request is given, the transfer process is actually performed (S34), and the mail communication of the receiving terminal ends (END). When it is determined in S31 that the transfer is impossible (N), the notification indicating that the call is impossible is directly transmitted to the transmission terminal that is the transmission source (S35).

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of the second embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention. In FIG. 6, the transmitting terminal makes a transfer request to two receiving terminals, and the receiving terminal that has received the request again gives the transfer request to the other receiving terminal. By recursively assigning the transfer request in this manner, for example, the time required to send the mail to all the 30 receiving terminals is 6 minutes, and the communication time is greatly shortened. Further, in the present embodiment, the transfer route is automatically given only by designating whether or not the transfer is performed, and the labor of the route designation is reduced. In addition, since a complicated transfer route that cannot be manually performed is automatically added, the communication time can be further shortened.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a third embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention. In FIG. 7, 31
Is a mail input unit for inputting a mail. Examples of the mail input unit 31 include a keyboard for inputting characters, a camera for inputting images, a microphone for inputting voice, and the like. Further, in the mail input unit 31, a receiving terminal (destination terminal) that receives a mail, as in a normal electronic mail.
Address information of is also entered. The address information is as described in the first embodiment.

Reference numeral 32 is a transfer designation unit for designating whether or not to automatically set the forwarding of the mail. Of course, the user himself / herself may input the transfer information. Reference numeral 33 denotes a transfer request destination selection unit that selects a transfer destination receiving terminal when automatic transfer setting is designated. However, here, unlike the second embodiment, only all candidates for which transfer can be requested are selected. The actual transfer request is selected by the charge estimating unit 35 and the grouping unit 36, which will be described later, such that the call charge between the terminals is small, and is given by the transfer request giving unit 37.

Reference numeral 34 is a transfer condition storage section for storing transfer conditions which describe to which receiving terminal the transfer request is made. It is desirable that this transfer condition can be set by the user. Reference numeral 35 is a charge estimation unit that extracts all two terminal sets from the set of receiving terminals at the transmission destination and obtains the communication charge (or distance). This can be realized by using a pre-stored relation table of mail addresses and charges. If the email address is a telephone number, the charges can be compared without storing the table. Details will be described later. In addition, here, although the charge is calculated by selecting all the groups of two terminals, only a part may be used for simplicity.

Reference numeral 36 is a grouping unit which performs grouping using the charges between terminals obtained by the charge estimating unit 35. Here, grouping is to collect low-priced items and divide them into groups. Generally this is a combinatorial optimization problem and there are various common solutions. For example, methods such as Kmeans method and neural net can be used. However, in the grouping in this case, at least one terminal must be a transfer requestable terminal selected by the transfer request selecting unit 33.

Reference numeral 37 is a transfer request assigning unit that assigns a transfer request to a mail so that at least one receiving terminal in each group can make a transfer request. Here, it is assumed that a group is created between the terminals of the transmission destinations and the transfer request is given to the terminals of each group, but when creating the group, it is optimal considering the communication charges of the transmission source and the transfer request destination. Is desirable. The address interpretation unit 38, the communication unit 39, the mail display unit 40, the transfer request interpretation unit 41, the transfer execution unit 42, and the transfer execution unit 43 perform the same processing as that described in the second embodiment. In FIG. 7, 3
Blocks 1 to 40 are blocks on the transmission side, and blocks 33 to 43 are blocks on the transfer side.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the third embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention. First, the user inputs the mail text (S41), and also inputs whether or not to forward it (S42). For this portion, it is possible to use a preset value stored in advance. When transferring (Y), the transfer information is judged (S43). This is to create a transfer request from the destination terminal input in the mail and the transfer request conditions input in advance. Then, after adding the created transfer request to the mail (S44), an estimated charge between the terminals is obtained for the combination of all the two terminals of the transmission destinations (S45). On the other hand, when the transfer is not performed (N), the estimated charges between the terminals are obtained for the combinations of the two terminals of all the direct destinations (S45).

