JPH09321792A - Incoming electronic mail call informing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To speedily acquire an electronic mail by reducing a user's burden concerning the confirmation of the call-incoming situation of the electronic mail. SOLUTION: An incoming electronic mail call informing device 1 periodically confirms the incoming call situation of the electronic mail addressed to the user, which arrives at an electronic mail server computer 2, to detect the incoming call of a new electronic mail. Then a message of a melody telling the arrival of the electronic mail is sent to a communication terminal such as a pager terminal, a portable telephone equipment 7 which are designated by the user through a public telephone line 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail incoming call notification device for notifying by communication that electronic mail has reached an electronic mail server.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electronic mail has been rapidly spread with the spread of the Internet and groupware, and instead of letters and facsimiles as a means of in-house business contact, contact with customers, and inquiries to manufacturers. The frequency of its use is increasing. In this way, with the increasing use of e-mail, it becomes necessary to process e-mail addressed to oneself, even when they are out of the office, in order to smoothly perform business, etc. It is important to be able to check the status of incoming e-mail and get new e-mail.

However, until now, there has been no system capable of automatically confirming that an e-mail addressed to oneself has arrived even when out of the office. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the user remotely connects a portable computer 54 such as a notebook computer carried by the user to the electronic mail server computer 51 via the public line 53 and operates the portable computer 54. It is common to inquire the e-mail server computer 51 about the e-mail arrival status for the e-mail by using a mail arrival status confirmation program.

[0006] The conventional confirmation of the incoming status of such a general electronic mail will be described below.

The network configuration for confirming the incoming status of an electronic mail from a remote place is as shown in FIG. 9, in which the electronic mail server computer 51 is connected to the public line 53 through the modem 52, while the electronic mail server computer 51 is for portable use. The computer 54 connects the modem 55 connected to itself to the mobile phone 56.
Alternatively, it is connected to the public line 53 by connecting to one of the public telephones 57 having terminals for data communication,
This secures a path for remote connection between the electronic mail server computer 51 and the portable computer 54 via the public line 53.

FIG. 10 shows the internal program configurations of the electronic mail server computer 51 and the portable computer 54. E-mail server computer 5
An electronic mail management program 58, which functions as a post office, which is generally called a so-called post office, is running on the server 1. This email management program 5
We can assume that in 8 there are things like posts and post office boxes. The above-mentioned post office box is a system for sorting electronic mails reaching each individual and storing them in a predetermined storage area.

The user of the e-mail asks the e-mail management program 58 of the e-mail server computer 51 whether the e-mail exists in his / her post office box (that is, whether a new e-mail has arrived).
Can be inquired, the communication protocol used for the inquiry is the incoming call status confirmation procedure.
Actually, the mail arrival status confirmation program 59 for communicating with the e-mail server computer 51 is executed on the portable computer 54 side, and the arrival status of a new e-mail is confirmed by using the above-mentioned arrival status confirmation procedure. I will confirm.

FIG. 11 shows the electronic mail server computer 5 at the time of communication using the above-mentioned incoming call status confirmation procedure.
1 processing of the electronic mail management program 58, and the incoming mail status confirmation program 5 of the portable computer 54
9 shows the processing of No. 9.

A program 5 for confirming the incoming mail status by the user
When trying to confirm whether or not the electronic mail addressed to himself has arrived using 9, the mail reception status confirmation program 59 first controls the modem 55 to establish a connection with the modem 52 connected to the electronic mail server computer 51. To do. When this connection is completed, the user name and password of the user are sent to the email management program 58 for user authentication.

The e-mail management program 58 verifies whether the user is a correct user based on the user name and password registered in advance, and returns the connection permission information if the user is correct. After that, the mail reception status confirmation program 59 sends a search request for the number of received mails to the e-mail management program 58 to inquire about the reception status, and the e-mail management program 58 refers to the PO Box to confirm the reception status and receive the incoming call. Return the search results for the number of emails (n).

Then, the mail arrival status confirmation program 5
By displaying the search result on the screen of the portable computer 54, the user 9 can confirm the incoming status of the electronic mail. Of course, at this time, the portable computer 54 is connected to the mobile telephone 56 and the public telephone 57 as shown in FIG.

