JPH10126549A - International communication method for facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the international facsimile communication method that makes efficient communication. SOLUTION: After presence of multiple address communication is checked (S1), a country code and a toll station number of a reception station are identified and reception stations are grouped by country based on the identification (S2). A prescribed reception station in each group (S3) is selected for a relay station and reception stations other than the relay station in the group are selected as end stations, and respective FAX numbers and transmission data of the end stations are sent to the relay station. Based on the received FAX numbers and transmission data, the relay station sends the transmission data to other end stations (S4). The presence of a transmission result notice from the relay station to the end stations is confirmed (S5), and then the processing is finished. Thus, data transmission is processed domestically within the reception stations grouped by country to reduce the entire communication charge.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an international communication method for a facsimile machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when broadcasting from a transmitting station "A" to receiving stations "B" to "G" by an international communication method of a general facsimile machine is attempted, a relation between a transmitting station and a receiving station is expressed as follows. A → B, A → C,..., A → G are sequentially transmitted.
At this time, for example, if station "A" is in Japan, stations "B" to "D" are in the United States, and stations "E" to "G" are in Germany, international communication is performed six times.

[0003] Other prior art examples having similar technical fields to the present invention include the following. In the "relay broadcasting system" of JP-A-2-234560, by incorporating a time instruction command into a relay broadcast, an additional relay broadcast from the same relay instruction station or the same relay from a different relay instruction station is performed. Broadcasts can be sent all at once.

In the "Remote polling relay broadcast system" disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-43843, a relay process requests a transmission process for a transmission process according to specific information, receives communication information, By transmitting the communication information to the receiving step, efficient and economical communication is enabled.

[0005]

However, when transmitting the same original to a plurality of destinations by the above-mentioned international facsimile machine international communication method, as shown in FIG. "A →" to send to "B" to "G"
B ”,“ A → C ”,...,“ A → G ”are sequentially transmitted.
In this case, all calls are international calls to the United States and Germany, and there is a problem that communication fees are enormous depending on the communication time.

[0006] Further, in the other conventional example described above, an object is to efficiently perform processing time by simultaneously transmitting transmission information. Therefore, no movement occurs in the relationship between the combination of the transmitting station and the receiving station.

An object of the present invention is to provide an international communication method for a facsimile apparatus that enables efficient communication.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an international communication method for a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention provides an international communication method for a facsimile apparatus for transmitting predetermined transmission data from an originating station to two or more foreign receiving stations. Identifying a receiving station's country code and area code, grouping the receiving stations for each country based on the identification, and receiving a predetermined one of the grouped groups. Classifying the stations as relay stations and other receiving stations in the group other than the relay stations as end stations;
Transmitting a number and transmission data to the relay station; and transmitting transmission data from the relay station to each terminal station based on the transmitted facsimile number and transmission data. The transmission of transmission data to the receiving station is domestically processed in the receiving stations grouped by the same country, thereby lowering the overall communication fee.

Further, the above international communication method for a facsimile apparatus preferably includes a step of transmitting a transmission result transmitted from the relay station to the terminal station to the originating station.

[0010] Transmission of transmission data from the transmitting station to the terminal station via the relay station may include a case where two or more types of transmission data are separately transmitted to each terminal station.

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; 1 to 8 show an embodiment of the international communication method of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the transmitting station "A" used in the description of the conventional example intends to broadcast to the receiving stations "B" to "G". Therefore, it is necessary to sequentially transmit from the transmitting station “A” to the receiving stations “B” to “G”. At this time, it is assumed that the “A” station is in Japan, the “B” to “D” stations are in the United States, and the “E” to “G” stations are in Germany.

FIG. 4 conceptually shows a transmission configuration in the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, the receiving stations "B" to "D" of the United States are grouped into one group, and the group is transmitted to a representative destination (hereinafter also referred to as a relay station) "B" which is a representative of the group. It represents a form of transfer and transmission to stations "C" and "D" (hereinafter also referred to as terminal stations).

With the above configuration, only "A → B" is an international call, and "B → C" and "B → D" are domestic communications in the United States. Therefore, it can be expected that the total communication fee will be lower than that of the above-described conventional example.

An operation example of this embodiment is shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, in step S1, it is checked whether or not the operation is a broadcast transmission in which a plurality of destinations are specified, which is an operation on the calling station side. If only one destination is sent (S1 / N
O) Normal transmission is performed (S6). If the broadcast communication has a plurality of destinations (S1 / YES), the plurality of destinations are grouped (S2).

If there is no destination grouped (S2 / NO), all normal transmissions are performed (S6).
If there is a grouped destination (S2 / YE
S), relay request transfer transmission is performed (S4). The transmission procedure at this time is shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a relay request transfer transmission protocol, and FIG. 6 shows a relay request transfer transmission FIF assignment. In these FIGS. 3 and 4,
T. Using NSF and NSS in the company mode of 30 protocols, a bit with / without the relay request transmission function is provided in the NSF on the relay station side. In the case where the relay request transfer function is provided, as shown in FIG.
The number and the FAX number of the terminal station calling from the relay station to the terminal station are notified.