Grouping is performed using the information obtained in S45 (S46). Then, a transfer request is added to the mail so that the mail is transferred within the group (S47).
The subsequent process flow from S48 to S58 is the same as the process flow from S25 to S35 in FIG. 5 of the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the estimated charge calculation of the third embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention. FIG. 9 shows a flow for relatively determining the size of the charge when the address is a telephone number. First, two telephone numbers of the receiving terminal of the transmission destination are selected (S61). The two selected telephone numbers are compared to determine whether they have the same number of digits (S62). When the number of digits is the same (Y), it is judged from the upper digits whether they are the same, and the charge C is obtained (S6).
4). When the number of digits is different (N), the charge C is obtained according to the different number of digits (S63). In this case, since it is only necessary to estimate the relative charge, there is no problem even if the charge differs from the actual charge. If there are multiple addresses in one terminal, they are calculated separately and the one with the lower charge is selected.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of the estimated charge calculation of the third embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention.
In FIG. 10, the telephone numbers 1) to 4) are used as the addresses of the receiving terminals, and the estimated charges between the respective terminals obtained according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 are shown in FIG.

FIG. 11A is an explanatory view showing a specific example of a conventional electronic mail device, and FIGS. 11B and 11C are specific examples of the third embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention. It is an explanatory view shown. As shown in FIG. 11, this specific example shows a case where an e-mail is sent from an overseas sending terminal to six receiving terminals in Japan. When a conventional electronic mail device is used, no transfer is performed, and therefore a communication charge of 1200 yen is charged (FIG. 11 (a)). On the other hand, when the receiving terminal is divided into two groups and the transfer is requested using the electronic mail device of the present invention, the communication charge becomes 440 yen (FIG. 11).
(B)). Also, when transferring between each group,
It will be 340 yen (Fig. 11 (c)). Further, since the data is transmitted in parallel by transfer, the communication time required until the transmission is completed is much shorter than that of the conventional electronic mail device.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the fourth embodiment of the electronic mail apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 12, 5
An input / output unit 1 inputs / outputs a real-time communication request such as mail, input of address information of a receiving terminal of a transmission destination, display of mail, and voice for real-time communication. Reference numeral 52 is a mail receiving unit that receives mail data including the sent mail, address information of the receiving terminal, and a real-time communication request. Reference numeral 53 denotes a suspend / resume request receiving unit that receives a suspend command during reception or transmission of a mail or a restart command for restarting communication of a suspended mail.

Reference numeral 54 designates a mail transmitting section for designating a receiving terminal as a transmission destination and transmitting a mail. Reference numeral 55 designates a case where a real-time communication request is inputted, and an interruption command is given during reception or transmission of the mail. It is a suspend / resume request communication unit that transmits a resume command for transmitting or restarting communication of an interrupted mail. Reference numeral 56 is a communication unit that performs actual communication of mail data. Reference numeral 57 is a real-time communication unit for realizing real-time information such as real-time voice and moving images, for example, communication that the user wants to perform on the spot such as a telephone call between users. Reference numeral 58 is a real-time communication request unit that indicates that the user has input a real-time communication request, and this corresponds to, for example, lifting the handset. Lifting the handset is considered to indicate that the user wants to communicate. At this time, if mail is being sent or received, the suspend / resume request sending unit 55
Causes a request to suspend transmission / reception, suspends transmission / reception of mail, and disconnects the line. Since this operation is performed automatically, the user can start real-time communication without worrying about whether or not mail communication is in progress. When the user's communication ends, the interrupted mail transfer is resumed.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of the fourth embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 13, first, when the user inputs a real-time communication request (S71), it is determined whether the receiving terminal is receiving a mail (S72). The request for real-time communication may be, for example, a request for telephone or facsimile. If the receiving terminal is not receiving mail (N),
It is determined whether the receiving terminal is sending mail (S
73). Then, when it is determined that the receiving terminal is transmitting the mail (Y), the receiving terminal is requested to suspend the reception of the current mail (S74).

Then, the ID of the interrupted mail and the pointer indicating how far the mail has been sent are stored (S7).
5). Here, the mail ID is for identifying which mail is interrupted, and its format is not limited. Then, the transmission of the mail is actually interrupted (S76),
Communication that meets the user's request is performed (S79). on the other hand,
If the receiving terminal is receiving the mail in S72 (Y), the sending terminal is requested to suspend the sending of the mail while the mail is being received (S77). Then, the receiving terminal interrupts the reception of the mail (S78), and performs the communication conforming to the user's request (S79). In S73, if the receiving terminal is not transmitting the mail (N), communication matching the user's request is performed (S79), and the mail communication of the receiving terminal ends (END).