[0012] Such a procedure is a general procedure for confirming the incoming status of electronic mail, for example, UN
It is widely used in the IX email system and other personal computer network electronic mail systems.

[0013]

As described above, conventionally, in order to confirm the incoming call status of e-mail from a destination, the user himself / herself sets the portable computer 54 and the modem 55 at any time. After connecting to the mobile phone 56 or the public telephone 57 via the electronic mail server computer 51, the mail reception status confirmation program 59 is accessed.
Must be used to inquire about the e-mail arrival status.

However, since it is unknown when the electronic mail will arrive, even if the user accesses the electronic mail server computer 51 via the public line 53 to check the incoming status of the electronic mail, the electronic mail has not arrived. There are many cases, and in such a case, the time taken for data communication on the public line 53 and the call charge are wasted.

Further, even if an e-mail addressed to oneself that is important and has to be processed urgently arrives, unless the user makes an inquiry, the arrival is not noticed, so that the processing for the e-mail may be delayed. .

In order to reduce the delay in the processing for such an electronic mail, the user must access the electronic mail server computer 51 many times in a short cycle, which imposes a heavy burden on the user. As mentioned above, useless access is increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to reduce the burden on the user for confirming the incoming status of an electronic mail and to enable the quick acquisition of the electronic mail. To provide an incoming call notification device.

[0018]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an electronic mail incoming notification device according to the invention of claim 1 is required to inquire of an electronic mail server about the incoming status of an electronic mail addressed to a user. The first user information (for example, user name and password) and the second user information (for example, telephone number) for notifying the communication terminal (for example, pager terminal, mobile phone, etc.) designated by the user. An incoming call that communicates between the storage means and the electronic mail server using the first user information to periodically check the incoming status of the electronic mail addressed to the user and detect incoming new electronic mail. An incoming call that transmits information indicating that a new electronic mail has arrived to the communication terminal using the second user information, based on the status confirmation means and the detection result of the incoming status confirmation means. It is characterized in that it comprises a distribution unit.

According to the above configuration, the storage means stores, for example, a user name and a password necessary for inquiring the incoming mail status of the electronic mail addressed to the user to the electronic mail server. The incoming call status confirmation means of the notification device is adapted to periodically and automatically inquire the incoming mail status of the electronic mail server on behalf of the user. In addition, the storage means also stores information for notifying a communication terminal designated by the user, such as the telephone number of a mobile phone, and when the arrival of a new e-mail is detected by the above periodical confirmation, The incoming call notification means transmits information indicating the effect to the communication terminal.

With this, it is possible to promptly inform the user that new electronic mail has arrived at the electronic mail server, and it is possible to significantly reduce the burden on the user for checking the incoming status of the electronic mail.

In the electronic mail incoming notification device according to the invention of claim 2, in the configuration of the invention of claim 1, the incoming notification means is a new electronic mail together with information indicating that a new electronic mail has arrived. The information about the number of incoming calls is also transmitted to the communication terminal.

With the above configuration, the number of new electronic mails received by the electronic mail server can be promptly notified to the user.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail incoming call notification device according to the first or second aspect of the invention.
It is equipped with registration means that can register the limit value of the number of new emails to be held for each user, and notification prohibition means that prohibits incoming notification until the number of new emails received exceeds the above limit value. It is characterized by that.

According to the above configuration, if the limit value of the number of new e-mails to be held is registered in the registration means, the incoming call notification is made by the notification prohibiting means until the number of incoming new e-mails exceeds the registered limit value. Is prohibited, the next incoming call notification will not be sent unless the e-mail server stores a predetermined number of e-mails. As a result, the number of incoming call notifications can be appropriately reduced in situations where e-mails are frequently received, and thus it is possible to prevent the incoming call notifications from being offensive to the user.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail incoming call notification device according to the first or second aspect of the invention.
Registration means that can register the limit value of the time interval from the last report to the next report for each user, and prohibits incoming calls until the time exceeds the above limit value from the last report And means are provided.