When the FAX number to be notified at this time is to be transmitted to an international telephone group, the FAX number excluding KDD "001" and the international code are transmitted. In addition, in the case of domestic transmission, the one excluding the area code is transmitted. The relay station that has received the transmission signal may transmit the received fax as it is. Finally, it waits for the transmission result notification from the relay station to the terminal station (S5), and if it does (YES), terminates this flowchart.

Next, the processing on the relay station side is shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, if there is reception (S11 / YE
S), it is checked whether the relay request transfer function is ON (S12), and if not (S12 / NO), normal reception is performed.

If the relay request transfer is received (S12 / Y
ES), after completion of the reception, the original sent from the calling station is transferred to the fax number of the terminal station sent from the calling station (S13).

If the transfer has been completed to all terminal stations (S14 / YES), the result of the transmission OK / NG is set to N
The transmission result for each terminal station is notified to the calling station using SS and NSF (S15). An example of the transmission procedure at this time is shown in FIGS.

FIG. 6 shows a transmission result protocol, and FIG. 7 shows a transmission result FIF assignment. Finally, FIG. 8 shows a grouping search flowchart.

First, it is checked whether or not the first destination is an international call (S21). If it is an international call (YES), it is checked whether or not another broadcast destination has the same international code destination. (S22), and if there is a corresponding destination (Y
ES), and treat them as the same group (S23).

If the search for all destinations has not been completed (S24)
/ NO), again checks whether the next destination is an international call (S21), and if different (NO), next checks the area code because it is a domestic destination, and the same area code is It is checked whether there is a destination of the information (S25), and if there is a corresponding destination (YES), it is set to the same group (S25).
26).

This is repeated for all destinations (S2
4 / NO, S27 / NO), when all the destinations have been grouped (S24 / YES, S27 / YES), this flowchart ends.

When the above operation is simply performed, the transmitting station "A"
Cannot know the transmission result transferred from the relay station "B" to the terminal stations "C" and "D". Therefore, the relay station "B" notifies the originating station "A" of the result of transmission to the terminal stations "C" and "D", and the originating station "A" receives all of the receiving stations "B" to "D". The result of transmission to the station can be known.

According to the procedure of this embodiment, the total communication fee can be reduced. For example, when transmitting within the same company, it is advantageous because the total charge as a company is reduced.

In order to reduce this cost, for example, three receiving stations "B" to "D" in the United States are grouped,
First, a fax is sent to the relay station “B”, and the relay station “B” is sent.
To have the terminal stations "C" and "D" transmit the facsimile. Similarly, the receiving stations “E” to “G” first send a fax to the relay station “E”, from which the terminal stations “F”,
Have them transferred to “G”. Thereby, the total communication fee can be reduced. For example, when transmitting within the same company, it is advantageous because the total charge as a company is reduced.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are conceivable. For example, the receiving station may receive and forward not only broadcast data but also data for another station different from the data for the receiving station.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, the international communication method of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention identifies the country code and the area code of the receiving station and, based on this identification, groups the receiving stations for each same country. Become A predetermined receiving station in each of the grouped groups is defined as a relay station, and other receiving stations in a group other than the relay station are classified as end stations, and the respective fax numbers and transmission data of the end stations are classified. Send to relay station. The transmission data is transmitted from the relay station to each terminal station based on the transmitted FAX numbers and transmission data. Therefore, by transmitting transmission data to a plurality of receiving stations in the same country and performing domestic transmission processing in the receiving stations grouped by the same country, it is possible to reduce the overall communication fee.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an operation example of an embodiment corresponding to an international communication method of a facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a classification configuration of transmission / reception stations corresponding to the operation example of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a relay request transfer protocol corresponding to the operation example of FIG. 1;

4 is a relay request transfer transmission FI corresponding to the operation example of FIG.
It is a figure showing FP assignment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of a relay station.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a transmission result notification protocol.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a transmission result FIF assignment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of a grouping search.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an operation example of a conventional broadcast transmission.

[Explanation of symbols]

 S1 Broadcasting S2 Grouping of transmission destinations S3 Grouping S4 Relay request transmission S5 Notification of transmission result from relay station to terminal station S6 Normal transmission

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An international communication method for a facsimile apparatus for transmitting predetermined transmission data from a transmitting station to two or more foreign receiving stations, comprising: a step of identifying a country code and an area code of the receiving station; Grouping the receiving stations based on the same country on the basis of: a predetermined one receiving station in each of the grouped groups as a relay station and other receiving stations in the group other than the relay station. Classifying as a terminal station, transmitting each FAX number of the terminal station and the transmission data to the relay station, and transmitting the FAX number and the transmission data based on the transmitted FAX number and the transmission data. Transmitting the transmission data to each of the terminal stations from a plurality of receiving stations in the same country, and transmitting the transmission data to a plurality of receiving stations in the same country within the receiving stations grouped by the same country. An international communication method for a facsimile machine, characterized in that the processing reduces overall communication charges. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the international communication method of the facsimile apparatus further includes a step of transmitting a transmission result transmitted from the relay station to the terminal station to the originating station. International communication method. 3. The transmission of the transmission data from the transmitting station to the terminal station via a relay station includes a case where two or more types of transmission data are separately transmitted to each terminal station. An international communication method for a facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.