When the interruption request is transmitted in S74 or S77, the device on the side receiving the interruption request receives the interruption request issued from this partner device (S80). Then, it is determined whether or not the receiving terminal which has received the interruption request is receiving the mail (S81), and when it is determined that the mail is not being received (N), the ID of the mail whose transmission is to be interrupted and the transmission pointer are stored. After that (S82), the transmission of the mail is actually interrupted (S84). That is, when the transmission of the mail is interrupted, the mail ID and the pointer indicating the completion of the transmission are stored on the transmission side. The mail ID in this case is a code common to the receiving side and the sending side for identifying the mail. This mail ID is transmitted in advance of the body of the mail. on the other hand,
When it is determined in S81 that the mail is being received (Y), the reception of the mail is interrupted (S83). Then, communication suitable for the user's request is performed (S85), and the mail communication of the terminal ends (END).

FIG. 14 is a flow chart at the time of restarting reception of the fourth embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention. First, it is determined whether or not there is a mail whose transmission has been interrupted (S91). If there is a mail for which transmission is interrupted (Y), a pointer indicating the ID of the mail and how far it has been sent is called (S92). A request for resuming reception is sent to the receiving terminal (S93), and I of the mail to be sent is sent.
D is transmitted (S94). Then, the mail transmission is restarted (S95), and the mail communication of the receiving terminal that has restarted the transmission ends (END). When the receiving terminal of the transmission destination receives the request for resumption from S93 (S96), it receives the mail ID from S94 (S97). Then, the reception of the mail is restarted (S98), and the mail communication of the receiving terminal of the transmission destination is ended (END). For example, when the mail is interrupted, the restart processing may be performed if communication is not performed for a certain period of time.

[0057]

According to the electronic mail apparatus of claim 1, the predetermined receiving terminal which receives the mail has a function of automatically transferring the mail to the receiving terminal of another destination.
When the sending terminal sends the mail to the plurality of receiving terminals, the communication time can be shortened. For example, when a transmission-dedicated terminal is set, the transmission terminal only needs to transmit the email once, and the email is transmitted to all the reception terminals of the transfer destinations via the predetermined reception terminal. Further, since the predetermined receiving terminal also has a function of checking whether or not the mail can be transferred, unnecessary transfer of the mail can be avoided.

According to the electronic mail apparatus of claim 2, a mechanism for determining the number of destinations when there are many destinations,
If the number of settings is a certain number or more, it is possible to automatically send by forwarding by providing a mechanism to change to forwarding from the destination, and it is not necessary for the user to specify forwarding one by one, which is convenient It is possible to improve the sex. In addition, since the receiving terminal that can transfer is actually decided due to the security related, even if the user does not specify it one by one, by setting the conditions in advance, the receiving terminal will automatically specify the transfer later. To do. By doing so, the user can use the transfer function without worrying about which terminal is capable of transferring. In addition, since forwarding can be set automatically, a forwarding request can be added to the received mail.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the electronic mail apparatus is provided with a charge estimating mechanism for estimating relative charges between addresses of a plurality of destinations and a grouping mechanism for grouping the charges from the one having the smallest similarity. As a result, terminals with low communication charges are divided into groups and transfer is set between the groups, so that the communication charges can be reduced as a whole. In particular, if a telephone number is used as an address, it is possible to estimate the distance without requiring prior knowledge, and it is also possible to use this information to group terminals with low communication charges into groups.

According to the electronic mail apparatus of claim 4, a mechanism for inputting a transmission request from a user, a mechanism for transmitting a request to suspend or cancel a mail being communicated, and a request for suspension or cancellation. By providing a mechanism for interrupting or canceling the communication of mail, the communication of the current mail is immediately interrupted when a transmission request (for example, off-hook) from the user is input, so that the communication of mail is Even if it is performed, the communication waiting time of the user can be eliminated. what if,
In the case of a terminal having a telephone function and without the above-mentioned function of the present invention, when sending an e-mail that requires one hour for communication
The user cannot use the telephone function for an hour.
However, when the function of the present invention is used, the user interrupts even during mail communication, and the user communication can be prioritized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of an electronic mail device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a first embodiment of an electronic mail device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3A is an explanatory diagram showing a concrete example of a conventional electronic mail device, and FIG. 3B is an explanatory diagram showing a concrete example of a first embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a second embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of the second embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a third embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a third embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an estimated charge calculation in the third embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of estimated charge calculation in the third embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention.