According to the above configuration, if the limit value of the time interval from the immediately preceding report to the next report is registered in the registration means, the report is made until the time exceeding the above limit value from the last report. Since the incoming call notification is prohibited by the prohibition means,
The incoming call notification is not sent until a certain time interval has passed since the previous incoming call notification. As a result, the number of incoming call notifications can be appropriately reduced in situations where e-mails are frequently received, and thus it is possible to prevent the incoming call notifications from being offensive to the user.

The electronic mail incoming call notification device according to the invention of claim 5 is, in the configuration of the above-mentioned invention of claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, a notification number counting means for counting the number of times of execution of incoming notification for each user. It is characterized by having.

With the above configuration, it is possible to easily manage, for each user, the billing information such as the communication cost for executing the incoming call notification.

[0029]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a system to which the electronic mail incoming call notification device 1 according to this embodiment is applied. The electronic mail incoming call notification device 1 is connected to the same LAN 3 as the electronic mail server computer 2. Further, the electronic mail incoming call notification device 1 has a built-in modem 4 or can be externally connected in order to make a notification using the public line 5, and is connected to the public line 5 via the modem 4 and the physical line. Connected to each other. Then, the electronic mail incoming call notification device 1 notifies the incoming information of the electronic mail to the communication terminal such as the pager terminal 6 or the mobile phone 7 designated by the user, as described later.

As shown in FIG. 3, the configuration of the electronic mail server computer 2 is the same as the conventional configuration described above. In the present embodiment, since the electronic mail server computer 2 performs communication using the LAN 3,
Although the AN interface 8 is used, other than that is as described above.

The electronic mail incoming call notification device 1 can be constructed by using a microcomputer or the like, and the construction of the main part thereof is shown in FIG.

The e-mail incoming call notification device 1 is necessary for periodically inquiring about the incoming e-mail status,
A timer interrupt generation circuit 11 and an incoming call status confirmation timer monitoring unit 12 are provided. Here, the above-mentioned incoming call status confirmation timer monitoring unit 12 executes an incoming call status confirmation timer monitoring routine by a CPU (Central Processing Uni) (not shown).
It is a functional module of t).

Further, the electronic mail incoming call notification device 1 uses the electronic mail server computer 2 by using the incoming call status confirmation procedure.
The electronic mail management program 9 is provided with an incoming call status confirmation unit (incoming status check means) 13 for inquiring about the incoming status of the electronic mail. This incoming call status confirmation unit 13
Is a functional module of the CPU that executes the mail arrival status confirmation program.

Further, the electronic mail incoming call notification device 1 includes an incoming call notification unit composed of a CPU for executing an incoming call notification program necessary for reporting the incoming call status of an electronic mail to the pager terminal 6 or the mobile phone 7 carried by the user. (Incoming call notification means) 14 is provided.

Further, the electronic mail incoming call notification device 1 is provided with a storage device 15 for storing information for automatically performing the processing of the incoming call status confirmation unit 13 and the incoming call notification unit 14. This storage device 15 stores the user name and password of the user used in the incoming call status confirmation procedure, and the pager terminal 6
A message type indicating a phone number and a message or a melody necessary for making a call to the mobile phone 7 is registered.

Further, the electronic mail incoming notification device 1 is
LAN interface 1 for communication via N3
6 and a modem interface 17 for communicating with the modem 4.

The operation of the electronic mail incoming call notification device 1 having the above structure will be described below. Here, as an example, the e-mail incoming call notification device 1 takes 10 minutes (600 seconds).
The operation of automatically inquiring the incoming status of the email to the email management program 9 of the email server computer 2 will be described.

As described above, the electronic mail incoming notification device 1
Then, the timer interrupt generating circuit 11 is provided for interpreting the regular time interval, and the timer interrupt generating circuit 11 generates an interrupt signal at a predetermined cycle. This interrupt signal causes an interrupt program called an incoming call status confirmation timer monitoring routine executed by the incoming call status confirmation timer monitoring unit 12 to operate. Here, for convenience,
If the period at which the interrupt signal is generated is 1 second, the incoming status confirmation timer monitoring routine will be called every 1 second, so if the routine is called 600 times,
10 minutes have passed.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the incoming call status confirmation timer monitoring unit 12 described above. Each time the incoming call status confirmation timer monitoring routine is called, the counter in which the timer value (600 in this case) is previously substituted as the initial value is decremented by one (S1), and the counter value becomes 0.
When (YES in S2), the timer recognizes that the timer has expired, and issues an instruction to the incoming call status confirmation unit 13 to confirm the incoming status of the e-mail (S3). After issuing this instruction, in order to detect the expiration of the next timer, the initial value (here, 600) is assigned to the counter (S4), and the routine ends. In this way, after executing S4 or when NO is determined in S2, one routine is ended,
By repeating the above routine every time an interrupt signal is input, the timer expires every 10 minutes, and the incoming call status confirmation unit 13 is instructed to check the incoming mail status.

Next, the operation of the incoming call status confirmation unit 13 when the above confirmation instruction is received will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the incoming call status confirmation program is activated by an instruction from the incoming call status confirmation timer monitoring unit 12, first,
The user name and password stored in the storage device 15 are referred to, and the incoming call status confirmation procedure is used to connect to the electronic mail management program 9 of the electronic mail server computer 2 via the LAN 3 (S11). After this connection, the electronic mail management program 9 is requested to search the number of incoming mails (S12). Then, the search result of the number of incoming mails is received from the electronic mail management program 9 and confirmed (S13). At this time, if the result of the number of incoming mails is 1 or more (YES in S14), the incoming call notification unit 14
The user is instructed to notify the incoming call information (S15), and the process ends. When the instruction is received, if the incoming call notification unit 14 is to include the number of incoming new e-mails in the message for notification, the incoming call status confirmation unit 13 passes the information of the number of incoming mails to the incoming call notification unit 14. . If the result of the number of incoming mails is 0 (NO in S14), the process ends.

After completing the above processing, the incoming call status confirmation unit 13 stops the processing until the timer expires again and the next instruction is received from the incoming call status confirmation timer monitoring unit 12.

Next, the e-mail has been received in response to the above notification instruction (and the number of incoming calls, if necessary).
The operation of the incoming call notification unit 14 for notifying the user will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.

When the incoming call notification program is activated by an instruction from the incoming call status confirmation section 13, first, the telephone number and message type stored in the storage device 15 are referred to (S).
21). Then, it is determined what the message type (the type of the message to be reported, which is for identifying the pager terminal or the telephone) (S2
2) If this is a “pager terminal”, the telephone number of the pager terminal 6 is called via the modem interface 17 and the modem 4 of FIG. 2 and the message displayed on the pager terminal 6 is transmitted (S23).

Pager terminal 6 in the pager system
Since the method of sending a message to a user is generally well known, the description thereof will be omitted. However, for the user to understand that the content of the message is a call from the electronic mail incoming call notification device 1. , A combination of a specific identification number and the current number of incoming mails.

For example, when "1234" is a specific identification number indicating that the call is from the electronic mail incoming call notification device 1, and when 5 electronic mails have been notified, "1234-05" is sent. Such a message is displayed on the display unit of the user's pager terminal 6. Of course,
It is also possible to send a message text in characters to the pager terminal 6 having a character display function.

If the message type is not a "pager terminal" in the determination of S22, it is considered to be a mobile phone, and the telephone number referred to in S21 is called to transmit the melody (S24).

The melody to be transmitted at this time is sent by using a so-called "bippoppa" tone signal. However, since the tone signal can distinguish the intervals of four gradations even by the human ear, those sounds should be combined. Can be taken as a peculiar melody in. In general,
The pitch increases in the order of "1", "4", "7", "0", but here "1" is a scale of "do", "2" is a scale of "re", and "3". "Is a scale of" Mi "and" 0 "is a scale higher than that (about a half-tone lower than that of So)" 1 "" 2 "" 3 "" one beat rest "" 1 "" at a certain rhythm 2 "
When the tone signal "3" is transmitted, it is heard as Doremi Doremi from the receiver of the other party.