11A is an explanatory diagram showing a concrete example of a conventional electronic mail device, and FIGS. 11B and 11C are explanatory diagrams showing a concrete example of a third embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention. Is.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a fourth embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of a fourth embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart at the time of restarting reception of the fourth embodiment of the electronic mail device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Email Input Section 2 Transfer Information Input Section 3 Address Interpretation Section 4 Communication Section 5 Display Section 6 Transfer Request Interpretation Section 7 Transfer Execution Judgment Section 8 Transfer Execution Section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A mail input unit for inputting mail and address information of a receiving terminal for receiving the mail, and a predetermined receiving terminal for receiving the mail sent from the sending terminal, the receiving terminal for forwarding the mail. A transfer information input section for inputting transfer information to be transmitted to an address, an address interpretation section for interpreting the input address information and transfer information of the receiving terminal, an input mail, address information of the receiving terminal and transfer information A communication unit that communicates mail data, a display unit that displays mail, a transfer request interpretation unit that interprets transfer information from the mail data received by the predetermined receiving terminal, and requests the transfer to the receiving terminal, A transfer execution determination unit that determines whether or not the mail may be sent to the address of the receiving terminal of the transfer destination based on the transfer information interpreted by the transfer request interpretation unit, and the transfer execution determination unit. An electronic mail device, comprising: a transfer execution unit that transmits a mail to an address of a receiving terminal that is a transfer destination permitted by the determination unit. 2. A mail input unit for inputting mail and address information of a receiving terminal for receiving the mail, a transfer specifying unit for specifying whether or not to transfer the mail, and a transfer destination transfer terminal. A transfer setting unit that selects a receiving terminal that satisfies the request condition and sets the transfer request, a transfer request condition storage unit that stores the transfer request condition, and a transmission destination receiving terminal selected by the transfer setting unit. A transfer request assigning unit that assigns a transfer request to an email, an address interpreting unit that interprets the input address information of the receiving terminal, and a communication unit that communicates mail data including the input email and the address information of the receiving terminal. A display unit for displaying the mail, a transfer request interpreting unit for interpreting the transfer request described in the mail received by the receiving terminal and requesting the transfer to the receiving terminal, and the transfer request interpreting unit. A transfer execution determination unit that determines whether or not the mail may be sent to the address of the transfer destination receiving terminal based on the interpreted transfer request, and reception of the transfer destination to which the transfer is permitted by the transfer execution determination unit An e-mail device having a transfer execution unit for sending an e-mail to a terminal address. 3. A mail input unit for inputting mail and address information of a receiving terminal that receives the mail, a transfer specifying unit for specifying whether or not to set mail transfer, and a receiving terminal as a destination. A set of a transfer request destination selection unit that selects a receiving terminal that satisfies the transfer request condition, a transfer condition storage unit that stores the transfer condition that describes which receiving terminal performs the transfer request, and a receiving terminal that is the transmission destination A charge estimation unit that estimates the charges by comparing the addresses of the two receiving terminals extracted from each other, a group division unit that divides into groups using the estimated charges between the terminals obtained by the charge estimation unit 35, and each group Of at least one receiving terminal, a transfer request assigning unit that assigns a transfer request to a mail so as to make a transfer request, an address interpreting unit that interprets address information of the input receiving terminal, an input mail and A communication unit that performs communication of mail data including address information of the receiving terminal, a display unit that displays the mail, and a transfer request that interprets the transfer request described in the mail received by the receiving terminal and requests the transfer to the receiving terminal. A request interpreting unit, a transfer execution determining unit that determines whether or not a mail may be sent to the address of a transfer destination receiving terminal based on the transfer request interpreted by the transfer request interpreting unit, and the transfer execution determining unit An electronic mail device comprising: a transfer execution unit that transmits a mail to an address of a transfer destination receiving terminal permitted by the unit. 4. A mail, an input / output unit for inputting address information of a receiving terminal that receives the mail, displaying the mail, and inputting / outputting a real-time communication request, and the transmitted mail,
A mail receiving unit for receiving mail data consisting of address information of the receiving terminal and a real-time communication request, and a suspend / resume request receiving unit for receiving a suspend request during transmission / reception of mail or a restart request during suspension of mail communication,
A mail sending unit that sends a mail by specifying the receiving terminal,
When a real-time communication request is input, a suspend / resume request transmission unit that transmits a suspend request during transmission / reception of mail or a restart request during suspension of mail communication, a communication unit that communicates mail data, and real-time information communication An electronic mail device comprising: a real-time communication unit that performs the above-mentioned operation; and a real-time communication request unit that indicates that a real-time communication request has been input.