In this way, by playing a specific melody, the user can understand that the notification is from the electronic mail incoming notification device 1. After that, after a short pause, the sound of "0" is received. If you make it as many times as the number of emails,
You can also tell how many emails you are currently receiving.

Of course, if a voice generation device is provided in the electronic mail incoming call notification device 1, a voice message can be transmitted to the mobile phone 7.

When the notification to the pager terminal 6 or the mobile phone 7 is completed as described above, the processing of the incoming call notification unit 14 is completed.

By the above operation, periodically and automatically,
The user can be notified that the email has arrived. As a result, even when the user is out, they can automatically know that a new email has arrived. Even though it has arrived, it is no longer impossible to recognize its existence.

In the above, the electronic mail incoming notification device 1
Is set to inquire the e-mail server computer 2 for the e-mail arrival status every 10 minutes. This inquiry cycle is performed by changing the initial value set in the counter of the arrival status confirmation timer monitoring unit 12. The settings can be changed arbitrarily. The shorter this inquiry cycle is set, the more from the arrival of new e-mail until the notification (that is, until the user recognizes the arrival).
The delay time can be shortened.

In the above description, the operation of the electronic mail incoming call notification device 1 for a specific user has been described. However, for each user, a user name, password, telephone number, message type and other set values are set. If is stored and managed as the user information in the storage device 15, even when there are a plurality of users, it is possible to similarly notify each user of the incoming email.

In addition, when there are a plurality of users, a plurality of inquiry cycles to the electronic mail server computer 2 regarding the incoming call status (for example, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes,
It is desirable that each user can arbitrarily select an inquiry cycle from among the above. In this case, information indicating which cycle each user has selected is also stored in the storage device 15 as user information together with the user name, password, and the like. Then, the incoming call status confirmation timer monitoring unit 12 monitors each cycle by the timer as described above, and when the timer of a certain cycle expires, an instruction to confirm the incoming status of the group of users who have selected the cycle is issued. Send to the incoming call status confirmation unit 13. Then, the incoming call status confirmation unit 13 retrieves the users belonging to the group from the user information in the storage device 15, and confirms the incoming call status for each user as described above. By changing the phase of each cycle,
It is possible to avoid an incoming call notification to a plurality of groups at the same timing.

By the way, when e-mails are frequently delivered, it may be annoying for some users to call by ringing the pager terminal 6 or the mobile phone 7. In order to prevent this, an electronic mail incoming call notification device 1
Is a mechanism that can set a hold number limit that does not send the next incoming call until a predetermined number of new e-mails are accumulated, and the following next until a certain time interval has passed from the last incoming call. One or both of a mechanism that can set a time interval limit that does not notify an incoming call is provided.

First, a description will be given of the pending number limit mechanism (report prohibiting means) that limits the number of new electronic mails to be held and makes an incoming call notification when an incoming new electronic mail exceeding the number of new mails is detected. This mechanism is implemented in the incoming call status confirmation unit 13 described above. That is, in the flowchart of FIG. 5 showing the operation of the incoming call status confirmation unit 13, S14
In, it is judged whether or not the search result of the number of incoming mails received from the electronic mail management program 9 is larger than the comparison value “0”. Can be changed as desired. This comparison value is stored in the storage device 15, and when the incoming call status confirmation unit 13 executes the routine shown in FIG.
The comparison value stored in the storage device 15 is used in S14. As a result, the incoming call status confirmation unit 13 does not issue a notification instruction to the incoming call notification unit 14 until a new number of new e-mails, which is larger than the comparison value set by the user, arrives.

Of course, even if there are a plurality of users, the setting of the number of holding cases can be arbitrarily set and registered for each user, and the set value is stored as user information together with the user name and password in the storage device ( It is stored and managed in the registration means) 15.

Next, a time interval limiting mechanism (report prohibiting means)
Will be described. The user can set and register the minimum time interval from the last incoming call to the next call,
The set time is stored and managed in the storage device (registration means) 15 as user information together with the user name and password. Of course, the setting of the time interval limitation can be arbitrarily set and registered for each user.

The time interval limiting mechanism is implemented in the incoming call status confirmation unit 13 and the incoming call notification unit 14 described above. That is, the incoming call notification unit 14 uses the pager terminal 6
Or report to the mobile phone 7 (S23 or S2 in FIG. 6)
After 4) is completed, the notification time is updated and recorded in the storage device 15 as user information. In addition, the incoming call status confirmation unit 13
Performs the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. The difference between this processing flow and the processing flow of FIG.
It only makes 16 decisions. Incoming call status confirmation unit 13
After the determination of YES in S14, the storage device 15
By referring to the previous notification time and the current time indicated by a timer (not shown) stored in, it is determined whether or not the set time or more has elapsed since the previous notification (S16), and the set time or more has elapsed. Only when the call is received, the incoming call notification unit 14 is instructed to notify the incoming call information (S15). Since the previous notification time is not stored in the storage device 15 at the time of the first incoming call notification, the process also proceeds to S15 in this case.

The process of updating and recording the notification time in the storage device 15 may be performed by the incoming call status confirmation unit 13 after S15 instead of after the incoming call notification unit 14 transmits the message.

As described above, the setting of the number of holding cases or the time interval limitation, or the operation of setting or changing other user information is performed by a terminal (e-mail server computer 2 or personal computer, etc.) on the LAN 3. Terminal).

In addition, it is possible to manage the charge information such as the communication cost for executing the incoming call notification for each user.
The e-mail incoming call notification device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a mechanism (notification number counting means) that counts the number of times of execution of incoming call notification for each user. This incoming call notification frequency counting mechanism is realized by the incoming call notification unit 14 and the storage device 15. That is, the incoming call notification unit 14 notifies the pager terminal 6 or the mobile phone 7 (S23 or S2 in FIG. 6).
Each time 4) is performed, the cumulative value of the number of executions of the incoming call notification is stored in the storage device 15 as user information. In this way, if the number of times of notification is recorded for each user, it is possible to manage the charging information based on the number of times of notification for each user in the terminal on the LAN 3, for example.

The electronic mail incoming call notification device 1 described above can be applied to the mail access server 20 used in a local electronic mail system as shown in FIG. 8, for example. The mail access server 20 enables remote access to the premises electronic mail system from the outside using the public line 5, and is a premises using the morphological information terminal 21 by incorporating an infrared interface. It also enables local access to.

The electronic mail incoming notification device 1 described above is used.
Is applicable not only to the mail access server 20 as described above but also to all systems that handle electronic mail.

In this embodiment, the electronic mail incoming call notification device 1 and the electronic mail server computer 2 are LA.
Although communication is performed via N3, the present invention is not limited to this, and both may be directly connected by a serial interface or the like.

Further, in the present embodiment, a mobile communication terminal such as the pager terminal 6 and the mobile phone 7 is exemplified as the communication terminal specified by the user, but, of course, a general phone having no portability is specified. You can also

[0069]

As described above, the electronic mail incoming notification device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes the first user information necessary for inquiring the incoming status of the electronic mail addressed to the user to the electronic mail server, and the relevant user information. An electronic mail addressed to the user by communicating between the storage means for storing the second user information for notifying the communication terminal specified by the user and the electronic mail server using the first user information. The incoming call status confirmation means for periodically checking the incoming call status of the new email and detecting the arrival of a new email, and the information indicating that a new email has arrived based on the detection result of the incoming call status confirmation means. It is a configuration including an incoming call notification means for transmitting to the communication terminal using the second user information.

Therefore, it is possible to promptly inform the user that a new electronic mail has arrived at the electronic mail server, which enables quick acquisition of the electronic mail and also the use for confirmation of the incoming status of the electronic mail. Therefore, it is possible to significantly reduce the burden on the caller, and further, it is possible to prevent the telephone call fee and time from being unnecessarily wasted for checking the incoming call status as in the conventional case.

As described above, in the electronic mail incoming notification device according to the second aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect of the present invention, the incoming notification means is information indicating that a new electronic mail has arrived. At the same time, information on the number of new incoming emails is also transmitted to the communication terminal.

Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1, the effect that the number of new e-mails received at the e-mail server can be promptly notified to the user is also obtained.

As described above, the electronic mail incoming call notification device according to the invention of claim 3 registers the new limit value of the number of pending electronic mails for each user in the configuration of the invention of claim 1 or 2. It is configured to include a registration unit that can perform the above and a notification prohibition unit that prohibits an incoming call notification until the number of new electronic mail arrivals exceeds the above limit value.

Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1 or 2, the number of incoming call notifications can be appropriately reduced in a situation where e-mails are frequently delivered. It also has an effect that it can be prevented from becoming annoying.

As described above, the electronic mail incoming notification device according to the invention of claim 4 uses the limit value of the time interval from the immediately preceding notification to the next notification in the configuration of the invention of claim 1 or 2. The system is provided with a registration means capable of registering each person and a report prohibiting means for prohibiting an incoming call notification from the immediately preceding report until the time exceeding the above limit value.

Therefore, in addition to the effects of the invention according to claim 1 or 2, the number of incoming call notifications can be appropriately reduced in the situation where e-mails are frequently delivered. It also has an effect that it is possible to prevent the notification from being offensive to the ears.

As described above, the electronic mail incoming notification device according to the invention of claim 5 is characterized by the above-mentioned claim 1, 2, 3 or 4.
In the configuration of the invention, the notification number counting means for counting the number of executions of the incoming notification is provided for each user.

Therefore, the above-mentioned claim 1, 2, 3 or 4
In addition to the effect of the invention described above, there is an effect that it is possible to easily manage, for each user, billing information such as a communication fee for executing an incoming call notification.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a system to which an electronic mail incoming call notification device is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the electronic mail incoming call notification device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of an electronic mail server computer of the system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of an incoming call status confirmation timer monitoring unit of the electronic mail incoming call notification device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of an incoming call status confirmation unit of the electronic mail incoming call notification device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of an incoming call notification unit of the electronic mail incoming call notification device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of the incoming call status confirmation unit when the time interval from the immediately preceding message to the next message is restricted.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a premises electronic mail system to which the electronic mail incoming notification device is applied.

FIG. 9 shows a conventional example, and is a schematic configuration diagram showing a network configuration when confirming the incoming state of an electronic mail from a remote place.

10 is a block diagram showing internal program configurations of the electronic mail server computer and portable computer of FIG. 9. FIG.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing communication processing between an electronic mail management program and an incoming call status confirmation program, which is performed using an incoming call status confirmation procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 E-mail incoming call notification device 2 E-mail server computer (e-mail server) 3 LAN 4 Modem 5 Public line 6 Pager terminal (communication terminal) 7 Mobile phone (communication terminal) 11 Timer interrupt generation circuit 12 Incoming status confirmation timer monitoring unit 13 Incoming call status confirmation section (incoming call status confirmation means) 14 Incoming call notification section (incoming call notification means) 15 Storage device (storage means, registration means)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A first user information necessary for inquiring an incoming state of an electronic mail addressed to a user to an electronic mail server and a second user information for notifying a communication terminal designated by the user. An incoming call that communicates between the storage means and the electronic mail server using the first user information to periodically check the incoming status of the electronic mail addressed to the user, and detect the incoming of a new electronic mail. The status confirmation means and the incoming call notification means for transmitting information indicating that a new electronic mail has arrived to the communication terminal using the second user information based on the detection result of the incoming status confirmation means. An electronic mail incoming call notification device characterized by being provided. 2. The incoming call notifying means sends information indicating the number of new incoming electronic mails to the communication terminal together with information indicating that a new electronic mail has arrived. E-mail incoming call notification device. 3. A registration means capable of registering a new limit value of the number of new e-mails for each user, and a report prohibiting means for prohibiting an incoming call notification until the number of new e-mail arrivals exceeds the above limit value. The electronic mail incoming call notification device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: 4. A registration means capable of registering the limit value of the time interval from the immediately preceding report to the next report for each user, and the incoming call notification until the time exceeding the above limit value from the last report. 3. The electronic mail incoming call notification device according to claim 1, further comprising: a report prohibiting means for prohibiting. 5. The electronic mail incoming call notification device according to claim 1, further comprising a notification number counting means for counting the number of times of execution of incoming call notification for each user.